Chapter 17: The Key (5)
A faint but clear holy power illuminated the dark space with a white light.
“. . .”
I raised my head and looked up at the table behind the priest’s corpse.
A large book was placed on one side of the large cavity, filled with various books and miscellaneous magical tools.
They were not worthless items, but what I was looking for was the sphere floating in the middle of the table.
A sphere that seemed to contain hundreds, thousands of shards of glass in colors that were difficult to define.
It had an appearance that evoked a sense of mystery.
Swish.
As expected, a wizard must always be prepared for the unexpected.
Although I hadn’t expected my current situation, I had prepared something in case I couldn’t immediately store magic in my body.
The Stone of the Gap.
I slowly raised my hand.
Unlike its mysterious appearance, its function was quite simple.
To store and release magic.
Aside from the fact that its capacity was nearly infinite, it wasn’t much different from the effects of some holy relics or devil’s relics.
However, there was another reason why this artifact was the most useful to me right now.
Chaeng.
As soon as my hand touched it, the void began to break.
If the dead priest at my feet had seen this, he would have doubted his own eyes. The relic began to react without any incantation or movement.
The key to unlocking the relic’s seal was the energy of my own soul.
It wasn’t something that others could operate in the first place. Just like the other legacies I had left behind.
Crackle!
As if thin glass was breaking, the mysterious glowing sphere began to break down the boundary between the material world and beyond.
Somewhere between the hell of the underworld where devils lived and the paradise of heaven where gods resided.
Swish!
The mysteriously shimmering stone soon disappeared into the space beyond the material world, a space I called ‘the gap between dimensions’.
Jitter.
And the crack in the void, which had been shimmering like broken glass, smoothly disappeared.
“. . .”
A presence that had vanished completely. The void was as clean as if nothing had ever existed.
It’s the same as before. I nodded in satisfaction at the sight.
An item that acts as a storage space, capable of storing and releasing magic, is certainly valuable, but there are many items with similar effects.
The reason this Stone of the Gap was special was because of what had just vanished without a trace.
It could be stored without anyone noticing.
Of course, I can’t help but use the artifact to retrieve artifacts from the space between dimensions, or when using black magic, but normally no one will notice. Unless they come face to face with a god or archdevil.
Unless I deliberately take it out, I will be able to store a huge amount of magic in this artifact and still confidently enter the Holy See or the Inquisition headquarters, which are full of priests and holy relics.
In short, I can now use both holy power and magic. It was almost the only way to use magic while maintaining the status of an inquisitor.
An inquisitor who uses black magic.
Perhaps some of my past acquaintances, who may still be alive, would be shocked to see this.
Having completed my initial goal of retrieving the artifact, I slowly moved my steps.
I wasn’t going outside. There was still something left to do.
“. . .”
The offering prepared by the priest of this place.
I approached the front of the altar located inside the cavity.
It wasn’t very large, but it had all the necessary features. No matter how low-level a devil is, it cannot be summoned unless the correct procedure is followed.
In the middle of the ominous pentagram and the letters drawn in the language of hell, there was a very small hole.
The place that serves as the medium of the contract, known as the ‘Fehern Pond’.
In order to make a contract with a devil of a certain level or higher, in addition to the offering and the skill of the warlock, one more thing is necessary.
A place with an evil intent that has been formed over a long period of time.
Of course, for low-ranking devils, a graveyard would be enough, but in order to make a contract with a devil with a decent level of ability, a cursed place was essential.
The most famous examples include ‘Rosaline’s Nightmare’, where a saint chosen by God was unjustly killed long ago, and ‘Moibel’s Furnace’, a deep pit where tens of thousands of innocent civilians were burned to death by a mad emperor.
Perhaps some of the places where I fought five hundred years ago have now become places suitable for the establishment of altars for summoning devils.
I looked at the small puddle filled with a viscous greenish liquid, too small to be called a well.
The source of the green traces engraved on the bodies of the Bergezia Cult warlocks and the center of the devil’s ritual.
‘The magic has become quite thick in five hundred years.’
I could understand a little why the remnants who had been crushed by me before had come back here to hide.
Of course, this place meant nothing to me now that I had no intention of making a contract with the devil. No, it would be better to get rid of it.
What I wanted was the energy of the underworld that came from the countless offerings of those who had been unjustly killed, which the priest had prepared in order to make a contract with a higher-ranking devil.
In other words, the offering itself.
‘I will make good use of this offering.’
After confirming what these guys had been working hard to prepare while hiding in the basement, I made the sign of the cross towards the corpse of the priest lying behind me.
Crackle.
As I concentrated, a small crack began to appear in the space above my head.
Jitter.
The Stone of the Gap, responding to the will in my soul, slowly emerged from the empty space.
‘Now.’
I closed my eyes and concentrated.
Swish.
As in the previous graveyard, natural magic slowly began to flow towards me.
To be exact, not to me, but to the orb above my head, the Stone of the Gap.
A large amount of magic passing near my body.
“. . .!”
Although the flowing magic and the holy power in my body didn’t come into direct contact, I felt a tingling sensation in my body due to an instinctive sense of rejection. As expected, it’s different from the previous graveyard, where I didn’t have any holy power in my body.
Screech!
Even my raised right arm began to smoke with a burning pain.
