Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 155

155. Relic (5)

“Hoo-ah!”

Ail, having barely escaped the sanctuary, finally took a breather.

Inside the sanctuary, which was entirely engulfed in flames, Ail found Neshua after heading towards him. He had already defeated the boss monster.

Of course, he had managed to defeat it after a very difficult fight.

He had single-handedly attacked and depleted 30 percent of the boss’s remaining health.

Truly remarkable skill.

However, even after defeating the boss, Neshua was in a perilous situation, on the verge of dying amidst the sacred flames that had engulfed everything.

Just in time, Ail made a timely appearance, allowing them to barely survive and escape. Ail was the only one capable of using white flames within the sanctuary.

“…….”

A piercing glare could be felt from behind.

“It was unavoidable given the situation…….”

「I didn’t say anything.」

‘Of course, you wouldn’t say anything.’

Ail sweated profusely under Neshua’s gaze.

He had set fire to the opposite side without a word, nearly getting them roasted alive in the sacred flames, so he couldn’t avoid being resented.

However, Neshua soon shrugged and scribbled on a piece of parchment.

「The fight will end with this.」

“Yeah.”

The world event orchestrated by Bahamut.

Having been thwarted up to this point, they had no other viable options.

No matter how powerful a deity might be, it was impossible to interfere on the ground without influence, and with their trump card, the relic, stolen, it was safe to say it was completely over.

「Then there’s nothing more to do. I’ll go first.」

“Where are you going?”

「I have to continue what I was doing.」

“So, that matter hasn’t been resolved yet. Well, I guess…….”

Ail nodded at his words.

What he meant by ‘what he was doing’ was the conflict with the dark elves, and a dispute with a faction was not something that could be easily resolved.

“Still, with the Big Six guilds directly involved, it should be over soon.”

The dark elves of the Dark Forest were deeply involved with Prince Oren’s side in this world quest.

Prince Oren had intended to sweep away the Big Six guilds and sway the opinions of the High Council in his favor, a fact that was recently discovered by Ail and conveyed directly to those involved.

In other words, any forces aligned with him would have turned the Big Six guilds into enemies during this world quest.

However, Neshua shook his head.

Then, he scribbled a final message on the paper, tossed it, and turned away.

Ail quietly watched his departing figure, then unfolded the paper he had received in a daze and looked down.

「This world quest is not over yet.」

‘What does this mean……?’

The world quest wasn’t over.

Ail couldn’t easily understand.

With all six of the Big Six guilds involved, there was no way they couldn’t stop the external forces moving on the prince’s side.

But if it wasn’t all over, he couldn’t tell whether it was simply a matter of time or if there was another meaning.

Swoosh.

Walking down the road, Neshua took something out of his pocket.

“…….”

The eighth relic fragment.

It was a different fragment of the relic than the sixth and seventh fragments that Ail had obtained.

The fragment that had been in this sanctuary was not actually two pieces, but a total of three.

However, neither the paladins who were searching, nor the other deities who were watching the sanctuary through Ail, had noticed this fact.

Even after obtaining the relic and escaping outside together, it was the same.

No matter how much a deity could oversee everything, it was nearly impossible to deceive the eyes of deities watching the same space.

But Neshua was able to do it.

The power of shadows gained in exchange for steadfast silence.

Thanks to the special protection of ‘Hin,’ the god of stillness, darkness, and silence.

[The deity, ‘Observer in the Dark,’ gazes upon his apostle.]

* * *

[The world event has been completed!]

[Bahamut’s scheme has been foiled. Great rewards are given to players who successfully defended against the paladins!]

[You have gained a large amount of experience!]

[You have gained a large amount of gold!]

[Your level has increased!]

After the high-ranking subordinate Agria was eliminated.

The Water Church, which had been persistently attacking, immediately gave up and retreated, and the defending side’s world event ended successfully.

Most of the paladins mobilized for the quest were defeated, and the massive influence they had invested was lost.

This was an unspeakably severe blow, and Bahamut would not be able to show any movement for the time being.

The Blackburn Guild, which had been at war, also suffered a lot of damage, but most of the damage could be compensated for with the rewards from this world event.

“Thank you so much, Ail!”

As the event ended and it was time to leave, the Blackburn Guild Leader came forward to thank Ail in person.

They may still not know about subordinates or sanctuaries, but that didn’t mean they were unaware of how the tide of war had completely turned thanks to Ail.

After the Water Church’s attack began, Blackburn, facing a difficult enemy, had not been idle.

Ail had persuaded the Blood Alliance Guild, which had been uncooperative no matter what they said, to return, so Blackburn was greatly indebted to him.

Not only Ail, but also Roden and the other party members who helped in the battle were personally visited by the guild leader, who repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Blackburn.

