Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 213

213. The Final Battlefield (2)

[You have eliminated a heretic!]

Whoosh!

The demon bound to the cross burned in the purifying flames.

It was Eile who incinerated the demon’s minion.

By burning the branded heretic, he secured the immolation bonus, an attack power buff.

‘It’s a complete mess.’

Without needing to turn his head, screams and roars echoed incessantly.

If this were a normal hunting ground, he would have rejoiced at the sight of branded stats and experience points roaming around.

However, the situation in the city was dire.

The demon’s followers were indiscriminately attacking, and the majority of ordinary users, who had nothing to do with the Iron Cross, as well as the residents who lived peaceful lives, were being sacrificed without exception.

As expected, Apollyon intended to annihilate everyone to prevent the story from leaking out.

He was planning to use this place as a scapegoat.

‘Users will revive in two days even if they die. But he must have tampered with something.’

Eile quickly checked the screen, his gaze shifting.

Currently, the city was inaccessible due to the barrier.

Checking the news from the outside, he learned that the royal family had issued a curfew in Belhaven just before this incident occurred.

The reason given was that a large-scale movement of demon followers plotting rebellion had been detected.

A justification that cleverly mixed fact and fiction.

Considering that the entire royal family was under Apollyon’s control, the intention behind the royal decree was obvious.

‘The voices of adventurers alone lack persuasiveness anyway. If they kill all the NPC witnesses, they can ignore any outcry without even responding. Since they’ve taken over the royal family, the most important thing is Seia’s life or death.’

It would be one thing if it were just a small or medium-sized base.

But attempting to erase an entire metropolis like this was unprecedented since the game’s launch.

Due to the nature of virtual reality, excessive cruelty, even in a game, was bound to provoke backlash.

Moreover, the backlash from countless users who might have settled around the city meant that no one had even considered attempting it, regardless of their power.

But now, they were indiscriminately massacring even the users who would revive.

The image management Apollyon had maintained until now became meaningless the moment Alcyone’s identity was revealed.

‘But I never imagined he’d go this far…’

Summoning demon minions required the souls of numerous victims.

To open a rift of this magnitude, they must have already committed countless massacres against innocent NPCs elsewhere.

From Apollyon’s perspective, this incident was merely a process of eliminating the princess and collecting souls to be sacrificed.

“Goddess?”

“……”

Loo couldn’t easily speak.

Loo couldn’t hide her anger at the tragic scene unfolding in the city.

Even though she was one of the few AIs who knew that Warlord was a game, it didn’t make a big difference.

This was her only world, and it was in direct conflict with the justice she usually espoused.

She was bitterly realizing that a user with malicious intent could be more terrifying than any evil organization.

“We have to stop them.”

“Of course.”

Thwack!

Eile pulled the sword out of the minion’s body.

* * *

It was the demon’s minions who directly emerged from the rift.

Due to the nature of demon’s minions, which started from at least the sub-boss level, a very large number of individuals could not pour out.

However, those minions summoned other monsters, and numerous magical beasts were unleashed into the city.

Screech!

They seized the streets, attacking people and destroying facilities.

The Iron Cross guild quickly took action, but it was impossible to defend the entire vast city.

Whoa!

A huge wave of holy fire swept through the streets.

The magical beasts that filled the streets were all swept away and disappeared.

Eile spurred his steps, kicking off the blackened ground.

‘That’s… a minion of Bulcamos.’

Eile thought as he watched the giant figure passing through the streets in the distance.

Moreover, the demons Apollyon had allied with were not just one or two.

All the demon’s minions in Warlord were pouring out.

Except for Venaron, who was completely annihilated by Loo after initially opposing the Order of Light, all of them were included.

The minions and magical beasts continued to block his path.

Kaboom!

One side of a building was completely destroyed and collapsed.

The power of the giant axe wielded by the demon’s minion was tremendous.

“This is bad.”

Not only the minions branded with heresy but also a considerable number of magical beasts appeared.

Because of that, even Eile’s hurried steps had to stop temporarily.

They were blocking an important path leading to the temple, so he couldn’t avoid them.

But if he were to defeat them all, it was obvious that it would take too much time.

‘It’ll be troublesome if I take too long…’

Eile’s eyes darted back and forth.

It was true that they were suffering great damage from the sudden rift and the demons’ attack.

But the most threatening presence in the current situation was not the monsters.

Rather than the ones mindlessly smashing everything in front of them, the Apollyon-affiliated rankers hiding in the city were the biggest threat.

