Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: It's My Heart - 1
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The attack that had started from outside the encampment was growing fiercer by the minute.
-Kuoooooh!!
The enemies were the Pale Beasts and those robed figures we had seen at the White Rock Palace.
They had been using the existing Pale Beasts to harvest lives, but since my intervention made that impossible, they had come to attack the encampment directly.
"Fight as the Sage taught us!"
"Keep attacking! Don't stop!!"
In the past, they would have just been overwhelmed, but thanks to the steady training, the kingdom's soldiers were holding their own even against the Pale Beasts.
The problem wasn't them—it was the robed ones.
In other words, the Pale Moon Cultists.
-Uuuuuuuh...!!
The kingdom soldiers' success against the Pale Beasts must have irked the cultists, as they raised their staves.
"Oh my god..."
Fixed in the night sky was a blood-red moon.
The crimson moon that proved this world was in hardcore mode.
Its color changed.
To white.
To a pure white that should not exist in this world.
-Kuaaaaaah!!
The altered moonlight illuminated the black sky, strengthening the Pale Beasts arrayed on the battlefield.
General Leoden watched as the Pale Beasts, which grew stronger under the power of the Pale Moon, increased in size, their sharp teeth and claws—their weapons—becoming even more formidable. He shouted urgently.
"Sage!! Th-this is!"
"Don't worry."
I had prepared for this too.
I rolled up my sleeve. The bracelet embedded with the red gem from the dungeon last time revealed itself, and it began emitting a faint blood-red glow as if resisting the pale moonlight.
-Clang!!
"Wh-what?! Why do you have that?!"
With the sharp sound of glass shattering, the pale moonlight broke apart.
The white moon in the sky vanished, and the red moon reappeared. The Pale Moon Cultists shouted in panic, and I sneered at them.
"You must have forgotten I'm the Sage."
"As expected, you know everything!! Attack!!"
As the reinforced Pale Beasts reverted to normal, the kingdom soldiers began assaulting them. Amid the growing chaos, three powerhouses burst out from the encampment.
"Haaap!!"
The hero Claire, the knight Leventia, and the elf archer Evangeline.
As they joined the fray with the kingdom soldiers against the Pale Beasts, whose reinforcements had been nullified, morale soared even higher. Seeing them fight even better, I nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright! Now I'll play—!!"
Please hold it in?!
I yanked back Lark, who was combing his cockatoo crest and grabbing his lute. I glanced at the cultists. They raised their staves again, trying to summon the pale moonlight once more.
But it was too late.
-Kwahduduk!!
"Hk!!"
One cultist's head exploded. From a large, heavy, and stylish mace.
It was Veronica who had smashed his head.
Holding the mace dripping with blood and brains, she coldly shouted.
"Sweep away these heretics who defy the light!!"
"Wh-when did she?! The Witch of Light!!"
When did she? She'd sneaked into the rear from the moment she arrived and started showing off.
Don't you know about rear support? Rear support?
"Yaaap!!"
The cultists seemed quite flustered by the surprise attack. But as event mobs, they were no pushovers—they quickly reformed their ranks to respond.
"Iyaah ho!"
"How much is the bounty on one of those necks?!"
"Don't know! Just grab 'em!"
Money-crazed adventurers charged in with eyes rolled back, attacking them.
With three or four adventurers piling onto each cultist, even they couldn't hold out.
As one cultist, who had been pushed back hard, screamed and collapsed.
I raised my staff and shouted.
"Capture any you can alive!!"
We need to extract information!
Thanks to being prepared for a midnight raid, we wrapped it up without major casualties.
General Leoden was thrilled, the knights satisfied, and the soldiers relieved.
Of course, there were some injuries, but for an attack like this, it was negligible—something to laugh off.
Plus, with inquisitors and holy knights in the mix, recovery was swift, and there were no deaths.
There were plenty of wounded, but we'd pull them to the rear for focused treatment, so no issue.
"Hehe."
"Hehe?"
I clicked my tongue at the sheepish, grinning adventurers.
These guys.
I said capture any you can alive, and they beheaded them all.
"But they resisted so fiercely."
A beastkin warrior using a hammer as her main weapon scratched her head, while a bearded dwarf mage fiddled with his staff.
"That guy wouldn't hand over his nice staff."
"You're not helping your case..."
How many cultists did the adventurers face, and not a single one captured alive?
I stared at them in disbelief, and they averted their eyes sheepishly again.
Jeez, no decency among some adventurers.
"But I caught one! Sage! I helped catch it, so we party up next time, right? Wow~ Partying with the Sage makes dungeons a breeze. Which dungeon next? Which one?"
The werewolf boy shaman, Wilkus, puffed up proudly and chattered excitedly.
But dude.
All you did was shadow-bind the cultist I smacked in the back of the head with.
Isn't it embarrassing to claim credit for just spooning into my catch?
"E, ehehe."
Wilkus seemed to know it too, glancing away awkwardly.
What amazing guys.
To feel that level of shame in this situation.
"Still, we caught one, so that's good."
Veronica approached, her black priestly robes soaked in blood. Covered in blood, brains, bone fragments, and flesh, she sheathed her mace at her waist and glanced back.
