Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 121

Purifier

“This should be enough…”

Aeil, having escaped the scene, set the elf down and took a breath.

Fortunately, he managed to escape without being caught by the guards who had swarmed into the alley.

However, his stamina, which he hadn’t yet recovered, was hitting rock bottom, making him dizzy and disoriented.

Just as he was starting to worry about how much longer he would have to endure this.

[The curse’s effect has expired, and the ‘unhealable’ effect disappears.]

‘Good.’

As soon as the message indicating the end of the curse appeared, Aeil immediately took out a potion to restore his stamina.

This time, his stamina filled up without any issues, and his dizziness returned to normal.

However, the curse’s effect had only disappeared for Aeil.

He tried giving a recovery potion to the battered High Elf, but it had no effect at all.

She seemed to be under a more severe curse than Aeil had been, and considering her physical condition, it was an even more dangerous situation.

Her pale face indicated her critical condition.

He quickly stopped the bleeding using bandages, but her condition seemed to be worsening, likely due to poison or internal injuries.

“It’s no use. I won’t last long.”

She leaned against the wall and spoke with difficulty.

As she said, it seemed unlikely that she would survive if treatment was impossible.

“Is there no way to lift the curse?”

“Usually, it would fade with time, but… the problem is that I don’t have time.”

She spoke as if she had resigned herself to the pessimistic situation.

After struggling to rescue her from the Dark Elves, she was dying from a curse. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do.

“Could I ask why? Why did the Dark Elves attack, and why are both of you out in a human city, violating the treaty with the royal family?”

“But to an outsider…”

“I have ties to the White Forest.”

Aeil took out the Feather of Ascendance from his chest.

Proof that he had been recognized by them. As soon as the High Elf saw it, her expression changed instantly.

“You have the feather… Then, could I ask you for a favor? I can’t just… leave my mission unfinished.”

“Anything, just say the word.”

Aeil nodded in response to her earnest request.

“Recently, the ancient spirits’ sanctuaries have been getting corrupted. The Dark Elves from earlier, along with other suspicious forces, are behind it.”

This was all known information.

After all, Aeil was the one who had first sent the message about this to the High Elves via messenger bird, so it was only natural.

“We tried to step in directly to prevent the sanctuaries from being corrupted, but the treaty held us back, and an agreement with the royal family has not yet been reached. At this rate, it would be too late, and we had no choice but to ignore the treaty and come out of the forest.”

‘So that’s what happened.’

With the royal family’s forces divided, if a force as large as the High Elves stepped in directly, the prince would desperately try to stop them, and there would be no progress in the negotiations.

“But the royal family must have noticed the suspicious movements and been trying to stop you. Shouldn’t you leave it to them…?”

Aeil voiced his concern.

Currently, the World Quest was progressing rapidly, and the princess’s forces and the users who had received her quest were defending the sanctuaries.

Even after that, there had been several attempts to invade other places, but they had all been stopped, and the sanctuaries had been restored to normal.

However, upon hearing Aeil’s words, she shook her head.

“No… There are many hidden places besides those known to humans. The ancient spirits’ sanctuaries are basically located in places untouched by humans, and if Dark Elves, who can sense the spirits’ energy like us, step in, even the deeply hidden sanctuaries are in danger.”

Not only the sanctuaries whose locations the High Elves had already identified.

The White Forest patrol, who had ventured out into the world, were directly searching for any sanctuaries that had not yet been discovered, preparing for any possible situation.

The White Forest patrol were the elites of the High Elves, and without a doubt, they were a very powerful force.

However, since it was not yet a formally agreed-upon situation, they had to move in a way that would not arouse suspicion, and on the other hand, the incidents were so widespread that they were short on manpower.

As a result, even those who were not patrol members, including her, had to venture out of the forest themselves.

“And we weren’t just looking for sanctuaries. We also found several places where the energy that had corrupted the sanctuaries was spreading, even though the spirits’ energy couldn’t be felt… My mission was to find new clues there. But I was attacked before I could even arrive, and this is what happened…”

Her breathing became increasingly labored, and she spat out blood.

The black blood stained the elf’s clothes.

“Please take over my mission. It may be too much for you right now, but it’s a mission that must be completed. If you don’t stop them, who knows what will happen…”

Her trembling hand reached out and grasped Aeil’s hand.

With those words, the High Elf’s breath ceased, and the last item she had given him was in Aeil’s hand.

‘…’

It was a map containing the location of the destination.

* * *

“This is definitely the place…”

Aeil, having arrived at the location marked on the map, looked around.

The Besra Plains.

It was not a very popular area for users because it was a peaceful area with no monsters compared to its large size.

But that wasn’t what Aeil was concerned about.

It was just too clean to be considered a contaminated area.

There were no undead or evil spirits appearing, and it was a place where wild animals roamed in clean nature.

‘The information couldn’t have been wrong, so in this case, it’s usually… underground.’

Aeil set out to find his destination.

