Chapter 162 (1/2)

Eat It Up!

I could feel a strange hostility from the slanted eyes of the Adgon species.

It could’ve been just a feeling, but I couldn’t just ignore what my guts were telling me.

“What do you mean, commissioner?!”

Bachurka’s baffled voice was delivered through interpretation magic.

“What is it that you doubt? I don’t seem to understand.”

Adgon spoke while maintaining his gaze at me.

“The agenda we’re judging right now is whether the Union would support that Awakened individual from Earth or not. And the proof is that only he is said to be free from the influence of Mercadius’s mental manipulation.”

“Yes, that is what we have discussed..”

“I’ve been thinking about this from the very beginning, but isn’t the evidence too insufficient?”

“?”

“Holy wound on the finger? Well, let’s say that it is. But for him to be the future incarnation of the Igras-Sho? From whom did that testimony come?”

It came from the Abanos species, who faced me with authority as the Board of Audit and Inspection and were devastated by the deity.

“Isn’t that a testimony of a species that has already been dismissed?”

Bachurka slowly disclosed her displeasure.

“What on Earth do you mean to insist?”

“The insignias on the back of that hand is indwelled only for the incarnation.”

“I know.”

“And different sacred forces tend to repel each other. However, the sacred scars he’s supposed to have received directly from Igras-Sho aren’t leaking even a drop of blood in this situation. The same can be said for the Divine Mark.”

“Are you claiming the insignias to be fake?”

One of the other commissioners who were listening joined in.

“Just right now, we’ve run a sacred force scan throughout the conference room just in case…”

The result was predictable.

“We’ve detected four different types of sacred forces in that Awakened’s body. Magic, life, sword, and luck. It matches the divinity that each of those seals represents.”

Bachurka looked as if she was saying, ‘You heard, didn’t you?’

Adgon, however, continued to criticize me with a tone of disapproval.

He was definitely persistent and stubborn.

“The divine power can be indwelled through holy items and blessings. What I’m saying is, in the first place, has the Awakened before us really been chosen to be the incarnation of Igras-Sho? Would the magic god allow that to happen? To let the future incarnate receive three other gods’ seals apart of its own?”

He’s acting sarcastic as if it was such a ridiculous notion to pass.

“You must have been desperate for our support, haven’t you? But you have taken this way too far. Four types of seals!”

He was driving the atmosphere in a manner that painted me as exposing myself with a clumsy ‘lie.’

“After all, the presumable truth from the present situation is this. The claim that he is the chosen incarnation of Igras-Sho is false and that that Divine Mark is also fake. Then there’s only one question left.”

His voice grew louder.

“How the hell can that Awakened being be free from Mercadius’s mind domination?”

There was a strange light in his eyes.

“Is there anything he hasn’t revealed to us yet? Can’t the claim that he was chosen by a god be a lie to hide that truth? Wouldn’t this be reasonable doubt?”

That convinced me.

That piece of shit, he knew something about the successor.

At least he seemed convinced that the trait that prevented me from being subject to mental domination was connected somehow.

‘But that inference is only half-correct.’

If he doubted my seals, then the situation could be solved by proving it to him.

I spoke with a light sigh.

“I think it’s time for me to give my explanation.”

“Okay, try me.”

Adgon smiled as if to say, ‘let’s hear what you have to say.’

I held out the back of my hand.

And he spoke with a more distorted expression than necessary.

“I’m baffled that you still are dubious of me after measuring that four kinds of sacred forces are flowing out of here.”

The commissioner, who was looking at the measurements, corrected me.

“Wait a minute. It is indeed measured, but its intensity is insufficient. As already pointed out, that divine mark is originally the highest seal awarded only to the incarnation. It doesn’t have the corresponding intensity.”

Of course.

One had to have his soul subordinated to receive such a mighty power.

To borrow the explanation of the god in my memory, the seal was only but the paint.

If one mixed water with it, one could color the world with the colors of each deity.

Then, where was the water?

‘Good thing I had turned a portion of Mana into divine power in advance!’

It was another ability that I was able to gain the moment my [Mana Drain] skill evolved.

2) The absorbed Mana can be converted to a different type of ‘power’ depending on the user’s designation.

Among the possible types that Mana could be converted into, divine power was included.

Just as the basic energy that composed the material world at that moment was Mana, it was said that divine power took the same role in the world before the creation of the material world.

And I had filled my body with pure divine power, which didn’t contain any deity’s energy.

That was, in comparison, transparent, clear water.

From that moment on, I started mixing some paint here.

“So this would be solved if I prove it right here.”

Adgon snorted.

“You’d better not take out any petty tricks.”

Since everyone was already looking at the hologram…

As one commissioner said, the scan indicated that four properties of divine powers had been detected in my body: magic, life, sword, and luck.

However, each intensity was extremely weak.

But what’s important about that result was that the sacred power I had, which had no properties at the moment, wasn’t shown as a part of it.

The concept of divine power that didn’t belong to any deity was unknown to the current era’s beings.

Therefore, it couldn’t be sensed, much less identified, by the detector’s scanners.

However, the moment I mixed certain divine attributes into that energy…

Beeeeeeep!

“W-what?!”

As I practiced, I gradually sent the divine power to the back of my hand.

Then, the seals, which symbolized magic, life, sword, and luck… The palette painted with four types of colors started to dye the seeping waterfall of divine power with each of their hues.

They didn’t repel each other as agreed by the gods, but they didn’t converge and blend either.

Beeeeep!

“The intensity of the divine power levels is-!”

What I did was nothing more than adding color to the originally existing pure divine power. However, the detector responded as if a previously non-existing force had been created and manifested out of nowhere. And it started to raise the indicated values.

As it did so, the noisy sound continued to resonate in the conference room.

The seven commissioners couldn’t do anything but look at the hologram with a dumbfounded expression visible on their faces.

As I was checking the values together, I stopped when it had reached the point where I thought it was enough.

“This is…!”

Adgon leaked a voice of desolation.

The sentence he took out more and more trembled and turned loud as he continued, and by the end, it had changed to something similar to a scream.

“This is ridiculous! How can a single mortal… be chosen as the incarnation of four gods!”

The hologram was speaking.

It announced that there were four kinds of divine sacred power that were worthy of being recognized as having the same levels as incarnations!

In fact, it made it seem like four incarnations had been compressed and shoved into the form of one person.

Bachurka asked in a voice mixed with relief and anticipation.

“Oh my, I’m sure until the last time we met, all you had was the power handed down by the god of magic! In that short time, how did you-?”

Her eyes shone.

“Could you explain? It’s even more unusual that there’s been a change, considering you’ve just recently upgraded your unique skill of all times. That’s where all the altars are gathered!”

It was a natural deduction.

I gave them the explanation I prepared in advance.

“It was when I challenged the second ordeal.”

I explained the scramble between the gods over me more gently and piously.

That alone made the commissioners look stunned.

In particular, beyond shock, Adgon expressed his nervousness and even anger, and I kept that fact in my head.

“Wait a minute. To sum it up, in the end…!”