The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 292: One Who Holds a Grudge (1)

The Celestial Garden maintained its usual peaceful atmosphere.

Where is Helik?

Scanning the garden, Kai spotted Helik lying in a distant flower field, drawing. Her tiny hands tightly clutched a crayon, and she hummed a tune while kicking her feet, clearly in a good mood.

Wow, this is healing.

The peaceful scene slightly eased Kai’s anger. It made him wonder if this was how fathers felt when they came home to see their daughters after doing overtime at work, exhausted after being scolded by their boss.

Sympathizing with fathers everywhere, he approached her.

"Hm? This is..."

As he got closer, his expression shifted in surprise. Around her were several easels, the kind often found in art studios, each holding an impressive painting.

Did our dear Helik always have a talent for art?

Like an enthusiastic parent discovering their child's hidden gift, Kai was overjoyed and called out to her, "Helik!"

"Hm? When did you come?"

Helik had been so focused on drawing that she hadn’t noticed him approaching.

Kai picked up one of the paintings on the easels and marveled at it. "Did you draw all of these?"

It was a portrait of himself—one that made him look several times more handsome than he did in the mirror.

Helik smiled as she answered, "Hehe. I made it."

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"Haha. Helik, you don’t say you made a painting. You say you drew it,” Kai corrected with a mini language arts lesson.

However, Helik just tilted her head. "Huh? But I did make it... Just wait a bit. I’m almost done."

Turning back to her canvas, Helik focused and continued drawing.

What is she drawing now?

Curious, Kai peeked over her shoulder, and then became bewildered. “Huh?”

He quickly compared the portrait he held with the picture Helik was currently drawing.

These were drawn by the same person?

The one she was eagerly working on looked no different from a kindergartener’s doodle. On the other hand, his portrait was so well done it could have been painted by a famous artist.

As Kai kept glancing between the two, struggling to understand the situation, Helik suddenly shouted, "All done!"

Excited, she set her crayons down and proudly lifted her drawing with both hands. It was an image of what seemed to be the place she had visited a few days ago, Arkan Academy.

"Helik, is that... Arkan Academy?"

"Why ask something so obvious? Can't you tell at a glance?"

I asked because I can't tell...

Kai hid his thoughts behind an awkward smile as Helik placed the drawing on an empty easel. Then, with a flash of golden divine light, the drawing changed. Now, the picture looked as though it had been taken with a camera.

Looking at the breathtaking drawing, Kai genuinely marveled, “Wow, isn’t this cheating?”

"Hmph. That’s why I told you—I didn’t draw it, I made it."

Having completed another painting for the day, Helik finally turned her gaze toward Kai. "But... you seem to be in quite a bad mood today. Did something happen?"

At her question, Kai recalled the purpose of his visit that he had forgotten about, and explained the whole situation.

"What?! There are such bad people?" Helik gasped in shock.

"There are. They are very, very bad people."

"They’re really, really bad people."

"Exactly. That’s why I was wondering, would you be able to figure out who they are?" Kai took out a fragment of the skeleton that had been summoned by his enemies as he asked. "Can you track them?"

"Mm... I don’t have any abilities related to tracking, but..." Helik examined the bone fragment closely before nodding. "Oh! I know! This energy—it's demonic magic!"

"Demonic magic?"

"Yeah! There's no way not to know. This energy belongs to Angol Moa."

Hearing her answer, Kai showed a surprised expression. If someone wielded demonic magic, they would likely be connected to the faction of NPCs that Zirukan belonged to, the Demon King’s followers.

In that case, this is taking an interesting turn.

When the culprit linked with the skeleton, they hadn’t denied they were a player. In other words, the opponent was a player who used demonic magic.

As far as Kai knew, there was one guy who was likely the first to wield such power.

But what kind of grudge would someone like him have against me?

No matter how much he thought about it, the only players he had openly antagonized were the Titan guild and the Black Bee...

"Huh?"

At that moment, Kai's mind cleared.

Wait, now that I think about it, didn't Seol Eun-Yeong warn me last time?

She had told him to be careful because Goliath and Sting seemed to be working together on something.

There’s no way Goliath learned magic in such a short time. He would never throw away the stats he built up as a martial artist for that.

But would Sting have acted alone in this matter?

No way.

To be blunt, between Sting and Goliath, the one who was more calculating and rational was definitely Sting. The reason he lost to Kai wasn’t because he was stupid, but because his arrogance and underestimation of Kai led to his downfall.

Just as Seol Eun-Yeong warned, they are scheming something...

But Kai was certain it wasn't this incident.

Something with this many flaws couldn't have taken a long time to plan. This must have been done on impulse.

It was because the Ultimate Blacksmith Tournament was currently happening, drawing everyone's attention. For someone who wanted to tarnish his reputation, it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

"A class that uses demonic magic... Is it a hidden class?"

But that fact didn't scare him.

Hidden or not, what does it matter?

