MAEPG: Episode 88
Episode 88 The Holy Sword's Trial (1)
"Please come this way."
Heinrich followed the Archbishop, who was guiding him, deeper and deeper into the Picaol Cathedral.
Since the cathedral was designed around the sealed location where the holy sword was embedded, that place was inevitably the deepest and most secluded.
‘I think we’ve descended quite a bit underground. How big of a crater was created during the battle…’
Well, it must have been a life-or-death struggle between the strongest individuals of that time, so it was understandable.
“As you already know, the trial is different for each challenger, so there’s nothing I can specifically advise you on.”
The Archbishop spoke softly as they reached a stone door with shining prayers engraved on it after passing through several gates.
Heinrich quietly agreed, as he already knew.
He had already familiarized himself with all the related records during his training period.
“Therefore, the time it takes to complete the trial also varies. Some people came out in a few hours, and others took about a week.”
Of course, they all failed.
He shrugged and added, then turned to Heinrich and pointed at the door.
“The trial begins the moment you cross this door and enter. Calm your mind and tell me when you’re ready to challenge it.”
Was there any need to hesitate after coming all the way here?
Heinrich took a deep breath and confidently spoke to him.
“I’ll enter right now.”
“…I understand. Then I’ll open the door.”
The Archbishop quietly nodded and then approached the stone door, placing his hand on it and quietly reciting a prayer.
“…What is hidden in that box is my flesh and blood. You shall…”
The prayers engraved on the door started to glow in response to his words.
The Archbishop’s holy power was continuously being sucked into the sealed door.
After some time, large beads of sweat were streaming down his face.
‘To think it takes a priest at the Archbishop level several days to recover from using enough holy power just to open the door once…’
Not only the amount but also the level mattered, so it was impossible to mobilize multiple priests.
Heinrich was used to it because he was stationed at the cathedral and occasionally saw him, but an Archbishop was a very high-level personnel.
They were in charge of cathedrals located in major cities and were treated like marquis among nobles.
‘I didn’t realize it because I was so used to it, but the Saintess was a big shot that even the Emperor of the Empire couldn’t treat carelessly.’
He had lost his sense of reality, having been with her in the cathedral, the headquarters of the Church.
Whoosh—
As he was lost in thought for a moment, the stone door started to shake slowly, emitting a strong light.
Creak—
The stone door opened heavily.
But the inside was filled with light, making it impossible to see what was inside.
“…Then, good luck.”
Leaving behind the Archbishop’s tired voice, drenched in sweat, Heinrich stepped forward without hesitation.
And when he completely entered the light,
Creak— Bang!
The stone door closed roughly.
The light around Heinrich disappeared at once, and an ordinary hallway appeared.
“…Oh?”
He could instinctively feel it.
That this space was a separate space, cut off from the outside.
He looked back, but there was only a long hallway, the same as before, and the stone door he had entered through was nowhere to be seen.
‘Is it asking me to choose whether to go forward or backward?’
Heinrich shrugged and focused his eyes, raising his holy power and “Blessing: Fortified Body” to their limits.
As he additionally used “Auterica Holy Magic” to amplify his vision…
“…I still can’t see the end.”
It was the same when he looked back, so it seemed like he had no choice but to just go.
He sighed and looked ahead again.
He was planning to just break through head-on.
‘Of course, I can use some conveniences.’
He focused his mind, expanding his vision to the limit he could see with concentrated holy power.
And immediately,
Flash—
He used “Blessing: Leap” to cross space.
But even at the place he arrived at, there was only a long hallway that stretched endlessly, nothing had changed.
“Haa!”
Boom!
He poured all his holy power into it and punched the wall next to him with all his might, but it didn’t even crack.
At that moment,
<Reach the next gate within the time limit.>
A will echoed in his head.
‘It’s beginning.’
But no further information was given.
He didn’t know how much time he had or where the destination was.
‘Is this a test of patience?’
He had already noticed that the flow of time here was different from the outside.
It would have been difficult for others to immediately grasp it, but he had several avatars outside.
‘About 10:1? The time difference with Earth is 100:1.’
He could accept it without any problems because “Mind Hub” and his mental strength had increased, but if it had been in the early days of being in another world, he would have suffered greatly from motion sickness.
‘The burden is that I don’t know when or how far I have to go. I have no choice but to push myself.’
