“Please… kill me…. I’m begging you….”
Kim Minjun, who had been captured by Celia, spoke in a wretched voice.
His face had grown haggard, and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.
‘Something like this can’t exist…!’
Kim Minjun was gasping for breath, inwardly horrified.
He had dreamed a long, long dream.
Among them were pleasant dreams, and at times, terrifying nightmares appeared as well.
The bitterness that followed sweetness made the contrast feel even more severe.
That process had gnawed away at Kim Minjun’s mental strength.
How much time had passed?
When Kim Minjun awoke from that long dream, he realized that not even ten minutes had gone by.
And from that moment on, despair and terror came crashing in.
“Please… kill me….”
The being before him was a succubus who could toy with a person’s dreams as she pleased.
When she, introducing herself as Celia, had first said she would show him a dream, Kim Minjun had laughed it off.
A mere dream?
There was no way she could do anything to him with a dream.
He had thought lightly that, just as she said, he would simply go have a brief dream and come back.
But now his thoughts had changed.
The being before his eyes was no ordinary succubus.
‘If something like that appeared on Earth….’
Just imagining it was horrifying.
No, come to think of it, this dungeon itself made no sense.
A death knight, and even a goblin lord, were present here.
But his thoughts did not continue deeply.
“How were your dreams?”
Because he saw Celia approaching with a smile.
“Please…….”
He pleaded.
He pleaded desperately.
If he closed his eyes, he would dream again.
He would suffer for an eternity.
What was even more terrifying was that, after all that suffering, only a few minutes would have passed in reality.
His mental strength had already reached its limit.
“Oh my, then have you finally decided to become Master’s sacrifice?”
Celia brightened.
Kim Minjun nodded frantically.
To think her words could sound so sweet….
“Y-yes! I’ll become a sacrifice!”
Kim Minjun replied, slamming his forehead against the floor.
“Please let me become a sacrifice! Please offer me up to that glorious place!”
When he had first heard Celia’s words, he had dismissed them as nonsense.
Why would it be glorious for him when he was the one being offered as a sacrifice?
But now he understood.
No, he had to regard it as glorious no matter what.
If that meant he could be at peace, then he would choose to become a sacrifice at any time.
“To see you show such sincere reverence for the great Master…. This Celia is truly moved.”
Kim Minjun wanted to curse at her right then and there, but he did not do something so foolish as actually say it aloud.
He was merely relieved that he would not have to dream again.
“Now, please come this way.”
Kim Minjun slowly rose and followed Celia’s instructions.
He saw a crude, modest altar that looked as if it had been poorly put together.
What had he lived for until now?
Had he lived that way just to meet such an end?
Perhaps it was karma for everything he had done.
Thinking all sorts of thoughts, Kim Minjun walked very slowly into the altar.
“…….”
It was the last sight of him in life.
Soon after, flames surged up from the altar.
* * *
Ding—
Ding—
Ding—
In the dark room, the smartphone alarm kept ringing.
“Ugh…, what alarm keeps going off like this?”
Lee Ganghyeon, who had been sleeping soundly, woke up in irritation.
Then he picked up his smartphone.
“What kind of alarm is it?”
When he checked the notification window, it was the game he had started after returning from another world.
- Intruders have appeared in Master’s dungeon.
“Intruders…?”
However, the very next notification told him that the situation had already ended.
- Successfully repelled all intruders!
- A reward will be given!
- The range of action of the minions within the dungeon has increased.
- The minions can now leave the interior of the dungeon and operate within a certain portion of the mountain range.
“…….”
Lee Ganghyeon was staring at the notifications, still groggy from having just woken up.
- Celia offers ‘Kim Minjun’ as a sacrifice to Master.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrifice ‘Kim Minjun.’ (Time remaining: 6 hours)
“Huh?”
But when he saw a familiar-looking name, he came to his senses a little.
Of course, not because it was a name he knew, but because anyone could tell it was a Korean-style name.
“Why is a name like this suddenly showing up?”
Kim Minjun?
Wasn’t the setting of this game the Eldorad Continent?
After thinking for a moment, Lee Ganghyeon was able to infer one fact.
“Ah, is this part of the lore?”
There were indeed people from Earth in the real Eldorad as well.
They were the Hunters who had been summoned to the continent.
