Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 140

The Continent in Turmoil

Amstel could not withstand the Lightbringer Order’s two-pronged assault and fell.

Most of the city was engulfed in holy fire and burned down, so it wasn’t a matter of withstanding anything.

Even if they tried to abandon the city and flee, their escape routes were blocked.

The Ice Sea guild members were either swept away by the flames or captured by the zealots, and the fate of those captured was obvious.

Thud!

The neck of the kneeling prisoner was cleanly severed.

Beside those being beheaded, the ruins, now just ashes, were filled with the corpses of heretics hanging.

Amstel was completely occupied by the Lightbringer Order.

The highly significant world event was thus successfully concluded.

All the zealots who participated in this expedition received enormous rewards.

Of course, the rewards were distributed according to each person’s contribution.

Those who played important roles, like Luke and May, received much greater rewards, and needless to say, so did the apostle and executor, Aiel.

[The quest of the deity ‘Lu’ has been completed!]

[You have gained a large amount of experience!]

[Favor of the Goddess +15.00% (currently 121.55%)]

[Lightbringer Order Contribution +24,000]

[Faith stat +30]

[Madness stat +30]

‘As expected, it’s amazing…’

Aiel inwardly marveled.

It was a massive reward befitting a large-scale world event.

Most notably, the large amount of experience gained from completing the quest.

Combined with the experience he had gained from fighting the Ice Sea, his level soared to 147.

[‘Light’s Judge, Lu’ smiles joyfully.]

Lu, the one who issued the quest, seemed very satisfied with the outcome.

This world event was a major turning point.

They had burned down an entire city, so there was no need to mention the amount of influence they would gain.

They were now far ahead of other deities.

‘Is it still far off before the war’s outcome is decided?’

Aiel checked his personal screen and fell into thought.

The war between Ice Sea and the top 12 guilds, including Black Wolf, was still fiercely ongoing.

Both sides were evenly matched, so the fight showed no signs of ending easily.

The reason why Ice Sea couldn’t pay attention to this side, even though they had lost the major stronghold of Amstel, was precisely because of this.

On a larger scale, it was a war that could determine the fate of the guild, so they had to focus all their efforts on that.

‘Still, I’d prefer it if Black Wolf won.’

Aiel was hoping for the Ice Sea guild’s defeat.

From their perspective, having lost a huge stronghold like a city due to the Lightbringer Order, there was no way they could restore a smooth relationship.

It would be better if Ice Sea fell completely, so there would be no future troubles.

Caw! Caw!

Just then, the sound of a crow was heard not far away, and Aiel reflexively looked up.

The creature was slowly approaching him.

Seeing the small tube containing a letter attached to its left ankle, it wasn’t a creature that had come to scavenge corpses.

The crow that flew to Aiel soon stretched out its legs.

Whirr!

He took out the letter and unfolded it, recognizing the sender of the crow just by the seal stamped on the front.

It was a messenger crow sent from the Inquisition of Esmair.

And the content written on the messenger crow was something he had not expected at all.

“The results are already out?”

Aiel muttered to himself in surprise at the unexpected news.

The content of the letter was simple.

The interrogation of ‘Thatcher,’ who had been imprisoned and tortured in the Inquisition, had yielded results.

Aiel, as the contributor who had directly captured him and as an executor, was the first to be informed.

‘They said there was a strong security magic on him, but they’ve already solved the problem? They’re amazing in this area after all.’

Thatcher was a member of the Dissident Group [a group rebelling against established magical practices].

Although they had captured him a while ago, he and the other members of the Dissident Group had been subjected to magic that enforced confidentiality.

As a result, despite the involvement of quite a few forces, they had not been able to extract any significant information, and the situation was stagnating.

But this time, the Inquisition was the first to find a way to解除 [jiěchú – remove/release] the security magic and, through torture more terrible than death, extracted a confession from him.

This achievement was made as soon as they began investigating them in earnest after the subjugation of the Twilight Council.

This was a huge boon, and Aiel quickly checked the next content of the letter.

‘As expected, it was the prince’s doing.’

As expected, Prince Oren, who coveted the throne, was a major figure behind all the incidents related to the world quest.

To reverse his current unfavorable situation, he gathered not only the Dissident Group, which was working to normalize forbidden magic, but also 异种族 [yìzhǒngzú – different race] forces like the dark elves, who were dissatisfied with the existing order.

Since it was difficult to bring about change within the royal family, he was trying to manipulate external forces to adjust the seats in the Grand Council in his favor.

But the target the prince was aiming for was something Aiel had never expected.

‘The prince is aiming for the Six Great Guilds…?’

Aiel doubted his eyes for a moment.

According to the letter, the prince was planning to overturn the Six Great Guilds, which held many seats in the Grand Council, entirely.

But the Six Great Guilds were massive forces that even the royal family could not easily touch.

It was absolutely impossible with ordinary methods.

‘The purpose of the Spirit Stones is to absorb the earth’s mana… and the process caused contamination.’

That’s why they used forbidden magic that broke common sense.

With the help of the Dissident Group, the prince’s side prepared Spirit Stones and collected black mana absorbed from the earth in various parts of the continent.