The holy sword’s trial was usually divided into several stages.
It seemed like they were trying to test the challenger’s perseverance, mental strength, and stamina this time.
There was no reason to delay any longer as time continued to flow.
Heinrich lightly stretched on the spot and immediately dashed forward.
And he traversed the hallway at an incredible speed with the help of his overwhelming physical abilities, which he had trained, and various skills, including “Super Recovery”.
‘I don’t know what level the trial wants, so let’s go as far as possible.’
There was no need for food or sleep in this trial space, so there was nothing to worry about.
He only devoted his mental resources to running and periodically using “Blessing: Leap”.
‘It seems like it’ll take some time. It can’t be helped.’
Heinrich silently ran through the desolate hallway alone.
He just mechanically ran, and ran, and ran, and used “Blessing: Leap” repeatedly.
Three days passed, and the fatigue accumulating in his body started to exceed the level that “Super Recovery” could handle.
The surrounding energy was supplying him with the necessary energy, but his recovery speed couldn’t keep up with the continuously accumulating burden.
One week.
He was reaching his limit, even slowing down occasionally to recover his body.
He could feel his entire body creaking, but he ignored it because this much was normal during training.
Two weeks.
As expected of a trial, it wasn’t just about moving.
Whispers that stimulated his mind while running provoked him.
Energy that stimulated feelings of giving up, resignation, and loneliness continuously invaded his mind, but it was a meaningless distraction to him, who was already in a state of emptiness.
Three weeks.
He still didn’t know how much time was left or how far he had to go, so he couldn’t slow down.
He repeated the cycle of taking short breaks and running again, ignoring the pain in his body.
This wasn’t even a trial to him, who had “Mind Hub”.
It was just a simple repetitive task.
Under these conditions… he could continue moving forward for days, months, forever.
Time continued to flow.
And when four days had passed in outside time, over forty days inside…
Heinrich was still running.
"Please come this way."
Heinrich followed the Archbishop, who was guiding him, deeper and deeper into the Picaol Cathedral.
Since the cathedral was designed around the sealed location where the holy sword was embedded, that place was inevitably the deepest and most secluded.
‘I think we’ve descended quite a bit underground. How big of a crater was created during the battle…’
Well, it must have been a life-or-death struggle between the strongest individuals of that time, so it was understandable.
“As you already know, the trial is different for each challenger, so there’s nothing I can specifically advise you on.”
The Archbishop spoke softly as they reached a stone door with shining prayers engraved on it after passing through several gates.
Heinrich quietly agreed, as he already knew.
He had already familiarized himself with all the related records during his training period.
“Therefore, the time it takes to complete the trial also varies. Some people came out in a few hours, and others took about a week.”
Of course, they all failed.
He shrugged and added, then turned to Heinrich and pointed at the door.
“The trial begins the moment you cross this door and enter. Calm your mind and tell me when you’re ready to challenge it.”
Was there any need to hesitate after coming all the way here?
Heinrich took a deep breath and confidently spoke to him.
“I’ll enter right now.”
“…I understand. Then I’ll open the door.”
The Archbishop quietly nodded and then approached the stone door, placing his hand on it and quietly reciting a prayer.
“…What is hidden in that box is my flesh and blood. You shall…”
The prayers engraved on the door started to glow in response to his words.
The Archbishop’s holy power was continuously being sucked into the sealed door.
After some time, large beads of sweat were streaming down his face.
‘To think it takes a priest at the Archbishop level several days to recover from using enough holy power just to open the door once…’
Not only the amount but also the level mattered, so it was impossible to mobilize multiple priests.
Heinrich was used to it because he was stationed at the cathedral and occasionally saw him, but an Archbishop was a very high-level personnel.
They were in charge of cathedrals located in major cities and were treated like marquis among nobles.
‘I didn’t realize it because I was so used to it, but the Saintess was a big shot that even the Emperor of the Empire couldn’t treat carelessly.’
He had lost his sense of reality, having been with her in the cathedral, the headquarters of the Church.
Whoosh—
As he was lost in thought for a moment, the stone door started to shake slowly, emitting a strong light.
Creak—
The stone door opened heavily.
But the inside was filled with light, making it impossible to see what was inside.
“…Then, good luck.”
