Chapter 47 – The Knowledge Seeker

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The place Einhardt and I arrived at was a large valley deep in the mountains. As the cold wind whistled through the valley, strange sounds echoed.

–Screech…

–Creeeak…

The sounds, reminiscent of a dying person gasping for breath, continued. The source of these unsettling noises could be found at the bottom of the valley.

It was an enormous pile of bones, so vast that it was impossible to count. It looked as if a river of bones had replaced the frozen water, flowing through the valley.

–Screech…

The wind collided with the pile of bones in the valley, creating the eerie wailing sounds we were hearing.

“Wh-what a terrifying place…”

Isolin, sitting on the sled, looked down into the valley. She swallowed hard and tightly gripped her magic wand, clearly nervous.

–This is serious…

–The aura of death is too strong.

–Could all of this be the work of the Singing Cult…?

It wasn’t just Isolin and I who were shocked by the sight of the valley.

The faces of the clergy, except for those who had been part of the search team, were filled with dismay.

Their dismay soon turned into discomfort, and that discomfort transformed into burning anger directed at whoever had created this scene.

Einhardt looked down into the valley and spoke.

“From now on, we’ll split up and move. Follow the instructions of your respective squad leaders as we’ve trained. Remember, in my absence, you must follow their orders.”

At Einhardt’s command, the clergy began to disperse.

Those who remained were Einhardt, a few other clergy members, Isolin, and me.

Lying on the sled, I asked Einhardt.

“Where should we go?”

Isolin and I hadn’t received any prior training. Seeing the clergy split into different directions, it seemed they had pre-assigned combat teams, but that didn’t apply to us.

“Hmm…”

Einhardt looked at me with a troubled expression.

After pretending to think deeply for a moment, he nodded as if he had come up with a good idea.

“How about this? You’ll observe the overall situation from here.”

“Observe the situation?”

“Yes. It’s a very important task. There might be heretics trying to escape during the battle, right? In that case, having Isolin here to provide long-range magical support would be very helpful.”

“Then what should I do?”

“If there are any injured, we’ll send them here. You can treat them then.”

“But Einhardt, aren’t there many priests here who can heal?”

“Well…”

At my question, Einhardt hesitated and closed his mouth. I looked at him and let out a small sigh.

“I guess I’m not very reliable…”

“To be honest, yes.”

“You’re being too honest.”

Isolin and I were level 30. I thought that was a level worthy of respect, but to Einhardt, who was level 80, it apparently wasn’t.

I tried to imagine how Isolin and I must look to him.

We run away when big monsters appear, and our small size makes us sink into the snow.

Definitely…

We haven’t shown ourselves to be reliable at all.

I nodded and replied.

“I understand. Alright.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Einhardt was kind. Before heading down into the valley with the others, he took off the cloak he was wearing and handed it to me.

[Cloak of Dragon’s Blood]

• Level Requirement: 80
  
• Equip Restriction: Paladin, Warrior, Knight, Rogue
  
• Health Regeneration per Second +50
  
• Mana Regeneration per Second +15
  
• All Elemental Resistances +40%
  
• All Defense +45
  
• All Stats +15
  ※Once per day, activates a shield that protects the user from all damage.
  –Dragon Slayer? Don’t make me laugh…
  –The Nameless Knight

“This is…”

“You might not be able to fully utilize the cloak’s power due to your level, but it will protect you and Isolin once in an emergency.”

As I marveled at the cloak’s incredible stats, Einhardt began to move away. The fact that he willingly gave me such an amazing item meant he trusted me that much.

I spread the crimson cloak wide and covered Isolin and myself with it.

From the high vantage point, we could see the entire valley below.

The clergy, who had split up earlier, began to move in unison, as if they had some prearranged signal.

As I watched their movements, I tensed up.

Isolin also kept her wand ready outside the cloak, keeping an eye on the situation in case something happened.

However, nothing happened. After the clergy disappeared beneath the pile of bones, there was no sign of any activity.

No sounds of weapons clashing, no shouts or screams.

“Do you think something happened…?”

“No way…”

I shook my head at Isolin’s ominous question. We had Einhardt, a level 80 paladin, on our side. As long as he was there, we couldn’t lose.

Unless the heretics had someone as strong as Einhardt. At that moment, the glove on my right hand twitched, and the voice of The Knowledge Seeker echoed in my mind.

[Approach.]

Get closer…?

[Affirmative.]

It’s dangerous. Einhardt told us to wait here.

[Knowledge. Absorb. Authority.]

Though the words were fragmented, their meaning was clear. I needed to absorb the knowledge and power of the heretics, the Singing Cult.

I also knew why I had to do this. It was necessary to summon the “Bird that Sings of Destruction” without destroying the world.

I hesitated, then hesitated again. But I had to go. Once I realized it was necessary, my hesitation vanished.

