The Cult's Hidden Lair
"It's really amazing, though. Prophesying the future is weird enough to begin with, but for an ordinary person to be that deeply connected to an Outer God—their brain would've given out long ago."
"A Mystic Scholar might pull it off... but those guys are already obsessed with Outer Gods, so they wouldn't bother putting faith in some cult."
Clack, clack. The heavy thud of military boots echoed against the stairs, right by my ears. As we descended the staircase I'd found, White Mask and Mu Yeon chatted idly about that old man.
Yeah, that was the decisive reason I'd dismissed him as a cultist from the start and refused to buy into it—the content of that very conversation.
In this world, the only beings worthy of being called 'gods' were Outer Gods. So if that old man had heard the voice of the Outer God called the Observer and foreseen the future...
Does that even make sense? The reason the Party Flute—or Horn Flute, as it was known—had such a notorious reputation was because the moment you blew it, you'd hear an Outer God's voice... and suffer total mental collapse, leading straight to death.
But despite my skepticism, the old man had accurately predicted the future. It felt like reality itself was coming unhinged.
Why me, of all people? Why entrust this job to me? And why did the staircase I'd been searching for appear right in that spot? Had he seen all this, which was why he'd come to me?
...No way was I buying it unconditionally. For now, if we went down here and found the heretics actually preparing something, just like he said, then I could revisit his words later. No rush.
"Oh, I can see the passage up ahead. Is that the entrance?"
Sure enough, as Mu Yeon said, a passage loomed into view—taller even than my considerable height. It looked ancient, with cracks and fissures spiderwebbing through the stone like veins of gold. I'd never seen anything like it, not even in the Underground Prison.
The thought that we might go in and never come out made me hesitate, but...
"Hmm, since we've found it, we should do some basic reinforcement work. If the underground collapses, it could affect the territory above."
White Mask muttered casually and strode right in without a second thought.
'Yeah, tell me about it.' I grumbled under my breath as Mu Yeon followed her in too. Had they all chugged a safety-proof soup or something?
...I wanted to say it, but I couldn't bring myself to, so I just quietly trailed after them.
"Hm, doesn't look like anything dangerous so far."
At least she wasn't that reckless. White Mask had lowered her stance slightly, scanning the surroundings. If heretics had been using this place, they'd probably set traps for intruders. An arrow whistling out of nowhere wouldn't be surprising.
Like, say, stepping on that suspiciously square tile over there...
Eh?
The moment White Mask stepped on the tile I'd noticed, it sank in with a click—like pressing a button you absolutely shouldn't.
"Damn...!"
The Gardener's urgent voice rang in my head. On reflex, I rushed to White Mask, grabbed her arm, and yanked her back.
Whoosh!
Something streaked past where she'd been standing, embedding itself in the wall—an arrow, rusted to hell and likely loaded with tetanus. If it didn't kill you outright, secondary infection would finish the job. These bastards were vicious.
So... like it or not, I had to believe now. The odds of those heretics the old man mentioned being down here were damn near 100%.
"U-um, subordinate."
"Yes?"
"Sorry to interrupt your thinking, but..."
White Mask's voice came out oddly airy, not like her usual self, as she tapped my hand.
"You can let go now, right?"
Only then did I register our position. White Mask, off-balance and leaning into me. And me, holding her tight—like a full-on embrace.
...I'd been oblivious, but we were in one hell of an embarrassing pose!
"Uh, ahaha. Sorry about that."
"No, no. You just saved my life—I'm the one who should be thanking you."
She said it, but instead of thanks, she just gave a curt nod.
"I-I knew this would happen... I should've taken the lead..."
Mu Yeon's mumbling made no damn sense.
...Sigh, what a mess.
The Gardener's grumpy voice left me utterly lost at this point.
Whatever. We pressed deeper inside.
# The underground space itself didn't seem tied to the heretics at all. The corridor walls were plain stone bricks, no symbols or markings anywhere—and the scale was absurdly vast. Almost on par with the Underground Prison.
We found some old documents here and there, but nothing noteworthy when I skimmed them.
"... "
White Mask and Mu Yeon stared at me as I held the papers. Wondering what was up, I glanced back, and White Mask let out a deep sigh.
"...Even if you're immune-level resistant to Outer God mental corruption, watching you grab and read documents without a care in the world makes me wonder what the hell you are."
"Even Mystic Scholars aren't that bold."
...You're the weird ones for waltzing into a suspicious entrance like it was nothing! Pot, meet kettle.
Anyway, from what I could tell, this had been some kind of thoroughfare where people moved around. What could have buried it like this? It almost felt deliberately hidden.
Most of the visible rooms checked out. That left just one in the far corner.
As I turned toward it, White Mask grabbed my shoulder, halting me.
"Shh. Footsteps from the other side."
Only then did I catch the faint thud-thud growing louder.
Footsteps down here? Only one possibility.
We slipped silently behind a nearby pillar and waited, ears strained.
Did they already know our position? The steps headed straight for us, accompanied by the scrape of metal.
White Mask drew her sword; Mu Yeon gripped her axe. To draw attention, I charged out first.
No weapon yet, but the chef's—er, Paula's—food had toughened my body plenty.
Thud-thud-thud!
My footsteps boomed, startling the two figures ahead. An opening.
Fwomp!
"Guh!"
I leaped, clenched my fists, and unleashed a double uppercut. They didn't even react—took the hits clean and crumpled.
Worried they might get up, I watched. They twitched a few times, then went limp. Out cold.
"...Nimble. You could already do this without Outer God help?"
"Haha..."
Technically, it was Outer God-cooked meals that powered me up, so maybe it still counted as their help. But my stats had risen fair and square, so I could claim the credit.
No time to bask, though.
"What was that loud noise from outside?"
"Gordon, what the hell are you—damn it all."
More figures emerged from behind, spotted the downed pair, and backpedaled.
"I-Intruders!"
They bellowed, drawing a tsunami of people from the room—clad in armor with unique markings, different from Mu Yeon's. These had to be the heretics the old man warned about.
...After this, I'd interrogate that old fart. Predicting something this big was already beyond belief.
From the surging crowd, two stood out, striding forward with a different aura. Massive greatswords. Grim faces. Bushy mustaches. These guys looked like the leaders of this armed bunch.
"Who'd have thought knights would storm all the way down here."
"Figured you lot just leeched taxes off the territory folk and lived easy. Didn't expect you to move on a big day like today."
One glance screamed veteran—tough customers.
"Same old crap."
"...They look pretty rough."
"Use this chance to practice your Meditatio, Mu Yeon. Humans won't scare you much."
"...Understood!"
Mu Yeon responded boldly. The three knights assumed combat stances.
"...Kill 'em all!"
The roar signaled the fight's start.