Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Dungeon High Society (1)
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Everyone witnessed an unbelievable sight.
It was clearly a skeleton, an undead monster.
Yet a holy power emanated from within the skeleton.
In fact, the skeleton's bones glowed faintly.
An undead monster wielding holy power.
Even Liana, seeing that mystical light up close, was at a loss for words.
"......"
Why was a mere monster instilling faith in them?
It was an absurd story.
A contradictory joke that no one would believe.
Yet this impossible, contradictory scene was unfolding right before their eyes.
Everything happening now was real.
Had there ever been any records of such a being?
No.
Had she even heard any tales of one?
No, not that either.
From the start, no records existed anywhere of an embodiment of evil harboring holy power, and no one knew of such a thing.
This was undoubtedly a miracle.
If this wasn't a miracle, then what was?
For her at this moment, there was no choice but to believe so.
The Holy Knights around her felt the same.
The being before them was surely a messenger sent by the goddess.
That messenger had plunged them into trial.
And at the same time, bestowed upon them fervent faith.
Yes, if not for that, there would be no way to explain what was happening now.
Even now, the goddess's messenger stood with arms outstretched.
As if kindly inviting them into its embrace.
"Ahh..."
Tears flowed from Liana's eyes.
And regret filled her.
There was no need to ponder why the goddess's messenger had descended to the earth now—she knew instantly.
'To punish us.'
A sword was gripped in the messenger's hand.
A black sword radiating an ominous aura just by looking at it.
Liana immediately knew it was a demonic sword.
But why would the goddess's messenger wield a demonic sword?
The meaning of that demonic sword was punishment.
Punishment for them.
And further, punishment for the Church.
She had spent no small amount of time in the Church.
Thus, she knew well what the Church had become.
Liana had been raised by the Church from childhood.
Having lost her parents early and become an orphan, the Church had taken her in.
Growing up there, she received various educations.
Along with faith in the goddess, she learned basic qualities like etiquette, morals, and convictions.
Fortunately gifted in swordsmanship, she joined the Holy Knights.
And rose to her current position.
For Liana, the Church was her entire life.
It surely had been.
But at some point, the Church had changed.
The upper echelons moved only for their own gain.
Even those below were blinded by greed.
Could the Church's Holy Knights be called pure?
Not in the least.
The Captain himself used purges as an excuse to drive his subordinates to their deaths.
A prime example was the former Vice-Captain, Berter.
Currently, he and nineteen other Holy Knights were missing.
Liana had turned a blind eye to such sights.
She believed that if it meant the Church's growth, a few sacrifices were inevitable.
But seeing the goddess's messenger changed her mind.
'The goddess has essentially declared that our path is wrong.'
This thought led to one conclusion.
'The Church as it is must change.'
And how she should act from now on was obvious.
Liana cautiously opened her mouth.
"Um..."
Emotions surged, making words hard to form.
Still, she forced strength into her voice.
"My name is Liana. What should I call you...?"
She introduced herself first.
Then asked how to address this being that could be called the goddess's proxy.
She couldn't keep calling it "you" forever.
"Clack?"
But Liana couldn't understand its words.
She heard only the clacking of bones.
While she pondered briefly.
"Lady Liana, that one is the 'Saint'."
Someone appeared from behind.
He was unmistakably clad in Holy Knight armor and sword—someone Liana knew well.
"S-Sir Eric...?"
One of the nineteen Holy Knights who had vanished with Vice-Captain Berter.
Eric was among those nineteen.
As the Captain's former aide, it was natural for Liana to remember him.
"Why are you... here..."
Eric, whom she thought dead, was alive.
Her pupils trembled.
In truth, Eric was being controlled by the Banshee, but Liana didn't know that.
Normally, she might have noticed, but the presence of Maru wielding holy power clouded her judgment.
"Unlike the others, I was chosen by the great one."
Eric smiled as he slowly stepped forward.
Here, the "great one" referred to Yi Kang-hyun.
"Chosen by the goddess...?"
But to Liana, Eric's words meant something else.
Unlike the others, Eric alone had been chosen by the goddess.
And thus survived in these mountains.
"And per that one's will, I was sent here to serve the Saint."
This meant the chief administrator Celia, who served the great one, had sent him here.
The purpose was to support Maru.
"I see."
Liana nodded.
Eric had likely been chosen by the goddess and simultaneously tasked with serving the Saint.
Hearing Eric's words solidified Liana's own thoughts.
"Then the reason the Saint descended to the earth..."
"Indeed."
Eric nodded.
His expression was solemn, laced with resolute determination.
"It is the will of the great one. The great one desires absolute loyalty from the continent."
"Ah."
Liana arbitrarily interpreted Eric's words in her mind.
The great one was surely the goddess.
Undoubtedly.
And the goddess desired all on the continent to follow her.
Absolute loyalty meant strictly adhering to the goddess's words.
In other words, not betraying personal faith through deviation and greed.
It must be so.
In the end, as she thought, the Saint had descended to earth bearing the goddess's will.
To warn the Church mired in greed and corruption.
She understood up to here.
But one unresolved question remained.
Why had they climbed these mountains in the first place?
To find the missing subordinates.
And why had the Sail Kingdom blocked access to the mountains?
Liana posed this question.
"Clack clack clack-?"
(I've dealt with those three, but I don't know about the mountain access?)
As Maru answered Liana's question, Eric beside him assumed a praying posture.
"......"
He fell silent for a moment.
Pondering how to respond to Liana's question just now.
He knew well that answering exactly as Maru said would be disastrous.
"Hm..."
He closed his eyes briefly, deep in thought.
It was the greatest dilemma of the Banshee controlling Eric's monster life.
A wrong word here could derail the chief administrator's plan.
