Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 13

Swish!

Ail smoothly drew his sword as he faced the Traggul.

As the hideous Traggul approached, the surrounding monsters and zombies scattered in terror.

The creature stretched its unusually long arms upwards and slammed them down with immense force.

Boom!

The earth shook, creating a pit in the ground. Ail barely managed to roll aside.

He glanced down at the items in his hand.

Four potions, each a different color, contained in transparent bottles.

These were the doping potions Ail had bought from the shop in Dubel, spending his entire fortune.

Doping potions, which temporarily enhance the user’s stats, are usually used in large-scale wars, raids, or dungeon explorations after one has established themselves to some extent. They weren’t something to be used early on when one had little money.

However, Ail had luckily obtained the ‘Red Magic Eye’ item from the Horned Rabbit and had been racking his brain, planning to level up against the zombies in this hunting ground to a certain extent before facing the boss, Traggul.

[Attack power has temporarily increased slightly!]

[Defense power has temporarily increased slightly!]

[Speed has temporarily increased slightly!]

[Maximum health has temporarily increased slightly!]

Ail’s stats increased as he poured the shimmering liquids into his mouth one after another.

He had spent all his initial funds on these four potions, but it wouldn’t be a waste at all if he could take down the boss monster before him.

Even though challenging a high-level boss alone was daunting, the pressure and fear it exuded were naturally nullified by his passive skill, and there was a relatively easy way to go about it.

Whoosh!

The Traggul’s arm stretched out once more, and Ail quickly dodged it.

From now on, he had to react and move carefully.

Even though he wasn’t a class with low health, the Traggul’s bizarre stats could lead to a game over with just one hit.

Moreover, he had to target the tough armor covering its entire body to deal damage, and breaking it down was a real ordeal.

Only by concentrating damage on one part of the rampaging creature could he achieve partial destruction. Until the armor broke, no matter how much magic he threw at it, no damage would be inflicted.

However, Ail knew the weakest part and circled around, dodging the Traggul’s heavy attacks.

Then, he took out an item from his inventory and threw it towards the creature’s head with all his might.

Boom!

The Holy Explosion Crystal emitted a white light, causing a powerful explosion that detonated behind the Traggul’s neck, making it stagger.

‘One isn’t enough, as expected,’ Ail thought.

Ail immediately grabbed the second crystal and triggered another explosion.

Each time a crystal exploded, heavy damage was inflicted on the back of the Traggul’s neck.

The armor being damaged by the explosions was taking more damage than it should have, and one of the reasons for this was the passive skill ‘Blade of Hatred,’ which Ail had chosen as the second skill instead of the Inquisitor’s representative skill, ‘Sanctification.’

All damage against heretics was increased by 25 percent, which also applied to the damage of the explosive crystals, a consumable item.

Additionally, the crystals contained holy [divine] properties against the undead, amplifying the damage and creating an even more powerful effect.

Boom!

Finally, with the third explosion, the armor located behind its neck completely shattered.

But at the same time, Ail was caught in one of the Traggul’s attacks that he had been dodging multiple times.

After being sent flying, Ail barely managed to raise his head and take out a recovery potion.

“Ugh…”

Continuously targeting the same area wasn’t easy due to the Traggul’s attacks and wild movements, and he ended up allowing a hit.

It wasn’t a direct hit, but just a graze reduced his health to below 10 percent, almost to a near-death state.

Quickly emptying a potion, his health recovered to 30 percent, and he jumped to his feet.

In a desperate battle situation against a boss, there was no time to fully restore his health.

Thump!

Ail rolled once to avoid an attack and then leaped up, using the creature’s arm as a stepping stone to cling to the Traggul’s body.

Maintaining balance on the body of a rampaging monster was no easy task, but Ail grabbed onto the rugged armor and gradually climbed upwards.

Soon, he reached the back of the creature’s neck, where the armor was damaged and broken, and Ail planted an explosive crystal inside.

Then, he quickly moved down a bit and clung on, biting his lip and tightening his grip to avoid falling off the Traggul’s body, and soon the explosion occurred.

Boom!

The explosion occurred behind the Traggul’s neck, and the creature staggered from the strong impact it received without the protection of its outer armor.

Ail, who was clinging to the creature’s body, was almost shaken off, but he barely managed to hold on.

However, even with a high-level item, a single consumable item, known for its poor efficiency, was far from enough to end the boss’s life.

The Traggul, with some of its health depleted, immediately showed its second pattern and began to rampage even more.

Fzzzz!

Dark green poison spewed out from the wound caused by the explosion, filling not only the area where Ail was but the entire surroundings.

[You have been poisoned by the monster’s poison!]

– Health decreases at regular intervals.

‘It started,’ Ail thought.

As the system message appeared before his eyes and the health bar began to decrease, Ail immediately grabbed his sword and began to climb.

From now on, it was a race against time.

The Traggul, which entered phase 2 after its health dropped below a certain amount, was a creature that constantly spewed poison from its body, which was no different from a mass of corpses. Prolonging the Traggul raid without progress would result in the certain death of the entire raid party, whether they were close or far away.

