Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 27

EP.27 This is Great

This world was defined by three types of power: mana, divine power, and demonic energy.

‘As everyone knows.’

Mana was a neutral form of power based on natural elements. Divine power was derived from the power of the gods and was based on light. Demonic energy was influenced by demons and was based on darkness.

‘This is similar to what you’d find in other novels or games, so it’s not hard to explain even if you don’t know it well.’

What was important here was how these three powers grew.

‘Mana is a result of talent and lineage, divine power is purely talent-based, and demonic energy is purely lineage-based.’

Thus, divine power was a unique force that manifested only in those who were chosen, regardless of whether they were commoners, nobles, or royalty.

“So, if you look at it, saints or saintesses often appear among commoners. There’s no particular reason for that, it’s just because there are a lot of commoners.”

“… Really?”

“Yes, but it’s hard to say this outright. Instead, we say that the goddess extends her hand to the lowest among us to offer salvation.”

Lucia’s blunt honesty made Jeong-hyeon smile awkwardly.

“So, being a saintess isn’t particularly special. It’s just luck. It’s better not to think of it as something different or special.”

“Got it.”

Knowing that Lucia herself was a saintess, Jeong-hyeon could only nod. She seemed displeased with his reaction but didn’t say anything, just fiddling with his hand with a sullen expression.

“Anyway, in that sense, you have an incredible talent, Jeong-hyeon.”

He nodded silently, then a question popped into his mind.

“If the strength of divine power is purely based on talent, isn’t training unnecessary?”

Lucia shook her head and explained.

“If we compare divine power to strength, divine power is the strength itself, and what I’m teaching you is how to use that strength.”

“So, if divine power is my stat, what you’re teaching me is the technique, like swordsmanship?”

“Exactly!”

Lucia nodded enthusiastically, continuing to fiddle with Jeong-hyeon’s palm.

“So, instead of just brute forcing it like you’ve been doing, it’s better to channel it more efficiently.”

She then guided his divine power, making their palms move back and forth. It felt as though their veins were connected, exchanging blood.

Despite the strange discomfort that lingered, the warmth of the divine power soothed him and allow him to accept it easily.

“Can you feel it? The way you’ve been using divine power is like setting off an explosion. Most of the energy dissipates before it reaches your hand.”

With that, Lucia demonstrated, making an immense amount of divine power flow smoothly between their palms. She smiled warmly.

“If you use it properly like this, you can transfer divine power without any loss.”

Lucia was right. Despite the large amount of divine power he had been expending, the resulting force was not as strong as it should have been.

‘Of course, I’ve never lost a fight, but…’

That was only because Jeong-hyeon had been fighting students. Compared to the formidable opponents he had faced before his suicide attempt, his current strength wasn’t impressive at all.

‘I’m glad I listened to Lucia.’

Ignoring her advice and focusing solely on stat training would have inevitably led to problems. Jeong-hyeon silently thanked Lucia and decided to try the technique she had taught him. He released her hand and gripped his sword.

“Uh… Jeong-hyeon?”

As he prepared to channel his divine power into the sword, Lucia spoke with a hint of panic.

“It might look simple, but using this technique is as difficult as mastering swordsmanship. It could take you five years of practice, so there’s no need to rush…”

Lucia fell silent as she watched him successfully channel divine power into his sword on the first try.

“You succeeded… on your first try?”

She looked at him, genuinely astonished. She hadn’t expected him to succeed so quickly. Her expression reminded him of Mertan, and he spoke.

“It wasn’t that hard.”

It wasn’t that he was exceptionally skilled; it was more that his unique trait was particularly well-suited for this technique. Jeong-hyeon felt immensely grateful for his unrealistic level of talent and proceed to ask.

“So, what’s next?”

Lucia blinked, still processing what had just happened.

***

In the end, Lucia admitted that she wasn’t a combat specialist. While she knew how to use divine power efficiently, she didn’t know how to apply it in battle. So, Jeong-hyeon decided to leave her nearby and practice on his own.

‘Even though I said it wasn’t difficult, moving my body like this is quite tricky.’

