Chapter 3 – True Colors

True Colors

The same progression.

Everyone regained consciousness and panicked.

Confirming the note held in his hand, the man’s expression grew serious.

‘Me, a player? And…’

The man’s gaze turned toward the giant and the Saintess.

‘Cooperate with one of them?’

With whom on earth?

Pondering, the man happened to see his tattoo exposed by his rolled-up sleeves.

‘This tattoo…’

It was a tattoo that those called clerics in the Holy Order would engrave.

‘A cleric? No way. Aren’t clerics the ones who beat down players? Then why do I have these tattoos…’

He arrived at a certain thought.

‘Could I be a player and a cleric at the same time? Does that make sense? They are polar opposites.’

He needed time to think.

Meanwhile.

The giant approached the Saintess, who was holding someone, and asked.

“You, can you read those squiggly characters?”

The Saintess’s gaze had not left the magic message engraved in the air.

Without answering, she placed her hand on the blue letters, startled slightly, and then shook her head.

“No. They have nothing to do with me. I was just looking out of curiosity.”

She looked at the various books scattered around.

And the child she was holding.

“It seems this child left it. Looking at the surrounding belongings, he seems to be a student of the Mage Tower.”

“More than that…”

The giant guarded the surroundings.

“What on earth happened here? And what is with that kid? Why are you holding him like that?”

Ignoring her, the giant casually checked the boy with glasses.

“He is dead. His heart is not beating.”

Focusless eyes and watery saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.

He saw the books titled Alchemy and Pharmacopoeia placed nearby.

“That child. Did you kill him?”

The Saintess’s expression stiffened.

“How rude. Do you know who I dare to be?”

“Who are you then?”

Setting the dead boy down gently and standing up, the Saintess faced the giant head-on.

“I am one who follows the will of the Holy Blood Cross. No one dares to look down on my body.”

The cold Aura that unfolded next made the giant take a step back.

“W-what! Is it Aura? Could it be, the Saintess?”

At the word Saintess, the man’s gaze directed toward her.

‘Aura?’

Yet the giant was not daunted.

Though he did not know the reason.

He felt his blood boiling rather than fear.

Huaah!

Pushing back the power of Aura with a loud shout, the giant showed his muscles that looked ready to burst.

For some reason, the giant felt her coldness to be familiar.

Was it like feeling at home?

“How dare you! Did you think you could threaten me with something like that? What an insolent wench!”

To think there was someone who could stand against and not yield to the cold that froze everything.

The Saintess suddenly became suspicious of his identity.

Then, a certain savage tribe located in the north came to mind.

“Barbarian?”

“Feeling that cold reminds me of walking in the freezing cold. Barbarian?”

Grimacing, the giant tilted his head.

“I have heard it somewhere… Yes, I remember. Who I am.”

Accidentally realizing his own existence, the giant grinned.

“Thanks. For letting me know who I am. Yes, that is right. I am a barbarian. The descendant of true warriors who live in the freezing cold.”

Lulling all life to sleep.

He, who did not yield to the extreme cold at all, was a somewhat troublesome opponent for her.

Glancing around, she happened to discover the man with the cleric tattoos engraved on him.

“Cleric!”

The stern, sharp voice pierced the man like an awl.

“Have you forgotten your duty?”

The man ‘understood’ this situation.

He was a cleric.

And the Saintess threatened by a savage giant.

Originally, those called clerics were loyal to the Holy Order and its high-ranking officers.

What he had to do here was clear.

“Hey, that is enough.”

As the man warned, the giant grinned.

“Aha. Now I see. There are two Holy Order bastards here.”

The relationship between the northern barbarians and the Holy Order was not very good.

It was because the barbarians believed in a heresy based on totem worship.

“Two against one… Not too bad. Shall we have a go?”

The one who was uncomfortable with this situation was the man.

He was a cleric, yet also a player.

In other words, the Saintess was not completely on his side, and depending on the situation, he had to team up with the giant.

“Is there a need to make a fuss? Shouldn’t we first calm down and check where this place is?”

The Saintess seemed displeased with such a cleric.

“Cleric, what are you talking about right now? Have you really forgotten your duty? That man insulted the holy me. He has committed blasphemy, I say.”

In the Holy Order, the Saintess was.

An existence that far transcended a mere battle monk cleric.

The position of a cleric was such that they had to at least pretend to die if she ordered it.

‘But I am a player.’

“Your Holiness.”

It was almost reflex.

The man showing respect.

“It seems too early to judge anything hastily. It feels right to first inspect the surroundings.”

