At the mention of three, Sachsen’s eyes curved slightly.
“And why do you think that?”
“Because from my perspective, there are exactly three things that cannot be replaced by the other classes.”
It was a number he had arrived at after serious consideration.
Truthfully, he had wanted to narrow it down even further, but since Sachsen said there were quite a few, he intentionally answered with three—one more than the Clerics.
“And what are those three?”
“Blessings, weakening, and enhancement.”
At Su-ho’s answer, the smile on Sachsen’s face deepened even further.
“Correct.”
As expected.
Just as he thought.
To be honest, he had almost separated the Rage series after entering the Rage Crusader stage and made it four instead, but deliberately reduced it to three.
‘Broadly speaking, it falls under weakening anyway.’
Sachsen spoke.
“As I mentioned earlier, the reason I am recommending these holy arts is to reduce the number of techniques you actively use. In that sense, the three I just recommended are capable of encompassing all the others. How did you organize them on your end, Your Holiness?”
“In my case, I grouped together Blessings that increase stats, Endurance that reduces pain, Sacrifice that takes damage in place of others, and Rage Mode tied to the Rage Gauge. Then I separated enhancement on its own, and bundled together the remaining curse-type holy arts that share similar properties with weakening.”
“Precisely.”
“That’s a relief. Though this was only my assumption. Is something like that actually possible?”
“Of course it is. In fact, the holy arts you learn will automatically respond to Your Holiness’s will and apply the appropriate effects at the right moments.”
“These holy arts also possess something like sentience?”
“They do.”
“Good grief...”
They were not living creatures, so how could every holy art he learned behave like this?
“Do not be so surprised. All holy arts ultimately originate from Quai. That is why I call this the Quai System.”
“The Quai System? But Master Sachsen, no matter what, isn’t that a bit too casual for referring to the Chief God?”
“So what? Both you and I already know from experience that the god we believed in was not truly a god at all, and that everyone was simply another victim beneath the System.”
“That may be true, but...”
“Think of it simply. It is not as though the holy arts possess true sentience and actively help us. We are merely those who gain power while backed by the Chief God Quai. So it is easier to think of all this as Quai responding to our will and assisting us automatically.”
Good lord.
So after all that talk about holy arts possessing wills of their own, this was the truth behind it?
Su-ho was too stunned to speak, and Sachsen continued as though it were nothing important.
“There is no reason to feel shocked, nor any reason to overthink it. Quai’s original purpose was to support the Pope. And when I became the Red Pope, I was neither the first Cardinal nor the first Pope within the Pantheon to arrive here after death. I was someone who became both a Cardinal and a Pope without dying first. So after discussing matters with everyone, I gathered the holy arts we had developed and requested that Quai provide a method through which we could become even stronger by means of them. The result was simply the creation of the Quai System.”
“Ah...”
The Quai System.
Its origins were far deeper and more legitimate than he had expected.
And now, Su-ho was inheriting the path created by those who came before him.
Su-ho nodded.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m the one benefiting from all of this.”
“Not at all. On the contrary, I could not be happier that someone has finally appeared to inherit my will. Then that should conclude the recommended holy arts. All that remains now is the final step.”
“The final step?”
“You asked earlier, did you not? Why narrow the selection of holy arts in the first place? I told you it was for the sake of selection and concentration, but that is not the only reason.”
“Then what is it?”
“Sacred Covenant.”
“Sacred Covenant?”
“What I am about to teach you can become either poison or blessing. Because I intend to teach you Sacred Covenant. Simply put, Sacred Covenant is a method that strengthens the holy arts I just recommended by sacrificing all the others.”
“Strengthens them?”
“Yes. Strengthens them. The seven holy arts I have recommended so far are what I call the Seven Holy Arts. And the final secret technique of the Crusaders, created to draw out the maximum potential of those Seven Holy Arts... is Sacred Covenant.”
Sacred Covenant.
That was the final thing Sachsen intended to pass down to Su-ho.
His entire legacy.
Sachsen raised his greatsword to shoulder level.
RUMBLE!
The ground trembled, and the Crusader Stone rose from the earth before stopping directly in front of him.
Pointing toward the Crusader Stone, Sachsen spoke.
“There is no such thing as power without cost. By the time I reached the end of the world and fought there, every holy art the Pantheon was capable of creating had already been created. Yet even so, it still was not enough. So I thought and thought again. How could I become stronger beyond that point? The result was the creation of the final secret art known as Sacred Covenant.”
“The Sacred Covenant that strengthens a small number of holy arts in exchange for abandoning the others?”
“Correct.”
The Crusader Stone slowly rotated backward.
As it turned, an unusually large and roughly carved set of inscriptions appeared on its reverse side, completely unlike the orderly writings covering the rest of the Stone.
“Once a Sacred Covenant is made, it can never be reversed again. That is why it is called a covenant. But even so, I can confidently recommend it. As long as the Quai System remains active, the Seven Holy Arts I selected can be called the absolute strongest among all holy arts within the Pantheon.”
Su-ho agreed with him.