Leaving behind the Archbishop’s tired voice, drenched in sweat, Heinrich stepped forward without hesitation.
And when he completely entered the light,
Creak— Bang!
The stone door closed roughly.
The light around Heinrich disappeared at once, and an ordinary hallway appeared.
“…Oh?”
He could instinctively feel it.
That this space was a separate space, cut off from the outside.
He looked back, but there was only a long hallway, the same as before, and the stone door he had entered through was nowhere to be seen.
‘Is it asking me to choose whether to go forward or backward?’
Heinrich shrugged and focused his eyes, raising his holy power and “Blessing: Fortified Body” to their limits.
As he additionally used “Auterica Holy Magic” to amplify his vision…
“…I still can’t see the end.”
It was the same when he looked back, so it seemed like he had no choice but to just go.
He sighed and looked ahead again.
He was planning to just break through head-on.
‘Of course, I can use some conveniences.’
He focused his mind, expanding his vision to the limit he could see with concentrated holy power.
And immediately,
Flash—
He used “Blessing: Leap” to cross space.
But even at the place he arrived at, there was only a long hallway that stretched endlessly, nothing had changed.
“Haa!”
Boom!
He poured all his holy power into it and punched the wall next to him with all his might, but it didn’t even crack.
At that moment,
<Reach the next gate within the time limit.>
A will echoed in his head.
‘It’s beginning.’
But no further information was given.
He didn’t know how much time he had or where the destination was.
‘Is this a test of patience?’
He had already noticed that the flow of time here was different from the outside.
It would have been difficult for others to immediately grasp it, but he had several avatars outside.
‘About 10:1? The time difference with Earth is 100:1.’
He could accept it without any problems because “Mind Hub” and his mental strength had increased, but if it had been in the early days of being in another world, he would have suffered greatly from motion sickness.
‘The burden is that I don’t know when or how far I have to go. I have no choice but to push myself.’
The holy sword’s trial was usually divided into several stages.
It seemed like they were trying to test the challenger’s perseverance, mental strength, and stamina this time.
There was no reason to delay any longer as time continued to flow.
Heinrich lightly stretched on the spot and immediately dashed forward.
And he traversed the hallway at an incredible speed with the help of his overwhelming physical abilities, which he had trained, and various skills, including “Super Recovery”.
‘I don’t know what level the trial wants, so let’s go as far as possible.’
There was no need for food or sleep in this trial space, so there was nothing to worry about.
He only devoted his mental resources to running and periodically using “Blessing: Leap”.
‘It seems like it’ll take some time. It can’t be helped.’
Heinrich silently ran through the desolate hallway alone.
He just mechanically ran, and ran, and ran, and used “Blessing: Leap” repeatedly.
Three days passed, and the fatigue accumulating in his body started to exceed the level that “Super Recovery” could handle.
The surrounding energy was supplying him with the necessary energy, but his recovery speed couldn’t keep up with the continuously accumulating burden.
One week.
He was reaching his limit, even slowing down occasionally to recover his body.
He could feel his entire body creaking, but he ignored it because this much was normal during training.
Two weeks.
As expected of a trial, it wasn’t just about moving.
Whispers that stimulated his mind while running provoked him.
Energy that stimulated feelings of giving up, resignation, and loneliness continuously invaded his mind, but it was a meaningless distraction to him, who was already in a state of emptiness.
Three weeks.
He still didn’t know how much time was left or how far he had to go, so he couldn’t slow down.
He repeated the cycle of taking short breaks and running again, ignoring the pain in his body.
This wasn’t even a trial to him, who had “Mind Hub”.
It was just a simple repetitive task.
Under these conditions… he could continue moving forward for days, months, forever.
Time continued to flow.
And when four days had passed in outside time, over forty days inside…
Heinrich was still running.
_____________________
“Tomorrow.”
“Hehehe… I see. Tomorrow is the day this continent and I will be destroyed together. Haha!”
In a hidden underground shelter in the southern part of the continent, a large man and a small old man were talking.
“Once the ritual begins, we won’t be able to hide from the Church’s eyes anymore. We only have one chance. We have to finish everything before they reach this place.”
“Ah— I know, I know. Don’t worry. It won’t fail. I’ve been waiting for this day for so long.”
The old man’s eyes, smiling weakly, were already filled with madness.
