Chapter 84: Divine Contribution (2)

Chapter 84: Divine Contribution (2)

-"It's not as hard as I thought."

I looked at Eutenia's image reflected on the screen.

Eutenia was jumping over the wall that blocked her way by moving the shadows around her.

The trial given to Eutenia.

It was to break through various gates using the shadows.

All the shadows that swayed around her became gates that blocked her way.

Yet she skillfully handled the shadows and broke through the gates sequentially.

Of course, it wasn't like that from the beginning, but it was a result of some practice.

"She's doing well as I expected."

It wasn't a long time considering the purpose of the trial.

Eutenia was quick to adapt to handling the shadows.

She transformed the shadows into various shapes in an instant, and gradually expanded the size of the shadows.

It was an exponential growth rate for anyone to see.

At this rate, she seemed to be able to clear the trial without any trouble.

I left Eutenia alone, who was breaking through the gates without any problem, and continued to focus on what I had been doing since earlier.

"I can just leave her alone and she'll clear it by herself."

While Eutenia was breaking through the gates, I was checking the remaining messages in the message box.

There were various messages piled up in the message box, excluding Eutenia's liberation.

Among them, there was also information about the liberation quest of the <Descent> skill.

After obtaining the [Sacred Divine Artifact: Eregus's Stake], the quest content was unlocked for the first time in a long time.

I looked at the screen with a throbbing heart at the unlocking of the quest that took place after a long time.

-A new condition for <Descent(Lv.0)> has been revealed.

The second quest to be solved, excluding the karma quest that was expected to be achieved last, was given.

Now it was time to check its content.

Click.

I manipulated the screen and opened the progress screen of the <Descent> skill.

Most of the functions could be used without any problem even while Eutenia was undergoing the trial.

Checking the progress of the <Descent> skill was also not a difficult task.

That way, one new quest that was added to my eyes came into my eyes as I ran the progress screen of the <Descent> skill.

-Every time you meet one of the following conditions, the progress of <Descent> will increase by one step.

-Usable Karma: 1572 / 999999 (Incomplete)

-[Sacred Divine Artifact: Eregus's Stake]: 1 / 1 (Complete)

-[Philosopher's Stone]: 0 / 1 (Incomplete)

-??? : 0 / 1 (Incomplete)

-??? (Incomplete)

Right below the quest I completed last time.

A new quest to collect the [Philosopher's Stone] had been added.

I was filled with countless questions when I saw the quest details.

The [Philosopher's Stone] was an item that did not belong to any category like 'Holy Relic'.

It meant that I could not find out more about its acquisition path or its effects by myself.

I looked at the newly unlocked quest and pondered while stroking my chin with one hand.

"Get the [Philosopher's Stone]?"

I could not guess what kind of item it was by its name alone.

Was it something that I had to obtain while playing the game, or was it something that I could get through a lottery?

I was in a situation where I could not understand the exact way to get it by myself.

In the end, to get information about the item, I had to collect the necessary information from the Apostles.

My gaze naturally shifted to Eutenia, who was undergoing a trial.

"Hmm..."

If it were normal, I would have asked Eutenia about the [Philosopher's Stone] right away.

But it was difficult to talk to her right now.

She was in the middle of a trial, and the chat function with her was also blocked.

The only thing I could do was to suppress my curiosity until she finished the trial.

I rested my chin on the table and watched Eutenia's progress.

"She can do anything with her shadow now."

Eutenia was manipulating her shadow to overcome the wall that blocked her way.

The wall of a distant height crumbled under Eutenia's shadow.

The shadow moving under Eutenia's feet had grown to a monstrous size compared to when it first appeared.

She seemed to have quite a talent for not only magic but also manipulating shadows.

Using her shadow, she broke through the wall and faced the next gate that blocked her way.

"Is this a combat gate?"

Under the collapsed wall, there was a huge iron bar that trapped something inside.

Eutenia's body stopped in its tracks as she moved her shadow forward.

It was because she had discovered what the iron bar was holding.

When I saw what was trapped by the iron bar, I could easily predict that Eutenia would have to fight in this gate.

Eutenia opened her small mouth and muttered as she saw what was beyond the iron bar.

-"This is..."

Beyond the iron bar made of shadows.

There was a monstrous creature with a massive body that exuded an oppressive aura.

It was a monster with a body as huge as the wall she had crossed.

Kugugugung—.

As Eutenia reached the gate for the trial, the iron bar lifted up and the monster's eyes looked at Eutenia.

Behind the monster with a gigantic body, there was an entrance leading to the inside of the castle.

Eutenia had already passed through numerous gates and reached the last remaining wall.

It seemed that the monster in front of her was the final gate that blocked Eutenia's way.

-"I guess I have to defeat it."

She couldn't enter the castle unless she defeated the monster.

Realizing that, Eutenia began to prepare to face the monster.

Splash.

A large shadow swirled around Eutenia as she took a step forward.

Eutenia's shadow had expanded continuously as she passed through numerous gates.

The shadow, which had grown incomparably larger than its original size, reached the area where the monster was.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The shadowy monster with a bulky body began to walk toward Eutenia.

The ground shook and shadows sprang up every time the monster took a step.

"He's quite impressive, isn't he?"

It was a monster with a body as big as the wall.