Had they really included even that detail?
Lee Ganghyeon was slightly impressed that the developer had put in such meticulous details.
Still, an alarm going off in the middle of the night was crossing the line.
“But what’s this ability absorption?”
It even said it would take six hours.
“Well, I’m sure it’ll work out somehow. Let’s just sleep….”
But the sudden drowsiness that flooded over him prevented his thoughts from continuing.
Lee Ganghyeon collapsed onto the bed and soon fell fast asleep.
Ding—
Ding—
Even so, the smartphone alarm showed no sign of stopping.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrifice ‘Kim Minjun.’ (Time remaining: 5 hours 50 minutes)
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrifice ‘Kim Minjun.’ (Time remaining: 5 hours 40 minutes)
The alarms continued.
* * *
People were gathered around a round table.
This was the very heart of the White Order.
An important meeting was being held, attended not only by the Order’s supreme high priest and cardinals, but also by priests representing each branch such as law, administration, and the military.
It was a gathering of the Order’s most powerful figures after the Pope.
Every one of them held a position from which a single word could sway the Order.
As such, various remarks went back and forth during the meeting, and debates unfolded among them.
“This time, His Holiness the Pope has formally requested the dispatch of inquisitors to the Seil Kingdom.”
The priest Titan, who managed and supervised the inquisitors, spoke.
At his words, several priests let out exclamations of admiration.
“Ohh, at last our Order will take root in the Seil Kingdom.”
The apprentice priest Yuel, whom the Order had been watching closely, had gone missing.
Since his final destination had been the Seil Kingdom, it was only natural for the Order to investigate.
As the first step, the inquisitors under Titan’s charge would be dispatched.
As someone who had once been an inquisitor himself, Titan felt both proud and deeply satisfied.
“That is correct. I have selected only the ‘finest elites’ among the inquisitors. Now all that remains is to use the Seil Kingdom as a bridgehead and advance into the Demon Realm.”
He emphasized the part about the finest elites, as if to prevent any objections from arising.
But this place was not so easygoing.
There were also factions who did not want even the slightest bit more power to fall into another party’s hands.
“However, there is something that concerns me a little.”
Firent, who was in charge of inspection within the Order, spoke.
At those words, Titan frowned, but Firent paid him no mind and continued.
“You are all aware of the incident in which a succubus broke through our Order’s security and was released from her seal.”
Everyone silently nodded.
She had not even been a simple succubus, but one who had inherited the blood of a primordial being.
This was a tremendous matter that could shake the Order’s doctrine, which claimed the ‘Goddess’ to be the only primordial being.
Naturally, the Order could not acknowledge any being other than the Goddess.
For that reason, they had indiscriminately captured monsters who had inherited blood from primordial beings other than the Goddess.
Since the succubus who had recently escaped her seal was the last bloodline remaining on the continent, the Order’s power holders had been thrown into an uproar.
“And yet!”
Bang—
Firent slammed his fist down on the round table.
“An inquisitor who represents the Order and judges heretics was in secret communication with the succubus queen? Does that make any sense!”
Those around him flinched at his vehemence, but his words were not wrong.
How had a succubus broken through such strict security and been released?
The Order had immediately launched a large-scale investigation.
And it was revealed that one of the inquisitors had been in secret communication with the succubus queen.
There was even evidence that, after the succubus had been released, he had sent a secret letter to the queen.
Of course, this had happened because he had been bewitched by the succubus queen.
Titan countered his words in an indifferent voice.
“Of course, that point is true. On behalf of those present, I apologize. The inquisitor in question was immediately dismissed, classified as a heretic, and is undergoing every manner of investigation.”
With a fierce look in his eyes, Titan made a gesture of drawing his hand across his throat.
“However, I believe Priest Firent’s words go too far.”
“What did you say! Are you insulting me and the Inspection Department right now!”
When Firent stood and shouted, Titan gestured for him to calm down.
“Ah, no, that is not it. I simply wish to make one thing clear. Though the inquisitor was in secret communication with the succubus queen, on the day of the incident, he was not on duty in that underground area.”
At his words, Firent withdrew slightly.
The inquisitor had indeed been communicating with the succubus queen, but he had not been at the scene of the incident.
They had merely tried to pin the entire affair on him based on the charge of secret communication.
