Chapter 143

Level Up Heresy Judge – Chapter 143 (143/227)

Chapter 143: The Continent in Turmoil (4)

War among the Rokuto dai guilds.

The world was shaken by new developments that rocked the entire Warode region.

Not only did all players focus their attention there, but even those who had never played Warode were bombarded with war news.

Special reports flooded the news sections, and related broadcasts talked about nothing but this war.

A colossal clash on an entirely different scale.

Advance parties were already clashing in various places, while countless subordinate guilds and forces under the six major guilds were gathering from all regions.

Meanwhile, users near the border regions evacuated en masse.

“Ugh, I just built our guild house in the city, and now this happens.”

“I told you we should’ve picked a safer spot.”

“Well, what could we do with the cheapest land? Let’s just hope the city survives until the war ends. Man, there are so many people out here.”

Grumbling, they left, with long lines of other users trailing behind them.

Countless users moved through forest trails, abandoning their old bases to flee.

Though no one welcomed the need to leave their established territories, avoiding death in the war was necessary.

Besides, chaotic situations like these were perfect for malicious PK guilds.

Fleeing users were easy targets, so traveling with larger groups was safer.

“Look! There’s the Guild of Artistic Warriors!”

A man pointed ahead and shouted.

A group of players approached from the opposite side.

They were the Guild of Artistic Warriors, one of Warode’s famous mercenary guilds.

Their leader, Hatz, stood at the forefront.

With the arrival of such a renowned guild and named player, eyes widened in amazement.

As an elite mercenary guild filled with high-level members, they were all decked out in top-tier gear.

“That’s Shockwave over there too.”

Another guild passing by drew exclamations of awe.

These were the famous mercenary guilds hired for the upcoming war.

Among them were mercenaries employed by Nightmare, marching toward the battlefield.

“I heard High Team and Instinct Guild are moving from Dawn’s side.”

“All the famous mercenary groups across the continent seem to be mobilizing. Looks like they’re really preparing for a massive showdown.”

Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it firsthand created a palpable sense of unease among the users.

Nightmare and Dawn Guild.

Two giants among the six major guilds that could sway Warode’s balance of power had begun to move.

Even the mercenary forces mobilized by both sides boasted impressive scales.

‘Impressive as expected.’

Ail, blended in with the crowd, observed their movements.

This was the fourth time he’d witnessed such forces moving since setting out.

Considering the vast front line between the two guilds, the full scale of the conflict was almost unimaginable.

‘Even with the top 12 guilds already clashing, the southeast part of the continent has basically turned into a war zone.’

Local battles were erupting everywhere along the borders at this very moment.

Despite the main forces not having clashed yet, large-scale battles were already breaking out continuously.

‘At least I made good money off this.’

Just as Ail predicted, the mines were hit.

Thanks to Nightmare’s swift action, the targeted Nocturnum mining area was completely destroyed.

This effectively halted Dawn’s Nocturnum supply, causing prices to rise sharply.

The profits from this trade were going to be enormous.

‘The problem is, if these two guilds are moving, the other four won’t just sit still.’

Warode’s delicate balance, maintained precariously until now, was starting to crumble.

Just his completion of the world quest alone triggered numerous chain reactions, making it hard to predict how things would develop on the other side.

It felt like Warode might be returning to its early days when wars never ceased due to fierce competition.

‘Still, I’d prefer if they handled the world quest properly.’

An important royal world quest was at stake.

Though he’d provided potentially fatal information, the six major guilds weren’t so foolish as to fail to respond appropriately.

They would likely handle it themselves, but he hoped they would deal with it thoroughly.

‘Well, there’s only one thing I need to do right now anyway.’

Which was escaping this chaotic conflict zone as quickly as possible.

While he’d had smooth transactions with Nightmare before, it was just business.

There was no need to unnecessarily take sides.

Instead, he needed to carefully avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Slipping away from the evacuating crowd, Ail headed toward a deep forest he’d scouted earlier.

It was so deep that it barely saw any human presence.

KRAK!

Suddenly, the ground surged up in front of Ail.

A Ratter popped its head out of the hole in the ground.

“Keek! We came to greet you, human!”

“Perfect timing, thanks.”

