Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 72

72. Light and Shadow (3)

Suddenly, a message popped up, and Aile’s level increased to 31.

Aile carefully read the message, paying close attention to the phrases ‘first scenario completed’ and ‘partial experience’.

‘Scenario dungeon…….’

If the dungeon he faced in Hard Rock Cave was just a taste of a scenario dungeon, containing only scenarios that would activate upon failing to escape within the time limit, this one felt like the real deal from the start.

‘The amount of experience is unusual……?’

He had already gained a decent amount of experience from hunting bandits in the Plpitz Mountains, but even considering the undead monsters he had just caught, leveling up in one go was an extraordinary amount.

Considering it was just a partial experience reward, it was easy to guess how significant the reward would be if he cleared the entire dungeon.

Thud!

Nesua, who had been crouching, grabbed Aile’s arm and pulled him.

He didn’t need to ask what was going on; he could tell right away.

Beyond the narrow passage, at their feet, were hordes of undead monsters. It was clear at a glance that recklessly charging in wouldn’t solve anything.

Just before exiting the passage, Nesua was able to sense the presence of the monsters in advance thanks to the Shadow Watchers’ basic passive skill, Sense Presence.

‘A ruin… no, an abandoned village?’

At first glance, it looked like a uniquely shaped ruin because the buildings were excessively damaged, but upon closer inspection, he could see traces of a village that had been wrecked.

Above all, the name of this dungeon was ‘Village of Destruction’.

He never imagined that anyone would have lived in such a deep valley cave, but it seemed they had suffered some kind of disaster.

‘So, were those undead the original residents of this place? I’m sure there was no mention of a dungeon around here… this is getting interesting.’

It was a dungeon Aile had never heard of before, which made it even more intriguing.

He couldn’t be sure of anything without prior information, but he was certain that it was a first-discovery dungeon that had never been found by other players before.

But then, a sudden notification rang out.

[‘Luminary Judge, Lugh,’ winces at the stench of sin.]

[You have been granted a surprise quest!]

[Find and eliminate the blasphemer inside the dungeon (0/1)]

[Reward for success: ???]

‘This is……?’

A surprise quest that appeared with the message.

The ‘blasphemer,’ an entity whose very existence denies the doctrine and is considered a sin just by walking on the earth, seemed to be inside the dungeon.

Since they were the enemies the Order hated most, even more than the undead or heretics, it was no wonder Lugh was disgusted.

The reward for success wasn’t properly specified, but considering the hidden dungeon they had entered, it was unlikely to be a small reward.

Aile couldn’t help but get excited at the thought of the enormous stat boosts he could gain from defeating the blasphemer and the rewards from the quest bestowed by a deity.

But only for a moment, Aile calmly cooled his head and looked down.

It seemed they had to clear the scenario dungeon to get out of this place, and unless it was an incredibly complex structure, they would likely encounter him while breaking through.

A blasphemer wouldn’t be an ordinary monster, and he wouldn’t be hiding in some corner where they couldn’t find him even if they cleared the dungeon to the end.

Right now, the important thing was how to solve the immediate challenge.

A destroyed village completely filled with undead.

Even if the first obstacle was manageable, he couldn’t just beat all those monsters senselessly; there had to be a solution.

While Aile was figuring out the structure below and pondering, Nesua, who had been silent, moved first.

「Wait」

“Wait, what…….”

Before Aile could stop him, he jumped down alone.

It was a sloping surface, so there was no risk of falling to his death, but recklessly breaking through a neighborhood full of monsters alone was suicidal.

And Nesua knew that very well.

Thud!

After landing below, he hid in the darkness, concealing himself as much as possible, and ran between the collapsed walls and the monsters.

Aile was worried about why he was suddenly doing this, but on the other hand, he was also intrigued to see how he would solve this problem.

He figured Lugh must have felt something like this when she looked at him, but now that he was in the position of a spectator, he could understand why the lofty deity enjoyed watching him.

‘He’s going to get through there without being detected?’

Aile, who was still holding his breath above, marveled quietly.

Nesua skillfully avoided the sight of the many monsters, weaving through the village, moving quickly without being detected, completely hidden in the darkness.

It seemed that it wasn’t luck or coincidence that Aile didn’t sense his presence in the cave; he was surprisingly good at hiding his presence.

It was something Aile could never have done.

The Shadow Watcher, Hin’s exclusive class, was a specialized assassin class for stealth.

As such, Nesua, who had been moving stealthily in the village, entered a half-collapsed building.

Kueeeeek!

Suddenly, the undead in one area of the village collapsed.

Not all of them fell, but about one-tenth of the many monsters disappeared at once.

