Scriptures in the Filth

We approached the pile of junk. Upon closer inspection, it looked like a stack of holy scriptures.

"Sister! Look at this! Here, right here!"

"...Doctrines? How, how could the words of the Goddess be here?"

That was the two priests' reaction.

"For now, let's not touch them. Just in case."

"Ah, yes. Seeing scriptures covered in writing so suddenly... I forgot for a moment that this is a dungeon."

"Lady Justitia's words are here too. This, this is utterly impossible! It can't be!"

Kaya regained her composure, but Shae's face flushed red with excitement—no, closer to rage.

"How can the words of Lady Justitia and Lady Raella be written in a dungeon? Those filthy heretics worshiping nonsense filth worse than trash, how, how!"

"Shae."

"It's blasphemyit'sdenyingthetruthweshouldchargeinrightnowandcleavetheirfoulheadsintwoemptytheirskullsandsmashthoseeyesthatseewrong!"

Ah. I knew instinctively. This mentality drain wasn't from the dungeon's unique darkness and horror—it was because of Shae's outburst.

A chill like the one from the instance dungeon crawled through my body.

"Shae."

"Itcan'tbeItcan'tbeItcan'tbedaredifthyhereticfilthtrashlikeyoudaringtoreceivetheGoddess'swordsandetchtheminyoureyesweshouldcrushyournailsbreakyourfingersjointbyjointand…."

"Shae!"

I grabbed both her cheeks hard. Exaggerating a bit, it was like the sound of a slap.

Her dead eyes, fixed on the scattered scriptures while spewing her chilling violent rap, suddenly came back to life.

"Captain...?"

"Yeah, Shae. Calm down. There are no heretics here right now. Just these papers."

"But they're here!"

"Those bastards have been pulling their shit for ages, haven't they? They ruin others' lives and faiths for their own beliefs. In their den like this place, seeing doctrines of Raella and Justitia isn't impossible."

"Captain!"

Shae's eyes showed disappointment, like how could you say ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something so harsh? Shae. You have to listen to the end.

"What we need to do isn't just rage at their bullshit here—we need to decide what to do with this. Time's ticking even now."

"Ahh."

This wasn't a rest spot. It was the middle of the passage. Standing still was never a good choice, and I made sure she knew that.

She'd been through enough to get here, so she nodded right away. But if it ended like this, their anger as servants of the goddess would burn incompletely.

I naturally steered their fury toward the scriptures.

"I don't think those bastards suddenly decided to repent in this creepy place and accepted these doctrines."

"Of course not!"

"Then why? Why bother?"

"Well..."

Because heretics. The word hovered on Shae's lips.

Catch heretics. Smash heretics. In that process, why wasn't that important.

Why catch them? Heretics.

Why smash them? Heretics.

What mattered was where the heretics hid like bugs, how many crawled around.

But the two most important things lost meaning here in this special place, the dungeon.

Where are the heretics? Everyone except us.

How many? Everyone except us.

Shae stopped herself from saying it, waiting for the calm captain's next words.

"I haven't seen the details ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yet, so this is just my guess. But the reason these papers with the goddesses' doctrines are here... maybe to twist them to their taste?"

"Captain. What do you mean?"

"Twisting the dominant surface religions to their own interpretation. That they're right. See? Even stuck here, we have the true faith. So we worship harder."

This wasn't in the official settings. But inferring this much was easy—just add a story on top of the scriptures' lore.

Before they reignited on their own, I guided the direction.

"So. How about the two with true 'faith' make that bundle of insidious evil intent right?"

"Make it... right?"

"Like preserving the purity of the doctrines written there. Washing a white garment stained black."

Pour your anger here! I stamped a virtual seal on the scriptures. And casually pulled holy water from my bag as a bonus.

"Might need this, in case of tricks."

"...As expected, Captain knows the answer."

"You're right. We'll thoroughly condemn and crush their trash intentions!"

