Chapter 99: Accept the Change

“There are three elite soldiers beside the Apostle. They’re called ability bestowers.”

“So there are three converts who stole adventurers’ abilities through the ability transfer ritual, you say.”

“Yes. They’ve gone half-mad from the excessive infusion of abilities, but they still follow the Apostle’s orders without fail.”

“Good. Well done, Sasaro.”

The heretic with both eyes gouged out was mumbling, begging to be killed.

In just 15 minutes, Sasaro had extracted all the necessary information from the heretic, leaving him in a state desperately wishing for death.

The smell of blood and filth permeated the place where Sasaro had tortured the heretic.

“Old man, we don’t need this one anymore, right?”

“That’s right. You can kill him.”

“Hehehe. Farewell!”

Raphael brought his axe down on the head of the heretic who was wishing for death.

With a cracking sound, the heretic’s head split in half.

It was quite a violent scene, but having seen so many such scenes since entering the labyrinth, I had become numb to it.

I must be getting used to it. After witnessing countless deaths, the death of one heretic no longer caused a significant change in my emotions.

Perhaps I too am gradually becoming a monster like them.

‘Moira’s words were true.’

I remembered Moira’s advice not to be tainted by the inquisitors and the Saint.

So that’s what it meant. It wasn’t just about being assimilated into their ideology.

I was being contaminated by this very atmosphere where slaughter is taken for granted. Now, even when a heretic’s skull was cracked open, I didn’t feel horrified or disgusted. I could sleep while hearing their screams.

In the end, there I was, nonchalantly picking up the corpse and putting it in my spatial pocket.

To think I’d become this indifferent even when seeing such horribly mutilated corpses.

When I wasn’t aware of it, I didn’t think much of it, but once I realized it, this change in me felt somewhat unfamiliar and frightening.

Fearing that I might lose my human heart.

“Porter-ssi.”

“Yes?! Ah. Yes, Rosie-ssi. Did you call me?”

“Your expression is dark. Your eyes are quite clouded too. What were you thinking about?”

“Ah, that. Just… It’s nothing.”

“You’re not having any negative thoughts, are you?”

“Huh? Uh. Negative thoughts, you say.”

I was indeed having negative thoughts.

Can Rosie tell such things just by looking at someone’s expression?

“The labyrinth sometimes changes many things. Not just a person’s life, but also the fate of noble families or the survival of entire groups can be twisted by the labyrinth.”

“Uh, yes.”

“In such a storm of misfortune, it’s most important not to lose oneself. But don’t try too hard to resist either. Because change is an inevitable flow. It’s also important to accept your changing self as it is. After all, cognitive dissonance eventually becomes the starting point of self-destruction.”

“….I see.”

I nodded at Rosie’s advice.

Don’t be afraid of changing. It’s not an easy thing, but those words were true.

‘Right, it can’t be helped. I have to accept it.’

Let’s not dwell on becoming indifferent to their cruel acts.

If we’re to keep going down to the 7th floor, we’ll have to see even worse things than this.

“Let’s start moving.”

“Yes.”

The Saint took the lead.

She tracks the location of the Blue Apostle, and I suggest the path forward.

The combination of map creation and tracking skills was incredible, and we were able to enter the Blue Apostle’s domain just an hour and a half after descending below the floor division.

Splash.

“It’s a flooded area.”

Below the floor division of the lake district.

At the end of quickly navigating through the maze, we arrived at a flooded area with water up to our calves.

This is the area below the underground city where the Blue Apostle has made his base.

The air was much more humid than in the lake district, and an unbelievable number of insects greeted us.

“Back off.”

Paramel hurriedly cast the blessing of insect repellent.

It was a place so humid and full of insects that we couldn’t move around without the blessing of insect repellent.

They would probably try to enter through our ears or nose and lay eggs. And among them, there would likely be skin walker larvae too.

We were bound to suffer if we didn’t take quick countermeasures.

“Shh.”

“…”

After driving away the insects and advancing for quite a while, Raphael sensed something.

A faint light flickered at the end of that path.

“…It’s a detection device. Seems to be a summon of the heretics.”

It’s a glow stick that the heretics have planted throughout the maze.

It makes a buzzing sound when people approach nearby.

“Porter, can you handle it?”

“I’ll try.”

At Sasaro’s words, I took out my sling.

I spun the sling once, twice, continuously to maximize its power.

‘If I fail, heretics will swarm in.’

A number of heretics far beyond the groups of five we’ve encountered before will crawl out.

This is their main base after all.

‘I must hit it no matter what.’

I held my breath and focused on the target.

