Chapter 167

Servants of Magic (2)

What was the reason behind it?

"Why would they want to see me all of a sudden?"

- It's nothing strange. They just finally got to know you.

"Only now?"

- Actually, the information about you having the sacred wound wasn't a famous story until recently. Should I say only the high-ranking members and the elite warriors of the Union knew about it before? The rumor hasn't spread to the point that it's strange or to the point that someone might have taken measures about it.

If there would be anyone to cover up the information from, who would that be?

What was the purpose?

- Anyway, the information about a human from Earth having four incarnation-grade marks stamped on the back of his hand had become an issue far too big for others to silence any longer. Besides, you've got rid of Mercadius on your own, haven't you?

That meant that to call out for eradicating Mercadius in all dimensions, they would have to explain the reason behind it. Ultimately, they wouldn't be able to leave out the parts of the story that involved me.

And while talking about how the fight against the fragment of a god went and explaining the method required to put an end to their species, they would naturally mention the seals.

Someone who did their best to contain my information would no longer have been able to continue building the wall around my identity and holding on to it in secrecy.

- I can feel the atmosphere just by looking at the letter... I think Igras-Sho's order has been turned upside down right now. That's understandable. They say you're the first incarnation that appeared in hundreds of years.

It seemed that the number of incarnations that appeared had decreased significantly over the past few hundred years, regardless of the order.

I remembered what the sacred beast that I met at the Tower of Choice once told me.

'Those who serve it at lower levels, such as priests, can also sense the holy wound. They will show you the utmost respect that can be offered to the beings of Earth as I have now, regardless of how many holy scars there are left on your finger.'

I also remembered what Nate said as a joke.

He asked if that would be enough to make me a pope or something someday.

"But why did they come into contact with me in this way?"

- They didn't mention the reason in the letter. I think the intention behind contacting you through me is to be as careful they possibly can.

I spent a few moments thinking about it.

Adam was still digging up information about the Adgon commissioner. Hence, I did have some free time...

However, There was the question of whether it was necessary to accept their invitation or if I should just decline it entirely.

"What do you think?"

- One thing for sure is that they won't be able to imagine doing anything to you or forcing you to do something. It's a given since you must be the being with the highest authority next to the deity they worship in that congregation.

Those words made me feel even more concerned.

'However, there's going to be no instance that I will become the real incarnation as they expect me to be.'

Of course, it was information that I didn't have to explain in front of them to the fullest extent.

'However, for Mercadius's transdimensional eradication, there is a need for all congregations' growth in the long run. Will my visit help build up their power?'

While I was lost in my thoughts in that manner...

Driip!

- Hmm?

"Huh?"

Adam and I simultaneously noticed an anomaly.

The sacred wound of Igras-Sho wasn't recollected even after it engraved its symbol on the back of my hand as part of the divine seal.

The two marks akin to that of bugs remained on my finger.

And there were two slow drops of blood flowing down.

'At this time?'

It didn't react with other divine powers.

After my fight with Mercadius, I could faintly feel, regardless of [The Successor's Eyes], that it was a divine power of another deity.

Although there was no violent reaction like the devil's sword yet, I should have felt it if it came that close.

Despite the absence of such external stimuli, the sudden flow of blood meant...

Adam spoke with a bitter smile on his lips.

- The god is urging you to go. No, is it more of a protest? It's as if it's questioning what you're hesitant about.

Since I didn't surrender my soul, only if I made the wish first would the magic god be able to show up in front of me to possess me or squeeze my soul as it wished.

Therefore, it had no choice but to use passive and indirect methods to convey and make me aware of its will.

"The god of magic wants me to pay them a visit."

Since I wasn't a servant, there was no need for me to follow its orders blindly.

However, since we had built a cooperative relationship and had found a common purpose, it would be better to visit and at least listen to the situation first.

"Okay, I'll go check them out and return. Would you forward my acceptance of their invitation for my sake?"

- Alright.

The moment I uttered those words, the blood flowing on my finger ceased to exist as if it was an illusion all along.

*

The formal invitation sent by the Igras-Sho's congregation was also secretly delivered through Adam.

The invitations exchanged between dimensions that entered the Main Quest were nothing much but a bundle of teleport scrolls.

It was similar to what was delivered when the Union Headquarters invited me back then and when I was dispatched to the Gorangsha dimension.

