SON OF THE HERO KING

The sacred ceremony or rather the show-off ceremony was expedited rather fast.

The moment Sol stood in front of Camelia and placed his hand on the crystal sphere, all the people present were astonished once the numbers regarding Sol's capacity were revealed.

All of them had known from the beginning that Sol would have a Tier 1 capacity. This was an inevitability in their minds. Even so, 500 CP was simply too much.

It meant that if he worked hard enough, the kingdom of Lustburg would have an additional 5 potential kings or perhaps more.

Since the ceremony was open to everyone, it meant that even people of different races could enter.

Clearly, in this lot, some of them were spies of other countries.

But this did not matter. From the very start, Sol had never planned on hiding his talents. Doing so was meaningless.

The only reason he did not even reveal to the world that he was a dimensional mage was that it was a trump card that could save his life—which it did.

If Drei had known from the very start that he could teleport in his own dimensions, that night might have gone very differently.

Once he finished showing off and accepted the exclamations of awe and surprise, it was finally time for the most important part of the ceremony to happen.

The opening of the dimensional wall.

A ceremony that could only happen once a year and one that only nobles, church members, or royalty could participate in.

Even though it was unjust, the world was never just in the first place.

If the crown prince was normally the last to be tested, then he was always the first to enter the door.

In the past, the door would send anyone who entered to random coordinates and they could only stay there for the equivalent of one day in the mortal world.

The prince was the sole exception as in, even though he would be sent in a random direction, he could stay as long as he wished before leaving.

This was one of the reasons as to why the crown princes or princesses would always grow much stronger after coming back from the Astral dimension.

After all, they could stay years and search for the best possible partners while training before finally coming back.

With the difference in time axis between the two dimensions, it wouldn't be weird for only a few short weeks to have gone past in the mortal world when they came back.

----

Since the ceremony was extremely important and could only happen once a year, all the unconcerned people needed to be chased out of the cathedral.

The commoners who had shown enough talent today would have to wait for the next year before being allowed to enter.

During that year, they would receive adequate training and would have their loyalty tested.

The training was necessary to optimize their chances to obtain a good partner befitting of their Capacity points.

After all, a contract could never be formed without the consent of the two parties. Since the first contract was for life, high-ranked magical beings would never accept to form a contract with someone who had no future prospects.

Who would sign a contract where they had everything to lose and nothing to gain?

At the same time, it was necessary to warn them about the potential risks.

If they were lucky enough to enter Asmodeus or Gabriel's territories then the chances of them dying were pretty small.

Anywhere else and all bets were off.

Because of this, entering the Astral dimension was something that needed both courage and strength.

Of course, the prince was basically assured protection. If anything happened to a Blessed in their territory, the divine beasts would have a hard time explaining themselves.

Even so, there was always that slight possibility of meeting rebel spirits who were not under the control of the divine beasts or their descendants.

Those natural spirits might not even know what a Blessed looked like or might simply not care.

Of course, until now no crown prince or prince happened to get killed. But it did happen to other royalty.

The worst outcome would be to fall into the part of the Astral world that wasn't controlled by the divine beasts–The abyss.

That place was outside of all laws and all the residents there were beings of horrors.

But Sol was sure that he had nothing to worry about.

----

Currently, Sol was standing behind Camelia as he looked at her kneel and pray.

Since the portal he would be using would be different from the one the others would use. Camelia had decided to open it in another place unreachable by most people.

After all, the one he would use had direct coordinates toward Gabriel's territory.

Once he went through the portal, it would close automatically.

He could only come back by opening a portal from that side.

To assure his security, they had decided to open the portal in the deepest and most guarded part of the church.

This was also the room Camelia had previously used during the Saint Fall and when she activated the Holy territory.

While waiting for the portal to open, Sol was going through the steps he would have to take.

Basically he needed to enter the Phoenix realm and find a Phoenix that suited him.

Phoenixes were elemental creatures of the highest order. The energy part that constituted their bodies was entirely made out of one specific element that varied for each Phoenix.

