I Regressed With a 10,000x God-Tier Multiplier-Chapter 12: Purchasing Power

The holographic projection of Archbishop Thomas flickered in the center of the chapel. The old man frantically tried to maintain his holy dignified composure. His eyes kept darting toward the literal mountains of gold piled to the ceiling.

Commander Brandon and his surviving Paladins remained kneeling in the gold and were too terrified to speak.

They had hurriedly drawn a glowing chalk circle on the floor to establish the emergency communication link to the Holy Capital.

"Three hundred million contribution points," the Archbishop muttered aloud to himself and visibly did the math. The sheer scale of the wealth sitting inside the ruined forest chapel could fully fund the entire crusade of the Church for the next five decades. "Lord Obsidian. The Lumina Order is deeply moved by your unprecedented devotion to the Light."

Lucifer stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He heavily suppressed a wince as his critically low mana pool caused his internal organs to ache.

"Skip the sermons, Thomas," Lucifer said. His voice was sharp and completely lacked reverence. "I gave you a war chest. I expect immediate returns. The standard ranks of Knight, Captain, and Bishop are too slow and restricted for my operations. Give me absolute clearance."

Brandon gasped aloud from the floor. Speaking to a ruling Archbishop with such blatant disrespect was outright heresy. Lucifer would have been immediately excommunicated and hunted relentlessly by the elite Templars under normal circumstances.

The Archbishop did not summon the Templars. He simply stared at the endless gold. The high-ranking Church officials were deeply flawed corrupt humans hiding behind holy masks. Unimaginable greed easily overrode their strict dogma.

"You are blunt, Lord Obsidian. A true warrior of the times," Thomas forced a smooth heavily diplomatic smile. "You bypass all standard clerical trials with a donation of this absolute magnitude.

I grant you the title of High Inquisitor by the supreme authority vested in me by the Star-Weavers."

The old man raised a glowing holographic hand. A concentrated beam of pure white light shot out from the projection and struck Lucifer directly in the chest.

[Ding!]

[Title Acquired: High Inquisitor of the Lumina Order.]

[Passive Effect: +500% Mana Regeneration while inside Consecrated Holy Areas.]

[Authority Level: Absolute. Host may command local Church military forces, judge heretics without trial, and freely access all highly restricted, classified Church Archives and Vaults.]

A heavy incredibly ornate badge materialized perfectly on the left breast of the leather coat of Lucifer. It was forged from solid enchanted gold. It depicted a burning sword intersecting a sun with a massive flawless ruby entirely embedded in the center.

It was a badge of absolute terror. High Inquisitors answered only to the Pope. They could walk into any human city, point a finger at a ruling noble, and have them executed immediately on the spot.

"Welcome to the inner circle, High Inquisitor Obsidian," Thomas bowed slightly as the hologram began to fade. "May the Light guide your blade."

The projection abruptly vanished. The glowing chalk circle on the floor faded completely into dust.

Lucifer did not waste a single second celebrating his new political power. He turned sharply toward Brandon. "Where is the secure medical vault of the chapel?"

Brandon blinked and was still completely overwhelmed. "The secure vault? It is beneath the altar, Inquisitor. The supplies there are strictly reserved for High Priests."

"I am a High Inquisitor," Lucifer interrupted smoothly and walked directly over the pile of gold toward the back of the altar. "My authority overrides your reservations. Wait outside."

Lucifer found the heavy iron trapdoor located exactly where his future memories remembers it. He kicked the locking mechanism entirely off its hinges and ignored the sparks of broken warding magic.

He descended the narrow stone steps into the dark cool subterranean vault.

The room was lined with heavily reinforced glass shelves. Hundreds of glowing golden vials sat perfectly arranged in neat rows.

These were High-Tier Holy Elixirs. They were not meant to heal physical wounds. They were designed entirely to restore shattered magical cores and replenish massive amounts of soul energy.

Lucifer did not bother checking the exact labels. He was operating on exactly 1,200 mana out of 15,000. He grabbed the first three vials off the shelf and popped the crystal corks with his thumb. He chugged the glowing golden liquid in rapid succession.

The holy magic hit his stomach like a localized sun. The intense burning warmth radiated outward and rushed aggressively through his empty aching veins. The hollow tearing sensation inside his chest finally ceased.

He slumped heavily against a stone pillar in the center of the vault and let out a long ragged exhale. The adrenaline of the boss fight and the subsequent political maneuvering completely faded. It left behind pure crushing physical exhaustion.

He closed his eyes and listened to the system interface chime softly in the dark.

┏━━━━━━━[ Status Update ]━━━━━━━┓

│ Level: 15 | Class: Apprentice Mage

│ Mana: 15,000 / 15,000 [Fully Restored]

│

│ Active Buffs:

│ > High Inquisitor Aura (+500% Mana Regen in Holy Areas) 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

│

│ Condition: Stable. Soul-Fracture Averted.

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Soft footsteps echoed down the narrow stone stairs. Lucifer opened his eyes.

Elara walked into the dim vault. Her silver armor gleamed sharply in the faint golden light radiating from the elixir shelves.

Her gray wings were folded tightly against her back. She did not speak immediately. She simply walked over to him and knelt gracefully on the cold stone floor.

She reached out and her cool metal-clad fingers gently tilted his chin upward. She carefully wiped the dried dark blood from his upper lip and the corners of his nose with a piece of clean white linen.

"You project the aura of an invincible conqueror," Elara said. Her voice dropped an octave and was completely devoid of her usual battlefield stoicism. "Your mortal vessel is breaking underneath. I felt your soul stutter when those soldiers died in the clearing."

Kaelen did not pull away. He looked directly into her swirling starlight eyes. There was no pity in her gaze. Only understanding.

"My power has a heavy cost," Kaelen admitted. His voice was quiet in the subterranean silence. "The Warlord class binds the legion to my soul.

They draw from my strength when they draw breath. The system forcibly rips the cost of their destruction from my core when they take lethal damage."

Elara paused and her hand hovered near his cheek. The celestial warrior instantly understood the horrific tactical implications. "If the enemy executes a massive sweeping area attack that wipes out a thousand of your men..."

"The resulting mana drain will instantly rupture my organs and kill me on the spot," Lucifer finished the sentence. He leaned his head back against the stone pillar. "I cannot afford a war of attrition. I cannot afford casualties. Every death is a literal knife in my chest."

Elara lowered the bloody linen cloth. Her expression hardened and entirely shifted from gentle concern back to absolute unyielding martial focus. The Fallen Valkyrie had been betrayed by the gods, cast out, and left to rot. Lucifer had completely bypassed the laws of magic to save her. She now understood exactly how vulnerable her savior truly was.

"You will not bleed for them," Elara swore softly. Her voice vibrated with a terrifying dual-layered celestial resonance. She placed her right hand flat against the center of his chest right over his heart. "You command the skies and the earth. Let me be the shield that stands between them. I swear upon the void that birthed me. I will not let a single attack reach your army. You will never feel that pain again."

Lucifer looked at the fierce absolute devotion burning in her eyes. The Master and Servant dynamic was completely gone.

He placed his hand over hers. "I hold you to that oath, Elara. We are heading directly underground. The enemies waiting in the Deep Roads will not fight fair."