Against the World II: Transgression
Chapter 9: Causa Proxima, Part 4
...—Translation Knight Templar—...
To become part of the Knight Templar, every graduate of the academy in every city must fulfill two things.
First, they had to finish the hard training for two whole weeks. The drill forced the would-be soldiers to their limits. Due to the rigor and rigor of this exercise, a trainee only has three hours to sleep and fifty minutes to eat and bathe (including urination) in a day. That is, they have a meal and bath time of only ten minutes each (eating three times and bathing twice, a total of fifty minutes).
Second, the would-be warriors of the Knights Templar had to make it to the other side of the Mountain of Testament— - a mountain as high as one and a half kilometers that was considered sacred by the church. If the first condition has incriminated prospective soldiers, this second condition is even heavier. The soldiers were not given any supplies. They were also not allowed to carry anything other than one weapon and a small tent.
Every month, there were an average of three thousand five hundred participants trying to pass the first condition. Of that number, on average only eighty percent graduated. Of the eighty percent who passed it, less than thirty percent managed to reach the other side of the Mountain of Testament— the rest fell in the obstacles that were deliberately made on that mountain.
Marcus Vehelmi Vandiesell is one of them. This short gray-haired man standing against gravity had already passed both conditions.
Only, he graduated about eight years ago when he was sixteen. At the age of twenty, he was made a Saint. He was the youngest of the Saints at the time. Now he was twenty-four, and he had become one of the strongest Saints. If ranked by the strongest, it would rank four. Even so, if he were to exert all his abilities, Marcus was confident of being able to deal with the Saints under him as well as one-on-eight.
Therefore, when the Great Priestess chose him to overcome Eternity, no Saint volunteered to help. They all believe he can do it. Although Eternity's full strength was still a mystery to even the Great Priestess whose clairvoyance had no real rival, they believed Marcus could overcome it.
The troops under Marcus' leadership totaled thirty thousand, but he only brought two-thirds of them. And of those two-thirds, Marcus would only deploy ten thousand soldiers to enter the Forbidden Valley region of Ed. The remaining ten thousand soldiers would be on standby if the Imperial Army intervened at any time.
“Saint Marcus, Sir!”
The beautiful-looking man with a height of one point eight meters spontaneously turned his face.
“As Saint Marcus said, the barrier that locked up Ed's Forbidden Valley was completely weakened. There is no longer a constant immeasurable energy supplying mana to the barrier. We can deploy several dozen magic cannons to destroy it.”
The Great Priest has never been wrong in predicting the future. However, the toughness of the barrier protecting the Forbidden Valley of Ed was known to all. The nephilim himself could not even destroy it. Therefore, Marcus was doubtful about the priest's prediction regarding the barrier. However, this warrior had just proven what the Great Priestess had foreseen.
What the hell's going on?
There must be a reason why the barrier became weak. It was impossible for the barrier to weaken for no reason. Marcus believes things do not happen by themselves. The world obeys the law of causality. Water won't boil if no temperature raises its temperature. Likewise with the barrier that locked up the forbidden valley.
Did Hernandez program that the barrier was weakened at any given time?
Marcus wanted to consult with Khrometh, the dwarf would definitely be able to enlighten him. However, Khrometh was in the Dwarf Kingdom. Indeed, he could send a teleportation user warrior for it. However, ever since anyone had infiltrated Khrometh's hidden place, the dwarf no longer wanted to meet anyone else. Send soldiers for free.
“Ready, carry out, Sir!”
Marcus nodded, allowing the soldier to carry out the task he was given. When the soldier came out of his tent, Marcus resumed his thinking. Daydreaming and thinking are Marcus's hobbies; doing so to make assumptions about the self-weakening that occurs in the barrier is a perfect use of time.
...—Depth Warebeast Great Kingdom—...
The black robes and masks that used to characterize a Neix today were no longer adorning his body. The time to hide was over; the two objects that were identical in figure were no longer necessary. Neix was already fully confident he could stand before those who dared to oppose him. Neix at this second no longer thought there was anything on it.
The Six Crests of Hope? Supreme Magic's? The Throne of Heaven? Whatisit? Neix doesn't need that. It does not need the power that Edenia created or anything related to it. He created his own power. He is a creature who stands against all the limits the world has placed on him. He freed himself from all things that were broken. It evolved. He was the first creature to achieve perfection. He was the first creature to achieve divinity.
At the very least, that was what Neix believed when he saw his reflection in a mirror that simply appeared out of nothing.
Looking back at him from the mirror was a pale-skinned man.
The fiery red eyes with those vertical pupils looked intensely at their owner. Neix's self-reflection had elongated raven-style black hair. His nose is well-strapped, his jaw is strong, his face is well-proportioned, and Neix has ears that are pointed up and down. Then, two small horns stick out on his right and left forehead. Between the two foreheads, precisely in the middle of the forehead, a purple octagonal symbol clung full of arrogance.
Neix has a black trouser just feet—the pants are a bit tight, but not tight enough to make the wearer uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the upper body part is not clad in any type of clothing. Only a pure white bandage wrapped around his body perfectly up to the neck. Both of his hands were also wrapped in bandages so that they could not be seen from him even if only the tip of the nail.
No sandals or shoes wrapped around Neix's feet, but that doesn't mean he's barefoot. Like her body was covered in bandages, her legs were too. And Neix doesn't tread the floor. His body floated a few centi above the cave floor. No, he did not use any magic at all. Neix's body JUST doesn't touch the floor.
“I'm sure even Vermyna did not expect this,” Neix said to himself, his hand moving to melt the mirror to dust.
“Well, it is time to return to Etharna; Eternity will move to the Forbidden Valley Ed.”
...######...
#If the reader is familiar with the Bleach manga/anime, the crystal ball that swallowed the soul of Zegyus made by Neix is similar to the Hogyoku made by Kisuke Urahara and Aizen Sosuke.
#The protective barrier of Ed's Forbidden Valley was supplied by the throne Hernandez had made, while the throne received the mana supply from Kurtalaegon. With the Kurtalaegon changing hands, the throne of Hernandez had no source. Without a source of mana, it weakened rapidly. And as “Remember Hernandez” says, he will disappear (the throne will stop functioning after his last mana stash runs out) after running his last role—and that role is not teleporting Nizivia. We'll see that role in this volume.