Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Old Grudges Inevitably Resurface
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Eldorado Continent's White Church.
High Priest Aurel, the Church's supreme vicar, led his cadre of senior priests down into the underground depths.
With each step down the stairs, darkness swallowed every sense.
A chill seeped from somewhere, wrapping the air in an icy grip, while the silence of death settled like a heavy weight.
The sensation lingered on.
All of them descended the stairs in utter silence, wordlessly, for quite some time.
At the bottom of the underground passage they'd reached before they knew it stood a massive iron door.
Layer upon layer of iron locks barred the way.
Anyone could tell this was no ordinary space.
Standing guard before the iron door were Heretic Inquisitors.
"You've arrived, Supreme Vicar."
They bowed their heads, and Aurel gently raised his hand.
"You all work too hard, as always."
Once the greetings were exchanged, the Heretic Inquisitors began their work in earnest.
"Supreme Vicar, we will now open the iron door."
At the Inquisitor's words, one of the senior priests behind Aurel called out.
"All of you, wrap yourselves in holy power! Weakness invites death, but may the one true Goddess shield us, and only then shall we advance without fear!"
A faint light burst into the dim space.
It felt warm and comforting.
But the comfort was fleeting.
The Heretic Inquisitors were unfastening the seals on the iron door, one by one.
The first lock released.
An incomprehensible sound began to shatter the eerie stillness.
The second lock released.
A dampness crept in, accompanied by the stench of rot assaulting their noses.
The third lock released.
It felt as if time itself had frozen here, a void reminding them of the absence of space.
The fourth lock released.
The scent of death wafted through. For some reason, it brought feelings of loneliness and helplessness, as if hope was being stripped away in the darkness.
Finally, the last lock gave way, and the massive iron door creaked open slowly.
Only darkness existed within.
And with it, death itself.
The aroma of life had vanished entirely, replaced by the sensations of being cradled in death's embrace, awakening every nerve in their bodies.
"Steel your hearts, everyone."
With that brief admonition from Supreme Vicar Aurel, they all passed through the door.
The interior was stark and monotonous.
Stone-like objects were arranged in neat rows everywhere.
The priests familiar with this place swallowed hard, proceeding with tense expressions, while the newcomers gawked curiously at their surroundings as they advanced.
This was the most heavily guarded area in the entire Church.
A place where beings that once threatened the continent were sealed away and monitored.
Those stone-like objects were all sealing stones.
Breaking even one would cause massive repercussions.
The Church devoted enormous resources to managing them.
Passing the sealing stones brought them to yet another iron door.
This one was smaller than the first.
The priests following Aurel stepped forward to open it.
The door groaned open with a deafening racket.
And inside was an unexpected presence.
"Gasp!"
A few priests who were seeing it for the first time froze in shock on the spot.
Krrrwl—
Within this second iron door lurked a single monster.
But it was no ordinary monster.
It was a being unlike anything the world had ever seen.
A grotesque fusion of multiple monsters.
Kraaak—
The creature's form was utterly bizarre.
Its head resembled a lion's, but its twisted face made it nightmarish. Protruding from its snout were vicious fangs.
Its crimson eyes gleamed with madness, giving it the look of a demon.
And its body?
Rotting flesh was crudely stitched onto exposed bones, with multiple arms sprouting from it.
Maggots crawled through the gaps—a truly horrific sight.
Torn wings jutted from its back, exuding a false majesty.
But the wings were mismatched.
One side resembled a bat's, while the other was covered in dense black feathers like a bird's.
Below its ragged torso sprouted too many legs to count.
It evoked the image of a monstrous centipede.
The eye in its center radiated an ominous aura, as if staring too long was forbidden.
Kyaaak—
Its tail took the form of a venomous serpent, brimming with deadly poison.
Even now, it lashed threateningly toward the priests.
The only blessing was that the creature was bound to a pillar with heavy iron chains.
"Chimera...!"
A creation born from fusing multiple monsters.
The infamous chimera.
Why was a chimera here?
The question hung briefly before Aurel spoke.
"This one was said to have been created by our Church after the emergence of the 7-star being, the Dark Empress Salestra."
It had no name.
They simply called it the chimera.
In the distant past, a sudden 7-star entity had rampaged across the continent.
Back then, neither the Church nor the nations possessed their current strength.
Unable to mount any real defense, the continent had nearly faced total catastrophe.
In the end, everyone banded together and barely managed to seal it away.
That much was recorded in the annals.
But no one knew when another such being might appear.
And so, the Church had turned to forbidden arts.
Aurel continued.
"This is a means to achieve our Church's goals."
He was saying it was an experiment necessary to prepare for future threats and to acquire immense power.
Thus, they combined monsters to create aberrant lifeforms.
For a Church devoted solely to the Goddess, this was tantamount to touching the taboo.
"Wh... what is this...?"
One priest was so stunned he froze in place.
Not content with mere monster experiments, the Church was creating new life itself.
