Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: The Demon's Book
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The exploration went fairly smoothly. After taking down around thirty undead priests and holy knights combined, I confirmed that both items I wanted had dropped. It hadn't taken as long as I'd thought.
I grabbed them and headed straight for the room with the book. Contrary to my worries, the dungeon's layout matched the game perfectly, so finding my way was easy.
I ignored the undead that occasionally appeared along the path. With the items secured, there was no need to tangle with them.
'Anyone could tell this is the place.'
The entrance to the room where the demon slept was covered in what looked like sacred objects, densely inscribed with prayers in the Holy Nation's script. Even those undead didn't dare approach it.
In truth, they wouldn't have needed all this; just locking the door would have prevented anyone else from entering, ensuring the demon could never break its seal on its own. But those people didn't know that.
I circled the room, searching for a pile of collapsed stones. Everywhere else was pristine, but one spot had crumbled, making it easy to identify.
I approached the pile and grunted as I rolled aside the rock at the front. This revealed a narrow hole just big enough for a person to crawl through.
I immediately crawled inside.
The passage was a bit shorter than my height, so my head soon emerged on the other side. Just to be safe, I checked the surroundings before climbing out fully. Relieved to find no enemies, I stood up.
The space felt ominous and foreboding. Like my strength was slowly draining away, bit by bit.
In the game, you could stay here forever without any debuffs, so it was probably just my imagination.
I looked around. The torches fixed to the walls had burned down to the handles long ago, leaving only ash. In the center of the room stood a rectangular altar.
And on that altar lay the book I'd been looking for.
'Found it.'
This was the book sealing the demon. It was about the width of one knuckle on my finger, and both the cover and the pages inside were a pitch-black shade.
I approached the altar and picked up the book without hesitation. The demon was so weakened that simply grabbing it posed no threat.
The cover was covered in lines of unknown script. According to the lore, it was written in the demon's language, but I had no interest in reading it, so I just skimmed past.
Instead, I pulled out the items from my pouch at my waist—the ones I'd been waiting to drop while beating down those undead priests and holy knights.
These were the fragments of the demon's flesh scattered throughout the cave.
They were a sickly dark red overall, occasionally twitching on their own in a nauseating way. They reminded me of animal livers I'd seen online once.
'Livers don't twitch by themselves, though.'
Grumbling under my breath, I pressed one piece of flesh against the book. The book slowly absorbed it. It was like the two merging back into their original form.
The second piece was the same. The book slurped it up with a squelch, then went still once absorption was complete. The cover's color had turned a shade redder.
That did it. I tucked the book away into the bag I'd brought specifically for it. Now, before returning to the knights' order, I just needed one more item.
'I must've leveled up at least twice by now, right?'
I mentally tallied the experience I'd gained so far. Just from the headless armored riders alone, I should've gained at least two levels.
If not, I could always head out for a quick leveling session after getting back to the order.
Crawling out was the same as crawling in. The door hadn't been designed for entry or exit, so there was no handle.
As I stood up, the shambling undead fixed their rotten, oozing eyes on me. But they didn't attack like before.
It was because of the book I was holding.
These things had all been resurrected as undead by fragments of the demon's flesh, so of course they wouldn't attack me while I carried the book infused with the demon itself.
Plus, they wouldn't sense any strong holy power from me. They'd probably just think I was a demon worshipper retrieving the book to break the seal.
I stared blankly at the gathering undead, then turned toward the opposite path from where I'd come. They were basically sandbags in this situation, but I had no desire to risk it.
If I got unlucky, the book might absorb another flesh fragment.
With the book in hand, killing them wouldn't drop the flesh as loot—it would get sucked straight into the book, which could completely derail my plan.
Besides, before collecting the fragments, they just kept respawning no matter how many times you killed them, making their experience efficiency abysmal. On my first playthrough, each kill gave like 2 or 3 experience points.
Even at my pitiful level, that wasn't worth the time. Better grinding spots were everywhere.
'It just doesn't add up financially.'
The path wound this way and that. There were plenty of undead along the way, but they all just stared blankly at me without taking any action.
