There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 162

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Theodore was the first to sense something was wrong.

Coming from the rear, he shouted to Elaine at the front, “Elaine! Is your Divine Power starting to fade?”

“What are you talking about? I’m still fine!”

“Then why is the purification duration so short? I feel like I’ve been stepping on contaminated ground for a while now.”

“What?”

Elaine hurriedly checked the ground beneath Theodore’s feet, and her face hardened.

Philomel also checked the ground she was standing on. Now that she heard it, the subtle light seemed much fainter than before.

“Could it be that the contamination is getting worse because we’re getting closer to that monstrosity?”

Elaine tilted her head, considering Philomel’s guess.

“I accounted for that… Well, I’ll use more Divine Power from now on.”

After that, an even stronger light emanated from Elaine’s feet. However, the trail of light she drew on the ground was faint.

As they reached the entrance of the central garden, Elaine finally collapsed to the ground.

“I can’t purify and move forward anymore.”

“Elaine! Are you okay?”

“…I’m sorry.”

Theodore stepped forward in Elaine’s place.

“I knew it! The contamination has been serious for a while now!”

This time, his feet glowed.

“I’ll purify from now on!”

However, his purification area was much smaller than Elaine’s.

Theodore gasped.

“What is this? It’s so hard. Even pouring this much Divine Power, it’s only this much…”

He had also consumed Divine Power fighting monsters.

The purification area gradually shrank. Eventually, it became so small that it was difficult for the four of them to stand on.

“Philomel! Over here!”

Nasar brought Philomel closer to the two priests.

“Goddess of beauty and grace, grant me strength.”

Elaine placed her hands on the grass and recited the prayer. Her hands shone brightly.

Theodore also rolled up his sleeves and placed his hands on the grass.

“I’ll help too!”

As the two of them began to exert their Divine Power in earnest, the surrounding ground was brightly colored. The purification area expanded rapidly.

“You two! Would you like to try some of this? It will help with stamina recovery.”

Philomel thought she should do something, so she took out stamina recovery potions from her bag and gave them one each. For reference, this was also one of the items sold at the Starlight Store.

“Oh! I feel energized!”

“Wow, what is this? It’s better than any recovery potion I’ve ever had!”

Soon, their faces regained vitality, and the purification area also shone. Philomel vaguely explained that it was a potion made by the Magic Tower Lord, and secretly felt relieved.

But…

“Ugh!”

“Hero! The contamination is getting even stronger!”

Before long, Theodore groaned, and Elaine stared at Philomel with pleading eyes.

The crimson color rapidly devoured the purification area.

For a moment, Philomel’s mind went blank.

‘What should I do in this situation?’

I don’t know.

The stamina recovery potions were not very helpful, and she and Nasar had no Divine Power. Even if they did, they couldn’t possibly accomplish what the chief priests were struggling with.

“Philomel…”

Philomel snapped out of it at the sound of Nasar calling her softly.

‘This is no time to be spacing out!’

She had to do something.

Philomel took out the communication stone. Before leaving, she had connected the communication stones with the High Priest.

“I’ll check if there are any priests nearby who can come and help!”

Philomel’s communication stone had never worked properly since the incident.

But Philomel clutched the communication stone tightly, grasping at straws.

‘Please, please connect!’

Heaven must have helped. After several attempts, the communication was barely connected.

“Hero?”

However, the voice heard through the terrible static was not the High Priest.

Probably a priest who was assisting the High Priest most closely.

He said urgently.

“I’m sorry! The High Priest is currently too busy with other matters, so I received it instead!”

A bad feeling swept down Philomel’s spine.

“What’s going on?”

“The contamination of the land is so severe that he is busy purifying it!”

“The contamination has already progressed that far?”

As they had initially expected, the contamination should not have reached the relic storage for at least half a day.

However, it had not even been two hours since Philomel and her party had left that place.

“The speed of the contamination is suddenly accelerating! Moreover…”

And the following words were truly shocking.

“The contamination is ignoring other areas and attacking places where many people are gathered first! It’s as if… it has a will of its own.”

Philomel was speechless.

‘It has a will? Then perhaps the reason why monsters haven’t appeared since earlier…’

It might not be a coincidence, but related to the rapidly spreading contamination.

