Chapter 166

Servants of Magic (1)

The Adgon commissioner was said to have voted against anything concerning Mercadius since a long time ago.

'But I can't fight him here and now just because he's suspicious.'

Just as Bachurka wasn't a superiorly strong being, the Adgon Commissioner was also an Awakened of a level where I would win by a landslide victory if we were to fight 1:1.

However, even if I fought without justification and evidence, I would only turn the Union into an enemy.

"You mean that you need proof, right?"

"That's right."

I spoke as if I sounded him out.

"I don't think you'll lose anything by believing in me, but as you're so against it, I cannot understand well."

Adgon's attitude was straight as an arrow.

"Nothing to lose? Don't you know a huge opportunity cost follows spending workforce, time, and resources on so many dimensions to chase the fragments of a god that might not be real?"

"Then we can't do anything about it. I'll have to prove that what I'm saying is true."

Adgon glared at me with a look that seemed to say, "what are you going to do?"

My reaction was simple.

I continued, sticking out the back of my hand with the seal carved on it.

"I know this seal has been proven to be real. It's a sign that great beings left for me as they recognized me."

Then the supreme commissioners all expressed their agreement.

Among them, only Argon's face turned very grim.

He noticed what I was about to do.

"But you're technically not an incarnation!"

"I haven't fully dedicated my soul yet, but I'm just as qualified."

Those weren't wrong words on a large scale except for the fact that there would never be a soul to dedicate.

Whooong!

I gathered the non-elemental divine power reserved in my body and sprinkled it evenly on the four seals.

As I did so-

Beep, beep, beep!

Like the last time, the divine force detector reacted sensitively and began to act frantically.

I spoke with much strength in my voice.

"I swear in the name of magic, life, sword, and luck that currently resides in my body."

The noise of the detector grew louder.

"Everything that I had testified so far about Mercadius is true. I swear on the great beings, and the gods will ascertain my honesty."

As soon as I finished saying so, I gave off the energy with good timing.

The energy of black, red, white, and gold visible in everyone's eyes began to spread, intertwining with each other.

It was a very colorful flame without any heat produced.

It eroded the surroundings as it created a holy echo.

The executors recognized at a glance that such a phenomenon occurred only when actual incarnations were sent down to the world.

"Sacred Flame!"

One of them exclaimed with a gasp.

The Sacred Flame was a phenomenon that happened whenever a god was deeply interested in the material world and wanted to prove its existence in the form of incarnation in front of the mortals.

A miracle presented by a god in response to the infidelity of the mortal.

But that right at that moment was...

'Why should I care if the gods are watching this scene or not?'

Honestly, there were no real deities involved in the phenomenon.

The flame was only made by my own will, but it couldn't be regarded as a fake either.

There's only a slight difference between the source and the process, but the resulting phenomenon itself was exactly the same!

A commissioner murmured.

"A vow made to not only one but four gods... It's meaningless to judge the legitimacy any longer."

"That's right. If this Awakened had lied, he would have angered the gods, and his whole body would have melted."

"Yes, I can assure you of this through the theological knowledge that our species has accumulated so far."

The Adgon then glared at me with a displeased face and could no longer disprove me.

Looking at him, I smiled quietly inside.

'Wait for just a little while. I'll dig up your deepest secret. I'll find out how your kind, Mercadius, and the system are linked with each other!'

Eventually, the agenda presented that day was passed unanimously.

*

"Then what happens from now?"

After my safe return to Earth, I summarized and told my companions of what had happened in the Union.

"From now on..."

I answered Hibiki's question.

"To conclude, I think the Union Headquarters denominations that exist at each dimension."

Then the golden armor, which had distanced far away from me, leaked a displeased mental wave.

- You're going to spread the trace of holiness more densely in the world?

"Except for the god of the mind. That's right. That's what I intended in the end."

Genograche didn't react to the non-elemental divine power at all. However, once the power donned the color of any god, he was put in as much pain as before.

He planted mental sensory receptors on both his real body and the golden armor. Due to that, it had driven him to the brink of madness in a recent battle with Mercadius.

Although he recovered quickly, perhaps because he kept getting beaten up, he no longer came close to me due to the trauma left.

As a result, I thought it would be too much to continue using his main body, the devil's sword, in the future, so I decided to keep the sword sealed well and equip myself with an additional item supported by the Union Headquarters.

