My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 149
#149
Hero Party (3)
Those who observed the battle could immediately recognize the change in Heinrich.
It had to be that way.
The trajectory of the sword cutting through space, the heavy steps taken, and even the light breathing began to give off a feeling of suffocating intimidation.
“…The saint has overcome the wall.”
“Huh! Lord Tuskin? When did you come…”
“Shh.”
And the Paladin, the symbol of the church’s power, was also impressed by it.
Paladin Tuskin, leader of the Silver Wing Holy Knights, who quietly approached and observed the news of the saint’s sparring, was filled with special emotions as he looked at the sparring venue.
When Heinrich was a crusader, wasn’t he the one who brought him here from the Thalia Temple just because he saw its potential?
However, how can one be calm as the crusader at that time became a paladin in the shortest amount of time and not only made great achievements, but he also drew the holy sword and became a saint and a warrior.
‘Plus, that dragon warrior fighting against the saint… is amazing. If I were to fight seriously, it would be difficult for me too.’
Paladins of the main church were not simply knights who had reached the level of master.
The level of a warrior is not only basic, but it is an honorable position that can be reached only if one possesses at least bishop-level divine power and five or more blessings.
Of course, their combat power cannot be judged by general standards, and especially in terms of defense, it was truly unrivaled.
‘It has physical abilities and wild instincts that surpass those of monsters, as well as an unmanned, refined combat system. Of course… to become a saint’s companion, you have to be at that level.’
Tuskin looked at Harley outside the sparring hall and slowly nodded in approval.
And at that moment, the huge ax with blazing dark red aura and the brightly shining holy sword collided once again.
Coooooo—!
After a loud crash that struck the protective barrier, the two stepped back as if they had made a promise.
“Hahaha! You are truly a warrior! “I’ve never seen such a strong warrior before!”
Harley, who looked like a mess, returned her mutated body to its original state and burst into laughter.
As a result of the intense battle, his body was completely covered in blood, but after recovering from “super regeneration,” there was no longer a single wound left on his body.
Awesome!
Instead, I expended too much energy and felt intense hunger.
He took out the dragon meat from the subspace magic tool he had tied to his waist and ate it hungrily.
“Whoa—.”
Heinrich sighed lightly as he watched Harley cut down several pieces of meat on the spot and straightened up his torn robes.
No matter how much of a warrior he was, he couldn’t avoid getting scratched by Harley.
However, thanks to the powerful blessings and divine power that protect the body, now there are no traces left other than the clothes.
Even so, they were all scars from the early and middle stages of the battle, before obtaining the “Way of Martial Arts.”
‘I got too caught up in the moment.’
Still, it was a satisfactory result with unexpected results.
This incident stimulated Heinrich’s “armless spirit” and broadened his perspective on martial arts, which directly led to the evolution of his skills.
It was an unexpected synergy that was created by mixing Harley’s method of prioritizing instinct with his usual battle that focused on reason.
Perhaps thanks to the realization that came from this unexpected collaboration, his mind became refreshed and a pleasant sense of elation filled his heart.
“Congratulations, saint! I knew you were strong before, but even that was still in the growth stage. After all, the Holy Son is the hope of this continent!”
“That Yongin warrior is also amazing. … If you are at that level, I have no choice but to recognize you as a colleague of the saint.”
“Warrior, do you have any special muscle training methods of your own? “Our Holy Knights have their own special routine, so why not spend some time interacting with each other?”
“That’s great! It’s good for everyone that the Saint’s companions become stronger. “Even if we can’t be together in person, we can help in this way!”
The muscle mass that was watching came to them as they left the sparring room and started talking noisily.
They had no hesitation in dealing with Heinrich, who had developed a bond while training together, as well as with Harley, who had proven her skills this time, and their common theme was training.
And as they spoke, another thought suddenly passed through Heinrich’s mind.