Kaya and Shae snatched the holy water vials aggressively and approached the scriptures. They grimaced, then suddenly poured the holy water over them.

Sizzle—!

A sound like meat searing on a hot iron plate echoed through the dungeon. But the smell and smoke were foul.

Wait, is that okay?

My mouth and hands itched. But I wasn't the expert. Purifying scriptures was just clicking the mouse two or three times—the heroes handled it in seconds. I'd only seen brief illustrations.

Failed: Heroes clutching heads, eyes bloodshot, screaming.

Success: Solemn prayer, hands clasped, tears flowing.

Absurd face watching scriptures turn to dust.

I'd succeeded in directing their fiery rage, but the actual process was beyond me.

Even with higher difficulty, scriptures haven't changed.

From easiest to hardest. Purification odds, penalties, rewards—all the same.

Priest-class heroes using holy water had 0% madness chance on failure too.

New outcome here?

Fuck that. It'd make this a trash game.

If I'm scared of risk-free lottery scratches, how do I clear Zone 2, Zone 3? Let alone the new DLC Zone 4.

I trusted my judgment. My knowledge and experience still held.

New mechanics, spiking difficulty, elements ignored in-game.

Luck helped, but this was always a luck-based trash game. Variable base attack and hit rates in a turn-based roguelike proved it.

Planning with luck, and it works? That's skill.

Choosing to purify usually skipped scriptures. Whatever the result, I'd take responsibility.

Sizzle—

Watching anxiously out of their sight, lest I interfere—the thick black smoke had turned pale gray, the foul smell faded.

Listening closely, they murmured doctrines while dripping holy water steadily.

"With warm mercy nurturing the lambs, with cool tolerance banishing the unjust..."

"Justitia's light shines on rich and poor, strong and weak, man and woman, old and young alike—spreading that will is true justice, and the hand extended to those who defy it..."

Half-closed eyes staring piercingly at the scriptures, dripping holy water evenly with one hand, nonstop reciting doctrines—their saintly priestess vibe felt distant.

But so what? Even if they looked nightmare-fuel—honestly—they were my comrades. Doing their best.

Their rage would turn on monsters. Utterly reliable.

Better not interrupt.

1st run, Kaya in 1-1 smiling rapturously with bloodied flail—still vivid.

Sizzle—

Finally, the endless smoke sound stopped. Empty vials, but their militant murmurs ceased.

They don't seem crazy... fuck, this is tense.

Gulp. Stepping forward took serious mental effort. If this were manga, dark auras around them, goooo— SFX.

"Um, Kaya? Shae?"

One more brave step toward the zealous priests fresh from hell.

Thud.

Kaya and Shae knelt in place. My heart dropped.

Was my judgment wrong? Why? Evidence was solid? 0% madness formula broken? No way, right? Tell me no!

"Kaya! Shae! You okay—"

"Aaaah—! Lady Raella—!"

"Lady Justitia...! Haaah...!"

"...Huh?"

Jackpot great success rewards—positive traits! Doubled lottery left me stunned.

"Ahh, my Goddess. Not just warmth, but cool-headedness too...!"

"Haa, haa. Lady Justitia...!"

But seeing comrades kneel on cold stone, lost in trance, sighing rapturously—chills unavoidable.

Sigh, so precise.

Sorry to interrupt their ecstasy, but work done—no lingering. Mentality drained twice from purification.

"Hngh?!"

"Hyah!"

Grabbing shoulders, they startled, looked up—faces reddened, jumped up.

I cleared throat, pointed torch forward. Shae laughed haha, took lead again.

Not S-tier traits, but solid ones. At this stage, we'd kowtow for them. Good. Very good.

Seeing their second positive traits filled me with satisfaction. Sweet reward for right judgment.

"Captain."

"Yeah. Keep the momentum, let's go."

"Yes!"

We'd faced danger in 1-3, overcome ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it—now riding the winning vibe.

"Open."

Shae opened 1-5's door with light steps.