Chapter 102
After the enthusiastic ceremony by the priests and believers of the Sacred Fire Order, everyone gathered in the center of the main temple.
The purpose of the young saintess Elise’s journey to this far northern main temple was to ignite the sacred fire, the “Sacred Flame”.
**Sacred Flame**
The Sacred Relic that the god of the Sacred Fire Order left for His believers. It was the beginning and the root of the Sacred Fire Order and the source of the divine power that the priests possessed.
The sacred fire altar in the center of the northern main temple was supposed to ignite with the same golden sacred flame as that of the main temple.
But atop the sacred fire altar, there was nothing but stillness.
The reason was simple.
‘Because there was no saint or saintess to create and maintain the sacred flame.’
The absence of a saint.
The sacred flames in the east, west, north, and south main temples, apart from the true sacred flame of the main temple, which was known as the god’s unquenchable flame, were all ignited by saints.
And since the last saint, Kertel, became the leader and the position of the next saint remained vacant for a long time, all the flames had extinguished.
The North was cold. For those living in the harsh winter, the flame was an invaluable support, so the priests of the main temple, having lost the sacred flame, felt the cold winds seeping into their empty hearts.
The empty sacred fire altar reflected their current situation.
High Priest Barkas imbued his voice with divine power so everyone could hear him.
“From now on, we will begin the sacred fire lighting ceremony of the northern main temple. Saintess Elise, please step forward to the sacred fire altar.”
Aden gently patted Elise’s head.
“Elise, it’s your turn now. Do your best.”
“Okay!”
Elise stood in front of the empty sacred fire altar.
Closing her eyes, Elise extended her small hands towards the sacred fire altar.
Whooosh!
A golden divine power rose from Elise.
The sacred fire altar resonated with the divine power, trembling with a humming sound.
Elise’s divine power gathered at the sacred fire altar.
And finally.
Whooosh-!
A golden, sacred flame, almost three meters high, blazed intensely.
Warmth spread rapidly from the sacred flame, enveloping the temple and the people.
The priests shivered as they felt the spreading warmth.
“It’s the sacred flame, the real sacred flame!”
“Such a huge sacred flame… Even when Kertel was the saint, it wasn’t like this…!”
“O, lord of the sacred flame!”
At this moment, everyone felt it, the embers that remained faintly within them began to blaze intensely.
“Aah, divine power, divine power is filling up…!”
An old priest shivered with joy, tears of rapture flowing.
The divine power resonated with the sacred flame.
The emptiness vanished completely, replaced by an overwhelming sense of fulfillment and elevation.
“Whooaaahhhhh!”
Thunderous cheers erupted.
The saintess had returned.
Everyone who believed in the lord of the sacred flame realized it with their bodies, their minds, and their souls.
They rejoiced and rejoiced again.
Meanwhile, amidst the overwhelming joy and excitement, Aden’s face stiffened.
‘What’s happening?’
Mana was stirring.
Aden’s mana flow resonated with the sacred flame, pulling him towards it.
Aden instinctively felt it.
‘The mana cultivation technique I learned from the ancient texts of the Sacred Fire Order.’
That mana cultivation technique was resonating with the sacred flame.
They were pulling each other like magnets, and only one thought was being engraved in Aden’s mind.
‘I need to get closer to that flame.’
Aden took a step.
“…Aden?”
As he walked towards the sacred fire altar, Lowe, who had been as lost as the others, snapped back to reality.
Ignoring Lowe’s call, Aden continued to approach the sacred fire altar, climbing the steps.
The closer he got to the blazing sacred flame, the stronger the pull became.
“Prince Remes, it’s dangerous…!”
High Priest Barkas, who noticed Aden belatedly, shouted in shock.
His heart turned cold.
The sacred flame was a beautiful but ruthless fire that would burn anyone who wasn’t chosen by the lord of the sacred flame down to their bones.
At this rate, Prince Aden was in danger.
“Step away from the sacred flame immediately…!”
High Priest Barkas shouted, running towards Aden, and Lowe and the others rushed to pull Aden away from the fire, but it was too late.
Aden’s fingertips touched the sacred flame.
At that moment.
Whoosh!
The golden sacred flame engulfed Aden as if it were alive.
The flames swirled around him like a vortex.
The flames coiled around Aden like a snake, binding him, and the fiery tails flickered and blazed.
‘It’s hot.’
But Aden’s body didn’t burn a single bit.
Aden felt as if he were immersed in warm water, a comfortable feeling.
A notification from the system echoed in his mind.
– With the blessing of the Phoenix King, Pyroness, all damage is nullified.
Aden recalled the words Pyroness had left just before completing their contract and disappearing.
– Contractor, as long as you are my contractor, there is no fire in this world that can harm you. Even if it is the fire of a god.
The privilege of being the contractor of the Phoenix King was that no fire in the world could affect him.
– Absorbing the energy of the sacred flame.
Almost instinctively, Aden’s body began to absorb the energy of the sacred flame like a sponge.
The unknown mana cultivation technique was arbitrarily drawing in the heat.
– Successor of mine.
At that moment, a man’s voice echoed from somewhere.
– I shall give you my eyes that see through all truths…
The absorbed energy of the sacred flame gathered towards Aden’s eyes.
– Let no falsehood prevail before you.
Whoosh!
The sacred flame that had enveloped Aden burst like a balloon, scattering and dissipating into the air.
“Aden!”
“Prince Remes!”
“Aden oppa!”
As the flames disappeared and everyone confirmed Aden was safe, they rushed towards him in shock.
Aden staggered for a moment, and Lowe supported him.
“Are you okay, Aden?”
“Ugh, wait…”
But Aden had no time to respond as he felt a sharp pain in his eyes.
