Chapter 996 – Unknown Power

Divine power is the power bestowed by each god.

Angels, Valkyries, and avatars of gods have long since disappeared from the earth, but even so, the divine power is very clear evidence that the gods are still intervening in this world.

There are several ways to manifest this divine power, but to pick one representative, it is to live or act according to the doctrine systematically trained in the church.

If you live a life like this, your divine power will generally be manifested. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is showing up. There are some people who can’t do it no matter what the sincerity and faith of the person concerned.

And even if it is manifested, there are cases where it rises or falls in a jumbled mess.

In general, if you repeat training, the amount of holy power increases, but there are also cases where it is not, and there are cases where a newcomer priest who has just entered suddenly emits a huge amount of holy power, and even after working as a nun for a long time, the amount of holy power is insignificant. There are cases.

There is no such thing as absolute.

There are general guidelines, but in some cases they are case-by-case.

The church interprets this to be because the gods perfectly distinguish each human being and do not examine them in detail.

Even if it is a god, it is impossible to grasp the entire human mind from moment to moment.

Isn’t it?

Let’s assume that there is an existence that calculates while grasping all the human mind and moods that come up with thoughts from time to time faster than seconds. No matter how you look at it, it looks like something evil trying to control thoughts and personalities. There is no such terrible being in this world.

It’s complicated in many ways, but I’m not a religious person anyway. You just need to know something like this.

More than anything.

I don’t really like the notion of God granting power.

Anyway.

The properties of divine power are generally similar.

It is said that the source of power emitted by the paladin who serves the god Verde and the ascetic warrior who believes in the god Eisermart is similar in its own way.

But never the same.
Interaction is possible, but never identical.

This is the most important thing, but it is accepted as a truth in any denomination that you cannot have or use two divine powers at the same time.

Among the stories that are half-legendary, there is a story of a hero wearing the blessing of the gods. Yes, what It is possible to receive blessings from multiple gods. However, as much as the divine power he uses himself, there is absolutely one thing.

That is the nature of divine power.

Those who possess divine power cannot change their religion at all. The divine power must be completely extinguished in the body, but only then can the religion be changed. But have there been cases where religious people have lost their divine power? Can you deny the divinity that has already risen?

“Have.”

ㅡ Jijijik.

Cadia, who raised his feet on the work desk, said while trimming her nails with the small divine power emitted from his fingertips to her.

“I just don’t tell you, I just say no.”

어떤 미친 새끼가 그런 대담한 짓을.

“Historically, there have certainly existed. Paladins who forsook God. There are those who abandoned their faith and righteous heart toward the god Verde and went over to the evil spirits.”
“Why those fanatics?”
“Because it wasn’t like that before.”

Oh

“It was a time when the Paladins were not yet protecting their minds and thoughts with fanaticism. At that time, the Paladins of the Brass Holy Angel Society were also quite rational and rational. But, you know?

That’s right.

Was it that way that it fell over to the evil spirits? Such people will no doubt be very difficult opponents.

Making paladins uncompromising fanatics makes sense.

“Because this saintess pursues rationality, she clearly believes that compromise is necessary at some point, but she also thinks that pushing this excessively is not a very good method. Yes, the important thing is appropriate flexibility. Just like you think.”

In fact, there is nothing more important than flexibility in life.

“Anyway, what is being done in this ceremony is that kind of thing.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s a ritual to confirm the paladin’s divinity and analyze it.”

ㅡ Whoops.

Finishing her nails, she licked her cigarette again.

“There was a time when the Church studied how to artificially inject divine power.”

How.

“Isn’t that a little blasphemy?”
“Depending on your point of view, that could be the case. But Paladin.

God’s will

“The Church’s doctrine is a collection and arrangement of things that God Verde has expressed his will for at least once.”
“Oh… Is that so?”
“Yes.”

It was the church’s doctrine that summarized the records of God’s will that had been observed so far.

“Of course, even if God Verde never showed his will, we would n’t do anything immoral or evil. The experiment of injecting divine power was for this world after all.”

It will.

“So there was such an attempt.”

Since it was done with the intention of increasing the number of warriors who would fight evil, I think there must be a justification for it. I think I can do that too.

But if you look at the nuance of what you say.

“You failed.”
“Well… It was a bit of an absurd thing. Still, it yielded subtle results. And the ritual to be performed on the paladin this time is one of the results of that research.”
“How?”.

Having said that, she put her feet down on her desk and put out her cigarette in the ashtray.

“For now, we will perform a ritual to artificially inject divine power into the paladin’s body.”
“Cadia.”

I turned around right away.

“I won’t.”
“No.”

Injecting divine power into my body is something I absolutely cannot admit. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any rituals.

“This time, no matter how much my Cadia asks, I can’t do it. I’m sorry, but give up, Cadia. I’m going back!!!”
“Hey, wait a minute Paladin. Stop it. It’s not that serious!”

—-Stop.

I looked back at her again.

“It’s not that harmful. None of those who participated in the experiment had any side effects. Of course, no one saw the effect. Do you think the saintess who saw it would recommend unusual things to a paladin? It never will. The saintess who has already seen a paladin’ cause she’s a woman.”