[Mana Booster (Rank: EX)]

- Item Description: Control device to help maximize Mana efficiency. Dramatically reduces the Mana consumption required for the same output, and its performance depends on the associated facility design or user's ability.

It was an item made to replace the sword energy amplification function, the biggest reason behind my decision to use the devil's sword.

Originally, it was used in combination with Mana output engines under the engineers' precise design. Still, I decided to make it in the form of a bracelet and carry it around my hand that I don't wear the snake bracelet on.

The way I used it would probably shock any of the Union employees if they saw it.

According to common sense, it was only natural that the normal mortal, amplification range calculation and control was impossible through the brain and ability of the normal mortal.

But it was nothing but too easy for me since I could see Mana, and I had the ability of extreme control.

'And one more thing.'

I also received an item to replace the sword itself.

[Mass-produced Energy Sword: Imperial Combat Officer Type (Rank: SSS)]

- Item Description: This item was distributed to the Sebrarian Imperial Combat Officers and was both a symbol of status during the Empire's existence and loved as the most efficient and powerful weapon in close combat.

- This item does not work through a Core and requires the user to inject the Mana himself. A Mana of '15' per second is required for minimal maintenance after activation, and the Mana consumption may increase depending on the applied force.

The devil's sword called [Devil Slayer], which was rated S because of the penalty tempting users to death, was the equivalent of SSS-Class in actual performance.

On the other hand, the new weapon I was given was a real SSS-Class and was famous for its excellent performance.

I calculated that if I connected it with [Mana Booster], it wouldn't fall behind even if compared to the devil's sword.

Hence, I planned to bury the devil's sword's main body in the safe for a while.

Even when I did that, Genograche showed no problem or difficulties controlling the golden armor, and I had no intention of giving his real body to anyone else for the time being.

Randy, the owner of a previous life, was still way too young to handle such a powerful weapon.

- What the hell happened in the temple you went to in order to upgrade your skill? I've seen it before, considering you took my main body with you to the trials, but you got a mark on the back of your hand out of nowhere.

Instead of explaining the fact that the god of time had to mediate in the way the gods rushed and forced to make me their incarnation, I just shrugged.

I then finished expressing my initial train of thought to Hibiki.

"The response technique has also been simplified. That would probably last for as long as Mercadius is known to be a fragment of a god, and its brainwashing ability is based on divine power."

The power of other gods tended to repel each other.

Theoretically, another way to respond aside from [The Successor's Eyes] had been found.

However, the problem was that there was no real incarnation at that point in time, and I was the only one who had gotten at least closer than anyone to the concept.

"The priority is to find a high priest who can draw out enough power of any god... or beyond that, to find an outstanding individual that can become a vessel of incarnation."

It's only natural since I couldn't go around every dimension to kill all the members of the Mercadius species.

I had to increase the number of skilled beings that the god of mind's fragments couldn't brainwash.

"Until now, the Union has been neutral concerning religious orders. But it's different now. It seems that they plan to support not only the orders existing within the member dimensions but any organization that first of all believes in a god and that is large in terms of scale."

"How?"

"There are a lot of weak ones among them, so tracking ability and ability to mobilize funds would inevitably fall behind. Hence, they mean to support such factors to cover up any weaknesses."

"Ahh."

For the exiled gods, it was an occasion that they would welcome with open arms.

Since it meant that the largest group created by mortals were stepping up with their own two hands, all for the sake of allowing their influence to expand in the material world even more.

Nate, who was quietly listening, asked a question.

"Well, what do we have to do from here on out?"

My mid to long-term goal was to dig out the rotten edges of Adgon and return the system to its former, original state.

However, what my companions had to prepare at that stage was very simple in comparison.

"Let's leave it up to the Union to search for the vessels of the gods. We just need to do what we've been doing so far. We should Clear the Main Quest and become even stronger."

What I was particularly concerned about at that moment was Hibiki and Nate's Mana capacity.

They had excellent and outstanding unique skills even in terms of the standards of the dimensions that had entered the Main Quest. However, due to the human species' limitations, their Mana capacity was so small compared to their potential that it was holding them back.

Of course, there was no possible way for me to teach them Mana Drain, but I planned to find a way somehow.

