“Not bad! Not bad at all!”
Leon was quite satisfied with this trait. He continued to examine the glowing streams of light for the Hand of Divine Art's upgrade.
【You have upgraded the Hand of Divine Art. You may choose one of the following three traits for enhancement:】
【Flexibility: The Hand of Divine Art can be converted into an extremely flexible form, allowing you to freely change its shape. It can be used to cushion enemy attacks, penetrate an enemy's body, or wrap around yourself as a protective layer.】
【Fusion: The Hand of Divine Art can fully fuse with your right hand. After fusion, your right hand will gain transcendent power, allowing you to intercept sharp blades barehanded, block magic attacks, and even reach directly into lava or extremely cold icy abysses without sustaining any damage.】
【Empowering Linkage (Prerequisites: Master Light Prayer, Healing Art, Radiance Perception, Hammer of Sacred Light, and Radiance Longbow; and these Divine Arts must be linked to condense a Divine Art Colossus): The Hand of Divine Art will envelop the body of the Divine Art Colossus, granting it the power of Sacred Flame. At the same time, the Hand of Divine Art can ignite the Sacred Flame, inflicting terrifying mental burns on all enemies within the Radiance Force Field.】
After a brief scan of the three traits, Leon did not hesitate:
“I choose Empowering Linkage.”
One Divine Art linked with four, five, or six others, and it could even grant the power of Sacred Flame to the Divine Art Colossus—which was his blue-gold giant.
Leon felt that unless his brain had turned into Alicia's, there was no way he would have chosen any other trait.
“This feels great!”
With the trait selected, a wave of satisfaction washed over Leon's heart.
With his strength enhanced once again, he felt that his current self might actually be able to test his mettle against a Diamond rank transcendent.
“Can't get cocky, can't get cocky!”
Leon reined in his restless heart.
Daring to test a Diamond rank when he had only just entered the Gold rank... how was that any different from some hothead challenging a veteran grandmaster just because he'd gotten his hands on a shiny new toy?
It was the equivalent of Louis XVI looking in the mirror—completely headless!
“Steady development. No reckless plays.”
Leon opened his panel again to take another look.
“Wishing Art and Sacred Light Meditation are also close to leveling up...”
“Once the Wishing Art levels up, the signal with the God of Sacred Light should improve. I wonder if, by then, I'll be able to summon the God of Sacred Light directly, just like when I was holding 【St. Elias's Skull】...”
“And upgrading Sacred Light Meditation will make my Sea of Mental Power grow even faster...”
By then... reaching the Diamond rank within a year. Who's with me?!
Comparing leveling speed?
You can't outpace me, believe it or not?!
...
Over the next three days, Leon did not leave, instead staying in Stormveil City.
He was worried that the cultists of the Black and White Hand had not been completely cleaned up, so he decided to stay behind just in case.
Otherwise, if he left and the Black and White Hand pulled some other stunt, Leon's support mission would end up as an unfinished mess.
—Whether in life or in his endeavors, he absolutely detested leaving things unfinished!
During these three days, the news of Leon suddenly promoting to the Gold rank and then killing a peak Gold rank expert all by himself spread far and wide as if it had wings.
After all, Leon flying through the air and instantly killing Martin on the streets of the Gold-Touch District was witnessed by countless people.
This news naturally could not be hidden.
On Fairy Island, inside the Fairy Tavern.
Countless adventurers, pirates, and passing merchants were discussing the news of Leon slaying the bishop of the Black and White Hand.
“You're saying that a priest named Leon Douglas, who hasn't even been in the Silver rank for a year, immediately promoted to the Gold rank?”
“Right, right, right, you're absolutely right! A priest who just promoted to the Gold rank raised his hand and instantly killed a peak Gold rank expert with a fire elemental body! I totally believe you, really!”
“What a load of bull! What do you mean the God of Sacred Light descended on Stormveil City to help Leon slay the enemy? Isn't Leon just an official priest? Since when can he summon the God of Sacred Light??”
“Heh! Come on, man! Bring Leon over here and ask him yourself! Would he dare claim he can beat a peak Gold rank expert right now?”
Because the news was too explosive, even though many people swore up and down that they had seen Leon kill the bishop of the Black and White Hand with their own eyes, everyone in the tavern—whether they had a good impression of Leon or were detractors who viewed him as just another corrupt noble—felt the news was ridiculously fake.
They assumed that either rumors had run wild, exaggerating Leon's achievements and the strength of the Black and White Hand bishop, or the Douglas family back in the Heron Empire was hyping him up to build his reputation, paving the way for him to return to the imperial capital and take up a high-ranking position in the future.
Meanwhile, on the third floor of the Fairy Tavern.
“What the fuck did you say? Incurable??”
The Frozen King's face was as cold as ice as she glared at the president of the Potion Association.
“You said before that as long as we gathered the materials, you could brew the Sacred Crystal Dew and heal his injuries!”
“Now, I fucking found the materials, and you're fucking telling me it's fucking incurable?!”
The president of the Potion Association raised his hands in a helpless gesture.
“Calm down, calm down!”
“Camilla, it's not that I don't want to treat him, but the injury left by Burns V's attack... is truly unusual.”
“Moreover, when his subordinates rebelled seven days ago, he forced himself to suppress the rebellion, making the injury much worse.”
“The Sacred Crystal Dew can only barely maintain his current condition, preventing the injury from worsening.”
“As for completely curing it, that's simply impossible...”
“I don't care!” The Frozen King raised her magic wand, her peak Gold rank aura erupting as she glared coldly at the president of the Potion Association.
“Either you cure him today, or you won't be walking out of this tavern door alive—”
“Camilla!” Just then, the Shadow King barked, cutting off the Frozen King.
His face was pale as he held his wound and stood up. After comforting the Frozen King, he politely asked the president of the Potion Association to leave.
After the president of the Potion Association left, only three figures remained on the third floor of the tavern: the Frozen King, the Shadow King, and the Fairy Tail information broker, Cancer James.
Weariness written all over his face, the Shadow King turned to Cancer and asked a question.
“Where is the undead army of the Burns Court now?”
“They're close,” Cancer said. “Those undead have conquered Snor Island and have already reached the outer perimeter of Fairy Tail's territory.”
“If our Fairy Island Lord doesn't take action soon, you'll probably be seeing those undead wandering around here in a few days...”
At the mention of the Burns Court's undead, the Frozen King's expression turned grim as well.
“The undead army has also appeared on the islands under my control. Those unkillable skeletons have their eyes on my territory as well...”
“And that's not all...” Cancer chimed in with a curse. “Those invisible monsters are appearing more and more frequently. They kill people, snatch the corpses, and retreat. A lot of my informants have been killed by those things...”
“What the hell is going on in this Dusk Sea?! Things we haven't seen in decades are popping up one after another all at once!”
Listening to the two of them, the Shadow King fell silent.
After a long while, the Shadow King let out a heavy sigh. He looked at Cancer and spoke.
“Help me contact Leon. Tell him that as long as he is willing to accept my subordinates, I am willing to submit to him and serve him as my lord.”
Rate on N.U.