‘This is quite painful.’
I bit my lip.
My right arm felt like it was burned, but I didn’t stop absorbing the magic.
This much is a small price to pay compared to using both holy power and magic.
Gooooooooo.
The magic that had been perfectly prepared for the sacrifice was forcibly drawn out, and the altar began to shake slightly.
I smiled as the small structure shook and I heard a faint roar, as if from a devil angered by the theft of the offering it had prepared for itself.
Anyway, since the ritual hasn’t been completed, the devil on the other side of the boundary can’t come over here. It won’t be able to see this place in the first place.
‘To make me hesitate even a little with a faint anger from afar, you have to be at least a duke of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace.’
If it had been a ritual to summon a devil of that level, I would have given up right away. I didn’t need to leave a tail behind when I still had a long way to go.
However, the level of the priest of the Bergezia Cult and the level of the offering were far from enough. At best, it would only be a devil that had barely escaped the lowest rank.
I can easily walk away from such a guy’s table with a smile.
After a while.
By the time I felt no sensation in my hand, the absorption of all the magic prepared as an offering was complete.
Compared to when I used to receive high-quality magic directly from the archdevil, it was only a small amount, but it was an incomparably large amount compared to what I had barely obtained in the small graveyard before.
With this, I would be able to use a fairly high level of black magic several times.
Aside from finding my first legacy, it was a good harvest.
Swish.
The Stone of the Gap, which had absorbed all the magic, disappeared without a trace once again.
Now, finally.
I put my weakened right hand into my bosom.
“Now, I have to finish things off as an inquisitor.”
I laughed softly and threw three or four bottles of holy water into the small pond that was bubbling and vibrating in front of me. Along with a considerable amount of holy power.
Bubble bubble.
In response, the green pond began to boil and the altar began to shake.
🔹🔹🔹
“. . .What the hell is this.”
Inquisitor Lefra muttered the words she had repeated several times already.
Her steps, which had been hurried in order to save, or rather, rush to the aid of the ignorant new inquisitor who was likely in danger, continued to slow down.
There were traces of battle everywhere.
No, it would be difficult to call it a battle. It was a one-sided fight.
She was a skilled inquisitor with a lot of experience, and she could easily imagine the battle that had taken place here from the remaining traces.
The use of holy power was so precise and clean that it was hard to believe it came from a candidate who had just reached the age of a young man. The swordsmanship that could be seen from the cross-section of the monsters was of a level that could be called first-class.
“. . .”
She sighed as she put away the two rapiers she had been holding tightly in her hands.
It’s not the whim of a young hot-blooded guy.
Unfortunately, she had to admit it.
The child named Luciel, who had been brought by Senior Inquisitor Anton Revecht, was not ordinary.
‘. . .He brought an amazing guy.’
She nodded and continued to walk.
It was something to be admired, but in any case, it was true that he had disobeyed the order of the Inquisition.
He had ignored the original plan, which was to join forces and explore carefully, and had rushed into the enemy’s territory alone. It was a clear reason for caution. Especially if he was a guy with a lot of potential.
No matter how talented he was, she had seen too many cases where people lost their lives due to the despicable tricks of heretics or a moment of carelessness.
“. . .Is this it?”
Lefra, who had already entered the innermost part of the cult through the wide-open door, stopped walking.
“Ah, you’re a little late.”
“. . . . . .”
The guy who turned to her confidently, no, shamelessly, and waved his hand.
“Huh?”
A dumbfounded chuckle escaped from Lefra’s mouth.
‘Late? Me?’
She had arrived a half day early, just to find the way first, in order to take care of the inexperienced guy.
It’s a different kind of annoyance from Anton Revecht, the sponsor and teacher who brought him.
She tried to calm her twitching lips with anger and walked towards where the guy was standing.
A good blow to the head of that arrogant guy. . . . . .
‘. . .Huh?’
Only then did she notice that the guy’s right hand had turned completely black.
It’s a sight she had seen many times from inquisitors.
Traces of having dealt with excessive magic.
The guy stood there as if nothing had happened, but he must have been in considerable pain. It was an injury that would take more than a week to heal completely.
“You. . . . . .”
Annoyance and admiration, anger and resentment, but also a sense of admiration for her junior who had completed his first mission safely, and a little worry about his injury.
Lefra, who was staring at him with mixed emotions and trying to choose what to say, soon let out a sigh.
Unlike the heartless Anton Revecht, he was still a young boy. She couldn’t be affectionate, but she had to treat him as a proper inquisitor.
Then.
‘Not bad. Good job.’ She opened her lips to say something like that, but her gaze turned to one side.
Bubble bubble.
“. . . . . .?”
A sound like something boiling.
Thud thud thud.
And the sound of something shaking.
Lefra looked up blankly. She saw the ceiling beginning to vibrate slowly.
Lefra lowered her gaze again and looked at the young man who was staring blankly at her from the front.
Luciel opened his mouth naturally as he met her gaze.
“What are you doing? Run.”
Thud thud thud!
Lefra stared blankly at Luciel’s back as he ran away, already dodging the pieces of the ceiling that were falling one by one.
Bang!
A large piece of debris fell next to her.
“. . .Hey!”
Finally, she let out an angry scream and began to run out after Luciel, avoiding the collapsing ceiling.
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