Returning to the present day.
In the Kingdom of Kaivan, regardless of the alleged coup, there was an even more tragic event that completely overshadowed that massacre, to the point that people had almost forgotten it.
That event was the death of the goddess, which remained etched in people's minds; indeed, some did not believe it at first and accused the Church of lying, but the fact that the Patriarch, all those beneath him, and even the lowest-ranking followers slowly altered their churches forced the kingdom to believe it, whether they wanted to or not.
That the goddess Ilthara had truly fallen.
Many believers mourned the loss of their goddess, and some even took their own lives, believing they had no reason to live any longer.
A great catastrophe had struck, and dealing with it proved difficult on every level; it was not only the Kingdom of Kaivan that was affected by this disaster, but the entire world.
A new era began with the goddess's death: the Age of Divine Collapse.
...
In one of the great cathedrals in the heart of the kingdom, a meeting was held between the patriarchs of the four churches.
One of them was a figure we had seen before: the patriarch who had appeared at King Roselle's meeting with the rest of his secret entourage.
That man's name was Aldric; he was the chief believer of the Church of Eternal Light, now the largest church following the fall of the Church of Perpetual Purity, which had belonged to the goddess Ilthara.
The other was an elderly man wearing spectacles, who radiated great wisdom and knowledge; he held a holy book in one hand and a rosary in the other, reciting prayers to the god of their church.
That elderly man belonged to the Church of Eternal Devotion.
Beside the elderly man stood a woman draped in a black robe; she also wore a head covering and had a light, translucent veil over her face. Her long nose protruded from the veil, and her red eyes revealed an unparalleled beauty hidden behind that translucent veil.
That woman was the Patriarch of the Church of Wise Silence.
Finally, there was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with a very imposing physique and a height of well over two metres, standing with unyielding dignity and majesty.
That was the Patriarch of the Hall of Unyielding Strength.
The four Patriarchs sat together in the Holy Council Chamber after paying their respects to the God of the Church of Eternal Light, which served as the venue for their meeting.
Aldric placed his hand on the table, gazing intently at the other three Patriarchs, then said calmly, "We must discuss what is happening in this kingdom, and what is happening around the world right now."
...
Elsewhere, in the royal palace's training ground, a battle was taking place between two people.
One was a man with brown hair and grey eyes, his appearance clearly showing just how exhausted he was.
He stood facing a blonde girl, her blue eyes cold and devoid of any trace of emotion.
The two were exchanging blows with their swords, and the blonde girl's superiority was entirely evident.
"Your body is still far too stiff. At this rate, you won't even dream of entering the Path of the Body… let alone think of revenge…"
The blonde girl explained as she dodged the man's sword swing with a small step, causing him to lose his balance. She then placed her hand on his, knocked him to the ground, and pressed her sword against his throat.
"And so you've died for the thousandth time…"
The man gritted his teeth in frustration, dropped his sword in surrender, and said, "It's my loss…"
The blonde girl rose from him coolly, sheathed her sword at her waist with the same composure, and cast a glance at the man as he got to his feet.
"At least you have the will to carry on; that's good…"
The man gave her a slight nod, then bowed slightly in gratitude, saying, "Thank you for giving me your precious time to train me, Commander Evelyn…"
"Don't worry, it's just that I've had a lot of spare time lately."
Evelyn placed her hand on her waist as she looked at him; despite her cold expression, she did not seem as harsh as she had been earlier with the maid.
John glanced at her briefly, then picked up his sword, which had been lying on the ground, sheathed it, and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Ever since what happened earlier, I've been feeling rather hesitant, but I'm not like that anymore. I still really want revenge…"
Evelyn nodded to John; she was the one who had witnessed him at the lowest point of his despair, and his determination to carry on was something she respected.
"It's good that you have the will to withstand painful circumstances."
"That's because they've pinned their hopes on me, and I cannot let them down. That's why I want to carry on…"
John clenched his fist tightly, unwilling to let his comrades' sacrifice go to waste.
"Expectations, eh?.."
Evelyn turned away coldly, then began walking into the palace. John felt curious about this, then saw her turn her head towards him.
"Follow me… I'll help you open the Path of the Body…"
John opened his eyes wide; he knew how difficult it was to open one of the Paths, but would a master of such immense skill as the Foretold Princess Evelyn personally help him? That was more than he had ever dared to dream of.
"All right!"
John hurried after her, and the two of them began walking back inside.
...
Back to another location outside the Kingdom of Kaivan, where a carriage was travelling along the road.
[ Quest 1 ]
[ Rescue Lady Christie, daughter of Duke Williams… and return her safely to her home ]
[ Reward ]
[ Unlock the Path of the Body ]
[ Progress Bar – 22% ]
When Athtar saw the mission details, he sighed slightly and looked up; the carriage's canopy was all he could see without the system's blue screen. Then, on a whim, he looked at the next mission.
[ Quest 2 ]
[ Guide to the Fragment of Matter ]
[ Searth ]
The mission remained suspended like that, perhaps as a reminder to him that it was a long-term mission, and he realised just how difficult it would be for him now.
The screen went blank, then the final mission appeared.