There was no knowing when or where they would suddenly appear.

Moreover, since they would be targeting the princess, who was the core of this incident, he had to deal with them first to minimize the threat.

Boom!

At that moment, a huge meteor fell and exploded in the middle of the horde of magical beasts.

It wasn’t just that.

Large-scale magic, including the meteor shower that had just been used, poured down in succession, sweeping away all the magical beasts.

Eile’s gaze turned to the familiar sight he had seen so many times.

“Eile!”

Lia and Rhoden appeared on the rooftop of the building on the left.

They had immediately joined the battle when the attack occurred, and they had coincidentally arrived at the same place.

“We’ll take care of this, so go ahead!”

“Thank you!”

With the appearance of reliable reinforcements, Eile rushed straight ahead.

There were still many monsters left, including the magical beasts swarming in response to the explosion, but if it was them who had appeared, there was nothing to worry about.

The magical beasts reflexively tried to attack Eile as he suddenly charged straight at them.

Thud!

But at that moment, several streams of magic flew from behind, one by one intercepting them.

It seemed as if the path was opening on its own, even though Eile was just running forward.

In particular, the most threatening ‘minions’ had their feet frozen solid, temporarily blocking their movements.

Tremendous accuracy and fast casting.

And with quick judgment made on her own without any instructions, she cleared the way for Eile.

Lia’s appearance was clearly different from before.

It was her remarkable growth, born from the arduous experience in Eltris, and Eile smiled faintly and broke through the streets.

* * *

“Stop them!”

“Purify the heretics!”

A war cry echoed through the battlefield.

In the Temple of Light in Belhaven, a more intense battle was taking place than anywhere else in the city.

A swarm of demon spawn rushed in.

The Order’s forces clashed against them, and blood splattered everywhere.

“Sprinkle holy water! Pour flames!”

Screech!

The magical beasts engulfed in flames writhed and died.

Despite the significant difference in numbers due to the continuous influx of magical beasts, the temple was surprisingly holding out well.

It was a pity that the Inquisitors, the natural enemies of demons, were not in the city because passage was suddenly blocked, but the priests and paladins with divine power also had the upper hand in terms of compatibility.

Moreover, thanks to their madness-mixed mental fortitude, there was no need to be flustered.

It was by no means a place that could be easily taken over by a demon horde.

But in the meantime, while they were fighting the monsters.

There was an intruder who secretly infiltrated the temple through stealth.

“The bait is doing a good job.”

A man who lowered his mask appeared from the shadows.

The identity of the man who infiltrated the temple was Ide, a named player ranked 208th in the official rankings.

He was a ranker belonging to Apollyon with the Thief class.

As expected, the target that Apollyon had to aim for first and foremost was none other than the life of Princess Seia.

Compared to that, the destruction of an entire city or the life of Sir, the guild leader of the Iron Cross, was just a bonus.

For that reason, it was natural for him to visit this temple where the princess was receiving treatment first.

Sleek!

At the sound of busy footsteps and armor coming from the hallway, Ide hid himself again.

Paladins, unlike the Order’s priests, were classes that wore heavy armor and focused on healing and defense abilities.

Naturally, it would take relatively longer to defeat them.

He didn’t have time to bother dealing with them all one by one.

‘This way.’

Thanks to his high-level stealth skills, it was easy to shake off all the dull NPCs.

The location of the room where the princess was was already delivered.

He moved there in an instant and faced the two paladins guarding the front of the door.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Ide, who appeared from the shadows, poured out a series of skills without even giving them a chance to react, stunning them in an instant and throwing them away.

Crash!

Then he kicked the door open and entered inside.

Numerous paladins who would be protecting Princess Seia.

It was natural that they would welcome him inside, and Ide intended to take them all down single-handedly.

But what he faced was an empty room.

“What…?”

It was the place where the princess should have been, but there was no trace of her to be found.

He felt bewildered because he couldn’t even find a trace of her, even if he thought she had run away in a hurry.

Smack!

“Cough… !”

With a dull sound, Ide was knocked away.

In Ide’s gaze, who barely regained his senses, Eile was standing behind him.

“Could it be you…”

Only then did he grasp the situation.

Unlike his initial expectation that they would be off guard, they had moved the princess to another location in advance before the attack occurred.

They hadn’t just been playing around while Apollyon was up to his tricks.

Swish!

Eile pointed the longsword he had drawn at him.

“First.”