The man looked at him for a moment, then subtly turned his head away and smiled wickedly.
To think that a great mage, who was once considered the best talent on the continent and was even expected to become the next leader of the Magic Tower Alliance, had fallen this far…
‘Well, it’s a good thing for us. It doesn’t really matter.’
He wasn’t interested in what kind of injustice the old man had suffered or how much resentment he had to want to destroy the world.
They were just helping each other out because their goals aligned.
And none of those with them were sane in the first place.
‘Pfft… If they had normal minds, they wouldn’t be doing this.’
He looked around the interior, which was filled with all sorts of bizarre spells, and then turned to leave.
They only had one day left.
“Tomorrow.”
“Hehehe… I see. Tomorrow is the day this continent and I will be destroyed together. Haha!”
In a hidden underground shelter in the southern part of the continent, a large man and a small old man were talking.
“Once the ritual begins, we won’t be able to hide from the Church’s eyes anymore. We only have one chance. We have to finish everything before they reach this place.”
“Ah— I know, I know. Don’t worry. It won’t fail. I’ve been waiting for this day for so long.”
The old man’s eyes, smiling weakly, were already filled with madness.
The man looked at him for a moment, then subtly turned his head away and smiled wickedly.
To think that a great mage, who was once considered the best talent on the continent and was even expected to become the next leader of the Magic Tower Alliance, had fallen this far…
‘Well, it’s a good thing for us. It doesn’t really matter.’
He wasn’t interested in what kind of injustice the old man had suffered or how much resentment he had to want to destroy the world.
They were just helping each other out because their goals aligned.
And none of those with them were sane in the first place.
‘Pfft… If they had normal minds, they wouldn’t be doing this.’
He looked around the interior, which was filled with all sorts of bizarre spells, and then turned to leave.
They only had one day left.
____________________
A change was detected in Heinrich, who had been running mindlessly.
‘…What’s that?’
As his mind slowly returned, he saw an ‘end’ blocking the path at the end of the endlessly stretching hallway.
And he continued running and finally reached an ordinary wooden door at the end of the hallway.
“Is this the destination? How long has it been?”
It had been a little over four days… which meant he had been running for well over a month in this place’s time.
‘My body isn’t in good shape. Well, I did push myself a bit, even though I benefited from the characteristics of this space.’
Actually, that was an understatement.
If it hadn’t been for “Mind Hub” filtering out the pain, he wouldn’t have been able to make such a nonchalant comment.
His monstrous body, strengthened by skills and holy power, was so damaged that he could tell how much he had pushed himself.
‘It seems like I need to rest for a few days with “Super Recovery” to fully recover.’
He was in a state where it was difficult to continue the trial, but he had something he was counting on because he had received various information beforehand.
The moment Heinrich confidently placed his hand on the door to the next stage,
Whoosh—
The surrounding energy was sucked into his body.
His body, which had been abused for a month, started to recover rapidly with the power of the externally injected energy.
“Ugh…”
His muscles twitched ceaselessly, and intense heat emanated from his entire body.
“Super Recovery”, which hadn’t been able to function properly due to his body’s overload, greedily absorbed the surrounding energy and reacted violently.
And with the addition of “Blessing: Fortified Body”, his body was reconstructed to be stronger, tougher, and more durable than before.
“Haa…”
And when the entire process was over, his body was a step further evolved than before he challenged the trial.
<First trial complete. Proceed to the next stage through the gate.>
A will echoed in his head again, but Heinrich was busy checking his body’s condition, observing himself.
‘…This is good.’
Come to think of it, this was the perfect place for training!
A miraculous space where he could devote himself solely to strengthening himself without eating or sleeping.
He crossed his arms and fell into thought.
‘Since the flow of time is different here, is there a need to immediately move on to the next trial?’
The time limit had also disappeared after completing the trial, and training for a day here had the same effect as training for over ten days outside.
The holy sword wasn’t going anywhere, so wouldn’t a little time be okay?
‘Let’s stay a little longer, just a little. Yes, just one more day.’
Heinrich, the training addict, turned around, his back to the door, and squatted down.
And he started to traverse the hallway quickly, doing bunny hops.
After about an hour of moving like that,
“Whew… Whew… Huh?”
He realized that the door he had just seen was at the end of the direction he was going.
