Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 100

100. The Best Defense (4)

Koo-oong!

A massive corpse collapsed, spraying a fountain of blood.

The corpse slumped to the ground, emitting a foul stench. Aile lightly jumped off from atop the corpse.

Aile held the head he had severed from the corpse. He frowned deeply and tossed the head aside.

“Hoo, it wasn’t dangerous for nothing.”

Aile muttered, sighing in relief.

Beyond the palisade, the Misty Plains were home to all sorts of dangerous monsters.

These were the kinds of creatures that hadn’t appeared during the village defense. Even with a well-formed party, they were threatening enough to strike at any moment.

But now, the undead hadn’t fully emerged yet, so the situation was still much better.

The number of monsters appearing in the plains would surge at certain times, and the surging undead would swarm towards Tulli Village.

From Aile’s perspective, he had to resolve things as much as possible within the given time and return before it was too late.

If he were to face that monster wave in the middle of all this, even Aile would be helpless and doomed.

‘It’s too tight of a timeframe to conduct exploration work in a place like this… but I can’t back down after coming this far.’

Aile had a solo mission directly assigned to him by the Order’s Executor, and he had to be willing to take this level of risk for the sake of tracking down the Dissident Church.

Moreover, this was an opportunity to clear two quests at once, including a request from the Royal Investigation Team, so he couldn’t miss it.

Pat!

Aile quickly rummaged through the dead monster’s corpse, grabbed the item, and stood up.

There was no time to leisurely dissect the corpse now.

‘If I didn’t have a map, how would I have found a hidden dungeon in a place like this…’

Aile checked the map he had unfolded and looked for the path.

The fog became so thick as he entered the center that it was difficult to see even an inch ahead.

Searching this place aimlessly without any clues was virtually impossible, and even Aile, who had a detailed map with precise locations, was struggling.

However, the terrain wasn’t always a hindrance.

If he had to find one good thing about this fog, it was that the undead couldn’t easily detect Aile’s presence.

Creak, creak!

The sounds of monsters coming from all directions tickled Aile’s ears.

Even though it was an open plain, the fog prevented them from noticing Aile’s presence.

Aile held his breath as much as possible and moved forward, quietly cutting down any that approached him.

Of course, Aile also had difficulty securing a clear view.

Sometimes, undead monsters that spotted him first would rush in fiercely, leading to a major battle.

But Aile would quickly deal with them and hide back into the fog to avoid the monsters that were drawn by the noise.

And after repeating this several times.

“This location is definitely correct…”

Aile muttered as he moved, comparing the map.

He had safely arrived near the coordinates indicated on the map, but nothing was visible to his eyes as he looked around.

It was true that the visibility was reduced due to the fog, but that alone couldn’t explain it.

This was a desolate plain where it was hard to even see a single tree, so there was nothing to be mistaken about.

The distant cries of monsters, the foggy sky, and the ground felt beneath his feet were all there was.

‘Then it must be underground.’

Aile immediately lowered his stance and began to rummage through the ground.

He didn’t think much of the possibility that the map he had was wrong.

He had already repeatedly grasped Sebera’s tendencies from the existing information and the previous quest. Moreover, as Bloody Hands, who was in a neutral position, had no reason to deceive him, the client.

The reputation of organizations located in the back alleys was more sensitive than he thought. If it was information that couldn’t be passed on, they wouldn’t have accepted the Order’s request from the beginning.

‘This is…’

As the dirt covering the ground was swept away by Aile’s hand, the stone floor underneath revealed itself.

A stone floor undoubtedly meant that it was a trace of artificial touch.

‘A Dissident Church member must be hiding under here. Along with the cause of this incident.’

As Aile discovered a crucial clue, he felt like he knew why the investigation of other users had been sluggish so far.

In addition to the extremely difficult environment to search, it was a location that he couldn’t have possibly grasped without the map.

He wondered how Bloody Hands had found out about this place.

In fact, judging from the speed at which they extracted the information after the request, there was a high possibility that they had already grasped the information shortly after this incident occurred and passed it on to him.

Then the question was how to handle this clue.

It was certain that there was a hidden space under here, but an entrance leading inside had not been found.

‘There must be an activation device somewhere.’

Aile, almost lying down, began to dig around the surrounding floor.

Sometimes, there were things that had to be solved with his body.

* * *

Aile, holding a torch, descended the stairs.

As expected, when he touched the activation device hidden on the floor with a different pattern, a passage leading below appeared.

Judging by the fact that there was even such a device, it couldn’t be an ordinary dungeon.

The moss-covered walls and floor seemed quite old, but the torches placed intermittently and the underground facility clearly showed signs of human touch.

Aile, who had descended to the end of the stairs, passed through a large door in the room that appeared to be the entrance and entered the interior.

A Dissident Church member would be inside, and he didn’t know what kind of scheme they were up to now.

He had to track them down as quickly as possible.

However, Aile, who was walking down the long corridor, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

It was because he had discovered a noticeable pattern on the walls connected to both sides.

‘This symbol again…’

The black crescent moon pattern was the same one he had seen on Mute.

It was clearly a symbol representing the Dissident Church, and judging by the traces that seemed as old as the old walls, he could tell who had created this place.

But that wasn’t all.

The walls were densely filled with all sorts of letters and drawings, and a large purple snake pattern was drawn on the opposite mural.

Aile knew very well who that pattern symbolized.

The God of Knowledge and Void, Lennox.

He was by no means a god who encouraged forbidden magic, but he basically had an inquisitive nature, so heretical mages greatly favored him.

One of the reasons why they came to believe in him was that Lennox’s third alias was Void.

Once upon a time, in the distant past, forbidden magic related to the Void existed as an important faction, but now all magic related to it has become obsolete and disappeared.

‘I have a rough idea of what they were doing here.’

Aile pondered as he carefully examined the walls.

Rather than being related to the deity Lennox or his Order, it seemed more likely that it was a facility created in the past for the purpose of being used by the Dissident Church from the beginning.

Whether it was a hideout to avoid tracking for a while or an abandoned experimental site, it seemed certain that it had been neglected for a very long time before being re-entered.

But then.

Kwaaaang!

With a loud roar, the wall Aile was looking at shattered.

The wall shattered into pieces, and a hammer flew along with the fragments, but Aile couldn’t react to the sudden situation.

Pow!

Aile, who had been sent flying by the impact of the heavy blunt weapon, rolled across the floor.

It was a shock so intense that it made his mind spin.

But he couldn’t just lie down when an enemy had suddenly launched a surprise attack.

“Kuh-heuk…”

Aile hurriedly wiped the blood seeping from his mouth as he propped himself up from the floor.

His health had decreased by an unbelievable amount with just one attack.

“I wondered what rat was hiding in here… but was it just a stupid adventurer?”

A burly, muscular man appeared from the shattered wall.

The man with a gruff voice, Sledge, held the large hammer that had just shattered the wall in both hands.

“What is your relationship with the Dissident Church?”

“What? How do you know about us?”

Rather than answering Aile’s question, Sledge retorted with a sharp reaction.

His already fierce face was contorted with all his might.

But Aile simply replied as if he was dumbfounded.

“Us? Ha, don’t try to play any strange tricks.”

“Shut up! Tell me properly before I crush your head. How did you hear about the Dissident Church? How did you find this place?”

Sledge threatened Aile, exuding an even more murderous aura.

Then Aile, who had been half-doubtful, noticed something strange.

Clearly, the Dissident Church was a closed group that only those who had set foot in forbidden ‘magic’ could enter.

And the man in front of him looked like a barbarian no matter how he looked at his appearance or attire.

But he was calling the Dissident Church ‘us’ very naturally.

Aile’s bewildered gaze scanned Sledge up and down, and when he looked closely at his attire, he noticed that the Dissident Church’s emblem was drawn on the armor he was wearing.

“I-is it real…? You, were you a mage?”

“Of course! My strong body is the true magic! You guys who are wielding toothpicks wouldn’t understand!”

Sledge, excited by the word magic, began to shout while waving his finger wildly.

‘Is he using body enhancement magic…’

Aile was sweating profusely.

There were funny stories circulating about users who had invested their stats incorrectly and became mages (physical), but the opponent in front of him was a mage who was determined to walk that path.

It was a case he had never seen before in War Lord, which was famous for its wide range of jobs and skill choices.

But after a moment of panic, Aile regained his composure and raised his sword.

“Let’s start quickly. I have a lot to talk about with you.”

“Dare you try to catch me…? No, before that, do you think you can even open your mouth to say that you’re going to catch me and interrogate me?”

Sledge laughed at him as if he was pathetic.

But Aile didn’t care about his reaction, as if he knew it would be like this.

No one knows until they experience it themselves.

“Yes, I’m thinking that way. I’ll take you to the Inquisitorial Division myself.”