Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 232 - Awakening of Potential

Clang-!

The 9th Apostle Samir, whose great curved blade had broken, drew out a small curved blade to counter the rusty sword Ethan was wielding.

“How…!”

It was clearly a sword that couldn’t be drawn.

The blessing placed by the blacksmith who made the holy relic had transformed into a curse over time.

The sword that only the chosen one could use had now become a sword that no one could use.

That’s why he had confidently used his superhuman ability on that sword.

But how did he manage to draw that sword?

Clang-! Clang-!

The 9th Apostle, Samir, staggered as he desperately blocked Ethan’s repeated attacks.

Ethan, who was swinging the sword, slightly frowned.

‘I need to be careful. This thing might break if I’m not careful.’

Certainly, this holy relic, the rusty sword, was a weapon that had already lost its identity as a sword.

The blade was dull and its strength weakened, so it seemed like it would break if he miscalculated his strength even slightly.

If the sword were to break, he would have to deal with the 9th Apostle using just the sword handle.

“Hoo.”

Ethan looked at Samir while regulating his breathing. At a glance, he was clearly not in a state to fight properly.

His constantly shaking eyes and trembling body.

Covered in blood, Samir was already on the brink of death.

Seeing this, memories he had forgotten came flooding back.

Memories of playing as a follower of the Moon.

‘There was a reason I only did it once and quit.’

The evil deeds they had committed.

The disgusting things they had done for the resurrection of the Moon Mother, including human experiments, came back to him one by one.

These guys weren’t worth pitying.

How many people could be saved by the death of the 9th Apostle?

‘I didn’t play emphasizing things like justice or goodness, but still, the followers of the Moon were a bit too much.’

Nevertheless, the things the followers of the Moon committed so nonchalantly were only nauseating acts.

“The Moon Mother… is watching… everything!”

Samir said, coughing up blood.

“Don’t worry. I’ll send you all to that Moon Mother you love so much. The 11th and 12th Apostles have already gone to the Moon Mother’s side.”

At those words, Samir’s eyes widened in shock.

There was a reason why the 12th and 11th Apostles hadn’t been responding.

To think they were already dead.

“So… so everything…”

“Yes, I did it.”

Ethan swung the rusty sword diagonally.

“All of it.”

With the nine lives, the superhuman ability – Cat’s Life disappearing, the 9th Apostle collapsed forward.

-You have defeated a notorious opponent!

-Your fame increases!

***

After dealing with the 9th Apostle, Ethan immediately searched his body and found the green jade.

“Gotta collect everything I can.”

-The green jade resonates!

-The green jades have combined!

-Your Health stat has increased by 5.

-Your Strength stat has increased by 5.

Combining the 9th Apostle’s green jade increased not only the Health stat but also the Strength stat by 5.

“The power of the subscribed god was certainly significant.”

Without Artemis’s Moonlight Tracking, it wouldn’t have been easy to find the 9th Apostle hidden in the unique space.

‘And the superhuman ability. If I didn’t have the Weapon Master superhuman ability.’

In the end, he would have been unable to use the holy relic, the rusty sword, and would have let the 9th Apostle escape.

‘If that had happened, it would have been a real disaster.’

To think he had a hidden superhuman ability.

‘I need the power to respond to any superhuman ability. What I know might not be everything.’

Ethan then applied force to the rusty sword and activated the power of Moonforce.

Shaaaah-.

Suddenly, frost white began to form on the rusty sword.

‘What the followers of the Moon were after was the divine power remaining in this holy relic.’

Divine power is the power bestowed by gods. The reason this old relic is called a holy relic is because the divine power remains intact.

‘They probably intended to offer this divine power to contribute to the Moon Mother’s resurrection. To use it for the world’s destruction. Even if the divine power in the holy relic is small, it has great power compared to other types of power.’

But this divine power is extremely tricky to handle.

‘Because it’s completely different from mana.’

“You never know until you try.”

Ethan pushed in the power of Moonforce even more. Then the rusty sword began to shine.

Crack-! Crack crack-!

And as the rusty sword shattered, white energy began to form where the blade had been.

That white energy slowly rose up and soon transformed into a round shape.

Eventually, when Ethan reached out his hand, the energy flowed along his hand and was absorbed into Ethan.

-The power of Moonforce assimilates a new power!

-Divine power absorbed!

-Survival probability increases!

Just like when awakening, vitality began to course through Ethan’s body.

“Oh.”

-Survival probability has surpassed 20 percent.

-You have received the quest Surviving as Ethan Whiskers -5!

<<Surviving as Ethan Whiskers -5>>

[Survival probability 20 percent. You have reached a 20 percent survival probability along with awakening. The potential sleeping in your body is now unlocked.]

 

[Potential]

Strength Enhancement: 0

Critical Resistance: 0

Perfect Evasion: 0

Points: 1

[Collect potential points to unlock your potential!]

[You can earn potential points every time your survival probability increases by 1 percent.]

“Yeah, this is what I needed. To somehow endure with a body afflicted by Extinction curse, I needed something like this.”

But the unlocking time was far too late.

“This is why the difficulty is so high.”

If he hadn’t compensated with the New World, he would have died before even reaching a 20 percent survival probability.

“It’s late, but not bad.”

Ethan first invested the potential point in the area he needed most.

