CHAPTER 64: GUNGNIR (3).

Limping into the darkness, Nero didn’t have to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Although the roof had caved in, the interior of the Temple was still in surpisingly good shape.

Sure, a couple walls had been destroyed, and the subtle cracks and groans coming from all around him told a different story, it wasn’t as bad as the others that had already been reduced to dust.

In the empty darkness, the only thing he could hear was his own labored breathing.

His eyes scanned the darkness briefly. Then he rushed towards the raised platform containing all sorts of strange tools and items.

"Where is it?!" He hissed desperately.

He didn’t have much time left.

He could already feel the slight rumbling coming from outside. The Gargoyles were getting closer and closer with every passing second. In just a few moments, they would be upon him.

’A Spear. It’s a Spear, right?!’

{Yes. Gungnir is a spear that once belonged to a god in a distant land. It is said that the god was incredibly wise, even amongst the other Fallen Ones, and thus, managed to get a large portion of humanity to worship it. Gungnir was created as one of the gifts from humans it had granted all manners of special abilities and gifts. The spear, Gungnir was later acquired by Orion in one of his many travels}.

Nero felt his frustration welling up,

"I don’t need to know any of that now, damn it! What the hell does it look like?! Where the hell is it?!"

{High grade Relics usually give off significant traces of energy. As long as the Heretic focuses, he should be able to sense it}.

Nero’s eyes widened.

"I need to sense it myself?"

{Yes}.

Nero fell silent.

He could hear his heart thumping in his chest.

With every second that went by, he became closer and closer to death.

He didn’t have time. He didn’t have time to search for the stupid spear!

But he had no choice. He could tell the Oracle had given him as much help as it could.

And so the rest was all up to him.

He slowly closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

Ein Sof existed all around him.

It was the essence of the world itself.

In some things, it was more prevalent than others. Those things manifested in the form of Relics.

Relics were items that were created with intention— forged from the influence of the Divine, be it through prayers, ritualistic proceedings, or even random miracles.

And so, with that thought in mind, since the essence of the Divine, was simply Ein Sof, all he needed to do, was detected the greatest source of Ein Sof around him.

And so, he closed his eyes and opened his ’eyes’.

The Eyes of the Heretic.

The Heretic Eyes was his first skill. It was a skill that granted him the ability of sight. But it was not just any sight.

It was sight that let him see the truest essence of the world. Beyond that, it also granted him enhanced vision.

Its true purpose though, was gleaming the sacred truths and mysteries.

That came at a cost. The more he tried to peer through the veil and access those sacred truths, the more vulnerable he was to madness and then corruption.

It was a two-edged sword. One that needed he be careful with when handling.

Of course,the couldn’t be bothered with precision at the moment.

As his focus grew, he seemed to cut himself off from the physical world.

Sight, smell, taste, feeling.

For a moment, everything dulled and faded away until it all became insignificant.

And then, his ’eyes’ opened.

When they opened, he was greeted with immeasurable darkness.

Darkness so thick and true, it represented pure malevolent and evil. Just glancing at it, filled his soul and mind with despicable thoughts.

And then, there was light.

He looked down.

The light came from his hand. And all around him.

Some lights were brighter than others, but the greatest lights came from his side and his hand.

’Those are the Relics. The brighter ones are the Wandering Spirit’s Journal and the Silver Blade.’

He let his gaze travel.

Compared to.the relics surrounding him, the rest of the world was darker than night in comparison.

He glanced around slowly.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

At where he assumed was the furthest edge of the Temple, a light so bright it seemed to burn the surrounding darkness reached his eyes.

’That’s it!’

Suddenly a wave of dizziness struck him like a freight train.

His body trembled as he let out a groan and fell to the ground, blood seeping from all his orifices.

As his normal sight returned, a splitting headache assaulted him,

’W-what just happened?’ he thought weakly.

{The Heretic is currently unable to actively use the skill, Heretic Eyes, for longer than five seconds. Any longer than that, and he runs the risk of several optical and cerebral damage}.

Nero trembled, ’That was only for five seconds?!’

He tried to steady himself as he downed another Divine Elixir.

Then with his vision still shaky, he turned his gaze in the direction of where the bright light had come.

In that corner of the Temple, was an inconspicuous wooden box leaning against the wall.

In the many days he had been to the Temple, he had not noticed it simply due to how unimpressive it looked.

The wood was dark and seemed to blend in with the dark shadows in the area, making it even harder to spot.

But that was not only it.

Nero feared that if he were to pull his gaze away, he would forget all about what he was seeing.

He trembled.

There was something strange about the box.

Either way, it seemed like he had hit the jackpot.

With shaky legs, he rose to his feet.

He was at the entrance of the Temple while the box that most likely contained his target, was at the very distant corner.

It would take him some time to reach it.

He took a step forward.

BANG!

Bloodshot eyes gleaming with horror, Nero looked up.

The roof of the Temple, alongside the branch that had destroyed it were now gone.

The stars and the night sky were shrouded from his view by three massive shadows.

The faces of the Demons were twisted into horrendous, evil, damning grins that would send even the mightiest warriors to the ground, foaming at the mouth in fear.

The world slowed down,

’Damn it!’ Nero cursed.

"Damn it all!"