Over the past 6 months, I’ve invested more time in this sling than in swords.

I’m confident in my aiming skills.

“Hah!”

I exhaled the held breath and launched the sling shot towards the detection device.

The flying stone precisely shattered the detection device as it passed through.

“Remarkable aiming skills.”

“Huh. Hitting that with a sling from this distance? You must have quite good eyes.”

“How about learning archery?”

“Archery is a bit…”

I hadn’t even considered learning archery because arrows are expensive.

Above all, maintaining a bow was also troublesome, so it wasn’t an option for consideration.

‘But now, it might be worth seriously learning.’

Since I’ve acquired money to buy arrows in bulk.

Wait a minute, I have a spatial pocket, so I can store an infinite number of arrows, right?

‘The chronic problem of archers, the arrow count limit, disappears?’

It means unlimited ammunition is possible.

‘Should I practice archery and buy a rapid-fire crossbow too?’

When I get out of the labyrinth this time, I should seriously consider ranged weapons.

Swords and axes are good, but it would be better if I could handle ranged weapons too.

“Seeing the detection device, we’ll likely encounter heretics soon. Let’s all put on our masks.”

“Yes.”

“Disguising as heretics. Huh.. I’ve lived long enough to see this day.”

“Indeed.”

We put on heretic costumes and masks.

We couldn’t go around openly advertising ourselves as the Saint’s party, so we had to wear appropriate attire for the location.

“Everyone, conceal your holy power well. From now on, we fight only with physical combat.”

“Yes, understood.”

Since we’ve encountered a detection device, if we use holy power from here on, all the nearby heretics will notice.

So from now on, we had to seal our holy power and fight with pure physical strength alone.

The one fortunate thing is that the Blue Apostle is nearby.

-Kyaaaaa!!!!

“A scream…”

“A sacrificial ritual must be in progress. Everyone, stay alert.”

A heretic must be sacrificing another heretic.

There’s one who can revive heretics with an unidentified power.

Believing in that one, the Blue Apostle must be sacrificing fellow heretics.

He’s probably trying to summon demons from below using the sacrificed heretics.

We advanced towards the direction of the sound.

Moving as quietly as possible, we were finally able to reach the ritual site where blue flames were flickering.

‘Crazy bastards.’

A fairly large sacrificial altar about the size of a school playground.

There, heretics were gathered, bowing towards men and women tied to pillars.

‘It’s full of corpses.’

Before we arrived, they had sacrificed dozens of people, throwing their corpses beside the altar.

Moreover, all the corpses had their chests opened, and the extracted hearts were piled up neatly on the altar.

They must be trying to summon demons by offering those.

“May Arha’s will guide us. Listen! Hata’s bell is watching us! Behold! The moment of revelation has come. Wolves who have sensed the time. Rise, it’s time to fight!!! Let’s burn the world and spread her will.”

At the center of this chaos was a tall man wrapped in a pitch-black robe.

This is the being named the Blue Apostle.

A fisherman trying to lure demons from deep in the labyrinth using human sacrifices as bait.

He was holding a dagger with a wavy blade, spouting incomprehensible words.

“We offer ourselves!!! To the side of the god!!!”

“Aah!!! The blessing of resurrection!!! The ecstasy of subjugation!!!!”

The two men and women tied naked to the pillars shouted with expressions that were hard to tell if they were crying or laughing.

They were shouting in excitement at the fact that they were being sacrificed.

“Raphael. The numbers?”

“Sniff sniff.. Thirty-two. About that many.”

“Any dangerous ones?”

“Those three standing next to the Apostle. At least Gold Badge level. They seem to be the ones who received abilities and strength from adventurers through the ability transfer ritual.”

“I see. I’ll handle the Apostle. Raphael, Rosie, and Sasaro, take care of those ability bestowers next to the Apostle.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

“Paramel, hunt down the remaining heretic remnants. 28 people, excluding those tied to the pillars. Can you handle them all?”

“Yes.. I’ll do my best.”

“You must not let any escape.”

Paramel nodded vigorously at the Saint’s words.

We couldn’t let them escape. We had to take them all out without letting them know we had attacked, and then disguise ourselves as the Blue Apostle.

“Um, what should I do?”

“Porter-ssi, you just hide appropriately and observe the situation. When I take down the Apostle, steal his body.”

“Yes.”

“Alright, let’s end this quickly and decisively.”

The Saint rushed towards the battlefield without waiting for her companions’ responses.

At the same time, Raphael, Sasaro, and Rosie shot out like arrows.

“Ugh..! I’m scared…”

Belatedly, Paramel also ran after his companions.

