Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 76

‘I did it…’

The raid, which seemed impossible, was over.

And with tremendous gains.

A large amount of Contribution Points, bonus stats, new titles, Affection that instantly exceeded 60 percent, and progress in the relationship with the Order.

My level increased by four at once, reaching level 35, and I even obtained a new weapon as a quest reward.

It was harder to list them all one by one, so it goes without saying that this was a case far beyond the norm.

‘More than anything… my movements improved little by little during the raid.’

Eile naturally felt the somehow lighter movements.

To be more precise, it felt like his body was following the movements he thought of in his head better than before.

Of course, Eile couldn’t know about the slightly increased synchronization rate.

He simply thought that his skills had improved a little as he gained more experience with virtual reality.

[‘Luminary, Lu,’ gladly expresses her respect for your performance.]

[Light Order Contribution +100]

The goddess, who had given him a huge amount of quest rewards this time, gave Eile Contribution Points again.

She seemed genuinely satisfied with his performance, and Eile gave a slight smile to the goddess who was watching him from somewhere.

Fwoosh!

The summoned Fire Spirit, Igris, turned back into ashes.

As a summoned creature contracted through a scroll, it returned to its original place after the battle was over.

Unlike its excellent magic attack power, its survivability was so low that he had a hard time keeping the boss’s attention away from it, but it played an excellent role as a ranged dealer.

“Hoo….”

Eile grabbed his trembling legs, still feeling the strain of intense concentration, and approached Malagos’s corpse, which had been beaten to a pulp.

As he reached out to the corpse, which still had a faint light lingering on it, he was able to loot the items it had dropped.

But now was not the time to check what items he had obtained.

Kugugugung!

The ceilings in all directions began to collapse.

[‘Luminary, Lu,’ tells you to hurry!]

[Time remaining until dungeon collapse ‘00:01:04’]

The given time was now only about 1 minute left.

The facility was rapidly collapsing, and Eile hurriedly began to look for a way out.

But the stairs leading to the upper floor had already collapsed long ago.

Even if he tried to find another place, it was blocked by piles of debris before long, and the only passage to another place was the wide-open ceiling.

However, the height of one floor was not low, and it was difficult to climb over the walls and debris because the interior was constantly collapsing.

In other words, the escape route was completely blocked.

If this deep dungeon all collapsed, even if the set effect of the black crystal accessory absorbed the impact like last time, it would be useless.

“Well, it’s not bad for my first death.”

Eile shrugged his shoulders slightly where he stood.

High risk, high return.

Thanks to the bold investment and the amazing results, it couldn’t be seen as a loss even if he died here.

Thanks to leveling up four levels at once, the level penalty was not a scary problem, and the Contribution Points he earned were also a huge surplus.

Of course, the two-day connection penalty was painful, but he protected the goddess’s Affection, which could have dropped sharply if he had run away, and there were no penalties.

Compared to the situation he was given, which was like a checkmate, this was an excellent defense and score.

It was a shame, but he tried to be satisfied with that.

Until Neshua jumped down from the open ceiling.

Thud!

Neshua, who suddenly appeared in front of him, landed softly on the floor and looked back and forth between Malagos’s fallen corpse and Eile.

He seemed surprised that he had defeated Malagos alone in just 17 minutes.

But what surprised him even more was Eile, who was embarrassed by the unexpected appearance.

“Hey, what are you still doing here without leaving?”

Eile approached and grabbed Neshua’s shoulders and shook him.

Even if he was right in front of the exit, it was a dangerous situation, and even jumping down to an isolated location was nothing short of madness.

They were in danger of dying together like this.

But Neshua, ignoring his words, suddenly tripped Eile.

“Cough…?”

Eile, who naturally did not expect him to do that, was about to fall forward helplessly. Neshua, who lowered his posture slightly, grabbed him and slung him over his shoulder.

Before Eile could even ask what he was doing, Neshua activated a skill.

Swish!

The black shadow under his feet wrapped around Neshua’s legs.

‘This is….’

It was an effect of a skill that even Eile had never seen before.

In Warlord, where the number of skills per job was so large, it was not uncommon for the ‘exclusive skills’ of unpopular jobs such as Heretic Inquisitor or Shadow Watcher to be unknown as they went to higher grades.

He had already seen the two common skills that Neshua had, and it seemed to be a new skill he had learned at level 30.

Flash!

His body, carrying Eile, soared high.

After leaping for a long time, Neshua stepped on the half-collapsed wall as a stepping stone and jumped up once more.

Neshua, who broke through the second basement floor to the first floor in one leap, continued to run without stopping.