On one of the days when Hibiki and Nate were sent for one of the Main Quest's Clear, I tore several scrolls in a row and moved quietly, crossing the Gates it led me to.

The place that I arrived in that manner was a dimension where the congregation headquarters was located.

As I stepped out of the Gate, the fresh night winds brushed past my skin.

Only silence flowed in the surroundings.

'Forest?'

There was nobody around me.

All I could hear was a gentle breeze blowing through the vicinity.

Colonies of foreign plants I had never seen before densely surrounded the area.

'I've arrived a little earlier than the schedule. Should I wait?'

Looking around, I realized that I didn't have to.

'As expected, I can't see 'such magic' using [The Successor's Eyes]'

It was obvious what the grace given by the god of magic to its followers was.

Those that bore a deep faith in Igras-Sho and were cultured as a suitable vessel to receive a fragment of its power could use that borrowed ability after taking an oath of subordination.

As a result, they could use magic spells that they hadn't learned in proportion to the divine power they received.

It was natural that it was invisible to [The Successor's Eyes] since no Mana was required for such a miracle to occur.

But at that moment, I could sense the divine power as well.

'They mean to test me.'

Should I say they were exhibiting extreme caution?

Without a word, I concentrated the non-elemental sacred power within me on the seal of Igras-Sho among the four symbols.

Soon, the black Sacred Flame representing the god densely spread around.

The fire was originally used as a sign of faith.

As I did so, immediately...

"!"

An invisible shape was lined out, causing the air to waver.

What appeared in its stead was a green-skinned alien.

"Ah...!"

A wide-opened jaw.

The bull-like eyes staring at me were watering.

I didn't know anything about their race, but he looked like he was about to burst into tears.

I was baffled for a moment when I saw it.

'Huh? No way, here? Suddenly?'

Drizzle!

I doubted for a moment if he really would, but the alien began to shed hot tears from his eyes.

Then he stretched out his hands and legs close to the ground and bowed to express respect and obedience.

His words were conveyed to my mind through interpretation magic.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, my lord!"

He spoke to me in a voice full of desperation.

"That holy sign is... You truly have appeared before us after hundreds of years! The agent who will carry and perform the god's will from the nearest place!"

Because of the Sacred Flame that I cast across our vicinity and the subtle glow coming from the seal on the back of my hand, he must've been convinced without requiring further explanation.

He poured out tears with a look that told me he was overwhelmed with emotions, and I had to wait until the alien managed to calm down before we could proceed.

Instead of holding onto the solemnity and going along, I just stayed still to hear what else he had to say.

"I-I'm sorry. My emotions got the best of me..."

He wore a black hat covering both body and face and a robe-like garment.

After he wiped his eyes with the flapping sleeves of his clothes, he paid respect to me again.

"With your permission, my lord, I would like to take you to the congregation's headquarters."

He spoke to me, keeping a distance as if he couldn't dare coming closer to me.

I nodded.

"Let's go."

That time again, through the miracle of Igras-Sho, he performed magic without using Mana.

He cast a close-range teleportation spell.

Paht!

Even after moving into the congregation's headquarters building, there was still no one around us.

"Although it is supposedly appropriate to hold a welcoming ceremony and a grand mass comparable to the holy festival... Please understand that we had to conduct this in such a secretive manner. It's to make sure the information doesn't spread outside as much as possible."

Well, I was going to find out why they had to proceed in such a manner soon anyway.

Creak!

The door opened.

Inside it, those that appeared to be the congregation leaders stood up and paid their respect.

The alien that guided me shouted in a reverent voice.

A heavy echo followed.

"The chosen one has arrived!"

In that instant...

Ta-ta-ta-tat!

Those gathered in the room had their faces down as low as they could as they paid their respects to me.

Their attire was no different from the guide, but they were It seemed to be a gathering of beings from

And when I saw the seal engraved on their black robes, I was able to immediately reconfirm that they were, of course, not of the same level as an incarnation, but everyone was within high ranks of the congregation.

And the man in the middle...

"Oh... Oh...!"

An old alien made his way to me, with tears wetting his cheeks, by crawling with his knees.

With a trembling hand, he grabbed onto my foot and kissed it.

'... That's a bit too much...'

