23 Trial
{{Author: This chapter release is way too late. I was very busy throughout the last week. And when I finally found some free time, my broadband connection was disconnected. Some problem with the wires.
Now that it's finally fixed, today is a double release day.}}
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It takes all my concentration to fight and beat Lyra. And once I finish her off, Ickler launches his most annoying large-scale magic spell.
The area of effect is too wide, I don't have enough time to evade it. I also don't have enough mana to create a magic shield like the last time.
Without knowing how to react, the spell hits me. I try to use Lyra's dead body as a shield but it's useless. Both of us get burnt.
Being fully conscious as you experience the melting of your flesh is too painful.
To my relief, the skill's effect is fast. It hits… and a second later, everything is over.
Ring~
[The player's health has fallen below 5%. The effect of "Miach's Blessing (Level:2)" has been activated. All critical wounds are healed. HP is raised to 50%.]
Once I hear the ring, I grab my sword 'Heartseeker' and use 'Swift Strike' to decapitate Ickler.
The damage and pain that this bastard has caused me are the most I've ever faced in my entire life.
Aaawww!
I quickly throw the sword away, it's too hot. I look at the sword on the ground. It's steaming hot, lost its texture, and the handle has disappeared completely.
Come to think of it, this sword was in my hand when the pillar of fire hit me. It's impressive that it could even survive.
Even though the cutting edge isn't sharp anymore, I could cut off Ickler's head because the blade is very hot.
It seems that I was holding the sword from the piece of metal that connects the blade of the sword to its handle.
Then what happened to my hands? Oh damn, they're badly burnt!
I need a potion right now or this will leave a hideous permanent scar. Huh?
Adventurers start jumping from different places on the audience seats to the battle arena. They're all holding their weapons.
I get ready to fight as a large group of adventurers of different affiliations surround me.
"Rick Stark, we are here to escort you to the Guild. You better not resist." One of them says.
Another one of them throws a robe at me…
Why a robe? … Ah, I'm naked!
"Why?"
I ask after I quickly put the robe on.
"Errr, I don't know?"
"Um, my god didn't give a reason. Did yours?"
"Nah, she didn't."
"Mine either, he just said to immediately apprehend the 'Apostle Warrior' and deliver him to the guild."
"Yeah, Milady did the same."
Okay, from this exchange between the adventurers I got a general idea of what happened.
It seems that they were at the colosseum watching the War Game with their deities. And as soon as the battle ended, they were ordered to detain and deliver me to the Guild.
The deities didn't give a reason. But if I have to make an educated guess, I'd say that they probably think that we lied about my true level.
After annihilating a high-ranked Familia all by myself, they might think that I'm a Level Five or something.
Well, this much is to be expected. What I just did should be enough a reason for anyone to suspect.
Knowing that they're not genuinely hostile towards me, I start going through Ickler's body.
On, my movement, the adventurers nervously get ready to attack.
Haven't you seen what I just did to Argus Familia? Oh well, they should be extra nervous since they know what I can do.
"Easy now, guys!… I'll just take his potions. I don't want this to turn into a scar." I say as I show them the palms of my hands.
Anyway, they relax a little when they see the bad condition of my palms.
Taking potions from a corpse is way better than conjuring them from thin air (That's how it will look if I purchase potions from the store).
I take the few potions that I can find and pour one of them on my hands and drink the rest.
This heals my hands and some of the various remains of burn injuries around my body. Miach's Blessing hadn't healed all my injuries. It healed only the life-threatening once.
I take another look at the adventurers around. Judging by their auras, it will be easy for me to fight them off and escape. But I didn't do anything wrong, why would I resist?
Suddenly, I sense a strong adventurer approaching. I turn around and watch her as she leisurely walks towards us.
She is a beautiful woman with an intimidating aura. She has blue eyes and short hair of the same color. The Level-5 captain of the infamous Ganesha Familia.
She stops right in front of me and…
"My name is Shakti Varma. I will take the charge of escorting you to the guild." She announces loudly and clearly.
It sounds as if she's telling me that I have no chance of running.
"My Familia members have already been sent to escort the rest of your Familia." She adds.
Why bring the others? Isn't she taking it too far? Anyway, I had already decided to go willingly.
"Alright, Let's go." I say.
"Errr, should we come too?" Says one of the adventurers.
"Do whatever you like." Says Shakti.
On her words, some of the gathered adventurers leave.
I try to unsummon Heartseeker,
Ring~
[Invalid! Destroyed Items cannot be stored in the Inventory.]
"I want to bring this… um, sword. It holds a sentimental value." I say as I point at the remains of Heartseeker.
Shakti points at an adventurer nearby, "Are you coming with us?"
He nods his head.
"Okay, bring it with you." She orders him.
"It very hot. Find something to carry it with." I say.
....
On the way to the Guild, some adventurers start chatting with me with respect and awe.
'You were like this/ you did this and that/ how did you do it… etc.'
I'm not used to be spoken to this way. So, I try to be as friendly as possible without commenting on any of their questions.
