Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Delivery
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"If it's Fallen Priest, you'll surely succeed."
"I'm a bit anxious, though. The people he selected are all geared toward direct combat..."
After Fallen Priest departed for the south with a large contingent, the temple's priests and some heroes were already discussing post-conquest measures, assuming the dungeon would be cleared.
"Regarding the placement of the holy relics recovered from the dungeon..."
"Perhaps we should send some of the dungeon core remnants to the Magic Tower..."
No one doubted that Fallen Priest would succeed in conquering the dungeon. And why would they? This was Fallen Priest. The strongest shield, known as the right arm of the Radiant Hero Lumen.
Leading with his invincible body that no attack could pierce, Fallen Priest's combat prowess might fall slightly short of 5-star heroes or other 4-stars, but his unique survivability surpassed even the 5-stars.
With that kind of survivability, no matter which dungeon he was thrown into, he could return safely, formulate a new conquest plan based on the intel gathered, and challenge it again. This was the secret behind Lumen and Fallen Priest conquering countless dungeons in the past.
It might take some time, but in the end, Fallen Priest would bring them good news.
"Let's focus on other matters rather than that dungeon. You've all received reports on the unusual activity in the other dungeons lately, right?"
"Hmph. Those demon bastards... They've been quiet for so long."
"We should have exterminated them all."
The people gathered in the temple conference room naturally expressed their hatred and murderous intent toward the demons. After all, that was the 'righteous' path their temple always preached, the will of the gods.
"But this time, it's more serious. In the past, they were busy just surviving among themselves... Now there's signs they're forming an 'alliance'."
"Tch. Even one is disgusting enough, but an alliance?"
"We can't just leave the dungeons alone like before. Things could spiral out of control."
The previous emperor had suddenly implemented and maintained a policy of 'preserving' the dungeons, but most of the temple's upper echelons couldn't comprehend it and had consistently petitioned to abolish it.
They could barely wait to exterminate those loathsome demons, yet 'preserve' them? They mentioned dungeons would keep appearing anyway... But wouldn't wiping out all demons capable of being chosen by dungeon cores solve that?
Thus, some in the temple's upper ranks even welcomed this new dungeon outbreak. It seemed like the perfect chance to finally shatter that foolish policy.
"High Priest! The Temple of Return just reacted...!"
"Tch. Let's go."
Upon hearing the report that the Temple of Return had activated, they halted the meeting and rushed there. What they encountered was a 1-star hero transported with a caved-in skull.
"Hm. This one's one of the heroes Fallen Priest selected."
"He seemed pretty hot-blooded... Looks like he was the first to fall. Fortunately, the holy relic was recovered intact."
Ignoring the dead hero entirely, they immediately checked the holy relic. And understandably so—generally, only 3-star heroes or above registered at the Temple of Return. This corpse was just a mere 1-star.
Fallen Priest had pushed hard to register the entire new dungeon conquest team, but from their perspective, 1-star heroes weren't particularly valuable.
"For now, log the time and order an analysis of the cause of death. Given Fallen Priest's conquest style, gathering intel comes first."
"Honestly, with Fallen Priest's caliber... I doubt he'll even need to retreat and regroup for this dungeon."
And right before these people, who chattered nonchalantly with a human corpse in front of them, the Temple of Return suddenly activated repeatedly.
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
"........."
"........."
The priests, who had been composed at the arrival of one corpse, all fell silent in unison. Corpses that looked like they'd been caught in an explosion—mangled and gruesome. Every single one matched the faces on the list of people Fallen Priest had selected.
"...It seems the dungeon is tougher than expected."
One of the high priests nearby carefully chose his words, and the others shot him glares.
The temple officials, stunned speechless by the sudden mass of corpses, waited but no more arrived. Gradually loosening their frozen expressions, they cautiously broached the topic.
"Looks like they overcame the difficulty safely."
"Hmph. Most of the corpses are 1-stars. No 2- or 3-stars."
"No need to worry too much, then."
Just as the officials regained some composure and started chatting...
-Flash!
"Hm? The temple again..."
"Another 1-star hero... Urk!"
"Uwaaagh!!"
'It' had been delivered.
"Master. Didn't you say last time that magic tool wasn't meant for use on humans?"
"...Quiet."
I'm about to puke right now.
