Jamie moved closer to Ricky and placed a hand on his chest.
His heartbeat was normal.
There seemed to be no problem with the heart, but the infiltrated mana spread through the body and confirmed the condition.
âEverything is normal.â
The muscles, bones, nerves, and organs were all normal. The brain seemed fine too, but there was one problem.
Holy power.
âShould it be a symptom of exhaustion?â
Ricky was the only one who blocked the explosion, and the explosion was caused by Kreon. In the process of it, he must have exhausted his holy power and lost consciousness.
Maybe that is why not even a handful of holy power could be felt from Ricky.
âAs an apostle, there should be a way to recover.â
Seeing that not a single drop recovered in a full month, it seemed that he had to look into this.
The fortunate thing is that it wasnât life-threatening. If there was a problem, then he would open Inverse heaven.
Rickyâs essence was that of an undead which Jamie created before Ricky became an apostle. So if the gate was opened, the recovery rate would be faster than now.
âBefore that, Pyro wouldnât have been still if it was life-threatening.â
She would have made sure to intervene and do something. Without the apostle, it would be impossible for her to actively intervene in the land.
She could descend at any time if there is an apostle and the conditions are met.
It would take a lot of power, but the world was already in chaos. Several regions broke the rules of the 12 Gods as they began to invade.
As for her, her power to invade must have piled up.
âCome.â
Jamie focused his left hand with holy power.
Clench.
As golden light sparked on it, the room began to fill up with holy power.
This wasnât a space designed for such things, but he was in the church with an apostle, while he himself was a saint, so these were the best circumstances.
As Jamieâs eyes turned purple, the symbol of Pyro spread out on the ground like a magic circle on the ceiling and floor.
Kwakakakang!
There was a huge shock that rocked the entire church.
A commotion could be heard outside, but the pope and his people shouted to silence it.
-Be quiet, all! The goddess is coming down!
Indeed, as expected of the pope.
Thanks to him, who noticed Pyroâs coming, it seemed like no trouble would happen.
âStill, arenât they curious when the God they believe so much in is descending?â
Aside from the people, someone should want to peep through the door and look at her.
Anyway, Jamie thought a lot as he felt the strong presence being created in the room.
âCertainly, Pyro is stronger than I thought.â
Among the 12 Gods, she was a god with some of the highest combat power.
It was ridiculous to be isolated among the 12 Gods despite having this power.
She couldnât have had this much strength. Anyway, in the past, it felt like his body would break every time she manifested, but now, he didnât feel anything.
It was because he had restored most of the power of his previous life.
Flash-
A golden light flashed in an instant.
Jamie frowned.
âSo flashy.â
Since she was coming down from heaven, this energy was bound to be used. And with the light slowly fading, there came a woman who looked at Ricky with sad eyes.
âPoor child. You did so much.â
She gently stroked Rickyâs cheek and turned to Jamie.
âIt has been a long time.â
âLong time no see.â
âYour words have turned shorter. I always knew you were a cheeky one.â
âWell, I am not in the position to kneel as I did back then.â
It wasnât like they had good feelings for each other. There was no conflict with her, but she was still one of the 12 Gods.
And that meant Jamie had to deal with her.
However, he had a connection to Ricky and Ricky to her, so he decided to take advantage of her situation, so he left her alone.
âDo you believe in that frugal power?â
âFrugalâ¦â
Jamie smiled and opened his purple eyes as violet mana began to flow through the skin.
The room temperature soared instantly to a level as great as the holy power of the Goddess.
This made Pyro think.
â⦠what had happened?â
She was shocked at the power Jamie displayed.
She couldnât believe it despite seeing it. This power which this human is wieldingâ¦
âIt seems like 12 Gods are crossed over.â
It didnât feel like a godâs power since Jamie wasnât one, but that black mana and the violent nature seemed like it could invade their holy power.
Right.
It was a long time ago, so she didnât remember till now.
Just like the human who existed to kill the 12 Gods
âHe said he was that manâs successor.â
He said that he wasnât a direct successor but one who inherited his vision and story.
But was it possible to obtain power equal to that of a God?
This is likeâ¦
âDiablo Volfirâ
That was all she could think of.
If it were any other human being, she knew that the only one who had this kind of power to oppose God was him.
It was embarrassing.
It seems that the monster which tried to drive them out of the land reappeared.
Pyro felt afraid.
â⦠where did you get such power?â
She asked in a low voice, and Jamie could already guess what she was going through.
It was the reaction one shows when someone they thought was a bug was now on their level.
She felt on edge due to her skin crawling in fear.
âWhere did I get it? I grew it all by myself.â
âThatâs funny. For 6 years yet. I remember you back then. We signed the contract.â
âYou should have remembered what you said back then. You said you would believe me? I donât understand why you donât seem happy when I have grown this much?â
Pyro frowned at his remarks, but he wasnât saying anything wrong, so she couldnât counter it.
