As I watched Gerald move toward me, the smile on my face widened slightly, not because everything was going according to plan but because that was simply what I always did.

Smiling when nothing was working was a habit I had learned to delude myself into believing everything was fine.

And it’s not like I hadn’t expected this kind of outcome when I convinced that perverted old man, Solarius, to attend the trial.

Still, of all people, I hadn’t expected him to choose Gerald.

Though a favour from the previous Holy Emperor and the strongest man in this little Empire, was simply too tempting to reject.

But Aunt Althia clearly thought otherwise.

"What are you doing, Zen? Stop this foolishness this instant. Just say no. We can surely find another way. Captain Gerald is too strong for you to endure his strike."

She pleaded from right behind me.

But I simply shook my head.

"Are you doubting our Goddess, Aunt? As I said before, please trust me this once as I merely act on the will of our Goddess."

She immediately fell silent. I did feel guilty for manipulating her like this but there wasn’t exactly any other choice.

"Please just stop Amyra. I am sure she will come running over here at any moment now."

My aunt bit her lip but said nothing more.

She was a Cardinal after all and if she opposed my decision to be judged by the Goddess... then that would mean opposing the Goddess’s will itself.

"Alright... but please stay alive, Zen."

With those words, she walked to the side of the hall, where the nobles were seated. The trial was practically already over anyway, so she no longer needed to stand behind me.

Right on cue, I saw Amyra running toward me but before she could reach me, Aunt Althia moved and stopped her in her tracks at the edge of the hall.

I could see Amyra’s usually calm blue eyes tearing up as she looked at me with concern but I didn’t look at her for long.

The more I did, the guiltier I felt.

Instead, I turned toward Gerald. He still wore the same armour as before, with the insignia of the Holy Empire etched onto it. His steps were slow for someone of his calibre, perhaps because even he found it strange to attack someone so weak.

Around me, the nobles whispered amongst themselves as they always did.

"Has he gone mad? Taking an attack from the Captain of the Holy Knights?"

"He certainly has passion though!"

"What use is passion once you’re dead? He is just a fool who doesn’t know the heavens from the earth."

As usual, they spoke as though they knew everything.

Ignoring them, I activated my [[ Insight ]] talent on Gerald as a small holographic status window appeared before my eyes.

════〔 STATUS 〕════

▸ NAME: ⟦ Gerald Logiandor ⟧

▸ TALENT: ⟦ Will of Survival ⟧

▸ Core: ⟦ Tier V Exalted ⟧

▸ Note : ⟦ Although he is a man of honour, he is strong enough to obliterate you with a single slap. So try not to anger him too much and if you somehow do, the only way to survive is to bury yourself underground.⟧

═════════════

Ahh, so he’s at the peak of Exalted.

I had asked for an attack from someone at the Awakened Rank and instead that fucker Solarius paired me against a monster practically four whole major ranks above me.

Gerald wasn’t some nobody.

He was only a few steps away from reaching the Transcendent Rank, the sixth stage in the path of power and the first true step beyond humanity.

Those who crossed that threshold were known as Demigods and at this point, Gerald was practically a pseudo-demigod himself.

And I was supposed to tank ten percent of his pure physical strength...

Yeah, that definitely didn’t sound suicidal at all.

He walked forward calmly before stopping right in front of me and the moment he did, his eyes scanned my body with something close to pity in them.

"You have chosen a difficult path, boy."

He spoke as his expression hardened slightly while another announcement echoed from Solarius.

"Since both parties are now in position, you may begin whenever you wish."

Along with his words, a golden barrier appeared around Gerald and me, separating us from the audience. All the chattering nobles instantly fell silently, their gazes fixed on us as I looked at Gerald.

"Could you please strike me directly in the guts? I don’t wish to mess up my face, nor do I want to take the attack on my back. So if you could strike my stomach instead, I would be grateful."

Gerald gave me a strange look but nodded in the end.

I stepped back a short distance before looking at him once again.

"You may attack me after ten seconds, Sir Gerald!"

With those words, I stretched my arms to both sides and closed my eyes as though embracing my approaching death.

In reality, however, my mind was focused to the utmost as I counted the seconds one by one.

"Ten!"

I already knew he would attack after ten seconds. I also knew exactly where he would strike. Now, all I needed to do was time the use of my affinity perfectly.

"Nine!"

Vector.

It was a fundamental force capable of influencing almost every aspect of physics but mine wasn’t that absolute as I could only manipulate and reinforce vectors within my own body.

"Eight!"

In my last life, I struggled endlessly to understand and master it. Even toward the end of my life, I had barely scratched the surface.

"Seven!"

But I did learn one crucial application.

Damage distribution.

Even then, controlling and timing it was absurdly difficult, especially against enemies stronger and faster than me.

"Six!"

By already narrowing down both the timing and location of the attack, I had partially solved that issue for now.

Still, distributing the full force of someone at the peak of the Exalted Rank was practically impossible with my current weak body, so all I could do was disperse just enough of it to survive.

Even then, I needed to activate it at the perfect moment.

"Five!"

I didn’t stop counting even for a second as I activated it alongside my [[ Insight ]] to conceal the flow of mana within my body.

I didn’t want them thinking I survived because of some trick.

If I was gambling on faith...

Then I had to make it look like faith had truly saved me.

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One—"

As the countdown finally reached its end, I gritted my teeth for the incoming attack and unleashed my affinity.

Instantly, I felt the impact.

A devastating force exploded through my abdomen as the mana gathered there reacted with my vector affinity. In an instant, the world shifted into arrows and vectors.

I redirected as much of the impact as I could through my soles and into the ground, while forcing the rest through my back. A violent shockwave erupted around me, but even through the agony, I reinforced the downward vectors acting on my body to keep myself grounded.

The marble beneath me cracked under the redirected force and my medrians tore apart from channeling that same damage.

The entire process lasted only seconds.

As I opened my eyes, a cloud of dust filled my vision. Everything before me swam in red while my head throbbed violently alongside my body, which I barely even felt anymore.

My feet had sunk slightly into the ground, leaving a small crater beneath me. The pristine clothes on my back had been torn apart while blood covered my body from head to toe.

It hurt just to remain standing.

And yet, through the pain...

Through the utterly silent audience...

Through the visibly shocked Gerald...

I slowly raised my trembling hand into the air as the smile on my face widened further.

"I... cough... SURVIVED!!!"