Martin

* Saint
* Radiant Lord

## [source]

**Saint Martin** is a famous existence within the Church of Glory, second only to the pope and widely regarded to be the chosen successor of the papacy. He becomes Richard's close business partner throughout their time in Norland.

## Overview

After the events of St. Louis Cathedral, Richard and Martin had been communicating frequently. They swiftly became good business partners. Later on, albiet it reluctantly, Richard chose to ally himself with Martin even though both of them held frightening enemies alone.

However, such a crafty person did not register as a true ally with Richard. Instead, he always prepared contingencies against such a sly individual who himself wanted to usurp the Radiant Lord or even become an entirely different god of light.

He had known the divine child for a while now, but he still wasn’t used to the constantly leaping thoughts and direct attitude. They had formed a relationship of hate and respect, each for their own gifts and hidden cards. Martin in particular would always pry into Richard's aces in case he had the ability to kill him. The same sentiment Richard held. The only reason they are not enemies is because they cooperate to face their mutual enemies. While at the same time profiting more on their cooperation rather than mutual destruction instead.

### **Holy Child**

There were one of only two cardinals this young in the Church of Glory, the other being Messia. He was most certainly the most favoured candidate for the papacy. Messia would likely be sent to oversee the darker sides of the Church, including the Inquisition.

Years later, he would be the sole holy child. He opposed the pope at every turn, largely because he was the one who gave him the Book of Calamity in order to kill him.

“Destiny is beyond the control of the gods. In fact, many deities fall under its control at times. When faced with the awe of its power, we can either resist or give in and respect it. Before one has the strength to fight the world itself, the former is only a way to slow things down and make them worse.” To Richard, Book 6, Chapter 79

“The rules of the Church are not prophecies, they’re something we mortals came up with to make things easier. So long as we’re working for the good of the Lord and retain our principles, what we do is not important.”

The cardinal’s true intentions behind asking for divine crystals was because he wanted to light his own godfire!

Lighting one’s godfire was normally the next step after entering the legendary realmUnder the youth’s harmless exterior was an unfathomable greed. Did he want to be the new Radiant Lord? There were many ambitious people in the world, but very few had the ability to match. Martin was likely a stellar talent, but there was no shortage of people like that in Norland. One still needed a certain amount of luck to even reach the legendary realm. 7;79

## Appearance

curly hair

The youth had a dazzling smile that seemingly brought joy to everyone around him, a holy book in red and black that was bounded by golden chains perched into his armpit. Unlike the other priests, this man’s robes were adorned with red lapels, complementing the red ribbons on his waist and cuffs. This was a cardinal.

## Plot

When Richard attacks the Saint Louis Cathedral, Martin was the cardinal in charge of the Cathedrals protection.

The war continued to drag on. Shadowspears fell one after the other, and casualties started springing up amongst the rune knights as well. His followers were still alive, but they were running low on energy and the circumstances were becoming more and more unfavourable.

After a long war, he gave up peacefully, with no further retributions or problems. That was how the war suddenly ended. Richard killed the last angel to realise that no more had been summoned. Ten of his rune knights, and fifty of Rosie’s had died, with only 400 shadowspears remaining, but there were no more enemies to fight. The plaza was littered with bodies but almost no blood, and close to the entrance of the cathedral were a number of clerics and priests who had fallen to the ground. They were being guarded by the dozen or so paladins who’d survived, all looking blankly at their comrades who had perished in battle. 6;76

### **Prophecy**

You didn’t just happen to be at the cathedral, did you?”

“Of course not. I received an oracle telling me to make a trip to the Saint Louis Cathedral to wait for someone, and you’re the person I found there.”

Richard frowned slightly, “If you knew I was coming, why didn’t you station more troops? If you had 2,000 paladins there, I would have just retreated immediately.”

Martin flashed a teasing smile, “Do you really think my book was worth less than 2,000 paladins?”

“Prophecies are an easy thing for gods,” Martin said directly.

“Impossible, you know the kind of people I brought with me,” Richard refuted him at once. The power of prophecies was strange and esoteric, and grew more difficult with the strength of an opponent. Even for someone like the Radiant Lord, it was difficult to pry into the power of fate which was beyond even the law of time. Even predicting an ordinary mage’s actions was difficult. 7;78

The prophecy only told me that someone very important was coming to the Saint Louis Cathedral. I didn’t know who this person was or what they wanted to do.

