Chapter 39

“Chapter 39: Visitors from the Church of Heavenly Justice”

By the time Lynn returned to the mansion, it was already evening.

The moon hung high in the sky, and the last rays of sunset were barely visible.

However, the mansion was brightly lit.

To be honest, being able to build such a residence in the busiest area of Orlen City meant that the Augusta family held quite a bit of power locally.

Upon returning, Lynn intended to find a maid to guide him inside, but to his surprise, he encountered Morris instead.

“You’re back?”

For some reason, he still seemed a bit uneasy.

Lynn nodded, “I want to see Her Highness the Princess. Can you show me the way?”

Upon hearing this, Morris hesitated for a moment.

But considering how important Lynn was to Her Highness, he quickly agreed.

As he led the way, he kindly suggested, “Her Highness was meeting guests earlier and doesn’t seem in a good mood. Unless it’s something urgent, I’d advise against provoking her.”

“Who was she meeting?”

Lynn asked curiously.

Morris glanced around and leaned in to whisper, “Seems like it was someone from the Church of Heavenly Justice.”

The Church of Heavenly Justice?

That’s the one that stripped the boss of his divine powers, reducing him to a mere mortal after he was once devoted to them.

As one of the three major churches of the empire, the Church of Heavenly Justice, along with the Silent Church and the Fertile Church, had countless followers.

Even in the border capital, Orlen City, they had their presence.

Lynn narrowed his eyes, but kept a casual front, “I was just going to give a work report. It should be fine.”

“Report?” Morris glanced at the contract in Lynn’s hand and showed a hint of sympathy. “It must be busy today. Three days might be too short. You might want to ask Her Highness for an extension.”

“Just say a few good words for me, and with Her Highness’s—cough, cough—compassion, she’ll likely allow it.”

“But honestly, this is quite the hassle. There are so many eyes on us right now. If this isn’t handled well, you might just get burnt at the stake.”

Morris ramble on.

Hearing this, Lynn shook his head, “You’re mistaken. I’ve already resolved this matter. I’m on my way to report to Her Highness.”

Morris abruptly stopped as if he’d hit a brick wall, “Resolved?!”

Lynn said nothing, simply dusting off the stack of contracts in his hand and handing them over.

Under the light, Morris quickly flipped through the Transcendent Contracts, his jaw dropping wider.

“Her Highness is currently meeting guests, Young Master Lynn. Please wait in the next room for a moment.”

As expected, Lynn spotted Kesha by the study door.

The elderly housekeeper bowed slightly, her expression calm.

Lynn nodded and sat down on the sofa in the adjacent lounge.

After preparing a cup of hot tea, Kesha left him alone here.

With nobody around, Lynn opened the system to check out the new ability he just drew today.

Thorn Crown.

Although it seemed like a self-destructive move that would take out a thousand enemies but hurt himself eight hundred in the process, the skill description didn’t mention any limit to the suffering it could store.

And as is commonly known, abilities without limits are often incredibly broken.

So after some careful thought, Lynn decided to give it a shot.

The condition to activate the Thorn Crown was having at least three divine factors, which wasn’t an issue for the old Lynn.

Unfortunately, he currently wasn’t in possession of such conditions; he was just an ordinary person now.

According to the setting in the novel, divine factors were rewards given by the gods after completing the ascension trials laid out by them, significantly boosting one’s power.

Simply put, it’s kind of like a blue bar and ability enhancement.

The number and quality of divine factors determine how many times you can use the abilities and the effects they produce.

The original Lynn, as a Fourth Stage Transcendent, possessed 136 divine factors, making him exceptionally powerful.

Not to mention, he also had the rather rare extraordinary ability—Gravity Hammer.

This was a highly destructive ability on the battlefield.

It was precisely because of this that he accumulated a significant amount of military merit in a short period, earning himself the title of the youngest captain in the empire.

But alas, things have taken a turn for the worse.

Now, he not only lacks any powerful offensive skills, but the only two abilities he possesses also seem completely off-base—either a scam artist or a masochist. It felt like his fighting style was switching from being grand and daring to something insidiously twisted.

Lynn sighed.

He accessed the divine factor section in the system interface.

After all, the system had previously mentioned he could spend points to ignite divine factors.

This was undoubtedly the best news for someone like Lynn, who had been stripped of his faith.

It’s well-known that the biggest constraint on enhancing a Transcendent’s abilities is the number and quality of divine factors.

Divine factors from a Fourth Stage Transcendent of the Church of Heavenly Justice were indeed exceedingly rare and powerful.

That’s why his fiancée, Irina, moved her divine factors over to him, enabling him to ascend to legendary strength.

【Do you want to spend 10 system points to ignite a divine factor?】

“Yes.”

Lynn confirmed without hesitation.

He had earned so many points that afternoon just for this moment.

His escape plan could finally begin to take shape.

While everyone thought he had turned into an ordinary person, he was secretly accumulating strength—could it get any better?

But man, it really costs a lot; 10 points for a single divine factor!

Lynn thought quietly.

To his surprise, the very next second, he received a notification from the system.

【Ignition failed. Please activate faith first.】

Failed? Lynn stared at the small text in awe.

Only then did he remember something.

【Name: Lynn】

【Race: Human】

【Age: 17】

【Faith: None】

【Level: None】

【Extraordinary Abilities: Liars’ Devourer, Level 1 / Thorn Crown, Level 2】

【Divine Factors: 0】

【Remaining System Points: 43】

Since the original Lynn was kicked out of the Church of Heavenly Justice, his faith status currently read ‘None.’

And divine factors, birthed from the gods, couldn’t just be created out of thin air by the system, so Lynn was completely unable to ignite any divine factors.

It looks like he would have to find a new faith.

But here’s the kicker.

After the original lost faith, the Church of Heavenly Justice branded him a forsaken one, and this was noted in records across the major churches.

Under these circumstances, no one would accept him if he tried to change beliefs.

Unless it was some kind of cult or an obscure little church.

But these faiths were too weak; some didn’t even have proper gods, just stronger-than-average Transcendents siphoning off faith power.

As mentioned before, the divine factors granted by different gods vary in attributes and strengths.

For instance, Transcendents from the three main churches with the same number of divine factors would surely be much stronger than their counterparts from other beliefs.

This mainly reflects in attack power, combat sustainability, etc., having profound implications for the future.

While Lynn possesses a system that allows him to extract abilities at will, he doesn’t want to fall behind in the divine factors department either.

For him, it was all or nothing—either he wouldn’t act, or he would do it the best.

In a moment, Lynn fell into deep thought.

He began to recall the original plot, hoping to find some clues.

Carefully thinking back, who was the strongest faith and god in the original story? As this thought just formed, a cold female figure suddenly appeared in Lynn’s mind.

Could it be that woman?

Ah great, now we’re in a deadlock.