Yuel was an apprentice priest of the White Order.
Strictly speaking, he simply had not been formally ordained as a priest; no one actually thought of him as an apprentice.
Yuel’s ability was the “Eye of Insight.”
He could see through the hearts of objects and living beings.
The White Order had been able to use his ability to interrogate heretics and ferret out unbelievers within the Order.
In effect, he was treated as someone on par with a saint.
For the Order, it was a blessing if even a single saintess or saint appeared in an era, yet two had appeared at once.
The Order knew this as well, and granted Yuel many privileges.
However, because he was not an official saint, they required him to act as an apprentice priest until he formally became a priest. Of course, it was only a formality.
In truth, a holy knight had been assigned to Yuel’s side.
And that was not all.
Along with an inventory artifact, he had also been given a holy relic capable of damaging even five-star monsters.
What kind of being was a five-star monster?
It was known as an existence capable of destroying a small or medium-sized city single-handedly.
And he had been provided with a holy relic that could damage such a being?
It showed just how much care the Order was taking with him.
Even if he did nothing but sit still, he was bound to become a formal priest soon.
Had it not been for the Eye of Insight, such privileges would have been absolutely impossible for Yuel, who was of common birth.
But Yuel found those privileges uncomfortable.
Since he was treated as being on par with a saint, he knew there were people who were dissatisfied with that.
Perhaps there were more people who thought that way than not. No, after using his ability to look, he knew for certain there were many.
So Yuel had no intention of accepting the Order’s proposal.
If he did nothing and simply became a formal priest, it would only breed more discontent.
They would say a talentless nobody had risen on the strength of a single trait.
In the worst-case scenario, even if he attained a high position, would people acknowledge it?
If he was to take hold of the White Order in the future, he needed a turning point.
Anything would do, so long as it was an incident that demonstrated his worth.
If he solved an incident himself, the noise surrounding him would diminish as well.
Thinking so, Yuel took the holy knight assigned to him and wandered from place to place.
In particular, he climbed the mountains of the Seil Kingdom, where monsters were said to appear frequently.
There would be no problem either way, since there was no one who could stop him.
How long had he climbed the mountain?
Just then, a good opportunity appeared.
Words surfaced before Yuel’s eyes.
[Lair of the Evil God]
It was clearly an ordinary forest path on a mountainside.
And countless vines had grown around the trees, so at a glance, nothing could be seen.
When Yuel approached and pushed the vines aside with his hand, a cave revealed itself.
“I do not sense the aura of a dungeon.”
He had even confirmed it with the Eye of Insight, so that cave was likely not a dungeon.
And yet, the label “Lair of the Evil God” had appeared.
‘It’s not a dungeon… Could it be a hideout for heretics?’
Yuel’s reasoning had a certain logic to it.
What was the Evil God?
It was the god worshiped by heretics who denied the goddess served by the White Order.
But there was no way the Evil God himself had descended into the world. Even if he had, an oracle would have come down in advance.
At the same time, that cave was not a dungeon. From the outside, he could not sense any presence at all.
Taking those things into account, that cave was likely a hideout for heretics who worshiped the Evil God.
Seeing as they had even deliberately disguised it with vines, they had to be thorough bastards.
“Fortunately, I don’t sense any presence.”
Yuel and the holy knight set foot inside the cave. Unlike how it looked from outside, the interior was larger than expected.
There was no telling how long the passage stretching downward was.
The darkness of the cave made it feel even more that way.
To think there wasn’t even a single common torch hanging on the wall…
“Priest, something is strange.”
The holy knight walking in the lead said as he placed a hand on his sword.
Yuel agreed with him.
They could sense no presence at all.
He wondered if it might be a ruin, but there were not even any traps.
While he was relieved that nothing was happening, he could not shake the inexplicably uneasy feeling.
Perhaps it was a place that had already been abandoned.
Still, just in case, Yuel continued forward while fidgeting with the artifact.
It was the holy relic the Order had provided him with.
The holy knight had already drawn his sword.
As the two advanced warily, a woman’s voice reached them.
“Oh my, it seems we have guests?”
They turned their heads toward the direction of the sound.
“A m-maid…?”
“She has horns! Be careful, Priest!”
The owner of the voice reflected in their eyes was a woman dressed as a maid.