His speed, empowered by the Heroic exclusive skill ‘Night Walker,’ was tremendous.

Avoiding the collapsing floor and falling debris, he sprinted with all his might towards the altar where the battle had first taken place.

Most of the noticeable passages, including the blocked passage on the second basement floor, were not actual exits to the outside, but were merely tricks.

So, while Eile was fighting Malagos, Neshua had found the real exit hidden near the altar.

Kwaang!

Neshua kicked the seemingly solid wall under the altar with all his might and threw himself through, and at the same time, the Zealots’ underground facility completely collapsed.

If they had been even a little later, they would have both been buried alive down there.

Neshua, sweating profusely, threw down Eile, whom he had been carrying on his shoulder.

“Kehk!”

Eile made a strange noise and rolled to the ground.

The damp cave floor greeted his face.

“Would it hurt you to put me down gently….”

「Tell me before you do anything rash.」

Eile clicked his tongue at the contents of the parchment Neshua handed him.

He had nothing to say about that part.

“Um… anyway, thanks. I owe you my life.”

「Let’s get out of here first.」

“Yeah, first….”

Saaaa!

Eile’s body, who was continuing his words, stiffened.

A cold energy suddenly covered the cave, causing goosebumps all over his body.

He couldn’t move a finger as if he had been paralyzed while standing, and only his eyes were moving busily.

[‘Demon of Greed, Venaron’s’ whispers are heard.]

Keegeeegeeek!

The space around Eile began to ripple with a sharp noise that pierced his ears.

It was a phenomenon that occurred because a higher being called a demon was reaching out and directly influencing the world.

Soon, a deep darkness that had gathered in the cave swallowed everything except Eile and consumed the space.

– Did you think you could get out of here like this?

Venaron’s voice was heard from the pitch-black darkness.

A heavy voice, hiding a violent nature, echoed through the cave.

– You have set foot in my domain. You have disturbed the ritual and destroyed the altar. You deserve to be torn to pieces and killed. As always.

A fierce breathing sound like an angry bull was heard.

Words filled with a thick murderous intent as if he would harm him at any moment.

But Venaron soon changed his attitude.

– But you are the first and only Apostle. Your value is sufficient. Become a follower of me. I promise you power that cannot be compared to what you have now. The world will bow at your feet, and all beings under me will follow you.

Venaron began to blatantly whisper and tempt Eile.

But before Eile could react to the given choices.

Tzzzzzz!

Electricity sparked around Eile’s body, and noise occurred as if the screen was blurred.

A bright beam of light that pierced through the ceiling distorted the surrounding space and vibrated heavily.

[‘Luminary, Lu’s’ intervention strikes the primordial darkness!]

[‘Demon of Greed, Venaron’ fiercely resists and roars!]

Keegeeegeeek!

The collision of two great beings.

Light flashed and severe noise began to fill all directions.

The mighty power of the goddess intervened in the world and exerted its influence, and the black energy that Venaron had brought also shook violently.

Venaron, who had discovered an unexpected ‘Apostle,’ was not willing to back down easily.

But the current Lu was on a different level from when she had just awakened and showed a miserable appearance, saying that her influence was insufficient.

The owner of justice, light, and madness, she was a legitimate deity, one of only seven in Warlord.

Naturally, she was a being of a different ‘class’ than Venaron, who was merely a demon.

But a mere demon had touched her Apostle, and given her personality, there was no way she would let this go well.

Kiiiiieek!

The distortion of space became more and more severe along with the crackling noise, and the demon’s sharp scream was faintly heard from beyond the distorted space.

Whack!

The sound, which had been growing louder, suddenly stopped and disappeared.

The distorted space had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

[The influence of ‘Demon of Greed, Venaron,’ which had been encroaching on the dungeon, has completely disappeared.]

“……”

Eile, who had been standing there blankly for a moment, belatedly took a breath he had been holding back.

Neshua, who had been watching him from the side, looked at him with suspicious eyes.

Since all the events that had just happened had only happened within Eile’s vision, Neshua could not have noticed.

‘The demon was awake…?’

As he became able to move his body, Eile barely refreshed his mind and quietly covered his forehead.

Eile was naturally well aware of the settings of the demons in the Warlord worldview.

The antithesis that rebelled against the deities, and the eternal enemy.

But they, like the deities, were also ‘beings that should be asleep.’

It should have been impossible to intervene in the world and show direct movements like this while half asleep, and in fact, such movements had never been witnessed among other players until now.

Whether the butterfly effect of Lu’s awakening had spread to other higher beings, or whether it was a simple coincidence.

Eile’s mind began to become complicated.