‘Colleagues… a party to defeat the Demon King and the Immortal King…’
That was a sense of skepticism about what was going on.
In fact, the current situation was much more urgent and developed with less time than initially planned.
If he was truly going to fight the devil who wanted to destroy the world as a hero, it was natural that he should do so.
Rather, they would have taken a stronger stance by respecting individual opinions and engaging in additional negotiations with their respective countries rather than taking the ‘if you don’t like it’ approach, as they do now.
‘Even now, the Ministry of Intelligence is bringing in several lists and there is also an atmosphere of subtly requesting further response.’
However, from the beginning, his goal was not to defeat the Immortal King, but to build a narrative similar to a heroic story.
And in such a ‘classic story’, the process of the main character gathering friends one by one while overcoming all kinds of hardships was also an important part of the development.
‘Yeah, like Harley’s Big Adventure.’
Harley, who lives a life of struggle, escapes after being experimented on by the evil warlock Hans in Act 4.
He later met and formed friendships with the merchant Hubert and the elf Harris and the dwarf Howard.
Finally, in Act 7, the dragon’s blood was awakened.
‘And the end of the 7th act is now. ‘You become a warrior’s companion.’
That was also the direction in which he first envisioned the development of ‘home theater’.
Several incidents occurred one after another, ultimately leading to the current situation.
‘It’s too late to proceed with the story like that now… The plan went too far wrong because the Oath of Yeokcheon started a big incident.’
In fact, it was natural for the people here to prepare for war as quickly as possible, but Hans also felt like he lost his pace and went wild when the events unfolded differently than he had initially thought.
In the current situation, the existing policy of minimizing sacrifice could not be maintained.
There are probably quite a few people who are still skeptical, but as the story progresses, the probability of the Immortal King will inevitably fall apart.
‘When I first came up with the plan, I thought I would just have to kill enough bad guys… but when I tried it myself, the presence of the name of the Immortal King was too big.’
Just doing something was enough to turn it into a disaster, so it was difficult to make the situation go the way I wanted.
In addition, the events of the Yeokcheon Oath overlapped, and at some point, war really came close.
‘In that case, no matter what you do, the ‘sacrifice of the cow for the greater good’ becomes inevitable. That’s the structure of war itself in the first place. There’s nothing I can do about this.’
So is there really no way?
Do I have no choice but to close my eyes and force others to sacrifice for my own greed, or just be satisfied with this and quit the game?
‘You can’t do that! ‘Shouldn’t we just avoid war at all costs?’
In the end, the subject of the invasion was also himself, so it was possible to do it whenever he wanted to, without having to go through complicated processes such as agreements.
The only problem was how to do it naturally…
When Heinrich frowned and lost in thought at the thoughts that were disturbing his mind.
“Saint? “Are you okay right now?”
An emergency meeting of all the leaders of the Grand Temple of Roselia was convened under the presiding of the saint.
***
A small conference room located in the deepest part of the Roselia Grand Temple.
The size of the space was not very large, but the personalities of those gathered inside were all outstanding.
From two cardinals, a saint and a saint, to the head of the Inquisitor and the Archbishop Paladin.
In fact, all the leaders of the Roselia Grand Temple were gathered in one place to discuss the future.
“Whoa, this is a big deal. “The task of uniting the power of the continent is still slow, but Hans, the Immortal King, has begun to make serious progress.”
“It’s a northern forest not far from the Principality of Rohan… I guess this is meant to mock us, right? He said he would watch from close range the complete collapse of the principality he had destroyed…”
“Didn’t many people lose their lives in the Rohan incident? And those sacrifices will continue to increase in the future. “Those countless deaths will become the power of the Immortal King.”
The agenda for the emergency meeting was about the aura of death that had been detected within the northern mountain range not long ago.
Although the Immortal King’s concealment ability was so great that it was called the worst of all time, it was difficult to completely block the flow of energy that large.