Startled, Aile looked down to see what had happened, and soon he saw Nesua dragging a man’s corpse out of the building.

The corpse was thrown to the ground.

‘Ah… is that what it is?’

He couldn’t see very well from a distance, but he could guess that he was a magician wearing a black robe, and judging by the sudden collapse of the undead, he must have been a necromancer who controlled them.

When the master who had been supplying the magic disappeared, the undead monsters who followed him naturally collapsed.

Other monsters, sensing something strange, moved around to find the intruder, but even among them, Nesua leisurely melted into the shadows and began to eliminate the necromancers hidden throughout the village.

Kueeek!

The last necromancer, who had come out to chase the intruder, was stabbed in the heart from behind and collapsed, and all the undead that had filled the village disappeared.

Aile, confirming that there were no monsters left, went straight down.

Nesua’s expressionless cheeks were stained with streaks of blood, presumably from the necromancers.

“How did you know there were necromancers in the buildings?”

Chwareuk!

Nesua held up a torn scroll.

“That’s…….”

Intermediate Clairvoyance Scroll.

Judging by the black cover, it was a magic scroll from the Shadow Order.

Just as the Order of Light had a contribution point store, other orders were the same.

But to have the right scroll at just the right moment like this.

He wondered if he, like himself, was an ‘Apostle’ with the authority to use the contribution point store anywhere.

But Aile soon shook his head, saying that couldn’t be the case.

First of all, it was clear that Lugh was the first deity to awaken, and according to her words after that, Aile was still the first Apostle.

If another deity had awakened or an Apostle had been born after that, there would have been some kind of warning, but there was no mention of it.

Logically, it was not easy to think that there were already two users who had received the position of ‘Apostle’, which could only be granted at level 500 or higher.

It wasn’t strange to think that he was just carrying around a few scrolls that might be needed depending on the situation.

「Daㅇ」

“Wait a minute.”

“……?”

When Nesua started scribbling on the floor again, Aile stopped him.

Then, he took out a quill and parchment from his inventory and handed them to him.

These were the things he had received when he was first sentenced to be burned at the stake and imprisoned in the dungeon of the Order of Light, to leave his last words.

He had actually never used them and had put them away in a corner.

“It’s frustrating for me to watch. Use that to write.”

The parchment floating in the air was fixed for easy writing anywhere, and Nesua, who had scribbled on it with a quill, nodded with a satisfied expression.

It seemed much better than scratching the hard floor with a dagger.

Having mastered an easier way to communicate, they began to investigate the village, searching through the dilapidated buildings.

The passages that seemed to have originally led outside were all artificially collapsed and blocked, and they had to find another way out before they starved to death.

– You have acquired an item!

[Torn Robe Fragment (Low Grade) x 7]

[Ring of Turbid Magic (High Grade)]

Of course, Aile did not forget to collect the necromancer’s items that Nesua had left behind while searching for clues.

There weren’t any that he could use directly, but there were a few equipment items that he could sell for a decent price.

Aile even collected all the unidentified antiques placed in various places inside the building for appraisal.

“…….”

“Well, I’m not a bourgeois like someone else.”

Nesua gave him glances from time to time as he was doing other things, but Aile lightly brushed him off with a brazen face.

It wasn’t like he was neglecting to look for clues while collecting items.

“Hmm?”

Aile, who was passing between buildings without thinking, stopped abruptly.

A large well in the middle of the village caught his eye.

He went closer and looked inside, but it was already dry and there wasn’t a single drop of water, and a ladder made of rope was hanging down.

The setup suggested something was down there, stimulating Aile’s senses.

“This way!”

Aile, calling Nesua who was far away, went down the ladder before he even came.

It was too dark to see the bottom of the well right away, but the condition of the rope was good, so there was no need to worry about the ladder breaking.

Ta-ack!

Aile, who landed on the floor, immediately took out a torch.

The brightly lit space, the well underground, revealed an old facility that looked like an old waterway.

The waterway was filled with a strange, thick smell of blood, and it had a structure that stretched out in one direction, and it seemed like he had guessed correctly.

[The second scenario has been completed!]

[You have acquired partial experience!]

The system message popped up as if it was the answer.

But Aile’s attention was all focused elsewhere.

“Grrr…….”

The monster’s cry, like phlegm, was heard from the other side of the waterway.

Aile, sharpening his senses, pulled the torch a little further forward, and only then did the light begin to illuminate the monster’s figure.

A huge undead monster with a round body blocking one side of the waterway.

The white monster, which looked like a mass of terribly crushed fat, wriggled its body once, and a thick stench that made him want to vomit wafted out.

“Kkuok?”

The monster’s gaze was fixed on Aile.