Divine arts consist of borrowing the power of the gods to enhance one's techniques.
Different from martial arts or magic, divine arts are more like a boost. A warrior can use divine arts to boost his attacks or gain certain abilities, and a mage can use divine arts to make his magic stronger or acquire new spells.
Unfortunately, not every person can use divine arts. To use divine arts, you need to have a strong thread of faith connecting to a god. That thread of faith is the mean the god uses to transfer part of his abilities to his adherents.
Charise's case, however, was a bit more special.
As the saintess of the church of fate, Charise was ironically terrible at using fate laws. By herself, she was unable to use any ability related to fate.
However, Charise had a very special talent.
[Soul Vessel].
That is the reason she was chosen as the saintess of the church or fate.
Through this talent, her soul works as a vessel to receive the powers of another individual, in this case, the goddess of fate, Axalia.
This way, she could use fate indirectly.
And when she uses this ability at full strength, she can borrow enough strength from the goddess to become several times stronger.
"[Fate]!" Charise exclaimed.
In an instant, her strength was from the beginning of A-Rank to the very peak, even going beyond that!
Although it was not enough to make her a demigod, she could be considered a half-demigod.
Her surge of strength was so intense that the duke's expression changed. Without hesitation, he extended his hand.
"Stop her!"
Instantly, three shadows jumped from the corners of the city hall. Each shadow was an A-Rank practitioner!
But Charise remained calm. She just waved her hand and opened her mouth–
"[Verdict]!"
–And the three warriors were stopped in their tracks.
Then–
"[Sinners]!"
As though it was a judgment from the heavens, three lightning bolts descended from the skies, smiting the three A-Ranks into ashes!
Charise did not stop with that. Instead, she extended her hands towards the duke.
"[Verdict]!"
The duke's expression changed. Instantly, a curtain of blood-red mana surged around him and charged towards Charise.
"Die!"
"[Sinner]!"
*BOOOMMM!!!*
Three lightning bolts, even thicker than before, descended from the skies and attacked the duke!
But when they were about to kill him, the curtain of blood-red mana turned into a whirlpool that clashed against the lightning. Then, the monster in his chest opened his mouth, sucking the lightning as though it was a snack!
Charise's expression changed. She did not wait for the result and opened her mouth again.
"[Curse]! [Repercussion]! [Karma]!"
The first word put a curse of fate on the duke, turning his luck into negative. The second word used fate to bring a backlash towards the duke, making his mana unstable, and the third word called upon the sins of the duke to bring retribution.
The retribution came in the form of the souls he was absorbing. Suddenly, the souls turned berserk and went out of control, injuring the duke greatly!
"Damn bitch!"
The duke growled. He extended his hands, making the chains in the city hall wriggle and charge towards Charise.
Charise's face morphed into a scowl. With a wave of her hand, a barrier was cast in front of her. Then, she opened her mouth again.
"[Verdict]!"
"Not that again!"
With a snarl, the duke hit his chest. Then, the creature on his chest let out a shrill screech!
*Screeeeeeech!!!*
Charise involuntarily covered her ears. After hearing that screech, she felt that her mana was impossible to control. The shield she had cast before crumbled, and her body twitched in pain.
But the duke was not done yet. Once the creature screeched in pain, he used the blood-red mana to form several spears that were thrown in Charise's direction!
At the last second, Charise managed to roll aside, but one of the spears managed to hurt her arm. Charise, however, used the pain to shrug off the effects of the creature's scream and completed her spell from before.
"[Judgement]!"
It was as though the goddess of fate herself hear her words! Instantly, a powerful presence appeared on the clouds and descended in direction of the duke in the form of a lightning bolt!
The duke turned pale and his face was filled with fear. That strength was not something he could go against!
"Jaden! When are you going to make your move!?" The duke shouted.
At that moment, a powerful aura came from behind the duke. Then, a handsome man appeared in the path of the lightning bolt and stopped it with his hands!
"Ugh!" Jaden took several steps back and grunted in pain with blood coming from his lips. However, he managed to endure.
Charise's expression changed. Without hesitation, she joined her hands again and bellowed.
"[Judgement]!"
Once more, the powerful presence appeared on the clouds.
But this time, it was stopped before it could descend!
Jaden wiped off the blood on his lips and laughed. "Hahahaha, sorry saintess, but gods are forbidden to interfere directly with secular matters!"
The duke sighed in relief. Then, he formed several new spears of mana around him.
"How are you going to fight now, saintess?"
The spears flew towards Charise, but Charise managed to avoid them. However, her expression was not good.
She could feel that her connection with her goddess was unstable!
Obviously, the other gods had detected Axalia's actions and had interfered with her.
Charise's expression turned ugly. Without the power of the goddess, she was at a disadvantage against the almost-demigod duke. Moreover, there was still a powerful demigod looking at her with amusement that could attack at any moment.
However, the situation changed once more.
Suddenly, Jaden's put on an expression of alarm. He did not hesitate to turn around and throw a punch in the direction of the entrance.
Before the others could understand his intentions, a powerful ray of energy charged towards him, clashing against his punch and creating a powerful explosion.
Charise instantly recognized that energy.
"Miss Regina!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw four people and a wolf appear inside the city hall.
Reinforcements had arrived.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels