Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 129

Underworld (3)

Kugugugung!

Explosions echoed through the long passage leading to the entrance.

The Holy Knights of the Order and the followers of the Twilight Society were locked in a fierce battle, the Knights having raided the base.

But the Society’s numbers were overwhelming.

Perhaps because this was the Crimson Twilight Society’s largest facility, the Knights of Light were gradually being pushed back.

The attackers were also of a high caliber, as one would expect at the heart of the Twilight Society, meaning the Knights faced many formidable enemies.

Moreover, the Society members were desperately trying to break out of the encirclement by the Order, making it even harder to subdue them.

“Hold on a little longer! Reinforcements from the Inquisition are on their way!”

The Holy Knight at the forefront shouted.

They couldn’t afford to lose control of any passage, not when they were so close to finding the leader of the Twilight Society, whose location they had barely managed to pinpoint.

But then, a black magician at the rear completed a lengthy incantation.

The massive black sphere he unleashed hurtled toward them instantly.

Kwaang!

The Holy Knights blocking the passage were blasted away.

The fanatics of the Twilight Society within the blast radius were also caught up and killed, but no one paid them any mind.

“We’ve finally broken through! We must escape this place quickly!”

“Wait, over there……!”

“What……?”

A sudden presence made itself known.

An immense killing intent washed over them, and everyone in the passage reflexively turned their heads.

At the far end of the dark passage.

A woman with long, red hair was approaching.

Her eyes were covered with a black cloth, and she held a long scythe in one hand.

Judging from the fact that she wasn’t wearing heavy armor, she didn’t appear to be a Holy Knight, but her attire was emblazoned with a red cross and the symbol of the Order.

“Y-You too, are you a lackey of the Order?”

The man shouted, raising his sword.

Clearly, the opponent was only one person, and a blind one at that.

But his body was already instinctively cowering without him even realizing it.

“Heretics who have entrusted their souls to the devil.”

“Shut up, you trash!”

He charged forward with his sword.

He madly lunged toward her as she slowly approached from the end of the long passage.

“We are all sinners. All beings are destined to be consumed by death. From the moment we are born, we are sinners sentenced to death according to the will of the Creator.”

The woman slowly advanced through the dark passage.

She soon fully emerged into the light.

“I will guide you to the path of salvation.”

Whirrr!

Holy fire blazed on her long scythe.

The neck of the man who screamed and swung his sword was the first to be cleanly severed.

The followers filling the passage charged in unison, and the black magicians prepared their spells.

Every time the scythe was swung, their blood gushed out incessantly.

Fierce flames incinerated the sinners, and scorching heat filled the passage.

Thud!

They were all cut down and collapsed, and sticky blood formed a river.

The only two still standing consciously in this place were the woman and the last remaining man.

A long sword was embedded in the last man’s side.

“Keuh……!”

The follower of the Twilight Society struggled against the wall, his neck gripped by the woman.

“Heretics who have fallen for the devil’s temptation, and believers who worship God. There is only a difference in the weight of sin… We must all prove ourselves and atone through suffering.”

“Kuaaaaak!”

White flames erupted from the penetrating blade, and holy fire began to sear his flesh.

He writhed in agony before the unbearable pain of the flames rising from his side.

But that didn’t last long either.

When he no longer had the strength to scream, the man began to beg for death.

“K-Kill me.”

Blood tears streamed down the trembling fanatic’s face.

But the woman quietly reached out and gently stroked the man’s cheek.

“Wipe away your tears. You don’t have to cry anymore. I will burn your tears along with your sins.”

Kwaak!

The sword plunged even deeper.

The man’s eyes rolled back, and his mouth gaped open.

In the moment when death was almost upon him, powerful divine magic enveloped him, and the pain continued to repeat endlessly, as if forever.

The struggling man instinctively grabbed the dagger at his waist.

“Die……!”

Kwaak!

The dagger plunged deep into the woman’s heart.

A stream of blood dripped down, and her body staggered.

Blood also trickled from the corner of her mouth.

But she didn’t scream or collapse.

She simply opened her mouth slowly.

“I, too, shall die and go to hell, and I will gladly save you.”

* * *

“All entrances have been sealed, Executor. All secret passages that were identified in advance have been destroyed, so there’s no way for him to escape.”

“Good work.”

A young man who had entered the base of the Twilight Society said curtly.

The man at the forefront was named Pedro, one of the five Executors of Ru [powerful agents of the Church of Light] on the continent.

As this was virtually the last base of the Twilight Society, this surprise attack involved two Executors, including him, personally taking action.

Pedro, who entered without hesitation, soon entered the opposite passage and faced the scene of a terrible massacre.

The floor and walls were covered in blood.

It was filled with corpses so severely damaged that it was difficult to recognize their shapes, and a foul odor permeated the air.

It was a scene where at least hundreds seemed to have been torn to death.

Pedro faced the woman standing in the middle of this hellscape.

“Saturn, is this your doing again?”