“There’s no gratitude owed to saviors of our race! Keek!”

The Ratter gestured for him to come closer, and Ail quickly entered the pre-dug tunnel before anyone noticed.

This incredibly deep tunnel led straight to the underground world of Eltris.

Eltris’ hunting grounds were definitely the best choice right now.

No matter how efficient a hunting spot might be, Eltris offered zero player competition and an abundance of uncompleted quests.

Even Roden and Ria, who initially panicked and wanted to leave, ended up staying to party hunt in Eltris.

No matter how insane the region seemed, the efficiency was irresistible.

‘I’ll just level up in Eltris for now…’

In the underground world, completely detached from whatever chaos was happening above.

Having exclusive access to such information was certainly a huge advantage.

However, it wasn’t just the player world that was in turmoil.

* * *

ROAR!

A gigantic monster swung its arm and roared.

An undead monster whose flesh hung off its body like rags.

When it thrashed around, the surrounding ground cracked and shot up, sending fragments flying toward Ail.

A threatening boss pattern.

But this was merely its last desperate struggle.

SHIIING!

Circling behind the monster, Ail slashed its back with his longsword.

A flash of light pierced through the creature, cutting straight through its body, enveloping it in intense Sacred Flame.

[Heresy has been punished!]

[Stat bonus doubled due to execution effect.]

[Level Up!]

“Hmph.”

Decapitating the fallen monster brought up the message.

Successfully completing the raid, Ail took a deep breath.

He cleaned his sword, now covered in sticky blood, with Sacred Flame, then sheathed it.

Then he knelt down to pray to the Goddess.

[Your faith deepens further.]

[Faith stat +0.1]

[Madness stat +0.1]

[‘Light Judge Lu’ expresses admiration for your excellent battle.]

[Light Church Contribution +50]

Lu’s now routine message appeared.

Feeling mischievous, Ail subtly gave Lu, wherever she was watching from, a thumbs up.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ demands you show proper respect.]

[Her icy gaze lands upon you.]

“Ah, sorry…”

[‘Light Judge Lu’ favors you.]

[Light Church Contribution +120]

‘…’

He’d always felt this way, but the whims of deities were truly unpredictable.

‘Anyway…’

Pulling out his skinning knife, Ail looted items from the fallen monster before beginning to dissect its corpse.

Alisa and the rest of his party had remained in Eltris since he started the world quest on the surface.

However, there was a reason why Ail, who entered Eltris’ dungeon, was solo grinding in such a place.

“The others are clearing a dungeon, so I’ll have to level up alone for now.”

Originally, he planned to join them for group hunting, but the party unexpectedly discovered an instance dungeon and couldn’t leave until they finished.

They said it would take quite a while to exit since they stumbled upon an unusually large dungeon.

Of course, solo play didn’t mean his progress suffered at all.

Balancing appropriate quests and boss hunts, he continued growing steadily.

KWAAK!

Finishing dismembering the last bone, the boss loot process concluded.

Ail gathered the dropped materials and stood up.

“Now that one quest is done, I should head back.”

Just as he was about to move.

[Divinity ‘Mother of Life’ has detected your presence.]

“What…?”

Ail froze in shock at the sudden message.

Though it was just a brief notification appearing before him, it was impossible not to doubt his own eyes in that instant.

However, given the “divinity” title, there was no denying it.

One of Warode’s seven divinities, equal in rank to Lu.

‘Mother of Life. That title…’

The Goddess of Abundance, Earth, and Death. Freya.

That’s who it referred to.

[‘Light Judge Lu’ warns against the appearance of another divinity!]

Even Lu reacted strongly, showing caution toward the new divinity.

‘That a different divinity would send a direct message… Could Freya have fully awakened already?’

Ail immediately recalled Karin’s words to him.

About signs of major movements from other churches.

The guild master of one of the six great guilds wouldn’t have said that without proper evidence or certainty, and Ail had considered it from various angles.

But the truly important mention was what followed.

That the intervention of divinities would soon intensify.

‘Could it already be starting?’

[Divinity ‘Master of Volcanoes’ roars, breaking the silence.]

[The cunning gaze of divinity ‘Secret Seeker’ watches you.]

“…I didn’t expect this.”