Chương 140

The group walked back into the dark cave. Rudra tapped his staff against the stone.

"Your Holiness," Rudra called out.

"Drevigo is dead. We cleared out the corrupted Pope." The Sacred Wood Coffin hummed. A warm, golden light spilled into the room. [Hidden Quest: Punish the Corrupt Pope has been completed!]"You actually did it," Chreshler's voice echoed, sounding deeply satisfied.

"The church can finally heal. As promised, I will give you your rewards." Chreshler spoke to the expectant Grid.

"Lie down in me."

"... In your coffin?" Grid blinked.

"Isn't it better to see it once than listen a hundred times? I'm going to show you my old memories," Chreshler replied. Grid faced the wide open coffin and hesitated. As a living person, lying down in a place where the dead stayed was uncomfortable. But he nodded and lay down in the coffin. [The Sacred Wood Coffin has accepted you.] [The divine power has permeated you in a very small amount.] [In the future, there is a very low chance of adding 5% holy attribute damage to basic attacks.] Grid closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he was seeing through Chreshler's vision. Pagma stood in front of him. Sword energy sat at the end of Pagma's sword.

"Teach me how to be strong," Pagma asked. Chreshler stepped back.

"You want to point your sword at an old man who might die tomorrow? Hey, I'm 110 years old this year, 110. My blood pressure will elevate just from swinging the sword and I can die. Eh, you are a bad guy. I didn't know that you would use such means." Pagma replied quietly, "If you might die tomorrow anyway, does it matter if you die today?"

"W-What?"

"Your Holiness, please be prepared to die and teach me."

"Hah! I have never seen such a shameless fellow! The cooked stew doesn't taste right, so you added some politeness and boiled it again? It is the first time in my life that I've met someone like you!" Chreshler yelled. Pagma didn't back down.

"Your sacrifice will become an opportunity to save tens of millions of people, so it is righteous and justified."

"Kuk, kukukuk! You are an arrogant and selfish man!" Chreshler felt disgusted.

"From a human's perspective, you are out of line. You don't feel it yourself?"

"I am ready to take the blame."

"Crazy bastard. You are crazy. A crazy maniac who doesn't know he is crazy. Oh, good. It is better for you to die here. It was too risky to keep you alive," Chreshler decided. Chreshler unleashed his holy power. Hundreds of thousands of spears of light poured out at Pagma. Grid watched carefully. Pagma completed two linked sword dances.

"Flower Revolve," Pagma called out. Grid was astonished. Hundreds of petals containing sword energy bloomed as they revolved. They returned all the spears of light right back to Chreshler. Chreshler set up a barrier of light to absorb the spears.

"It is a curious swordsmanship. You are the best after Muller and the Undefeated King." Chreshler decided to end it. His body was covered with twelve colors of light. He applied over seventeen types of buffs to himself and his battle gear. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Grid felt naked. He could see the world that transcendents saw. Time stopped.

In a world where only light refraction occurred, Chreshler advanced by breaking through the stopped fragments in the air. The present world was like a paused movie. The sounds could only be heard after the collision. In that gap, Pagma and Chreshler exchanged dozens of blows. Pagma called out his moves.

"Transcend Kill Flower."

"Transcended Linked Kill Wave Pinnacle."

"Linked Revolve Pinnacle."

"Linked Kill Revolve Pinnacle Chop."

"Linked Kill Flower."

"Transcended Pinnacle Kill Chop." The sword dances continued constantly. This was the true Pagma's Sword Dance.

"Cough!" Pagma struggled to stand up, covered in wounds. Chreshler had only allowed one blow, but he was staggering. His seventeen buffs were coming to an end.

"Damn rotten thing," Chreshler grumbled like a child, "Ah, I don't know! No! I quit!"

"Pant... Pant... Pant..." Pagma didn't have the energy to even speak. Chreshler took off his armor.

"It is hard. My body is heavy."

