Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 89

89. The Dissolution Order (2)

“Tch… !”

As the negotiation failed, Aile swiftly drew his weapon.

For some reason, his lie seemed to be immediately exposed.

“What on earth is going on?”

Loden, unable to follow the conversation, also raised his spear.

But Mute, stepping back, slammed her staff against the ground.

Then, something slowly rose from the top of the altar, previously hidden from view, revealing its shape.

A large black stone, a familiar object.

“A Spirit Stone…?”

The unidentified stone that the boss monster Gahar had been guarding, the Spirit Stone.

Its size was slightly different, but it was undeniably the same.

“I thought the way you were reviving looked familiar. Was the bandit group in Hard Rock Cave also your doing?”

“Bandits…? So, you were chasing the Dissolution Order. I don’t know how you found out, but you’ll have to die here.”

Swish, swish, swish!

Black mist rose from the Spirit Stone on the altar.

Those black energies, filled with ominous intent, soon spread in all directions, engulfing all the corpses lying on the floor.

Then, the lifeless corpses of the fanatics began to twitch, one by one.

As they rose as undead, they quickly surrounded Aile and Loden from all sides.

“Hehe, how is it? They were the ones guarding the altar. They thought they were elites, so try dealing with them.”

Mute, with a sneering face, waved her hand and turned her back.

Then, as if on cue, the undead all around roared and rushed in.

“Damn it…!”

Clang!

A fierce battle erupted against a large number of enemies. While they were surrounded by the undead and wielding their weapons, Mute leisurely walked to the front of the altar.

Then, she channeled her magic power to activate the giant magic circle drawn on the floor.

Then, the black energies of the Spirit Stone, which had spread in all directions and permeated the entire room, began to gather in the center of the altar.

Rumble!

The entire room shook violently.

The energies, having gathered and condensed, were emitting even more powerful magic at a glance.

“What are you doing…!”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know the obvious movements of the Order? Sorry, but I read it all. Soon, the riffraff from the Inquisition will flock into the facility.”

‘How does she know that…?’

Aile frowned at Mute’s unexpected words.

The reason he had been given a scroll for contact in advance was so that he could contact them as soon as he grasped the identity of the magic circle located inside the dungeon.

If the danger of the unidentified magic circle was confirmed, the Inquisitors who had been waiting in a nearby area were scheduled to rush in to wipe out the Twilight Assembly.

According to the plan he had heard from Executive Officer Eileen, they should have entered the dungeon by now, but a member of the Dissolution Order was accurately aware of that fact.

“Was it a trap?”

“Correct. The magic circle outside was just a disguise. The moment all the Order’s forces enter the underground dungeon, they will become corpses crawling around without will, along with these fanatics.”

Flash!
Mute started the magic circle.

It was a huge magic circle containing a large-scale annihilation magic, one of the forbidden magics.

The effective range of the magic was the entire dungeon, and anyone who set foot in it, regardless of strength, would be annihilated.

It was a high-level magic that was by no means easy, but it was installed using the power of the many souls that the Twilight Assembly had gathered.

“Just in case, I had prepared a more elaborate plan, but if I had known you would fall for it so easily, I would have just hung a turkey leg on the ceiling.”

‘Damn it… I have to stop it somehow.’

Aile thought in desperation.

If the power of the Order he belonged to weakened, not only the deity but also Aile would eventually suffer.

He had to prevent the activation of the large magic circle before the Inquisitors arrived and fell into the trap.

“Loden, we don’t have time! We have to break through to the altar!”

“I understand!”

Slash!

Loden stepped forward, simultaneously cutting down three fanatics who were rushing in.

Aile also imbued his longsword with holy power and mercilessly cut down the monsters.

The ‘Full Moon’ effect, which inflicted additional damage on the undead, shone brightly here as well.

The sacred white flames burned the unnatural creatures and turned them to ashes.

But even so, Mute was injecting magic power with a relaxed attitude, walking up the altar.

‘There are too many.’

If the annihilation magic circle was activated, Aile and Loden in the room would not be safe either.

There were too many enemies to deal with compared to the given time.
Aile opened his inventory and took out holy water.

Clang!

The glass bottle containing the holy water was thrown with all its might and hit the floor.

The bottle broke and the holy water spread out. Aile cut down one of the fanatics with his sword, then threw the writhing creature engulfed in holy fire into the holy water to ignite it further.

Whoosh!

The power of the holy fire, infused with holy water, was tremendous.

The fierce flames swept through the undead in the surrounding area, and Aile, confirming its power, threw all the remaining holy water to clear the way.

