Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 226 Divine Awakening
226: Divine Awakening
226: Divine Awakening
“―Divine energy is not divine energy without divinity.
However, divinity can exist on its own.
Thus, although all divine energy must contain divinity, just because there is a presence of divinity does not necessarily indicate that there is divine energy.”
“Right…”
“That marks one difference between magic energy and divine energy.
But it is not all.
Divine energy and miracles are not the same as magic, nor are they related.
You cannot use magic energy to bring about miracles, and you cannot use divine energy to cast magic.”
‘I mean, that makes sense.
Even if they look or feel the same, they’re fundamentally different forces, right…?’
Lucretia seemed to really be driving home the point that the two could not be conflated, but I guess it was understandable, considering I was still pretty new to it all.
“Okay, I get that.
How do you normally control it then?
For magic energy, you normally have it flow through your mana veins, but if they’re so different, surely it can’t be the same?”
“Indeed.
That is precisely why, ordinarily, you don’t.”
‘Hm?’
Confused, I put on a slight frown as my brows furrowed.
“What do you mean you don’t?”
Lucretia replied simply.
“You don’t control it.”
“…Huh?
Well, how do people use it then?”
Seeming to take a moment to herself after my question, she gave a small sigh before correcting me.
“Enki, I believe you’ve forgotten an important factor.
Divinity is not commonplace outside of holy temples, divine energy being present in one’s body even less so.
Unless your blood is of my own Christina-Rasa line, or otherwise that of the Drakon-Rasa Imperial Family, one will likely not interact with it in an entire lifetime.”
Staring at Lucretia’s face as she ‘reminded’ me, I felt it taking longer than it probably should’ve to settle in.
My circumstances were not just ‘rare’, they were unheard of, and practically without precedent.
The only people in this world with divine energy naturally present in their bodies was the Archducal family and the Imperial family…
at least, until that first Protagonist came along, but she’s already been dealt with.
‘Now that I think about it, the resurgence of Demons is probably why she had that op amulet in the first place…’
“But wait, what about priests?
Or Saints?
They use divine energy to heal, right?”
“Certainly, on occasion.
Though it is by no means customary unless they judge there is a patient that requires it, however, standard healing magic is generally preferred.
Not even Saints possess inherent divine energy, you know?
They pray to the Sun Father, and should He listen, a miracle is performed.”
Even that was a bit of a shock to be honest.
I probably should have realised it earlier, but to think that even a revered Saint wouldn’t have divine energy…
I guess, it really was an exceptional thing, much more than I thought…
“Okay…
Well, then how do you control it?”
It had already been made clear to me when I first tried it with the help of the Ancient Hero’s spirit in the Tower, but not all divine energy was the same.
Due to the characteristics– Or should I say, the inherent properties possessed by the divine being in question, the power they bestow naturally inherits those properties, and as such, requires a unique way of handling.
That’s why, although the method that Ancient Hero used to control his divine energy with the Holy Sword might have worked if the Blessing I possessed was one of the Sun Father, who seemed to be a deity of the same properties as the Hero’s divine energy, because the properties of my divine energy were that of the Winter Mother, who was a stark opposite of that, there was no way I would be able to get it to work.
In short, what I needed was the knowledge and assistance of someone whose divine energy matched the properties of my own.
Someone like Lucretia.
“―Sit up straight.
Close your eyes.
Don’t move.”
All of a sudden, her voice rang out firmly, issuing instructions like commands.
“Oh, uh, yes.”
Following along, slightly puzzled, I did as she said, straightening my back and closing my eyes.
After that, I heard a brief noise as if she had gotten up from her seat, and then, with footsteps in accordance, felt her presence standing right before me.
At that moment, I felt her finger poke the centre of my chest.
“Focus here.”
As if she already knew, the exact spot the tip of her finger connected was precisely where the core of my Blessing lay, the condensed bundle of divine energy radiating throughout at all times, deep within my heart.
Concentrating, focusing on it just as she told me, it was an easy first step.