Richard, I advise you not to look down on any god, especially those of Norland. All of them were amongst the most powerful in the plane before they lit their godfires, and they have their own reasons to do so. The Radiant Lord is not the kind of deity you would see in a weaker plane.

Your appearance at the Saint Louis Cathedral was preordained, the fact that you managed to burn through my book shows that you have the power required for fate to pay attention to you. Not all chance encounters are accidental, Mister Richard.

### **Summary**

Gave richard Heaven’s Armour blue prints and the Book of Calamity

Just the ability to tell if these runes really were complete meant he was skilled with magic arrays, perhaps enough to be a runemaster himself.

### **Rune Convention**

The weakest of the lot was a level 18 priest, incredibly young but with a gentle smile on his face that oozed confidence. The others in this room would likely crush him without any real fight, but when it came to status he was no less important than most of the legends. This was Saint Martin, the newest saint of the Sacred Tree Empire’s Church of Glory and currently the most likely candidate to become the next pope. He was even more important than the renowned Archbishop Hendrick.

Ever since Martin lost his battle with Richard, he had been on the rise. He had jumped several levels in a short span of time, and all of the other candidates for sainthood had disappeared all around him. This sudden focus by the Radiant Lord was out of everyone’s expectations, but even as his peers wondered how someone who almost let a grand cathedral be looted he had seemingly grown without any merit.

### **Alliance Against the Church**

Richard faced off Archbishop Rudorf after some contention with the divine gold to make Mana Armament. However, Martin stepped in which put the situation beyond his control, dragging in the pope for a full battle. At the end, they won the fight with Martin experiencing huge losses on his side while Richard had only a small margin of loss.

After a round of discussion, it was decided that Martin would take the four regular sets while Richard got Michael and the sacred sword. Richard ended up making more off this exchange, so he had to restore the four angels and also hand over a simplified version of Michael that humans could wear. This would greatly reduce the power of the rune set, but the holy child didn’t mind. On top of the three existing Midrens, this would bring him to eight angels in total, each one equivalent to a sky saint. This was the strength of at least two or more legends, and much more supportive capability than that in actual war.

They also discussed the source of this entire war: the divine gold. Martin promised to hand over anything that the cardinals had stockpiled in the Church once he returned, while Richard could think of how to handle the current set. It would be a bonus if it could be retrieved, but he would have enough for his purposes regardless.

### **Inquisition**

Your Majesty, I admit there was a dispute within the Church a while ago. However, this was a dispute caused by a difference of opinion; we had differing views on how to best serve the Radiance, and it was significant enough to be settled by war. The lords all stared at Martin as he gave his explanation. The difference truly was significant enough, enough to kill four angels, an archangel, and all of the cardinals. It would be difficult to make it any more significant.

No one here dared to get significantly involved in matters of the Church, knowing just how messy things were. This wasn’t just a battle between the pope and holy child, but a front for a battle between different factions in the Celestial Plane. Nothing good would come out of dipping their toes in.

### **Showing One's Cards**

Richard could only smiled at the hateful voice, “Are we even in the same camp?”

“Of course we are! There’s no time for infighting until the Pope has been taken out. But people like you should be killed the moment the opportunity comes up. The world is large, but it’s small at the same time. It only needs one hero, not two.”

Not knowing how to reply, Richard coughed several times, “So should I side with the Pope now?”

“What?” Martin’s expression warped, “Please, no! Your grudges are serious enough that he won’t take you anyway.”

Richard stared blankly at him, “And the conflict between you two is even greater. Anyway, let’s get serious. How is your situation?”

"Hmm, not too bad. Things with the Pope have simmered down, like there was never any conflict before, and all the decisions are being made by vote at the meetings of cardinals that only the two of us still attend. The old man Hendrick is back too, but his attitude seems to indicate that he can be swayed. I feel like we can win him over if we put in some more effort."

Martin shook his head, “You underestimate yourself. To me, you’re more dangerous than anyone else. Destroying you is of paramount importance. I can’t muster enough strength now because we have to get rid of the Pope first, or I would have personally led the charge.” “Eh. Anyway, we can’t fight until I get rid of the Pope. Let’s talk about something else; I have this friend of… rather special origin. She’s a citizen of Heaven, but she can’t return now. She needs some equipment and runes, and I hear you’re opening another battlefield against the abyss. Let her participate, and remember to take care of her.” “… Why would I help someone who’s constantly scheming to uproot me?”