Sachsen had once been a fellow Player, yet unlike Su-ho, he rejected all outside powers and fought the System using only the holy arts of the Pantheon.
A man who had struggled that fiercely.
No matter how capable Su-ho might be, he could not confidently say he would discover a better combination than Sachsen had.
“Then after using Sacred Covenant, can’t you use the Pantheon Stones anymore?”
“Of course you still can. Pantheon Stones are still Pantheon Stones. The sort of applications I demonstrated earlier, like dropping them from the sky, remain perfectly possible.”
“That’s a relief. Understood. Then I’ll proceed with Sacred Covenant as well. Does that mean this is everything you intended to teach me?”
“You truly do not doubt me even once.”
“I may have accepted all sorts of outside powers, but you were someone who fought the System using only the holy arts of the Pantheon. At the very least, when it comes to the Pantheon’s holy arts, you are vastly more experienced and knowledgeable than I am. So I’ll simply trust and follow your guidance.”
“That is kind of you to say. But when it comes to holy arts, you absolutely will not regret this. And I do not consider the other powers you learned to be some kind of impure tricks. If anything, I regret the past version of myself that refused to accept other forms of power. So if the Seven Holy Arts ever prove lacking in some area, then seek methods of supplementing them through your other powers.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Then let us begin the transmission immediately.”
Sachsen swung his greatsword like a conductor’s baton.
WOOOONG!
The Pantheon Stones belonging to both Su-ho and Sachsen floated upward, then aligned themselves face-to-face according to each respective class.
Soon after, they began to shine.
[ Master Sachsen has begun transmitting holy arts through the Pantheon Stones. ]
A system notification appeared.
At the same time, the Cleric Stone began glowing first, followed one after another by the remaining Stones.
[ The Restoration Holy Art is being transmitted from the Cleric Stone. ]
[ The Purification Holy Art is being transmitted from the Cleric Stone. ]
[ The Protective Holy Art is being transmitted from the Monk Stone. ]
[ The Extermination of Evil Holy Art is being transmitted from the Paladin Stone. ]
[ The Consecration Holy Art is being transmitted from the Crusader Stone. ]
[ The Deterioration Holy Art is being transmitted from the Crusader Stone. ]
[ The Extreme Enhancement Holy Art is being transmitted from the Crusader Stone. ]
Notifications continuously appeared.
At the same time, streams resembling rune characters extended outward from the Pantheon Stones and wrapped around Su-ho’s body.
‘So they really are acquired just like skills.’
Then there was nothing difficult about this.
Eventually, once the notification announcing the completion of the transmissions appeared, Sachsen spoke.
“Then from this point onward, we shall begin the Sacred Covenant ritual.”
[ Master Sachsen is transmitting the Sacred Covenant Holy Art through the Crusader Stone. ]
[ Sacred Covenant has been activated. ]
FWAAAAASH!
Holy light erupted outward.
Then additional notifications appeared before Su-ho.
[ Sacred Covenant cast by Master Sachsen through the Crusader Stone has been activated. ]
[ Would you like to seal the use of all holy arts except ‘Restoration, Purification, Protection, Extermination of Evil, Consecration, Deterioration, and Extreme Enhancement’? ]
[ If you choose to seal them, all holy arts except for the designated seven will be permanently sealed and can never be unlocked again. ]
Warning notifications.
The system asked solemnly, but the answer had already been decided.
The moment Su-ho accepted, another notification appeared.
[ The Crusader Stone accepts your will. ]
[ Sacred Covenant has been activated. ]
FWAAAAASH!
Sacred Covenant activated.
This time, countless rune characters began pouring out from Su-ho’s body.
They were the holy art skills he had originally possessed.
The extracted rune characters flowed into the Crusader Stone one after another, and when finally the last string of runes vanished completely, a final notification appeared before Su-ho’s eyes.
[ Sacred Covenant has been completed. ]
[ Due to the effects of Sacred Covenant, the effectiveness of the holy arts ‘Restoration, Purification, Protection, Extermination of Evil, Consecration, Deterioration, and Extreme Enhancement’ has increased dramatically. ]
FLASH!
With the final notification, the resonating light connecting Sachsen, the Pantheon Stones, and Su-ho burst apart brilliantly like exploding spores.
Soon the waves of light settled.
Within the refreshed air that remained behind, Su-ho once again faced Sachsen.
Sachsen smiled.
“You have worked hard.”
“Not at all. I barely did anything. You handled everything yourself, Master Sachsen.”
“Even so, it is not easy to simply trust my recommendations and accept them without hesitation. Thank you for placing your trust in me. From this moment onward, all Crusaders of the Pantheon will forever stand beside Your Holiness.”
Sachsen performed a respectful martial salute.
He had acknowledged Su-ho from the beginning, but now that Su-ho had accepted the Seven Holy Arts and Sacred Covenant, Sachsen had completely projected himself onto him.
No—
To him, Su-ho had become something beyond that.
A son.
A hope.
His everything.
And then—
FWAAAAASH!
Light erupted.
Three Subspace Gates opened around the two of them, and familiar figures stepped through the open doors.
Roland.
Pyo.
And Bell.
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