Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 85

85. Madness to Madness (8)

Aeil and Rhoden, the party thus formed, proceeded to neutralize the three remaining magic circles.

However, the process wasn’t as smooth as they had hoped.

As one magic circle activated, the remaining circles began to activate sequentially. Even those they hadn’t directly touched triggered, spewing out monsters.

Just one circle was already causing such a ruckus, but with monsters pouring out from three locations, the numbers were truly staggering.

They had to break through the monster hordes to approach the magic circles, then endure a five-minute monster wave at each one.

Even though they had experienced it before, the undead swarming from all directions were a major headache.

Fortunately, compared to Aeil’s initial situation, having two people made things significantly easier.

It was their first time working together, but Rhoden was incredibly skilled, and the difference was palpable compared to being with a clumsy multi-person party.

[The magic circle has been successfully destroyed!]

[Partial rewards have been acquired!]

Fzzzz!

Finally, they succeeded in destroying the last magic circle. The black bead they had received lost its effectiveness and shattered.

“Whew, even getting out of here after all this is going to be a pain,” Rhoden said, tossing a limp undead onto the pile of corpses.

They had cleared up the mess as quickly as possible, but the number of monsters released in the meantime was enormous.

Moreover, the cultists and users who had fallen victim to the Skull Hound packs were all resurrected as undead, roaming the dungeon and increasing their numbers.

The path to the last magic circle alone had been quite difficult, and the way out of the dungeon after finishing the job wasn’t expected to be easy.

“Still, it’s not at a dangerous level yet. But even though the fourth magic circle has been destroyed, there’s been no quest-related message.”

“So, we have to find it ourselves, I guess.”

Thump, thump, thump!

At that moment, a violent tremor shook the ground, and they heard the sound of something huge moving.

Judging from the sound, the dungeon’s structure had likely shifted. Aeil and Rhoden quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

“It came from the dungeon’s central area!”

The strong reaction indicated that their efforts to roam the dungeon and neutralize the magic circles were not in vain.

And the fact that the sound came from the central area, which should have been empty, meant that their guess was likely correct. They hurried as much as possible, relentlessly breaking through the monsters blocking their path.

They didn’t know what awaited them, but in the worst-case scenario, they could end up suffering and having another user snatch the entire reward.

“There!”

Rhoden shouted, pointing ahead, having discovered something.

Aeil was also looking intently.

It had been just a wall when they passed by before, but now a huge crack had formed, revealing a passage leading inside.

However, they weren’t the first to discover the newly appeared entrance.

Users who happened to be passing by had found the entrance and were trying to enter. Aeil quickly checked their faces.

“We’re going to lose the lead at this rate.”

“No, that won’t happen.”

Aeil, immediately refuting Rhoden’s words, drew a dagger and threw it with force at the user leading the way into the entrance.

It was an equipment item obtained after annihilating the first party that had become undead, and it could inflict a slowing effect on the hit target upon throwing. It accurately struck the back of the unsuspecting user.

“Ugh… wh-what!”

“Ambush! It’s those guys!”

The attacked users cursed and drew their weapons.

The act of attacking without any dispute or even a simple conversation was no different from what people commonly call habitual PK [Player Killer] offenders.

Given the nature of Lou, the deity Aeil followed, his favor with the goddess would inevitably plummet.

But this was not the case.

Above the heads of the encountered users was a clearly drawn mark of heresy. In other words, from Aeil’s perspective, they were enemies he had to attack.

The mark of heresy on anyone, including players, meant that they had accumulated enough evil deeds.

Because of this, it was rare to see among low-level users who hadn’t played much, and having the mark while being low-level meant they were quite malicious.

Even Beken, who had caused so much trouble for Aeil, didn’t have the mark until he was hit by the Heretic Designation skill. But these guys all had the mark revealed.

It wasn’t a matter of the system’s favor; to keep his back safe, he had to eliminate them first.

“Give me a warning before you do something like that…!”

Rhoden hurriedly drew his sword and followed Aeil.

Despite the sudden fight, Rhoden quickly grasped the situation and joined in.

Knowing that Aeil was an Inquisitor following Lou, he knew that Aeil wouldn’t have attacked them without a reason.

Since the disadvantages of PK were greater than the benefits for the Light Church’s followers, it was highly likely that they had a bad relationship or that the opponent was a heretic, an enemy of the church.

Thwack!

“Argh!”

