Chapter 142 A Trail Of Bloodshed
Olivia gazed at Nathan inquisitively and asked, "You have been blessed by the gods too, haven't you?"
She gestured for him to join her as they walked to the cozy sofa in the center of the room, and when they were both seated, she appeared stiff and serious, awaiting Nathan's response.
Nathan paused, pondering how to respond to Olivia's query, 'What the hell is she talking about?' He was convinced that no one should be able to discover the truth from him, bolstered by his title, The God Slayer. He was assured that his position was secure.
[The Godslayer]
[You will be safe under the protective veil of a godslayer. As a legendary figure, you will wander the land, gaining admiration and reverence from your devoted followers. Your whereabouts will remain unknown until you choose to reveal yourself.]
No one would have ever guessed that Nathan was the owner of the two blessings of sin, not even when facing other god apostles. However, out of the blue, Olivia broached the subject with him.
"Do you know," Olivia inquired softly, her voice gentle and soothing, "what is the special ability of the Apostle of Kindness and the Apostle of Envy?"
She was trying to dissipate the tension that had arisen between them upon learning about Muramoto, as well as the discomfort Nathan had evidently expressed in response to her previous question.
Nathan shook his head in response to Olivia's question. "Shouldn't it be the God of Kindness who bestows the blessing upon you, Olivia?" he asked inquisitively.
Olivia nodded. "Yes," she replied, "and the power of the apostle of virtues, from this side I feel that they bear a resemblance to its counterpart of the sins."
"Do you mean that the special abilities of the sins and virtues have similarities? Like Sloth and Diligence might both possess Self Transcendence?" he asked.
So far, Nathan had comprehended the power of the Apostle of Sloth and Greed that he himself possessed; he had also become aware of the aptitude of the Apostle of Pride, which was linked to the cause of his parent's demise.
Olivia stepped away from Nathan. Her voice was soft. "Nathan, I want to show you something," she said. "But, I hope you won't be too shocked by what you're about to see."
Olivia raised her right hand, and a powerful swirl of silver energy erupted from her palm. It cascaded to the ground, forming two pairs of shoes that continued to flow, creating legs and then a lower body, until eventually, it became a complete figure that looked like a man.
Nathan jumped to his feet, astounded by the figure standing before him; it was an exact replica of himself! "What on earth is this?" he exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.
Nathan stood, astonished, in front of a figure that was composed of silver-hued energy condensed into a shape that resembled his own. The figure was wearing the same outfit he had had on during the previous battle and was even wielding two swords that were almost identical to his own.
"It's certainly strange," He added, "to see a replica of myself standing right there."
Nathan furrowed his brow, then he turned to Olivia, seeking an explanation from her. "Is this some kind of personal avatar, Olivia?" he asked, his tone hushed.
Olivia nodded and smiled, "Yes....The special power of the apostle of Envy and Kindness is Personal Avatar. These entities are specifically bonded to the user and are often reflections of their unique concept, essence, or idea. They usually manifest the user's appearance to a certain degree, but they can also wield special abilities that are inferior to the user's. Nevertheless, they are still capable of performing potent techniques." she said.
Nathan pondered if Olivia could replicate all of the abilities with her personal avatar. 'Was it because of this that she surmised that I might possess the blessing?'
Olivia continued apologetically, "So, I'm sorry for not telling you about this from the start, Nathan. I didn't think that far back during the last war, and when I lent my wings to you, I was also qualified to create a personal avatar based on your conditions."
"To what extent does this personal avatar duplicate my abilities?" Nathan posed the question.
"From what I understand," Olivia began, "it will only receive 80% of the total stats you have, as well as a small portion of your classes and skills. I'm honestly quite impressed with the variety of those you possess—even an affinity with various elements. With that in mind, I'm guessing you must be the holder of the blessings."
Olivia hesitated, then cautiously inquired, "Did I understand that correctly?"
Nathan was aware that attempting to outsmart Olivia was a lost cause; her intelligence was too sharp to be fooled. However, he was unwilling to admit this to her.
In a subdued voice, Nathan remarked, "Olivia, I believe you know too much more than you should. I'm not comfortable when someone discovers information from me without my consent."
Olivia looked worried as she stepped closer and grabbed Nathan's hands.
"Nathan, I'm not trying to corner you or do anything that might harm you. You don't need to give me any confirmation, but there is something important that I want to tell you. Let me assure you, I am on your side."