Slither—

“Supreme…?”

“Isolin. I don’t think I can stay here. I’ll go down for a bit and come back.”

“What…? It’s too dangerous!”

I glanced at Isolin and began carefully descending the slope. Immediately, Isolin hurried after me.

“I’m coming too!”

Honestly, I had expected this from Isolin. It was just awkward for me to suggest we go together first.

Two is better than one. My anxious heart calmed down a bit.

The path to the Singing Cult’s hideout wasn’t hard to find. At the entrance, Isolin and I found several people in black hoods lying on the ground.

“Who are these people…?”

[Level 30]
[Singing Cult Devotee]

They were all tied up, hands and feet bound. It seemed the clergy of the Arkereth cult had raided this place, defeated them, and tied them up.

And they were all still alive. I had been worried about seeing corpses, so this was a relief.

“These are the bad guys, right?”

Poke poke—

Isolin, with a disgusted expression, poked the devotees with her wand. But the fallen devotees showed no reaction.

[Knowledge. Absorb.]

At that moment, something began to squirm beneath the glove on my right hand. An invisible something stretched out and began to coil around the devotees’ bodies.

Wait, are they going to die…?

[Affirmative. Survival.]

Creak—!

The invisible something flowed into the devotees’ heads through their ears. Immediately, fragmented memories began to flow through the connection.

I frowned at the unpleasant yet strangely satisfying sensation. The conflicting feelings made my head spin.

“Supreme? Weren’t we going inside?”

“Ah, ah…”

I snapped out of it at Isolin’s voice. I shook my head and rubbed my right hand.

The invisible something that had burrowed into the devotees’ heads had already returned to my hand.

“This way, yeah. This way.”

Isolin and I began to move. The memories absorbed by The Knowledge Seeker were also transmitted to me. Thanks to that, I knew where the hidden paths in this hideout were.

We walked down the right corridor, and when the second door appeared, I pulled down the torch nearby.

Clunk—!

A small path opened up.

“Oh… what’s this…?”

“It’s a hidden path.”

“How did you know about this?”

I couldn’t tell her that I had absorbed the memories of the fallen devotees through the power of a strange deity. I frowned and replied.

“Well, I’ve played a lot of RPGs… I just kind of figured it out.”

“Oh…”

Fortunately, the naive Isolin seemed to believe me. I led the way into the secret passage, leaving Isolin to marvel behind me.

“Do you think there are hidden items here?”

“Probably…”

I nodded at Isolin’s question. This world was fundamentally based on RPG mechanics. Finding a hidden passage in a dungeon and obtaining special items was a natural progression.

Just like this.

“Ohh…”

At the end of the secret passage was a small altar and a large bird statue.

[Statue of the Bird that Sings of Destruction]
A statue modeled after the Bird that Sings of Destruction.
An ominous aura surrounds it, and occasionally the bird’s eyes move on their own.

I had found what I was looking for. Just as I reached out for the statue—

Tap tap tap—!

Hurried footsteps sounded behind me. Startled, I turned around to see a bloodied man gasping for breath at the end of the dark passage.

“Huff… huff… You, who are you…?”

[Level 30]
[Singing Priest Beltoma]

The moment I recognized the enemy, my body reacted instinctively. The color drained from my vision as the skill “Void Gaze” activated.

The moment Beltoma, who had locked eyes with me, covered his mouth with a pale face, I shouted.

“G-get him!”

In my panic, I didn’t think to use any other skills. And it seemed Isolin was the same.

Isolin and I rushed forward and began pummeling Beltoma, who was crouched over and retching.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Y-you brats…!”

Mages and priests don’t invest in strength stats, but when they hit someone with a weapon, there’s a damage modifier. It still hurts.

Beltoma tried to resist, flailing his arms and trying to stand up, but the moment he locked eyes with me again, he started retching.

“Ugh… ugh…!”

As the situation stabilized, I regained some sense of normal judgment. I used my newly acquired skill, “Invisible Hand.”

Invisible Hand, as the name suggests, summons multiple invisible hands. The length of the hands matches the length of my own hands.

Which is to say, very short.

But when you have multiple short hands, it’s a different story.

About 20 invisible hands appeared. They grabbed Beltoma’s arms, legs, and other body parts, pinning him to the ground.

“G-guh…!”

“S-Supreme! This guy’s suddenly writhing on the ground by himself! It’s creepy!”

Of course, that’s how it would look to others. Isolin, looking disgusted, began stomping on Beltoma’s face.

I took out a rope from my inventory and tied Beltoma’s hands and feet tightly. After locking eyes with me several times, he foamed at the mouth and passed out.

“Phew…”

I let out a sigh of relief at the successful takedown.

Leaving Isolin to poke at Beltoma, I stuffed the large statue into my inventory.

Mission accomplished.

[Satisfaction. Contentment. Excitement.]