As he said, it was she who had extended the hand and asked him to join her, and he really did grow strong.
The problem was that his power was enough to threaten her.
âIf he betrays me, there will be no way out.â
However, if she did something to make him walk away, that would be a problem, so she responded calmly.
âRight. What else is important? If you have become this strong, it is good.â
âIt is nice to see you acting cool.â
âSo. Why did you come to find me? I donât think you are here to show off your strength.â
Jamie decided to stop pissing her off and get to the point.
You know why I called, right?
âAre you talking about Zenith?â
âZenith is one thing, but a few churches suddenly attacked the north. The Seldam Kingdom was targeted by the Church of Nothingness and is in a difficult state. What the hell happened in heaven? It isnât unrelated either, so I want you to be honest with me.â
Many gods had united to hit the North.
Even the supposed non-allies joined in. And was that all?
Ricky became like this because of their holy power, which was united and exploded. It was clear that something was happening in heaven.
He didnât think Pyro was so isolated from knowing anything; he thought she would know the gist of it.
âWhy did the Church of Nothingness come? Why did those bastards touch my people? I need you to tell me. You see, I am a bit angry.â
âHmm. Simply put, Zenithâs politics worked.â
âPolitics worked?â
âAs you know, the Gods who attacked the North this time were all taking root across the centerline of the continent. Zenith insisted that they need more believers in order to keep the âSouthâ in check.â
South in check.
In other words, it means to keep Ra in check.
To that end, Zenith was in a position to approach the Gods of the central line and invade the North to absorb that and increase their power.
But Jamie couldnât understand.
This wasnât something Ra would ignore.
Even Satan had knelt down without putting up much of a fight, and Zenith planned to contain it by increasing the believers?
Clearly, there were other purposes for doing this.
âAnd the other Gods? I think the marginalized will be upset?â
âI do not know about their situation. What is certain is that the five of them united, but it is true that they do not trust each other.â
âWhy?â
âWell. On the surface, they speak about keeping Ra in check, but in reality, isnât it because each of them had their own reasons?â
Own reasons?
Jamie frowned.
He didnât know what they were, and nor did Pyro.
It was fortunate that they werenât united with the same intention. This means he could separate them and wouldnât have to deal with all 5 at the same time.
âWhat are you going to do? Since the apostle is in this state, the Pyro Church must have greatly weakened now.â
âWhy are you speaking like this is someone elseâs thing? This child belongs to the same church you belong to.â
âYou are not going to make them pay, right?â
âHuh! I plan to make them pay. How dare they lay hands on my child⦠it is unforgivable.â
âThen good.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âWhen I deal with the Church of Nothingness, I want you to stop the others from interfering.â
â⦠are you confident?â
âConfident?â
Jamie smirked as he said.
âLetâs try it here.â
Black mana gushed out, making Pyro frown.
âThis.â
âWell, you donât have to worry.â
Jamie spoke with a smile.
âBecause I am not going to lose this time.â
No matter who the opponent was.
âWhat? That grey shield?â
âUhâ¦? It wasnât there normally.â
Beiros and Ann landed in front of the gray shield surrounding the capital.
âIt is strong.â
When Beiros put his finger on the shield, a spark burst out, resisting his touch. It seemed that this wasnât something he could break into.
It was the same with Ann, which meant outsiders werenât allowed.
âDamn it. Do we just have to wait?â
âUmâ¦â
They arrived at full speed, but the guy had already left, leaving his subordinate alone!
Beiros slammed the shield hard with an annoyed face.
Kwang!!
Then, the shield retained the power and pushed Beiros again.
âKuak!â
His body flew several meters and crashed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âIt even reflects the attack.â
Ann looked at the shield with shocked eyes.
She could understand things at a glance, but she needed help figuring out what kind of structure this shield had.
What was inevitable was that the power of protection was done by the sacrifice of two royal family members.
No matter how great of a Scholarâs talent she held, it wasnât possible to grasp the power of a transcendent being.
âShit! Letâs pierce through it!â
Ann stopped him as Beiros was ready to charge at the shield.
âI do not think that it is a good idea.â
âWhy?â
âI donât know about the other things, but this shield reacts to the maliciousness; I donât know what kind of malice it reacts to, but hostility only increases the strength of the shield.â
âSo. Every time I get annoyed, the shield gets stronger?â
âYes.â
âVery annoying⦠then what? Letâs look around.â
âThere is nothing else we can do, so letâs try that.â
They couldnât do anything about the shield, so they decided to look around and find a way.
It was the moment Beiros took Ann on his shoulders and flew.
âYou donât have to go back.â
A priest in black robes who wasnât there a second ago came. With a necklace that had the shape of an eyeball around, he held out the palm and said.
âThe two of you shall return to nothingness.â
And the power of nothingness rushed for the two.
Andâ¦.
âWhat are you doing, you human trash!â
Beiros smashed the head of the priest at once.