Ail, who had climbed to the back of its neck, gripped his long sword in reverse with both hands and slammed it down with force.

Thwack! Slash!

As the long sword pierced through the flesh, blood gushed out violently, and it could be seen that the creature’s health was slowly decreasing.

But that wasn’t enough.

His stats were still far from overwhelming the higher-level Traggul, and he couldn’t avoid a prolonged battle.

As his health slowly decreased due to the poison, he briefly stopped slashing and drank three of the remaining five potions.

Then, he immediately resumed his work, and Ail maintained his balance with stability even on the creature’s violently shaking body.

Even if the crystals couldn’t finish it off, they were sufficient as a supporting role, and that was all he had actually hoped for.

With his firepower, he had broken through the Traggul’s armor, which was the most difficult obstacle, so the rest was up to his skill.

The health of the Traggul and Ail continued to decrease, and a thrilling sensation flowed down his back as if he were playing tug-of-war between victory and death.

It had been a long time since he had felt this sensation.

Thwack!

Ail once again plunged the long sword deeply and emptied the last remaining potion bottle.

Judging by the creature’s reaction, it seemed like it was almost over, but the problem was that his health was only at 29 percent.

‘This is a bit dangerous,’ Ail thought.

Such matches usually came down to a hair’s breadth, and Ail was in such a precarious situation that even he couldn’t predict what would happen.

17, 15, 10, 5.

Ail’s health was heading towards the end, and the Traggul was staggering, pouring out a great deal of blood.

And finally, it reached 2 percent health.

But even then, the Traggul did not fall.

[Remaining health 1%, death beckons you.]

Ail’s grip was slowly loosening, and as he was about to miss out on a big catch by a hair’s breadth, a deep regret lingered in his heart.

But at that very moment.

Suddenly, Ail’s health bar filled up, and strength returned to him.

‘This… what is this?’ Ail wondered.

Ail’s eyes widened at the unexpected situation.

But there was no time to be surprised, and he moved his hand instinctively.

Whack!

Ggrroooaa!

As the final blow was struck deep behind its neck, the Traggul twisted its body and screamed.

It fell forward with a loud noise, and Ail, who had grabbed the long sword stuck in the back of its neck to avoid being thrown off, stood on top of it.

“Phew, anyway, I need to pay a little more attention to the estimate next time,” Ail muttered.

Ail, who was feeling a deep sense of elation for a moment, wiped the cold sweat that was trickling down his forehead.

He could have died without knowing it, but suddenly a healing spell came in and his health exceeded 30 percent.

It seemed that the healer he had encountered on the building where the users had gathered had cast a heal on him.

Without any special correction skills at this point, it would be quite difficult to focus from this distance and accurately cast a healing spell on the desired target, but it was a heal that came at the perfect timing, as if they had read the overall situation of the raid.

‘I should say thank you at least once,’ Ail thought.

It was a somewhat risky challenge, but it was fortunate that it ended well.

Ail pulled out the stuck long sword and delivered the final blow to the near-death Traggul.

Whack!

As the creature’s life was finally cut off, the thick armor and the mass of corpses inside lost their shape and collapsed.

[Level up!]

[You have single-handedly eliminated the ‘Heretic’!]

[Light Order Contribution +145]

[Faith stat +10]

[Madness stat +10]

[Goddess’s Favor +1.59% (currently 51.86%)]

[A stronger blessing of the goddess dwells in your body.]

[Combat-related stats, partially increased.]

[Acquired the title ‘Holy Punisher’!]

[When equipped, all stats +10, damage against heretics +3%]

As the monster’s life was accurately cut off, system messages popped up.

His level increased by two at once, and his stats, contribution, and favor points all increased significantly.

He also obtained a very good title, and there were few titles comparable to this among those that a user in their 10s could obtain.

And all of these extraordinary rewards were thanks to the fact that his opponent was a ‘Heretic.’

Heretic.

This word, used only in the Light Order, refers to a serious heretic whose very existence denies the teachings, or a powerful enemy of the Order, and the modifier ‘Heretic’ is attached to them.

They were the main enemy, one step above heretics, and were usually rare among bosses with evil tendencies.

As such, heretics were the greatest enemies of the Order, and since they often possessed great power, the rewards were naturally much greater.

Thanks to this, each of his stats increased by 10 points, and above all, the Goddess’s Favor was already approaching 52 percent.

Contrary to the common assessment that managing favor points was terribly difficult, Ail was faithfully accumulating them, and his combat-related stats increased accordingly.

At first, it was a job that he had chosen in a daze, and he wondered if it was okay to do this, but it seemed to suit him surprisingly well.

And then, a brilliant message of light appeared before his eyes as he was feeling satisfied.

[You are currently on the path to becoming an Apostle! (100.00%)]

[Congratulations! You have been chosen by ‘Lu, the Judge of Light.’]

[Apostle transformation is currently in progress.]

[System Rebooting 99.9%]