Chapter 99 - The Road that Leads (2)

[Proficiency rate has maxed out, the skill level is increasing!]

After a while, Hyun lay down on the floor, feeling satisfied.

'Finished...'

Ain ended up laying on the floor in a weird position, but she didn't mention anything to Hyun since she was also tired.

Increasing that last level took them a while.

As a skill’s level increased, raising the proficiency rate became harder, and the level they’d just raised it to took them about five hours of non-stop training.

—Even with the help of the Heavenly Being Maria.

[«Angel's Basic Sword Art» Lv.5]

- If you do not attack for 8 seconds, this attack will deal 210% of the damage.

[※ The level of this skill increases with proficiency rather than points!]

Because Ain used the rest mode frequently, she couldn't learn as much as Hyun.

That resulted in Hyun and Ain reaching levels 5 and 4, respectively.

They couldn't do anything about her low skill level.

There had been times when she’d stayed in rest mode for too long and ended up being forcibly logged out.

If he had suddenly been forced to disassimilate and had been left alone with a Heavenly Being as a member of the Abyss, things could've gotten ugly.

'Because they’re the same skill, they can't be overlapped.'

Hyun started to analyze the new skill.

Judging by how the skill wasn't active on Ain's status window, it seemed that, while «Assimilation» was active, only the skill with the highest level appeared.

'I guess it would be too OP if they could be overlapped.'

A damage increase that could be activated once every eight seconds…

Although the effect didn't seem like much, that was because its skill level was still low.

Hyun knew from first-hand experience in the previous game how strong the skill could become if it evolved.

Not only that, but the current effect wasn't bad either, so Hyun was satisfied.

"Good news."

After Ain and Maria exited the room, Radiette's face had become slightly brighter.

"The Holy Kingdom is about to open a Warp Portal that leads to Iluna."

'Warp?'

"Warp Portal? But..."

Hyun had doubts, and Maria had a vague expression on her face.

—It was because she knew the main problem of a warp portal.

"How many will come through...?"

The warp portal didn't last long.

The Holy Kingdom most probably didn't have the power to open a warp portal two consecutive times.

If the Heavens lost, that would mean that everyone who had crossed through the portal would die.

Were the Empire and the Holy Kingdom sending their soldiers to die?

Even if they sent reinforcements, they couldn't expect their strongest knights or magicians to reinforce Iluna.

Radiette extended his explanation.

"It seems like the Pope used his head. He's going to send users to Iluna. If it's them, they probably won't be afraid of death."

"Oh…"

「Hyun, is the Pope's quest referring to this?」

Ain shared her quest window with Hyun.

It was Iluna's Quest, which had become a hot topic among users on the community boards.

「What, when did you receive something like this?」

「While learning the sword technique.」

「Can you share it with me?」

「Fufu, do you want it? Sadly, I can't, because you're part of the Abyss.」

Ain's quest window showed the remaining time until the quest started.

Hyun felt a little bit bittersweet that he'd been left out of the quest because he was part of the Abyss.

Ain noticed Hyun's mood and smiled.

「Hyun… Is it because you didn't receive the quest?」

「Hmm? No…?」

「The rewards of the quest are mostly gold and items. I can share them with you.」

「What? Y… You will?」Hyun asked back in surprise.

Ain replied while playing with her hair.

「We've shared the same body for a while. And… Hyun, you're sharing half of the profits generated from the videos with me.」

After hearing Ain saying something unexpectedly wholesome, Hyun smiled.

'Well, I guess it's normal?'

If it weren't for him, she probably wouldn't have thought about going to Iluna and would be spending her time dueling.

If the reward was given out depending on merit, he thought he also had a right to claim some of it.

Of course, that was Hyun trying to justify himself.

Radiette’s voice calmed down the excited Hyun.

"According to the oracle, the Heavenly Being and Priestess must «Pray» at the same time at the main magic circle."

According to the oracle…

Radiette said it with a serious voice while looking at Ain.

By how Radiette bit his lips, Hyun understood Radiette's feelings, who was struggling to talk.

"I'm sorry… But could I leave it to you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. There isn't anyone else."

Hyun looked at Maria.

He understood after seeing Maria nod with a sad expression on her face.

It was what Maria had wanted to ask them.

To be honest, Hyun had no reason to accept the proposal.

It would be Maria's fault if he didn't fulfill the promise since she had given out the reward before the quest ended.

"I'll do it."

Hyun didn't refuse.

Before he knew it, he was treating Maria as a real human being instead of an NPC.

Hyun wasn't cold enough to refuse a desperate favor.

Four people in total were going to the main magic circle.

First, there was Ain (Hyun) and Louise.

And with them, there were two Priests.

The Priest had the job of helping with the Priestess's ceremony.

"I'm counting on you…"

Louise made an awkward smile.

Ain also smiled awkwardly.

It was the first time they'd officially met.

"It's an honor to be able to take part in such a historical event before dying."

"Same here. It's an honor!"

The two Priests greeted them.

One was a very old man, and the other one was his apprentice.

The old man was one of the high-ranking Priests. And the apprentice was a girl of around 20 years old who had lots of talent.

They were skillful people, even among the Heavens, who had been chosen to support the Heavenly Being and the Priestess.

Before they'd finished their preparations, Radiette said something.

"Ain…"

Hyun and Ain were surprised by his voice.

