Church of Light, Lower Domain #22
"I have a bad feeling about this."
The Archbishop of Light spoke slowly, his fingers clasped together as he stared at the faint glow of the holy sigil before him.
He was a player like any other, but unlike most, he had devoted his entire existence to the [God of Light].
Years ago, he had received what he believed to be a divine calling. A whisper that echoed through his soul, guiding him toward faith, obedience, and worship.
Since then, everything he did revolved around one goal: to be chosen.
To one day stand before his god and have his devotion rewarded.
No one knew yet, but in the near future he would be the [God of Light]’s strongest soldier, aning he was a target Leon wanted to get rid off.
"Priests," the archbishop said, turning toward the figures kneeling behind him, "the [God of Light] has instructed us to prepare."
The room went silent. No one dared breathe loudly.
"His arrival is soon," the archbishop continued, his tone heavy, "but there is sothing... unsettling."
He raised his head, eyes narrowing.
"This player," he said, "this one who calls himself [Celestial]. I believe he may affect our glorious church in the future."
Murmurs erupted instantly.
"R-Right! How dare a re player refer to himself as a divinity!"
"A Celestial? Don’t make laugh!"
"We must find him! To claim such a na is blasphemy!"
To them, the word Celestial carried aning. It implied divinity.
And divinity belonged to gods alone. The gods were absolute. Untouchable. Perfect.
Any player who dared place themselves on the sa level, whether intentionally or not, was a threat.
And threats were dealt with swiftly. The archbishop closed his eyes.
"Calm yourselves," he said. "We will not act rashly."
He opened them again, light flickering faintly within.
"But rember this," he added. "If this [Celestial] truly walks a path that opposes the will of the gods... then the Church of Light will be the first to judge him."
...
Lower Domain #667
A dark alleyway stretched between two crumbling stone buildings.
Dim lantern light barely reached the ground.
A woman stood there, her crimson eyes lifted toward the floating system panels that slowly faded from view.
"This..." she muttered.
Her hair shimred faintly like embers, and a subtle heat radiated from her body even while standing still.
Then, slowly, a small smile appeared on her lips.
"...Interesting."
She had seen Leon’s panel, and thus knew well that his ID was Celestial, so the fact he had appeared before her was a strange coincidence.
She rembered his presence when he spoke to her along with that elf girl.
Still, she trusted no one. Too many had tried to take advantage of her race.
The phoenix race was rare. And rarity attracted hunters.
She had learned that the hard way.
She always rejected being in a party and fought alone as a result, growing stronger thanks to her own talent and capabilities.
But she knew well that in this world, being alone would eventually an death, as the stength of her foes would increase.
"I’m one of the last in my tribe..." she muttered, "All the others are gone, I can’t let their deaths be in vein."
Phoenixes revived a week after death. Most believed that made them unkillable. They were wrong.
There was a way to kill them permanently. And those who knew it were ruthless.
The reason for that was simple: when a phoenix died, they dropped sothing precious. A material so rare that entire organizations hunted her people for it.
This material could help a lot, as it could boost immortaility.
Gather enough of it, and one could mimic the phoenix’s regenerative properties.
Still, Celeste vowed to get revenge and hide until she was strong enough to take them on.
’I don’t trust anyone,’ she thought. Her eyes narrowed slightly, ’But that [Celestial] guy...’
She shook her head.
"No."
She wouldn’t get close to anyone. Not yet.
They weren’t even in the sa [Lower Domain] anyway.
For now, she would continue alone. Until she was strong enough.
...
Across the Lower Domains, countless players stared at the sa na: Celestial.
All of them had their plans, whether to see what Leon could do, or gain advantage from it.
But none of them truly understood who they were dealing with.
Back at the [Interdiate Divine Temple]
Ding!
[Congratulations to "Celestial" for successfully completing the S-Rank Assessnt.]
Leon exhaled slowly.
This was the third announcent echoing through the divine temple.
Celeste’s announcent had rung earlier. Then Emilia’s. Now his.
The place was quiet again.
"I cleared it extrely easily," Emilia said with a grin, stretching her arms. "Honestly, nothing could even hurt . Before I realized it, I was already at the end."
"As expected," Leon replied, nodding.
S-Rank assessnts were rare. Clearing one was even rarer.
Today, only three players had succeeded.
Leon, Emilia. And the phoenix girl.
And among them, Leon was the only one who had gone further, who had gathered all elental sub-talents and unlocked the [Elental Temple].
Which ant one thing: rewards.
"You’re gonna be shocked," Emilia said, scratching her chin. "But the only things I gained were the fact I gain 100 attributes per level... and a [Title]."
Leon blinked.
"That’s kind of weak for an S-Rank assessnt," he replied honestly. "Unless the title is insane."
Emilia smiled and sent the panel.
Leon read it. Then froze.
"...Holy shit."
[Magic Saint: Multiplies your current Spirit attribute by 5 constantly, making all spells far stronger.]
Leon slowly looked up at her.
"Are you favored by the [Heavenly One] or sothing?" he asked, genuinely confused. "First a constitution multiplier, now spirit?"
This wasn’t normal at all. Multipliers stacked. And stacked hard.
Based on the trend, her third assessnt might give another multiplier entirely: Agility or even Strength.
Who knew? Emilia was already absurdly strong.
At this point, almost no one in the [Lower Domain] could challenge her.
Even the [Guardian Dragon of Elents] Leon fought wouldn’t stand a chance.
One [Divine Beam] with that spirit value would erase it instantly.
Of course, she had already passed her second assessnt, so going back wasn’t possible.
Leon had heard of players gaining massive boosts after assessnts.
But Emilia was different as it was much stronger. This wasn’t coincidence.
"Can I see your [Combat Power]?" Leon asked. "Just for a second."
Emilia’s grin widened as she sent the panel.
[Combat Power: 132,215]
"...Damn."
The multiplier alone had added tens of thousands of combat power.
"Well," Leon said, patting her head lightly, "I guess that’s good. You don’t even need anymore."
With this strength, Emilia could walk the [Lower Domain] freely.
At level 25, she could fight level 50 players head-on. And as she leveled up, the gap would only widen.
Yet—
"No," Emilia said calmly, shaking her head. "I’d rather stay with you... forever."
She hesitated at the last word. Leon chuckled.
"It’s been less than a day since we t," he replied. "Let’s wait before using big words."
"Alright," she nodded. But in her mind, she had already chosen.
"I wonder what you got~" she added playfully.
"An SS-Level Sub-Talent," Leon replied. "I’ll show you later."
He didn’t talk about the [Enhancent Frenzy Liquid] nor the [Primordial Dragon of Chaos] egg since it would be stupid.
"Leave."
"Leave!"
Light wrapped around them. And just like that, they vanished from the [Interdiate Divine Temple].
User Comments
0 comments from readers