The Healing Solaris Cleric-Chapter 438: End Game (3)

Half a month had passed, and during that time Kai had spent more time reflecting on himself than hunting. He increased his understanding of his titles and skills and constantly pondered over the relic. For someone who stood before a decisive battle, he had spent a rather carefree time. Of course, just because he was at ease didn’t mean others were as well.

[Pegasus releases epic main episode: Darkest Faith.]

[An event for all players worldwide, the hunt for the Church of Muldine begins.]

[Mentioned regularly since the early days of the game, the Church of Muldine finally appears.]

[Most of the world’s top guilds, parties, and rankers announce their participation.]

The world was in the middle of a festival. Since there had been no noteworthy events recently, this event was all the more welcome. Of course, the world’s top eight guilds and the highest ranking players knew this wasn’t just some event. They were certain that the final target of the game would be Muldine, which was why they couldn’t help but be alarmed at the sudden appearance of the event.

I really am sorry about that part.

In the end, it meant Kai had stolen the joy from other players. Originally, players should have spent years chasing the Church of Muldine, finding their clues, and capturing their strongholds until their identity slowly surfaced. However, his existence skipped that entire process.

So this will be the last time.

Kai calmly closed his eyes and checked his condition one last time.

First, my level is at 707.

The stats displayed in the stat window were as follows:

Strength: 4,387 Stamina: 4,212

Intelligence: 3,724 Agility: 2,682

Holiness: 6,635 Dignity: 2,554

Benevolence: 1,384

In truth, it is a little different than it seems.

Even if the numbers were not displayed in the stat window, he could exert greater strength. This was especially true when facing Muldine, and the reason was simple.

Special titles.

It was thanks to the special titles he gained while overcoming countless trials, titles only he could obtain in this game. His eyes briefly lingered on the title list.

Slayer of Aosa...

Thanks to this title, he could deal 10% additional damage to all enemies affiliated with the Church of Muldine.

Archduke Slayer.

A special title obtained after killing Kinessa in the Demon Realm, which increased all his stats by 10%. On top of that was the title Disaster Destroyer, obtained after defeating Zatan, which increased all attack power by 10%.

And lastly, the Lion of Light.

It increased his Holiness stat by 10% and increased all stats by 10% in battles against members of the Church of Muldine.

When facing Muldine, all my stats increase by 20%, my attack power increases by 10%, and I deal an additional 10% damage to him. Oh, and Holiness also rises by 10%.

At this point, there was nothing strange about calling him Muldine’s natural enemy. He had been deliberately raised as an anti-Muldine weapon.

“If all this were to be expressed in numbers, it would be about...”

Strength: 5,264 Stamina: 5,055

Intelligence: 4,469 Agility: 3,218

Holiness: 8,625 Dignity: 3,069

Benevolence: 1,384

With Bless, Holy Frenzy, and other potion buffs, his Holiness stat could exceed 9,000. This was currently the best he could do.

My best that can be shown only when facing Muldine.

If even this wasn’t enough to reach him, then no matter what he did he wouldn’t be able to win.

Kai headed to Ayana’s clinic in Whitehall. Perhaps out of consideration for him, Ayana’s father, with dark circles under his eyes, opened the door when he knocked on the clinic door that said the clinic was closed.

“You came at the right time. I was waiting for you.”

Ayana’s father guided Kai inside, roughly cleared the messy desk, and offered Kai a seat.

“Phew, I really thought I was going to die. These are harsh ingredients. Too harsh.”

He carefully placed an elegant case on the desk and looked sick of it.

“May I open it?”

“Of course.”

When Kai opened the case, two flasks of potion came into view.

“The black one is made from the Demon King’s horn and the purple one from the heart of the Demon Realm’s archduke.” After giving a brief explanation, he glanced at Kai and asked, “Um... but Kai, do you really intend to drink this?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, however... from what I have learned while handling the ingredients, dark magic itself has quite a lot of side effects. If possible, I recommend you do not drink it. There are too many harmful components for the human body. The black potion also has an effect comparable to most elixirs, but the repulsion with holy power cannot be ignored.”

“I see...”

A human body. That was something that no longer had much to do with Kai who had already stepped into the ranks of Transcendent. Still, Kai listened to his words and smiled.

“Don’t worry. Someone else will be the one drinking this.”

“Oh! That’s a relief. I thought you were going to drink it yourself...”

As Ayana’s father sighed in relief, Kai rose from his seat. “It’s unfortunate I have to leave without greeting your wife and Ayana.”

“Well, it is early morning. The two of them helped a lot when making these potions. They’re probably wandering dreamland right now.”

“I will make sure to repay this favor.”

