novelraw Chapter 212 : Chapter 212
Chapter 212 : Chapter 212
Chapter 212
Upon returning to the sixth base, the investigation team welcomed them.
"Since you were missing for over a month, we even thought something might have gone wrong."
Everyone was trying to act calm in front of others, but Russell spoke on behalf of the group, saying they had been worried and searching through the snowy fields all this time.
"I wasted your precious time. I am ashamed as the leader."
"I am fine as long as my brother has returned alive."
"Indeed, a climate that makes even an 8-star knight lose his way. The North is truly a dreadful place."
Pyrope and Ashirian welcomed Killian's safe return.
Pierre and the other two Annihilation Squad members did the same.
While warming themselves up, the members talked about the search and exploration activities they had conducted here while looking for Killian.
As expected, there were no significant results.
After a long conversation, when the priests were no longer visible inside the sixth base.
"I am returning from the Boundary."
Killian calmly recounted what happened after he was swept away by the avalanche.
"To the Boundary?"
"Alone?"
To their surprised questions, he told them the story about Colin.
Pyrope trembled with a sense of betrayal.
"I even offered to find him a good match! That guy deceived us with a smiling face?!!"
"Tsk tsk tsk. He probably hardened his resolve even more because you made such a terrible offer."
Ashirian clicked her tongue and scolded him.
"What?"
"Your gaze is disrespectful. Want to have a go?"
"Bring it on!"
Nothing has changed from a month ago or now.
Killian ignored the two ramping up their momentum and pulled out the sword at his waist.
"It is Styx's Divine Object."
"……!!"
"……?"
"It could also be called Colin's keepsake."
"Are you saying we can control the avalanche using this?"
Ashirian asked with interest.
Since she grew up in the South, she had a great interest in natural climates.
The previous avalanche was more than a blizzard cast by an 8-star mage.
Even if the climate here had an influence, it wasn't a power a mere priest could handle.
Then, the only singularity remaining is the Divine Object.
Pyrope interjected.
"It's obvious. If it's magic amplified by a Magic Tool, it's more than possible."
"Mana and Divine Power are not the same, isn't that why she's asking, you dwarf?"
"If it's Divine Power, it would be even easier! Don't you even know that, you bunch who believe in Gods?"
"If you run your mouth one more time, this lady will seal that mouth herself."
"Try it if you can."
Bzzt.
Green and jade-colored mana clashed, creating sparks.
‘Something bad is going to happen at this rate. How childish for their age.’
It seemed Killian wasn't the only one thinking that.
"Both of you, please calm down. Wouldn't it be simple to ask Commander Killian?"
‘Sir Russell took on the role of mediator while I was gone.’
The Commander of the Illusion Magic Order of Cornelia and a 7-star Arch Mage.
As expected of someone Sharle recommended, he was the one who wielded the highest level of detection magic among the investigation team.
"I can't be certain. The Authority of Boundary isn't intuitive."
Killian looked at Pierre.
"Passing the ball to me, are you?"
"It seems easier to understand if the Chief Priest explains it."
Pierre nodded.
"It is as Commander Killian says. The God Styx's Authority is Boundary. The expandability of this kind of Authority becomes limitless depending on the user's capability. From what I hear, First Class Priest Colin seems to possess skills exceeding the average of a Chief Priest, regardless of his rank."
He also cautiously added that the Vice-Priest and Chief Priest of the temple were suspicious.
"What is there to waste time here? Let's go back right now and interrogate them."
Pyrope huffed and looked at Killian.
Given his simple personality, Colin's betrayal seemed to have been quite a shock.
"No."
Killian shook his head.
"If we have to come back again, it will only result in a double waste of time."
The other members of the investigation team hadn't checked the Boundary yet.
"I intend to use the Divine Object."
"You yourself, brother?"
"Yes."
Those present here knew that Killian could synchronize with Divine Objects as they had heard about it.
"But doing so requires taking a risk."
Pierre mentioned the danger of reflux.
"I heard it's a week's distance from the base to the Boundary in the north-south direction. Even if it takes time, going there in person is the better choice."
Killian shook his head.
That would take too long.
‘We have already wasted considerable time.’
There was too much time to lose going back and forth again.
"You said you searched this vicinity for a month anyway."
They had looked around the six bases in their own way, but if nothing was detected, the place worth checking was ultimately the Boundary.
‘I didn't search properly because I was busy refining the Hollyheart and dealing with Colin.’
Murus also didn't tell him everything due to the restriction.
There must be parts he missed.
As originally intended, he planned to take all of them near the Boundary and search properly.
"But……."
"There is nothing to worry about, Chief Priest Pierre."
When Yulian intervened, Pierre looked at him as if asking what he meant.
"The Captain has refined a Hollyheart."
"……."
Silence fell over the area.
"Is that true?"
"I received a revelation from Murus."
Killian answered nonchalantly to Pierre's question.
"But you are an athe……."
"An atheist."
"……."
"But I guess he liked me."
[Grrr~]
Looking back and forth between the refreshingly smiling Hazard and Killian, Pierre shut his mouth.
‘What in the…….’
It was a situation he couldn't understand with his common sense.
"Good is good."
There was no need to tell them that Killian Eurasia's mother was suspected to be the previous Saintess, that the soul occupying his body belonged to an ancient God-Slayer, and that his relationships with the Gods were complicatedly intertwined.
The owner of a dragon and an 8-star knight.
And now, these are the words of someone who received a divine revelation and refined a Hollyheart.
The atmosphere was one of acceptance, thinking 'so be it'.
"Raven, Id. You two hold this place."
They couldn't know which other priest might have betrayed them.
They needed to secure a place to return to.
Nod.
"Understood."
Raven and Id answered in their own ways.