If such a monster had appeared at the beginning of the trial, Eutenia, who had her magic sealed, would have had a hard time dealing with it.

But now, it was a situation where quite some time had passed since the trial began.

Eutenia also looked much stronger than before.

Her skill in manipulating shadows had reached an incomparable level to when she could barely move the shadow's fingers.

That's why Eutenia was not intimidated at all by the huge monster in front of her.

-"I hope the great one is not disappointed."

Eutenia said that and raised her hand toward the sky.

Thorns made of shadows rose up around Eutenia who raised her hand.

Whoosh! Wham!

Thorns of a monstrous size sprang up from Eutenia's shadow and blocked the monster's movement.

The monster writhed and spat out a speech bubble toward Eutenia as it was pierced by the thorns.

-Krrrrrr!

The thorns, as thick as pillars, pierced through the monster's body and fixed it in place.

The monster tried to free itself from Eutenia's thorns by moving its bulky body.

The shadows shook from the massive impact every time the monster moved its body.

Of course, Eutenia's attack did not stop there.

The thorns of shadow alternately sprang up and attacked the shadowy monster.

Every time a thorn popped out of the rippling waves, the monster twisted its body and screamed.

It was too one-sided to be a gate to test her.

-Krrrk... Krrrrrr.

Was the difficulty of the trial itself too low?

Or was it because Eutenia was such an excellent character?

The monster was no match for Eutenia at all.

It was in a situation where it could not even move as it pleased despite having a huge body.

It was not a fitting sight for a trial.

"How can I be disappointed in you?"

The battle continued as Eutenia's one-sided abuse.

Based on her overwhelming shadow manipulation ability, Eutenia relentlessly pushed the monster back.

The monster, overwhelmed by Eutenia, could not show any proper reaction, and only allowed the opponent's attack while screaming.

At that moment, when the thorns that had been tearing the monster's body were withdrawn, and the monster that blocked Eutenia staggered.

Boom!

The monster fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and the door beyond it opened wide.

-"Is this the end?"

The monster that fell to Eutenia's attack did not move from its spot.

Eutenia had easily defeated the monster and passed through the gate.

She looked at the monster lying on the floor for a moment, then moved past it toward the open door.

Splash. Splash.

Only the sound of water made by the shadow echoed in the empty world.

Eutenia walked through the swamp of shadows and stepped beyond the open door.

-"This is..."

The place where Eutenia arrived after passing through the gate guarded by the monster was a magnificent hall made of shadows.

A splendid and refined space formed by light and darkness.

There were numerous decorations and structures made of shadows in there.

The carpet on the floor was waiting for its owner to step on and pass by.

The chair of shadow at the end of the carpet was waiting for its owner to sit on it.

It seemed that this whole space was made for Eutenia alone.

My guess that the monster blocking Eutenia's way was the last gate was not wrong.

"Is it over when you sit on that chair?"

At the end of the carpet that was like a milestone, only a splendid chair was waiting like a terminal.

There was only one way for Eutenia to go.

Clack. Clack.

Eutenia's footsteps stepped on the steady carpet of shadow and moved forward.

Unlike the sticky swamp of shadows, everything in here had a solid shape.

As Eutenia walked forward, the armors displayed nearby bowed to her.

She arrived at the throne at the end of the carpet while receiving the armors' courteous greetings.

-"It was not a bad experience."

As soon as Eutenia sat on the chair of shadow that marked the end of the trial.

Numerous shadows appeared in the hall and bowed their heads toward her.

A black and white world where only light and shadow existed.

There, she received reverence from all the shadows.

The speech bubble that said that this whole world existed for her was not wrong.

Right after Eutenia received the reverence of the shadows, several messages were also printed on my message box.

-[First Apostle: Eutenia Hyrost] has passed the trial.

The first message that came up was a message that Eutenia's trial was over.

Eutenia's trial finally came to an end after more than an hour of watching.

It was fortunate that she had a talent for manipulating shadows, otherwise I would have had to leave my smartphone on and dive for hours.

It was the same as being anxious even if it was an idle game.

If the trial had not ended, I would have been worried about data problems and could not quit the game.

-[Divine Artifact: Grimoire] has been released by one level.

-The <Shadow Touch> trait of [Divine Artifact: Grimoire] has been deleted.

-The <Shadow World> trait has been added to [Divine Artifact: Grimoire].

After the message about the trial, a message about Eutenia's growth was printed.

The <Shadow Touch> trait of Eutenia's Divine Artifact disappeared, and she acquired a new trait called <Shadow World>.

By the name and situation, it seemed more appropriate to say that the trait had evolved rather than deleted.

It was a situation where it had changed into a higher trait of <Shadow Touch>.

After confirming the release of [Divine Artifact: Grimoire], I looked at Eutenia who had finished the trial.

"Was it longer than I thought, or shorter?"

Eutenia's trial was over, and her Divine Artifact became even more powerful.

As if to prove that, the shadow world where Eutenia existed was also collapsing.

The ceiling that formed the hall cracked and light leaked through the gap.

The shadows that bowed to her also shattered and scattered in all directions.

Light flowed into the tiles that had only shadows and the whole space was collapsing.

As a bright light poured into the space that surrounded Eutenia.

-"Eutenia. Where have you been?"

Eutenia returned to the original map.