## Chapter 996 – Unknown Power

The power of divinity is a force bestowed by each god.

Though angels, Valkyries, and avatars of gods have long vanished from the earth, the power of divinity remains a clear indication that the gods still intervene in this world.

There are several ways to manifest this divine power. One prominent method is to live and act according to the doctrines systematically taught in religious orders.

Living such a life generally leads to the manifestation of divine power. However, not everyone can manifest it, regardless of their sincerity or faith. Some people simply can’t.

And even when it does manifest, it can increase or decrease chaotically.

Generally, the amount of divine power increases with continued practice, but not always. A newly arrived novice priest might suddenly emit a tremendous amount of divine power, while a nun who has dedicated her life to the church might possess only a meager amount.

There are no absolutes.

There are general guidelines, but in some cases, it’s all case-by-case.

The church interprets this as the gods not perfectly distinguishing and meticulously observing each individual.

Even gods cannot fully grasp the human mind in every moment.

Isn’t that so?

Imagine a being that instantly grasps and calculates the thoughts and feelings of humans, which arise constantly, faster than the speed of seconds. It would seem more like an evil entity trying to control thoughts and personalities. Such a terrible being does not exist in this world.

It’s complicated in many ways, but I’m not a religious person anyway. It’s enough to know this much.

Above all, I don’t particularly like the concept of gods bestowing power.

Anyway, the nature of divine power is generally similar.

The source of power for a holy knight serving the god Verde and an ascetic warrior believing in the god Ijzermart is somewhat similar.

But they are never the same.

Interaction is possible, but they are never identical.

This is the most important point: the inability to possess or use two kinds of divine power simultaneously is accepted as truth in every religious order.

There’s a semi-legendary tale of a hero blessed by all gods. Yes, receiving blessings from multiple gods is possible. But the divine power one uses must always be of a single kind.

That is the nature of divine power.

Once someone possesses divine power, it’s difficult for them to change religions. Only when the divine power within them completely disappears can they switch. But has a religious person ever lost their divine power? Can one deny the divinity that has already risen within them?

“Yes, they can.”

—Static.

Kadia, with her feet on the desk, trimmed her nails with a small burst of divine power from her fingertips, and said, “They just don’t announce it, and say it doesn’t exist.”

What kind of crazy bastard would do something so audacious?

“Historically, they certainly existed. Holy knights who abandoned their gods. Those who abandoned their faith in Verde and their righteous hearts and turned to evil gods.”

“Why those fanatics?”

“Because it wasn’t always like that.”

Ah.

“It was before the holy knights protected their minds and thoughts with fanaticism. Back then, the holy knights of the Brass Archangel Order were quite rational and reasonable. But you know? That way, they can’t be safe from the temptations of demons or evil gods.”

That’s right.

Is that how they turned to evil gods? Such individuals would certainly be formidable opponents.

It’s understandable why they make holy knights uncompromising fanatics.

“As the Holy Maiden, I clearly believe that I must compromise in some areas because I pursue reason, but I also think that pushing this too far is not a good method. Yes, the important thing is proper flexibility, just like Paladin thinks.”

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

“Anyway, what we’re doing in this ritual is something of that sort.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a ritual to confirm Paladin’s divinity and analyze it.”

—Hoo.

Having finished trimming her nails, she took out another cigarette and put it in her mouth.

“The church once researched methods of artificially injecting divine power.”

Seriously.

“Isn’t that a bit blasphemous?”

“It might be, depending on your perspective. But Paladin, the god Verde has never expressed any will regarding the rule that divine power should not be transferred.”

The will of God.

“The church’s doctrine is a collection of all the things that the god Verde has ever expressed his will about.”

“Oh… is that so?”

“That’s right.”

The church’s doctrine was a compilation of records of the will of God that had been observed so far.

“Of course, even if the god Verde has never expressed his will, we don’t do immoral or evil things. The divine power injection experiment was ultimately for the sake of this world.”

That would be the case.

“So there was such an attempt.”

They must have thought of increasing the number of warriors to fight against evil, so the justification itself would be there. I can fully believe that.

But looking at the nuance of her words.

“It failed, didn’t it?”

“Well… it was a bit of a far-fetched idea. But we did achieve some minor results. And the ritual we’re going to perform on Paladin this time is one of the achievements derived from that research.”

“What do you mean?”

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

“First, we will perform a ritual to artificially inject divine power into Paladin’s body.”

“Kadia.”

I turned around immediately.

“I won’t do it.”

“No.”

Injecting divine power into my body? I can never allow such a thing. I don’t care if I don’t do such a ritual.

“This time, no matter how much my Kadia asks, I can’t grant it. I’m sorry, but give up, Kadia. I’m going back!!!”

“Wait, Paladin. Stop. It’s not that serious!”

—Halt.

I turned back to her again.

“It’s not very harmful. None of the participants in the experiment suffered any side effects. Of course, no one saw any effects either. Do you think the Holy Maiden would recommend something abnormal to Paladin? I would never do that. The Holy Maiden is already Paladin’s woman.”

