Chapter 5 : The Goddess’s Spear

Night fell.

Most birds had settled into slumber, but the canary, trapped in its cage, was busy sharpening its claws.

Veronica channeled the radiant power within her body and clasped her hands together.

After visualizing the shape of a spear in her mind, she slowly parted her hands.

As her delicate hands separated, a spear of pure light materialized before her.

The sacred spear had been summoned, but the Sacred Lance spell was not yet complete.

The next step was the most crucial.

Veronica stared at the spear hovering in front of her.

As she released her hands, she carefully severed the magical link between the spear and herself.

This was the final and most difficult step in casting Sacred Lance.

Countless novices failed at this very point on their first attempt.

When Veronica completely severed the link, the spear of light did not explode in her face, nor did it dissipate into motes of light.

It simply hung there, suspended in mid-air.

On her very first try, Veronica had successfully cast the Sacred Lance.

According to the book, there were two primary ways to use Sacred Lance.

One was to summon the spear and then mentally project it to attack distant enemies.

The other was to wield the summoned spear as a temporary melee weapon.

Seeing the sacred spear, which had previously only existed in works of fantasy, now appear before him—and summoned by his own hand—Veronica could no longer contain his excitement.

Curiously, he reached out a hand towards the spear.

The sacred spear, capable of melting stone and metal, was not hot to the touch at all.

It was made of light, yet he could hold it in his hand.

Like a child with a new toy, Veronica began to swing the spear around, mimicking moves from Star Wars.

This was far more interesting than the healing arts, which merely cured injuries with a flash of light.

Plus, there was no risk of accidentally harming himself.

At one point, Veronica’s hand slipped, and the spear grazed her thigh.

The searing blade did not harm her in the slightest, nor did it damage the clothes she was wearing.

It was known that a mage’s spell, if mishandled, could harm the caster.

But with divine arts, there was no such concern.

Even if a casting failed, it would only consume a portion of one’s radiant power; there was no risk of backlash.

Such a user-friendly mechanism was truly worthy of the name “divine art.”

After familiarizing himself with the melee use of the Sacred Lance, Veronica decided to try the ranged application.

She slowly loosened her grip on the spear, allowing it to return to its suspended state.

Then, Veronica attempted to link her consciousness to the spear.

It was a strange and wonderful sensation.

Veronica felt as if the spear had become an extension of her own body.

With her consciousness linked to it, Veronica could control the spear as if it were one of her own limbs.

While other novices could barely aim the spear in one direction, Veronica could already make it turn corners.

Under Veronica’s mental control, the spear flew nimbly around the room, darting left and right, soaring up and down.

Veronica was having the time of her life.

She could now wield the Sacred Lance with proficiency, but it was far from enough.

Although the searing spear could easily pierce iron armor, it could be blocked by a warrior’s battle aura or a mage’s magic shield.

And against a divine shield, which shared the same origin as the Sacred Lance, it was even less effective; the spear’s power would be greatly diminished.

With just one spear, Veronica could not hope to contend with Fletcher’s Church knights.

Unless she had more spears.

‘Not enough, not enough, still not enough! I need more power.’

The moment this thought entered Veronica’s mind, the divine power in her body surged.

One after another, sacred spears were created, floating around her like funnels.

When the number of spears surrounding Veronica reached fifteen, only three of the Saint Scars on her body had lit up, yet her body had already reached its limit.

A wave of weakness and exhaustion washed over her.

Veronica’s reckless use of the Sacred Lance had triggered her body’s protective mechanism.

Beads of sweat dripped from her face, and the girl knelt on the wooden floor, her face flushed.

Even though she had stopped supplying divine power, the fifteen sacred spears she had summoned did not dissipate.

Gazing at the spears still hovering in mid-air, the girl couldn’t help but laugh out loud—a confident laugh, one that came from having things under her control.

Ever since being reborn as a manipulated puppet Saintess, Su Luo had been tormented by a sense of powerlessness.

For someone who had been in complete control in his past life at the company, Su Luo hated the feeling of being helpless.

The fifteen sacred spears floating before him brought back some of that old feeling, as if he were still the one calling the shots at the company.

But the peaks on his chest were a constant reminder that he was now Saintess Veronica.

The girl used a nearby chair to slowly stand up.

After one last look at the fifteen summoned spears, Veronica waved her hand, and they all dissipated.

This number of sacred lances was enough to deal with a lone Church knight, but Veronica knew it was not yet time to make a move.

The power levels in this world were divided into seven ranks: Mortal, Transcendent, Master, Legendary, Hero, Saint, and Demigod, with each rank further subdivided into twenty levels.

The Church knights, generally at the Transcendent rank, were the backbone of the Church of Radiant Light, but in Bishop Fletcher’s eyes, they were nothing more than disposable pawns.

Although Veronica possessed twelve Saint Scars and was a Saintess of the Church of Radiant Light with the potential to become a Saint, she could currently only control three of her scars, placing her barely at the threshold of the Transcendent rank.

Until she had a complete understanding of that old bastard’s capabilities, Veronica would not act rashly.

She only had one chance, and now was not the time to show her hand.

Everything hinged on the fact that Bishop Fletcher did not know that Su Luo’s soul resided in Veronica’s body.

If her rebellion failed and prompted Fletcher to strengthen the soul-controlling spell, then Su Luo would be a puppet for the rest of his life.

The constitution of a Saintess was truly terrifying.

After a short rest, Veronica felt that the divine power she had nearly exhausted had already fully recovered, and this was without even praying.

Such a frightening recovery speed would be a great advantage in a real battle.

With this thought, Veronica drifted off to sleep with a satisfied expression.

But she did not know that her every move while practicing the Sacred Lance had been watched by Serra from outside the door.

After the Saintess fell asleep, the maid outside the door vanished without a trace.