Chapter 5 – The Holy Order

With his left hand, he grabbed the Saintess’s face and slammed her hard against the wall.

The tip of the sharp cross sword pierced the Saintess’s heart once again.

Due to the rain of ice spears, the mana armor was almost completely shattered, and the man was also at his limit.

“It’s the end.”

It was a desperate struggle.

Even if she was not in her perfect state, she was still the Saintess, who could be called the core power of the Holy Order.

If by any chance she had worn even magic armor.

Or if the knights guarding her had all been unharmed.

At this very moment, the winner and the loser would have been reversed.

No, the fight itself might not have even been established.

That was how overwhelming the difference in power was.

“Cle…ric…”

The blood-stained hand of the Saintess grabbed the man’s neck as if filled with deep resentment.

But that was all.

The Saintess’s eyes, slowly closing, announced the end.

‘It was a terrible fight.’

The surroundings were no different from a ruin.

It was testament to how fierce the fight had been.

‘This is the end for you, who was terminally wounded from the start and threw away your own knights.’

The Saintess’s position was basically that of a supporter.

She helped the knights guarding her with Aura, and based on this, established an impregnable defensive formation.

Thus, the knights who followed her were not burdens but were rather her sword and shield.

However, she poisoned them of her own free will.

It was as if the dungeon’s demonic grasp had made her cut off her own arms and legs.

“Disappear forever along with the dungeon’s demonic grasp.”

At the same time that the Saintess’s consciousness was almost completely severed,

the sound of the giant’s raspy laughter could be heard nearby.

To think he was still alive until now.

The giant, after witnessing the Saintess’s end, closed his eyes along with her.

‘He was holding on until now? He has a tenacious life force, befitting a barbarian.’

– You have completed the quest ‘Dungeon of Oblivion’.

– As a reward, you have obtained ‘All Stats +1’.

– You have obtained the item ‘Armor Lucifer’.

Befitting a player.

The quest completion message floated in his vision.

He did not even know that such a quest existed, nor did he know such rewards existed.

‘Yet…’

At the same time as remaining the final survivor in this terrible and malicious Dungeon of Oblivion,

the memories of the outside world that he had temporarily forgotten were slowly returning.

At the same time, his consciousness gradually blurred.

‘The memories of this place… can I not take them with me?’

Because it was, quite literally, the Dungeon of Oblivion.

* * *

A tribunal with a solemn atmosphere.

In that place, which was an organization belonging to the Papal Court, a man in a reverent posture was waiting for his judgment.

“Rashid Preston.”

A heavy, low voice reached the man.

“State the full details of the incident. You are the survivor who opened the dungeon door and walked out on your own.”

The man, Rashid, who had been bowing his head as if he were a criminal, raised his head and looked up at the six executors who had come forward for the tribunal.

They were looking down at Rashid from a fairly high platform, as if interrogating a criminal.

“Respected executors. I shall state the entire sequence of events that I remember.”

Rashid’s memories were not complete.

Although he clearly remembered what kind of plot he had entered the dungeon with the Saintess,

the problem was that his memories inside the dungeon were completely forgotten.

However, due to the plot he had made with the Saintess beforehand,

he could roughly infer what had happened inside the dungeon.

‘Even before entering the dungeon, I knew that things would not end well with that woman. Although I do not know how it ended in there, if I survived alone, I certainly will not be free from her death either.’

“Receiving the holy call of Her Highness the Saintess to purify the dungeon of evil, I entered the dungeon along with the dwarf hired as the dungeon guide, the barbarian recommended by Her Highness the Saintess as a monster slayer, and the knights of the Holy Order. However, as you know from the report, that dungeon is a den of demons possessing the power of oblivion. Regrettably, my memories end there. The only thing I remember is that I opened the dungeon door and came out on my own.”

One of the executors asked with a displeased expression.

“Is that all?”

“Yes, I do not remember anything about what happened inside at all. No matter how many times you ask me, my answer will remain the same.”

At that, one of the executors, veins bulging in his neck, slammed his hand down on the podium in front of him.

“Are you playing games with us right now! Cleric!”

He continued in a voice filled with anger.

“Her Highness the Saintess! She has entered eternal rest in that den of evil. It means she passed away in agony with her heart pierced. The sword that pierced her heart was the cross sword of the Holy Order!”

This was the content that the people of the Holy Order, whom Rashid had called after going outside as soon as the dungeon’s demonic grasp dissipated, had confirmed inside the opened dungeon.

Rashid countered.

“Cross swords are the execution swords of the knights. Although it is not that we cannot handle cross swords, we do not fundamentally equip and carry them around.”

“Then, are you saying that Rosenkreuz dared to assassinate Her Highness the Saintess?”

“Since my memories are not intact, I cannot speak of anything with certainty.”

Another executor cut in abruptly.

“Of the personnel of the Holy Order in the expedition team, why did only you survive?”

“That is unknown. However, I believe it to be the will of God.”

“What? The will of God?”

He also slammed his hand down hard on his podium, raising his voice.

“If it were the will of God, Her Highness the Saintess should have survived, not you! How could a mere cleric survive!”

Although he should have bowed his head,

Rashid instead raised his head confidently.

“If you had released the seal placed on me prior to the dungeon expedition, Her Highness the Saintess would not have passed away so pointlessly.”

Releasing the seal.

It was no different from opening the mana that the Holy Order tabooed, executing the power of evil.

“Out of the question! Do you even know how unclean and evil of a power magic is when you speak like that?”

Rashid did not back down.

