Chapter 485: An Uninvited Guest
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 485: An Uninvited Guest
Once the magical bombardment, which had seemed as endless as the monsoon rains, finally ceased, the undead that had filled the corridor were gone without a trace.
It was an expected outcome.
Although they were only 3rd Circle spells, amplified by the staff's effect, their power was comparable to that of the 4th Circle.
And I had fired dozens of them.
What was more surprising was that the dungeon had maintained its form without collapsing amidst such a fierce battle.
If this had been a dungeon in another world, it wouldn't have been strange if we had all been buried alive together long ago.
I offered a brief prayer for the martyrs who hadn't even left ashes behind.
“Amen.”
Tiring—
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ expresses gratitude for your prayer for the martyrs.」
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ sponsors you with 5,000 WP.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ glares with wide eyes.」
「“What? Why are you here?!”」
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ glances sideways at the ‘Saintess of Uruk.’」
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ shakes her head.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ throws a fit.」
「“Don’t ignore me!!”」
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ bursts into loud laughter.」
Reading through the indirect messages cluttering my vision, I was momentarily taken aback. An entirely unexpected name had popped up.
Herald of the Pure Lily.
It was Gabriel's epithet.
‘...I didn't know she was watching. Was she worried about me?’
Then again, from her perspective, it made sense to be concerned.
If we failed to retrieve the Fragment of Power, her entire plan would unravel from the very beginning.
I bowed my head slightly toward the empty air.
“Thank you for the sponsorship, Constellation.”
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ smiles brightly.」
「The Constellation, ‘Herald of the Pure Lily,’ cheers you on.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of Uruk,’ glares at you with displeasure.」
「“Are you happy?”」
“...”
I kept my mouth shut.
Experience had taught me that running my mouth in situations like this never led to anything good.
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ clicks his tongue, saying a woman's jealousy is unbecoming.」
「The Constellation, ‘Goddess with Three Faces,’ glares at the ‘Dancing Destroyer.’」
「“You weren’t referring to me, I hope?”」
「An earthquake erupts in the eyes of the ‘Dancing Destroyer.’」
「The Constellation, ‘Dancing Destroyer,’ shakes his head violently, insisting that could never be the case.」
Thankfully, the Dancing Destroyer drew the aggro.
I took the opportunity to swipe the screen away from my view.
As I did, one particular indirect message caught my eye.
「The Constellation, ‘Rider of the Red Cross,’ trembles.」
「The Constellation, ‘Saintess of the Palm Tree,’ prays while breaking out in a cold sweat.」
Two Constellations had started acting strangely the moment Gabriel appeared.
I tilted my head for a moment at the 180-degree change in the ‘Rider of the Red Cross,’ who had been burning with killing intent, oblivious to my concern for the martyrs.
‘Well... I guess it’s to be expected?’
It wasn't strange, but rather natural, for a Christian saint to be flustered by Gabriel's appearance.
But what I needed to focus on now was the sudden appearance of the ‘Saintess of the Palm Tree.’
I had a few guesses as to her identity.
The palm tree is a symbol of martyrdom, and with the epithet ‘Saintess’ attached, the list of candidates narrowed down to four.
The ones known as the four great virgin martyrs: Agnes, Agatha, Cecilia, and Lucia.
She was probably one of them.
The question was, which one...
“...Well, do I really need to know?”
It might have been a different story if one of the four was particularly famous or had an eccentric personality.
But all of them were individuals worthy of being called saints.
In other words, there was no need to go through the trouble of finding out her true name and being wary of her.
The more important question was why she had appeared so suddenly, and it was highly likely related to this tomb.
After all, as the four great virgin martyrs, they had all met tragic ends.
Fwoosh—
As I used my lightness skill to race down the corridor, the changing scenery around me confirmed my hypothesis.
Dozens of bodies were interred within the damp stone walls. The stench of rotting corpses was an added bonus.
“I expected this since it’s called the Tomb of Martyrs, but I didn't think it would actually be a catacomb.”
Catacomb.
A word meaning underground tunnel, originally used as a subterranean cemetery in ancient Rome, but now widely known as a place of worship where Christians hid to escape persecution.
And each of the four great virgin martyrs had a catacomb named after her.
‘It’s safe to assume the owner of the message I saw upon entering the dungeon was the Saintess of the Palm Tree.’
Perhaps Gabriel had entrusted Lucifer's Fragment of Power to her.
If a highest-ranking deity like Gabriel directly interfered with the lower floors, the other archangels would surely find it suspicious.
‘The problem is, where did she hide it...’
“Kieeeek!!!”
“Uwoooar...!!!”
BOOM!
I continued my search, launching fireballs at the undead swarming from all sides.
They were treated as named monsters, so killing them gave a decent amount of Luna, but they didn't give any WP, and I was starting to find it tedious.
‘...What’s that?’
Something was picked up by the Mana Detection and Detection Magic I kept active to map the labyrinth's structure.
I immediately changed direction and flew toward it.
“...”
Before long, I found a Holy Knight, collapsed in a pool of blood, his body already cold.
The cause of death was so obvious anyone could tell at a glance.
Where his heart should have been, there was a gaping hole, as if it had been gouged out with a drill.
It went without saying that in an 8th-floor dungeon primarily inhabited by undead, there were no monsters capable of inflicting such a piercing wound.