To anyone, Aurel's words and actions smacked of heresy rather than Church doctrine.
Yet none of the Heretic Inquisitors present stirred.
Even the priests who knew of this place merely nodded, unperturbed.
Only the newcomers were briefly plunged into confusion.
Their faces betrayed the shock of having witnessed the forbidden.
But Aurel pressed on indifferently, unconcerned.
After all, the priests gathered here today were no ordinary folk.
They were senior priests.
Among them, a small number would rise higher and look up to become archpriests.
A select few among them even eyed the rank of cardinal.
They needed to confront this reality sooner rather than later.
These were the pillars who would uphold the Church, so Aurel paid it no mind.
"May the Goddess guide these lowly souls to the righteous path. Marvel at her mercy, behold her benevolent smile, and give thanks for her grace."
A tremendous light poured from Aurel's hand.
"......!"
The chimera, writhing amid the light, began to slow its movements bit by bit.
But that was all.
Soon enough, it thrashed even harder, struggling to break free of its chains.
"Tch, not yet, huh."
Aurel clicked his tongue in short frustration.
What good was creating the chimera if they couldn't control it?
If they could truly harness it, the Church would gain unimaginable power.
For an organization aiming to conquer the Demon Realm with the Sail Kingdom as a foothold, it was an essential force.
'If only we could control this thing...'
Should they succeed.
They planned to expand to other high-grade monsters step by step.
Once the ultimate, worst—and best—monster was born, every nation would bow to the Church.
But that was still a distant dream.
The chimera before them remained utterly defiant.
And fusing in more monsters only made it harder.
"Tch, bring the subject here."
At Aurel's command, two priests dragged a man forward from the rear.
He was bound tightly.
"Mmph! Mmmph...!"
His mouth was gagged, rendering speech impossible.
"A hunter who entered Church territory. We captured him."
Not an adventurer, but a hunter.
In other words, from Earth—a dimension beyond the Eldorado Continent.
"Begin."
At Aurel's order, the priests hauled the hunter toward the chimera.
Even shackled in iron, the chimera could still move its head.
And so it lunged, biting into the man approaching it.
"M... mmph!"
The man couldn't even cry out in pain.
Black blood began to flow from where the chimera had bitten.
The man writhed for a moment.
Then he fell silent.
He was dead.
But the death bestowed by a Death Knight birthed another life.
The corpse rose, emitting eerie groans.
"Just a plain ghoul."
Aurel clicked his tongue again at the sight.
A Death Knight was fused into the chimera.
Thus, it retained the Death Knight's skills and traits intact.
Occasionally, those slain by it rose as powerful ghouls.
The leading theory was that the more pain and hatred the victim harbored, the stronger the ghoul.
"We've been torturing him nonstop up to now."
But had his hatred fallen short?
Or was it because this wasn't a true Death Knight, merely a chimera?
Either way, the result was an ordinary ghoul.
And ordinary ghouls were useless even when fused into the chimera.
A nearby Heretic Inquisitor drew his sword.
He swung it at the ghoul that had once been a hunter.
"We'll keep hunting for more Earth hunters!"
Hunters from Earth.
Their numbers on the continent were few.
But they wielded a different kind of power from continental adventurers.
Expectations were high for unique ghouls from them, yet failure piled upon failure.
"I should have sent that guy back then instead...."
He had forgotten the name.
But the tale of the Saintess sending a hunter back to Earth at the Church's request was well-known.
An Earthling with no power to speak of.
Evaluated as equivalent to the lowest iron-rank adventurer at best, the Church had paid him little heed.
Too many knew him from his long stay in the Church to simply expel him, and his weakness made him awkward as an experiment subject, so they'd shipped him back to Earth.
'At least we should've used Kim Suho as a guinea pig.'
Aurel sighed regretfully.
Kim Suho, the Earthling who became the Church's sole Holy Knight.
Even Supreme Vicar Aurel remembered his name.
However, the Church had deemed him useful elsewhere and refused to use him for experiments.
And sent him back to Earth as well.
He didn't know what that other use was.
Probably only the cardinals above him or His Holiness the Pope knew.
"Well, no use regretting it now."
It was in the past.
So he focused on the problem at hand.
He raised his hand toward the chimera once more.
"Maru, go ahead and boil some ramen."
The pitch-black Skeleton Black Knight, Maru, nodded its head.
The 1-star summon had leaped straight to 4 stars.
I now had a B-rank hunter equivalent under my command.
"Quite reassuring."
Having ordered Maru to cook the ramen, I glanced at my smartphone.
Yeah, it was all thanks to this game.
Because of it, I could exist as I was now.
Though calling it a "game" was a bit of a misnomer; for convenience, that's what I stuck with.
"Still, I should start running dungeons and making some money soon."
I'd originally planned to buy a skillbook, but now I had Maru.
Plus, an F-rank Goddess's Healing skill.
'With just Maru, dungeon clears should be a breeze.'
