The Regressor and the Blind Saint

༺ Divine Battle Arts (2) ༻

Attacks using ‘Divinity.’

It was an explanation that he couldn’t grasp with mere words alone.

As Vera’s brows furrowed slightly, Trevor smiled softly and continued explaining.

“Well, to put it simply… Do you know anything about enchantment magic?”

“…Yes.”

Enchanting. A magical process that confers unique attributes to objects by coating it with magic.

Since most of the weapons that Vera wielded during his past life were enchanted, it was something Vera was familiar with.

“Fighting with a stigma is similar. Well, let’s take those twins as an example.”

The blue tattoo that had been engraved on Trevor’s skin immediately faded. Then Trevor, who was bursting with divinity, spoke while leaning his body forward.

“The stigma given by the ‘God of Protection,’ has the power of ‘Immortality.’ It gives you the power to rise again, even if your whole body is in tatters as long as you don’t lose consciousness and hold on to your psyche.”

Vera nodded at Trevor’s words.

He was well aware of that power.

He couldn’t help but know. Haven’t the rumors of the twins’ deeds in his past life already pricked his ears enough?

“The power of twins, if used solely, its efficacy is only limited to their bodies. Therefore, even if their bodies are restored, but their divinity is exhausted, they become nothing more than punching bags.”

Trevor took a scant breath and then continued.

“However, it’s a different story if you use divine battle arts to fuse your power with divinity. This will incorporate the divinity, which will amplify the ‘Immortal’ restorative abilities.”

Only then did Vera understand what Trevor was trying to say.

“…Will the depleted divinity be replenished?”

“You catch on quick.”

A deep smile crept across Trevor’s lips.

“As long as the twins use their divinity with the stigma of ‘Immortality,’ they can fight indefinitely with divinity as long as their minds allow.”

At the explanation that followed, Vera’s mouth widened slightly.

It was only now that things were starting to make sense.

‘… Now I can see how those two got through that.’

The technique that allowed them to stop the forces of the Demon King, who invaded the Holy Kingdom in his previous life despite being alone and vastly outnumbered.

A mystery has been solved.

In addition, the possibilities of using divine battle arts were revealed clearly.

Vera then felt his heart tremble a little at that realization.

Untapped potential.

It was a realization that he could be far stronger than when he operated his divinity in a brute force manner in his previous life.

“How does the fusion work?”

There was naturally a hint of excitement in his voice.

Trevor spoke up with a small laugh at Vera’s almost gleeful response he had never seen.

“It’s easy. You just have to think about doing it.”

In a way, it’s a piece of straightforward advice. However, Vera somehow knew that it was by no means an easy task.

“…Could you please elaborate a bit more?”

“Well…”

Tension flashed across Trevor’s face. He pondered for a moment, as if obsessing over something, then nodded his head and spoke.

“The moment you burn it, focus on the divinity flowing around the stigma and think of ‘fusing it’. The process itself shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Following the explanation, Vera tries to roll up his sleeves.

“Ah, it’s a little inconvenient here, maybe later. It’s difficult for me if it gets messy.”

Trevor slightly panicked and blurted out.

Vera nodded slightly to him at his abrupt words and then followed up with a question.

“Then, is it okay to graft the fused divinity into an existing martial art?”

“No. You must make it your own, Vera. You need to do it yourself.”

“…Huh?”

“Isn’t the Stigma of Oath a power that only Vera can use? How would it work if that power is grafted on conventional techniques?”

At Trevor’s question, Vera was at a loss for words.

When the power of ‘Oath’ is applied to martial arts, that strengthens the body.

What immediately comes to mind is him amplifying his physical abilities at a cost that does not differ from how he usually uses it.

Vera pondered and drifted into a long stretch of thoughts.

Then, after much deliberation, Vera concluded that the ‘Stigma of Oath’ was a kind of power that could not be fused with martial arts. His lips drooped.

“It’s like wearing loose clothes that don’t fit you.”

“That’s right. There is a way of using the stigma appropriate to its power. I would give you the records of the previous apostles, but… It is a pity that we cannot do that due to the policy of the Holy Kingdom.”

Vera chuckled at Trevor’s answer.

Why did I think it was too easy?

This process was more complicated than I thought.

Vera frowned. His head was throbbing at the thought that came to mind.

Seeing Vera’s troubled appearance, Trevor, this time, spread out his hand and raised his divinity over it, and asked a question.

“What does this look like, Vera? Does it look like martial arts? Or does it look like magic?”

Vera’s gaze turned to Trevor’s fingertips.

“…Just seems to be pure divinity.”

“Yes, that’s right. This is just divinity. It’s the difference in how you use it, whether it’s martial arts or magic. If you engrave it on your body, it’s a martial art, and if you engrave it on an object or weapon, it’s magic. You must have come here because you heard about it from Your Holiness, right?”

“Yes.”

“Your Holiness intends to teach you how to use your divinity effectively.”

Trevor said that, then cleared his throat for a moment and then asked Vera a question.

“Vera, you don’t know how to distribute your divinity yet, do you?”

Vera nodded.

