Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 157

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

157
Most of Telus suffered under the scorching heat, but the Dark Temple, situated at the southernmost point of the Western Continent, remained pleasantly cool.
“Oh! You’ve returned!”
Monk Rondi emerged to greet us.
“How have you been?”
“Well, thanks to you, our congregation has grown considerably.”
Rondi bowed respectfully.
“I apologize for the short notice, but I’d like to use the Underground Prayer Chamber again.”
“Of course.”
Following Rondi’s guidance, we descended underground. Bae Na-young could sense her surroundings by spreading mana despite the darkness, but Jae-in, unable to see anything, switched on the portable flashlight she’d brought.
“Last time, I was sucked in while praying over there.”
“Hmm….”
Jae-in swept the flashlight beam across the chamber searching for clues, while Bae Na-young and I surveyed our surroundings.
“What is that?”
Something that hadn’t been visible before now appeared in the empty air.
What I saw was a thin crack. It appeared as though the darkness of the shadowed prayer chamber had coalesced to form it.
“Brother, what do you see?”
“There’s a crack here. Or should I call it a line?”
When I swept my hand through it, my hand passed through the crack, but with slight resistance.
I attempted to grasp it again, waving my hand through empty space several times, but it slipped away.
“Bae Na-young, would you like to see?”
Bae Na-young placed her hand on my head. Though my mental barrier was formidable, when I permitted it, she could access my mind this way and perceive what I saw.
“What is it?”
Closing her eyes, Bae Na-young observed what I was seeing and reached toward the crack suspended in the air.
“I feel no resistance at all.”
“A crack… Could it be a dimensional rift?”
Jae-in rested her chin in her hand, narrowing her eyes as she gazed at the empty space, attempting to perceive the crack we could see.
If this were a dimensional rift, it would lead to the space Eres had taken me to—her origin point.
My ability to perceive this now was likely due to my enhanced understanding of space from my final confrontation with Joshua. I should have come here earlier.
“If it’s a rift… couldn’t we pry it open?”
I grasped the left and right edges of the vertically elongated dimensional rift with my hands.
Normally, I only used spatial manipulation to push or pull myself through space.
But now, I gripped the empty space beside the rift with both hands and braced my legs firmly.
Gritting my teeth, I poured strength into both arms.
It didn’t budge at all. There was nothing I’d ever pushed that refused to move, yet this felt as though movement itself was impossible.
“Phew….”
“Were you trying to grab space with your hands and pry it open?”
Bae Na-young stared at me with an incredulous expression.
“Yeah. Let me try again.”
I grasped the space once more and exerted greater force. As I expanded my body to increase muscle mass, my clothes tore. Beyond merely augmenting my muscles, I poured my life force into boosting my stats. A crimson aura erupted from my body, radiating outward.
If I had something to grip and a foothold, I poured every ounce of my strength into lifting a hundred tons.
Beyond my limits, my muscles, joints, and bones screamed with sharp, crackling sounds.
“Uuuaaaaaahhhhh!!!!”
With both hands, I tore open the space I’d grasped with all my might.
Without a moment to catch my breath, darkness like black clouds poured from the torn space.
The darkness engulfed our entire party.
I wasn’t greatly affected by the darkness, and Bae Na-young held firm with a shield, but Jae-in couldn’t withstand it—her body turned ashen gray.
I quickly infused her with life force and moved her away from the direction the darkness was pouring from. Fortunately, the darkness didn’t fill the space but passed through the walls instead.
“Rondi… you’re alright?”
“On the contrary, I feel invigorated.”
Taking the darkness head-on, Rondi inhaled it as though it were fresh mountain air.
When Rondi swept his hand through the darkness, its flow changed, and with both hands, he even created spaces to capture the darkness.
“I suppose that’s because he’s a monk of the Dark Temple.”
Bae Na-young had gained a fragment of divinity, and her attribute was inherently close to darkness, so a shield alone was more than sufficient for her to endure.
“I’ll go in and come back out.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No. I have to go alone.
Bae Na-young looked at me with anxious eyes.
“We don’t know what might happen inside, and going alone means I can escape if things go wrong. I won’t fight.”
“I’m going too.”
Her eyes burned with unwavering resolve—the determination to die together if necessary. When Bae Na-young gets like this, there’s no winning against that stubbornness.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
I took Bae Na-young’s hand and stepped into the space I’d torn open.
Inside, the darkness was far denser. I realized now that when I’d entered before, Eres had made things convenient for me.
‘There’s nothing here.’
I spoke to Bae Na-young through my mind.
‘I can’t see anything.’
‘There’s nothing to see. Only endless darkness. Let’s go back.’
I led Bae Na-young out, and I could see the space we’d opened gradually shrinking. At this rate, it would close completely in a few hours.
“Damn it… that was my last resort…”
“Brother, didn’t you say Eres was keeping the Spirit of Light restrained? Then didn’t she escape to go capture it?”
“Escape? Where to?”
“If Eres has a place like this, wouldn’t the Spirit of Light have one too?”
Jae-in, still sitting on the ground and not fully recovered from the darkness, spoke.
“Rondi, where is the largest Temple of Light located?”
“The headquarters of the Temple of Light is on the Sacred Mountain in Persburian.”
“Persburian—that’s the Holy Kingdom that joined the Allied Forces, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Brother, the Sacred Mountain is where Nella sniped the Emperor.”
I pulled out a communication device and connected to Nella.
“King of Newus, how have you been?”
“I’m doing well, but the weather in Telus is the problem. How is the Holy Kingdom adapting to these abnormal conditions?”
“The light shining upon us more brightly than ever isn’t necessarily a bad thing… However, it’s true that the powerless are suffering greatly, so we’re working on countermeasures, but it’s not easy.”
“May we visit Sacred Mountain and the Temple of Light? We might be able to find a clue to resolve this incident.”
“You’re always welcome. Besides, if it’s to help our struggling people, we should naturally cooperate.”
Nella and Bae Na-young communicated and opened a Gate.
Most mages require extensive preparation to open a Gate. However, Bae Na-young opened one immediately upon receiving the coordinates.
Of course, it was only possible because the other side opened theirs simultaneously. As Bae Na-young demonstrated in the exchange match, she could now open Gates to visible locations, but having only the target coordinates didn’t mean she could travel anywhere in the world.
“Let’s go.”
“We’ll meet again.”
After receiving Rondi’s farewell, I stepped through the Gate and moved to the Temple of Light.
The intense light momentarily turned my vision white.
“Ugh!”
The sudden change in brightness made Jae-in cry out, and I frowned as well.
“Welcome to the Temple of Light. I am Goldi, the priestess who will guide the Hero.”
A draconic priestess greeted us. Except for the horns on her head and scales scattered across her skin, she appeared almost human in form. If not for her height exceeding three meters.
“Pleased to meet you. But… Hero?”
“You’re the one who vanquished the evil Emperor and his puppet Joshua.”
Genuine gratitude shone in her eyes, but I also glimpsed her hatred and loathing toward the Emperor. Even though he was already dead, that hatred hadn’t faded.
“It simply happened to turn out that way.”
“Your humility is excessive. Not only did you save Telus from the Emperor, but now you’re resolving this crisis as well. The blessing of the Spirit of Light will be with you.”
I didn’t want the Spirit of Light’s blessing, but I simply bowed my head in acknowledgment.
“The goddess of the Purple Goddess Church, whose name is on everyone’s lips these days, has come as well. How wonderful.”
Goldi bowed to Bae Na-young and Jae-in, and they returned the greeting.
“I’ll show you the way. Please follow me.”
I entered deeper into the temple under Goldi’s burdensome expectations. As we passed through, every priest we encountered bowed first upon seeing Goldi, suggesting she held a high position in the temple.
She appeared to be at the early Master rank in actual strength. I’d heard that among the non-human races, the draconic race possessed the highest combat prowess. I was curious how a fight with her would go.
“Has the King of Newus arrived?”
“Nella. Thank you for welcoming us on such short notice.”
“Think nothing of it. But you said you found a clue to resolve this crisis?”
The gazes of Nella, Goldi, and the priests all turned toward our group.
If I told them that the Spirit of Light was the culprit behind this incident, would Nella and Goldi really help?
“May I look around first? It might be a false lead, so I’d like to confirm before speaking. If my suspicions are correct, then I’ll tell you.”
Before deciding whether to reveal the truth, I needed to check if there was a rift here like in the Dark Temple. If there wasn’t one, there was no need to create enemies by telling the believers of the Temple of Light.
“Very well. Follow me.”
Though it was somewhat of an arbitrary request, Nella readily accepted, given what I’d accomplished thus far.
“Is there a prayer chamber here as well? A place closest to the divine?”
“Yes, the highest level. It’s where I shot the Emperor.”
“Ah. This place.”
“It’s a technique that can only be used when standing in the seat closest to the light.”
I climbed the spiraling staircase that twisted upward endlessly, finally arriving at the prayer chamber on the highest floor.
Though it was called a prayer chamber, it was merely a space with a few pillars atop the spire, open to the sky and sides.
The Dark Temple itself stood at a high elevation on the mountain where the weather was cold, yet in this space alone, sunlight poured down directly, making my skin burn with intense heat.
“Brother, are you there?”
“Yes. I’m here.”
Unlike the black rift I had seen in the Dark Temple, a white rift appeared in this space.