After turning Fallen Priest into what was once Fallen Priest, I suppressed the urge to vomit and first used [Fast Travel] to send Erzsebet toward the entrance where my kin and Lilith were fighting. Then I moved to a spot a bit further away myself.
What entered my view were my kin, still fiercely clinging to the heroes despite missing limbs, and Erzsebet, who had somehow leaped into their midst and was rampaging.
"Even here, on a battlefield like this, I can go wild...!"
She looked kind of thrilled? Anyway, as Erzsebet said, facing a large group where everyone was bleeding made her go berserk just as described, mowing them down...
"Leave some alive."
"...Got it, Master."
At my words, Erzsebet's momentum faltered as she grumbled and knocked out the remaining heroes. Most had been caught in the explosions and were suffering oxygen deprivation, making it relatively easy to subdue them.
Ah, easy by Erzsebet's standards, of course.
"As expected, Master is amazing."
"........."
Looking at the heroes, bound and thoroughly weakened, and my kin, most missing limbs, showed these heroes weren't pushovers either...
'Lilith, was it? Impressive.'
Most heroes had shown signs of retreat once weakened and casualties mounted, but Lilith deserved the credit for neutralizing them. They probably hadn't noticed, but her mist had been subtly eroding them from the start.
In fact, the initial collapses were mostly from falling asleep under Lilith's influence rather than oxygen lack. Even Erzsebet hadn't realized she was under an illusion... A truly remarkable ability.
To avoid the priests dispelling the hallucinations, I'd deliberately detonated the bomb bottles near where they clustered.
"Got them all, Master."
"Good job."
In the end, even the spear-wielding hero—who had held out longest but seemed mentally shaken—had been subdued by Erzsebet and gathered with the rest. She was giving them just enough oxygen to keep them alive, then asked curiously,
"But Master, why spare them?"
"There's a reason... Erzsebet, can you turn humans into kin too?"
"Hmm. Personally, I don't want human kin... But if it's just possible or not, then yes, it's possible."
Fallen Priest was a special case with no other options—I'd used the [Grinder] to turn him into minced meat... Ugh, no describing that. Anyway, the other heroes needed to stay alive.
First, killing them here would send their corpses to the empire's capital via that 'Temple of Return' like with Chris last time, exposing our intel. Plus, we'd lose the lucrative holy relics from dismantling them.
Second...
"If you turn humans into kin... Would other humans notice?"
This time, with preparations and luck, we'd taken down a 4-star hero, but I couldn't assume it'd work forever. We needed a more fundamental countermeasure.
"Hm. Thinking of turning them into kin spies? Not a bad idea, but impossible. Becoming kin changes their race entirely. Heroes and priests would detect the demonic aura. Plus, severing their connection to holy relics—which only empower humans—would strip their power."
Erzsebet tilted her head but confirmed other humans would notice.
'Tch. Then it's no good?'
A 4-star hero, no less. Would the empire just go 'Eek! A dungeon that beat a 4-star! Too scary!' and leave us alone?
'...They'll probably send a 5-star.'
If it were me, I'd be pissed and dispatch a 5-star or whatever to purge this place. Sure, they might leave us be, but betting the future on that uncertainty was too risky.
That's why I wanted to plant agents in the empire...
"Hmm. I think I know what you're considering... That idea. I might be able to help?"
"Hm?"
What? That sleazy voice... Oh, Lilith. With so many around, she'd disguised herself with illusion.
"You don't think a dream demon's power is just illusions and dreams, right? There's another power entirely."
"...Charm?"
"Exactly♡."
...Her speech pattern's still hard to get used to. Knowing there's a flaky, unwashed hikikomori dream demon with dandruff inside that shell... Wait, why doesn't she bathe if she's not locked up?
"You can charm them?"
"Can't maintain it permanently without direct contact... But for the weak-minded, I could dominate their minds and turn them into puppets obeying me for a month or two."
A month or two... That could work...
"They won't get found out by humans?"
"Hard to say for sure with their holy relics... But without relic interference, absolutely undetectable."
"...Try it."
Her tone's nerdy, but Lilith's powers are real. I recalled the face of the first hero to pass out, woke him, and shoved the dazed hero toward Lilith.
"Now... Look into my eyes?"
Lilith's pupils glowed purple, and the hero who met them grew vacant.
"How many can you do?"
"With my current power... Ten?"
"...Good. Relay exactly what I say as commands to them. From now on, they'll return to the capital and..."