He, who would have no idea what I was thinking right at that moment, spoke to me in a feeble voice.

"He who serves the great one from the lowest places offers his greeting to the one that was approved by the reciter of the forgotten spells, the first wizard, the forefather of all traitors, the deity that governs all magic!"

As he barely raised his head, his forehead had been faintly engraved with one bug-bite-like imprint.

It was the man that wrote the invitation letter himself.

The de facto head of that place and the archbishop of Igras-Sho's congregation.

His eyes were filled with affection and enthuse as if it was truly a blessing. He stared at the marks on the back of my hand and the sacred wound of my finger.

I murmured inwardly.

'The atmosphere is going further deeper into a weird direction by the minute.'

*

It was only after some priests who couldn't control their emotions fainted and collapsed that we could sit calmly and talk.

The archbishop apologized once again.

"Please forgive me. Supposedly, we should have welcomed you by officially offering you our greeting and for all the faithful to gather to hold a large prayer meeting, not by discreetly bringing you here in the middle of the night like this."

"... I've already told you for the sixth time, but it's really okay."

Of course, I didn't mind it at all, but I could somehow understand why they kept behaving like that.

The room seemed small and insignificant to be considered the congregation's general headquarters, with believers spread dimensions.

'But isn't the god of magic one of the three major congregations?'

'Magic,' that offered the power of a miracle to protect oneself in a world full of uncertainty and danger.

'Life,' that guaranteed longevity, health and suspended one from the fear of death.

'Luck,' that gifted a miracle by allowing some probability-based anomalies to stray away from the flow of convergence.

I heard that the congregations that served those three deities were somewhat still the most influential among all of them.

The archbishop made an indebted expression as if he had noticed the meaning behind my eyes.

"I am only ashamed that the representative altar to offer prayers for the great one is so shabby."

Then he continued with a few words that sounded like an excuse.

By only sorting out the main points, I deduced that it was said that it's the age's trend for the authority of all of the gods' congregations to be in steep decline, regardless of their type.

It was getting harder and harder for them to get a response from a god for reasons they couldn't even fathom.

Even if selecting candidates that were considered suitable vessels and made them pray hard like the old times, the occasion that the god wouldn't respond had increased.

Naturally, the number of priests was reduced, and the congregation's size had no choice but to be reduced.

It was no wonder that the incarnation's emergence had become rarer as the number of priests had plummeted.

At least the three congregations were still continuing their existence, but in the case of the "sword" congregation, which required going through an ordeal like intense training for the god to be interested in, was at the brink of collapse.

Not to mention the "time" and "space" were about to have their pulses cut off, while the "mind" no longer had any congregation left to worship it.

I knew the meaning behind such a phenomenon.

'It's a spiral.'

The more the god lost its memory and power, the less it interacted with the mortals.

'It's a trend wherein as they continue to lack responsiveness, the believers decrease, causing the gods to weaken even more.'

The archbishop changed the subject and explained what had happened recently, which at least got his face glowing again.

"Honestly, gratefully... The Union finally decided to support the congregation after thousands of years. Due to that, the number of beings in each dimension that's heard the voice of our god is increasing at a tremendous rate!"

'After thousands of years? Then does that mean that they supported them and pulled out?'

"And..."

Only then did the archbishop come to the point.

"As if to appreciate the rapid increase of believers, not long ago, the great being came to my dream and handed down the will of the god itself."

'That's not it. It is not an appreciation because of the increase in believers. That happened because the number of people who follow him increasing means he's able to expand his influence on reality.'

It would be easy to intervene in the archbishop's mind that officially dedicated his faith and was subordinated by the god even if it couldn't appear in my dream itself.

Looking up at me with difficulty, the archbishop told me what he heard from the god in his dream.

"As the first wizard says, the time is near to recover his eighth leg, which was lost a long time ago."

"?"

It was an unexpected remark.

Naturally, I turned my eyes and looked at the statue placed in the middle of the room.

The seven legs on that body that resembled a spider represented the seven elements of magic.

However, nothing but torn marks remained where the eighth leg should be on the front right side.

"That means..."

"Yes. Next to the fire, ice, electricity, earth, summon, and empowerment is nothing... The eighth element. The eighth magic."

He continued, lowering his head.

"The most powerful magic that disappeared with the creation of the material world. We need the power of the chosen one to revive it."