[ Quest 3 ]
[ Stroke Christie's head three times ]
[ 2/3 ]
[ Duration: Unlimited ]
[ Reward ]
[ Purify a portion of the corrupted mana in the host's body ]
As expected, he needed to do this on three separate occasions, not simply three times. He had already done it and stroked Christie's head three times in a row whilst they were practising magic, but only one count was recorded, just as before.
«Hey, System, you're warning me about corruption, but to be honest, I haven't felt any serious side effects. Previously, my mana was affected slightly and changed colour, but that's all. Do you have any explanation for this?»
Athtar asked. Although his system was somewhat unreliable—and had been malfunctioning for a while at the start, and perhaps still was—it possessed information that Athtar certainly didn't know.
[ What? Have you decided to learn more? ]
«No, this concerns my revenge. I need to be stronger, and the corruption of the mana might affect my abilities and my connection to the mana.»
[ You can be clever when you want to be, can't you? ]
«Is that an insult?»
[ It's a compliment… ]
Athtar didn't reply to her words, as she began speaking again immediately.
[ The reason you feel nothing is because the corpse bearing the bulk of the corruption has been sealed by me, so the corruption won't affect you directly. However, this is the corpse of a goddess; even My Majesty cannot fully contain it, so a tiny fraction of that corruption seeps into your body, and you need to purify that fraction periodically. ]
Athtar understood the gist of her words and nodded to her, even though he thought the system wouldn't see that, would it? He didn't know how it worked anyway.
«I understand that, but what's the point of acquiring the goddess's body? Isn't she already dead?»
[ Even if she's dead, she's still a goddess. Just imagine the benefits we'll reap when we purify her body of corruption! We might find countless treasures within her body ]
Athtar sensed the feminine voice emanating from the system was tinged with excitement and perhaps greed; for a moment, he could imagine the girl speaking to him now looking as though she were smiling a sly smile, with saliva dripping from her mouth.
«You have no body, yet you are so greedy.»
[ This is for the benefit of us both, you fool! ]
«As you wish.»
Athtar closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest a little longer; the journey was certainly still a very long one, and he would continue to build his strength until he returned to the kingdom ready for revenge.
That was what he was aiming for, but suddenly, he heard strange noises from outside. He got up and knocked quietly on Christie's window. A few seconds later, Christie opened the window for him.
"What's going on? There's some strange noise."
"I don't know. It sounds as though a group has stopped the cart."
Athtar was surprised and decided to leave the storeroom. First, he quietly opened the tent and peered outside; he looked around and saw a group of bandits.
«Bandits? Here?»
It was strange, especially as this wasn't the first time; some of them had attacked them before, and they'd decided to change their route in advance.
Athtar drew his dagger from its sheath, then clambered down nimbly, heading for the nearest of the criminals. In the blink of an eye, he plunged the dagger into the man's heart whilst covering his mouth to stop him from screaming.
Fortunately, no one heard a sound, so Athtar drew his sword and moved towards the nearest bandit after the first dead one. He attacked him and slashed violently at his neck, leaving him to bleed out. The man's screams alerted the rest, who turned towards Athtar.
"Watch out! There's an attacker and he looks strong!!"
The bandits' leader was a burly man; he looked at Athtar coldly. "This man looks like a beast…"
The bandits attacked from all directions, but Athtar dodged them and countered their blows with a critical strike; as a former seasoned knight, they were like children compared to him.
But no matter how skilled Athtar was, the sheer number of enemies began to wear him down, and only their leader and two others remained.
Athtar did not want to take any risks, so he decided to use magic.
He ran towards the nearest one, and particles began to gather from his body to his arm and then around his sword. At the tip of the sword, a small jet of water appeared. Athtar aimed it at the bandit, who was taken by surprise; the jet pierced his head and brought him down.
Athtar turned on the last one and stabbed him in the chest with his sword, causing the man to spit blood as he writhed in pain. Athtar was about to withdraw his sword when he saw a blade pierce the bandit's body and then find its way into his own chest.
Athtar was taken aback and spat blood as he staggered backwards, then placed his hand on his chest; fortunately, he had been far enough away for the wound not to be deep.
"Your reactions aren't even human… You must be a monster."
said the massive bandit leader coldly, pointing his sword, which was stained with Athtar's blood and that of the other man.
"Thank you…"
replied Athtar, which annoyed the man; he rushed towards him, brandishing his massive sword at Athtar. "I've been watching you closely. You're exhausted, aren't you?"
Athtar gave no admission, stepping back and beginning to dodge the bandit leader's blows, but he was indeed exhausted, and casting spells took time—time the bandit leader wouldn't grant him.
"I'm surprised you have the will to fight me after watching me slaughter every member of your squad…"
The bandit leader replied with a smile, making a powerful gesture that caused the ground beneath him to explode in clouds of dust. "It's just that the reward is worth dying for…"
When the dust clouds cleared, the bandit leader saw Athtar pointing at him, with bolts of lightning clashing in his hand.
"I see… Then die for a reward you'll never see…"
The bolt of lightning struck the bandit leader with lightning speed; with his mere human reflexes, he wouldn't even be able to react in time.
The bolt struck his head; he screamed loudly and fell unconscious, his body still emitting bolts of lightning.
Athtar sighed and panted slightly as he sheathed his sword, then whispered coldly, "Right, let's find out who the mastermind behind this series of assassinations is…"
.
.
.
To Be Continued.