After using all the holy water in his inventory, the number of monsters rushing at them immediately decreased noticeably.

This was thanks to the fact that their path was blocked by the flames, or they were struggling to put out the fire on their bodies, causing them to become entangled with each other.

“Hmm… not bad.”
Mute, who had stopped in the middle of the altar, looked down.
Aile and Loden, having broken through the fanatics, were already trying to climb the stairs of the altar.

Then, she raised her staff and reactivated the Spirit Stone.

Crackle!

The black mist that had risen again flowed down the altar.

But this time, it didn’t head to the floor.

The black energies seeped into the corpses of the beasts that had been sacrificed as offerings in various parts of the altar.

The beast-type monsters that had opened their eyes roared in their respective ways, boasting a size that had grown even larger than their original forms.

“They’re coming!”

Thud!
The giant tiger that was closest jumped and aimed for Aile and Loden, smashing the floor they were standing on.

Both reacted quickly and leaped away to safety, but it didn’t end there.

Mute, who was in the middle of the altar, fired magic down at them.

Gray magic spears rained down on them, and Aile hurriedly activated a shield in his other hand to block the attack.

But even so, his body was pushed back by the stronger-than-expected impact, and his health gradually decreased.

Clang!

Meanwhile, Loden, who had deflected the magic spear by wielding his spear, immediately thrust the spear into the mouth of the tiger aiming for him.

He checked the monster’s reduced health through the information window with that one blow.

“Ha, what kind of difficulty is this…?”

He had hoped that it would be a monster that would quickly fall after two or three attacks, but unfortunately, the tiger’s health was not so easily depleted.

Considering that there were more than one or two beast-type monsters awakened on the altar, it was a very difficult situation.

Moreover, as a magician who had dabbled in forbidden magic, Mute was unleashing magic without casting time, and even the power was formidable.

Boom!
The flying magic exploded, and the two had to barely avoid it and deal with the rampaging beasts.

It was to the extent that a party of ordinary level would have been wiped out several times already.

“This terrain is terrible!”

With the time limit, it was difficult to resolve the situation smoothly because even the terrain was unfavorable.

It was difficult to slowly unravel the situation, and it was difficult to approach quickly.

He needed a way to create a variable.

‘I have no choice but to use that…’

Aile, having made a decision, immediately manipulated the interface.

[Apostle Privilege, ‘Contribution Shop’ is open!]

[You are not restricted by region as an Apostle!]

[Purchase complete!]

[Low-grade Space Movement Scroll]

[2,500 Contribution Points have been consumed.]

Even though he was manipulating the system window with just his eyes and thoughts, the time it took to open the screen and purchase the desired item from the list was only a moment.

‘I’ll accept the expenditure…!’

The magic of the scroll Aile chose was a short-range blink [a short-distance teleportation].

Basically, space magic tends to require a lot of resources due to its usefulness, but Aile did not hesitate.

There was more at stake than that now.

“That’s…?”

Loden, who saw the scroll that appeared in Aile’s hand with light, looked surprised.

But he quickly grasped the situation.

He stepped forward to buy time and drew the beasts’ attention, and even deflected the magic spear flying towards Aile’s head with his spear.

It was a short time, but it was enough.

Whirr!
Aile placed his hand on the unfolded scroll.

He set the coordinates through his gaze and injected magic power into the scroll.

Flash!
Aile’s body disappeared with a bright light.

And, with a chilling sound, blood splattered on the floor.

Stab!

“Cough…?”

Mute, who had been pierced through the heart, gasped for breath.

Aile, who had moved right in front of her, immediately stabbed his sword, and Mute, a magician, could not react in time to the unexpected attack.

Aile quickly checked her health, and the life force that had been dwindling pointed to 0 percent.

Her body, which had been judged to be dead, slowly crumbled.

‘Is it over…? It feels a little too easy.’

It felt like it was over too easily, considering that human-type monsters or NPCs have relatively less health than other races.

But right then.

Mute’s hand, which had suddenly moved, abruptly grabbed the blade of the longsword that had pierced her.

Before Aile, who flinched, could react, she came so close that their faces were right next to each other and whispered in Aile’s ear.

“Too much… It hurts. Fighting is not my specialty.”

Mute, with red blood in the corner of her mouth, smiled.

It was clearly a situation where she should have died.
Aile, horrified, checked her health again.

Then, he saw that the life force that had been at the bottom was rising again.

“H-How…?”

Crackle!
A huge magic power gathered in her staff.

“I… don’t die.”