Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Permission for the Abyss
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Stella couldn’t believe what had just happened.
At first, she’d thought she could win easily. She’d heard of the Silver Dawn Knights and knew their level of skill, but since he was a newbie who’d just joined, she figured he wouldn’t be that strong.
She’d assumed the reason he’d challenged her to a spar was because a fresh recruit, drunk on his inflated confidence, had overestimated his own abilities.
So after the match, she’d planned to offer some light advice to the stunned newbie who’d suffered an overwhelming defeat: don’t get arrogant, don’t act cocky, work harder.
But now, the one left dazed and bewildered was Stella herself.
None of Stella’s attacks had landed. No matter where she aimed, how she swung, or how hard she struck down. That man blocked them all as if he’d known exactly what she was going to do, without a hint of strain.
Later, she’d even cloaked herself in holy power and swung her flail with all her might, but even those attacks were casually deflected by what looked like an utterly ordinary sword.
Unlike Stella, the man didn’t even seem to be going all out. His breathing hadn’t quickened at all. He just furrowed his brow slightly each time he blocked.
One hit. Just one solid blow would have shattered the Blessing of the Moon around her body and ended the spar. It wouldn’t even have needed a direct hit—a glancing strike would’ve done it.
Yet right up until the Blessing of the Moon expired, Stella hadn’t landed a single attack.
It was the first time. The first time she’d been toyed with and defeated like this. The first time she’d felt such an insurmountable gap with a man.
All of it.
‘Was the shock too much?’
I looked at Stella, slumped on the ground with her mouth agape and a blank expression, while rubbing my wrist.
My right arm was still tingling. It could withstand the impact, sure, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Every time I blocked the flail, it felt like a low-frequency vibration was buzzing through my wrist.
If I taunted her here that it was no big deal, it’d be perfect revenge, but I didn’t want to poke the bear. Who knew what reaction she’d have.
Still, I half-meant it. In vanilla, maybe not, but in Narak mode, bosses wielding massive weapons classified as extra-large were relatively easier.
A light swipe from a dagger or a full-force greatsword swing—either way, it was a one-shot. So bosses with lots of small attacks were naturally more annoying.
Bosses with checks or relentless combo patterns were top priority threats. Miss the former even once and you’re hit; slip on even one of the latter’s attacks and you’re dead.
The perfect example was Rize.
“So, Inquisitor.”
“…….”
Her dazed eyes, staring up at me blankly, shifted slightly to the side. No answer, but at least she was listening.
“Don’t you have anything to say to me? Like, maybe some info to share, or granting entry permission or something.”
“……?”
A flicker of light returned to her eyes. But the emotion in those green ones was puzzlement. Like she had no idea what I was talking about.
Now it was my turn to be flustered.
In the game, after winning the spar, the Inquisitor would laugh heartily, praise the player’s skill, and reveal the location of a certain Rune Dungeon. She’d say it might be clearable with that level of strength.
You could obtain the rune needed to fight the DLC’s final boss in that very dungeon.
“D-don’t… kn-know…”
Stella stammered. I frowned slightly. This was a problem. I knew the Rune Dungeon’s location roughly, but entering required the Inquisitor’s permission.
As a dungeon containing a rune, it was directly managed by the Holy Kingdom. Knowing the location didn’t mean you could just waltz in.
‘Should I just say it outright?’
The thought crossed my mind to straight-up ask if she could let me into the Rune Dungeon. The story was already derailed anyway, so forcing an answer like that shouldn’t matter much.
Her reaction after the spar seemed to have had a big impact. In the game, she’d laugh and praise the player’s skill, but now she was completely out of it.
“Is there something you need?”
As I pondered how to get the Rune Dungeon entry permit from Stella, Selene suddenly stepped up beside me.
Her usual stoic, icy expression held a faint glimpse of surprise directed at me.
Something I needed? Of course. I needed to grab the rune for the boss room in the Rune Dungeon ASAP and move on to the next story beat. But whether I should tell Selene that was questionable.
“If it’s something you can’t say in this open space, I understand.”
Misinterpreting my silence somehow, Selene glanced at the battle nuns surrounding us and nodded. It wasn’t really because of them.
“Follow me.”
“Ah!”
Selene grabbed my wrist and yanked. Seeing that, Stella let out an “Ah!” and reached out as if to stop us, only to let her arm drop limply.
Selene, gripping my wrist, strode off somewhere. I meekly followed. No harm in tagging along for now.
“This way.”
Selene only released my wrist after entering an empty cathedral far from the training grounds. It was made of gray-tinged marble and silver, giving an overall dark, somber feel.
I had a rough idea of where this was. Grayish-white light filtered through the stained glass, and the ceiling featured an image shaped like the moon. No mistaking it.
This had to be a chapel dedicated to the Pope of the Moon.
“You seemed to have something to say to the Inquisitor. What is it you wish to request? If it’s not related to the Sun, anything the Inquisitor can do, I can handle as well.”
Her purple eyes stared straight at me. It stemmed from a misunderstanding, but here, it was worth a shot. No loss if it failed.
Having finished my calculations, I spoke.
“Could you grant permission to enter the Rune Dungeon nearby?”
“You mean the ‘Abyss’?”
“Yes. That’s the one.”
“……I trust you understand what requesting entry to a Rune Dungeon entails.”
I nodded. Declaring intent to enter a Rune Dungeon meant claiming and absorbing the rune inside for yourself.
Most discoverers just swallowed them up anyway, so it was nominal, but discovered Rune Dungeons were treated as national property.
Who knew what useful effects the rune might have? Something straightforward like amplifying magic power would have every mage swarming.
But I wasn’t from the Holy Kingdom—I was from the Empire. In other words, it was like a foreigner trying to snatch another nation’s asset.
“I do. But it shouldn’t be an issue. The Holy Kingdom failed to conquer it anyway and just left it abandoned, right?”
Selene flinched as if struck at her core.
Why did this dungeon, discovered long ago, still have its rune intact? Because the Holy Kingdom had failed to clear it multiple times.
That’s why the Inquisitor granted entry so readily—it was like saying, if you’re strong enough to beat me, why not give it a shot? With a warning about the dangers, of course.
So the player returns after clearing it, and everyone’s shocked.
“…….”
Selene bowed her head deeply, lost in thought. I heard murmurs. She seemed so deep in contemplation she didn’t realize her thoughts were leaking out.
Most was unintelligible. The few phrases I caught were cryptic words impossible to interpret alone.
“Very well, honored guest.”
It took a while, but permission finally came. Even as Selene said I could go to the Rune Dungeon, she emphasized it repeatedly, clearly uneasy.
“Normally, this is something I should never allow, but I’ll trust in the skill that thoroughly overwhelmed the Inquisitor in the spar.”
Her purple eyes hardened with resolve.
“But keep this in mind. That place is no different from an abyss of unknown depths. The moment you descend where the outside light can’t reach, anything could happen. And down there, even the Holy Kingdom cannot fully protect you. Not even I could. Understand?”
“Of course. So no need to worry.”
“You should worry. It’s a dungeon where we descended for a full twelve hours and still didn’t reach the end. How could we not?”
I suppressed a laugh as I looked at Selene’s tense expression. Twelve hours and no end? Sure, if you followed the proper path layer by layer.
Other ways took less than twenty minutes.