Martin smiled, waving a pamphlet, “You can’t refuse.”

“What’s that?” Richard’s eyes narrowed.

“A travelogue about the Darkness, written by one of the Eternal Dragon’s Chosen.”

“And how do you have that?”

“By accident,” Martin smiled innocently, “You know that the Church of Glory has existed for a long time, and we throw many strange things into our treasury every year. Forgive me, I’m ignorant of its origin.” “Trust me, I want to But I can’t do it right now. It’s just like that old coot Hendrick. I’m quite familiar with him, and I even know how many girls he’s groped, but what use is that? I still can’t beat him. Just like you said, I’d be wiped out if I attack you.” “As always, it’s enjoyable dealing with you,”

“The Church treasury still has many things that might be of note, so let’s cooperate properly in the future! I’ll come beat you up when I’ve dealt with the Pope, so just relax and wait.”

### **Smug**

The lady sighed deeply, opening up her hands to form an image between her palms. The image showed Martin, laughing excitedly, “Finally! The bastard owes me a favour! Heh, he still doesn’t understand how important this is. Who should I deal with… the Pope, Hendrick, Messiah…”

Embarrassment flashed across the divine child’s face, but he quickly return to normal, “Did I say that? My memory isn’t clear anymore. But it’s alright, Richard isn’t hard to get favours from. Don’t worry, just get used to your new body and go find him with this book.”

### **Challenge**

“Mm, I want to move up my challenge to the pope.”

"You actual… Did you really just go insane or something? Did your empress fill you with chaos?” Martin stared at him with suspicion.

“Sigh. I know you just defeated Apeiron, but just because your abilities counter hers doesn’t mean you can suppress others too. I feel like the Pope will suppress you instead. Meet him and talk to him, then we’ll know. Besides, you already have a lot of troubles. You should prepare more and make fewer enemies.”

Richard nodded, cutting off communications. As the magic circle slowly dimmed, he stood there lost in thought. He had felt Intuition kicking in when Martin said his last sentence, feeling like he would soon meet inescapable danger that would force him to port to the Darkness. Flowsand had previously specified that he had to defeat the Pope of the Church of Glory before entering the Darkness, but now it seemed like there was more to it than someone who had escaped the Darkness himself. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know until he actually engaged in battle.

Martin suddenly laughed. “Success isn’t important, it’s having a goal at all. If not, life would be so boring. Imagine having to look at a group of old men everyday! I want to be like you, surrounded by beautiful ladies!”

### **Radiant Lord**

“How…” Hendrick asked dazedly, staring at the golden glow in Martin’s blood, “How is your faith so strong… Do you not know that the Radiant Lord is…”

"Of course I do!” Martin grumbled, “I know better than you!”

“Then how? Do you serve the brat now?” the archbishop asked with killing intent.

However, Martin just stared at the old man, “Is it not possible to have pure faith?”
“Pure faith? Heh… How could such a thing exist in this era?”
“Faith has nothing to do with era, only determination.”

“Sigh… Perhaps.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Take your blade away, it hurts!”

“The Radiant Lord does not matter, he is not the target of my faith. Have you forgotten the first line of the sacred texts?”

“Light is the primordus, the beginning of all things…” Hendrick’s expression changed, “You worship light itself?”Martin implying he worshipped light itself meant that the Radiant Lord was out of the picture. It directly revealed an ambition to become a god himself. However, Hendrick simply couldn’t bring himself to believe such a thing, especially with the example of the current pope being right before them. There just wasn’t a good reason to walk down a similar road.

“Incorrect, you haven’t truly understood my meaning. I do not intend to replace the Radiant Lord, nor am I interested in denouncing the gods. I worship light, but that is not the extent of my faith. If the Radiant Lord was the incarnation of light, my faith would forever have been ardent. Now, my task is to find the next incarnation; only if there are none suitable will I take on the mantle myself.”

Martin nodded, “Only there can I find pure light, the light I believe in. Those children continue to run amok as well, I need to restore order with my own hands.”

"You'll die."

"That is why I asked you to wait until I return.”

A complicated expression crawled up Hendrick’s face, “Sigh. This is where I cannot equal you. With a long life on one side and a negligible chance to save my faith on the other… I never managed to take that final step. I cannot even compare to the Pope.”

“Faith is faith. We need only strive forwards in service of it, there is no time to appreciate the beauty of the world along the way.”