I can feel the sincerity in your eyes.

If you say so

“Is it harmless?”
“It could almost be said that.”

Almost?

“This ritual is quite simple. If the paladin has such divinity, the ritual of injecting divine power will fail completely. If it is true that the paladin possesses that power, there is no need to worry about anything.”
“…Didn’t the experiment fail?”
“I said that there was a small achievement. Many of the experimenters were able to maintain the divine power injected ‘for a very short time’. It soon dispersed and completely disappeared.”

The injection disappeared immediately.

It was there for a while because it was just inserted, but because it was not a true divine power, did it scatter right away?

“But isn’t that injecting divine power, a power similar to healing? Isn’t it the same feeling as being healed?”
“It’s a completely different nature. Using a heal by consuming divine power and injecting it have a completely different meaning. As a wizard, for example, receiving magic injection and being hit with fire bolts are not the same thing. It’s okay.”
“I heard and saw it.”

Understood.

“It’s literally just holding the divine power for a short time in less than one second. Such divine power that will soon be scattered.”
“Hmm.”
“It disappears immediately, and it is impossible to use that power. The divine power injected is also very small, so sensitive that only a few cardinals can feel it. Of course, this has never been successful. What happened too.”

Stability is guaranteed.

Okay.

“So if I have divinity, then I can’t have any of that at all?”
“That Valkyrie was not unclean. Of course, it was made with the power of a god. If such a power was inherent in a paladin, it would go beyond failing and be ‘rejected’. With that, we might be able to find out a bit about the nature of the power the paladin absorbed.”

Be rejected

“There is a record of experimentation on those who possess the divine power of other gods. They say it bounced off as if it were natural.
“Who did you catch? Infidel?”
“No, he was just a priest of another religion. At the same time, he was also a vile criminal. He was unaware of himself. He committed a big scam, so we arrested him and used him as a test subject.”
“Hemmy.”

Even if you have divine power, is it possible to commit such a crime?

I got it anyway.

It’s not that dangerous, and it’s not like I’m intruding on anything.

It is to find out the nature of the power within me.
If so, it would be okay to do it.

“Then I’ll take it. At that moment, I thought it was something strange.”
“You mean you didn’t believe in the saint you saw?”

Cadia frowned at her.

“No, maybe it’s because I don’t trust our Cadia?”
“Words and actions.”
“Human Cadia. This demigod, Kim Katt, can’t believe you’re pretty.”
“Words and actions.”
“Yes. Holy Maiden.”

As soon as she lowered her head, she seemed to feel better in an instant. She smiled at her and said softly.

“Heh, that’s good. I’ll forgive you.”
“Yes.”
“Then come back the same day.”

Yes.

*           *

It was the day of the ceremony.

After coming to Daeshinjeon from dawn, I followed the nun who was waiting for me and headed to a place I had never been to before.

It was in the cellar right below the Pope’s office.

It was quite large, and it was also a solemn space. Magical lights were placed everywhere, so it was very bright, and the ventilation was good, so the air was not muddy. Most of all, there were torches hanging on both sides of the hallway.

Quite old fashioned

ㅡ Kikkiik.

The nun pushed through the gate with the symbol of the god Verde, and I went inside.

— Hwareuk.

The light source inside was a torch.

—Tspat.

As soon as I opened the door, my superhuman senses immediately analyzed how many people were inside.

The pope was standing.

On either side of him stood four cardinals, escorted by two paladins wearing holy angel helmets. And Cadia, who was next to him, waved at me.

“It’s been a while. A paladin under the direct control of the saintess.”

In the midst of such a solemn atmosphere, the pope, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, took three steps and spoke first.

“Nice to meet you, Pope.”

I got down on one knee and bowed my head.

“It’s okay, get up.”
“Yes.”
“So far, he has solved a lot of things. It has helped to expand the church, and he has also defeated the pagans and demons. As the Pope, I am very grateful.”

A compliment given as a greeting.
I listened to it without thinking.

“The saintess invited a very good talent… Thank you again and again.”
“It’s no big deal, Pope.”
“No, it was a very big thing.”

Behind them was something like an altar, and several brass-plated relics were placed there. I felt divine power emanating from there.

“I’m sure you’ve already heard the explanation.”
“Yes.”

I heard it all last time

“But I didn’t expect the Pope to come in person.”
“Since the matter is a matter, I decided to observe it myself. Destroying the ancient Valkyrie that was sealed and obtaining something like divine power… It’s hard to believe, but it’s clear that it happened, so I have no choice but to find out. Isn’t it? It’s important.”
“It’s definitely important.”

No matter how you look at it, it’s an important thing.

“Then.”

When the Pope noticed, Cadia spoke to me.

“I’ll start the ceremony right away. Paladin. Take off your clothes.”
“How far do you take it off?”
“You just need to take off your coat and top.”

ㅡ Cheekyong.
ㅡ Cheekyong.

The cardinal and the paladins began to move the relics, and following Cadia’s guidance, I took off my clothes and approached the altar.

“Lie down. The preparation itself was finished the day before. It shouldn’t take too long. You just need to lie down comfortably.”
“Yes.”

The brass altar was quite cold.

Soon the cardinals placed relics around me.