Not only was it something I had already done countless times in the past, but now that I had Heightened Senses and was able to be more acutely aware of what was going within my own body, I found it not just easier, but enlightening.
All around me was darkness.
“…You see it.”
Hearing Lucretia’s voice faintly echo in that space, it was as if I was deep inside the cave of my own body and mind.
I couldn’t see her, I could hardly even feel her presence.
For some reason, it didn’t feel like I’d be able to reach her if I called out, so I only nodded, hoping the meaning would be conveyed in any way.
Before me, I was looking at a core of ice.
Immovable, hardened, unyielding, dense, frozen.
White and pure, like the heart of winter itself.
“Do not merely observe.”
Listening to Lucretia’s voice, I approached the icy core, the temperature of my body beginning to drastically lower by the second.
The more attention I poured onto it, the colder it radiated.
The more I looked at it, felt it, let it exist without suppressing the raw frigidity, the stronger it grew.
Before long, my body could no longer simply be called ‘cold’.
It was something much more extreme, such that I didn’t even have the words to describe it.
“Grasp it.”
Again, I followed, reaching out to grasp the core.
Of course, just as it appeared, it didn’t budge.
I tried again, pulling harder, again, more, countless times.
To the point where the cold had infected me to the utmost.
I could no longer feel anything as I normally did across my entire body, just an overwhelming sense of stiffness and ceaseless shivers…
but it’s not like that was a first.
Continuing my efforts to grasp the core, to grab it and move the immovable from its place, I failed infinitely, trying again just as many times, and repeating again.
Each time I so much as graced the ghostly white core, I felt nothing but sharp pain shooting all throughout before instinctively letting go, as if every inch of my flesh was being endlessly stabbed with honed, blazing daggers with each attempt, twisting and carving me open.
But, with each attempt, I managed to hold on for just a sliver of an instant longer.
Even if it was just half-a-step forward, it was progress.
I knew I needed to be persistent.
Relentless.
If I was going to succeed, that much was the least that was necessary.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I managed to stick it out, enduring the maddening agony with everything I had.`
I had grasped the heart of winter.
“Now.
Tear it out.”
Perhaps Lucretia herself could sense the internal struggle I was facing, as her voice sounded at the perfect time, not even giving me a moment of pause.
Without hesitation, I mustered all my strength.
“Gh…!”
All of a sudden, I felt my eyes shoot open―even still, I could see nothing.
The stabbing pain recurred, doubling in its intensity compared to just a few moments prior, penetrating, burning, whittling away at my sanity itself.
At that point, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t let go of the glacial heart.
It had frozen my connection to it, permanently sealing itself in my grasp.
Instinctively I realised it, all I could do to end the torment was to follow Lucretia’s words.
Welling up all the energy in my body, the body I could no longer feel through the sheer numbness, I grasped the core of divine energy and tore it from its place.
CRASHH–!
Easily loud enough to obliterate my eardrums, a noise like shattering glass resounded.
In the following moments, everything disappeared, the black void I found myself in abruptly swept over by a powerful blizzard that washed over everything, replacing it with a pure, infinite whiteness.
At the same time, it was as if time slowed to a halt.
Throughout my whole body, which was experiencing excruciating pain unlike anything else just a second ago, I now felt just a gentle coolness, like a summer breeze.
More than that, the intense, wintry chill that previously infected my heart, that was so powerful so as to affect my entire self and even be felt by others who touched my skin…
was no more.
Blinking, looking again within myself, I re-examined the endless ‘snowscape’.
Above, high up in what would have been the ‘sky’, a single red orb loomed.
Familiar, I recognised it as the appearance of the Winter Mother on that night, the deity who had once bared Her teeth and frightened even the sun.
A bizarre, dominating sense of divinity overwhelmed me, followed by an immense sensation of strength filling every nook and cranny of my body.
‘…I…
I did it…’
All the mental fatigue had built up to an extreme, allowing just a few words to mutter in my mind.
After that, everything turned dark.
