Chapter 136: Temple of Life (3) (2/2)
There were signs of destruction on the walls and floor, and the bones of saints who lost their lives while fighting against the demons lied around the floor. The entrance was blocked by a pillar that collapsed.
‘It seems like the theory that the demon followers infiltrated the temple and summoned a demon on the 3rd floor was true.’
This place was known as the last temple of the Church of Life, which began to decline after losing its goddess, Aerith.
The remaining divine items were kept here in the last temple.
During the time when the power of the denomination was strong, there were many divine items that were much more powerful than the Sphere of Life or the Tiara of Life, but there were no more divine items that exceeded the Sphere of Life at the time before the denomination collapsed.
‘Is this the last relic they risked their life to protect…’
Jude stared at the statue of the goddess where the Sphere of Life was placed, and Cordelia slowly walked towards the stone statue.
“I’ll use it for good. That is…for world peace…”
Cordelia bowed her head to the statue and said that before her hand reached out to the Sphere of Life.
The Sphere of Life was a blue spherical marble a little bigger than a clenched fist, and it was placed inside a round casing that was in the arms of the goddess statue. The Sphere of Life began to glow at the moment when Cordelia’s hand touched it.
‘Someday, I hope it will be passed on to someone.’
The low voice of a man.
Perhaps it was the final words left behind by the last saint of the Church of Life.
‘May the blessing of the goddess be with you…’
The voice was scattered, and so was the light that filled her eyes.
Cordelia was surrounded by a powerful force of life instead of being engulfed in divine flames, and she took a deep breath.
Because she felt the emotions of the saints who fought until the end to protect the Sphere of Life so that it would be used by someone for the world and not for the demons.
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
It was like the dwarves who trapped the White Snake in Frost Anvil.
Ancestral heroes who sacrificed themselves for future generations.
Cordelia thanked all of them once again before she slowly opened her eyes and faced Jude.
“The Sphere of Life.”
A divine item of the goddess of life that gave its user a strong life energy and regenerative power.
Jude took the Sphere of Life from Cordelia, and he deeply breathed before sitting down in front of the statue.
“I’ll begin now.”
“Okay.”
As Cordelia took a step back, Jude arranged his posture and held the Sphere of Life with both hands in front of his lower abdomen.
Jude’s plan was to open the fifth door by absorbing the enormous life energy within the Sphere of Life.
‘I’ve leveled up enough already.’
His body could now withstand the opening of the fifth door of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
What he only lacked now was an immense amount of life energy to open the door in one go.
‘For a perfect happy ending.’
Jude whispered to the goddess statue just like what Cordelia did, and he immediately closed his eyes as he began to recite the mnemonic chant of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
Nine heavens and nine worlds.
As Jude himself presumed, Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors was not an ordinary martial art.
A divine art close to magic that led humans born with a mortal fate to a higher level of transcendence.
When he closed his eyes and recited the mnemonic chant, a small light appeared in the completely dark world.
The white light spread as it created a world of black and white, and he saw a woman standing in that world.
Female sage.
Perhaps she was the Ninth Heaven’s female sage of legends, since it was called the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.
If not, she might have been the person from ancient times who helped defeat the overlords of hell together with the heroes of legends.
Jude gazed at the woman, and the woman stared at him too.
Because the world was made up of only black and white, the woman’s face was white while her long hair that touched the floor was black.
Jude stepped towards the woman.
And at the same time, the immense life energy in the Sphere of Life began to flow towards Jude.
The energy didn’t just flow to Jude.
It was the woman who made it flow to him.
She reached out to Jude, and Jude approached the woman and touched her hand.
‘Nine worlds.’
And the nine doors that connected to those nine worlds.
The black and white world fell apart.
The sky became white and the earth became black.
Huge black doors appeared in the air then.
One, two, three, four.
Four doors that had already been built and a fifth door that was being newly built.
‘You shouldn’t stop building doors. This is still not enough.’
Said the woman.
Jude was able to see the woman’s face clearly for the first time.
‘The true meaning of the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors. What the nine doors that are connected to nine worlds mean.’
But that was it.
The immense life energy swallowed up Jude’s soul and body, and Jude could no longer continue his thoughts.
Guiding the flowing energy to build the fifth door was not easy.
‘I hope we can meet again.’
The woman’s voice gradually disappeared.
The world of black and white fell apart again.
A white door was built in that world of black.
Jude stretched out his hand. He opened the fifth door.
***
Cordelia opened her eyes.
Jude’s entire body shook, and the energy released from the Sphere of Life swirled around him.
Jude’s eyes shone.
Eventually, the body of Jude who was sitting on the floor had floated into the air.
The opening of the fifth door.
Cordelia vaguely felt it.
She was able to perceive the changes that occurred in Jude’s soul and body.
But she somehow felt scared.
She felt like Jude was going far away, to a place where she couldn’t reach him even if she reached out to him.
Why?
What’s going on?
Jude let out a roar. The energy of life fluctuated even more.
Cracks of light began to spread all over Jude’s body.
“Jude!”
She was scared.
She was going crazy because she didn’t know if it was going right or if something was wrong.
Can I touch him?
Should I leave him alone like this?
Shouldn’t I do something?
And it was at that moment.
Cordelia hurriedly looked behind her.
She could sense it.
The vibrations that were transmitted through the floor. The unique scent that came in with the wind.
The monsters on the 3rd floor.
The monsters were heading towards them.
The monsters gathered because they either felt the life energy released by Jude or heard Jude’s roar.
At the cracks on the fallen pillar in the entrance.
Black and grotesque spider-like monsters poked their heads out. The Acid Slime that filled the ceiling of the 2nd floor then melted the pillar and flooded in.
She also heard continuous stomping sounds.
Cordelia thought of the monsters on the 3rd floor and realized that the sounds were the footsteps of the Living Heavy Armors, the main enemies in the 3rd floor.
Cordelia quickly transformed into a witch. She concentrated her mana on both of her hands and looked in front, but at the same time, she flinched when she heard Jude roar behind her again.
She had to protect Jude first.
She had to monitor Jude’s condition at the same time.
But how?
How can I stop the monsters and monitor Jude at the same time!
“Kiaaa!”
Several spider-like monsters that were slightly larger than a human rushed towards her as they screamed. Cordelia threw a ball of fire that she held in her hands.
And right after that.
At the moment when the monsters and the ball of fire were about to collide.
Booooooom-!
A pillar of light filled Cordelia’s sight.
It came from the ceiling and devoured the spider-like monsters as it destroyed them. The ball of fire Cordelia made was also destroyed and vanished.
A huge pillar of life.
It wasn’t magic.
Life energy.
A tremendous amount of life energy.
So Cordelia figured it out.
She unconsciously shouted in joy.
“May the muscles always be with you!”
“You haven’t forgotten what’s important, girl.”
She heard the voice above her head.
The person who made the pillar of light that pierced not only the ceiling of the 3rd floor, but also of the 1st and 2nd floor ceilings, had done it all with one punch.
He was the only person who could solve all the current problems, not only the monsters but Jude’s condition too.
“May the muscles always be with you.”
Iron Man Landius.
The master of Jude and the strongest man on the continent.
He finally appeared.