Chapter 807: Chapter 416: Eyes of the Sun and the Saint

And the mortal quietly raised his head, showing his attitude, responding silently.

The Sun was silent.

The mortal said nothing.

["..."]

"..."

Proudly, the mortal and the divine held their stand-off, neither willing to lower their head first.

No one knows how much time has passed.

In the agony, the measure of time started becoming blurred.

A minute, ten minutes, half an hour...

Gradually, Herbert felt he lost the sensation of his body, his consciousness retracting from it.

No longer feeling pain, no longer experiencing the scorching heat of the Holy Light.

Herbert didn’t know what temperature he was at now, but he could "perceive" his body’s temperature was soaring.

Like an iron block buried in the fire by a craftsman, slowly becoming red-hot, waiting to be changed by the Iron Hammer.

Then...

Bang!

A soul-stirring loud noise shattered all silence.

Not feeling the pain of being hammered, but sensing an ineffable ease.

After endless endurance and suffering, finally came release... and rebirth.

Opening his eyes, the perception of time returned.

"..."

Outside, less than a minute had passed.

The body not only didn’t suffer any harm but became extraordinarily powerful.

All this, was it achieved by the mortal’s steadfast will? Or by the divine’s mercy?

Herbert had no time to ponder the answer.

Because at this moment, another matter attracted all his attention.

He lowered his head and discovered complex and ancient Holy Marks gradually appearing on his skin.

The marks within his body were different, growing naturally from inside out like veins.

Now, the emerging patterns were more magnificent, more sacred, as if a supreme entity’s will was personally engraving them upon him.

Those patterns seemed to be engraved by invisible flames, starting from the limbs and spreading to the chest, winding like flowing molten gold, each line emitting a blazing light.

The trajectory of the marks ultimately converged on his chest, where they formed a blazing Sun Wheel totem, with the core appearing as if golden flames were flickering.

Then, all the light suddenly contracted, climbing upward along the neck, finally condensing at his brow.

Herbert couldn’t see it, but everyone outside clearly saw it.

A vertical eye-like mark slowly formed.

It looked like a tightly shut third eye, or as if an authority was awakening from slumber.

The moment it fully appeared, Herbert felt a vast gaze descend, as if some existence was observing him through this mark.

—That was the Sun’s gaze.

He also learned the name of this body’s Holy Mark at this moment.

[Eyes of the Sun] 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Even in the long history of the Sun Church, this was an almost legendary mark.

It is not something a mortal body can bear, only someone directly favored by the Sun God is qualified to have this blazing imprint etched into their flesh.

Its effects are many, but the most famous is just one—Real Vision.

With the Eyes of the Sun, it is akin to possessing the Sun God’s perspective.

Under the gaze of these eyes, all illusion dissolves like mist.

Lies will find no refuge, the truth and falsehood of words will reflect distinctly in the pupils.

Hatred will twist like black flames, malice transforming into hideous shadows in the view.

Disguises are torn effortlessly, no matter how intricate the illusions, under the gaze of the Eyes of the Sun, they are but fragile veils.

However, this power does not come without cost.

Every time Real Vision is used, the blessed one’s soul will endure the scorching of the Sun God’s might, burnt by scorching flames—for others.

For Herbert, who can withstand flame damage, this punishment can be entirely ignored.

Meanwhile, the Eyes of the Sun also represent a special status within the Sun Church.

It represents a designation not mentioned for a long time.

...

And when the scene of the Eyes of the Sun appearing on the brow was witnessed by all, the powerful beings observing here withdrew their gaze.

It ended.

All ended.

There’s no longer any necessity to keep watching.

The friction and conflict between the Sinful Desire Church and the Sun Church finally concluded with the divine intervention of both gods.

The Sinful Desire Church suffered a terrible defeat, with heavy casualties, sacrificing several hidden strongholds, unable to preserve even their god’s incarnation.

The Sun Church achieved a great victory, winning emphatically.

The Sun God, rumored to be in a problematic state, appeared, personally controlling a Divine Favorer, ending all turmoil.

Especially witnessing the last scene, some gods retracted their original burgeoning thoughts.

From this moment on, all false rumors and speculation about the "Sun God’s state being wrong" utterly collapsed.

His condition wasn’t problematic.

Still as explosively fiery, just like throughout countless ages past.

He just didn’t know why he had become a lot more "gentle," not so quick to explode, significantly increasing his tolerance toward enemies.

This conclusion surprised everyone, but it wasn’t unacceptable.

Even if someone doubted it, they wouldn’t personally test it.

Someone had already paved the way for them.

The God of Assassination disagreed, thinking the Sun God was pretending.

He rose up, and then... he was instantly killed.

After sacrificing the life of a foolish Evil God who came up to die, they had no choice but to believe.

And most importantly...

The Sun Church witnessed the emergence of another Saint after nearly a thousand years.

Yes.

Not an Apostle of the Sun God, but a Saint.

Because the name of Apostle was not enough to reflect the favor received by the holder of the Holy Mark - [Eyes of the Sun].

They were the eyes of Alberta in the Mortal Realm, representing His will more than a Divine Favorer.

On this day, a new name was remembered by the strong above Legendary level and reached the ears of the Gods.

[The Ninth Saint], [Divine Vessel], [Blasphemer] - Herbert Albert.

The ninth Saint in the entire history of the Sun Church, and also the weakest in power.

Before Herbert, the weakest Saint was at least an Epic Strongman.

Of course, most people weren’t aware of this latter half of the statement.

In their eyes, Herbert’s power far exceeded Legendary.

After all, not to mention anything else, even his mount was an Epic Level Giant Dragon!

And speaking of Giant Dragons...

After being smashed into the pit several times, Valentina became more cautious, carefully poking her head out of the pit to look upward.

After confirming nothing was going to fall down, she breathed a sigh of relief, widened her eyes, and searched around for Herbert’s figure.

Good news, she found him.

Bad news — she happened to witness the sudden burst of light from Herbert’s body.

"Ah—"

"My eyes!"

Valentina’s eyes went white, instinctively covering them, screaming as she fell back into the pit.

Thud!

...

...

After the blessing ended, the Sun God’s consciousness departed immediately.

Though the departure was somewhat rude, leaving without a word, Herbert decided to uphold his gentlemanly spirit and not pursue the matter.

If it were someone else, Herbert might tug a bit to brush up his favorability.

But now, Herbert’s relationship with Alberta was at a delicate point.

Although Herbert was disrespectful to Alberta, following Herbert’s advice was a beneficial and harmless choice for Him.

Mutual benefit?

Perhaps it was more like taking what they needed.

The Sun God needed a tool, while Herbert needed His blessing.

Because of interests, they reached a special deal, temporarily becoming interest-related "allies."

Yes.

Not Saint and Divine, but allies helping each other.

However, Herbert clearly understood that the current situation was temporary, and the precarious balance was at risk of being disrupted by external factors at any moment.

What he needed most now was to continue increasing his own value, making himself indispensable even to the Sun God.

Returning to his cheerful homeland, continuing to build his territory, establishing good relationships with more Monster Girls, and gaining more power.

But before that, Herbert still had one more thing to do.

And that was to claim the reward he deserved for being a tool!

Summed up, what he needed to do was essentially just one sentence...

"I want to bathe with Enchanting Demons and Demons in the Holy Water Pool of the Sun Sanctuary."

Herbert looked up at the Sun, secretly gritting his teeth, viciously whispering in his heart:

"A couple bath!"

I’ve fought battles all my life, can’t I enjoy a bit?

Bath!

A thorough bath!

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