Chapter 323: The Crown of the Holy King

For a legendary undead like the Soul-Eater, even the members of the Black Scripture need to treat it with caution.

Just like that... it died so simply?

"I shouldn't be seeing things."

Astrologer Thousand Leagues silently confirmed this in her heart, her expression tense, for the terrifying things were not limited to just this one.

An adventurer who can integrate with a highest-tier angel!

The leader of Zuranon who can contend with a Dominion Authority!

If "Thousand Leagues Eye" did not see wrong, that leader should not be dead yet.

The off-specification item "Magic-Sealing Crystal" is lost!

The Sunlight Scripture has suffered heavy losses, with less than half its numbers remaining.

Captain Nigun is dead.

"Fine, fine, compared to the previous few, the last two things don't even count as major issues anymore."

Astrologer Thousand Leagues bit down on her molars; the force was so great that it created pressure on her skull, causing a powerhouse like her to actually experience tinnitus.

Just as Astrologer Thousand Leagues stopped her observation, smoothed out her muddled brain, and began to think about how to report the details,

At this moment—

In the hilly region, on a battlefield covered in flesh, severed limbs, and corpses.

Within her devious eye sockets, Calca wore an expression filled with sanctity and solemnity as she took an item from her magic leather bag: a crown primarily made of gold, adorned with translucent crystals resembling ice shards.

Looking at this magic item in her hands.

Calca’s breathing was slightly rapid; logically, she did not need to come along for this disaster of suppressing the undead unrest.

But for the Holy Kingdom, and for Her Majesty the Holy Queen!

Calca did not feel at ease handing this national treasure to anyone to use, not even her sister Remedios.

This crown is not only a symbol of status and power, but also a national treasure of the Holy Kingdom, named the "Crown of the Holy King"!

It is a magic item that concentrates the grand ritual magic "Final Holy War" passed down through generations of the Holy Kingdom, containing terrifying power beyond imagination!

As far as Calca knows, this magic item has only been used once since the founding of the Holy Kingdom, and that was during the founding by the first Holy King!

As the Prime Minister and a close friend of the Holy Queen.

Calca can naturally access some information that even her status shouldn't reach, and even some secrets of the Belsares royal family.

It is a pity.

What interests Calca most—information on how the first Holy King obtained this national treasure—has no records; she can only speculate that it relates to the legendary Six Great Gods.

Suppressing the various thoughts in her heart.

Calca’s gaze sharpened as she looked at the various priests who had already stood up and gathered around her:

"Everyone, prepare!"

Swish—

It seemed they had rehearsed this in advance; even though the priest group had lost half its manpower, other priests quickly filled in the originally assigned positions.

In the blink of an eye!

A full 50-plus priests, with Calca at the center, stood in a dispersed, web-like formation, standing respectfully and straight in their respective positions.

"Begin!"

Calca scanned them quickly, and after confirming everyone's position, she slowly raised the crown in her hands above her head.

Actually, it wouldn't have required so many people, but since everyone had just finished a battle and their internal mana was already low, more people were needed to gather the mana.

The so-called "Grand Ritual."

Is a means of concentrating a group's mana onto a single caster, storing a large amount of mana within a certain period.

Precisely because of this, being the bearer is extremely dangerous; the most basic requirement is that the bearer must possess the power to enter the "Heroic Realm" level using 5th-tier magic.

Of course,

A normal Grand Ritual could not be as simple as what is before them, but the "Crown of the Holy King" is a special magic item that concentrates the power of the Grand Ritual, omitting the complex ritual process.

Shing!

The next moment.

All the priests performed pious prayer gestures, chanting in low voices, and streams of pale white holy mana emerged from the surface of the priests' bodies.

Turning into a faint pale white light, like raindrops hitting a water surface, forming ripple-like energy that converged toward the crown in Calca's hands.

The complexions of the surrounding priests turned ugly at a speed visible to the naked eye, each of them trembling uncontrollably—a sign of physical weakness caused by excessive mana consumption.

The crown vibrated slightly!

A massive magic circle covering all the priests present appeared above Calca's head.

Boom—boom—

The astonishing mana fluctuations and the scene formed by the massive magic circle caused the demi-humans, who had just caught their breath, to look toward Calca's location in confusion and doubt.