As the pain gradually subsided and Aden slowly opened his eyes, everyone flinched.
“A-Aden…”
“Prince Aden, your eyes…!”
“Ugh, what’s wrong…?”
Aden’s pitch-black eyes.
Within those eyes, golden light flickered like the sacred flame.
And a new message appeared.
– You have fulfilled the conditions for the Hidden Piece.
– You have acquired the unique ability, ‘Hwaan (Flame Eyes).’
* * *
Aden had experienced countless fateful encounters while living a difficult life in his previous life.
For example, during his days as a back-alley pickpocket, he once stole a wallet only to find out it belonged to the Mercenary King, and suddenly became his disciple. Or when he fell off a cliff during a battle with an enemy, he discovered a cave with natural elixirs.
‘And those fortuitous encounters come when you least expect them, not when you’re looking for them.’
So, the current situation was just another of those cases.
It was just sudden and a bit surprising.
– You have acquired the unique ability, ‘Hwaan (Flame Eyes).’
Hwaan.
It was a name he had never heard before.
Because of this, Aden instinctively checked the information.
[Hwaan (Flame Eyes)]
One of the powers hidden by the being known as the Lord of the Sacred Fire, who wanted to leave behind his greatness for future generations before his ascension in ancient times.
It pierces through the falsehoods and truths of all things in the world, discerning the essence of any subject or object.
Aden’s eyes widened as he confirmed this.
‘A treasure left by the Lord of the Sacred Fire?’
A treasure left by a god meant only one thing.
‘A holy relic.’
Items or powers imbued with divine strength.
Hwaan was one of those types of powers.
Holy relics couldn’t be obtained just because one wanted them; they required special fate and qualifications.
And such a power had chosen Aden.
There was only one reason he could think of.
‘The mana cultivation technique found in the Sacred Fire Order. That must have been the condition to obtain Hwaan.’
Aden recalled the strange resonance and thirst he had felt earlier.
The unique mana cultivation technique he had learned harmonized with the Sacred Fire as if they were originally one, absorbing its energy and resulting in the creation of Hwaan.
Aden couldn’t help but see a deep connection between the two.
‘Then, could it be that the author of that book was the Lord of the Sacred Fire?’
It seemed highly likely in his mind.
The idea that the god of the Sacred Fire Order, one of the three great orders, was such an old geezer was unbelievable.
‘Then what is the connection between the Lord of the Sacred Fire and the Mercenary King?’
The unique mana cultivation technique and the Mercenary King’s mana cultivation technique were very similar.
That’s why Aden could master it.
Aden knew there had to be a deep connection between the Sacred Fire Order and the Mercenary King’s mana cultivation technique.
He just couldn’t know the exact story behind it.
He had only been lucky to obtain Hwaan.
‘If I hadn’t made a contract with Pyrones, I wouldn’t have obtained it.’
The god’s flame that burns everything.
Aden could touch the Sacred Fire thanks to his contract with Pyrones, following his instincts.
Without the unique mana cultivation technique, Aden’s body would not have been able to withstand the heat he absorbed, and he would have burned.
The unique mana cultivation technique.
The blessing of the Phoenix King.
Hwaan was a fortune obtained thanks to these two fateful encounters.
‘Pierces through falsehoods and sees the essence…….’
While he didn’t fully understand what seeing the essence meant, it seemed to be an ability to discern truth from lies.
It seemed versatile and convenient, but he couldn’t see how it would be immediately useful.
“Le, Lord Remes…….”
At that moment, he heard the trembling voice of High Priest Barkerus beside him.
‘I forgot.’
Aden suddenly realized.
He had obtained a holy relic right in front of too many people.
As he pondered how to explain this, High Priest Barkerus, shaking with emotion, exclaimed.
“The legend…… was true.”
The High Priest trembled with joy and shouted.
“The legend was true! The Apostle of the Sacred Fire has appeared!”
The Apostle of the Sacred Fire…… what?
At the High Priest’s cry, the surrounding priests murmured in agitation.
“If he’s the Apostle of the Sacred Fire…….”
“Is it really…… the legend……?”
“That’s impossible…….”
“But he touched the Sacred Fire and is unharmed?”
“Then, could it really be……?”
While everyone was murmuring about the legend and the apostle, Aden had no idea what was going on.
At that moment, young saintess Elise, who was just as clueless, tilted her head and asked Priest Bali.
“Uncle Bali, what’s the Apostle of the Sacred Fire?”
“……There is a prophecy passed down through the Sacred Fire Order.”
Priest Bali’s expression mixed with shock and reverence as he spoke.
A prophecy of the Sacred Fire Order.
Long ago, before the Lord of the Sacred Fire ascended, he left five temples and the Sacred Fire for his followers.
Along with a two-line prophecy.
When the destined day comes, there will appear one who reaches out to the Sacred Fire without perishing, welcoming it with joyous dance.
He will be the Apostle of the Sacred Fire, the chosen one and my successor; his will is my will, and my intention shall be his!
In summary, the prophecy foretold the appearance of a strange person who wouldn’t burn when touching the fire, and that person would be made the god’s apostle, with his words taken as the god’s own.
‘Wait, does that mean……?’
Aden began to feel an inexplicable anxiety.
He turned to look at the high priests and priests.
Sparkle, sparkle.
In their shining eyes, Aden saw a déjà vu of the moment he had become the chief of the Ents.
The High Priest shouted with joy.
“The Apostle of the Sacred Fire has appeared! Rejoice!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
The priests cheered with as much excitement as when the Sacred Fire had flared up.
Aden had suddenly become the god’s apostle.
– You have achieved the title, ‘Apostle of the Sacred Fire.’
……I don’t need such a title.