Chapter 84 – Floor 13: Apostate Theme Park

A passage that was more of a slope than stairs.

Upon reaching Floor 13, the middle area of the abandoned mine, the atmosphere of the layer began to change.

Blackened bloodstains, flesh, blood vessels, and intestines smeared thickly on the walls.

The walls, floor, and ceiling that should be composed solely of minerals were intermixed with organic materials, creating a horrific scene.

The sight alone seemed capable of eroding one’s sanity.

In fact, staying in such zones for too long in D.D caused the mental status ailment “Madness,” so the strategy was to quickly escape regardless of items or anything else.

‘Mental Barrier was the right choice.’

Squish- Squish-

Sounds I hadn’t heard on upper floors—soft, unknown substances being stepped on and wet things sticking to my boot soles.

Though I tried to ignore these disturbing sounds, they clung to my ears, causing substantial mental damage. Yet aside from a slight headache, I experienced no abnormalities.

『Mental Barrier』 activated, resisting the low-grade status effect.

‘Still, I shouldn’t stay long. This feeling is really…’

Of course, this was just a temporary measure, and I knew better than to slow my pace or linger.

I walked as fast as possible, trying not to look around or think too much.

After about 10 minutes of walking like this, I passed through that horrific decor of splayed humans and entered an area that resembled the ordinary abandoned mine from previous layers.

Well, perhaps “ordinary” isn’t quite right?

There was no visible flesh, but blood was splattered everywhere like a Texas Chainsaw Massacre scene.

“Would anyone actually want to live in a place like this..? Well, I guess these vermin psychopaths would.”

I wondered how Naud, Albert, and Blue Tongue had passed through, but they surely managed fine.

I’m not their babysitter, and they’re more experienced killers than me anyway.

I stretched, preparing to thoroughly destroy these apostates who likely sincerely thought their interior design showed good taste.

“Where do these bastards keep hatching from? There’s so many of them.”

Crackle- Crackle-

A pile of human forms roasting to a golden brown, bursting with juices.

A terrifying sight from a distance, and undoubtedly horrifying up close as well. After all, humans were being burned.

“They probably entered in large numbers from the beginning. Even when I was alive, worship of evil gods was flourishing.”

The figures were apostates caught in Severa’s magic, performing a mass immolation.

Despite more than ten apostates gathering in Naud’s room with the alcohol, six were here as well.

“If evil god worship was flourishing, wouldn’t they have no reason to hide in an abandoned mine like this?”

“Even so, the main gods’ faith was stronger, and the national union drew their swords to eradicate evil god worship.”

Severa had a strangely indifferent expression while watching the burning apostate piles.

“That didn’t work out well, I guess?”

My gamer instinct from playing Crusader Kings suggested that corrupt nobles or royalty probably spread rather than eradicated the worship.

My prediction must have been accurate, as Severa nodded very slowly with extreme displeasure.

“The first to be corrupted was the Archbishop, so there was no way to properly eradicate it.”

Severa’s eyes glowed ominously with crimson light sharp as knives, filled with rage toward this Archbishop.

The animosity seemed quite deep.

‘Archbishop… not an enemy that appears in the next region.’

Among the mini-bosses or bosses of the six regions constituting D.D’s background, there was no Archbishop or cathedral-like region where one might appear.

‘Perhaps in the final region?’

I’d never seen them appear there either, but if I had to guess, that’s where they might show up.

“So you want to kill this Archbishop yourself?”

“…No.”

At my direct question, Severa briefly met my eyes, but as our gaze lingered, she extinguished her ominous glow and looked away embarrassed, recalling our previous incident.

She seemed aware of her mistake.

“Although he betrayed us when we returned from the expedition, leading to our deaths, I don’t care that much anymore. He wasn’t a great person, and he’s probably dead by now.”

So Severa, Maria, and their expedition of eight were killed not by enemies but by a knife in the back.

I felt boiling hostility toward this Archbishop whose face and name I didn’t even know, but given the concerned party’s reaction, it seemed strange for me, an outsider, to be angry.

“What do you mean he’s probably dead? How do you know?”

“He was already a dying old man when we left for the expedition. It’s a bit annoying that he died peacefully of old age.”

An old man on his deathbed. And an evil god worshipper…

I stroked my chin while listening to Severa, then raised an eyebrow.

“But isn’t that strange?”

“Huh?”