I kicked aside the ones blocking the path without a second thought and kept going. How long had it been when I spotted the end in the distance? It was a dead end.
'There are bones... just as expected.'
Leaning against the wall ahead was a completely desiccated skeleton, collapsed in death. One of the priests dispatched here from the Holy Nation long ago to subdue the demon.
Its robes were fancier than the others, and unlike the rest, it hadn't risen as an undead—it lay dead as is. Players speculated it must've been an incredibly powerful priest.
I approached the skeleton and carefully searched its robes. Something sharp caught near the waist. I pulled it out.
In my hand was an ordinary-looking dagger.
Forged with holy power, it showed no rust and remained razor-sharp despite the ages. In the game, it'd have the prefix "Blessed."
'I can pick it up after all. Swinging it now probably wouldn't unleash its full power, though.'
I carefully tucked it into my bosom. If the demon-infused book was key to luring out the lord, this dagger was key to dealing with the lured lord.
There was nothing more for me here.
I kicked aside the undead—who just stared blankly without acting—just like on the way in, and after a long walk, emerged outside. Darkness had fully fallen around me.
I lit a torch and scanned the area as I headed toward the horse. It was tied obediently to a tree and whinnied happily at the sight of me. I stroked its mane once, then secured my bag to the saddle.
Now it was time to return to the knights' order and kill that lord.
In a room adorned with all manner of sacred items, a woman opened her eyes.
There was no light source inside, but the stained glass taking up an entire wall let in the full moon's glow, illuminating the room brightly.
She rose and approached the window, quietly clasping her hands before her chest. A holy power blending yellow and white hues appeared around her intertwined fingers.
How long had it been when the door burst open? In walked a woman with a beaming smile on her face.
"What is it, Your Holiness?"
"The demon's seal has been broken."
"Oh my."
The woman covered her mouth with her right hand as if shocked by the words of the one she'd called Your Holiness. But it wasn't a genuine expression—just a performative show of surprise.
"Which seal was it? All the ones in our Holy Nation are under strict management... so it must be one from the Empire, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Should we go capture the one who broke it? Or subdue the demon?"
The one called Your Holiness shook her head slightly.
"There's no need. Light exists there as well."
"Light... hmm, well. I just don't trust that woman."
"She wields the holy sword. A mere demon won't even be a match for her. Put your worries aside."
"That makes sense. Her personality's a mess, but she does have the holy sword. So, if we're not going after the seal-breaker or subduing the demon right away, why did you call me?"
"I simply wanted to relay the facts. I only just realized it myself now that the seal is broken, but that demon's power is greatly weakened. Even one of our novice nuns could dispatch it with ease."
"Even so, it means nothing to the Empire's people. Weakened or not, without faith, you can't kill a demon. If anything, stepping in might just feed it power—and we'd be lucky if it didn't."
The Pope nodded. Her long, wavy golden hair cascaded to the floor like waves of gold.
"Then I'll at least tell the others. We're not waging a holy war against the demon, but since it's a possibility, they should train harder than usual. Is that enough?"
"Yes, that's sufficient."
The woman turned to leave with a grin, but paused as if remembering something. "Ah!"
"Your Holiness. One more thing?"
"Of course."
"If we do end up setting out for a holy war later, what about the one who broke the demon's seal?"
Her green eyes narrowed. They gleamed with cruel emotion, her emerald pupils flickering with sadistic glee.
"Do as you wish. I won't interfere, Inquisitor."
"Gladly."
The one called the Inquisitor smiled broadly, bowed her head lightly, and left the room. The Pope stared at the closed door for a moment before turning toward the stained glass.
"Your Holiness. One more thing."
Or rather, she tried to. The Inquisitor had suddenly poked her head back through the door.
Her flippant attitude and tone were so unbecoming for someone meeting the Pope that it could annoy anyone, yet the Pope opened her mouth in a calm, gentle voice.
"What else remains?"
"Do I not need to tell the Pope of the Moon separately?"
At the question, the Pope glanced at the full moon's light shining through the stained glass.
"That won't be necessary."
A perfectly round full moon hung in the sky.
"Because it's already a night of the full moon."