Chapter 579
Chapter 579
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 579
Chapter Title: Good Friends to Meet
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A cold metal gate barred our path.
The snow-covered Fog Plains. And the mountain range encircling its edges. The iron gate, tucked away in such a secretive spot, looked more suspicious than anything.
The heretic crawling on the ground had said this was the entrance leading down to the basement.
Was this the heart of their human trafficking operation?
The heretic had claimed he was just one tiny root in their network. That alone spoke to the massive, sprawling scale of their organization.
"Saint...! It feels just like the gateway to the depths of hell...!"
"Krrrk...!"
"This place...! Where they hide their sins...!"
The Brass Celestial Society zealots and Elise were on the verge of a meltdown. I calmed them down and turned to the heretic.
"Hey, you said we just go underground, right?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Did your lot build this?"
Constructing an underground facility in a place like this required more than just pocket change. Manpower, money, materials. And supply lines. You'd need a massive operation to punch a tunnel through such a remote wilderness.
If the heretics could pull that off, it meant their power was greater than we'd imagined.
And that, in turn, implied their funding sources—the businesses bankrolling them—were equally enormous. Which naturally raised the odds that nobles or merchant guilds were tangled up in this cult.
What a horrifying thought.
Of course, that was a leap.
"No... As far as I know, they just... repurposed an existing facility..."
"Repurposed? Who used it originally?"
"I... don't know..."
"Hmm."
I had no clue either.
But it didn't matter right now.
Bottom line: this was some pre-existing setup the heretics had seized and put to use. Figuring out the previous owners wasn't my problem.
"Open the damn door."
"Understood..."
The heretic on his knees fumbled with the door, and with a click, the lock disengaged. The gate swung open.
Darkness.
The stairs descending into the depths were pure blackness.
Tzzt!
Winia immediately cast a light spell, and Backerel took point.
"Then...! Shall we proceed!"
"What about the heretic?"
"Best to leave him here for now."
Backerel ordered one paladin and one priest to guard the entrance with the heretic in tow. That left seven of us heading underground.
Me and Claudy. Winia. Elise. Backerel, one paladin, and one priest.
We hadn't gotten any intel on their numbers. The heretic had clammed up on that too, probably thanks to the mental compulsion.
Whatever the case, poking around here would yield something useful.
"Hmm... A facility like this in a place like this..."
Winia ran her hand along the stone wall in wonder. She was right—the underground complex was impressively constructed. Not some crude tunnel, but properly finished with dressed stone.
Walls, stairs, ceiling. All of it.
"Reminds me of that ossuary we visited before, Saint. Similar, right?"
"Oh."
The ossuary.
"Yeah. Spot on."
It was a dungeon we'd cleared ages ago.
A burial site for ancient warriors, crawling with skeletons. It had a high-end underground setup just like this.
Was there some connection?
"Ossuary? You went to one back in the day, darkie?"
"Yeah. Felt a lot like this place."
"Guess that makes this a dungeon too."
A dungeon, huh.
"The desert had 'em too."
Claudy chimed in.
"Royal tombs, you might call 'em. Endless underground crypts. I've been to a few. Feels similar, maybe?"
"Desert dynasty tombs? When'd you scope those out?"
"I've lived a long time..."
Claudy started to speak, then flinched.
"...Visited a few times. Odd jobs and all."
"Heh heh, what kinda jobs?"
"Treasure hunting mostly, but inside? Just tomb guardians. Tough bastards."
"Holy shit."
Tomb-guarding monsters...?!
What an inhuman hellhole!
"What sorta monsters?"
"Heh, who knows. Never got a good look."
The desert Claudy hailed from didn't sound fit for human habitation. We kept chatting like that as we descended the seemingly endless underground stairs.
"...This is the bottom. Maintain silence from here on."
We'd finally reached the end.
Backerel gripped the door handle ahead with a grim face. Everyone had weapons drawn.
Winia dimmed her light spell, and Backerel opened the door.
Kreeeak.
Amethyst-purple light seeped out.
Purple lighting... It felt oddly familiar.
The basement was bathed in violet glow, bright enough to make Winia's spell redundant.
We crept inside, slow and steady.
...
It was vast.
Vast and impeccably maintained, like a proper underground facility. The heretics must've used it right up to recently.
Plenty of passages branched off too.
"Never slack on perimeter watch. Paladin, check our rear. Formation up, and move."
We formed up as Backerel ordered.
Winia and the priest in the center, eyes everywhere, advancing carefully. Both could cast hemispherical shields.
If projectiles flew, they'd cover us.
Step step.
We prowled the interior for a good while.
"Sounds... Saint. Captain Backerel."
Elise halted the group.
"I think I hear something."
"Sounds?"
"Sounds, you say? Elaborate, Sister Elise."
Had Elise picked up on something?
We shut our mouths and listened.
"..."
Something... maybe? Or nothing. Probably only sharp ears could catch it. Even Claudy perked her ears but looked puzzled.
"Elise? Hearing anything?"
"It was faint... Seemed like it came from that way."
Elise wasn't sure either.
