Chapter 113

Level Up Heresy Inquisitor – Episode 113 (113/227)

Episode 113: The Art of Hunting (6)

[A helping hand has been extended to one in dire need!]

[Goddess’s Favor +0.21% (Current 77.38%)]

[Contribution to the Light Church +45]

[Faith Stat +1.5]

“Huh?”

Ail flinched at the sudden message that appeared while he was in the middle of ambushing a party during a quest, having already taken down three players and leaving just one standing.

But if this message had popped up, it meant the player before him wasn’t actually part of the group he’d just fought.

“Huh? Now that I think about it…”

Only now did Ail properly look at her face. It clicked instantly in his mind.

“Isn’t this the person I met before?”

It was the woman he’d first encountered at Duel’s hunting grounds when starting Warode. He’d saved her from being killed by horned rabbits, but when she realized he was affiliated with a church, she’d panicked and run off.

“No way… No, I’m really sorry about that time… I didn’t even get to thank you properly since I didn’t know any better back then…”

Ria seemed to recall that day as well and started apologizing nervously for their unexpected meeting. She hadn’t forgotten Ail’s face over time, and recognizing him as a Heresy Inquisitor was easy due to the rarity of the job.

Back then, she’d fled out of fear of the Light Church’s reputation, though she later learned that unless someone was actively causing trouble, they were unlikely to be attacked randomly.

“That’s fine. But could you tell me what your relationship is with these people here?”

“Did something happen between you and them…?”

“These three have been committing all sorts of evil deeds around here.”

“Really?”

Ria’s eyes widened in shock, finally understanding why Ail had attacked the party members without warning.

“Well… You see, I’m still not very good at controlling the range of my area magic. A few days ago, I accidentally got some nearby players caught up in an attack on monsters. One of them, their equipment durability hit zero and broke completely. Repair costs came out to 300 gold, so we agreed I’d pay it off as debt while traveling together.”

“Ah, so that’s how it went. I was wondering why they were keeping quiet.”

As Ria explained, Ail began piecing together the situation.

“You’ve totally been scammed.”

“Eh?”

“The total value of all their current gear combined doesn’t even reach 30 gold. There’s no way they were wearing a 300 gold piece of armor. When you checked at the auction house, did you verify it matched perfectly? With damaged gear, you can’t check names or stats through the info window anyway… They probably passed off a similar-looking item. Looks like habitual scammers. Not everyone gets branded with the heretic mark lightly.”

“Oh no…”

Ria’s expression darkened as she finally realized she’d been swindled. Even Ail, who’d played countless games, rarely saw someone duped this badly. If she’d had even a bit more sense, she would’ve noticed something was off much earlier.

“This is crazy… I don’t even know whether to feel lucky or unlucky.”

Ria glared resentfully at the scam artists lying unconscious nearby, barely clinging to life. They didn’t even have the energy to respond.

Still, one question lingered in Ail’s mind.

“Sure, they scammed you… But why drag you around personally?”

Normally, they’d just kill their victim and take items directly, or keep pestering via mail to extort money. There was no need to go through the hassle of dragging a party member around.

Yet given the system message that appeared, it didn’t seem like her story about avoiding danger was entirely false.

Deciding to set that aside for now, Ail asked her a more pressing question.

“Do you know what kind of quest these guys were on? It might be an important clue for me.”

“It was… just a regular transport quest. They were supposed to bring those items here.”

Following her gaze, Ail saw a pile of many items the party members had taken out from their inventories. Aside from thorium ingots, most were materials used primarily in alchemy or magical experiments.

“They’ve taken on similar requests three times already. Each time, the delivery location changed, and they were offered unusually high rewards for the tasks.”

“Which NPC gave them the request?”

“A dark elf named Rauze.”

“Dark Elf…?”

The dark elves living in the Dark Forest were known to possess personal combat prowess rivaling that of the high elves in the White Forest.

While Ail suspected some connection to the Bonamana Order, the dark elf’s appearance felt somewhat random.

“But if it’s the Dark Forest, it’s quite far away in another region entirely.”

“No, I met her inside the city. Somewhere in the back alleys.”

“Wait… That’s a treaty violation if she’s wandering the city…”

Upon hearing this, Ail’s interest was piquely raised. Things were getting interesting.