As Martin’s body started to glow ever so faintly, Hendrick went down onto one knee, “My Lord, please permit my pathetic faith. Allow me to give you some assistance on your journey.”

Martin smiled, placing a hand atop Hendrick’s head, “Following me will bring you good fortune.”

A short and simple ceremony was thus completed. Martin smiled, “Just ensure that our casualties are small. It isn’t easy to take advantage of Richard; it’s best to leave those like him alone if one cannot kill them completely.” Trembling, Hendrickson nodded in agreement. While he was considered an epic being himself, he knew that those like Martin and Richard wandered around peaks that he didn’t dare to touch. Many such beings would face a premature end, but every crisis they survived would allow them to rocket forward.

The Radiant Lord had failed in heaven, and he had decided to head over to follow through on that mission. On the contrary, he would only need to wait silently to become the next Radiant Lord himself in a few years, gaining everlasting immortality. With his current choice, failure meant death.

However, Martin didn’t feel like he was doing wrong. He did not care for divine status, he did not lust for immortality like most others did. His dream had become his faith, and his faith was to illuminate the ends of the world.

## Abilities

Summons armies using a divine book. Martin’s holy book was one of the seven greatest weapons of the Church of Glory, but it was being referred to as a book of calamity. That holiness is only external, its true identity is the Book of Calamity. Hmph, Messia must have seen through this long ago. I was careless at the time and fell into his trap, leaving me stuck with the book.

The Lord bestowed the Eyes of Insight upon me, allowing me to see deeper than the surface level.

### **Charisma**

An innate gift, just like a bloodline ability. It has nothing to do with religion, so I just consider it my extraordinary charm. It really isn’t much, only having people feel closer to me. I cannot convince anyone to change their convictions directly, that requires more conventional methods 7;77

Martin spoke casually, but Richard understood that the power of such an ability would be amplified in fields like politics and religion. He couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of being able to convince most people with just a smile..

## Abilities & Powers

### **Book of Fate**

He was given the Book of Destruction by the pope when he became the divine child of the Radiant Lord. However, he gave it to Richard for it did not help him. Most of the time, he was afraid of the book itself.

The Book of Fate they were talking about had currently become a number of pages in the Book of Destruction currently hanging on his waist. From what Martin said, it seemed like anyone holding it would meet with inevitable disaster. In that case, the divine child had no good intentions when giving him the book either.

### **Six Angels**

These were celestials, citizens of the Celestial Plane that served as the Radiant Lord’s staff and sword!For the only divine child of the Church to have celestials by his side, it was clear that the Radiant Lord loved Martin dearly.

### **Curses**

The youth had a very unique approach to combat— he had somehow gotten a thick tome that was nearly a metre tall, cursing his opponents until they could barely move before whacking them with the copper spine. Numbness, blindness, all sorts of strange effects bogged down his opponents before the heavy tome crushed their helmets and the heads within.

The strange thing was that Martin’s muttering was clearly a prayer. There were no signs of anything affecting the paladins themselves, but they all turned clumsy enough to be struck by even ordinary fighters. Richard himself felt his head vaguely hurting from just seeing this, and even using the Field of Truth he didn’t manage to understand just what the guiding principles behind these prayers were. All he understood was that even his own resistance to curses would likely be overridden by this power.

“You shall not be able to walk, and you shall not be able to lift your arms… Your axe will grow a tonne heavier… Your handsome face will be warped by the pain of a stomach ache…” After a long time, the muttering alone could hurt one’s mind.

## Trivia

* After losing the battle, gave the book to Richard with the same intent in the first place. Hated the book. It is extremely powerful, we are only able to utilise a small part of its energy. The book has the power to change destiny, which puts its owner at odds with the power of fate. I have no wish to be such a person, so I have been cautious for all these years. This was the only opportunity I found to give it away. 7;79
* That book is a powerful magic item, it has high standards for its wielder. Controlling it requires the ability to use the power of laws as a minimum baseline, one cannot just give it away.
* Richard and Martin were the same; both with great amount of responsibilities but willing to risk it all for something stupid.
* The only character capable of catching up to Richard and reached the levels above 35.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Book 8, Chapter 74
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Book 8, Chapter 125
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Book 7 Chapter 196
4. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 95
5. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 126
6. ↑ Book 9, Chapter 18
7. ↑ Book 9, Chapter 19
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Book 9, Chapter 30
9. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 69
10. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 68
11. ↑ Book 8, Chapter 69