Clear anger was laden in her gaze toward him.

“Cleric. Are you planning to oppose my will now? Are you in a position to judge anything?”

The man quickly sought out the giant.

“Hey. There will be nothing to gain from fighting like this. How about inspecting the surroundings first, as I suggested?”

Two against one.

To be honest, it was not a very welcome situation for the giant.

Furthermore, his opponents were the Saintess and the Holy Order’s killing machine.

His hot blood wanted a fight, but his cold reason was still intact.

“Hmph, it is not a very welcome proposal, but. It is not bad to inspect the surroundings first. I was just wondering what happened anyway.”

With this, the Saintess was also in a position where it was difficult to force a fight.

For one, that barbarian was polar opposite to her.

Bitterly, she needed the agreement of a mere cleric to fight.

“To dare disobey my will while forgetting your own duty. Fine. Since I agree with your words to some extent, I will turn a blind eye just this once. This is really only this once.”

Thus, the exploration of the surroundings began.

The three scattered individually and examined here and there in the dungeon.

The same information as before was gathered, and during that time, the man bought time to think.

‘The Holy Order knights and a dwarf were poisoned. The poison used was the Echo of Pain. It is a deadly poison. And that poison…’

The empty flask existing in his inventory.

‘I have it. I do not know the reason, but I cannot be free from that poisoning either.’

At this point, a clue came to mind.

The last message he had left.

-Kill the accomplice first.

The knights and the dwarf who died from poisoning without any particular resistance.

Circumstantially.

There seemed to be only one person who could plot this matter in conspiracy with himself.

‘I need to verify first. But honestly, I do not understand. Why it turned out that way.’

Absence of information due to oblivion.

Therefore, the man, who had no choice but to skip several lines of thought, approached someone to find the answer.

It was her.

“Did you inspect the inside well?”

To her, who asked calmly, the man, having resolved himself, asked abruptly.

“The fact that I am a player. You know it, right?”

He had to do that.

Only then could everything he could not understand right now be explained to some extent.

As if it was the correct answer.

She drew a long smile.

“Cleric. You are late.”

Indeed.

The accomplice was her.

“Did you only find out now? Who you are?”

In the past.

He could not know what kind of plot he, a player, and she had hatched.

He merely advanced toward the reality bit by bit through guesswork.

“Then when did you find out? Who you are.”

“Of course. I knew through these messages left for myself.”

She naturally floated messages in the empty air.

Crafted by the power of magic.

It was a message only she could read.

“Magic is truly useful. It is so easy to leave behind memories, feelings, and intentions like this. Thanks to it, it was not that difficult to know who I am. And why I came here.”

“…”

“However, it was difficult because of this shell. Because I had to be careful.”

Seeing her use magic without hesitation.

The man was certain.

This woman.

She was not a normal Saintess.

“Magic. If you trace its foundation, there are demons. In fact, it is a power created by demons. Because they know its roots, the Holy Order has excluded the use of magic until now, but perhaps because of its usefulness, they could not completely push it out.”

“…”

“Now will be the last time I wear this shell too. Since I have nearly achieved the goal I desired.”

The dark shadow cast on her face.

Was quite natural.

Hiding his inner thoughts, the man asked.

“What are you planning to do now?”

“Did you forget? As promised, the mana armor goes to you. And I just need to find my lost soul fragment.”

It seemed she had come to this dungeon quite intentionally.

“It has taken a very long time. Until this day of becoming a Saintess and retrieving the part of my soul stolen by the King of the Fallen Throne. It was a series of boring and annoying plays.”

She took something out of her bosom and threw it to the man.

“Here.”

It was an empty flask.

“Both the knights and the dwarf drank it without much suspicion at the single word ‘holy water.’ I do not need it anymore. You and I. Now the two of us just need to take care of one.”

She sent a pleasant smile.

At the same time, she thought.

‘There are two people who can read the warning of this place. Me and that child. But that child is dead, and I have no intention of telling.’

“It is fortunate that I got to know who you are, even if late. Now the work here is done. Let’s clean up that barbarian together and go out.”

The man also smiled warmly.

Of course, it was a fake smile.

“It is fortunate. That it ends like this.”

“We help each other out. Between a witch and a player.”

What a match.

The puzzle pieces seemed to align to some extent.

Next, heading to the clearing, she issued the final order.

“Bring him to the place where the mana armor is. We must end this.”

Leaving her as she walked away.

The man smiled bitterly.

‘Was it like that?’

Although he did not know the whole story.

One thing was certain.

With whom he would team up, and whom he would turn into an enemy.

‘It has been decided.’