And the vast amount of earth’s mana collected in this way was to be used to awaken the sleeping ancient spirits and then control their consciousness.

He didn’t know if such a thing was really possible, but it was a tremendous undertaking.

After replacing the Six Great Guilds, which had sided with the princess, he intended to fill the seats with user guilds that had sided with the prince in this world quest.

He could completely reverse the situation in the Grand Council, which had been leaning towards the princess due to the participation of the Six Great Guilds, by 180 degrees.

‘He was so careful to hide his purpose to an excessive degree… so he was plotting something like this. I’ve gotten my hands on some incredible information.’

A smile spread across Aiel’s face.

A huge quest that could completely overturn the current Warlord landscape, where the Six Great Guilds reigned supreme.

Aiel had obtained a key clue that could control that quest.

Realizing this, Aiel thought for a moment about how to use this information.

‘Well, there’s no need to worry about it now.’

It was a very simple problem that didn’t require much thought.

Aiel had already joined the princess’s side.

At the end of the quest, a huge reward awaited: ‘The first Lightbringer Order recognized by the kingdom,’ and there was no need to weigh it against anything else.

Moreover, even though the Six Great Guilds were dominating, they were fiercely competing with each other, and a certain set of rules had been established in the world.

If they were all to collapse in an instant, Warlord would become very chaotic, like the situation before the forces had established themselves.

The more that happened, the more individual users like Aiel would die.

The guilds, desperate to acquire territories, would use any means to increase their power, and even more pressure would be placed on the Lightbringer Order or Aiel himself.

‘Above all, even if I keep my mouth shut here… there’s no way the Six Great Guilds would just sit back and take it.’

No matter how little interest the Six Great Guilds had shown in the world quest so far.

By now, they might have already noticed something strange and be investigating it.

‘It would be better to put them in debt beforehand.’

The large guilds of Warlord, who know the importance of transactions, do not forget debts.

Aiel first contacted Nightmare through a separate direct channel.

After that, he wrote emails to the remaining Six Great Guilds and conveyed the facts.

Now that Aiel’s name was widely known, even if the other party was the high-profile Six Great Guilds, his words would not be ignored.

Of course, it was uncertain whether they would completely believe his words, but that was something they would find out if they started investigating, and if the Six Great Guilds stepped in, it was only a matter of time before the situation of this world quest tilted.

In fact, now that his purpose had been exposed to him, the prince’s side was as good as over.

‘The Dissident Group, which had sided with the prince, will also collapse rapidly… then I’ll have to dispose of that too.’

Aiel recalled the items he had piled up in his warehouse.

It was time to sell off the thorium ingots he had collected.

According to the facts Thatcher had revealed, thorium ingots with high magic conductivity were an important material for making Spirit Stones.

The moment their plot was blocked, demand would decrease again, and the market price would plummet.

Taking profits here was the best way to extract the most gains.

“You’re still busy racking your brain.”

A woman’s voice suddenly came from behind.

Aiel, who had moved to a secluded spot in the ruins to have the conversation, turned around to see a beautiful woman with long blonde hair standing there.

“Y-Your Goddess?”

Aiel could recognize her immediately.

Lu, who had manifested directly without borrowing someone else’s body this time.

Her appearance at the time when he first started the game was standing in front of him exactly as it was now.

“Is it okay for you to show that form?”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t descended with full power.”

Lu said simply.

She had arbitrarily descended to the ground through a vessel, and she could maintain her form with only a small amount of influence that was incomparable to a descent.

Of course, this form also consumed much more influence than borrowing the body of a zealot.

“You did a really good job with this world event. But I can’t stay down here for long in this form, so it’s better to get to the point quickly.”

“The point…?”

“I must keep the promise I made with my faithful apostle.”

Lu smiled and strode towards Aiel.

She grabbed one of Aiel’s cheeks, who still didn’t know what was going on, and made him bend down slightly.

Their eyes met.

The soft sensation of lips remained on his forehead.

“W-What is this…?”

Aiel, his face flushed, froze in place in embarrassment.

But soon a message appeared in front of him.

[The dazzling blessing of the Goddess envelops your body.]

[Luck temporarily increases by 5 stages!]

“This is…?”

A sudden luck bonus.

Lu added a word to Aiel, who was just staring blankly.

“You seem to be relaxed. As far as I know, it won’t last very long.”

“Ah…!”

Buffs that increase luck were generally characterized by their short duration.

Aiel, belatedly recalling this fact, hurriedly took out a skill book from his inventory.

The highest-grade golden skill book he had obtained in Eltris.

He was looking for an opportunity to get even a small luck buff because it was too precious to use just like that, but now that a 5-stage luck bonus had occurred, he had to open it right away.

Flash!

Brilliant light poured out from the activated skill book.

[Zeal of the Seeker (Legendary)]

-Skill exclusive to Lightbringer Order.

-The seeker who has gained enlightenment through true faith has stepped into a new realm.

-All types of divine magic learned by the player are affected by other basic stats instead of magic power.

“L-Legendary?”

Aiel stared blankly at the screen.

The name of the skill shone brilliantly in gold.

The highest grade passive in Warlord, legendary, appeared before him.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Lu shrugged lightly.