Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 174

Pursuit (3)

Queen’s Blonde.

The place where Eile’s judgment first took place, and the second city he visited.

Standing on a building there, Eile leaned against the railing.

It was the designated meeting place with the Nightmare guild members this time.

Below, water flowed through the waterway, and people came and went. He slowly scanned the area to see if the person sent by the guild was approaching.

“Mr. Eile!”

Contrary to his expectations, a woman approached from behind, waving her hand.

Tasha of Nightmare, wearing black armor and holding a spear.

“Wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“It’s been a long time. I didn’t expect Tasha to come.”

“I wasn’t far away, so I volunteered to come myself.”

Tasha smiled, and Eile greeted her happily.

A connection they forged when they met in a city square.

She was one of the few familiar faces in the Nightmare guild, and also the guild member who first connected the six major guilds with Eile.

More than anything, he couldn’t forget that she had directly intervened and saved him when he was being chased by Amaranth.

“I never thought it would turn out like this back then.”

Tasha said, looking down at the street below.

On the street, followers of the Church of Light were lined up, holding a large-scale march.

It wasn’t even a normal religious event taking place in Queen’s Blonde, where there wasn’t even a temple of the Church.

All those participating in the march were users of Warlord [the virtual reality game].

And all of them were followers who followed Eile.

As the place where Eile’s traces were first discovered and became a hot topic, the march was being held to commemorate him.

“Hail to the Goddess Ru!”

“Repent, sinners, in the flames!”

Among those who marched through the streets with holy objects and the corpses of heretics hung on crosses, most of them were followers completely immersed in the concept.

NPCs and some users pointed fingers at them, calling them crazy, but they didn’t care at all.

They were venting the stress they received in reality in the virtual reality, and enjoying the game more happily than anyone else.

‘I can’t even bring myself to call it wholesome…….’

“What about the information you mentioned?”

“Ah, it’s all written down here without missing anything.”

Eile handed her parchment documents.

The two members of the Resolution [a group or faction] he had directly captured were interrogated at the Esmeier Inquisitorial Office.

All the information they spat out was recorded in this document and delivered to Nightmare, who was also the client.

“Hmm…….”

Tasha received the parchment, which had red bloodstains stuck in places.

The Inquisitorial Office of the Church of Light.

She had heard of its notoriety.

Just thinking about those who were captured deep underground, horribly tortured, and eventually burned to death made her shudder.

“Are all the members of the Resolution dead?”

“No, they are still in the Inquisitorial Office.”

“They’re still being held there……?”

The Church of Light would never just leave heretics alone.

Maybe they were doing more brutal torture to see if there was any hidden information.

“Yes, they might be useful later. I’ve already cut off both arms, so you don’t have to worry about them running away. They’ve learned forbidden magic, so they’re being extra careful.”

“That’s… that’s not what I was worried about…….”

“Ah.”

Eile, realizing his mistake, stopped talking.

He had just returned from the Inquisitorial Office, which was full of inquisitors, so he couldn’t adapt to the conversation with ordinary people for a moment.

“Hmm, hmm. Anyway, there won’t be any problems in that regard. It’s more thorough than you can imagine for heretics.”

“Ah… that’s a relief.”

“…….”

A brief silence fell between the two, who had been friendly.

In the awkward atmosphere, Tasha turned the parchment over.

“It’s here. The next meeting point is this spot, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

The information they were exchanging now could easily be conveyed by messenger or mail.

Nevertheless, the reason why they bothered to gather in one place was simple.

The next meeting point that the member of the Resolution had leaked was right here in Queen’s Blonde.

“As expected, Dawn was behind it.”

According to the contents confessed by the captured members of the Resolution, all the conspiracies that occurred within the Nightmare territory occurred on the condition that the Dawn Guild turned to the prince’s side.

They joined hands with the prince to win this war.

It was not much different from what Nightmare had initially expected.

This meeting was a meeting with the Dawn guild member directly, and one Nightmare guild member came to confirm it directly.

If the contents they confessed were correct, it was quite a big deal that could not be easily passed over.

“It’s almost time.”

“Then let’s go down right away.”

The place where they were located was also close to the meeting point, so they went down the building and entered a gloomy back alley where there were no people.

They roamed the alley and headed to a dead end.

Kneeling down, Eile reached out and groped the floor.

Clunk!

Something was caught on the ordinary dirt floor, and a small secret door opened upwards, revealing an entrance below.

A hidden basement.

It was a place that was not known even to the Nightmare Guild, who was also the de facto owner of Queen’s Blonde.