“Then why? Why did you only release the seal for the knights? The knights we trusted were all poisoned to death in there. If my seal had also been released prior to the expedition, the result would have certainly been different. Perhaps Her Highness the Saintess would still be alive.”

The executors cleared their throats and began to avoid Rashid’s gaze.

Among the knights and the cleric who had escorted the Saintess,

there was a political reason within the Holy Order as to why only the knights had gone after releasing their seals.

The credit of purifying the dungeon of evil together with the Saintess,

the order of knights had wanted to monopolize it for themselves.

“I dare to state this. To prevent such unfortunate incidents in the future, please release the seals placed on us clerics as soon as possible. Though we dwell in the shadows of the Holy Order, we always fight for the light.”

His eyes grew more intense.

“We need power without restraint.”

The tribunal was in a stir,

and soon, a decision was handed down.

“For now, return and remain under house arrest. Until the full truth of the incident is uncovered, you will remain on the suspect list, and a watcher will be attached to you. A high-ranking warden might be assigned to watch you, so behave appropriately according to your status. That is all.”

Fortunately, he was not arrested as a suspect.

It was due to insufficient evidence.

* * *

The great monastery located on the outskirts of the capital.

Confined to his room under house arrest, Rashid was training himself using the room’s fixtures as exercise equipment.

‘Suspect list… It cannot be helped. The only excuse I had was the seal that had not been released.’

Not releasing the seal prior to the dungeon expedition was a somewhat intended device.

If he had gone after even releasing the seal, it certainly would not have ended with just house arrest.

‘The only thing I could trust was my stats. Even without mana, I can compensate to some extent with stats.’

That was why Rashid did not forcefully release the seal, and the Saintess did not permit it either.

She was even more so because she knew he was a player.

‘If I had even released the seal, I would have been openly suspected. Whether a cleric has a seal or not is like the difference between heaven and earth.’

A seal was a device that restricted the flow of mana.

Without a seal, one could freely control mana, and combat power would also be greatly enhanced.

However, due to the atmosphere of the Holy Order which rejected magic,

many people of the Holy Order, including clerics, could not be free from the seals.

‘Not everyone, of course. We must exclude the high-ranking members of the Holy Order who can release their seals themselves.’

Having finished his training, he descended from the ceiling and stood in place.

‘It is darkest under the lamp.’

The reason he became a cleric who was even forced to have a seal.

‘Because the people of the Holy Order are fairly free from the interrogation of players.’

The world inside the game that he happened to possess.

The perception of players here was not good.

This was due to the numerous bizarre actions committed by players.

As if dealing with a virtual world,

they would suddenly kill people like a madman while walking down the street,

mind-control the villagers to host UFC matches,

there was even a time when they deliberately summoned a calamity-class monster in the middle of a city, and the story of installing mana bombs all over a city and blowing it up was also famous.

So, the perception of players was bad enough to slap a witch in the face.

‘Thanks to that, I went through quite a bit of trouble. If the fact that I was a player got caught, my head would have flown off immediately.’

Knock, knock!

“Brother. A guest has come from the city.”

A guest?

Was there anyone who would come to visit him?

His identity, including his name and birth, was entirely fabricated.

Since he did not even have family, doubt arose first.

‘Who is it? Under the circumstances of being placed under house arrest, there should be no one to visit me.’

Although it was a world he had already experienced, it was still unpredictable because of the numerous variable factors.

Like a butterfly effect,

a word spoken by chance or a single small action caused a massive change, never creating the same progression.

‘It is unpredictable. Just as it has always been.’

Then, the words he had heard at the tribunal came to mind.

That a watcher would be attached to him.

‘Could it be the watcher?’

“Who is it?”

The returning answer was not very welcome.

“It is an Inquisitor. Someone from the Heresy Inquisition Bureau has come.”

Oops.

The most troublesome watcher among all possible watchers had been attached.

‘This has become a headache.’

In determining heresy within the Holy Order, their power was near absolute.

They were a group that possessed perhaps even more power and authority than the Saintess.

“I understand. I will prepare and meet the Inquisitor shortly.”

A short while later.

Having finished his preparations, Rashid stepped out of the room and met the two inquisitors waiting for him.

Consisting of a lead and an assistant, they looked just like two grim reapers who had come for him.

“Greetings to the two Inquisitors. I am Rashid Preston, a cleric.”

Out of the two inquisitors who had visited, the blonde woman stepped forward.

“Cleric. You must have heard the story from the tribunal?”

“Is it related to Her Highness the Saintess?”

“Yes. At this point, you are the most likely suspect who assassinated Her Highness the Saintess.”

Of course.

However, Rashid was hiding a ‘card’ to overcome that crisis.

Though it was not something he could use immediately.

“First, follow us as we have a place to go.”

Rashid followed them and stood in front of the vehicle parked in front of the monastery.

It was a quite luxurious vehicle equipped with a mana stone engine.

“But where are we going? Interrogation should be possible here as well.”

The blonde inquisitor retorted instead.

“Have you heard nothing? There is one more survivor besides you.”

“That is impossible. I checked everything. There were no other survivors besides me there.”

It was incomprehensible.

To say there was a survivor when he had checked every single detail inside the dungeon where he was left alone.

“Luna Maxion. I understand they accompanied your expedition team as a Mage Tower advisor to provide magical advice?”

“Luna Maxion?”

He did not remember the person matching the name.

However, he knew the guy who had joined the expedition team as the Mage Tower advisor.

A bespectacled four-eyes with short curly hair.

‘Could he have fooled the dungeon by pretending to be dead?’

Any other possibility was zero.

“If it is the child wearing glasses, yes, I remember.”