Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 194

194. Turning Point

[Quest Completed!]

[Acquired a large amount of experience!]

[Level Up!]

As the quest completed, numerous messages appeared before Eile’s eyes.

Shagore, struck head-on by the Sword of Punishment, succumbed to the skill that maximized its power, amplified by a fatal elemental disadvantage.

Having his health sufficiently depleted, the monster helplessly lost its form.

With May’s assistance, they managed to defeat a level 250 boss with just the two of them.

Tsutsutsut!

The color of Eile’s eyes returned to normal.

The raised synchronization rate returned to its original value, bringing calmness.

‘Am I getting used to it…?’

Eile clenched and unclenched his hand, looking down at it.

When he first entered the Overdrive state, he always felt a dazed sensation after it was released.

However, as he became more accustomed to the changes in synchronization rate, such side effects gradually diminished.

He felt almost no burden in raising the synchronization rate at once, and the duration of maintaining the state also gradually increased.

[Item Acquired!]

Having defeated both the two rankers and the boss monster.

Eile, sheathing his sword, looted the items from the dead bodies as always.

Weapons, armor, accessories, etc.

The expensive equipment worn by the rankers of Warlord could easily fetch millions of won per piece.

Apart from that, the amount of money they had was considerable, and the pure gold alone yielded a significant profit.

And then there was the boss monster.

Among the numerous items dropped by Shagore, a skill book immediately caught Eile’s eye.

‘Oh… this is perfect.’

After a simple distribution with May, who had helped with the hunt, Eile picked up the skill book with a smile.

The ‘Radiant Black Light Skill Book’ looted from the boss was just one step below the golden skill book.

He had just reached level 230, and the top-tier skill book came out just in time.

‘This… it was a completely unexpected situation, but things turned out much better.’

Various items looted from the corpses and experience points.

Contribution and favor gained from completing the quest, and stats.

Above all, by defeating two rankers at the same time, he obtained good material for videos and promotions.

The saying that a crisis is an opportunity was not without reason, and it was especially true in Warlord.

“Executor, the upper side is finished,” May said. “Ah, let’s go up quickly.”

At May’s words, Eile rose from his seat.

As expected, the guild members of Onyx, who were fighting above the ruins, seemed to have been completely subdued.

However, since an unexpected situation had occurred, it was a priority to inform the Inquisitors who had moved to the other side, so he put the skill book in his arms.

* * *

“There are so many messages coming in today.”

As the urgent war situation continued, numerous reports were busily coming in to the executives of Apollyon.

And that was the same for the two men walking side by side in the city.

Kruger, the guild leader of Apollyon.

Next to him, Lucan, one of the top executives.

Both were top players within the top 10 of the Warlord official rankings, and high rankers whom everyone knew.

However, even though they were walking in the middle of a crowded city, no one recognized them.

The hooded cloaks and masks concealed their identities.

“Being like this reminds me of the old days, doesn’t it?”

“Haha, it does.”

It was a suspicious outfit that seemed to be trying to hide their identities, but in fact, it was a more common sight in Warlord than one might think.

From malicious users who really needed to hide their identities, to those who had a favorite concept, or even people who simply didn’t want their faces to be revealed while playing the game, masks were widely used.

Above all, among those who remembered Alcyone from the East Thorn era, there were many who wore masks and acted like them.

It was now an old guild that was far from the topic of conversation, but the impact at the time was so great that even in Warlord, there were still those who imitated them.

“It seems that the Northeast is starting to be pushed back in earnest.”

“After all, it would have been greedy to expect them to win with the main forces all gone.”

“But there’s no excuse for starting to be pushed back like this already. Especially that guy named Eile you mentioned… he took down two rankers at the same time and gained even more momentum, completely pushing back one side of the front line.”

“Ha, I even sent Dagoth myself, but it’s a shame it turned out like this.”

Kruger smiled bitterly at the mention of Eile’s name.

“I wanted to be in a position to nurture him since he showed promise. Should I have approached him sooner?”

“I’m not interested in that. So what are you going to do now?”

“Tell them to focus on defending now. They just need to buy time without trying to fight too hard.”

“It would be good to buy as much time as possible… but it wouldn’t be good if one side was unilaterally beaten, would it? Are you going to completely hand over the Northeast’s leadership to Dawn and Nightmare?”

“I don’t care if we give that up. From the beginning, it wasn’t something we did to gain a few areas on the opposite side of the continent. More than anything, the end is in sight, so there’s no need to worry about it.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Lucan nodded, raised his hand to one ear, and conveyed instructions to the executives.

In the meantime, they went out of the street and turned inside, arriving in front of the royal palace.

A place that no one can enter in the capital of Askalon, which is full of people.

They confidently stepped into the main entrance of the royal palace without even taking off their hoods.

“Can we pass through?”

“Of course.”

The royal guard guarding the entrance recognized them and bowed his head.

Originally, even the heads of the six major guilds, who had the right to attend the Grand Council, had to confirm whether they had received prior permission to enter.

But the current royal guards did not stop him, but rather allowed him to pass without even asking the purpose of his visit.

