Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 139

The Sixth Executioner (6)

Koo-oong!

A rock imbued with sacred power flew in an arc, repeatedly striking the thick fortress walls.

The initial impact, of course, caused fire to spread in all directions, resulting in widespread damage.

“Kuaaaaagh!”

“Damn it, where did they get such weapons!”

Catapults, siege towers, cannons, and more.

High-performance siege weapons of unbelievable quality appeared on the side of the Order of Light.

They were incomparable to the catapults they had brought at first.

It was impossible to transport such weapons in such a short period.

A sudden world event that arose without prior preparation.

It was a sudden event for Ice Sea, which owned the city, but it was even more sudden for the believers who had hastily gathered following the quest.

Ice Sea had always prepared for sieges in anticipation of other guilds’ invasions, but the believers would never have thought of such a thing.

That was why they had been able to hold out through defense, despite the difference in power.

Moreover, it was impossible for the Order to have professional manufacturers like large guilds, and the sudden appearance of such siege weapons was incomprehensible from their perspective.

But there was a way.

The siege weapons that had appeared were made by the hands of dwarves, who were said to have the best craftsmanship among all races.

Moreover, only the best artisans from within Eltria’s dwarves had hastily come up to the surface to produce them.

Not only were they the best in skill, but they were also artisans united by their faith in Rue.

The rapid production speed was a given, and they were turning the tide of the battlefield with their tremendous performance.

Too-oong!

A giant ballista was fired, smashing the fortress’s spire.

The immense penetration and power of the siege ballista made even the high defense of the high-level spire meaningless.

“Thanks to the new siege weapons, the city’s capture is progressing successfully. At this rate, they won’t last more than a few days.”

“Let’s keep pushing them like this. We must not let their attention turn elsewhere.”

“Understood!”

As Mei finished speaking, the Order intensified its offensive, pushing the city harder.

Ice Sea was doing its best to hold out against the endless onslaught of believers.

Ail and Luke, who were always at the front lines, along with some named inquisitors, were not visible, but the enemies were completely unaware of this fact.

While commanding the different races, Mei actively drew their attention and relentlessly pushed the siege, driving them mad.

The fanatics of Rue, rushing in as if unafraid of death.

In the midst of the madness-filled battlefield, those on the receiving end had no room to notice such a fact.

Thanks to the dwarves’ siege weapons, they were in a situation where they could solidify their victory just by continuing to strike.

However, Ail, who was still absent, was moving to deliver a decisive blow to the enemies.

* * *

Drrrrr!

Soil was falling from above, and the ground could be felt rumbling.

‘Looks like they’re having quite a commotion.’

A large-scale siege was taking place above Ail’s head.

The place where he was now was the underground of the city of Amstel, where the war was raging.

Along with the advance team of about 40 people following him, he was entering the city through the tunnels that had been dug.

Basically, large strongholds like cities had defenses against tunnels to some extent.

But if they dug much deeper and emerged into the deep interior of the city, such defenses could be easily neutralized.

Of course, it wasn’t something that could be done as easily as one might think.

Digging such deep and long tunnels was a task that human labor could not even dare to undertake.

So, Ail received help from the rat-men, the Ratters, who lived deep underground in Eltria.

The Ratters’ digging ability was so great that there was no need for further explanation.

It was also thanks to the Ratters digging new tunnels that the dwarven artisans were able to head straight here without going through other surfaces.

‘The dwarves and Ratters have all been sent back, and the tunnels that were dug to the surface to come up have been taken care of, so there’s no need to worry about being discovered now.’

Mei and Luke were the only ones who were told about the other races of Eltria.

While they were making siege weapons and tunnels separately, he told them the truth for the sake of smooth operation.

Of course, even if they belonged to the Order, they could not be completely trusted.

However, since they were in a position to receive Rue’s messages, they were somewhat trustworthy.

Moreover, if they were to expose information, they would immediately incur the wrath of the deity, be expelled from the Order, and lose most of what they had built up.

The risk of them betraying him, even while taking such risks, was not great.

Thud!

Reaching the end of the tunnel, Ail first revealed the floor and went outside, and the rest of the advance team followed.

Ail looked around.

As the Ratters who made the tunnel had said, it was a quiet underground area where people did not come and go.

But there was something strange.

‘I was told it was just a basement… but it feels a bit different.’

Corridors leading in all directions and several rooms with doors.

It was not the small basement he had imagined, but a huge underground facility.

“The atmosphere is ominous.”

Luke, who had examined the surroundings, also chimed in.

Even to Ail, it didn’t seem like an ordinary basement.

‘I’ve never heard of anything like this before…….’

Aside from the faintly lingering smell of blood and the eerie atmosphere, if there was such a facility under the city, it should have been known long ago.

But such a story had never been known until now.