As the large-scale expedition failed, user information was leaked from within the Water Church, which was dissatisfied, and it included a plan to take over even the Blood Alliance Guild’s territory.

As a result, news came that officials from the Blood Alliance Guild were belatedly coming to apologize and express their gratitude to Ail.

‘But there’s no need to show off unnecessarily.’

Now that he had the relic in his hands.

Ail had no intention of staying long, drawing attention to himself.

He was only thinking of returning to the church as soon as possible.

Ding!

At that moment, a system notification arrived.

‘It’s already sold!’

After checking the message, Ail immediately rushed to the auction house at the stronghold.

It was a notification that the Nocturnum, which had been registered on the exchange after the fight, had been sold.

In the meantime, the market price had risen as much as it could due to the battle between the Nightmare and Dawn Guilds, and it was time to safely take profits before new variables arose.

[The sales proceeds for the item ‘Nocturnum’ have been received!]

[The amount of gold to be received is too large and has been automatically transferred to the warehouse!]

‘That’s amazing…….’

The money that came into his possession was a whopping ‘550,000 gold’.

It was a magic that changed the unit of tens of thousands of gold invested at once.

Thanks to the Blackburn Guild waiving the guild fee for the auction house at their base, he was able to save 10 percent of the fee.

‘Now, how do I use this? Gratitude…….’

Ail swallowed hard.

He never thought he would handle this kind of money.

Holding money worth over a billion won [roughly $750,000 USD] in real terms made him sweat profusely.

‘I should buy some meat for the first time in a while… I guess it’s okay to change rooms with this much……?’

Happily imagining in his head.

He felt like he was going to laugh in vain.

* * *

Deep in the forest where darkness had settled.

A man appeared, hiding his aristocratic attire under a cloak that didn’t match the gloomy atmosphere of the place.

The man frowned at the mud on his shoes.

“To summon me to a place like this.”

His identity was none other than Prince Oren of the kingdom.

Oren didn’t like this messy place.

The muddy floor and the unsightly broken trees.

It was not a place to visit without any attendants, and it was a place he would never set foot in unless there was a special reason like now.

“So, what are you here to say this time?”

Oren said irritably to the person standing in front of him.

A woman wearing a hood to cover her face.

A crescent moon was drawn on her purple robe.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so don’t be like that, Prince Oren. Your handsome face is getting wrinkled.”

Mute, a member of the Executioners.

She greeted Oren with a sly smile.

“Tell me what you need. I’m not in the mood to exchange jokes with the likes of you.”

“If you insist… well, as you know, the situation is not good. Almost all movements have been blocked since the Big Six guilds moved.”

“Yes, of course.”

Oren scoffed and sneered.

After making a contemptuous expression for a moment, he continued to speak before Mute could open her mouth.

“I promised you that I would stop the crackdown on forbidden magic. And I even stamped my seal to lift the restrictions the kingdom had placed on the rebellious alien races. All of this was at my own risk, believing your words that you would help me gain the throne. But what happened now?”

Oren took a step closer to her and shouted.

“The situation hasn’t improved at all! No, rather, that detestable Seia is pressuring me! She says she’ll spare my life if I give up the throne now! It’s nothing short of blackmail, even if she didn’t say it directly. So, what more do you want from me now? Are you going to tell me to make a deal with the devil?”

Even after the forest echoed loudly, Oren’s anger didn’t seem to subside, and a hissing breath continued.

Everything went wrong after the Big Six guilds found out about the Executioners’ movements.

All the conspiracies they were plotting were blocked one by one, and the external forces they had bribed to move the situation were being annihilated one by one.

No matter how much the Big Six guilds were, they couldn’t directly touch the royal family with just suspicion.

But the current situation was no different from cutting off all his limbs.

“You can’t even handle that one thing properly……!”

“Don’t get too excited and calm down, Prince. I brought good news for all of us.”

Mute raised her arm and gave a strange smile.

“Good news……?”

Swoosh.

Then someone appeared from the shadows.

A man wearing a hood.

When he took off his hood, his face was revealed.

“You… you are……!”

Oren, terrified, stepped back.

Kruger, the guild leader of Apollyon.

Apollyon was one of the famous Big Six guilds, and the most powerful guild, controlling most of the territories in the eastern continent.

Above all, Kruger was the number one ranked Warlord and enjoyed the best reputation.

The best player whose reputation was well known not only to Warlord users but also to Oren, a member of the royal family.

Oren’s face turned pale in an instant.

He had tried to destroy his guild, so he might try to harm him on the spot.

If it were any other force, they would be immediately annihilated just by touching him, a member of the royal family, but the Apollyon Guild was different.

As long as they didn’t kill him, they could clean up the aftermath sufficiently, assuming they had the princess on their back.

But the words that came out of Kruger’s mouth were the opposite.

“A conspiracy to destroy the Big Six guilds… Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Prince.”