Chapter 122

Level Up Heretic Judge – Episode 122 (122/227)

Episode 122: Purifier (2)

Kuung!

With a loud crash, the giant fell to the floor.

Though it had resisted Eil and Neshua’s combined assault for quite some time, their skills and coordination were impeccable.

One wrong move would’ve meant instant death, yet they didn’t allow even a single attack from the boss monster.

“Then…”

Standing beside the fallen giant’s head, Eil raised his longsword high.

Kwaak!

[The church’s enemy, the blasphemer, has been punished!]

[The designated punishment according to ‘Sentencing’ has been successfully carried out. Skill effects have doubled stat bonuses.]

[Goddess’s Favor +1.35% (Current 85.69%)]

[Light Church Contribution +650]

[Faith Stat +20]

[Insanity Stat +20]

[Level Up!]

The severed giant’s head rolled away.

Tuck.

Stopping at Neshua’s feet, the head was put away as Eil glanced at her.

“What brings you here?”

“It’s more like what brings YOU here”

Neshua showed some writing on a piece of parchment she’d pulled out.

She hadn’t known Eil would come either, so it was just a coincidence their paths crossed.

Actually, Neshua had entered this dungeon first.

“Looks like we weren’t aware of each other… Are you involved in a world quest too?”

When Eil asked, Neshua nodded.

Considering they’d clashed over ancient spirit matters when they first met, it wasn’t unexpected that she might be involved in a world quest.

And given how she helped without hesitation, she probably wasn’t connected to the prince’s faction.

No need to be on guard.

While it wasn’t clear whose quest she was on, she seemed to have completely turned against the forces that betrayed her before.

‘Hmm, she’s gotten much stronger since last time.’

Just as Eil had grown during this time, Neshua’s skills had improved as well.

Not just her skills, but her level and specs too.

Taking down the tough Level 90+ blasphemer wasn’t much of a challenge for them.

[Item Acquired!]

Approaching the corpse, Eil and Neshua looted the boss monster’s items.

The most impressive drops were definitely the skillbooks.

Two purple skillbooks came from it, which they split evenly.

After looting, Eil started disassembling the remaining corpse.

Neshua didn’t seem interested in the byproducts, looking away indifferently while Eil sneakily glanced at her and asked,

“Haven’t seen anyone else around here? You came in before me, so you’d know, right?”

“…”

Digging through her inventory, Neshua suddenly pulled something out.

A severed dark elf head.

“Wha-…”

Eil involuntarily exclaimed at the sight of the wide-eyed head.

He hadn’t expected this kind of item to appear.

Regardless of where the body went, why would she carry something like this around?

“This one was hiding here”

“Was this the last one?”

“I’m still investigating”

Shrugging, Neshua put the head back into her inventory.

Kwaak!

Finishing the disassembly, Eil collected the dropped items.

Meanwhile, Neshua moved ahead through the wall broken by the giant.

Beyond the broken wall lay a large room with a black command stone floating in the center.

Seems like this thing was created to guard the command stone, though its impatience ended up revealing its location prematurely.

After finishing looting and standing up, Eil followed Neshua into the room now with two entrances.

Ssshaaaa!

The black command stone emanating ominous magic.

Unlike previous ones, this one seemed to be strongly sucking in surrounding energy, creating wind around it.

“What is this…”

Hwirik!

Suddenly, a dagger pierced toward Eil’s neck.

It was a dark elf who’d been hiding behind the wall, launching a surprise attack.

A sharp and unexpected strike.

But it was futile.

Kaang!

Summoning a dagger into his empty left hand, Eil blocked the attack.

Though he’d been caught off guard, Eil wasn’t going down that easily.

Blocking the first ambush, Eil gave an opening for Neshua.

Kwaak!

“Keuhk…”

Neshua’s dagger plunged into the dark elf’s neck in an instant.

It seemed to be a special skill of her ‘Shadow Watcher’ class, though Eil couldn’t identify exactly what it was. However, judging by the speed, it was definitely a high-level approach skill.

Taking the opportunity, Eil drew his longsword and instantly cut the enemy down.

Thud!

The fallen dark elf lay motionless, head bowed.

“Close call…”

“That’s a common tactic they use”

“Guess you’ve dealt with a lot of them lately.”

At Eil’s guess, Neshua silently nodded.

With the attacker subdued, their attention returned to the center of the room.

The command stone still hovered there, surrounded by thick magical energy.

As Eil approached to destroy it…

Paaat!

Suddenly, the command stone vanished without a trace.

“What…?”

Startled, Eil stepped back.

It looked like the command stone had teleported away, and the chaotic surrounding magic settled instantly.