Nathan quietly asked, "Can you explain to me in more detail why you have gone over this information with me?"
"So..." Olivia replied. "At this point I don't really know, you are the apostle of the sins or the apostle of virtues. I don't know how many of the Seven Virtues have had their powers awakened yet. But we Apostles of Virtues have a huge task ahead of us."
The details of Linda's extraordinary transformation, which enabled her to become an apostle of Patience, were known to only four individuals. This stands in stark contrast to Olivia, whose reawakening was observed and celebrated by countless people across the entire planet of New Earth, creating a huge sensation in the recent past.
The unexpected addition of six stat points to everyone has caused a great deal of confusion and a dramatic shift in the world. Those who have obtained this upgrade have started to experience a sudden rush of strength, which in turn has caused a spike in criminal activities and an intensification of the stratification of society.
Within just two days, the issue became a worldwide concern, as the possibility of further disruption was increasing.
For this reason, Linda's awakening going unnoticed was extremely useful in helping to suppress the global problem. After all, if a regular human were to gain twelve stat points, their life, and the lives of all around them, would be drastically altered.
Moreover, if all of the Apostles of Virtue had their awakenings observed by the citizens of New Earth, many people would be transformed into new beings with significantly more stats. Clearly, this would create a new and even bigger problem in the world.
"So, what is the task you're referring to, Olivia?"
Olivia nodded thoughtfully, her expression thoughtful and determined. "We, the Apostles of Virtue, have been tasked with eliminating the Apostle of Sin," she declared.
Nathan was taken aback by Olivia's words. This was all new to him; the daunting mission of being the apostle of virtue, in contrast to Nathan's own task of slaying the gods. He was certain that this responsibility only belonged to the one who bore the Sword of Disidia.
"That's certainly a daunting task!"
Nathan had a lot of questions at this point, wondering if it was possible that other sins had the same mission as him: to defeat the gods.
He was unsure of which gods the Sword of Disidia was referring to. Even now, a new piece of information has come to light about the existence of a god of virtues or perhaps even another set of gods.
"With your current condition, and your strength which has not yet fully developed, wouldn't you be an easy target for the God Apostles of the Sins?" Nathan asked in return.
Olivia slowly nodded. "That's for sure. I don't think anyone else knows this information besides us, the God Apostles of Virtues. I strongly believe that there's a grand plan at work here; why else would the gods have the Apostles fight against each other? Even what happened in Yunatea in the past makes sense in this context. The God Apostles fought each other to become the strongest, leading to the destruction of the Apostles of Sloth and Greed."
***
Having acquired this new knowledge, Nathan made his way out of Olivia's to process the facts he had been presented with. Before departing, he asked Olivia to refrain from creating another Personal Avatar of him. And also, she has taken back the wings that she lent him.
"Killed the god apostles of sins?" he pondered.
Upon understanding the situation, Nathan immediately realized that two people he was familiar with had been chosen to pursue him; Linda, an apostle of Patience, and Olivia, an apostle of Kindness.
Taking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and sighed, "Ah... What a challenging day."
"God damn it!" he exclaimed with frustration.
"If I had to choose between battling Linda or Olivia, I would be much happier taking on the foolish deities who bestowed this senseless mission on them."
Nathan inhaled deeply, finally understanding why he had been given the assignment to become god slayers. It appeared that the gods bestowed their blessings were toying with them; they had tasked them with slaying one another as their divine apostles.
"Are they treating us like playthings?" he thought.
The Sword of Disidia was truly a remarkable weapon. It was capable of cutting through anything, even though it came with a hefty price.
Nathan wondered to himself, "Could this sword even slice through a deity?"
"Is it possible that this sword was crafted by another god? After all, who else could have made a sword that could slay the gods?"
Nathan slowly trudged towards his home, his thoughts drifting from one thing to another. Suddenly, he realized he could unlock the Sword of Disidia's full potential. But just as quickly as the idea had come, it vanished from his mind.
"Do I need to slay anyone listed on the sword to be able to inscribe a new name on it; names of persons I can trust and will certainly bestow their approval?"
Nathan was certain that he had to meet Nicolas Gilson as soon as possible in order to verify exactly what had happened when Nicolas was present during the slaughter of his parents. This would be advantageous for Nathan in two ways: he could seek revenge and clear one name from The Sword of Disidia.