Chapter 153: Unique Rank Relic

Max understood the Archbishop’s hatred to the demons.

The demons caused the suffering of the people and that was why the Church of Holy Salvation existed.

The Archbishop were the primarily leaders who helped the sick and the needy.

Max glanced at the relic and heard the system’s notification.

[You have received a Unique rank relic. Given that the relic are not considered conventional equipment, a special slot has been added.]

Max nodded. Artifacts and relics, resonating with the character’s legacy, soul, or mana core were normally not considered as standard equipment tied to their class.

That was why special slot was added—to avoid restricting the players of their fortuitous encounter.

Max was glad that he gained a relic specifically for targeting demons.

The demon races has many species that varied with their abilities.

Most of them utilized their abilities to manipulate the humans, allowing the demons to infiltrate unnoticed.

There were also demons that could conceal themselves, making them one of the dangerous demons Max had to be wary of.

With the Seal of Apostle Gideon, he could easily uncover demonic conspiracies.

Max took a liking to every ability that the ring has.

[Relic: Seal of Apostle Gideon (Unique)

Abilities:

Eye of Discernment: The ring heightens your perception of lingering spiritual anomalies. It can reveal residual demonic mana, infernal ritual sites, hidden corruption, concealed curse formations, and traces of forbidden rituals.

Covenant Revelation: The Seal can perceive infernal contracts woven into a person’s soul. It reveals active demonic pacts, corrupted soul bindings, hidden infernal oaths, and suppressed contract marks. However, it cannot determine the exact terms of the contract, only that one exists.

Veilbreaker: The relic weakens supernatural disguises, exposing shape-shifting demons, illusory appearances, possessed hosts, and concealed demonic familiars. While exceptionally powerful demons may resist full exposure, the ring will still react to indicate that something is wrong.

Echoes of Sin: One of the Seal’s rarest abilities. At locations heavily saturated with demonic mana, the ring may reconstruct fragmented spiritual impressions left behind by significant events. You do not witness a perfect recording. Instead, you perceive brief, translucent echoes of figures performing rituals, the outlines of summoned demons, the direction individuals fled, and the approximate sequence of major events. These visions are incomplete and require interpretation, making them invaluable for experienced investigators.

Mark of Pursuit: After identifying a corrupted individual, you may imprint a temporary divine mark visible only to those blessed by the Church. The mark allows investigators like you to track fleeing suspects. It lets you coordinate investigations. Additionally, it helps prevent mistaken identity during operations. The mark fades after several days or once the corruption has been purged.

Insight of Apostle: Perhaps the relic’s greatest gift. While investigating supernatural incidents, the ring subtly enhances your intuition. It helps you notice contradictory testimony, hidden motives, suspicious movements, unnatural patterns, and missing evidence. The Church believes this is not true prophecy, but the lingering investigative instincts of Apostle Gideon guiding those who follow his path.]

For Max, every ability was a counter against Malveris’ plot in the Empire.

Not only he could slowly spoil his plan, but he could also contribute a lot of contributions to the Empire, practically treating Malveris as his grinding resource.

Max was elated by the gift.

He nodded at the Archbishop and said in a sincere tone, "Thank you for this gift. I won’t disappoint you."

The Archbishop chuckled. "I know that we won’t be disappointed."

After a while, Max continued to chat with the Archbishop before returning to his residence.

When Max was now sitting in the library, he checked the hours he spent from going outside.

He took five hours, leaving him 19 hours left to train.

There were still 7 hours left for Max to study in the library and he believed it was more than enough to finish reading the whole Military Code Valtherion topic.

He summoned Jeremiah and asked, "Have you already designed a training plan for us?"

Jeremiah bowed and replied in a composed tone, "No, Master. But I had already pointed out the flaws and suggested what needed to work on as a team to Darius and others."

Max nodded. "It’s fine. We can set aside that for now, given that the adaptive combat courtyard could fix it for us."

Jeremiah did not reply.

"For now, let’s finish where we left off."

Max then picked up the remaining books, containing the last three contents of Military Code of Valtherion.

The Wartime Administration book explained how the Empire functions during a state of war or large-scale emergency. It covered how military resources were mobilized, how civilians and infrastructure were managed, how supplies were distributed, and how military authority temporarily expanded to maintain order and support ongoing operations.

Max had a clear idea of how the Empire reacted when it was forced to a state of war.

It also mentioned that the Empire would elevate the authority of the Imperial Demon Vanguard when the demon forces declared war to them, allowing Max to visualize how he would respond when receiving a heavy responsibility.

The Military Discipline book explained the standards of conduct expected from every member of the Imperial Armed Forces. It outlined military offenses such as insubordination, desertion, negligence, or abuse of authority, along with the disciplinary procedures and penalties used to preserve order, professionalism, and the chain of command.

There were many players in Max’s past life who committed military offenses and were thus thrown into prison.

Since a player could only have a single character, they quite playing Apocalypse Online, leaving them missing out the game’s importance once the apocalypse descended.

The Military Disciple was a nightmare for players.

But then again, temptations such as bountiful rewards offered by a demon would cause them to commit a blunder, offending the Empire in the process.

The last book of the Military Code of Valtherion was the Battlefield Jurisdiction.

It defined who has legal authority during military operations. It specified which officers could issue lawful orders, conduct investigations, make operational decisions, or exercise emergency powers within a battlefield or combat zone. It also explained how jurisdiction was shared between military commanders and other Imperial institutions when necessary...

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