He had the confidence to crush them head-on. However, if his opponent could summon demons, the situation could change, as he still didn’t know how strong the demons were.

So he asked, "Helik, are demons strong?"

"Hm? Well..." Helik tilted her head to the side. "There are strong ones, and there are weak ones."

"Compared to me overall, how are they?"

"If compared to your level..."

Helik made a very serious expression, then pulled a piece of candy from her pocket and unwrapped it. She popped the candy into her mouth, making one cheek bulge out.

Then she said in that state, "Among the demon race, you’d be about mid-tier."

"... Mid-tier?" Kai asked back with a visibly shocked expression.

He was the unchallenged, number one ranked player, nearing level 500. Not only did he hold the class of Solaris Cleric, but his abilities, blessed by various gods, were the strongest at his level. He was even capable of fighting enemies several hundred levels above him on equal footing.

And I’m only mid-tier?

Seeing his disbelief, Helik slightly smirked, "What, you don’t believe me?"

"No, it’s not that I don’t believe you, but..."

"But your face says otherwise."

At that, Kai flinched.

She only stops acting like a kid at times like this.

Kai surrendered to her keen intuition and admitted the truth. "Honestly, I just can’t picture it. If I’m only mid-tier among demons, just how strong are they?"

"Kai, everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason why the middle realm, the demon realm, and the celestial realm are separate.”

Helik continued speaking in a gentle voice, as if telling an old story to her grandchild, "A long, long time ago, there was no distinction between the celestial realm, the demon realm, and the middle realm. However, the power of the angels and the demons was overwhelmingly strong, while humans and other demi-races were far too weak. For beings who did not understand the energy called mana, the war between angels and demons was too much to bear."

"So innocent people were getting hurt in between them, like a shrimp getting hurt in a whale fight."

"That’s a good analogy. You are correct. That was why the Supreme God, unable to stand by and watch, divided the dimensions."

A round sphere of light appeared before Helik’s eyes.

"The celestial realm, where the gods and the angels who serve them reside."

Next to it, a pitch-black sphere formed.

"The demon realm, the land where the demons dwell."

Finally, the two spheres merged and transformed into a massive planet.

"And last, the middle realm, a world that blends the properties of both dimensions, where humans and other living beings reside. The Supreme God divided the world into these three dimensions."

As Helik waved her hand, the planet greatly expanded, engulfing both of them. Kai flinched, reacting instinctively, but the massive planet caused no harm to either of them.

"This is..." Kai recognized it immediately.

Even though it was an empty continent, there was no way he wouldn't recognize the land where he was active.

As he made an intrigued expression, Helik waved her hand once more. Dozens of dragons swam through the air before dispersing across the world.

"The Supreme God reshaped the lower gods who challenged him into creatures called dragons and appointed them as the beings to oversee the middle realm... However, with their natural predators gone, humans and demi-races advanced at a speed that shattered all expectations."

Civilizations began to rise across the once-empty continent. New societies were founded, faded away, and then new ones emerged on top of them. At first, their settlements were small, their buildings mere huts. But as time passed, their forces grew, and grand structures like castles were built.

Then, after thousands of years, the present was formed. Two empires and three kingdoms built by humans, along with countless cities and nations of the demi-races.

"I didn’t know this land had such a history... That’s amazing."

Even though it was just a game, witnessing the evolution of an entire planet left Kai dazed.

"Isn’t it fascinating? Now, humans and demi-races no longer even fear the power of dragons. Even you, for instance, have slain a Death Dragon on your own."

Helik looked at the floating continent with affectionate eyes. But that was only for a moment, as a shadow soon fell over her expression.

"These are peaceful days. But long-lasting peace has also taken something away."

With a light clap of her hands, the continent’s appearance changed. From a peaceful world, it became a battlefield, where wars erupted daily, and bloodshed was constant.

"The will to fight. Prolonged peace stripped humans of their fighting spirit and made them complacent. Meanwhile, how does the demon realm appear to you?"

"It looks like a crazy place," Kai answered without hesitation.

"An excellent description. Yes, the demon realm is a ruthless place where the weak are destined to die, and only the strong survive. It is a bizarre world where every day begins with a fight and ends with a fight."

"Then the ones who survive in such a place must be incredibly strong."

"Exactly. And among them..."

The demon realm was divided into five regions.

"There is only one being in the demon realm who is allowed to bear the title of Demon King. Angol Moa."

"Did that guy conquer the entire demon realm?"

"No. But he declared that if anyone other than him dared to use the Demon King title, he would behead them. As a result, the five Demon Kings were reduced to one, and in their place, four Grand Dukes of the demon realm emerged."

"Just how powerful is this Angol Moa guy?"

"He is simply strong. So strong that no further description is needed—just strong is enough to explain everything."

"Is he strong enough to wipe out half of humanity with a snap of his fingers?"

At Kai’s question, Helik made a sullen face. "N-no... Even I can’t do that..."