“Critical Resistance is too vague. Perfect Evasion would be much better.”

Among the three abilities, what Ethan needed most was Perfect Evasion.

‘I don’t know how much evasion it will provide, but if I can evade any attack, my survival probability will increase.’

-[Perfect Evasion] has increased by 1 point.

-The potential for evasion is unlocked!

Ethan’s entire body shone with a golden light, which was then absorbed into his body.

-3 percent chance to activate Perfect Evasion.

-Evade all attacks!

“3 percent?”

Considering everything, it was an extremely low number.

But look. Ethan is already living with a 20 percent survival probability.

“3 percent is high.”

Ethan was quite satisfied.

Now that he had taken care of everything, Ethan was about to clean up the warehouse and leave.

“Kyung!”

Lyuka, the Master of Mana, suddenly jumped onto Ethan’s head.

“Lyuka?”

Lyuka burrowed between the ancient relics, then came out with something in its mouth and shook its head vigorously.

“What’s that?”

It was a completely rusted necklace.

Lyuka bit down on it with a chomp and chewed it with a crunching sound.

“That’s dirty.”

Ethan grabbed Lyuka by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.

But at that moment, intense mana burst forth from Lyuka.

“Huh? You can digest that?”

At Ethan’s words, Lyuka whimpered with a “Kyung!” and squirmed, asking to be let go. When Ethan released it, Lyuka burrowed between the ancient relics again and came out chewing on another relic.

“…A fox, no, a spirit that eats relics is a first for me.”

Ethan examined Lyuka closely.

“Your mana is increasing? Don’t tell me, can you absorb mana from all of these?”

“Kyung!”

Lyuka spun around and let out a short cry. It was an affirmative response.

Lyuka was the Master of Mana. In other words, it could absorb mana in any form.

“I didn’t know you could absorb it like this. Is it possible because they’re relics? Lyuka! Eat everything you can!”

As Lyuka’s mana increases, the amount of mana it can transfer to Ethan also increases.

With Ethan’s permission, Lyuka began to earnestly search for and eat ancient relics.

Lyuka ate five more relics before finally lifting its head with a “pop” gesture, indicating it was done eating.

“Lyuka.”

“Kyung!”

When Ethan called, Lyuka began to store the absorbed mana.

Shaaaah-.

And that mana was transferred directly to Ethan.

‘Oh.’

It was a surprisingly large amount of mana in an instant.

He couldn’t absorb it all, but if he timed it right, he felt he could definitely use it.

“An unexpected harvest.”

Because there were so many ancient relics, even if a few disappeared, it wasn’t noticeable.

“Surely they haven’t written down a list of relics.”

Ethan roughly cleaned up the underground warehouse that Lyuka had messed up. Nothing had happened here today.

***

“Will this rusty sword be alright?”

“It’s fine. This is enough. After all, the appearance isn’t important for treasures like these.”

Late at night.

Ethan was having a private meeting with Rohai Felix. In Rohai Felix’s hand was a piece of parchment.

“Then let’s continue the conversation we had earlier. How do you plan to expel the Dren Marquis family from the Twelve Families?”

If someone other than Ethan had said they wanted to become one of the Twelve Families, he would have cut them off without listening further.

He would have said that the already solidified structure of the Twelve Families would never break.

While rankings within might change, it would be impossible for a new family from outside to enter, he would have said.

But since it was none other than Ethan who brought this up, Rohai Felix felt a strange expectation.

He had the feeling that if it was Ethan, he could really do it.

“First, two things are needed. One is justification. A justification to attack the Dren Marquis family. I’ve already prepared a solid justification for this. The second is a shield. The Whiskers territory is currently expanding but isn’t that strong. There’s a limit to financial power. Whiskers needs a shield. A strong shield to protect against the Marquis family’s attacks.”

Ethan said.

“The Sword Saint will officially support Whiskers. A sword training school will be established in the Whiskers territory. But this isn’t enough. As you know, when it comes to the interests of the Twelve Families, even non-existent crimes can be fabricated.”

It was clearly a mockery of the Twelve Families, but Rohai could only nod.

At the same time, he showed a surprised expression at hearing that the Sword Saint would support the Whiskers family.

“To receive the Sword Saint’s support. As far as I know, the Sword Saint doesn’t usually take sides with others.”

Because of this, the Ramsdale family had been acting aloof since the Sword Saint’s generation.

Even when the Twelve Families moved as a group, they moved freely, so they didn’t have particularly close relationships with any of the Twelve Families.

But because the Sword Saint himself was so strong, the other Twelve Families couldn’t openly express their dissatisfaction.

“With the Sword Saint’s support, and if the Felix family joins in, the shield for Whiskers that I envisioned will be complete.”

The local area where the Whiskers territory is located has already been mostly organized. If a strong shield protects Whiskers in this state where forces have been combined, they could strike at the Dren Marquis family as much as they want.

“…Then let me hear about this justification you mentioned. You know well that justification is the most important, Mr. Ethan. If you present a half-baked justification, it will backfire.”

Of course, Ethan knew this well.

That’s why he had prepared a solid justification to strike at the Dren Marquis family.

“Archmage Hecate, you know him? Three families of the Twelve Families, including the Dren Marquis family, took the lead in hiring assassins to kill him. His granddaughter is alive.”

“…!”

Rohai Felix’s expression was filled with shock.