Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 148

148. Tyrant of the River (4)

Stab!

“Keuhuk… !”

Aeil’s sharply penetrating sword pierced his abdomen.

At the end of the long fight, the parish priest, his stomach pierced by the long sword imbued with holy power, collapsed powerlessly forward.

He was completely subdued by Aeil, falling into a state of near death.

“It was more difficult than I thought. Now, you’re going to have to tell me everything you know.”

“G-Get lost…”

The parish priest refused outright.

As expected of those filled with faith, he wouldn’t speak easily.

His tightly shut mouth seemed to reveal an unwavering belief that would not waver even under torture.

Of course, that was only to a certain extent.

“I don’t usually enjoy things like this…”

Boom!

Aeil immediately activated the Execution skill.

A pyre engraved with Ru’s symbol sprang up from the floor, and he chained the pale-faced parish priest before setting it ablaze.

He struggled to escape, but it was a futile effort.

“Kkyaaaaaaak!”

Flickering flames.

A chorus of screams.

The parish priest, engulfed in holy fire, writhed in extreme pain as he died violently.

But this was just another everyday occurrence for Aeil.

He wasn’t going to let him die so easily.

Flash!

A healing light enveloped the parish priest.

It was Aeil’s divine magic with a continuous healing effect, a skill that had become much more powerful after obtaining the Zeal of the Seeker skill.

His life, which was about to end, was replenished.

The continuous healing repeatedly healed and melted his wounds.

As expected of a follower of Bahamut.

Perhaps because he was a parish priest, the healing effect was incredibly effective.

Moreover, when it seemed precarious, he even fed him recovery potions to heal him.

He couldn’t die and writhed in endless pain.

“Then… tell me when you feel like answering.”

Aeil knelt down comfortably and prayed.

All he had to do was wait for the parish priest to change his mind.

* * *

[You have executed a heretic!]

A long torture session ensued, accompanied by screams and exhausted groans.

Perhaps it wasn’t easy for anyone to become a parish priest, as he didn’t reveal information easily.

But even humans have their limits in endless pain.

Eventually, the parish priest, unable to withstand it, spewed out all the information he knew about the cult.

Only then did Aeil allow him to die, leaving behind only a charred corpse.

Clatter!

Aeil approached the pyre, dragged his corpse, and threw it into the river.

The parish priest’s body sank, bound in chains.

‘It took a little longer than expected. I’m really not suited for this kind of thing.’

Aeil, who was under some delusion, turned his head at the sudden feeling of a presence.

Since the summoned creature didn’t appear even when the ritual was over, the Water Cult’s followers had come to check on the situation.

The followers approached, looking around.

Aeil hurriedly slipped into the thick bushes and hid himself.

“P-Parish Priest!”

“Where are you!”

The parish priest, who should have been performing the ritual under the waterfall, had vanished without a trace.

Moreover, there were traces of intense combat in various places.

The waterfall, which had been quiet, became noisy as the followers searched the area.

‘Anyway, Bahamut was even targeting the Blood Alliance Guild’s territory.’

Aeil, holding his breath, engraved the information the parish priest had spat out in his mind.

The goal of this World Event was not just the nine territories that appeared in the message.

Even so, Aeil felt it was a bit excessive to mobilize this much force just to destroy one Blackburn Guild.

So he had come up with a hypothesis.

That the greedy Bahamut might be aiming for the entire Far West region.

He thought that, true to the infamous god of destruction, he might be trying to wipe out the entire area, not just a part of it.

And through the confession just now, Aeil’s prediction was correct.

‘Blackburn and the Blood Alliance Guild are in a competitive relationship. But if they had launched the World Event saying they would wipe out both guilds from the start, they would have joined forces to resist.’

It was only natural that it would be troublesome if the two guilds were to unite.

That’s why Bahamut had prioritized revealing only a part of the goal first.

Then, after defeating Blackburn’s nine territories first, he intended to wipe out the remaining territories in the Far West region along with the Blood Alliance Guild.

‘We have to make the two guilds join forces. But we need at least some material evidence.’

Aeil checked the item he had obtained after defeating the parish priest.

[The Parish Priest’s First Directive]

A directive containing the cult’s plan.

It was the first document among them, containing information about the number of followers participating in the World Event and the approximate plan.

But it didn’t contain any of the information Aeil wanted.

‘The parish priests who participated in this expedition each have a directive. It must be one of them.’

To persuade the Blood Alliance Guild even a little, he had to obtain the directive that stated the next target area.

‘There are six parish priests left. We need to finish this quickly before the followers realize they are being attacked.’

If they realized that the parish priests were being targeted, it would cause serious disruption.

He wondered if it would be possible to defeat all the parish priests alone in time.

But just then.

Rustle!

Neshua appeared, parting the bushes.

