Corona Scepter

In the end Iver still bought it.

It was a purple-grade Corona Scepter worth 8,800 White Crown Coin. The shopkeeper also gave away two elven-crafted daggers... perfect for Lily.

Given the elf's size, this dagger was essentially equivalent to a short sword for Lily. Its quality was even better than the sword Hai Na used as an observer, and it could last a long time.

Including the daily necessities worth over four hundred White Crown Coin, Iver simply bought some rare ancient books, as well as some precious ritual materials and potion ingredients for Sherlock, bringing the total to ten thousand White Crown Coin and getting a full 30% discount—although Iver knew very well that the boss was definitely making more money than he was saving, he was still very happy.

It gives you the illusion that you've made a killing.

After all, consumption is about both necessities and happiness, and even an illusion, the illusion of making a huge profit, can bring joy—in a sense, it's like buying a service that provides a long-lasting illusion.

—This is how Iver defended himself in his heart.

When Iver touched the scepter, the weapon's attribute immediately appeared before his eyes: [Corona].

[Extraordinary Weapon (Purple)]

[Scepter, medium-sized, blunt weapon]

[Trait: Increases Fire Attribute / Light Attribute damage]

[Elven Style: Durability greatly increased, maintenance costs higher]

[Module - Radiance Convergence: Significantly increases healing output when there is only one person being healed]

[Module - Corona Fire: Gain increased fire damage based on the Light Attribute mana pool]

[Module - Sacred Prayer (Candlelight): A section of the prayer for the candlelight clerk can be omitted]

Of all the scepters here, Iver immediately took a liking to this one.

Compared to other scepters, this one focuses on a high fire damage bonus. You see percentage-based buffs in the game, but not here... but Iver roughly remembers the numbers.

A regular purple-tier scepter would typically increase dual-attribute damage by around 20%-30%. However, the "Corona Fire" mod increases Fire Attribute damage by a percentage of the Light Attribute mana pool—a very significant boost for priests who allocate three parts light and one part Fire Attribute during leveling.

In the game, surprisingly few priests would buy and use this weapon.

Conversely, the much cheaper ** Consecration Scepter Consecration Scepter is more versatile—it saves two bars of casting time for Blessing Art, reduces the mana cost of Blessing Art, and significantly extends the duration of the buff provided by Blessing Art. Even in the late game, some priests might pull out a Consecration Scepter that's been used for who knows how many versions to use for gimmicks.

Then there's the Forest Scepter, which has three attributes that increase healing output.

For Iver, there was absolutely no need for him to increase the amount of healing.

He's not an adventurer, spending all his time watching his teammates' health drop and riding the elevator (Book of Law for constantly monitoring their health). In fact, Iver has never teamed up with anyone as a priest—compared to the meager healing provided by a priest, it's far less effective for Iver to simply pull out the Book of Spells and deal damage.

As long as I take out all the enemies, my teammates won't get hurt.

This is called prevention.

This is also why Iver hasn't been in a hurry to find a main-hand weapon for the priest class. The staff doesn't provide area-of-effect buffs, nor does it save mana; its main improvement is the numerical increase in damage and healing. It's a meter and a half tall and weighs over ten kilograms, which is really inconvenient to carry around, and you'd feel bad if it got bumped or knocked over.

For priests, equipment that provides mechanics is more important than weapons.

Compared to the Book of Law, which directly and significantly boosts combat power... when Iver is a priest, what's more important is his identity as a priest himself, rather than the healing and combat power provided by this profession.

He doesn't even have any tank teammates... The only one who can act as a tank is Hai Na, who is now a councilor. Everyone else is squishy, so what's the point of him providing healing?

—But the "Corona" is different; it is closer to the staff used by mages.

It provides a very significant boost to Iver, whose usual combat style mainly involves summoning Flame Butterflies—even if you can't see the percentage, it still provides at least an 80% or more boost to Fire Attribute damage.

Iver knew the weapon's specific attributes because "Corona" was a reward weapon in Version 2.0... the kind of weapon you could exchange for with materials after randomly matching into a high-difficulty dungeon each day. Its main effect, however, was to provide transmogrification.