“So, will you finally tell me what you wanted to confirm?”
Nella asked.
“Nella, what kind of being is the Spirit of Light to you?”
Goldi’s eyes, which had been following us with a calm expression, flinched slightly.
“The incarnation of the god we serve.”
“So not the god itself?”
“Correct. It is merely an incarnation, after all. Still, there is no doubt that it is a being who receives the faith of all.”
There was no way to soften this. I could only speak the truth and deal with the consequences afterward.
“I don’t know how this will sound, but I’ll speak truthfully. The Spirit of Light sold Telus to the Destruction God.”
“What?”
Nella’s usually expressionless face twisted savagely.
“Please watch your words! There are things that should not be said, even by a hero!”
Goldi’s gentle expression vanished as well. Her eyes turned golden, scales appeared across her body, and her draconic form became starkly apparent.
“It is the truth. I witnessed Darkness, Eres, confining the Spirit of Light who had betrayed her. Eres was interrogating the Spirit of Light about their relationship with the Destruction God. Weeks passed, and then this strange weather began. I suspected the Spirit of Light was behind this calamity, so I returned to Eres’s origin point, but neither Eres nor the Spirit of Light were there.”
“Do you understand what you are saying? You are shaking the very foundation of our faith.”
Goldi’s eyes opened fiercely as if she might attack at any moment.
“Unfortunately, I am merely relaying what Eres told me. And don’t you all know? If this heat continues, all the people of Telus—indeed, all living creatures—will perish. If not the Spirit of Light, who else could make the light so intense? Or does the Temple of Light have any solution?”
Nella bit her lip, and Goldi continued to glare at me.
My future actions would depend on how they responded here. I hoped they would make the wise choice.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————