Chapter 40

Level Up Heresy Inquisitor – Episode 40 (40/227)

Episode 40: Manners Make the Man (3)

Thud!

Belrog, engulfed in flames, collapsed helplessly to the floor.

As tough as the elite monster was rumored to be, it was still low-level trash in the grand scheme of things.

Against the worst matchups and proper tactics, it didn’t stand a chance.

“Not bad,” Ail muttered, looking down at the fallen beast.

The creature was near death, unable to move a finger, but still alive. Its twitching blue form on the ground was kind of gross, but Ail found it oddly satisfying.

This was perfect warm-up material before taking on the real boss.

“Hmm… Time to collect my reward.”

Ail planted his longsword into the ground with both hands.

And then activated the skill he’d spared Belrog’s life for: Judgement Pronouncement.

A glowing white tome appeared in front of him. The pages flipped rapidly until they stopped, bringing up a status window.

[Judgement Pronouncement]

[Please select the punishment for this criminal.]

Second time using this skill today.

Without hesitation, Ail chose the sentence.

[Cremation Sentence Executed!]

BOOM!

At Ail’s gesture, an execution platform rose from the ground.

A tall wooden post for tying up criminals appeared, surrounded by a pile of hay ready to be set alight.

Just like when he used this skill back at Quinnze Blonde.

Preparations complete, now all that remained was the execution.

Kerchunk!

Ail grabbed Belrog by the ankle without any hesitation and dragged it over to the platform, tying it securely to the post with ropes.

Belrog tried to bare its teeth threateningly, but it was laughable given its helpless state.

With practiced ease, Ail tied the ropes tight, securing the creature firmly.

He picked up his sword again, igniting it with white flames to light the pyre.

Whoosh!

The fierce flames spread instantly, engulfing Belrog’s body.

“EEEEEEEK!”

Belrog couldn’t help but scream in agony.

But only for a moment.

Already near death, it quickly suffocated, its limp body burning brightly as fuel for the execution.

Though dead, the fire would take some time to fully consume both corpse and platform.

[Heresy Eliminated!]

[‘Judgement Pronouncement’ successfully executed. Skill effect doubles stat bonuses.]

[Goddess Favor +0.21% (Current: 52.91%)]

[Light Church Contribution +55]

[Faith Stat +2]

[Insanity Stat +2]

[Cremation Execution increases Inquisitor attack power by 10% for 60 minutes.]

[Feeling Faith deepening…]

[Faith Stat +0.1]

[Insanity Stat +0.1]

“Huh…?”

Ail paused, examining the floating status windows carefully.

Everything seemed normal – heretic eliminated, execution successful, received ‘Judgement Pronouncement’ bonuses.

But there was an extra line he’d never seen before, indicating increases to Faith and Insanity stats.

“What is this…?”

The unexpected +0.1 boost to these two stats was puzzling.

There was no such thing as free stat bonuses – there had to be a reason.

“Wait a minute…”

A sudden hypothesis popped into Ail’s mind.

Players who prayed regularly or did volunteer work for the church saw gradual increases to their exclusive stats.

While this was limited to players with church-related jobs, the principle could apply to other professions too – specific actions boosting dedicated stats.

And this +0.1 felt very similar.

“Could it be…?”

Executing heretics by cremation was just as much an act of devotion to the goddess Lu as praying or volunteering.

Perhaps even more so, given she was the Goddess of Light, Justice, and Madness.

Suppressing his excitement, Ail began planning his next moves.

First, he looted Belrog and the three users’ dropped items from the execution pyre.

Belrog, true to its reputation, hadn’t dropped anything useful despite being an elite monster.

However, the cold corpses of the users provided decent equipment, potions, and gold.

Including the regular monsters killed by the users, the haul was quite profitable.

While other users complained about the poor returns from hunting Belrog, Ail had made out quite well with stat boosts, contribution points, items, and money.

“EEEEEEK!”

Another faint cry came from behind.

Perfect timing for another target to appear. Ail raised his sword and charged after the sound.

Through the bushes, he spotted a group of four or five monsters – no problem.

He rushed in, slicing them all down in one go. The white flames consumed their bodies as they hit the ground.

Zzzzip!

Ropes shot out from Ail’s hand – an additional effect of the Judgement Pronouncement skill.

Thankfully, creating tools or execution platforms didn’t interfere with the skill activation.

If he could trigger it anytime, this would make things much easier.

“Ugh…”

Ail approached the fallen creatures.

He carefully tied a rope around one of their necks while they were still twitching weakly.

There were plenty of suitable trees nearby. He secured the ropes to sturdy branches.

Soon, the monster corpses were hanging limply from the trees – an impromptu hanging.

Regular monsters couldn’t technically be labeled as heretics, and since they hadn’t been sentenced by the skill, there were no stat or contribution bonuses.

It seemed like a pointless waste of time.

But Ail continued undeterred.

Even after hanging all the fallen creatures, he kept hunting and hanging more monster corpses.

The sight of dozens of hanging monster bodies among the dense trees created a truly terrifying scene worthy of a horror movie.

Finally, after hanging over a hundred monsters, a familiar system message appeared.

[Feeling Faith deepening…]

[Faith Stat +0.1]

[Insanity Stat +0.1]

“Ah-ha!”

Ail’s eyes widened in excitement.

Executing punishment on hostile monsters indeed boosted Faith and Insanity stats, even if only slightly.

While not officially documented, it counted as an act of devotion to the goddess.

Compared to praying or proselytizing, this method was surprisingly efficient, especially considering the Insanity stat bonus.

“Maybe this has something to do with the Apostle rank… Or perhaps it requires the Judgement Pronouncement skill.”

This was a completely new discovery in Ail’s knowledge base.

He was currently the only player with the Apostle rank, making it hard to draw definitive conclusions without developer info.

“Anyway, the important thing is that this works.”

Smirking, Ail picked up his sword.

While waiting for the boss to respawn, having a way to boost stats through regular hunting was excellent news.

It wasn’t as efficient as hunting actual branded heretics, but the Insanity stat bonus made it worthwhile.

With a roar, he dragged another monster corpse to a metal cage, displaying it prominently.

For decapitated monsters, he arranged their severed heads in a row.

Some he force-fed poison, others he beat to death with his bare hands, and some he burned on the pyre as usual.

“Just in case different punishments might please the goddess more and boost stats faster.”

“Damn, if anyone sees me now, I must look like a total lunatic…”

Ail shook his head, momentarily doubting himself.

Any player witnessing this would probably point and laugh, maybe even PK him for disturbing behavior.

He’d be horrified and avoid such a crazy player himself.

But he couldn’t stop.

Giving up on such valuable bonus stats, whatever the method, was unacceptable.

Then an unsettling thought struck him as he surveyed his handiwork.

“It’s… kind of fun.”

Carrying out various executions on evil monsters strangely relieved stress.

“EEEEEEEK!”

Another monster’s scream echoed through the forest.