“What are you saying? It feels like I have only now repaid a little of the kindness you have shown my family.” A smile spread across his gaunt face. “I hope what you are going to do goes well. I... no, my family will always believe in you and support you.”

As Kai reflected on that gratitude for having someone who trusted him with no conditions, he bowed his head. “Thank you.”

“P-please don’t do this! If someone sees a man of a grand duke’s rank acting like this, I will be criticized.”

“Haha, well, there’s no one here.”

Kai left the clinic with a gentle smile and returned to Arkan Academy. He thought of the potions in his inventory.

I have thought about them a lot these past fifteen days.

The answer on how to use those potions most effectively was already decided. Now he only needed the courage to put it into action.

When Kai knocked on a door, it opened and Rashya poked her head out. “You’re here.”

Rashya spoke in a voice more mature than usual. He had never said it outright but she would know that today was the day of the decisive battle. One could tell just by looking at her fully armed from head to toe with resolve on her face.

“Helik is inside. I’ll let you two talk.”

Kai gave her a small nod and stepped inside. When he usually came in, Helik was either drooling in her sleep on the bed or whining as she worked through late homework. But today, she gazed out the window with a calm aura.

“The weather is clear.”

“It is. The sky is especially clear today.”

The weather was nice and the sky was bright. A pleasantly cool breeze also blew. It was the kind of day that made one want to pack a lunch and go on a picnic. However, Kai knew better than anyone that they couldn’t and slightly bit his lip.

“I’m going today.”

“I know...” Helik nodded.

There was no question asking where he was going.

Helik suddenly opened the window, letting in the cool wind which shook the curtains and her hair.

“Mmmm!” Stretching in a way that was pleasant to hear, Helik said, “Agh, I’ve been a little tired lately.”

“Have you?”

“Yes. I’ve been studying hard for next term’s exams, doing my procrastinated homework, and planting the cacao tree...”

There was no way that alone would tire her out. Lately, Helik looked livelier and brighter than Kai had ever seen.

“So for now, I just want to sleep deeply without thinking about anything.”

Kai knew she said that so he wouldn’t worry, but Kai didn’t show it.

“You have worked hard. Sleep well. I’ll wake you up.”

“Make sure you do not wake me too late...” her voice slightly trembled.

She must be scared.

A god could perfectly control their own seal, meaning she could break it whenever she wished. However, if Kai lost to Muldine, she wouldn’t be able to break it.

Because the moment her seal breaks, she would be killed by Muldine and this world would be swallowed by darkness.

What frightened Helik was the loneliness of enduring that alone in solitude until her mind wore away.

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll only have to sleep for a few days.”

“Yeah, I believe you.”

Even if she didn’t say she believed in him, Kai could feel her trust in him. After all, what god would seal herself away just by the word of her apostle.

So I’ll never disappoint you.

Kai knelt on one knee to meet her eyes and asked. “May I hug you once before you go to sleep?”

When he opened his arms, Helik hesitated then stepped forward and buried her face in his shoulder. He felt his shoulder growing warm. It was likely because of her tears.

Kai silently patted her back. “It won't take long. We will see each other again soon.”

“Candy and snacks...”

“I will have them ready. About a truckload.”

“What is a truckload?”

“It means a lot.”

“I like the truckload idea.” Her laughter at the end of her words rang clearly in his ears. “Then see you in a few days.”

“Yes, in a few days.”

The moment Kai finished speaking, Helik was already gone from his arms. A feeling of emptiness naturally came. The damp yet warm trace of tears on his shoulder only made it stronger.

Kai stood up and looked at Helik’s phone on the desk.

“I’ll borrow this for a bit.”

Taking her phone, Kai vanished from the spot.

***

Visiting Muldin’s island was easy. Even if it was only inside the Dragon Lord’s memory, Kai had indeed visited the island before.

With his deep hood pulled over his head, Kai strolled through Muldine’s garden. The garden still carried the air of death and hadn’t changed compared to 10,000 years ago.

When he reached the end of the garden, he saw a dark coloured table and two chairs. Someone was already sitting in one of them.

“Sit,” the island’s owner, Muldine, said while sipping tea.

Kai sat in the chair without a word.

“Helik’s presence has disappeared.”

Kai stayed silent.

“That was a troublesome move, but it was just as effective. I will praise you for that.” As Kai didn’t say anything, Muldine continued, “You’re quiet today. Last time you had so much to say.”

Muldine smirked and drank his tea with the leisureness of someone who didn’t seem to be standing on the brink of battle.

“What you want is for me to descend to the Middle Realm and fight you, correct?”

When Kai nodded, Muldine set his teacup down.

“Sure. No matter what stage we fight on, the result won’t change anyway.”