While the output itself wasn’t hard to manage, but controlling a large amount of divine power was a technique that required a high level skill.

At this moment, his divine power was fluctuating instead of maintaining a steady output.

‘The fact that it only works properly when I focus means that I just need to make it flow continuously without conscious effort.’

Determined to maintain a constant flow, Jeong-hyeon poured all his divine power into his sword. Lucia, watching in astonishment, spoke up.

“I knew you had a lot of divine power, but just how much do you have?”

Jeong-hyeon gave a bitter smile at her words. The reason the kingdom and the church wanted to turn him into a divine power bomb was mainly due to the amount of divine power he possessed. Although he didn’t know the exact quantity, it was probably enough to kill or severely injure the Demon King in one blow.

“You might have more than me…”

“Really?”

“Really… If an ordinary priest tried to use the amount of divine power you’re emitting for just three seconds… no, even one second, they would be exhausted.”

Even though she said that, he couldn’t really grasp it. He hadn’t seen many people using divine power.

‘I’ve only seen Lucia and Bishop Lea use it.’

As Jeong-hyeon continued to release his divine power, a message appeared.

[Congratulations! You have acquired the skill: Basic Divine Power Efficiency Lv:1!]

It seemed similar to the mana efficiency skill. He was pleased with the unexpected gain, but then the efficiency skill level started to rise rapidly.

[… You have levelled up Basic Divine Power Efficiency!]

After seeing this message a dozen times, the skill quickly advanced to Intermediate Divine Power Efficiency in one go.

‘What the…’

Jeong-hyeon was bewildered since he’d never seen a skill level up so quickly before. Lucia, who had been watching, spoke in amazement.

“…What did you do for your divine power to…?”

He looked at his sword. The black sword energy had turned into a nearly perfect, pure white light, devouring all colours. Jeong-hyeon stared at it, and a hypothesis crossed his mind.

‘Maybe it’s because ordinary priests can only use this much divine power for about a second, but I’ve been using it continuously without a break?’

That would make sense. Regardless of the reason, the results were excellent, and he couldn’t help but smile.

‘This is amazing.’

He decided to keep wasting divine power on the ground all day and thanked Lucia.

“Thank you.”

Lucia nodded, looking uneasy as if sensing something ominous. After seeing her reaction, he immediately turned his attention to a nearby tree.

‘If I swing my sword while releasing this much divine power, I can improve my stat training, swordsmanship skills, sword aura skills, and divine power efficiency skill levels all at once.’

He thought he had discovered the most efficient training method and charged at the tree with enthusiasm.

***

In a temple devoid of any trace of darkness, a man pointed to the face of a small statue of the goddess with his finger and spoke.

“Bishop Lea, you’re saying you’ve found a replacement for the new hero?”

“Yes. I found someone at the academy who possesses a divine power comparable to, or even greater than, the previous hero.”

Bishop Lea’s voice was filled with joy as she conveyed this news. However, the man responded to her with a flat tone.

“… Is that so? Well done.”

Lea felt puzzled by his reaction. In a situation where the tides of war were turning against them, finding a replacement for the hero should have been cause for celebration. Why was he reacting this way?

She sensed something was off but couldn’t point it out due to the significant gap in their statuses. So, she had no choice but to silently wait for his response.

“By the way, Bishop Lea, how is the saintess doing? I heard about the dungeon rampage incident… I hope she wasn’t hurt.”

“… She wasn’t injured.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief.”

His tone suggested he was asking out of obligation rather than genuine concern. This made Lea question even more. Even though he was aware of the dungeon rampage, why hadn’t the church taken any action?

At this point, Lea couldn’t help but recall a fact she had been trying to ignore and deny—the fundamental question of why the church had included her in the hero’s party instead of the saintess.

This question had lingered in her heart for a long time, unsettling her emotions. As she wavered, the cardinal, who had been observing her impassively, stepped closer and spoke.

“Bishop Lea, it’s better not to seek too many answers. Just think of everything as the will of the goddess.”

Lea could only nod in agreement, unable to respond to his gentle yet insidious whisper.