"What is that?"

Tang Zheng sat on the back of the ghost hound, his feigned pale and weak expression startled, and he suddenly looked up at this sudden situation.

He had just been fully controlling his shadow clone, searching for the missing leader; with the powerful attack released by the Dominion Authority, the leader must be severely injured even if not dead.

"The 'Crown of the Holy King', our Holy Kingdom's national treasure." Standing to the side, Remedios crossed her arms; she did not intend to hide it and explained.

The Crown of the Holy King?

Tang Zheng immediately realized that this was the trump card carried by the Holy Kingdom side that he had been curious about.

It was actually a magic item!

He felt somewhat surprised in his heart.

This was the crown carried by the Holy Queen; to think it was brought here—from this alone, one could see the trust the Holy Queen Calca had in Calca.

"You intend to take action against the demi-humans."

Tang Zheng focused his gaze and suddenly said.

If he remembered correctly, this magic item stored a spell called "Final Holy War," and its specific effects were unknown.

Because in the original work, the Holy Queen Calca had not yet had the chance to use this magic item before being captured by the Wrath Demon General disguised as Demiurge.

According to the intelligence analyzed by Demiurge, neither the Abelion Hills nor the Holy Kingdom possessed power that concerned him.

Therefore, even if the magic inside this item were unleashed, it would have no impact on the final outcome.

"How did you know?" Remedios, hearing Tang Zheng say "they are going to take action against the demi-humans," widened her light brown pupils in surprise.

She hadn't said anything just now.

Calca’s plan to use this opportunity to wipe out all the demi-humans was something her sister had told her, yet Tang was actually able to guess it.

Seeing Remedios's surprised look.

Tang Zheng was instead somewhat puzzled: "Do you think this is hard to guess?"

"Now that the war has ended, it is obvious that you would use your Holy Kingdom's national treasure at this time."

"Is it not hard to guess?" Remedios muttered softly, her eyes vacant, completely lacking the intense, rigid style she had during battle.

"You came to my side."

Tang Zheng was silent for a moment, then looked at Remedios seriously: "Isn't it because Commander Calca arranged it to guard against the possibility of me assisting the demi-humans?"

Remedios's pupils widened slightly.

"What!"

"I was just afraid you'd fall off and die!"

Remedios glared, clenched her fists, and spoke angrily.

Tang Zheng suddenly realized that Remedios might be more... um... "clever" than he had imagined.

And this woman, when did she become so friendly to him?

"So, you intend to help the demi-humans, right!" Remedios was first angry, then suddenly realized something, and pressed one hand on her sword hilt:

"You guy!"

"Sigh~"

Tang Zheng pondered for a moment and sighed.

"What do you mean by that!" Remedios said unhappily.

Tang Zheng did not respond, but looked back toward Calca's direction; he was very curious about the "Final Holy War" magic.

Because the name of this magic was very similar to a certain 10th-tier spell!

Back then.

When he saw "Final Holy War," he subconsciously thought it was a 10th-tier spell, but then thought it unlikely, and after re-checking, he discovered it was only a one-character difference.

A full 20 seconds passed!

The massive holy magic circle suddenly brightened and dissipated into specks of light.

Calca’s spirit jolted; she held the crown high with both hands and let out a low shout: "Final Holy War!"

In an instant!

A dense, giant vortex constructed of pure white bubbles appeared in the sky above Calca, and immediately following that, a dense "rustling" sound came from the bubble vortex.

It was as if many suits of armor were rubbing against each other!

Whoosh—

Whoosh—whoosh—

A Guardian Archangel holding a bright yellow spear was the first to fly out from the holy bubble vortex, and then, as if triggering some kind of reaction.

A large number of dense Guardian Angels continuously flew out from the holy vortex, rapidly gathering in the sky above; it took only a few breaths' time.

However, this was not the end.

As all the Guardian Angels flew out, movement came from the vortex once more, and Flame Archangels holding flame swords then flew out from the vortex.

64 Flame Archangels gathered in the sky above!

The holy vortex vibrated again!

This time, what appeared were Dominion Archangels of Peace, and their number reached 32 in one go.

Only at this moment did the holy vortex completely dissipate!