A follower of the Shadow Cult, not the Water Cult.

Aeil, startled by his sudden appearance, tried to pull Neshua, who was standing so confidently, towards him.

“First, duck… when did you take care of those guys over there?”

Aeil looked at the corpses lying pathetically.

The followers who had been searching the waterfall had all been assassinated without even screaming.

Moreover, Aeil hadn’t felt any presence at all while he was dealing with them and approaching him.

He had thought his senses had improved much more than before, but his skill was still amazing.

“What brings you here? Did you come to stop this World Event too?”

At Aeil’s question, Neshua nodded.

He still had the ‘Silence’ penalty, so he couldn’t speak.

He had been dealing with the dark elves who had betrayed him, but when Bahamut showed such aggressive movements, he came to stop the event like Aeil.

“Then that’s good. You’ll have to help me stop those guys.”

Aeil showed a bright expression at his silent answer.

If Neshua, a rogue class skilled in stealth and ambush, helped him, things would be much easier.

But before he could even explain about the parish priests’ directives.

「I’ve already found the directives.」

Neshua, who had scribbled letters on parchment, poured out the six directives he had already collected from his inventory.

Among them was the parish priest’s last directive, which stated the true purpose Bahamut had given.

“Huh…”

Aeil looked at him in disbelief as the situation was settled at once.

To have collected this meant that he had succeeded in assassinating all six other parish priests without much commotion.

As expected of the ‘Shadow Watcher’ class, which was specialized in this kind of thing, he was amazing.

‘Anyway, I’ve found the basic evidence with this… of course, I don’t know if they’ll believe it with just this, but it’s better than nothing at least.’

「Let’s go back quickly.」

“Okay.”

Aeil nodded and got up.

Now that he had removed all seven parish priests who were summoning creatures, the situation on the battlefield would be much better than before.

Now all that was left was to go back and persuade the Blood Alliance Guild to take the side of the defense.

‘I hope the negotiations go well… or maybe it’ll get a little violent.’

* * *

“They’re coming!”

“Prepare for battle!”

The Blackburn Guild, holed up in the fortress and focused on defense, was once again in a state of emergency.

This was because a new force, different from the Water Cult, was leading troops and rushing in.

A red flag fluttered among the numerous users.

In the center, the Blood Alliance Guild’s intense emblem was clearly drawn.

“Oh… has it already started?”

Aeil, who had escaped the enemy camp and returned to the ‘Fortress of the Fallen,’ hurried his steps.

He had just arrived at the base, but he was greeted by the sight of two armies fiercely clashing.

“Unity!”

The shouts came from the group preparing for the siege.

In contrast to the followers of Bahamut, who had temporarily retreated for maintenance, the Blood Alliance Guild members had gathered together to form a line.

As expected, they intended to take advantage of this opportunity to completely destroy their rival, Blackburn.

‘If they collide like this, there’s no answer.’

Aeil, unable to stand by and watch, immediately took action.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll take the directives.”

「What are you going to do?」

“I have to solve it with conversation.”

Aeil strode forward and approached the Blood Alliance Guild without hesitation.

For someone whose identity was not certain to approach a guild that was preparing for war, it was a dangerous thing that could cost him his life.

If he was suspected of being a spy, his head could be blown off at any moment.

Naturally, Aeil, who was not a member of the Blood Alliance, was met with threatening restraint by the guild members who blocked him.

But Aeil, surrounded by spears, rather boldly said that he had come to see their guild leader.

“That face looks familiar…”

“That’s right, it’s Aeil of the Light Church, isn’t it?”

The Blood Alliance guild members who recognized Aeil’s face, a named player, whispered among themselves.

The guild members who delivered the news soon took him to the guild leader, and he once again realized that there was no harm in having his face known to the warlords [influential players].

Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to see the guild leader.

Aeil was no longer just a simple named player, but the executor, the highest position in the Light Church.

A position that even the head of a large guild could not easily dismiss.

Not only could they not treat him carelessly, but the fact that he had come was a matter that the guild leader himself had to come out and see.

‘As expected, everyone’s equipment is considerable.’

Aeil glanced at the Blood Alliance guild members he passed as he went inside.

The Blood Alliance was a guild formed by users from the 2nd generation virtual reality game ‘Lineage.’

There were many guild members who were somewhat older, and they had more wealth to draw on than ordinary users, so many of them wore expensive equipment, and it was really as they said.

Recently, they had rapidly increased their power and even acquired territories in the Far West region, and the guild was rising to the level of a regional powerhouse.

Thanks to the unity and wealth of the guild members, their rapid growth was quite surprising.

But in this situation, using the Water Cult to antagonize Blackburn was a fatal mistake from their point of view as well.

‘If it doesn’t work out with conversation, I’ll have to make them listen somehow.’

Aeil moved his feet in subtle tension.