"Kuh... kuhuh..."
The holy knights had captured quite a few cultists alive. Well, "alive" including those barely hanging on.
I pressed my forehead seeing ones with limbs completely shattered, just gasping.
Ha... seriously.
"Should we heal them?"
General Leoden asked hesitantly after assessing the situation. I looked at Veronica, but she avoided my gaze.
"No priest who follows the light would heal these wicked heretics."
"Fine, I'll do it. Whatever. Heal."
The one I targeted with my staff recovered a bit. Due to the Sage's penalty, perfect injury recovery is tough, but at least his mind should clear.
"Kuhuh..."
The barely conscious cultist opened his eyes and twitched. General Leoden grabbed the worm-like wriggling man's collar and demanded.
"What are you? What's your goal? And..."
"I'll handle that. It's not important right now."
"Uh, um."
Recalling what I'd seen in the game, I pushed the general back and grabbed the guy.
"The Temple of the Moon. Completed? Looks like the Pale Moon's been summoned too."
"...H-how do you know that?"
"Whatever."
Things were progressing faster than expected. No need to drag this out here.
-Kwachik!!
I smashed his head with my staff and stood.
"Alright! Treasure hunt time! I'll request a 9-night, 10-day reward vacation from General Leoden!"
At "reward vacation," the kingdom soldiers' eyes sparkled. Soldiers, huh? Vacation, and they'll do anything.
"Search the bodies for anything special."
"Special?"
"Ciphers or such. Ring-shaped ornaments work too."
"Sage! Adventurers, anything?"
"Bounty!"
"Yeeesss!"
Knights under General Leoden, holy knights, and adventurers too.
They rummaged through the captured cultists' belongings and checked the battlefield.
While they bustled about, I sat on a nearby chair, fiddling with the lute. Once tuned, I plucked it.
-Ding-a-ling~ ding~ ding~ didididing~ ding~
The music spreading over the post-battle field eased the accumulated stress from the fight. The scattered fighters relaxed more easily. Those grieving wounded comrades shed tears, and the pained found some solace.
As I finished one piece.
My eyes met three women standing together.
"What're you looking at?"
Claire, Leventia, Evangeline.
Right before fighting the Demon King.
The performance to boost morale and ease anxiety.
They must have gotten sentimental listening to it...
But I had no such sentiment.
"Found it!"
Ignoring their stares, I continued playing, and as the third piece ended, a soldier ran up with what I wanted.
In his hand was a palm-sized disc etched with unknown characters.
"O! Nice! Jackpot!"
"Iyaah ho!!"
I nodded to General Leoden and examined the stone tablet.
Claire approached hesitantly and pointed at it.
"What's... that?"
"Nothing to do with you, so don't worry."
"What is it?"
Veronica's voice came from behind Claire. She flinched and turned, meeting Claire's complicated gaze indifferently. Then, as if showing off, she stepped closer to my side than Claire.
"Ancient holy script. Unfortunately, beyond what I can decipher."
Did she fight her way to cardinal?
A cardinal should know this.
I sighed at her.
"Evangeline knows ancient holy script well. Ask her?"
As if waiting, Claire shouted.
Seizing a chance to help me, she approached—but Veronica bit her lip, and I shook my head.
"Huh?"
"I can decipher it too."
Thief skills include script deciphering. As a Sage who can use all skills, with many related achievements, I'd naturally learned it.
No need for Evangeline's help.
"I-I see."
"Impressive. Decoding ancient holy script isn't easy..."
"This much is nothing."
I fiddled with the disc, and once adjusted, a hole opened, a sharp white stone rising from within.
-Woooong...
With a low vibration, light emitted. As the amazed onlookers turned.
"Ah?!"
A beam shot from the sharp gem's tip.
Veronica swallowed, gripping her bloodied mace tightly.
"What's that light?"
"This light?"
I spoke toward the direction piercing the darkness.
"The Pale Moon Cult's base..."
"...And?"
"The altar for summoning the Pale Moon—the Temple of the Moon."
And.
The place to end this event.
"Hey hey! Everyone gather!"
This event's finale is the battle with the Pale Moon inside the Temple of the Moon dungeon.
Meaning, we need to select personnel for the dungeon.
At my call, the powerhouses gathered around.
Not just Claire, Leventia, Evangeline, but Lark and Wilkus.
General Leoden and the knights.
And Veronica and the holy knights.
Among the many, who to bring...
"Lark, Wilkus."
"Eh? Sage! For real? Wow~ As expected, you and I are a dream team! Last dungeon, we synced perfectly like han—"
"Huh? Me?"
"And with this bracelet, I don't count toward the party limit, so one more spot..."
Normally, you'd pick the strongest character here.
And objectively, in this place.
Claire, Leventia, Evangeline—strong ones—tensed, swallowing hard.
Of course.
I'm no normal player or person.
"Veronica. You're in, right?"
"...Heh. Of course."
Glancing triumphantly at them, Veronica stepped forward. Claire's face filled with bewilderment as she shouted.
"W-wait! Hyunwoo! Why? Why?!"
"Why? It's my call who to service and how to form the party."
Author's Note
Big thanks to Jelly Bear for the support!
See you tomorrow. Have a good night~