When Killian headed to a corner of the sixth base, the party followed.
‘The structure of the base isn't much different from before.’
A space prepared to receive refugees just in case.
Killian, holding the Divine Object, headed to the center.
Sssss.
The moment he awakened the Hollyheart.
[‘Boundary’ is different from ‘Barrier’.]
Murus, who had been quiet all along, spoke up.
‘I know.’
Killian had never imitated the Authority of Boundary before.
Just as one cannot manifest unimaginable things with mana, abstract Authorities cannot be perfectly understood.
‘If it were before, I would never have been able to use it.’
Now is different from then.
‘Using the Hollyheart allows one to intuitively manifest the Authority.’
Tracing the origin of the heart connects to Murus, but Killian possesses a body blessed by Divine Power.
He quietly rotated the Hollyheart.
Ssssss.
It was the moment when pure white Divine Power bloomed over his body, dyeing it in gray, which symbolizes Murus's Authority.
Ding.
[Contacting the Authority of ‘Boundary’.]
[The Authority of ‘Boundary’ has been activated.]
[Coordinates are specified.]
The color of the Divine Power changed from gray to red.
Whoosh.
He swung the Divine Object as if cutting through space.
The image he recalled was a gate.
Beyond the split space, a door similar to when activating a Warp Gate appeared.
"I had my doubts, but it really succeeded. Let's all go at once."
He said this because he didn't know what lay beyond.
When they all crossed the gate like that.
The place they arrived at was not where the Boundary was located.
‘This is…… a temple?’
It was a space familiar to Killian in another sense.
An abandoned temple.
Although the structure was different from the one he saw before, it looked like operations had ceased well over a hundred years ago.
Just then.
[Grrr.]
Hazard let out a cry.
"Not a priest."
At the sudden voice, the group took a defensive stance.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
From the distance.
Someone walked out.
Those who confirmed the opponent's face stiffened.
"The Emperor!"
Russell, who recognized him, shouted.
"Ha, that guy is the Emperor?"
"Sir Pyrope, that is the current Emperor, Crusty Heinrich."
"It's a situation similar to what I heard before."
Ashirian said while drawing her sword.
"An interesting combination."
Crusty, scanning the group, made eye contact with Killian and smiled leisurely.
"We meet again."
"Killian Eurasia. You give me endless amusement."
"This time, you won't be able to run away like last time."
The two Superhumans quietly exchanged glances.
"Captain. Your orders."
"Prepare for impact."
Starting with Yulian, the group wrapped their bodies in mana and Divine Power.
Killian, having drawn Anima, deployed Carpe.
[Yooooooong!]
Signaling the start of the battle was.
Rooooaaar!!
Hazard's Breath.
***
Pierre de Pantera felt a shiver run through his entire body.
Every living being has a status.
Status is divided even among those who refined a Mana Heart, and status is divided even among priests who refined a Hollyheart.
He also became a priest through the revelation of the God Pantera and became a Chief Priest at an early age in recognition of his abilities.
Even after becoming a Chief Priest, he did not neglect his prayers, so he thought he was not lacking in handling Divine Power.
But.
‘Killian Eurasia. You are…….’
The knight who gave him humiliation for the first time.
The dragon Hazard, who came to be revered like a God due to the wrongly imprinted Authority of ‘Domination’.
He felt pathetic for being played by them.
He ended up in the same boat by chance, but he believed that once his Divine Power grew, the imprinted Authority would also be released someday.
He trained his Hollyheart every day.
While Eurasia was fighting the war, his Divine Power grew significantly.
Comparing it to a Mana Heart, one could say he grasped a clue to cross a wall.
The restoration of the broken Divine Object was also proceeding sequentially, and he thought he would soon regain freedom from the wrongly imprinted Authority.
Only now did he realize his arrogance.
The Mixed Dragon Hazard revealed its true body as if it had no intention of hiding its identity anymore.
It was almost laughable that he had equated his own growth potential with such an existence.
Far from releasing the imprint, he felt an illusion that it was being imprinted even more firmly.
The temperature in the area soared due to the Breath fired by Hazard.
He wasn't unaware that survival could not be guaranteed unless one was around 8-star if hit directly by a dragon's breath.
‘How many Superhumans does Eurasia possess, exactly?’
Just a few years ago, it was a frontier family with only two 7-star level Superhumans.
Such a place was now rising as a kingdom of knights possessing three 8-star knights.
The power to lead individual growth to the growth of the place one belongs to.
This is the truly terrifying point of Killian Eurasia.
"Everyone into battle formation!"
That must be why he moved the latest at the following order.
"A Mixed Dragon, is it."
The dust created by the Breath cleared, and the Emperor, surrounded by pure white mana, revealed himself.
In his hand was a staff that wasn't there a moment ago.
‘Did he not take even a little damage?’
Rather, he looked as if he was examining Hazard closely, uninterested in the others.
[Yo, Yooong……?]
Hazard showed a flustered look as his attack didn't work.
Meanwhile, the six members of the investigation team, including Pierre, succeeded in surrounding the Emperor.
Rumble.
Killian stepped forward, strengthening his Haki from the front.
"This time, you are imitating a mage."
Looking at Crusty wearing a robe, Killian continued.
"You should have taken Isaac Heinrich's body instead."
Words only someone who knows about the Emperor's immortality could say.
"You are mistaken."
Snap.
Crusty snapped his fingers.
With just that, some kind of Formula was activated.
The space in the area wavers.
"Mages are generally better than knights at handling Formulas."
Flicker. Flash. Flicker.
The figures of the investigation team surrounding the Emperor began to disappear one by one.
Magic that blows away Superhuman-level individuals without going through chanting or calculation.
"Killian Eurasia. Shall we hear your thoughts on witnessing a 9-star Arch Mage?"