Of course, a monster that used magic, like a Skeleton Mage, might be able to, but...
‘...The cross-section of the wound is crude.’
This was unmistakably a sword wound.
I knelt on one knee and placed a hand on his neck.
Still warm.
Proof that he had been killed only a short while ago.
“Excuse me.”
Clank—
I slowly removed the Holy Knight's helmet.
A man with a rough, strong-willed expression. His face suggested he had just entered his late forties.
I didn't know his name, but I recognized him.
Just thirty minutes ago, he had been chewing on beef jerky, endlessly bragging about his daughter.
Though not on the same level as Commander Rusleck, he was a Holy Knight of the Twilight Holy Society and a fairly skilled player among those on the lower floors.
And he had been murdered in a place like this.
‘...Who did this?’
The tension that had slackened grew taut, and all my senses began to sharpen.
The foul stench of blood tickling my nose, the dark clouds hanging over the entire dungeon, and the sense of crisis prickling the back of my neck.
I closed the nameless Holy Knight's eyes and offered a prayer.
“...May you find peace.”
BOOM!
The moment I finished the short prayer, I kicked off the ground and pushed my Formless Electric Body to its limit.
I didn't spare a single bit of my internal energy.
Now, as I traversed the labyrinth like a flash of light, the scenery blurred past with every blink.
There was no time to waste.
Unless I was mistaken, what lingered on the Holy Knight's wound was—
‘Demonic energy.’
The trace of a demon.
*
While Kang Hyun-woo was left all alone in the depths of the dungeon, the rest of his party members had also been scattered to different locations.
The one silver lining was that most of them weren't alone.
Lee Serin had been dropped near the dungeon entrance with two Holy Knights, while Wi Ryeong-ah was wandering through the dungeon's center with the vice-commander, the only woman in the Celis Holy Knights.
Unfortunately, like the Holy Knight Kang Hyun-woo had found dead, some had been dropped into the dungeon by themselves.
“...Another dead end.”
Staring at the passage blocked by a stone wall, Yoo Ah-rin furrowed her brow slightly.
It had been twenty minutes since she entered the dungeon.
After confirming no one was around, she had immediately begun exploring the labyrinth, but her efforts had been fruitless.
Common sense dictated that staying put was the best course of action when lost, but Yoo Ah-rin recalled Kang Hyun-woo's advice.
—Monsters are fundamentally stupid, but they can also be cunning. If you ever get separated in a dungeon, never stay in one place for too long. You'll be surrounded before you know it.
Even without his advice, sitting still and waiting for rescue wasn't in Yoo Ah-rin's nature.
‘...I can't be protected forever.’
Yoo Ah-rin was aware of it herself.
From the Tutorial Floor to the 8th floor, she had always received help, both seen and unseen, from Kang Hyun-woo and Lucifer.
The fact that she never had to worry about dying even if she made a mistake during a floor test was proof of that.
While it was undeniable that she had grown remarkably compared to before, her combat sense was still stuck in the days when she had wielded her sword alone.
Yoo Ah-rin wanted to break free from the person she used to be.
Even if it meant putting herself in danger.
If Kang Hyun-woo had seen her, he would have told her not to be so impatient and flicked her on the forehead, but unfortunately, he wasn't here.
“I should head back for now.”
Scribble, scribble—
Taking a small notebook from her pocket, Yoo Ah-rin sketched out a map with a pen.
Of course, she was terrible at drawing, so it wasn't very legible, but as long as she could understand it, that was enough.
‘I'll go back to the third fork and take the right path. The number of monsters is increasing, but it's still manageable.’
Putting the notebook away, Yoo Ah-rin caressed the hilt of her sword.
Having dealt with about ten monsters so far, her eyes were filled with confidence.
Naturally, she had to worry about Corpse Poison from fighting the undead, but thanks to the antidote she had brought, she didn't need to pay it much mind.
Even if a high-level monster appeared, she had been conserving her strength to manage her stamina, so she judged she could handle it.
The only variable was the curse called ‘Persecuted Faith.’
Vrrr—
Just then, her wristwatch alarm went off.
“...Haaah, I guess I should pray before I move.”
Yoo Ah-rin put her hands together with an annoyed expression.
Being irreligious, her posture was awkward, but with her looks, even that looked like a scene from a drama.
The moment she stood up after finishing her short prayer—
“You’re quite devout for a player, aren’t you?”
“?!!”
Shing—!
At the unfamiliar voice coming from around the corner, Yoo Ah-rin reflexively drew her sword.
A quiet killing intent flickered in her blue eyes.
Having perfectly memorized the features of every member of the Holy Knights, the thought that the person might be an ally never even crossed her mind.
‘An unfamiliar voice and presence... Is it a monster mimicking a person?’
She had heard stories of such monsters, but she tried to deny the possibility.
A monster with the intelligence and ability to imitate a human would be a high-level monster far beyond her current capabilities.
In that moment, when one second felt like an hour...
Click, clack—
The owner of the voice finally appeared from around the corner.
Black-dyed pupils and horns sprouting from her forehead. And an ominous aura that her instincts rejected.
Relieved for a moment that it wasn't a high-level monster like a doppelganger, a cold sweat trickled down Yoo Ah-rin's fine brow.
Looking at her, the woman's eyes curved into a beautiful smile.
“Hello?”