Chapter 15

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 15

Chapter Title: Serena Adelaide

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Serena Adelaide secretly watched the priest, feeling a strange tremor.

"To lead us by so ruthlessly tearing himself down..."

She had heard tales of the Austerity Cult's priests, but this was the first time she'd witnessed one in person.

They were said to burn even their own souls to heal others' wounds.

The poison he was drinking now, the groans he suppressed—they must be the penance he had chosen for the world's purification.

"The priest cares nothing for his own pain in pursuit of our glory."

Serena gripped her sword tighter.

The priest was sacrificing so much; she, a holy knight, couldn't show any weakness.

"Everyone! Do not let the priest's penance go to waste! Defend with your lives!"

The knights' cheers burned even hotter.

But the priest at the center of her gaze was filled with entirely different thoughts.

"Fuck, why does the main body keep resisting. What a waste of my magic stones..."

Ding-

My magic stones were running dangerously low now.

The main body kept resisting Resistance Insight more often than expected, burning through them faster than I'd anticipated.

To turn this around, I urgently called out to Serena.

"Do you have any magic stones by chance?"

"Magic stones?"

She clearly had no idea what I meant.

I pulled one out of my inventory and showed it to her.

"Something that looks like this."

"Ah, those. I have some here."

Thank goodness.

Magic stones must be valuable in this world too.

But the one Serena handed me felt surprisingly heavy.

"This!"

It was a grade I'd never seen before.

To hand something like this over so casually—Serena must come from nobility. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I couldn't help but wonder about her background.

Still, I wondered if even this would work with my skills.

The skill descriptions explicitly stated they consumed the lowest-grade magic stones.

And sure enough.

Once the low-grade ones were depleted, the skill refused to activate.

It didn't even react to the high-grade stone.

"Of course..."

I scowled and scoured my inventory.

Maybe there was something useful in this situation.

That's when the seal caught my eye.

"It has a toll magic stone, but..."

Just in case, I slipped it onto my finger.

"It's piled up quite a bit already... But where are these magic stones?"

I stared at the high-grade magic stone in my hand.

Then it hit me: the magic stones used in skills had been in my inventory as items.

As long as the system recognized me as possessing them, even without physical ones, the skills worked.

So, with the seal equipped, maybe the system would count those accumulated stones as mine?

On a whim, I tried Resistance Insight on a Specter.

"Whoa! It works!"

I quickly checked the accumulated status.

Sure enough, exactly one magic stone had been consumed, leaving me feeling deflated.

Having to figure out usage myself—what's wrong with just telling me? What an unfriendly system.

I shouted to Serena.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Back at it!"

"As expected... I believed in you!"

Serena shot me a look of utter trust.

I had no idea why she was like this, but I didn't have time to dwell.

Dealing with the fission bodies came first.

Kiiieek- Slash!

There was no time to breathe after that.

The holy knights moved in sync with my signals, swords plunging into every falling fission body.

Their numbers visibly dwindled.

And finally.

Serena's sword flashed out like lightning, cleaving the main body.

Finally over, I thought.

But before I could exhale in relief, a warning appeared.

"...What?"

As the countdown began, a dull vibration rumbled from underground.

Black-red cracks began spreading from spots in the wheat field I'd thought purified.

Serena shouted urgently.

"Priest! We must leave this place!"

We mounted our horses and galloped desperately.

Thud thud thud-

But with two of us on one horse, we were slower than the other knights and started falling behind.

The black-red cracks pursued relentlessly from behind.

Serena glanced back and yelled to me.

"Priest! At this rate, they'll catch us! Grant the horse your divine power!"

"What's that?!"

"A blessing! I've heard the Austerity Cult's priests perform such miracles!"

No, more cryptic nonsense.

I don't have any blessing skill! Unless it's some insane berserk buff!

"Huh?"

The berserk effect popped into my mind.

I hurriedly pulled out the censer.

But to light it, I needed a magic stone. All I had left physically was the high-grade one.

"This is too precious to waste..."

"No time!"

Fine. Use it and get reimbursed later. I'd already lost several stones; no point skimping now and failing.

I shoved the magic stone into the censer, and fierce flames erupted.

I immediately released the pain, and smoke billowed from the censer.

Hiiiing-!

The horse's breath grew scorching hot.

Its muscles swelled unnaturally, and its gallop changed entirely.

The force of its hooves was incomparable to before.

It was kicking up half the dirt as it charged.

Thud thud thud thud-!

With speed kicking in, the pursuing cracks fell further behind.

"Priest, you..."

Serena turned to me with a shocked face.

She was speechless for a while, then murmured as if swallowing hard.

"You truly... bestowed a blessing."

A brief silence fell as everyone dismounted.

Stopping in the middle of the wheat field, we finally looked around.

The oppressive evil aura was dissipating from the air.

At the same time, the darkness blanketing the sky receded, sunlight pouring down.

"It was an honor to fight alongside you, Priest."

Serena paid her respects to me and gathered the knights.

Suddenly, a solemn, sacred atmosphere enveloped the wheat field.

Shing-

"Pledge your devotion to the gods! Glory alone!"

"Glory alone!"

The Holy Knight Order raised their swords toward me in sublime ceremony.

Even back home, the afterglow of the 7th floor lingered.

Especially that final moment—it was honestly a bit moving.

I almost felt like the knight order captain.

But damn system booted me out at the crucial part.

"I had questions for Serena..."

Even re-entering wouldn't let me see her.

Cleared floors only spawned monsters matching the level, which allowed farming.

Anyway, among the rewards I'd checked on the way back was something related to Serena.

The chronicle listed her as a knight captain.

She'd told me she was just a regular knight, so which timeline was the one I met her in?

It felt strange.

"Considering her age, she definitely isn't a captain yet..."

Maybe because we'd overcome hardships together, I got sentimental over nothing.

But I had no clue what this item was for.

It seemed important, but no idea how to use it.

Figure it out myself, huh.

"Gotta figure out how to withdraw the tolls too."

In the end, all I had left were magic stones.

I logged into Hunter Net and searched for high-grade magic stones.

But no results.

No mentions beyond mid-grade; high-grade didn't exist.

So maybe they drop from floor 40+?

"Serena was loaded..."

No immediate need for cash, so I stashed the magic stones.

While I was on, time to check epics.

"Guess it wasn't anything good after all."

More common than I thought.

Trust level? Did Serena trust me that much?

Felt pretty good.

Suddenly, I recalled her drawing her sword and shouting.

Remembering that, I pulled the sword from my inventory.

I'd always seen the commentary as just playful graffiti.

But when Serena recited the exact words from it, I was honestly startled.

It even made me think it might be a trigger like an activation chant.

Felt like there was some hidden secret.

"Wanna try mimicking it?"

A bit embarrassing, but no one watching, so why not.

In an era where people shout their status windows confidently, this was nothing.

I drew the sword and muttered shyly.

"Pledge your devotion to the gods. Glory alone..."

I blinked and waited.

Nothing happened.

Figures... No, just to be sure, let's do it properly this time.

I cleared my throat and steadied my voice.

Then I shouted.

"Pledge your devotion to the gods! Glory alone!"

Ding-