Fire phoenixes were the most numerous, but there was basically phoenix for every element.

Once Sol found the phoenix that pleased him, he would have to convince him/her or it to form a contract with.

Then, they would have to travel to the dragon's territory and succeed in the trial before forming the contract.

This would without a doubt be a lengthy process, but once this was done, Sol was sure that his power would skyrocket.

Aside from this, Sol also planned to form a contract with another S rank magical being if it was possible.

Then he would come back home and do the same for Setsuna, Nuwa, and if it was possible, Milia.

The contract was a symbiotic relationship that gave skills to the humans and boosted the growth of the magical beings.

Milia was already a rather powerful Duke. If he could make her even stronger with the contract, then it wouldn't be impossible to reach the level of King in the future.

Honestly, even if not for the trial, Sol would not have formed a contract immediately with the Phoenix. After all, despite its name, the lust-type contract needed love as a fuel.

Sol did not believe in love at first sight. After all, how could you fall in love with someone you knew nothing about?

His harem was also barely balanced, so adding someone with a bad personality would just be a chore and might cause many problems later down the line.

"I am finished."

Standing up, Camelia stretched a little, emphasizing her abundant chest.

While doing so, she was cursing inwardly about how those goddesses liked too much theatrics.

"You seem tired."

Camelia sighed, "Tell me, Sol, do you find it hard to enter your dimension?"

"Huh? Not at all."

"And is it complicated to bring someone in?"

"Neither… Hahaha. I see where you are going. The goddesses do not need prayer."

"Indeed. The goddesses neither need direct worship nor prayer, they represent a concept. For example, as long as there will be people feeling lust, it would be the same as worshipping Luxuria.

In the same way, all realms belong to the goddesses. As such, opening a portal between the Astral and the mortal realm is just a matter of waving their hands."

Sol nodded as he mulled what she was saying,

"Do you mean to say that as long as Lust exists, Luxuria can never die?"

"Sol… Goddesses cannot die."

Camelia's voice held hints of warning and her eyes were begging him to stop.

Clearly, it was one thing to not show respect to the goddesses and it was another thing to discuss how to kill them.

Sol was not surprised at the notion of goddesses being invincible because of the concept they represented.

But this begged some questions.

Goddesses could not die as long as the sin or virtue they represented existed–this was a fact.

Goddesses were the creator of all living beings–at least that was how the myth went.

If so, what concept did the goddesses represent before the existence of life? How could there be Lust, Wrath or chastity without living beings?

People in this world believed that sins and virtues existed because of the goddesses.

But if so, what about his world?

The more Sol learned about this world, the more he understood how little he actually knew.

Secret within secrets.

Lies and truths mixed together.

Would he get all the answers he wished for once he became a demi-god?

He did not know.

What he did know though, was that the veil would be slightly lifted once he officially took the throne of Lustburg.

"Sol, everything is ready. Now, normally a door should have already opened, but since we need fixed coordinates. You need to use your blood and pour it right here."

She pointed at the magical circles in the ground.

"Stand over the circle then let your blood flow. Just a few droplets will suffice."

The magical circle she was pointing to was the same one she had used during the events of Saint Fall.

"You know, why do all those rituals require the use of blood?"

Camelia gave a bitter laugh, "Trust me, you aren't the only one asking this question."

The two of them laughed for a short while before Sol finally walked and stopped once he was in the circle.

The two of them looked at each other, plethora of emotions present in their gazes.

Finally, Sol smiled and sharpened his nails before wounding his arms.

The wound immediately closed, but enough blood fell on the circle.

Once it happened, the circle seemed to come alive as it was lit up with scarlet and golden light.

Looking at the magical circle activated, Camelia looked at him with a worried expression and said, "Be careful."

"I will."

And with those last words, Sol vanished completely.

Now alone, Camelia clasped her hands and kneeled down to pray.

"Please, protect him."

This was perhaps her most ardent and fervent prayer.

She did not know what kind of adventures her beloved would live.

She simply hoped that once it ended, he would come back in one piece and still be the man she fell in love with.