The scene of a full 224 angels appearing together shocked almost everyone, especially the oppressive feeling generated by the powerful figures of the 32 Tier 4 Dominion Archangels of Peace, which caused the pupils of the demi-humans to contract.

"Is this the ability of the 'Crown of the Holy King'!"

Remedios could not care about being angry at what Tang Zheng had just said, and she lifted her head to reveal her fair neck, her face full of disbelief.

Pfft, pfft, pfft—

As the magic finished casting, all the priests participating in the ritual collapsed to the ground, some falling directly into a coma.

Kelart’s shoulders shook twice, and she staggered to steady herself, looking up at the army of angels in the air, each radiating holy light and possessing astonishing momentum.

A pair of light brown eyes flashed with unparalleled brilliance.

"Is this the power of a national treasure."

Kelart muttered to herself, her fingers gripping the crown turning white from excessive force, fearing the crown might fall from her hands.

At this moment, she finally understood a little how the first Holy King had used this national treasure to build the nation!

Compared to the astonishment of everyone on the battlefield,

Tang Zheng subconsciously straightened his back, his face full of surprise and astonishment, no less than the shocked emotions of everyone on the battlefield.

"Final Holy War"?

Isn't this the 10th-tier magic "Final War: Good"!

Hum—

The attribute panel vibrated and appeared before Tang Zheng's eyes.

『Discovered Tier 4 magic "Grand Ritual: Final War: Good (Degraded)", requires base casting level (22–28), current conditions met』

『Consume one skill point to learn?』

『Degraded magic discovered—consume skill points to repair?』

Tang Zheng looked at the information appearing on the panel, his eyes first startled, then revealing a look of pleasant surprise.

It really was that 10th-tier magic, just in a "degraded" state.

What surprised and delighted Tang Zheng was that it could actually be repaired.

"Repair." Tang Zheng did not hesitate at all and immediately recited in his heart.

This was a true 10th-tier magic, and one of the most special types at that; this was more than just a simple surprise.

『Consume one skill point, upgrade to Tier 5 magic "Grand Ritual: Final War: Good (Degraded)"』

『Consume one skill point, upgrade to Tier 6 magic "Grand Ritual: Final War: Good (Degraded)"』

……

『Consume one skill point, upgrade to Tier 10 magic "Grand Ritual: Final War (Good)"』

【Skill Points: 72→67】

…………

Skill: Grand Ritual: Final War (Good) · Tier 10

Cost: 80 MP, 1.5 million EXP

Description: After casting the magic—

Can summon 128 angels around level 10.

Can summon 64 angels around level 20.

Can summon 32 angels around level 30.

Can summon 8 angels around level 40.

Can summon 4 angels around level 50.

Can summon 2 angels around level 60.

Can summon 1 angel around level 70.

The caster can also choose to convert high-tier angels into lower-tier angels to exchange for a larger quantity of angels, which can increase the number by about two times.

This magic can be used three times per day!

…………

Tang Zheng looked at the information for this magic, his pupils slightly dilated.

One must know that the 10th-tier "Summon Angel" can only summon one level 70 angel, yet it is also a 10th-tier magic.

The number of angels summoned by "Grand Ritual: Final War (Good)" is simply terrifyingly large; this can be called a weapon of mass destruction.

Besides!

The 10th-tier Summon Angel is also affected by the player's level, while this 10th-tier magic can clearly be used directly.

Even with Tang Zheng's current strength, if he were to face this magic, he would be in danger and might even need to retreat immediately.

How could he not be excited.

Suddenly.

Tang Zheng remembered something, and the excitement in his heart dissipated quite a bit.

He remembered that in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, among those 41 players, there was a player named Ulbert who could imitate infinite demon summoning, and even possessed a World-class Item capable of swallowing the entire world.

He had created a magic item storing the 10th-tier magic "Final War (Evil)".

It had the image of a demon with six arms, each holding a gem, and could release a six-fold "Final War (Evil)" in one go.

Tang Zheng cast his gaze on the skill information and found that it could only be used three times a day, not even as good as the other party's item.

Instead, it was the same as the effect of the degraded magic item in the hands of the Bone King.

Thinking of this.

The excitement Tang Zheng had just felt vanished completely.

Comparing people is truly...

(End of chapter)