"We'll follow Sister Elise's lead, then."
No better ideas, so we searched the direction she indicated, with her up front.
Another stairwell down soon appeared.
"...From here?"
Winia pointed with her staff.
"Hmm... Kinda sounds like it..."
"Katt. I got nothing."
No one but Elise had heard it. Probably a brief noise only she caught. Something below, then.
Down we went.
"Captain. Places like this, we gotta check 'em. Shall we?"
"Agreed. Let's descend. If there's sound, there might be something. Steel yourselves."
Backerel led with blade ready.
We followed close. Purple light filled the depths—no visibility issues.
That's when we hit the second basement level.
Grrroooo...
Whoooosh... Whiiiiiinnn... Uuuunnn...
Miiiiiieeeelll...
Low murmurs. No.
Unhinged, anything-but-friendly wails began echoing. Tension spiked hard.
Definitely the cries of hatred-soaked abominations.
"..."
Were the heretics holding a murder party with trafficking victims? Lips sealed tight, we advanced down the straight corridor.
The eerie noises came from the room dead ahead.
Qrurrrk...!
Greeek! Giiiieeeek! Giiik! Gik! Giiiit!!
And that's when we confronted the hidden truth of basement level two.
We could only claw at our heads.
"Wh-What the...!"
"O-Oh...! Ooooooh!!!"
"Th-That's...!"
The cavernous chamber brimmed with long chains snaking everywhere like a serpent pit, each binding something.
Nyaaaaaang!! Nyaaaaang!!
Boong! Boooong! Bobobong! Bopyong! Bungbong!!! Bongbongbong!!!
Daaaaaaah! Wi! Roro! Mix, Taaaaah!!! Oooh! Kum, Tak! Sen! Bieeeoot!!
Monstrous aberrations shrieked grotesquely from their restraints.
"What in the hell is this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Such blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"M-Monsters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Backerel, the paladin, and priest tore at their hair, shouting furiously. Elise's eyes bulged; Winia was rigid with tension.
"Those are..."
Claudy stared like she'd seen something repulsive.
Clank! Clank!
Jangle! Jangle!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The monsters fixed us with glares, thrashing limbs and chains in frenzy. Utterly surreal.
Was this real?
"S-Saint! Wh-What is this...!"
Elise clutched my wrist.
Kkimina, Hak! Osam! Dotak Kum! Kiiiiiing!!
Dramak! Dirimak! Rimakティhat! Disam!! Ooooo!
Miyaaaaaoooong!!! Miyaaaaaoooong!!!! Mayaaaaaoooong!!!! Nijoeeeek!!
Shaggy brown fur and peach-toned hide. Crimson entrails and bone-white protrusions. They resembled the flesh golems I'd glimpsed long ago.
Arms bloated unnaturally, sprouting dozens of fingers and horns. Faces like a novice butcher botching a pig's head into human semblance.
No uniformity—just five patchwork horrors chained up, gaping and gibbering endlessly.
"Abominations!!! The heretics' abominations!!!"
Backerel bellowed.
Abominations... Yeah.
So that's what abominations look like.
"D-Darkie, snap out of it! Don't just freeze!"
"Huh?"
Snap out?
My mind right now...
"F-Fuck shiiiiit!!!! What the fuck are those thiiiings!!!"
This couldn't be reality!!!
"Purge them! The abominations are restrained!!! Burn these cursed fiends to ash!!!"
Fwoosh!
Backerel and the paladin charged the abominations. Snapping to, I gripped my sword and scanned around.
I didn't know what they were, but these heretic bastards were cooking up nightmarish freaks!!!
But that could wait!
Combat time!
Boom!
I kicked off toward the left.
The chained abominations were shocking, sure, but the chamber was huge—and dark shapes moved from the side passage!
"Heretics incoming from left corridor!!! Winia!!! Intercept!!!!"
"...!"
The shapes were heretics!
Skulking inside!
Roar!
A fireball hurtled at me—eerie purple. Boom! Winia's fire bolt snuffed it.
"Intruders!!!"
"Release the abominations!!"
The heretics wielded wands and seemed to hold the keys to the locks.
"You fuckers!!"
I unleashed Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon, closing the gap.
A narrow passage branched left. Black-robed heretics fled down it—but not faster than me!
"Die!"
I closed in and stabbed.
Squelch!
"U-Uwaaaaaah!!"
Pulled the blade free and smashed the next one's skull.
Crunch!
"Kyaak!!!"
"You shits!!!!"
Behind me, wet rending and monster shrieks erupted. I sprinted the passage, butchering the five fleeing heretics.
They weren't fast or tough—easy kills.
But the last one...
Boom!
The rearmost slammed his palm on the wall. Rumble! The basement shook.
A self-destruct trigger?!
"Kekeke! The abominations are free! No matter who you are, none leave alive—"
"Shut it!"
Bomb or not, didn't care!
I swung the life-sparing sword, Mercy Blade, decapitating him, then doubled back to regroup.
"Holy shit!"
Three unchained abominations rampaged back in the chamber.