It was a perfect surprise attack.

“Huh!!!”

The Apostle, who was holding a knife towards the man tied to the pillar, turned around in surprise at the sudden presence, and by then, the spear thrown by the Saint had already pierced the Apostle’s stomach.

“Kyaaaa!!!”

“A-attackkk?!”

BANG!!!!

The iron club in Paramel’s hand smashed the head of a heretic who was trying to alert others of the attack, crushing his body and bringing him down.

At the same time, Sasaro and Rosie began to engage with the ability bestowers who were trying to rush towards the Apostle, and Raphael pounced on an ability bestower trying to escape, taking him down from behind.

The battle had begun.

My job was to observe the situation and move when necessary.

‘If I get caught, it’s all over, so it’s best to hide as much as possible and step in at the right moment.’

If I act recklessly and get caught or killed by the heretics, all our plans will be for nothing.

So I had to be as cautious as possible.

After all, what they wanted from me wasn’t combat power.

Since I was included in this party as a utility specialist and support type, I just needed to fulfill my role.

“Kyaaaa!!!!”

Sasaro was knocked back by an ability bestower’s attack but managed to cut off his wrist.

The ability bestower who lost his right hand couldn’t focus due to the pain, and in that opening, Sasaro slit his throat, causing a spray of blood.

One of the heretic elite soldiers was dead.

BANG!!!!

At the same time, Rosie smashed the face of the ability bestower she was dealing with, then stepped on his neck as he fell, breaking it.

‘Raphael is done too.’

Raphael had already dismembered the ability bestower he was in charge of.

Paramel was also smoothly catching and killing the remnants, and all that remained was the confrontation between the Apostle and the Saint.

“Kuheok… How did you get hereeaak!!!”

The Saint didn’t converse with the Apostle.

Ignoring all his words, she carried out a merciless beating.

The Blue Apostle, with his legs broken and wrists shattered, crawled on the ground.

As expected of a ritual specialist, his individual combat ability was rather lacking.

From the start, his opponent was too much for him.

What use is an Apostle before an expert in heretic slaughter?

“That should be enough.”

“Is that so? You told me not to kill him, so I was just trying to keep him alive.”

“Ow, that’s plenty.”

The Blue Apostle, beaten to a pulp.

He was out of his mind from how much he had been beaten.

This should be enough.

‘Helena. Please.’

-Alright. A man’s body.. Sigh..

Soon, chains extended from my hand.

The Blue Apostle’s soul was bound by the chains and dragged into me, and Helena entered the body from which the soul had been pulled out.

Success. Helena successfully took control of the heretic Apostle’s body. We succeeded in soul exchange.

Thanks to the soul chain, we were able to steal the body more easily.

“Is it done?”

“Yes. It’s successful. Hey? Are you conscious?”

I shook the Apostle’s body that Helena had entered.

Soon his fingers began to twitch and started responding.

“Ugh.. It hurts like hell.”

Helena spoke through the Apostle’s voice.

She seemed unable to move properly due to the pain.

“It really worked.. The soul that entered is a witch, you said?”

“Yes. A witch named Halsi.”

I hid Helena’s real name to avoid revealing her existence as the Saint’s mortal enemy, not knowing what might happen if discovered.

“Let’s heal him for now.”

“That would be best.”

Since we couldn’t use holy power here, we used the potions and medicines we had to treat the Apostle’s body.

“Here, a painkiller. Chew and swallow it.”

“Alright. Ugh.. Bitter.. I don’t know how long it’s been since I tasted this… The first taste I experience in a while is the taste of bloody fish and bitter medicine…”

“Stop complaining and swallow it quickly.”

“Ugh.”

Helena forcibly chewed and swallowed the painkiller.

“It’s a bit better.”

“Right?”

“Are you done?”

“Yes. We’re finished, Saint.”

“Good. Then let’s begin.”

From now on, we plan to lure heretics here and carry out a slaughter under the guise of sacrifice.

‘Let’s discuss the details.’

We intend to ask the soul of the Apostle we just captured about efficient ways to lure heretics here.

-Damn it!!! What is this!!! Let me go!!! You lowly servant!!!

The Apostle’s soul dragged into me was shouting.

I gradually tightened the chains, inflicting pain on him.

You will have to spill information to me.

If not, I’ll torment you to death for 24 hours.

‘They said to accept change.’

As Rosie said, rejecting change seems to be an unreasonable thing.

I plan to incorporate Sasaro’s methods to torture the heretic Apostle’s soul.

To achieve greater efficiency, I decided to accept the change in my mindset.