*

After learning that the Adgon commissioner was suspicious, I shared the information with Adam, and he decided to operate his information network and dig through the alien's background.

From my perspective, wherein I had no information network that extended far beyond my own home dimension, I had to rely on Adam for that kind of work.

On the other hand, thanks to their guide after joining the Union, the Earth's hunters often visited other dimensions, and guild members joined the trend.

I only occasionally participated in quests that I thought were too difficult, and I let the rest be solved using their own power.

Due to such events, Nate and Hibiki were able to collect experience points continuously.

As we spent the time in that manner, the agreed compensation from the Tongel dimension arrived on Earth.

"Oh, my God. This is truly...!"

Chief Technology Officer Jonathan Gray welcomed me with an expression that seemed to tell my instincts that he was about to faint.

"I don't know if I'm in a dream or if this is reality. Where did you come across all this amount of material?"

I answered calmly.

"It's a gift from the aliens."

"What?!"

"Anyway, the production could be done right away, right?"

"Oh, of course!"

We looked at the artifact that would swallow the entire enormous amount of materials the starfishes in the fish tank, the Tongel race, brought to our world like a 'magic pot.'

[Imperial Army Tactical Fortress Construction Kit (Rank: EX)]

- Item Description: The key power of the Sebrarian Imperial Army that made any space into a battlefield at the user's will, is the kit to construct a tactical fortress. The completed fort is unable to pass through Gates due to its mass and density. It would be wiser to begin the construction in the dimension where the fortress will be operated.

Penalty-related statements applicable to the tutorial dimension had disappeared.

"Then, we'll get started right away!"

Instructions about using the artifact in the form of a hologram floated above the kit, but a reference was no longer needed for us to utilize it properly.

The Tongel species brought the materials for the construction of the Fort exactly as I requested, after all.

All that was left for us to do was throw them into the sphere of light floating above the kit.

Just like the time we built the first Fortress, there was no complicated process involved in creating it.

It's a magical item where the finished product would pop out as soon as the user inserted the ingredients into the designated space.

That day, we succeeded in creating more than 100 Tactical Fortresses.

A spectacular view unfolded as the artificial islands filled the sky.

Looking up at it, the Senator muttered.

"It's a shame we can't take this inside the Gates."

"But isn't it perfect for defending the Earth?"

"Well... I can't deny that. We've stopped the aliens from Taiwan with just one of those forts. I'm sure no one would dare claim possession of Earth for a while."

"That's what I'm aiming for."

The Tactical Fortresses created in that manner were not needed to be stationed and distributed to each country.

Since it's a Fortress designed to move across the vast space of the universe, intra-atmosphere movements were possible at any time in a flash.

The world was in great shock even though the total number we created was not disclosed to the public.

Some were happy that the situation in Taiwan would no longer be repeated, but some were worried.

Although it was said to be aimed at protecting Earth from aliens or other external forces, media and civic groups pointed out concerns that the cannons might target humans as they did in China.

Their biggest concern was that all of those numerous Fortresses technically operated under one individual's control, namely, me.

'We don't need to create a risk to address all those concerns.'

However, it was ridiculous to hand over the Fortresses to others only for that reason.

Some couldn't adapt to such a sudden change and protested harshly, but most went along with the flow and accepted it.

They had quickly realized that they couldn't go back to the world we used to live in in the past anymore.

A little while after that, when the world was riding through the second Cataclysmic flow in such a way...

I got a call from Adam.

"Have you dug up anything good?"

- No, not yet.

That immediately told me he didn't contact me concerning the Adgon.

- I was contacted by a completely unexpected party. They have a request to lay a bridge to you for them.

Lay a bridge?

Did they want to be introduced?

"Why did the request go to you and not the Union?"

- I don't know. In times like these days, when the Union is actively supporting each order, it's strange.

"The order? Is it an order that contacted you?"

- Yeah.

Adam told me who they were as if he was fascinated.

- A courteous letter that was so polite to the point that they were digging themselves in the ground arrived. To summarize it, they want to invite the precious one to the order's headquarters. It should be right for them to visit Earth, following the customs, but they needed to proceed quietly, unnoticed by others, and there was more than a page of apology that they were sorry and ashamed that they were forced to invite you.

"Which of the seven gods do they serve?"

Adam replied.

- Igras-Sho.