However, seeing the horns atop her head, they could easily guess that she was a monster.
Yuel quietly activated his ability, but not a single piece of information about the other party appeared.
‘What trick did she use?’
The Eye of Insight was an ability that worked even on five-star monsters.
He had never used it on beings above that, but it would probably work.
The reason he could not be certain was because even Yuel had never seen a six-star monster.
And such beings were thought to be found, perhaps, only very rarely in the Demon Realm, known as the Land of Death.
Yuel thought the other party had used some trick to evade the Eye of Insight.
“Who are you! We are members of the White Order, and I am Priest Yuel!”
Yuel shouted as he held out the Order’s identification.
Normally, he was not yet a formal priest, but suppressing the aura of this unidentified opponent came first.
“Reveal your identity at once!”
Yuel deliberately shouted in a loud voice, but contrary to his expectations, the other party was composed.
She even smiled as she answered.
“I am a lowly servant who attends a great being. My name is Celia Ishahar. Would you tell me what brings you here?”
The being before them introduced herself as Celia Ishahar.
The most important part was that she attended a great being.
“A great… being?”
It was obvious without even hearing it.
She had to be a heretic who worshiped the Evil God.
In the name of the Order, those heretics had to be exterminated at once.
“Sir Knight!”
At Yuel’s shout, the holy knight swung his sword and charged forward.
—Clang.
However, the holy knight’s sword was blocked.
The monster before him did not dodge, nor did she block.
She had merely stood still as the sword was swung at her.
“No…!”
The instant the holy knight whose sword had been stopped tried to pull back—
“To think uninvited guests came to the dungeon of a great being, and not only that, attacked without warning. Are lowly humans always like this?”
Celia Ishahar was faster in seizing the holy knight by the throat.
“Kh.”
He felt the strength slowly drain from his body.
Unable to endure even a moment, all he could do was groan as he felt the vivid pain transmitting through his throat.
The holy sword that had stretched out sharp and straight to cut down the monster before him had already fallen from his hand and was rolling across the floor.
‘What is this?’
The pain that had been constricting his throat vanished.
The only emotion he felt now was comfort.
‘Strange.’
A warm sensation washed over him.
Then, suddenly, someone spoke to him.
‘Dad!’
It was his daughter’s voice.
‘Ah, no.’
He could not speak.
His daughter was clearly standing before him.
‘Honey, you should hurry and eat.’
And the voice that came from behind him.
It was his wife.
His wife and daughter, who should have died to monsters, were standing plainly before his eyes.
Ah.
How difficult had his life been after his wife and daughter died?
Out of hatred for monsters, he had entrusted himself to the Order and swung his sword.
In that instant, tears flowed from his eyes.
‘Mom, Dad’s crying!’
‘Honey, are you all right? Did you have a bad dream?’
Yes, perhaps everything until now had been a dream.
A terrible, horrifying dream that should never have existed.
‘You’re happy now, aren’t you?’
His wife smiled as she spoke to him.
He was happy.
He wanted to say he was happy, but for some reason, his voice would not come out.
What did that matter?
He was so happy now.
He wanted to be together with them for the rest of his life, in this very moment.
‘You are happy now, aren’t you?’
Yes, if this was not happiness, then what was?
………
……
…
“You are happy now, aren’t you?”
Celia Ishahar grinned as she released the holy knight’s neck.
For some reason, the holy knight was smiling with tears streaming down his face.
“What did you do to him!”
To Yuel’s eyes, an extremely grotesque scene had unfolded.
The holy knight, who had been suffering with his neck gripped, was suddenly smiling.
“I merely showed him a dream.”
“A dream…?”
That was right.
Celia Ishahar had used a skill.
A skill she had gained upon becoming six-star.
[Dream Manipulation]
It was a skill that manipulated the opponent’s dreams to show them hope, while sucking away their vital essence in exchange.
The holy knight, too, had his dream manipulated, and even now, his vital essence was being drained in real time.
Unaware of that fact, Yuel realized from the word “dream” that Celia Ishahar was a succubus.
And he also remembered that the Order had said a succubus had escaped from its sealing stone.
“You couldn’t be…!”
He immediately took out an object shaped like a cup from his inventory.
It was a high-grade artifact the Order had provided for emergencies—a holy relic.
This was an emergency.