"You really tried to kill me. Shit. It is sad to be old," Chreshler complained.

"Thank... Thank you for Your Holiness' teachings... More sword dances are available..." Pagma finally flopped down. Chreshler clicked his tongue. In any case, I'll die soon, so the fate should be borne by those left behind, he thought. His consciousness was cut off. He had died.

"Go peacefully. I will respectfully enshrine your soul in the Sacred Wood Coffin," Pagma bowed politely. Grid returned to reality. He sat up in the coffin, panting heavily. Golden text flooded his vision. [You have witnessed the true potential of Pagma's Sword Dance!] [You have learned how to link Sword Dances!] [You have acquired the Sword Dance: 'Flower'.] [You have earned the title: 'Great Swordsman'.] [A new resource, 'Sword Energy', has been unlocked.] Grid stared at his hands. Sword Energy!

He could finally link his dances. He hopped out of the coffin, grinning from ear to ear. A few feet away, Piaro stared at the wooden box. His sharp senses had let him sync with the memory leaking from the wood.

"Holy swordsmanship..." Piaro whispered.

"And chained sword dances." Seeing Chreshler's twelve-colored light and Pagma's flawless combinations broke Piaro's remaining limits. His understanding of the sword deepened immensely. He was just hairs away from personalising and improving the Supreme Swordmanship to the legendary rank. He could also finally see a new way to fight using his farming skills.

"Your turn, silver hair," Chreshler called out to Mumud. The ghost of the Pope laughed softly.

"I saw you modify your mana core earlier. That was reckless, but brilliant. You are a dead thing walking with a living flesh. Holy magic should be your bane. But I can fix that." A warm light washed over the frail mage. [You have acquired the Title 'Heretic of Light'.] [You have acquired the Passive Skill 'Holy Magic Comprehension'.] Mumud gasped. The heavy, burning pain that holy energy usually caused him simply vanished. He could safely wield both arcane and divine magic now. He bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Your Holiness."

"And finally, the cook," Chreshler said. A bright beam of light shot from the coffin and hit Rudra right in the chest. [The 2nd Pope has blessed you!] [Divine Power has increased by 500.] [Dark Resistance has permanently increased by 10%.] [Active Skill 'Sacred Force' has been generated.] [Sacred Force] [Channel pure holy power through your weapon. - While active, every attack deals 50% splash damage to all evil entities (both enemies and allies) within a 10-meter radius. - Resource Consumption: 100 Divine Energy per second. - Skill Cooldown: 5 minutes.] Rudra grinned.

"An area-of-effect aura. That works for me."

"Thank you for the guidance, Your Holiness," Piaro said. He bowed deeply to the coffin.

"Thanks for the rewards," Rudra added. He tapped the wood with his staff.

"Try not to get too lonely."

"Don't come back unless you bring more of that stew!" Chreshler grumbled loudly from inside the box. Rudra laughed at that and before leaving he prepared a giant cauldron of Stirred Eel Fry and gave it to Chreshler. The group turned around and walked up the dark tunnels. They left the underground chamber behind and stepped back out onto the dusty road under the afternoon sun. Grid packed his gear. He had Sword Energy. He had his Pavranium. He just needed to finish his quest.

"Alright," Grid announced, resting his greatsword on his shoulder.

"I'm heading to the Judar and Dominion churches next. I need to get the rest of these discs blessed."

"Good luck," Rudra said. He spun his new lightning staff, Extortion.

"Don't let them steal your stuff again."

"Never again," Grid promised. He gave them a quick wave and jogged down the road, eager to test his new linked sword dances. Rudra watched him go. Then he turned to Piaro and Mumud.

"Let's pack it up," Rudra said.

"We have a long walk back to Stormbreak. Elysia is probably wondering what took us so long." Piaro smiled and hoisted his hand plow. Mumud nodded quietly. They headed back toward their home territory to see what new trouble was waiting for them.