And so the demon brought Luke to a dark cave, setting him before various demons and monsters, saying, “If you are indeed the Son of Deus, jump down, for it is recorded that she will command her angels concerning you, and they will lift you up with their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Luke replied, “It is also written, you shall not put the Lord your Deus to the test.” And the Holy Spirit descended and burned all the traps.
Gospel of Aurelia, Chapter 14, Verses 6-8
“Congratulations on passing the first trial, Heir.”
The door opened, revealing Zolga.
“I will guide you to the next trial.”
It had been a year in this place since I last saw Zolga.
In reality, he had been living as his main body while his clones were turned off, so it felt like only a day had passed for me.
“Teacher!”
The Princess Aurelia rushed towards me.
She dove straight into my arms.
“Maria.”
“Oh! I’m so sorry, Saint, I mean Teacher! It’s just been so long since I saw you that I—”
Aurelia jumped back in surprise, her face turning beet red.
Cute Aurelia.
“Haha. It’s alright. It’s great to see you after such a long time. Have you been well in the past year?”
“Yes! Of course, it’s only been forty days for me, but I watched you take the trials closely!”
Forty days?
Has it really been forty days outside?
To me, it felt like less than a day…
I felt a bit guilty towards Aurelia.
“Ahem.”
Zolga coughed next to us.
“I will move you to the next trial location. Mudoora!”
A muscular attendant stepped forward behind Zolga.
“Heir, I will guide you.”
Another move?
What kind of trial does Atzoatl have prepared this time?
*
Boom!
We arrived at a place with a massive hole.
An absurdly gigantic and deep hole.
Looking down, I couldn’t see the bottom at all due to its depth.
Zing!
Zolga reappeared in hologram form.
“I will now begin the second trial, Heir.”
A second trial.
This hole hadn’t appeared in Celestia from Deus Ex Machina, either.
What on earth could this trial be?
“The emperor who leads the empire must possess formidable strength. To fight against any assassination threat. To protect the people from any external danger. To overcome any adversity and suffering!”
The words coming out were similar to the Celestia in Deus Ex Machina.
“Mudoora.”
“Heir, please look here.”
Mudoora picked up a small stone and dropped it into the hole.
Silence.
I couldn’t hear a single sound.
Then…
Kwaang!
Crunch!
Crunch!
The sounds of something enormous colliding and tearing came from below.
What is that?
“In this hole are the biological engineering technology gems that Celestia boasts.”
Biological engineering of Celestia?
I remember.
Chimeras that many of the dungeons in the Celestia Empire contain.
Abominations created with technology that has advanced too far.
Many users speculated this was one of the causes of the downfall of the Celestia Empire.
Those sounds… Could it be inside there?
“They are called Chimeras. About a hundred of them reside down there.”
A pit filled with Chimeras.
How terrifying.
“Right in the middle of that hole lies a gem.”
A gem?
No way.
“Your task is to break through all the Chimera monsters, retrieve the gem, and return to the surface. That is the content of the second trial.”
This is insane.
Chimeras?
Monsters that nullify any magical effects.
Creatures armed with absurd specs designed to battle users.
As a joke among users, they said if you created a Chimera army, you could unite the continent.
A pit with a hundred of those Chimeras.
And I’m supposed to go down there and somehow retrieve the gem?
Finding the gem in that darkness while fighting off Chimeras… and even getting back up?
Atzoatl, you lunatic.
Are you determined not to let me pass?
Even with Zolga as her proxy, she remains bound by Celestia’s covenant.
She can’t change the difficulty of the trial to absurd levels.
The test must be one that an ordinary person could never overcome.
Of course, I’m not just an ordinary person.
*
Why…
Why!!
Why would you bring out a trial so difficult that the Son of Deus couldn’t possibly complete it?
It was originally a trial prepared to be the third.
The monstrous Chimera that nullifies magical effects.
A pit filled with a hundred of them.
A magical hell from which no swordsman or great mage could escape.
A place that no human, no mortal being can possibly get out of!
But he jumped.
What kind of human body enters such an inferno?
I thought he would be willing to sacrifice his body.
Then, at some moment, a massive flame surrounded him.
This wasn’t just any flame.
It was a holy flame that could purify anything.
A flame capable of burning even the essence of ‘Chaos’.
…The fire that took away Saula.
Surrounded by the unearthly flames, he created a massive crater within the cave, burning all the Chimeras.
As if purifying the unclean beings.
Then, he rose calmly, the gem in his hand.
“Do not test your Lord Deus.”
Those words came straight from the scripture I had read earlier.
“Never again.”
Hah. How dare you say not to test Deus.
Deus.
The ancient god who can purify even ‘Chaos’.
The very same god who previously defeated Lilith and Saros.
A deity cannot excessively interfere in mortal affairs.
That is how it is established.
Any god who causes excessive involvement pays the price.
Yet to wield that level of power…
What is Deus really…
No, wait.
Then I shall completely change the final trial.
To a trial where I have no choice but to bow my head in submission.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.