A monster that had escaped the Order’s seal; the situation was serious.
The holy relic in Yuel’s hand emitted light.
It was a holy relic containing divine power strong enough to dispose of monsters up to five-star.
By contrast, the opponent was merely a three-star succubus.
Yuel was certain that the creature, upon facing the divine power of the holy relic, would vanish without a trace.
If he dealt with that thing, his standing would rise, if only a little.
That expectation lasted only a moment.
When the light faded, shock spread across Yuel’s face.
He had definitely used the holy relic.
And yet the other party stood there smiling as if nothing had happened. She even prattled on with words he could not understand.
“Ahh. These clothes… Did Master foresee even this? As expected, he is a remarkable person!”
Saying so, Celia Ishahar looked at Yuel.
“Divine power does not work on me.”
—Smile.
“All of this is thanks to the great one’s insight. Hehe, isn’t it truly amazing?”
Yuel’s body trembled.
She was not three-star.
‘I can’t win against this…!’
He had to run at once.
He had to flee and inform the Order.
The opponent was not something as trivial as a three-star succubus.
He had never even imagined that such a being could exist.
She was truly a monster.
If only he could get out of here, he would quit being a priest or whatever else.
He would simply go down to some countryside village and live quietly.
He did not want to die.
‘Please…….’
Amid the urgent situation, Yuel’s thoughts tangled chaotically.
Even he could not understand what he himself was thinking.
Had she heard Yuel’s wish?
Still smiling, Celia Ishahar opened her mouth softly.
“If you wish, then go, Priest.”
The moment those words ended, Yuel ran.
He was anxious, afraid the succubus might change her mind.
His hesitation did not last long.
He ran blindly.
He kept running, driven only by the single will to survive.
The holy knight?
Who cared. He had to survive first, did he not?
Yes, this was not abandoning him.
Only if he made it out alive could a rescue party come later, or not.
So it was absolutely not betrayal.
How long had he run?
He saw light before his eyes.
At last, hope arose that he could get outside.
With relief in his heart, he leaped toward the light.
“Ah—”
In that instant, Yuel’s vision cut off.
Yuel’s body lost consciousness.
To begin with, he had never made it outside the dungeon.
A small altar formed as the dungeon expanded.
Yuel’s body had ended up climbing onto the altar of its own accord.
Satisfied by the sight, Celia Ishahar smiled.
* * *
— Celia Ishahar has repelled the intruder.
— Apprentice Priest “Yuel” has been offered as a sacrifice to Master.
— Absorbing Yuel’s ability. (Time remaining: 6 hours)
An alarm suddenly appeared.
Lee Ganghyeon looked at his phone.
“What is this?”
Celia Ishahar was the dungeon’s lieutenant.
Of course, he had set her to manage the dungeon, but this alarm was out of nowhere.
“I’m sure I put concealment on the dungeon, didn’t I? Then where did this guy come from?”
The dungeon concealment effect had two parts.
The dungeon’s aura would be permanently hidden, and its location would be hidden for seven days.
With six days remaining, he had not placed any monsters or traps for dungeon defense.
Yet an intruder had appeared out of the blue, which was simply absurd.
Was it just a simple bug?
Resolving to watch for now and contact customer service if it happened again, he pressed the exit button.
“But why am I so tired?”
At the sudden wave of fatigue, Lee Ganghyeon set the phone down from his hand and fell into a deep sleep.
— Absorbing Yuel’s ability. (Time remaining: 5 hours 50 minutes)
— Absorbing Yuel’s ability. (Time remaining: 5 hours 40 minutes)
The smartphone alarm continued to ring beside the sleeping Lee Ganghyeon.
Time passed, and before long, six hours had gone by.
— Yuel’s ability has been absorbed.
However, Lee Ganghyeon was still asleep, so he could not check the alarm.
The alarms did not end there.
— The “Eye of Insight” has been applied to Lee Ganghyeon.
— Warning! Conflict detected!
— Lee Ganghyeon does not have a status window and cannot acquire the trait.
— A special diagnosis will now be performed to resolve the current error.
— The “Eye of Insight” will be used to resolve the cause of the error.
— Lee Ganghyeon has acquired a “status window” in place of the “Eye of Insight.”
— The alarm will be automatically deleted in 5 minutes.