Chapter 4 Heroic Spirit!
“Am I going to die?”
Mano felt the power within him draining away little by little with his blood; his consciousness began to dissolve, and his breathing became increasingly difficult. As death approached, the pain in his body gradually faded away. He was starting to lose awareness, but the power of faith condensed his spirit, and he felt a vast force calling to him.
It was the radiance of divinity!
This was an ordinary skirmish. Since the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm, battles between humans and demons had begun.
As an officer responsible for the defense of the Spearwind Hills, this was not the first time Mano encountered demons; however, he never expected the enemy’s numbers to be this many, and they had no time to retreat for help.
They won.
This seemed to be taken for granted, as Modo had never failed!
They had their pride, the pride of Modo’s powerful military force. Even against foes far superior in number and strength, they still achieved victory in the end.
Yes.
They won.
Just like when they followed Lord Soren to slay the White Dragon, to defeat other Pirate Kings, and to embark on expeditions to Treasure Island.
The army of Modo was invincible!
Mano felt the vitality of life slipping away from his body; his injuries were grave. Breathing became so difficult, he tried to open his mouth to comfort his sorrowful comrades who were lifting him, but in the end, he could not make a sound. These were comrades who fought alongside him, to whom he could entrust his back and life, and now he would leave them behind to meet the fallen brothers he once fought with. As a fierce pirate, Mano did not fear death; he only felt a twinge of regret because he had not witnessed Modo’s rise to stand at the peak of the world!
He firmly believed that Modo would become the greatest city in the Material Plane!
It was filled with hope and future.
The demons had all been slain by them, but the price they paid was heavy.
Out of a team of twelve, only three broke through the encirclement. Relying on superior equipment and tactics, they had worn out more than ten pursuing demons.
His comrades nearby were already battered and bruised.
Death was drawing closer to Mano. He was too weak to breathe, and his consciousness was gradually fading.
Such injuries were nearly impossible to heal.
Unless a High-level Priest used a restoration spell on the spot, but that was impossible now; he wouldn’t last until that moment. The approach of death uplifted his spirit. His faith gathered the power of the soul, and in the moment of complete dissolution of awareness, he saw a golden light descending from the sky.
A magnificent golden figure appeared before his eyes, smiling and reaching out his palm to him.
“My lord!…”
Mano moved his lips with his last ounce of strength, but he could not produce any sound, and then he slowly closed his eyes.
Death arrived.
But for him, this was not the end; it was a new beginning.
………………
Soren’s figure floated in midair.
His expression did not change much. He felt no sorrow over the death of a zealot because for him, this was merely a new beginning.
Mano’s life as a mortal had reached its end.
But what awaited him next was a new life, a new one.
Mortals could not see him at this moment.
The warrior holding Mano’s gradually cooling body let out a roar of grief and anger, then frantically picked up his weapon and began hacking at the demon’s corpse, as if to vent his outrage.
Another person gently closed Mano’s eyes. Then he dragged his fatigued body toward the forest ahead.
There lay their fallen comrades.
Soren silently observed all of this, and as Mano’s life force completely dissipated, he slowly extended his palm, and then gently beckoned. A hazy soul rose from the body and then floated into his palm.
A glimmer of golden light emerged.
This hazy soul gradually sublimated under Soren’s divine radiance. The dim traces of the soul faded away, and it slowly shone with a faint golden glow.
As a zealot, he was qualified to receive the power granted by Soren.
Soren’s figure soared into the air, and he waved toward the forest ahead. Then, another nine hazy souls fell into his palm. These souls began to change as they entered Soren’s hand; the obscure traces dissipated, and streaks of blood-red spiritual light faded away. Whether they were good or evil in life, their brilliance of souls was erased by Soren after death. All these causes and effects were borne by Soren, allowing them to negate the gravitational pull on these souls from the lower planes.
Evil-doers had only two destinations.
One was the lower planes, which included the Hell of Bartok and the Bottomless Abyss, and the other was the kingdom of the deities they believed in.
Soren bore their moral consequences.
Only by bearing these causes represented by the spiritual light with divine identity could he enable these souls to be reincarnated into his kingdom.
A glimmer of white light emerged.
Unlike Mano’s soul, the other souls turned white upon touching Soren’s divine radiance; their good or evil from life had been wiped away, now embodying the light of neutral alignment.
The lower planes would be unable to pull their souls, and Soren could freely arrange their fates.
These were not zealots.
They were followers of Soren, loyal, but their faith was not devoted enough.
Without Soren’s appearance, these souls might have been drawn into the underworld and assigned by the God of Death’s minions. If Soren’s divine kingdom were operating normally, the Otherworldly Messengers would periodically take away some of the souls from the God of Death, bringing them into the deities’ domain. Only the souls of zealots and legendary-level professionists could directly attract the attention of the Otherworldly Divine Servants and the deities themselves; these souls might be ushered directly or without passing through the hands of the God of Death’s minions.
Because demons would steal souls.
Through wicked and loophole-ridden contracts, demons had long attempted to pilfer high-quality souls that the deities had overlooked over the years.
Deities had even fought fiercely against demons for this reason!
The God of Death was not as competent as imagined, as the souls they had to handle were simply too many. Some souls were always overlooked, and possibly due to secret dealings with demons, the God of Death’s emissaries often missed a few souls, allowing demons and devils to put in every effort to take them away.
Due to the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm, the divine kingdom had now severed its link.
No one knew if the divine kingdom was still operating normally, or even if the order of the underworld continued to be maintained. Soren was not prepared to leave everything to the God of Death’s minions; since he had come here, he decided to take these souls himself. These souls were brave warriors who did not waver until the moment of their death.
They were a group of exceptional seeds.
A glimmer of light appeared.
Soren’s figure vanished from the spot and the next moment appeared within the temple.
In his palm were ten souls who had faded in memory; death gradually erases mortals’ memories, and only the most vivid memories can remain a little after reincarnation.
Under normal circumstances.
When a mortal dies, they can retain at most one percent of their memories.
“My lord!…”
The High Priest’s figure appeared outside the temple, slightly bowing to Soren.
Soren turned his gaze toward her and gently nodded, opening his palm to lift the souls and integrate them into the light of the temple.
The divine kingdom was not stable.
In this situation, it was not suitable for Soren to send these souls into the divine kingdom.
So he planned to use divine power to create a small space within the temple and temporarily accommodate these souls there. Relying on the power of faith gathered in the temple, these souls would gradually change; if their faith was steadfast enough, these souls would transform into Prayer Weavers associated with the temple, existing in spirit form attached to the temple until Soren found a place to settle them again.
As for Mano’s soul, he would merge with the light of the temple and transform into a higher-level Heroic Spirit.
If he could merge Soren’s divine power.
Then this soul would gradually advance to become a Holy Spirit, potentially becoming Soren’s emissary for ushering souls in the future.
……………… (To be continued ~^~)