Someone who could command a skeleton like this should have no trouble joining a party.
"......"
I stared quietly at my smartphone.
Waiting for a better idea to strike.
My dungeon in the game was now established on the Eldorado Continent.
Celia offered tributes, granting me traits and skills. And this time, I'd even scored a magic sword.
"What if I could get other items too?"
Obtaining the magic sword implied other items were possible.
The Eldorado Continent brimmed with mana far richer than Earth's.
Unique herbs, elixirs, and artifacts existed only there.
That's why guilds trained members relentlessly, educating them for the day they might cross to Eldorado.
Kim Suho was a prime example.
With just a standard holy sword from the Church, he'd easily hit A-rank hunter status.
"What if I seriously started importing continental goods and selling them on Earth?"
Of course, I didn't want everyone getting stronger.
But luxury items could yield hefty profits.
Money, and the invisible power that came with it.
If that worked out, no one could look down on me. Even those who'd tormented me before would bow their heads.
As I thought it over, I recalled Kang Jin-su's expression back at the Awakener Center.
My activities would ramp up soon enough.
Naturally, word would spread.
Graduating the Academy didn't end old grudges.
If my current self got exposed, those past enemies would grab at my ankles again.
No, it was certain.
The ones I knew wouldn't let it slide quietly.
"Gotta make even better use of this from now on."
I gripped my smartphone tightly.
Of course, I had no intention of jumping in headfirst.
This required power too.
Without it, I'd just get swept away by the pack lunging at me.
"Still, let's start preparing bit by bit."
Kang Jin-su.
He'd graduated from Hunter Academy in the 14th class and now worked at the Awakener Center.
Even with graduation, his grades were middling at best.
The guilds he wanted were all top-tier names.
Joining one would've let him flaunt his skills and throw his weight around.
But his abilities fell woefully short for hunter work in such guilds.
Becoming a government hunter with real authority was even more out of reach.
Mid- or small-tier guilds weren't even on his radar from the start.
His pride wouldn't allow it.
In the end, he'd chosen public servant hunter.
Like his current gig at the Awakener Center—workload aside, it was safe, and above all, enabled power trips.
Of course.
"Oh dear, a hunter from the Sacred Guild? This way, please!"
Only against those beneath him.
But even that was something.
Had he joined a mid-tier guild, he'd be the one bowing.
Kang Jin-su was content with his position.
'Wonder if anything fun's happening?'
His Academy classmate Yi Kang-hyun had come for a mana test here recently.
The guy with no status window, forever dead last at the Academy. Seeing him made Kang Jin-su feel superior by comparison.
Then Yi Kang-hyun suddenly got a status window.
He knew the guy was working as a porter.
Who'd have thought he'd drop dead on the job? A status window, though...
Still, he hadn't paid it much mind.
Not everyone got stronger just from awakening.
'Pathetic loser. A status window doesn't fix everything.'
If it did, everyone would be B- or A-rank elites.
Kang Jin-su sneered inwardly.
Yi Kang-hyun with his new status window had tested F-rank mana.
Academy grads auto-upgraded to at least D-rank.
A nod to their four years of effort and status as skilled personnel.
But Yi Kang-hyun?
Even after graduation—and with a status window—he was still F-rank.
"How much of a loser does that make him?"
"Pardon?"
His muttering drew a response from the junior beside him.
"Nah, just talking to myself."
He brushed it off and scanned the area.
"Huh?"
Kang Jin-su's eyes widened in surprise.
A familiar face had entered the center.
'Yi Kang-hyun?'
Why was he back here?
It hadn't been long since his last mana test.
Why, though?
Kang Jin-su stared openly.
And spotted one key difference.
'A skeleton?'
A white skeleton!
And it was following Yi Kang-hyun.
Yi Kang-hyun was talking with another staff member.
A short while later, he left the center again.
Kang Jin-su was dying to know.
What the hell had just happened?
Luckily, he worked here too.
He immediately pulled up Yi Kang-hyun's records.
And there it was, in shocking letters.
'Yi Kang-hyun is a Necromancer?'
Yi Kang-hyun—a Necromancer.
It noted he could summon only one skeleton.
Hardly impressive, but Kang Jin-su was floored.
This was the same guy who'd just awakened a status window days ago.
And now he'd gained a new skill already?
'No way... he's not catching up already, is he?'
The dead weight he'd always assumed was light-years behind was closing in fast.
Anxiety gnawed at him.
He absolutely couldn't fall behind that guy.
So Kang Jin-su made his choice.
He scrolled to Kim Suho's contact in his phone.
And fired off a text.
Kim Suho had tormented Yi Kang-hyun the most back at the Academy.
Kang Jin-su had high hopes.
'He'll definitely react.'
And sure enough.
A reply came from Kim Suho moments later.
"As expected!"
Kang Jin-su grinned slyly.
Kim Suho, that scumbag was no better.
Time to mess with Yi Kang-hyun again.