“Sorry, but it’s already too late…”

The fallen dark elf smirked at them.

The command stone had been recovered intact, achieving its intended purpose.

“And soon you will…”

Kwaak!

But the dark elf lost even its lingering life.

Neshua’s relentless handiwork.

Once again, she directly put the elf’s head into her inventory.

‘This is some strange hobby… or maybe a quest?’

Scratching his head after seeing this, Eil thought.

Though incineration would’ve been possible, carrying heads around in inventory seemed unsettling.

However, the important thing was different.

Though the command stone had completely disappeared, the polluted land hadn’t returned to normal.

Even though Neshua and Eil had cleared many of the dungeon’s spirits upon entering, outside the spirits they’d cleared were slowly regenerating.

“What do we do about this…”

There was no one with purification abilities present, and seeing the monsters respawning made it clear that simple elimination wouldn’t purify it.

Leaving it be was awkward, truly a difficult situation.

“Do you not yet know how to purify?”

“Purification method?”

Neshua pulled out a familiar item from her inventory.

The black shards obtained every time a command stone was destroyed.

As she held up a fragment, dark energy similar to what the command stone emitted leaked out.

Zzzzts!

The leaking dark energy flowed back into the earth.

Thus, the polluted land gradually regained its original light and was soon completely restored.

[The contaminated land has been purified!]

[Experience gained for completing partial objective!]

“So this is how it’s used…”

Since looting was possible every time a command stone was broken, he’d just been stockpiling them without figuring out their purpose.

Turns out they could be used to purify land contaminated by command stones.

The fragments were returning the earth’s energy stolen by the command stones.

Having only witnessed the contamination process recently, Eil wouldn’t have guessed this.

“…”

Confirming the dungeon’s pollution was completely gone, Neshua put away her weapon.

Though letting the command stone slip away was regrettable, they had achieved their intended goals.

Same went for Eil.

“Now what are you planning to do?”

“I’ll keep hunting them”

The writing exuded a dangerous vibe.

While he knew she’d been betrayed by the faction she received quests from, between cutting heads and everything…

Seemed like some serious bad blood developed after that.

An individual going against major forces.

Clearly Neshua was the one being chased in this unfavorable situation.

But for some reason, Eil felt sorry for the dark elves opposing her.

‘Well, anyway, mission accomplished I guess…’

* * *

After finishing the purification of the contaminated area, Eil headed next to the high elves’ territory, the White Forest.

Arriving at the White Forest, Eil completed the final quest left by a female high elf.

He delivered the heirlooms she left behind after her death, and those who received them expressed gratitude to him for helping their kin in her final moments.

Along with good experience points, he also received an upper-tier skillbook as a reward.

Three purple skillbooks secured so far, including those obtained from boss monsters.

But that wasn’t all.

The quest item obtained from suppressing a dark elf in the city, “Helibrone’s Sealed Decree”.

Patrol captain Alunde was ready to explain the name written here, but Eil already knew well enough.

Black Witch Helibrone.

The leader of the Dark Forest and commander of the dark elves, a named NPC.

A powerful force comparable to Alunde himself, famous among users in the Ballatia region for his cruel nature.

“So this means she’s completely turned against us.”

Frowning as he took the decree, Alunde spoke.

It’s normal for some members to deviate within a race.

But this time was different.

As Alunde said, if Helibrone herself issued orders, it essentially meant all dark elves were involved in this matter.

Though the decree was sealed and its contents unknown, it was obvious what kind of orders were given in the current situation.

“However, to hold them accountable, we need solid evidence. We also need to figure out what orders were given, and there’s no choice but to remove the seal on this decree.”

“Is there a way to break the seal?”

“Of course, but it’s not easy since it contains very strong sealing. To remove this level of seal without destroying it, we need the Seal of Shattering.”

“The Seal of Shattering…”

“Do you know about it?”

At Alunde’s question, Eil nodded.

The Seal of Shattering was a top-tier item mainly used for high-level unsealing, impossible not to know.

“In that case, things should be easier. Though I’d rather not ask for help, given our current situation, it’s difficult to obtain. Even humans unconstrained by treaties would find it hard to get one… But if you cooperate, I’ll make sure to properly reward you.”

The quest proposed by Alunde.

Eil pondered for a moment facing him.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be easy for high elves to obtain the Seal of Shattering.

In fact, it was practically a commodity traded only in human cities, extremely rare even among players using the auction system.

‘Basically, there aren’t many ways to obtain it normally… but considering my current position, there’s really only one feasible method.’

Media Coliseum.

That would be Eil’s next destination.