The two parties clashed at the entrance, and the first to fall was the user who had been hit in the back by the thrown dagger.

Knowing that his movements had slowed, Aeil relentlessly targeted him, making it impossible for him to last long.

Even though they were facing three opponents, suppressing them was easy thanks to Rhoden’s support from behind.

Even in terms of skill, they were worse than the skilled party they had faced in front of the magic circle, and they had one fewer member.

Although they were players, they seemed more like valuable stat bonuses than difficult enemies.

Without even igniting the Holy Fire on his weapon, fearing that his health would run out due to fire damage, he succeeded in suppressing them one by one without taking their lives.

Then, after setting up a pyre, he dragged all the captured players in front of it.

The struggles and pleas of the already near-death prisoners, now tightly bound with ropes, no longer moved Aeil.

“N-no way!”

“Aaaaaagh!”

The screams of the users being dragged away and burned one by one echoed, and the flames that swallowed them flickered.

“Ugh, that’s brutal…”

Rhoden, witnessing the scene vividly right next to him, felt a chill.

It was Aeil’s expression, moderately feigning due to being watched, but what Rhoden truly felt was something beyond that.

However, he didn’t look at the sudden appearance of the pyre from the bare ground with strange eyes.

He just thought of it as a type of commonly found installable item.

From the perspective of other players who didn’t know about the existence of the Apostle, it was hard to think of Aeil’s execution of punishment as any kind of skill.

“What kind of guys were they?”

“Who else would we attack first but heretics? Now, take this first. It cost quite a bit of money, and the items were good.”

As if they were PKers making a living, it was a decent profit.

The money dropped by the three players was divided in half, and the loot was quickly distributed, considering the appropriate value of the items.

Both sides had an eye for items, so they were able to quickly finish the distribution without friction.

Someone else might find the entrance besides the ones they had just suppressed, so the faster the work, the better.

Thump!

Aeil and Rhoden, having finished the distribution, entered the large entrance, and almost simultaneously, the wall behind them closed.

The entrance they had entered through completely disappeared without a trace.

All that was visible was a long, straight passage and torches placed on both sides.

“Whew, we almost missed it,” Rhoden said with a light laugh.

Seeing that the entrance had closed firmly as soon as they entered, it seemed that the latecomers couldn’t follow.

If the party from just now had entered as they were, those who had neutralized the magic circles would have been left twiddling their thumbs outside.

“We’ve been moving non-stop since earlier, but now we can proceed at a more leisurely pace. We don’t have to worry about being disturbed from the outside.”

“But there’s no harm in finishing quickly.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be boring to go in like this?”

Clang!

The two swords collided and trembled.

It was a sudden surprise attack, but Aeil reacted to it, raising his longsword to block the attack.

Rhoden, who had suddenly swung his sword, tilted his head with a nonchalant face and opened his mouth.

“It’s late, but I’ll apologize in advance.”

“This is embarrassing.”

Aeil’s eyes turned cold.

* * *

Clatter!

Aeil slid backward, dragging his feet on the floor.

After a brief contest, a stream of blood flowed from a wound that had appeared below his arm.

Confirming that a small amount of HP [Health Points] had been lost, Aeil frowned.

“I’ve wanted to fight you at least once since I saw the video.”

“So, you suddenly ambushed me?”

“Haha, don’t say such things. You wouldn’t be taken down by such an attack, would you? And I know you’ve noticed since earlier.”

‘It seems to be as I heard.’

As Rhoden said, Aeil had already expected that he would attack someday.

Since his Armenia days, Rhoden had been famous for suddenly attacking those he considered worthy opponents to compete with, and his tendency to enjoy difficult fights had been well known.

“For now, I don’t intend to see this to the end, so please, show me your best.”

“Wait a minute…”

Rhoden, who had been raising his sword sharply, paused at Aeil’s words, which left room for negotiation.

Aeil wasn’t one to avoid a fight that had been brought to him.

Rather, he understood very well why he enjoyed fighting strong opponents, and he sympathized with him even more than others.

Of course, in a normal situation, there was no need to accept a pointless fight at this point, just before the end of the dungeon.

But this time, the opponent was different.

‘This is perfect. It’ll be a good source.’

Aeil was currently filming a recording to use in his next video.

His level was only 35.

To meet a former named player at this time when he needed attention was like a stroke of good luck.

Moreover, Rhoden had been missing until recently, and using his duel with him in the video would generate tremendous buzz.