And perhaps even displease the great one.
After much deliberation, the Banshee spoke through Eric.
"Are you aware that the kingdom's nobles sent adventurers into the mountains?"
A completely different topic emerged.
"Adventurers? But the mountains were off-limits..."
"Normally, yes. However..."
As Liana questioned, Eric briefly explained the situation.
- The Sail Kingdom had nobles seeking to weaken royal authority.
- Nobles ignoring royal orders and sending adventurers into the mountains alone.
- And the royal princess already in the embrace of the great one, controlling the mountains per that one's will.
All heard from Celia or experienced firsthand.
And all true.
He added one more thing.
"I suspect the disappearance of our brothers may all be the nobles' doing."
Eric's words were ambiguous.
Brothers who vanished.
Not specifying the three Holy Knights missing this time.
It implied suspicion that even the previously vanished priests and Holy Knights were the nobles' work.
Hearing this, Liana turned to gaze at the Saint in skeleton form.
"I see."
The royal princess belonged to the great one.
This meant the Sail Kingdom's royals were already under the Church's wing.
No need to question the mountain blockade if it was the goddess's will.
'Then...'
Liana recalled Count Beerton, met before ascending the mountains.
He sought to weaken the king using the Church's power.
He couldn't hide the desire on his face.
If in this situation, all this was Count Beerton's scheme?
If he'd plotted everything from the start to seize the Church's power?
'We've been played...!'
Liana's face twisted.
In the end, all this was the work of rebelling nobles.
And the target of that rebellion was the Sail Kingdom's royals.
Crucially, the royals were already in the goddess's embrace.
Meaning those insolent nobles had dared to raise blades against the goddess herself.
Liana's face contorted in rage.
Seeing Liana's fury, Eric's expression softened.
He assumed the praying posture once more.
'Surely the note Lady Celia wrote...'
While praying, he secretly unfolded the note Celia had given him.
- Skeleton knights in royal knight armor stationed covertly in nobles' estates via Princess Irena.
No risk of tails since purchased from the Merchant Guild.
Gifts Celia sent after contracting with Princess Irena.
The gifts were skeleton knights armored as kingdom knights.
A few days ago, she ordered Princess Irena to secretly deploy them to noble faction estates.
Nobles who sought to devour the kingdom using the Church.
Now, they would be purged first by the Church's power.
"Lady Liana. Now, I shall tell you something important."
Reading Celia's note, Eric began to speak.
The scene beyond the screen was highly intriguing.
"I've never heard of an undead possessing holy power, that's for sure."
Maru had transcended to 5-star, evolving into a Skeleton Holy Knight.
Thus, despite being an undead monster, Maru now wielded tremendous holy power.
No tales existed of such monsters on the Eldorado Continent, let alone Earth.
An undead, no less.
A being embodying completely opposing attributes.
No wonder the Holy Knights saw Maru as something special.
I examined Maru's abilities.
- Loyalty as Holy Knight (S+): Yi Kang-hyun (Active)
- Judgment of Light (A)
Transcending to 5-star had boosted its stats.
But more importantly, it wasn't just reaching 5-star.
The undead's weaknesses were perfectly offset.
"If I play this right, it could be huge."
And there was even someone fanning the flames beside Maru.
A Holy Knight controlled by the Banshee monster, enabling recruitment of the others.
That wasn't all.
Using him meant Maru didn't even need to stay on the Eldorado Continent.
A tremendous advantage.
"But constantly exposing Maru might diminish its mystique."
The first impression is always the most special.
Right now, they revered Maru as divine, but familiarity could breed contempt.
If needed without Maru on the continent, just have the Banshee spread the word.
But there was a problem.
The opponents were Holy Knights of the Church at their core.
If they realized the Holy Knight before them was puppeted by a Banshee?
"I should reinforce that Banshee sometime."
Fortunately, it had gained enlightenment.
Though only 3-star, its key role warranted some strengthening.
'Give it holy power? Or find a good trait?'
As I pondered, another alert appeared.
Solving the dungeon wave had unlocked all previously locked systems.
And a new system opened.
"Dungeon High Society?"
I tried to tap the system, but a new alert popped first.
"Hm."
High society...
Just from the name, it seemed like a gathering for mingling with other dungeons.
In short, attending monsters would be the faces representing the dungeon.
Of course, "mingling" shouldn't be taken naively.
"Probably a place to gauge and check each other, right?"
A gathering of various dungeons.
Undoubtedly a hotbed of ruthless politics.
Sending Celia would be ideal, but no need to overthink.
"Celia's basically the final boss of the dungeon now."
Can't reveal everything from the start.
"Need someone appropriate."
Someone with decent power who can maintain a poker face.
Bonus if they can gauge enemy strength.
"Hm... who?"
After much thought, I decided.
"This one's best, right?"
I chose the Arc Lich to attend the high society.
Currently serving as inspector.
Last time I checked, it diligently recorded and performed inspector duties.
The Arc Lich should fulfill its role well there too.
Plus, as a skull, it shows no facial emotions outwardly.
Perfect for high society.
"?"
Sending two instead of one this time?
Well, two might feel more reassuring than one.
"Sub-monster, huh..."
Like a support role?
"Then who's next?"
The Arc Lich had a rather stiff impression.
A sub-monster with contrasting traits would be good.
Even better with artistic sense.
"High society calls for someone with flair, right?"
Who fits?
"Hm."
This time, it took longer to decide.
"Right! That one!"
A flash of inspiration led me to select it immediately.
"But will it work since it's in a different location?"
The dungeon it managed was beautiful.
Seemed talented at decoration.
Meaning solid artistic sense.
"Incubus, so good at setting the mood too."
And luckily, selectable.