Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 182

182. Ranked

The flames flickered and blazed.

A fierce battle had taken place on the deep forest path.

The corpses of the Earth Church followers, bound to stakes and executed, were scattered about, each having received their due punishment.

Eile and his followers had successfully cut off the Earth Church’s support troops and had ostentatiously displayed the corpses to instill awe in any subsequent units using this path.

It was also a means for Ru to gain influence, and to instill a psychological sense of intimidation, making them unsure of when they might be attacked.

And in front of that gruesome scene, Eile and Luke were calmly talking.

“It seems this side is roughly finished.”

“There wasn’t much information on the Earth Church side, so it was easier than expected. However, since we’ve come quite deep, it seems safer to move in smaller numbers from now on. Our main task is to cut off support and disrupt the rear lines, after all.”

“That’s right. They’ll be responding now, and it’ll be more dangerous to move around in groups. Can I entrust you with assigning the remaining people’s tasks then?”

“Of course, Executor. I’ll contact you immediately if anything happens. May the light be with you always.”

Luke was an Inquisitor who had helped Eile during the siege, along with Mei, and was a quasi-ranked named player in the Church of Light.

He was a reliable user to whom tasks could be entrusted, and he was also someone who had some familiarity with most of the top-ranking users within the church.

He was also skilled at handling people, so assigning appropriate tasks to each person was left to him.

[‘Mother of Life’ hates you!]

[‘Mother of Life’ promises your destruction!]

[‘Mother of Life’ is…….]

[‘Secret Seeker’ proposes a vote to the deities.]

[With a majority vote, ‘Mother of Life’s’ messages are blocked for 30 minutes!]

‘Well… the all-out war is being handled on the other side, after all.’

Eile, sweating profusely, turned his gaze.

Then, he brought up his personal screen and watched the frontline situation being updated in real-time.

The six guilds participating in this war were clashing along the entire length of the extended northeastern front.

The Iron Cross in the north was tied down in a war with Cerberus, and Griffin, the original owner of the northeast, was in a knockdown state.

Even though it was a situation where two were facing one, the Dawn and Nightmare guilds, which had already fought a major war in the southeast, had consumed considerable forces against each other.

Even facing Apollyon alone, it couldn’t be seen as a good situation.

‘It seems Apollyon is slightly ahead in terms of external forces drawn in from the outside. We need to inflict damage from the rear for sure.’

The churches moved by Apollyon were the Church of Earth and the Church of Water.

Moreover, unlike the opposing church forces, which moved a large number of users and even NPCs, the Church of Light couldn’t show such large-scale movements.

This was because they had to continue to keep the ancient spirits and the Gyeolsadan [Korean: 결사단, loosely translated as ‘Death Squad’ or ‘Suicide Squad’, implying a group of fanatics] in check, not just focus on the battlefield.

Although they had dealt a major blow to the Gyeolsadan by capturing even the leader of the group, they still couldn’t let their guard down against them.

If they were careless, it could lead to fatal consequences, so they were still thoroughly searching the entire continent without letting their guard down.

‘Then, the opponents I need to deal with are…….’

Eile, who had re-entered the forest, diligently moved his body and brought up the quest window.

[Quest Objective]

[Deliver the goddess’s judgment to the unholy heretics!]

[Apollyon Guild’s ‘Kruger’ (0/1)]

[Apollyon Guild’s ‘Dagos’ (0/1)]

[Earth Church’s ‘Alberich’ (0/1)]

[Water Church’s ‘Bastogne’ (0/1)]

The goals that appeared simultaneously with participating in the war.

It was a list of targets that Eile had to personally take down in this war.

It was a quest given to him by Ru, the Goddess of Light, and was a type of heretic hunt quest that occasionally occurred.

Of course, unlike usual, this quest was not a type of mission that had to be completed.

It was a quest that ranged from NPCs to users, and the targets that appeared were not just one or two, and they could be killed by someone else due to the war situation.

Above all, there were many strong people who were difficult for the current Eile to handle.

Therefore, no penalties were given if he failed.

‘But it would be better to complete it if possible.’

Quests directly given by a deity rarely had weak rewards, and there was no need to refuse a bonus.

Moreover, the people designated as quest targets were all important figures within their respective factions.

In fact, in order to inflict meaningful damage on the opponent in this war, most of them were people who had to be defeated anyway.

‘I should handle it within a reasonable range… but I have to do my job properly.’

Sreuk!

The figure of Eile, who had entered the forest, disappeared.

* * *

Caw, caw!

A path in a dense, deep forest.

The followers of the Water Church, who were moving to the battlefield, were diligently walking to join up, but their eyes were caught by the corpses and bloodstains that filled the area.

Corpses hung limply with their necks tied, and burnt corpses were piled up like mountains.

It seemed that another unit that had gone ahead had roughly cleaned up this mess, but it was impossible to remove all traces in a situation where every minute was precious.

“Ugh… this is blood…….”

The man blocked his nose at the thick smell of blood.

The symbols of the Church of Light, which revered Ru, were drawn everywhere, including trees and the ground, and they were all drawn with the blood of the victims.