He couldn’t sense the spirits’ energy or the contaminated energy from afar like the elf, so he had no choice but to guess.

He looked at the map’s location in more detail, went to the exactly marked place, and looked for any hidden terrain.

“Found it.”

Aeil, having discovered a suspicious entrance, went straight inside.

From the location tucked away in an inconspicuous corner to the shape of the entrance, it reeked of suspicion.

Whirr!

And that expectation was spot on.

As soon as he entered, he felt a strong contaminated energy.

The atmosphere outside, which he had been in just a moment ago, felt like a lie, and the inside of the cave was slowly rotting away.

‘Judging by the fact that I didn’t feel any spirits’ energy, it’s probably not a sanctuary where spirits are sleeping… What are they aiming for?’

Kee-reek!

At that moment, a black evil spirit appeared in front of Aeil.

It looked similar to the ones he had seen in the sanctuary, and Aeil quickly checked its information.

The monster, which appeared to be a normal dungeon monster, was level 90, which was quite high.

‘There was a reason why she said it might be too much.’

The High Elf, who had passed the request to Aeil, added that it might be a bit much while leaving the request.

Even NPCs who didn’t know that Warlord was a virtual reality recognized the level system to some extent.

Moreover, even if they couldn’t see the information window, NPCs could gauge the user’s level, just as users could guess the NPC’s level.

So, since Aeil, who was in his 70s [level 70s], was heading to a hunting ground in the 90s [level 90s], she warned him that it might be dangerous for him.

‘It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible either.’

Aeil, who was currently level 75, had a level difference of 15 with it.

It was a higher level than expected, but Aeil didn’t care.

It was basic common sense that hunting near one’s own level was the most efficient, not only in Warlord but also in most games.

However, the story was different if one had decent stats and was also doing important quests.

Swish!

Aeil, having drawn his sword, and the evil spirit rushed at each other.

The evil spirit rushed in fiercely as if to curse the living, but the fight did not last long.

Clang!

Kieeeek!

The evil spirit, impaled by the sword, thrashed while burning with holy fire, and Aeil slashed its neck in one fell swoop.

The evil spirit collapsed with a thud, already having suffered large and small wounds all over its body from Aeil, and could no longer withstand it.

‘As long as I’m not fighting multiple enemies at once, it doesn’t seem too dangerous.’

He roughly grasped the level with the previous battle, and it seemed possible to conquer the dungeon at this rate.

With confidence, Aeil did not hesitate to step deeper into the dungeon.

He couldn’t hunt in packs and mess up the dungeon like he usually did, but he was able to break through by carefully defeating one monster at a time.

‘This is…?’

Traces of people seen in the middle of the passage.

It wasn’t from a monster, and it hadn’t been created long ago, so Aeil raised his guard and moved forward.

He didn’t know if it was a player, a Kyrios [a race in the game] or an elf, but either way, it could be dangerous in a different way than monsters.

‘The structure is complex, but the dungeon itself doesn’t seem that big…’

Aeil thought as he stood in front of another dead end.

Even though it hadn’t been long since he entered, he could roughly see the structure of the dungeon.

It would have been burdensome if a high-level dungeon was spread out on too large a scale, so it was good news from Aeil’s point of view.

But then, an uninvited guest appeared in front of him.

Thwack!

A huge monster appeared, breaking through the wall.

[The Sinful Existence, Blasphemer, has been discovered!]

Kuaaaa!

The giant with the obese body roared at Aeil.

When he swung the club he was carrying on his shoulder with all his might, one wall was shattered with a loud noise.

“This…!”

Aeil, who hurriedly stepped back, narrowed his brows as he checked the monster’s information.

Even a normal boss would be troublesome in a dungeon of his current level, but the opponent was a Blasphemer of level 95.

At the very least, he was stronger than the Dark Elf he had faced before.

Clang!

When the monster slammed down his club, a shockwave was created by the tremendous force.

Aeil, who was pushed back by the shockwave, rolled on the floor, and the giant’s club, aiming for that moment, was swung once again.

The power was obvious as to what would happen if he got hit even once.

Aeil desperately threw himself and barely managed to avoid the monster’s attack.

“Ugh…!”

Aeil tried to attack the monster using Holy Baptism, but the damage was not as high as he had expected.

He couldn’t ignore the level difference, and his stamina was also very high, befitting his obese body.

The estimate itself was not coming out properly.

It was a very difficult enemy, and Aeil could not avoid struggling.

‘Damn it, should I give up?’

Any choice was better than losing his life, and he wondered if he should back down here.

But at that very moment.

Thwack!

A huge black spear appeared and pierced the giant’s chest in one fell swoop.

With great damage, he was unable to move due to the additional effect of restraint.

Spear of Silence.

Aeil was also familiar with the high-cost attack magic scroll, which could only be used by those who belonged to the Order [a group or faction in the game].

‘Could it be…’

Swish!

Neshua, having drawn her dagger, revealed herself from the shadows.