They'd said her name when they’d first met, but he'd never called Ain by her name.

Which meant it was the first time he'd used her name to call her.

"Thank you."

"…"

"Thanks to you, I was able to sort it out," Radiette said while looking over Ain from head to toe.

"Too small."

"…?"

"Also the age… Although you're similar, that's it."

Radiette shook his head.

"I guess I don't need to worry about a user… But either way, don't die."

After Radiette finished talking, the four got ready to leave.

Next to them there was the carriage they were going to use.

In front of the carriage, instead of a normal horse, there was a sacred animal called a dragon-horse.

The carriage was also of high quality. There was more than enough space for the four of them.

The two Priests rode at the front, and Louise sat in the middle, and Ain at the back.

"I'll be staying here, but I'll help you a bit."

As Radiette extended his hand toward the carriage, the wind hitting their faces suddenly stopped.

And with that, the inside of the carriage became silent.

—An invisible protective shield had surrounded the carriage, blocking everything outside.

"It probably won't break."

"Then, we're leaving!"

As the female Priest urged the dragon-horse to move, the carriage started to gain speed.

Whoosh-!

They were moving at an incredible speed.

The scenery changed quickly.

Although Hyun had never driven a sports car, he thought riding one would probably feel like that.

The snow that was accumulated in the plains was flung into the air from the carriage's wheels.

The reason why it didn't shake despite moving so fast was probably because of the magic applied to the carriage.

The carriage kept moving toward the main magic circle.

The oracle had said the Priestess should go with a Heavenly Being and «Pray» with them in the main magic circle.

But going there wasn't an easy task.

They soon encountered a group that belonged to the Abyss.

"Everyone, hold tight!"

Boom-!

As the carriage hit the enemies, they bounced toward the air.

It seemed like the shield applied by Radiette was very effective—the enemies that were hit by it were left trembling.

The defense shield even deflected the opponents’ long-range attacks.

Even while that was happening, the dragon-horse kept running like crazy.

From the city toward the magic circle in a straight line, the word “sprint” really fitted the situation.

"Hyun… Look over there."

A while after the sprint began, Louise suddenly opened her mouth.

Her finger was pointed toward the horizon.

Louise's face was full of fear.

"The sun is shining…! Wh-what should I do…?!"

Everyone turned their heads around at Louise's urgent voice except for the Priest driving the carriage.

Just as she said, the land they'd passed through had started to slowly change colors.

The sunlight was falling from the sky.

It was a phenomenon that was happening because Iluna's orbit had changed, which made the eclipse change from a full one to a partial one.

As the sun began illuminating Iluna, the land was separated into light and darkness.

—The black and white boundary was closing in on the carriage.

The old Priest groaned.

"Oh, my god, to think that the sun is going to illuminate Iluna...!"

Even if the speed of the carriage was fast, it couldn't be faster than the rotational speed of Iluna.

The sunlight started to catch up with the carriage.

As the distance with the light grew narrower, Louise's face became pale.

Hyun quickly shouted in Ain's voice.

"Is there any place where we can hide from the sun?"

"Is it okay as long as the sunlight doesn't reach the carriage?!"

"Yes!"

The female Priest quickly changed the carriage’s direction.

They changed the direction to a gap between cliffs, and a few seconds later…

Fwoosh-! The sun illuminated Iluna.

For the first time in a few thousand years, Iluna's plains full of snow were covered with sunlight.

The party was covered by the shadow of a nearby cliff.

The carriage started to slow down.

"How long will the sun stay up?"

The female Priest answered at Hyun's mumble.

Even in the temple, she was famous for being intelligent. She was good at numerous disciplines on top of theology.

"We're going to enter the eclipse zone in three minutes!"

"Too tight…"

Hyun bit his lips.

"We're going to stop for a little bit!"

The Priestess pulled the reins and stopped the carriage.

They couldn't advance anymore because the shadowed area had ended.

"Oof…"

Louise, while hiding in the shadow, sighed in relief.

The party looked at the bright Iluna and anxiously waited for the light to disappear.

Just like the Priestess said, it took three minutes before the weather returned to the early evening weather.

"Giddy-up!"

The carriage began moving fast again.

Whir- The moment the high Priest’s magic activated, the dragon horse's speed picked up.

Hyun wondered if he should use «Biorhythm Acceleration» but decided not to.

An irreversible accident might happen if the dragon-horse couldn't control the buffed speed.

Even without the sun, the road was hard.

Members of the Abyss and monsters tried to attack them

Clang-!

In the end, Radiette's shield ended up breaking.

"Be careful, Hyun!"

"It's okay."

Fwoosh-!

Ain activated «Efreet's Claw».

The fire claws brushed off all the incoming arrows.

At the same time, she activated the other claw as well.

The two opponents trying to launch a surprise attack entered her attack range and screamed in pain.

As they rode further away from the enemies screaming in pain, Ain talked to Hyun via the soul.

「Hyun, keep watching my back!」

「Try to resist. I'll use it at the right time!」

Soon, monsters tried to attack all at once.

Whir.

The effect of «Biorhythm Acceleration» covered Ain's body.

At that moment, Ain's hands moved so fast that they couldn't be seen.

The fire claws whipped through Iluna's blizzard!

It was a ferocious attack that tore apart and burned tens of monsters.

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