The follower of Bahamut frowned and muttered at the drops of blood dripping from the hanging corpses.

“Ugh… damn it. It’s like something I’d see on WarTube [In-universe video platform]…….”

He had felt a sense of creepiness from the madness that he felt naturally, even though he had only seen it beyond the video when Eile was a hot topic.

But as expected, it was on a different level when he saw it right in front of his eyes like this.

The atmosphere of the dark forest was compounded by the tall, lush trees that were densely packed, making it feel like a horror movie.

There were many areas with lush forests in the northeastern region, and it was driving him crazy because it was like this everywhere he went.

“We have to be careful too. They said they’re only targeting small groups. There are only five of us, and if we’re careless, we might end up like that.”

“I’ve only been seeing corpses since earlier, so it’s harder to be careless.”

“Agh! Why do I have to be doing this when I haven’t even gone to the front lines yet! Apollyon is the strongest guild, so is it okay for them to just stand by like this?”

The man walking at the back spat out his anger as if he was frustrated.

It was also very mentally exhausting to keep moving while maintaining tension in the dark forest.

Although only the most skilled among the users of the Church of Light had been selected and infiltrated, it was difficult to understand why such a large guild, which was often ranked first among the six major guilds, was not properly using its power.

“I was really looking forward to it because they said we were on the same side as a great guild. But I haven’t even seen Apollyon, and all I’ve done is talk to subordinate guild members…….”

Puk!

At that time, the grumbling stopped and an eerie sound was heard.

The followers of the Water Church, horrified, drew their weapons and turned around.

As expected, the man who had been walking at the back was pierced by a longsword while his mouth was blocked.

“That, that guy is!”

“Eile……!”

Chwaak! Thud!

Eile, who had pulled out the sword that had been embedded, threw the man to the side.

He had been aiming for the healer first, but it seemed that his durability was weaker than he had thought, and he had died as he was.

“Don’t be scared, stay focused! Still, it’s 4 against 1!”

The follower who was in charge of the party shouted.

Although there was a considerable level difference, only one Eile had appeared.

With this much of a difference in numbers, it was common sense that it would be difficult to win even if they had an advantage in level.

Of course, it was only common sense for ordinary users who were not in the top ranks, so it was useless against Eile.

“Kkeuaaaaaak!”

A scream that echoed high in the sky.

This time, he moderately adjusted the power to make everyone near death, and then carefully burned them one by one.

[You have executed a heretic!]

[You have successfully executed the designated punishment according to ‘Sentence of Punishment.’ The stat bonus is doubled due to the skill’s effect.]

“Okay.”

Eile made a satisfied expression at the newly completed work.

He was stirring up the rear area, constantly cutting off small-scale follow-up units, and earning a decent stat bonus each time he judged a heretic.

‘As expected, it’s not for nothing that PKers [Player Killers] are born.’

Eile chuckled as he recovered the items dropped by the users.

Although PK in the field was accompanied by danger, the rewards that came with it were also great.

If you had the skills to not die among the many users, this kind of war could be an opportunity to grow beyond the best hunting ground.

[‘Light’s Judge, Ru’ praises the beautiful flames!]

[‘Tyrant of the River’ expresses anger and glares at you!]

‘I haven’t seen you for a while, but you’ve reappeared.’

Eile reacted to the appearance of Bahamut, the Tyrant of the River.

He was furious that his followers heading to the front lines had been defeated by his hands dozens of times already.

The deity who had been completely twisted due to being badly defeated in the last world event.

Originally, he should have been so badly damaged at the time that he shouldn’t have been able to show even this kind of movement, but it was obvious that Freya would have cooperated, saying that the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

Apollyon would not have been standing still in the process of drawing in the churches either.

He had expected that Bahamut would reappear in this war.

‘But he won’t be able to do anything to me to that extent, and if I’m careful not to run into anyone at the level of a Grand Prelate, there won’t be any dangerous things.’

Teok!

Eile, ignoring Bahamut’s threat, got up and left the spot.

The traces of the judgment on behalf of the goddess had to be in a place that was more noticeable than anyone else, but conversely, his movements had to be cautious as he was in the middle of enemy territory.

It was time to hide in the forest again.

At that moment, a subtle sign was felt on the left.

Kaang!

The dagger that Eile threw was deflected.

The pursuer who had been following him revealed himself.

“I was being careful… but you’re faster than I thought.”

Eile, who had raised his longsword high, stared at his opponent.

He couldn’t have just passed by here by chance, he was someone who had come aiming for Eile from the beginning.

Since he had heard news that the Apollyon Guild had moved their horses to clean up the rear, there was no need to be shaken that a pursuer had followed him.

‘What……?’

However, soon Eile’s expression became serious as he checked the opponent’s face.

‘That, that guy is…….’

“Surprised? I didn’t even think I’d get a request to chase after a rookie’s tail… Kruger told me to take care of it for sure.”

Pey, who smiled slyly, raised his sword.

He was a ‘Ranker’ at 989th place.

He was a skilled person in the top 1,000, and a force that far exceeded expectations.