Severa’s eyes widened in a round, questioning look.

Her usual sharp impression softened into this adorable roundness whenever she encountered something she didn’t understand.

“If someone has the position of Archbishop, wouldn’t they have a significant standing among evil god worshippers? Would they really just die of old age?”

As a non-resident of this world, I could only speculate based on my shallow fantasy knowledge, but in a world where tentacle-eyed things claimed to be gods, we needed to think beyond the ordinary.

“Was it publicly known that this Archbishop was an evil god worshipper?”

“Um…”

“If I were the head of evil god worshippers, I wouldn’t let someone of an Archbishop’s position just die.”

Blink. Blink.

Severa blinked rapidly as if at a loss for words, seemingly wiping dust from her eyes though there was none.

“Ahhhh!!! Why didn’t I think of that?!”

‘…Is she perhaps not very bright?’

I should have realized when she invested in Mental rather than Intelligence for her mage build.

***

Floor 13 featured not only intestine-decorated corridors but also several objects.

For example, this “Meat Flower” in front of a recently killed apostate with its skull freshly cracked open, leaking brain fluid.

Its lower body was rooted to the ground like a plant, while the upper body was human, with the head area blooming like a large flower with petals and stamens, emitting an unpleasantly sweet scent and secretions unlike Alraune’s.

And the human body serving as the stem.

This Meat Flower’s material appeared to be female, given the swollen breasts and curves exposed without covering.

『Meat Flower』

【A horrific result of rituals performed by evil god-worshipping heretics. Something resembling a flower that spreads impurity with its unpleasant fragrance and secretions.】

“Tsk…”

This repulsive entity inflicts weak confusion and weak madness on those who approach.

“How grotesque.”

“Die—!”

Whoosh-

I slightly tilted my head to avoid a dagger slicing through the air, then embedded my own dagger in the neck of the apostate who glared at me with bloodshot, crazed eyes.

With a gurgling sound, bloody foam flowed from their mouth and nose as their eyes rolled back. I twisted the dagger still stuck in their neck to send them off mercifully.

Given what they’d done, it was a compassionate end.

“Quick ticket to heaven! Free right now!”

At my call, three apostates rushed toward me, their filthy, unfashionable heretic hoods fluttering.

I kicked the limp body to trip an oncoming apostate, then pulled an axe from a head and used it to split the hand of the one approaching from the left.

Crack-

“GAAAHK!”

“How dare you scream differently! Attention!”

BAM!

I kicked the jaw of the apostate who had knelt clutching their split hand, then dodged a dagger from the right by twisting my waist, grabbing the wrist, and throwing them over my shoulder using my back muscles.

Crash-! The apostate’s face met the stone floor’s “softness,” and I stamped my “Well done” seal on their face.

Crunch-

Eyeballs, blood, and teeth splattered around.

After wiping my sole on the apostate’s rag-like robe, I turned to face another preparing to cast magic. Our eyes met.

“Mo-Monster!”

“Coming from a cult psycho, that doesn’t sound like proper discipline. Just shut up and die.”

The spinning blood spear aimed at me was 『Blood Magic』—like Severa’s 『Inevitable End』 or Alraune’s 『Powder Series』, a spell players couldn’t use.

It wasn’t particularly good, more like an inferior version of magic bullets.

Seeing the apostate trembling in fear while preparing such a spell, I lost interest.

Let’s end this quickly.

I drew the flail from my waist, planning to crush their head. Bits of apostate flesh rotted between the metal plates.

“Hee, heek! Sa-save me! I’ll never do it again! I’ll go home and live quietly!”

The apostate knelt and even canceled their Blood Magic.

With their intelligence level—believing in tentacle-eyed gods who would let them die for a sprinkle of salt—I gave them another stamp of approval.

Crunch-

“Haah… The sensation is still disgusting.”

Whoosh- Thud-

I vigorously shook the flail and axe, shedding the meat and blood, then wiped my hands on my pants.

“Why are there so many?”

In the now-quiet room, the Meat Flower continued to writhe, emitting spore-like substances and secretions.

Looking at one wall, I noticed a large crimson meat pillar with human lower bodies occasionally protruding from it.

『Meat Pillar』

【A horrific result of rituals performed by evil god-worshipping heretics. Something resembling a pillar that seems impossible to believe was made just to block something.】

“These guys definitely shouldn’t open an amusement park.”