The royal pact involving various threatening non-human races, including high elves, applied to dark elves as well. They weren’t supposed to wander outside their territories so freely. The fact that a dark elf was roaming the human city backstreets, let alone handing out suspicious quests, suggested something was amiss.

“Could this be related to the current world quest? Maybe the forces the Oun Prince contacted aren’t limited to just the order… I should investigate deeper into the cave.”

Ail turned his attention toward the passage leading deeper into the cave, sensing answers awaited within. He quickly finished off the remaining heretics and prepared to descend for investigation.

But suddenly, strange noises began echoing.

Aaaah!

From the passage emerged a murky aura that started spreading, staining the ceiling and floor black as it corroded everything it touched.

That wasn’t all.

A pitch-black monster revealed itself from the passage and launched itself at Ail with incredible speed.

Chack!

In one swift motion, Ail drew his sword and sliced through its waist. The bisected creature writhed grotesquely on the ground, emitting eerie sounds.

[An urgent quest has been triggered!]

[A fissure has appeared in the sanctuary where an ancient being slumbers! Quickly purify the corrupted sanctuary!]

[Current purification rate ‘0.00’%]

[Remaining time ‘239:59:58’]

[This large-scale quest may have significant impact on the world.]

“What… 240 hours? That’s ten whole days?”

Absolutely insane quest.

Given the time limit, which usually meant rushing against the clock in Warode, Ail had never seen a quest of this magnitude before.

Moreover, the mention of “ancient being” and “corruption” immediately brought to mind the ancient spirit he’d encountered in the Spirit Forest.

Though the perpetrators behind it remained unknown, the pattern was identical – attempting to corrupt the resting place of an ancient spirit.

“Could it really be…”

Keeeek!

The cries of evil spirits echoed deafeningly from the passage as more enemies approached from below.

“Um, can I leave now?”

Terrified by the ominous atmosphere, Ria hesitantly asked.

However, as if responding to her question, another message appeared.

[A barrier concealing the cave’s appearance has been activated.]

[If any members currently inside withdraw, the barrier will vanish and severely impact the quest progress.]

“Damn, guess we’re stuck. Let’s deal with the incoming enemies first before talking.”

“Yes…”

With no idea how many monsters were approaching from below, Ail quickly formed a party and checked her capabilities.

Her level was 40, with a basic mage class lacking specialization. Her equipment was average, nothing particularly outstanding.

“What’s your main element?”

“I haven’t really decided… All elements.”

“Do you have any casting time adjustment skills?”

“No, I’ve mostly focused on attack magic…”

“Hmm…”

Ail scratched his head, slightly troubled. Without any notable casting time adjustments, even launching a single spell would take ages for a standard mage.

Casting times varied wildly among mage users depending on talent and skill, but frankly, she didn’t appear to be exceptionally skilled.

Even using a decent AoE spell would likely only allow her to cast once per battle, potentially becoming more of a burden guarding the rear.

Kiik!

Already, the black spirits were closing in, snarling viciously.

Battle was unavoidable, so Ail positioned himself at the relatively narrow entrance to block the enemies from escaping further back.

“I’ll need some AoE magic support from behind!”

“Ah, yes!”

Aaaaah!

The spirits charged at him, and Ail swung his longsword to knock them down as they approached. Thankfully, they were regular monsters of a similar level, so handling them wasn’t too difficult.

However, the sheer number of approaching enemies could eventually become problematic stamina-wise.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a massive pillar of fire streaked past Ail, piercing through the spirits.

The fiery lance impaled several enemies before embedding itself into the passage floor.

And it didn’t stop there.

BOOOOM!

The embedded lance exploded, unleashing a tremendous blaze that swept through the passage, engulfing the monsters.

“What the…?”

Stunned by the incredible sight, Ail froze momentarily.

The skill she’d used was Flare Lance.

A rare-grade fire-elemental attack magic, it wasn’t particularly high-tier in rank but was infamous for its extremely long casting time. Even with skills that shorten casting time, it typically took at least 30 seconds, with even ranker-level users struggling to break the 10-second barrier.

Yet her entire casting process had taken merely six seconds.

Ail turned to look, finding Ria standing there awkwardly, blushing and fidgeting with her hands.

“S-sorry. Did it take too long? I was a bit nervous…”