Naturally, the movement was detected by those with the detection blessing, including the saint, and an investigation was immediately conducted, and an emergency meeting was held.
“This matter is more serious than ever! “It’s completely different from what happened before!”
Saint Riesta stood up from her seat and raised her voice in a strong tone.
Her sensing ability was the best in the church, so the others also listened to her words with serious expressions.
“Not only the energy of the Immortal King Hans was detected, but also the presence of tens of thousands of undead. I put all the power I had accumulated so far into one place. That means…!”
“…It’s a declaration of war.”
“Huh—in a situation like this?… No, I should say it’s because of a situation like this. It’s also in the direction of the Principality of Rohan….”
‘Huh?’
The expressions of the leaders of the church sank somberly.
It wasn’t long before we received a call that rescue operations for refugees were having difficulties due to the constant influx of monsters.
The defense line has completely collapsed and the territory has become lawless and in chaos.
From the people of a ruined country who gathered in the capital and went on a sit-in protest, to those who banded together and tried to survive.
Even in that situation, while they were struggling to control the situation, an immortal army suddenly appeared from a short distance away.
Of course, in this situation, proper defense was impossible.
“Even so, it is difficult to gather an army as the entire continent is suffering from monsters on the move…”
To make matters worse, Cardinal Pion let out a soft sigh.
For the greater good, we had to boldly abandon the principality and build a new defense line on the empire’s border, but there are still more than 100,000 people who remain in the principality territory, so how can we ignore them all?
“…The Immortal King is probably smiling as he watches our choice.”
No matter which side you choose, the only option is a handshake.
Everyone was shocked by his viciousness.
‘Is this happening again? …No, I was short-thinking. ‘It’s natural for this to happen.’
Except one person.
Saint Heinrich of the Main Church nodded with a serious expression and busily thought.
‘Oh, how can I fix this…’
Looking at the current situation, it seemed like my well-intentioned actions were only hindering me.
Just a little while ago, I pledged to find a different method, but a new problem was immediately thrown into my head.
“…What happened to the Empire’s troops?”
“The first batch of troops gathered at the northern border has just entered the Principality of Rohan. To date, three legions of 10,000 men have taken different routes to the capital. Additional reinforcements are continuing.”
“If the Empire finds out about this…” “
…they will immediately cancel all operations and withdraw their troops.”
Everyone’s mood calmed down.
There was no point in the church holding out for a hundred days unless the empire, which could mobilize a large army, stepped forward and led the refugees.
However, that did not mean that the information obtained from the main church could not be passed on to the empire.
If the Immortal Army really began to move south, not only the Principality of Rohan but also the Empire could be greatly shaken.
‘No, the Empire is not stupid and they will figure it out quickly. Maybe they are in a meeting like us right now. … Yes, I guess that’s the only way.’
Hans’ location in the north would reduce the influx of monsters in that direction, but it would be meaningless unless rescue operations continued.
In the end, Heinrich made up his mind, closed his eyes on the spot, and entered into prayer.
Their faith was instantly heightened by the enormous concentration of mental power, and as a result, the spiritual vein connected to the main body rapidly expanded.
After using a whopping 640,000 points of ‘mental strength strengthening’ with the karma gained from various events and achievements, the effect was incomparable to before.
Then naturally…
wow…
the greatly amplified divine power spewed out from his body, and the aura that was like a transparent flame began to spread with a deep brilliance.
“Huh!?”
“…Saint?”
In the blink of an eye, the attention of the leaders was drawn to the sacred flames that filled the conference room.
The blazing energy that could be seen was so pure that it was amazing, and it was so overwhelming that I was in awe without even realizing it.
The moment when everyone’s attention was focused.
Heinrich stood up with a reverential expression.
I secretly prayed to the Lord to allow me to become a righteous fraudster.
“Can you just listen to me for a moment? The Lord has shown us the way.”
And the brilliantly shining aura that enveloped his body was proof of his approval.
maybe.