It was a facility that had been kept so secret that it had not even reached the ears of informants for some reason.

The rooms lined up in the corridor were blocked by firmly closed iron doors and tied with iron chains embroidered with unidentifiable letters.

Clang!

Ail cut the chain on the door to check the inside.

But even before he could put his hand on the doorknob.

Kieeeeek!

A considerable number of demonkin broke through the iron door and poured out.

Ail, who had hastily retreated at the appearance of the monsters, drew his longsword.

All of them were elite monsters and high-level monsters at level 170.

The number was significant, and each one was a powerful entity.

But they had met the wrong opponent.

All those who followed Ail were named inquisitors from both regions with high levels.

Moreover, they were a job that existed to eliminate heretics, including demons and undead.

It was a gathering of powerhouses who were the exact opposite in terms of compatibility.

“Prepare for battle!”

Whirrrl!

As Luke shouted, sacred power flared up on everyone’s weapons.

The battle that took place in the wide corridor was adorned with white flames, and the inquisitors mercilessly delivered punishment to the demonkin who rushed in without fear.

[You have executed a heretic!]

[You have executed a heretic!]

Chiiiik!

The monsters, which were instantly incinerated and turned into stat bonuses.

After cutting down all the monsters without leaving a single one, Ail and the inquisitors entered the room.

The inside of the large room was horrific.

Bloodstains and dismembered corpses were left everywhere, and above all, ‘failures’ that were half-demonized were scattered about.

‘I vaguely heard that citizens of Amstel occasionally went missing, but I never thought such a thing was happening.’

As he turned his gaze, a large pattern drawn on the entire floor was faintly glowing red.

Gelgaraz, the demon of corruption.

It was his symbol.

Ail, who had already been involved with demon worshippers for the second time, could tell what was going on as soon as he saw this sight.

They were doing the terrible act of turning the forcibly dragged citizens of the city into demonkin.

As expected, the ‘collusion with demons’ written in the quest content was not just a simple justification put forward by Rue.

The city’s lord had indeed made a contract with the demon of corruption, and this quest was created to punish and purify him.

“Executioner.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Ail and Luke, who had met eyes, nodded at the same time.

It was obvious that each room in the underground was full of demonkin besides this one.

As a believer of Rue, it was only right to burn and judge all of them, but now they could use this situation in a slightly different way.

The work of cutting all the chains.

To release the demonkin on the ground, the inquisitors moved all at once.

* * *

Kieeeeeek!

The screams of monsters echoed everywhere.

Listening to the sound coming from afar, the throat of the executive in charge of managing Amstel was parched.

“This crazy bastard… doing this kind of thing under the city without saying a word!”

He burst into anger.

Amstel was a city that was practically managed by the Ice Sea Guild.

But the situation was rapidly deteriorating because of the crazy짓 [짓 is a Korean word that refers to an action or behavior, often negative] that a nominal lord had done without saying a word.

The inside of the city was in chaos due to the sudden appearance of demonkin elite monsters, and the lord, who was questioned about it, tried to run away but was caught by a member of the Ice Sea Guild.

And when he put a sword to his neck, he finally admitted the truth.

That he had made a contract with the demon of corruption and was creating monsters underground.

He realized that what the mad goddess was babbling was not just crazy 소리 [소리 is a Korean word that refers to sound or noise, but in this context, it means nonsense], but the truth without an inch of exaggeration.

Kwaang!

The rock from the catapult that flew in smashed one side of the fortress wall.

“Damn it!”

The executive, who staggered from the shock, spat out a curse.

A fierce siege was taking place outside, and high-level elite monsters were pouring out inside the city.

From the perspective of those who had to defend the city at all costs, it was enough to drive them crazy.

“Don’t panic and reorganize! After all, the inside is just monsters running wild, we can definitely block both.”

“It’s a disaster! The city is on fire!”

“Wh-what?”

Whirrrl!

The fiercely spreading flames were swallowing the city.

Moreover, it was not an ordinary fire, but a powerful sacred fire of white light.

The advance team of about 40 people who had infiltrated the city were gleefully committing arson, sprinkling holy water all over the city.

Since all the citizens had already evacuated, there was nothing to hold them back.

“Kuaaaaagh!”

“Damn it, I can’t stop it!”

The guards tried hard to put out the fire, but the flames spread uncontrollably due to the holy water, which made the firepower stronger than oil.

That wasn’t all.

The huge smoke rising from inside the city was clearly visible to the believers of the Order who were besieging the city from the outside.

“The signal has come.”

Mei, who recognized the sign, gripped her sword.

The flames engulfing the city served to increase the confusion so that the guild could not cope with it.

At the same time, it was also a signal to those outside.

To wipe out the enemies so that not even a handful of ashes remain in the city.

“Begin the execution!”