Vera felt ashamed to admit, even though he had been using that power all his life. However, Vera couldn’t refute that fact.

This is because Vera in his previous life did not distribute his divinity. Rather, he amplified the divinity to empower his body.

Trevor continued, nodding his head at the sight of Vera nodding.

“It doesn’t even have to be martial arts. Because the form that Your Holiness is talking about refers to the distribution of the divinity itself. If you somehow distribute and refine the divine power into something that can be utilized, it becomes a form. If the form is in the category of divinity, it can be fused with either martial arts or magic.”

Trevor gave an explanation that is easier to understand than the previous one and then asked one more question.

“Plus, you’ve probably heard about ‘Intent,’ right?”

“…Yes.”

“The same goes for ‘Righteousness’. Righteousness is the theme of the fighting style that Vera will eventually create. Vera, you need to have a clear intent, an obvious purpose for your divine battle art. What is the purpose of your divine battle art? Keep that in mind.”

Trevor said so, then added an explanation with a smile on his lips.

“I’ve heard that Vera wields a sword, but even if you’re too invested in martial arts, there is no reason to keep clinging to it obsessively.”

After a lengthy explanation, Trevor raised his torso, which was leaning forward. Vera, who was looking at him, felt surprised inside.

‘I thought he was just a lunatic..’

Isn’t he speaking better than I thought? No, he is speaking coherently and much better than the Holy Emperor.

Vera bowed his head and thanked Trevor, recalling the idea that he was not as stupid as he looked.

“Thank you for all your help.”

“It’s natural to help. Oh, could you hold on for a second?”

“Yes?”

When Vera stared at him with a questioning gaze, Trevor got up and headed for the corner of the room, then pulled out a few books from the bookshelf and held it out to Vera.

“These are books that can be used as a reference for making divine battle art. This is a textbook of the existing fighting techniques, and this one is for interpretation of those fighting techniques. It would be helpful if you read it once..”

Vera nodded at his words and picked up the books.

“Thanks once again. When should I return these books?”

“You can return it to me whenever it’s convenient for you.”

It was an answer given with a kind smile. Vera nodded and was getting ready to go out.

“Instead.”

Trevor soon followed.

Vera’s gaze turned to Trevor at the words that came.

Trevor, at the end of his gaze, was looking at Vera’s right forearm, the spot where the stigma was, with a slightly excited look.

Could you show me the stigma just once?

Chill-

Upon hearing that question, Vera felt a shiver down his spine.

Vera glared at Trevor with eyes full of disgust, then stepped back and left the room, leaving only a single word.

“Later.”

Thud-

Vera kicked the door open with his foot and walked out of the hallway without looking back.

‘Before he spouted that bullshit, I thought he was sane for a moment.’

After all, he is still a lunatic, isn’t he?

As expected, the Holy Kingdom was filled with weirdos.

****

Returning to the cottage, the two paladins with stout bodies were waiting to welcome Vera.

“Twins?”

At the end of Vera’s gaze, there were Krek and Marek at the door of the old hut.

Vera tried to figure out why they were here, but he couldn’t come up with a plausible reason , so Vera sauntered towards them.

Rustle-

At the sound of the rustle of the grass, the twins’ eyes turned to Vera at the same time.

Soon afterwards, the twins, who saw Vera, bowed their heads and greeted Vera.

“Nice to meet you. I’m here to repair it.”

“Yes, me too.”

Upon hearing those words, Vera’s face hardened.

In response, Vera narrowed his eyebrows and asked the twins a question.

“Aren’t you two supposed to guard the gates?”

“The Holy Emperor sent us.”

“The Holy Emperor told us to help.”

It was the Holy Emperor’s orders.

‘What is he planning?’

Since he is an old man Vera couldn’t see through, he tries to find the reason behind his each and every action.

“Surveillance?”

A presumption came to mind while Vera continued to worry. Vera’s gaze turned to the twins.

Suddenly, Vera looked at them in bewilderment.

‘What is it…?’

There was no way such idiots could have been trusted with surveillance.

The old man must be suffering from dementia if he really put these two in charge of surveillance.

‘There’s no other reason that comes to mind besides surveillance….’

Vera was in the middle of brainstorming to guess why they were here.

“So, should we start repairing? What do you say?”

“I’m good at nailing.”

The twins continued.

Upon hearing the twin’s words, Vera came back to his senses and gazed at the twins.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“It’s good to think. But it’s hard.”

“I hate thinking.”

Vera’s mouth was shut tight

If you say something, they both reply at once, and the words they spat out only make you frustrated. So you can’t even open your mouth in front of them.

However, if he keeps his mouth shut like this, the thought that those idiots will be here all day came to mind, so Vera frowned and opened his mouth again.

“… I think we need to fix the door and furniture first.”

“I’ll do the furniture. I’m more gentle than Marek.”

“I’ll fix the door. I’m good at nailing.”

After answering as such, the twins headed towards the cottage.

Vera saw the two figures trudging, and for some odd reason, he felt a fire burning inside of him.

A sudden idea popped up in his mind.

The idea that the reason the Holy Emperor sent them to him was to annoy him.