‘Maybe it’s diverting all the power that creates monsters to that side.’

Then she suddenly remembered the original purpose of the call.

“We just arrived at the central garden! The contamination has suddenly become severe here too, but are there no priests nearby who can come and support us?”

“Well, I think the Hero’s party is the only one in that area… Ah!”

The other party suddenly made a loud noise.

“Monsters!”

And then, the monster’s chilling cry was heard.

The communication was cut off abruptly.

Philomel looked down at the communication stone with a blank face. She tried to reconnect, but there was no response.

“……”

“……”

A silence filled with despair filled the space. They had all heard the communication.

“T-that can’t be…”

Elaine, who had been composed all along, sobbed quietly.

“Damn it!”

Theodore, who had not lost his cheerfulness even in this situation, cursed.

“If I carry Philomel, how long would it take to reach an uncontaminated place…”

Nasar muttered, pondering something intently.

They were all prepared for death.

However, the fact that their deaths might be of no value only made them more desperate.

Even the relic storage where the High Priest was located was in danger. Even the safest place inside this Great Temple.

‘If that place is in crisis, the other places are obvious without even looking…’

They will die. Soon everyone will be contaminated and die painfully.

Philomel’s body trembled again.

Death is scary. I don’t want to die.

Philomel held Nasar’s hand tightly, as if trying to gain comfort.

Nasar stopped muttering and looked at her.

“Philomel, you can move to the Starlight Store now, right?”

“Yes? Ah… I can.”

She had also packed the stone fragments that fell from the Shooting Star Rock in her bag.

“But there aren’t any products that specifically block contamination.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

He said calmly.

“Only Philomel should take refuge there.”

Philomel couldn’t believe her ears.

What does that mean?

“I can’t escape alone!”

Only players can enter the Starlight Store.

“We can’t all just wait for death.”

“But escaping to the store is just prolonging our lives for a moment!”

Eventually, when you leave the Starlight Store, you return to the place you were originally in. This contaminated land.

“In the unlikely event that the land may be purified in the meantime…”

“Who is going to purify this place?”

Even the High Priest is only able to protect a limited area.

Nasar groaned.

“My father will be here soon, so you never know.”

“Regin is a Magic Tower Lord, not a priest.”

“Philomel!”

“No!”

“Philomel!”

Philomel was momentarily startled.

It was the first time. Nasar had called her by her name only.

He pleaded, as if sobbing.

“Philomel, please go. Even if it’s just for a moment, leave this place.”

Tears welled up in his red eyes.

“I don’t want to see you get hurt, even if I have to die.”

“Nasar…”

“Surely, if you hold out there, the situation here will improve.”

It was baseless hope.

He was trying to send Philomel away, relying on such vain hope.

Her heart ached. Nasar’s desperate feelings felt vividly tangible.

The purification area had now completely disappeared. The priests collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

The end was in sight. But Philomel shook her head.

“No. I’m not leaving this place.”

Her will was more determined than ever.

“I will be with Nasar, and with everyone.”

She couldn’t become a hero and run away cowardly to live alone.

Philomel forced a smile.

“Let’s die together, even if we die.”

And at that moment.

‘100%’

The red bar above Nasar’s head filled up.

Almost simultaneously with him.

Whoosh!

A massive pillar of light soared into the sky from the ground.

Philomel hurriedly checked the place where the pillar of light had originated. It was quite far from here.

“W-what is that!”

“Is it another trick of the Evil God!”

The priests also stared in shock at the magnificent sight.

Elaine muttered.

“No, it’s not some trick of the Evil God… I feel an enormous amount of Divine Power.”

Theodore nodded blankly.

“Yeah. This is the first time I’ve felt such vast and pure Divine Power.”

Philomel’s heart pounded.

‘Oh my gosh. For a moment, I thought it was something that happened because the favorability rating reached 100%…’

It didn’t seem to be the case.

There was another surprising thing.

“Huh? The contamination…!”

Elaine shouted, checking the ground her body was touching.

“The contamination has been purified!”

The crimson ground was now colored the same as the pillar of light.

The pillar of light soon disappeared, but the ground remained purified.