I can feel the sincerity in her eyes.

If she says that much.

“It’s harmless?”

“Almost.”

Almost?

“This ritual is quite simple. If there is such divinity in Paladin’s body, the divine power injection ritual will completely fail. If Paladin has that power, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“…Didn’t you say the experiment failed?”

“I said there were minor achievements. A significant number of the subjects were able to maintain the injected divine power for ‘a very short time.’ But it soon scattered and disappeared completely.”

It disappeared as soon as it was injected.

It was just there for a moment because it was injected, but it scattered right away because it wasn’t true divine power?

“But isn’t injecting divine power similar to healing? Isn’t it the same feeling as being healed?”

“They are completely different in nature. Consuming divine power to use healing and injecting divine power are completely different meanings. To give an example with a mage, it’s like receiving a mana injection procedure versus being hit by a fireball.”

“Now that I hear it, it’s true.”

I understood.

“It’s just that you’ll briefly possess divine power for less than a second. Such divine power that will soon scatter.”

“Hmm.”

“It disappears immediately, and it’s impossible to use that power. The injected divine power is so small that only the sensitive Holy Maiden or the Pope, and a few cardinals, can feel it. Of course, this has never succeeded properly even once. And there has never been a case of side effects.”

The stability is guaranteed.

Yes.

“So if I have divinity, it won’t even work at all?”

“That Valkyrie was not impure. Of course, it was made with the power of God. If such power is inherent in Paladin, it will be ‘rejected’ beyond failure. With that, we can find out a little about the nature of the power that Paladin has absorbed.”

Rejected.

“There are records of experiments on those who possess the divine power of other gods. As expected, it was bounced off. This is also a rejection.”

“What, did you catch someone? A heretic?”

“No, he was just a priest of another religion. At the same time, he was also a vile criminal. He wasn’t aware of it himself, but he committed a big fraud, so we arrested him and used him as a test subject.”

“Wow.”

Is it possible to commit such crimes even with divine power?

Anyway, I understood.

It’s not very dangerous, and nothing of mine is being violated.

It’s about finding out the nature of the power within me.

Then it would be okay to do it.

“Then I’ll take it. For a moment, I thought it was something weird.”

“Didn’t you trust the Holy Maiden?”

Kadia frowned.

“No, would I not trust our Kadia?”

“Manners.”

“It’s human Kadia. This demigod Kim Katte cannot distrust that beautiful you.”

“Manners.”

“Yes, Holy Maiden.”

As soon as I bowed my head, she seemed to feel better instantly, and she smiled and said softly.

“Hmph, good. I forgive you.”

“Yes.”

“Then come on the day.”

I said I would.

* * *

The day of the ritual arrived.

I visited the Great Temple from dawn and followed the waiting nun to a place I had never been before.

It was a basement right under the Pope’s office.

It was quite large and a solemn space. Magical lamps were placed everywhere, making it very bright, and the air was not stuffy, as the ventilation was good. Above all, there were holy paintings hanging on both sides of the hallway.

It’s quite antique.

—Squeak.

The nun pushed open the door with the symbol of the god Verde, and I went inside.

—Whoosh.

The senses that had reached the level of a superhuman immediately analyzed how many people were inside as soon as the door opened.

The Pope was standing there.

Four cardinals were standing on either side of him, and two holy knights wearing Holy Angel helmets were guarding him. And Kadia, who was next to them, waved at me.

“It’s been a while, Holy Maiden’s Paladin.”

In the midst of such a solemn atmosphere, the Pope, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, approached three steps and spoke first.

“Nice to meet you, Pope.”

I knelt on one knee and bowed my head.

“It’s okay, get up.”

“Yes.”

“You have solved so many problems in the meantime. It has helped to expand the church, and you have also defeated heretics and demons. As Pope, I am very grateful.”

Praise as a greeting.

I listened to the words without much thought.

“The Holy Maiden has invited a very good talent… I express my gratitude again.”

“It’s nothing, Pope.”

“No, it was a very big deal.”

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

“You’ve already heard the explanation, right?”

“Yes.”

I heard it all last time.

“But I didn’t expect even the Pope to come in person.”

“As the matter is a matter, I decided to attend in person. To destroy the sealed ancient Valkyrie and obtain something like the power of divinity… It’s hard to believe, but since it’s said to have happened, I have no choice but to find out. Isn’t that so? This is a very important matter.”

“It’s certainly an important matter.”

No matter how I look at it, it’s definitely an important matter.

“Then.”

As the Pope gave a look, Kadia said to me.

“I’ll start the ritual right away. Paladin, take off your clothes.”

“How far should I take them off?”

“Just take off your coat and top.”

—Clang.

—Clang.

The cardinals and holy knights began to move the sacred objects, and I took off my clothes according to Kadia’s guidance and approached the altar.

“Lie down. The preparations themselves were all finished the day before. It won’t take long. Just lie down comfortably.”

“Yes.”

The altar made of brass was quite cold.

Soon the cardinals placed the sacred objects around me.