I gave answers like: 'haha, did it look that good? It was scary from my point of view/trust me; I don't believe that I did that either/Whew, I thought was a goner back then… etc.'
Anyway, we finally reach the Guild. The employees seem to have expected our arrival. Because a brown-haired brown-eyed chienthrope comes out to greet us.
"Please follow me, this way". He says.
Then he starts leading us throughout the corridors of the 'Employees Only' area inside the Guild.
Then, we go down some stairs leading to the underground floor of the Guild building.
'So, they're taking me to Ouranos's room.'
But to my surprise, when we reach our destination, I find out that it's a prison.
A prison somewhere underneath the Guild building! Well, it's not exactly a prison. It's just a few cells in a wide room.
I can sense magic flowing through the bars. The cells are made especially to hold high-ranked adventurers.
I didn't come here to be imprisoned!... At once, I stop moving.
"What is the meaning of this?" I ask.
The adventurers accompanying me hastily reach down to their weapons.
"Make a move, and you die on the spot!" I loudly threaten.
"I thought that you were supposed to bring me to the Guild, you already did that. So if you attack me here, then killing you would be act self-defense." I continue.
The adventurers around me start looking at each other not knowing what to do. Shakti silently stood with her arms crossed under her breasts.
"On whose orders do you intend to imprison me? And for what charge?" I aggressively ask the employee.
"S-so-sorry! ... I-I don't know…" The man looks like he's about to cry.
"Alright! Until you do or bring someone who does, I'll be waiting in the reception lounge. Anyone has a problem with that?"
I say the last words while looking at Shakti. Of all the adventurers here, she's the only one who can stop me.
"My orders are to take you to the Guild and keep an eye on you till further notice. So, I don't mind." She says.
We leave the employee, with his shaky knees, in the prison room and head to the lounge.
This little pout was enough to send most of the adventurers who were accompanying me away.
After a while, Nahza, Cassandra, and Daphne are brought to us.
"Hey!" I greet them.
"H-hello!"
"Congratulations."
"Well done."
The three of them look very nervous. Well, they were suddenly detained and brought down here by Ganesha Familia's top rankers.
"Relax, the Denatus probably think that we cheated to win this War Game. We didn't cheat, so there's no reason to worry… probably." I tell them.
They simply nod at me.
It seems that they reached the same conclusion as me, but they can't help but feel nervous about the situation. Either that or they think that I cheated somehow.
Anyway, I ignore the girls for now and look through my status.
'I didn't level up even once. Even though it was the hardest fight I've ever been?'
Which means I can't level up by killing humans. Then how about the new title?
[Executioner: A Title that is given to those who kill a large number of people in a short period of time.
When fighting human or demi-human opponents, you will never be at a disadvantage.
Passive Effect: - Damage received from humans and demi-humans is decreased by 50%.
- All Stats are increased by 50% against humans and demi-humans.
Active Effect: "Execute" Gives you the ability to instantaneously kill human and demi-human enemies with health below 15%.]
Excellent! The three titles I gained are all excellent.
'Beast Lord' raises my stats by 40% when fighting Beast-type monsters.
It gave me the ability to easily conquer the Middle Floors of the Dungeon since almost all of the monsters found there are Beast-type.
It also gives me the ability to 'Tame' beast monsters, but I stopped using it because 'Purification' is way better.
'Transcendent of Predecessors' Gives me a +1% stat increase with every 1% lost HP. It's the reason I was able to win today against Argus Familia.
And now this 'Executioner' will make my fight against adventurers way easier. 50% stat increase against them and a skill to execute enemies with low HP?
Jackpot!
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Meanwhile on the thirtieth floor of Babel Tower…
"I didn't do it."
"Absurd! The whole city just saw your child use Arcanum. Denying it only makes your situation worse."
"I saw it too, but I don't know where it came from. Other than Falna, I bestowed nothing on him."
"Are you saying that another god bestowed YOUR own Insignia on YOUR child?"
"Actually… How do you even do that? I thought that a mortal body can't tolerate the highest form of Arcanum; Insignia."
In the room where the Denatus gets held, a trial was taking place.
A large conference table was set up, on one end stood Miach and Ouranos sat on the other end. The rest of the Denatus deities sat on the sides.
A while ago, Argus was removed from the room because he couldn't stop yelling at Miach.
Since then, deities had been going in a loop for a while;
Miach was denying giving his Arcanum to Rick. The Divine Intuition of the present gods and goddesses was telling them that Miach wasn't lying.
Miach wasn't the type to break the rules, to begin with.
But everyone just saw Rick use Miach's Insignia in the War Game. Although bestowing an Insignia is unprecedented and impossible, they saw it with their own eyes.
Should they believe their divine intuition, their common knowledge, or their eyes?
"It can't be helped; we must check this child's Status before we issue the verdict. Send someone to do bring him." Said Ouranos who had stayed silent from the beginning.
With this, the trial entered a recess.