“And the succubus who escaped this time was sealed in the past through a deal between the Order and the succubus queen—”
“Enough.”
Someone cut off Titan’s words.
It was Supreme High Priest Aurel.
At his words, Titan also closed his mouth.
“Let us stop discussing that matter.”
In the very distant past, records remained that the Order had made a deal with a mere monster.
The one they had made the deal with was none other than the succubus queen.
It had been a deal made just to capture a single succubus.
It was an example that could be called a disgrace of the Order, and he did not want that disgrace to come from the mouth of an ordinary priest.
Thus, Aurel changed the subject.
“How have the empire and the other kingdoms reacted to the dispatch to the Seil Kingdom?”
The proposal to dispatch inquisitors to the Seil Kingdom.
From the Order’s standpoint, it was only natural, as one of their priests had gone missing, but even so, handling it unilaterally without the consent of neighboring nations would draw attention.
For that reason, they had notified the neighboring nations, if only as a formality.
In truth, it was no different from an announcement.
“The Kaln Empire and the Orobis Empire have sent their support to the Order.”
“As expected, there are no fools stupid enough to oppose the Order’s affairs.”
“With both empires supporting us, the rest are obvious without even looking. Heh heh.”
At the priests’ words, Supreme High Priest Aurel quietly closed his eyes.
Since the two great empires on the continent had sent their support, this was a matter that could be safely passed over.
“Well, let us move on from that. Is the vampire hunt progressing smoothly?”
When the vampire hunt came up as the next topic, those who had been smiling fell silent.
This was a plan the Order had been pursuing in secret.
“They say the holy knights are currently raiding their dungeons.”
It was an operation to weaken their forces by attacking vampire dungeons.
This was something the Order had put into action because of one being.
That being was the five-star vampire, Baalcherit.
Of course, the plan was not to subjugate that being directly. It was merely a plan to whittle down his forces by eliminating the vampires around him.
A five-star monster was an extremely dangerous existence.
For the Order, which was proceeding secretly rather than officially, such an opponent was difficult to deal with.
Those of the five-star class possessed enough power to easily turn a city into ruins.
If there were no interference, even a metropolis would likely be easy for them.
Because he was such a dangerous being, the Order had avoided a direct confrontation with Baalcherit.
“The holy knights participating in this operation are all elites, so there should be no major problems!”
“Hmm….”
If that was the case, this matter too seemed safe to move past.
Supreme High Priest Aurel.
After being lost in thought for a moment, he returned to the first topic.
“It is only a matter of time before the Order uses the Seil Kingdom as a foothold. However, the greater problem will come when we develop the Demon Realm.”
The Demon Realm was an unknown land.
Adventurers occasionally entered the Demon Realm, but in proportion to its full size, it was not even as much as the dirt under a fingernail.
For that reason, they could only speculate as to what beings might exist there, and could not present any accurate guide.
“There will likely be beings like Baalcherit everywhere. In preparation for that, the holy knights and inquisitors must learn how to deal with five-star monsters. And beyond that, six-star…”
Aurel, who had been about to mention six-star beings as well, cut himself off.
“Ahem. I will stop there.”
Aurel ended the topic and closed his eyes.
The remaining priests would now continue the meeting on their own.
‘Six-star….’
Six-star beings existed only in past records.
They were said to have brought a small nation to ruin single-handedly, so they were truly no different from calamity-class existences.
Fortunately, however, their appearances had been rare enough to count on one hand.
There were also seven-star beings beyond them, but those were outside the discussion.
They had appeared in the records only once, and it was said that when a seven-star being appeared, stars fell from the night sky.
In other words, it was safe to say that there were none at present.
For that reason, the continent defined five-star forces as the maximum.
But if they advanced into the Demon Realm in earnest, no one knew what sort of situation would unfold.
Concerned about that point, Aurel intended to increase the intensity of training for the holy knights and inquisitors.
If they succeeded.
If they succeeded in developing the Demon Realm, the Order’s power would go beyond mere strength and transform into absolute authority.
The entire balance of power on the continent would be overturned.
Aurel looked forward to such a future, but at the same time, he could not shake an uneasy feeling.
‘What if we end up waking beings that should have been left asleep….’
In preparation for the worst-case scenario, Aurel intended to make preparations only he could make.