The pure white, spiraling staff features three converging golden lines that spiral upwards like a tower. At the very top is the head of a saint wearing a triple crown. Once activated, a small Thorn Crown appears directly above the "Corona" staff—and this crown transfers to the holder's head when they pray while holding the top of the staff.

Combined with the enormous crown, a very large aura of flames will appear.

That's really cool.

This is very fitting for Iver's current role as archbishop!

Iver was quite pleased that he could buy this level of Extraordinary Weapon directly with money without having to run dungeons or quests.

After all, as the prospective head of the Moriarty family, Iver was quite wealthy.

Everything else can be entrusted to the trolls to take back.

Although these trolls were enormous and had a foolish look, they didn't seem so savage when they were dressed neatly. They were all wearing serious and uniform black uniforms, looking quite smart, and they were relatively quiet while working, only occasionally exchanging a few words with their companions in troll language.

It is clear that neither Iver, Sherlock, nor Lily could understand the garbled troll language.

The only concern is whether they might tear their clothes if they carry something too heavy.

Lily and Sherlock had already left ahead to guide them—they were traveling together mainly to prevent one of them from getting lost.

Iver decided to wander around the streets alone some more, see if there was anything else he wanted to buy, and spend some more money. He would go see Master Agnes again when it was light tomorrow.

Anyway, that's the Fifth Ring, not far away... The "elevator" here is so slow, and since we're rarely going down there, we might as well get everything done in one go.

But shortly after the two left, someone came looking for them.

"In the sacred name of the candle-bearer... the sublime Nine Pillar Gods, greetings to you! May your flame burn eternally... and may you shine forever. Your Excellency the Archbishop..."

A deep, harsh voice rang out behind Iver.

The voice was halting and drawn out each word. It was the kind of foreign language speech that was clearly lacking in practice... Not only did it sound quite unpleasant, but the grammar was also not very correct.

Iver raised an eyebrow, gripped his scepter, and turned around.

The person standing in front of him was someone he could call a half-acquaintance.

—It was the trio of trolls that Iver and his group encountered at the port.

Compared to his earlier days when he was dressed as an ordinary priest and looked like a young student, Iver now wore the robes of an archbishop and held a Iver, exuding an air of nobility. It would be difficult to recognize him after only a few minutes of brief acquaintance... but these three trolls recognized Iver from behind.

The one who spoke to Iver was one of the trolls with dark brown skin.

His skin, untouched by any dye, symbolized his highest status. Among the three-headed trolls, he was the strongest and tallest. His face was the cleanest, his features the most defined, and his hair was neatly styled into a high ponytail. The rest of his scalp was covered with crude black runes.

"We would like to ask you to do something for us."

The troll said haltingly, "There is a reward. We can tell you some information first. Very important information. Your portrait has a bounty on it. On the black market, someone is buying information about you."

Before Iver turned around, the troll was at least seven steps away from Iver, very politely.

Even from this distance, he could already smell the stench emanating from the three-headed trolls—only the lead, dark brown one had a slightly milder odor, but it still possessed a strong smell of oil and spices. The remaining two, one reeked of fish, and the other of herbs.

As Iver scanned and sized them up, the green troll fawned over Iver, nodding repeatedly and bowing awkwardly.

"... Someone's buying my information?" Iver raised an eyebrow, suddenly understanding why those three people had been pointing fingers at him earlier.

It wasn't because Iver flaunted his wealth, but because they were confirming whether it was Iver.

How did you know it was me?

Instead of answering their questions, Iver asked them a question in return.

Upon hearing this, the tall troll translated it to the person next to him in a string of gibberish.

The troll with grass-green skin then pulled out a strange triangular stone rune with three deep claw marks on it.

He made a sniffing motion, then pointed at Iver. He then scratched himself vigorously with three fingers, muttering something, before bowing and scraping to Iver in fear, like a monkey.

Iver's expression immediately turned serious.

Although he didn't recognize the thing, he roughly guessed—because the grass-green-skinned troll was Hunter, meaning he smelled Iver's scent. Just like Hunter chasing a wounded beast.

And what could provide "Iver's Blood," plus the shape of that claw mark...

... Bear Angel?

With the four apostles gone, did He have any other followers or believers?