He frowned and spoke.

Then the woman with the scythe, Saturn, turned her head and looked at Pedro.

“You’ve arrived.”

Saturn greeted him with a faint smile.

Her identity was also an Executor of the same Order as Pedro.

The highest decision-makers within the Order of Light and the strongest forces on the continent.

“If it weren’t for the Goddess’s great tolerance, you too would have been burned as a heretic, and you would have had nothing to say.”

Pedro didn’t hide his displeasure.

As a staunch fundamentalist, he couldn’t bear her way of thinking and actions.

As a member of the Church of Light, the only true mission was to judge sinners and correct the order of the world.

Of course, even among the many believers of the Order, as well as among the Executors, the ways of interpreting the will of God were all different, but Saturn’s methods were a bit too extreme for his taste.

But Saturn lightly laughed it off as if she were used to his attitude.

“Well, is that really so? If my faith were wrong, I wouldn’t have been able to stand as an Executor. Everyone has a path to the Goddess, and all they have to do is faithfully walk that path. The most important thing is to receive Her will and stand here together.”

“…….”

Pedro still looked at her with disapproving eyes.

Breaking the brief, strange silence, Saturn spoke first.

“Are you going to leave the leader of the Twilight Society alone? Brother.”

“…Let’s go.”

The most important thing was the Goddess’s command.

The priority was to capture the leader of the Twilight Society, who was hiding inside the base.

After the Inquisitors of the Inquisition joined, most of the fanatics of the Twilight Society who were already stationed in the facility had been subdued.

Kwaang!

The two Executors broke down the door and burst in.

“You were here, leader. Still struggling?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re the ones who are going to be finished!”

Chwaaaaa!

Black energy rushed towards the leader of the Twilight Society.

He had somehow taken out an unidentified black orb from his pocket and used it, and a thick black fog began to cover the surroundings.

The leader lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot due to the artifact he used himself.

But soon, the expressions of the two Executors were filled with astonishment.

Jeojeojeojeok!

A huge demon revealed itself from within the fog.

The Demon of Greed, Benaron.

Not just an inferior species of demon mimicking its appearance, but a true demon had directly appeared here.

Kuoong!

Benaron lightly waved his hand, causing a powerful shockwave, which knocked the two away.

“Keuek……!”

The two Executors, who had rolled across the floor, hurriedly got up.

They reached out to pick up the weapons they had dropped.

Cheucheucheut!

However, the Executors’ movements completely stopped.

Not just their movements, but their consciousness itself seemed to have stopped.

No matter how strong they were, they were useless in front of a divine being who had directly revealed himself.

“Two Executors… not bad.”

Benaron looked down at them and chuckled.

The strongest pawns cherished by the Goddess of Light.

The manifestation that directly revealed itself in the world could not be maintained for long, and Benaron unhesitatingly reached out his arm to kill them.

But at that moment.

Kwaaaa!

A pure white light drove away the black fog and illuminated the room.

The figure of the Goddess appeared before the startled Benaron.

The Goddess of Justice and Light, ‘Ru’, clad in brilliant white armor.

“To think you’d show yourself directly. I thought you wouldn’t be able to move directly for a while because you created an Apostle.”

Benaron scanned her with greedy eyes.

He had shown himself using a disposable artifact, but Ru had descended directly without any auxiliary means and revealed her true form.

It was obvious that it would require a tremendous consumption of influence.

“What are you doing here? It can’t be that two Executors are worth that much.”

Benaron threw a question.

But Ru only silently stared at such a being.

“Are you so angry that I laid hands on your precious Apostle? Or is this also a product of madness? Either way, it’s foolish.”

Benaron approached with an unpleasant smile on his face.

His grotesque arm reached out to Ru.

Chwaaaak!

Ru swung her long sword and slashed off his arm.

The arm that had fallen from Benaron wriggled on the floor.

Cheeik!

But the severed arm was quickly regenerated, and a triumphant smile appeared on Benaron’s face.

“We are eternal beings. We cannot kill each other. Even if we directly reveal ourselves on this earth.”

“Eternal… you’re making a big mistake.”

Ru opened her mouth as if amused.

Because of Benaron’s huge size, she seemed to be looking up, but her arrogant gaze pierced through the insignificant demon before her eyes.

“The time you could exist was only one year. Even then, you were half asleep.”

Chwaak!

Chijijijik!

This time, his right arm fell off, spewing black blood.

“No……?”

But the surprised Benaron stopped in shock.

The severed arm did not regenerate.

Moreover, not only that, but Benaron could feel it.

Not just the body revealed here, but even his true self had suffered a great blow.

“You……! What’s going on!”

The enraged Benaron reached out his left arm to attack Ru.

But it was useless.

His attack was blocked by the brilliant barrier of light surrounding Ru and bounced off powerlessly.

“A half-baked divinity wouldn’t know properly. You don’t even understand the rules of the game… Your role ends here.”

Whirrr!

Holy fire blazed on Ru’s long sword.