Entering inside, Eile and Tasha faced a man.

The face, completely covered with a mask to hide his identity, was not exposed at all.

“He doesn’t look like a member of the Resolution… Did he leak the information in the meantime?”

The man said, turning his gaze.

One had the Nightmare Guild’s insignia, and the other was Eile, a named player on the Church of Light’s side.

It didn’t take long to figure out their identities.

“It would be better to get rid of them here and leave.”

Raising his greatsword, he immediately activated his charge skill.

The man who came right in front of Eile in an instant.

Clang!

Tasha’s black spear deflected the heavy greatsword.

The greatsword, which had been deflected as it was with the acceleration of the charge, smashed one side of the basement wall loudly.

Kugugung!

The man got up in the rising dust.

“Mr. Eile.”

“Yes.”

At her words, Eile nodded.

They could all tell from just one exchange that the opponent was a quasi-ranker level force like Tasha.

But what was more important was that he was a user, not an NPC.

This was completely different from facing NPCs from the Resolution or other forces.

Another user force might be involved, or it might be solid evidence for the Dawn Guild, which they had been suspecting as the mastermind.

‘Then I must catch him.’

Judging from the fact that he had cleverly covered the positions where the guild marks would be on the equipment he was wearing, it seemed that he belonged to at least one guild.

Whoong!

The man who narrowed the distance swung his greatsword at Tasha this time.

Tasha, who was skilled at maintaining distance, slightly widened the distance, and Eile, who had dug in sideways in the gap, tried to inflict an Ilseom skill [a specific skill name] on his side.

Whir! Kagagang!

But the man, who instantly changed the path of the greatsword, tried to press Eile down as it was.

Tasha’s spear, which quickly intervened, aimed at his heart and made him step back, and the distance between the three was widened again.

He showed very agile movements despite using a greatsword.

It was because of the set effect of the ‘Wind’s Path’ armor he was wearing.

It was the effect of an item that greatly increased speed instead of losing the additional defense power option of light armor.

‘I know it’s a very expensive item… I can’t let my guard down just because there are two of them.’

It was not for nothing that he confidently rushed in first even after confirming their identities.

‘But you can’t underestimate me!’

Kaang!

Eile, who rushed in first, stuck to the man’s gap as much as possible, and Tasha soon followed suit.

These two were quasi-rankers around level 240 to 250.

On the other hand, Eile was a user in the 210 level range, which did not meet the standards of a typical quasi-ranker.

And if Eile was just an awkward force as his level was, he would have had a chance.

However, Eile, who had steadily accumulated favorability, faith, and madness stats, was already as good as a quasi-ranker level force combined with his outstanding skills.

No matter how similar the specs and skills were at the same level, it was impossible to win 2 against 1.

Kwang!

“Keuk……!”

The man was pushed back by the two’s combined attack.

In particular, Eile’s longsword, which contained flames, narrowly passed in front of his face, barely avoiding a fatal wound.

But what Eile was aiming for was not his head from the beginning.

Thwack!

“What……?”

The mask covering his face was removed.

His face, which was exposed as it was in the unguarded moment.

“Okay, I’m sure. This guy is a member of the Dawn Guild.”

Dawn’s Orlan.

It was a face that Tasha already knew.

It was undeniable evidence that a member of Dawn, not even a subordinate guild, had appeared in this place.

“Damn it!”

Orlan, who had been completely defeated, burst into anger.

But it was already too late.

Anyway, even if you kill the user late, you can’t shut his mouth.

Orlan, who gritted his teeth, smashed the entire door of the basement and ran outside.

A choice to get out of the place first.

“This……!”

Eile and Tasha immediately chased after him.

They had no intention of letting him go here.

But as expected, his speed was very fast thanks to the set effect of the equipment.

If it wasn’t for Tasha, a minjeop-type [agility-focused] assassination specialized spearman, or Eile, who had a passive that gave a bonus when approaching, he would have missed him long ago.

‘If I stay like this…….’

Paat!

At that time, Orlan, who was running through the back alley, turned left at the fork.

‘Wait a minute.’

Eile, who knew the city structure well, knew where the next location he would head to.

A brilliant idea flashed through his mind, and Eile shouted loudly before he could even turn the corner.

“Heretic! A heretic is running away!”

A shout in an empty alley.

But his shout carried to the large avenue leading to the left, and the people walking on the street turned their heads all at once.

“Heretic?”

“Did you say heretic?”

The heads of the believers turned all at once.