“To think that the work we’ve been preparing for a year will be finished in one day. I can’t get used to it no matter how many times I experience it.”

“Well, I agree.”

Kruger shrugged his shoulders and shifted his gaze slightly.

What greeted them as they entered the central building of the royal palace was a thick stream of blood flowing on the floor.

And a pungent odor that stung the nose.

Traces that should never be found in the royal palace, no matter where else they might be.

Kruger and Lucan, who were not at all disturbed, indifferently stepped over the corpses scattered here and there like a nightmare.

Powerful nobles, royal officials, and soldiers guarding the royal palace.

The horribly torn corpses did not distinguish between status.

“Ugh… Ughaaaaack!”

A man screamed and ran out of the side corridor.

But a sword that flew from behind immediately pierced the man’s head, and he collapsed powerlessly.

Kwaduk!

A woman who retrieved the thrown sword faced Kruger.

“Ah, you’ve arrived.”

She was a guild member of Apollyon and a ranker.

Not only her.

The top rankers of Apollyon were lined up in a row on one side of the corridor, and all of them were holding blood-stained weapons.

“How’s the situation?”

“We haven’t started the replacement work yet… but the cleaning is almost finished,” the woman said with a light smile.

The cleaning she was talking about meant a series of tasks to execute all those who had been recruited in advance.

“Kruger! Is that you!”

Then someone pushed through the rankers lined up in the corridor and appeared.

It was Prince Oren, the only direct royal family member of the kingdom except for the critically ill king, and a collaborator with Apollyon.

“I didn’t allow you to do this! What is this…!”

The astonished prince spat out his anger.

To suddenly rush into the royal palace and do this.

It was a crazy act that he had never heard of.

No matter how much he coveted the throne, if this fact was leaked even a little after using this method, it would be impossible to handle the aftermath.

“There’s no need to worry, Prince. Everything has been handled well. There’s no way it will leak out.”

“There’s no way it will leak out? After making this mess!”

“Forbidden magic is quite a convenient means. I received some help. The barrier surrounding this area is also their work.”

“Th-Those guys cooperated without even reporting to me?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Ugh…!”

The prince flinched as he met his eyes.

Kruger was a handsome man with such a good impression that even men would feel affection, but the figure reflected in the prince’s eyes now was very eerie.

For a moment, Oren, who was proud that he had flinched at an adventurer, strode forward and grabbed Kruger by the collar.

“Shut up! I just borrowed some strength, but do you think you’ve become the king! I am the master of the kingdom! Obey my words silently!”

Angry Oren spat out his anger.

But Kruger didn’t care.

Rather, his cold eyes fell on the prince.

Kwak!

“Cough?”

A dizzying sensation he had never felt before.

The noble clothes of the royal family were stained red, and blood was pouring down.

“Wh-What is this…”

Oren, who was pierced in the abdomen by the sword, looked down at his body as if he couldn’t believe it.

Clearly, the fact that he, a member of the royal family, was stabbed by a sword was something that could never happen.

But what faced him was a cold reality.

“Oren, your role ends here.”

“Kueoeok…”

An act of treason that does not exist in the history of the kingdom.

He should have spat out his anger, but he couldn’t.

He couldn’t move a finger due to the dizzying pain that penetrated his abdomen.

Kwaduk!

Kruger twisted the sword he had stabbed in once more, and black blood flowed down from Oren’s mouth.

The prince who fell to the floor became a cold corpse.

“Where is the princess?” “We missed her.”

Silas, who came out of the reception room, said.

She, who was one of the top executives like Lucan, had entered here first and proceeded with the cleaning, so she was already covered in blood.

“She slipped out before the barrier was set up.”

“Did she notice the signs just before the attack? She’s a troublesome woman, unlike this guy.”

Kruger, who narrowed his brows slightly, kicked the prince’s corpse.

Leaving the helplessly stretched corpse, he headed to the central hall of the royal palace where the throne would be placed.

“The route of where she escaped has been roughly read. We’ve already sent a pursuit team, so she’ll be caught soon.”

“What about the replacements?”

“Over there.”

Silas gestured slightly.

Then, the princess and prince walked out unharmed from there.

Clearly, even the prince who had just died and the princess who had run away had exactly the same appearance, but as Kruger said, they were just ‘replacements’.

Not only those two.

From powerful nobles to gardeners.

Replacements were prepared for everyone who was sacrificed in this situation.

Borrowing the forbidden magic of the Gyul-sa-dan [a secret society or cult] to set up proxies.

In addition to the special barrier surrounding this area, they received help from desperate heretical magicians.

All they wanted was the cessation of the oppression of heretical magic, and they did not care who they dealt with, whether it was royalty or anyone else, as long as they would listen.

“It’s almost the end. The princess’s side seems to be a matter of time. This is no different from the East Thorn days, is it?”

“The game is all the same.”

Lucan and Silas, who were walking behind, chuckled.

Then Kruger, who was walking ahead, opened his mouth.

“Convene the Grand Council. We will establish a new king just for us.”