It was confidence that felt close to arrogance, but it wasn’t baseless confidence. It was the kind of confidence that came from having infinite faith in one’s own strength.

“Oh, and before we go down...”

Muldine flicked his finger. At the same time, waves of dark energy wrapped around Kai’s body several times.

[All stats decrease by 20%.]

[All attack power decreases by 20%.]

[All defense decreases by 20%.]

[Healing/Purification skills cannot be used.]

“I like things to be certain.” With another smirk, Muldine rose from his seat. “Let’s head down now.”

Muldine was already acting like someone whose victory was assured.

Kai, who had been silently watching him, stood up at the same time. He exhaled a wave of the Blue Plague.

Muldine immediately stopped breathing.

A sneak attack?

Rather than surprise, the first thought that came to him was pity. Muldine had wondered what thoughts and what confidence had brought Kai here.

Is this all?

Such a trivial ambush caused the faint expectations he had to crumble all at once.

With a bored expression, Muldine simply swung his hand. With just that one gesture, his opponent was flung away.

Hm?

Then, Muldine sensed something was off and looked down at his own hand. When they had fought before, though back then he had fought through Atroc’s body...

He wasn’t this weak.

A seed of doubt began to sprout in Muldine’s mind. He was someone who fundamentally trusted nothing but himself.

Has he not spoken a single word since he arrived here?

He had not. Like an obedient dog, he had only sat when told to sit, stood when told to stand, and nodded.

Did he use... Solarian Self?

The moment his suspicion was about to turn into certainty, Kai, who had been lying on the ground, slowly stood up. Then a familiar voice came from within his hood.

“What, did you think I might have pulled something strange?”

It was indeed the voice he had heard just a few days ago. Confirming that made Muldine’s suspicion melt away. He thought he had simply overestimated the situation. He knew most of the skills Kai possessed, and of course, Solarian Self was among them.

His clones can’t speak.

That fact gave him a small sense of relief, but that was a mistake.

“Actually, I did pull something.”

A very fatal mistake.

“What...”

Muldine hurriedly turned around at the sound of his opponent’s voice from behind him. However, anyone launching an ambush would always be at least half a second faster. Both of Muldine’s hands were bound by Holy Chains.

How did this...

Two Kai’s stood in Muldine’s trembling vision. Solarian clones couldn’t speak.

“But how are both of you talking...”

“This is a fruit of civilization, called a phone.”

Kai waved the phone he was holding in one hand. Every time he spoke, the same voice flowed from inside the clone’s hood.

“What a pathetic trick...!”

Muldine grew enraged, realizing he had been played with, but Kai didn’t even give him a moment.

“Desmond!”

“I’ve been waiting!”

“You bug-like...”

Muldine glared at Desmond, the vampire lord summoned behind him. A fierce darkness surged and instantly broke Desmond’s arms and legs, but Desmond still carried out his mission without fail. He bit directly into Muldine’s shoulder.

“Hah, so the great plan was a trick through a clone, and then some mosquito bite?”

Muldine’s voice was full of irritation. With a top-tier rank, he was someone hundreds of such mosquitoes couldn’t harm. Plus, this was the Heavenly Realm. He couldn’t take any physical damage here. Of course, there was no way Kai didn’t know that.

“No one said anything about biting for blood.”

“What...?”

Not biting for blood? Feeling something strange from those words, Muldine quickly turned his head to look at Desmond’s fangs. Indeed, Desmond wasn’t draining his blood. Instead, he was injecting blood into him.

Why...?

The answer came to him moments later.

“Kugh...!”

His heart and lower abdomen began to burn as if touched by fire. Both were places where divine power gathered. For those spots to be struck meant only one thing.

This energy is... dark magic!

Dark magic was being injected into him through Desmond’s transfusion ability, and it wasn’t some low-quality dark magic that could be purified instantly.

“You can take it as an honor.”

What was entering him now was dark magic from the heart of the Demon Realm archduke, and that was not all.

Muldine groaned again. Another energy was being injected through Desmond’s fangs.

“The real one starts now. It’ll probably hurt more.”

What was entering him now was dark magic from the horn of the Demon King, Angol Moa.

For most beings, it wasn’t poison but an elixir they could never obtain even with money. But for a top-tier god like Muldine, divine power always had to remain pure. No matter how clean mana was, or how pure dark magic was, to him it was no different from garbage.

“Holy power is the materialized form of conviction.”

In other words, if one couldn’t corrupt the god’s conviction, then they simply had to corrupt the target’s divinity. The effects of the two were exactly the same.

“Congratulations. As of now, your divinity has been thrown into the neighborhood trash bin.”

Muldine’s bloodshot eyes glared at Kai with murderous intent.