Heinrich, who had crossed the hallway and arrived in front of the door again, frowned and examined it.
It was definitely the same door he had encountered from the opposite direction.
‘Why is it here? …Well, I think I know.’
It was a place created for the trial, so it wasn’t strange for space to be distorted.
He frowned lightly and turned around…
“…!”
He flinched and took a step back at the sight of a brown door that suddenly appeared right in front of him.
He hurriedly turned around again, but the long hallway was gone, and both front and back were blocked by the same door.
‘Is this a sign to stop stalling and move on to the next trial?’
Seeing this, it seemed like there was no more time for training.
‘I could do some bare-handed exercises in place…’
But he didn’t want to annoy the will that was administering the trial.
And above all, there was no heavy weight training equipment that suited him here.
Heinrich smacked his lips in regret and opened the door in front of him, entering.
When the bright light that enveloped his entire body disappeared…
He was standing alone in the middle of a large chapel.
A change was detected in Heinrich, who had been running mindlessly.
‘…What’s that?’
As his mind slowly returned, he saw an ‘end’ blocking the path at the end of the endlessly stretching hallway.
And he continued running and finally reached an ordinary wooden door at the end of the hallway.
“Is this the destination? How long has it been?”
It had been a little over four days… which meant he had been running for well over a month in this place’s time.
‘My body isn’t in good shape. Well, I did push myself a bit, even though I benefited from the characteristics of this space.’
Actually, that was an understatement.
If it hadn’t been for “Mind Hub” filtering out the pain, he wouldn’t have been able to make such a nonchalant comment.
His monstrous body, strengthened by skills and holy power, was so damaged that he could tell how much he had pushed himself.
‘It seems like I need to rest for a few days with “Super Recovery” to fully recover.’
He was in a state where it was difficult to continue the trial, but he had something he was counting on because he had received various information beforehand.
The moment Heinrich confidently placed his hand on the door to the next stage,
Whoosh—
The surrounding energy was sucked into his body.
His body, which had been abused for a month, started to recover rapidly with the power of the externally injected energy.
“Ugh…”
His muscles twitched ceaselessly, and intense heat emanated from his entire body.
“Super Recovery”, which hadn’t been able to function properly due to his body’s overload, greedily absorbed the surrounding energy and reacted violently.
And with the addition of “Blessing: Fortified Body”, his body was reconstructed to be stronger, tougher, and more durable than before.
“Haa…”
And when the entire process was over, his body was a step further evolved than before he challenged the trial.
<First trial complete. Proceed to the next stage through the gate.>
A will echoed in his head again, but Heinrich was busy checking his body’s condition, observing himself.
‘…This is good.’
Come to think of it, this was the perfect place for training!
A miraculous space where he could devote himself solely to strengthening himself without eating or sleeping.
He crossed his arms and fell into thought.
‘Since the flow of time is different here, is there a need to immediately move on to the next trial?’
The time limit had also disappeared after completing the trial, and training for a day here had the same effect as training for over ten days outside.
The holy sword wasn’t going anywhere, so wouldn’t a little time be okay?
‘Let’s stay a little longer, just a little. Yes, just one more day.’
Heinrich, the training addict, turned around, his back to the door, and squatted down.
And he started to traverse the hallway quickly, doing bunny hops.
After about an hour of moving like that,
“Whew… Whew… Huh?”
He realized that the door he had just seen was at the end of the direction he was going.
Heinrich, who had crossed the hallway and arrived in front of the door again, frowned and examined it.
It was definitely the same door he had encountered from the opposite direction.
‘Why is it here? …Well, I think I know.’
It was a place created for the trial, so it wasn’t strange for space to be distorted.
He frowned lightly and turned around…
“…!”
He flinched and took a step back at the sight of a brown door that suddenly appeared right in front of him.
He hurriedly turned around again, but the long hallway was gone, and both front and back were blocked by the same door.
‘Is this a sign to stop stalling and move on to the next trial?’
Seeing this, it seemed like there was no more time for training.
‘I could do some bare-handed exercises in place…’
But he didn’t want to annoy the will that was administering the trial.
And above all, there was no heavy weight training equipment that suited him here.
Heinrich smacked his lips in regret and opened the door in front of him, entering.
When the bright light that enveloped his entire body disappeared…
He was standing alone in the middle of a large chapel.
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