Ominous Thoughts – 1

As the shadow and abyss that had bloomed from the explosion subsided, the view before my eyes brightened again.

“Ugh. Ptooey, ptooey.”

I wiped my face with my palm, constantly coughed, spitting out what was in my mouth, and stood there. All sorts of bizarre tastes were strongly felt inside my mouth. I kept dry heaving.

Without any defense whatsoever, since I took the explosion head-on right in front of me, a lot of something got into my mouth. Horribly, I even chewed on something like granules. I spat all of that out.

“Ah, damn. That really startled me.”

After I had somewhat dealt with the situation, harsh words naturally burst out. On top of being drenched in black liquid all over my body, it even got into my mouth, so I couldn’t help but curse.

“No, what the hell, it died in one hit?”

That just now was a special death animation that could only be seen when a creature abandoned by God was finished off with a blessed weapon or a divine spell.

If killed with ordinary weapons, magic, or dark magic, its entire body simply melts away and disappears, but if killed with a blessed weapon or a divine spell, it lets out a death throe and disappears as if exploding like that.

Since it was merely a death animation, it didn’t harm the character. Naturally, the damage was also 0. It was just that the player outside the monitor was startled by the monstrous scream and explosion sound it let out at the end.

So, if there was any sign of it dying, I had intended to retreat far away and wait to kill it after the eclipse subsided, but I never imagined it would die just from a deep stab.

‘……Can’t be helped. It’s my fault too.’

Since that guy’s body melted away with a single sword strike, I should have kept in mind beforehand that stabbing its head might kill it in one hit. Since I forgot that, this result came about.

Spitting out the things in my mouth with a “ptooey, ptooey,” I headed towards the monster’s corpse. In the place where the corpse was, something sparkling was left. It was an item dropped by a creature abandoned by God.

‘Looking only at the results, it’s not bad. Though I did take that much risk.’

Because the Pope of the Sun abruptly mentioned a line from the DLC right from our first meeting, I had put everything else aside and defeated the final boss as if roasting beans in a flash of lightning, but looking only at the results, it was quite good.

No, it wasn’t just quite good, it was excellent.

As it was the final boss of the DLC, it was confirmed that an enormous amount of experience would come in, and the performance of the weapon that could be crafted from the item it dropped was quite outstanding.

Of course, it was good enough to be used as a main weapon, but it wasn’t on the level where one would spontaneously exclaim “it’s overpowered” like the weapon I was aiming for. However, for use as an interim item, it was perfectly suitable.

I walked into the center of where the corpse had been and picked up the item left isolated there.

‘I should visit the alchemy workshop later when I have time.’

Processing the item obtained after defeating the boss into a weapon was impossible in an ordinary blacksmith’s shop.

I had to find the alchemy workshop, which was the only one existing in the entire field, but it wasn’t particularly urgent, so I planned to postpone it for now. There were too many things I had to do before that.

After stuffing the item into my empty potion pouch, I turned my gaze to the newly created passage where the wall had collapsed.

It was the entrance to a new area that opened after clearing the boss battle with the creature abandoned by God. Although it was a small area attached as a bonus, it was generally better to visit it.

Since it was a place that could only be accessed after clearing the DLC’s final boss, if all the monsters were defeated, their experience points were enormous, almost equivalent to two late-game bosses, and most importantly, there were several pieces of equipment and items that could only be obtained there.

Since they were equipment and items that clerics might use, they weren’t very useful to me, but just the experience points obtainable from the field were an enormous reward for me.

‘It’s quite a shame that the monsters don’t respawn.’

Unfortunately, the monsters in that area did not respawn. That’s because it was a one-time area that didn’t need to be visited twice.

If it had been a place where monsters could respawn, I could have just stayed put in the Holy Kingdom and gone back and forth here, but it was a regrettable situation.

‘It would take a bit more time to clear that area and go up, but……’

I glanced at the ceiling. To defeat all the monsters in the newly appeared area, it would probably take another 1.5 to 2 hours.

‘And there’s no guarantee I can come back here.’

I looked around. The statue that originally served as a fast travel point and base in BraDk 4 was not visible. That meant if I carelessly left this place, I might never be able to enter again.

A magic circle had appeared in the middle of the boss room, but it was a one-way path that only allowed exiting from here.

The Popes would have immediately noticed that the monster was dead, so they might have wondered why I wasn’t coming out. But I could explain that later.

I could explain anytime as long as I left this place, but if I left here and couldn’t get back in and missed out on the experience points there, I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I, having firmed my resolve, stepped into the newly created passage.

‘Surely nothing will happen, right?’

They’ll wait for about 2 hours without saying anything, right?

Especially the Popes, they’ll be too busy rejoicing with each other, so there’s no way they’ll have time to worry about me.

ㅡPwoooong!

“What was that just now?!”

“His Holiness the Pope, evacuate-“

“No. There’s no need for that.”

With a “pang” sound, the barrier blocking the Holy Kingdom’s underground shook greatly. Stella and Selene frantically tried to evacuate the Pope, but Floretta politely stopped them.

The explosion that just occurred was not a threat to the Holy Kingdom. Rather, it was closer to a sound that informed them how the long, arduous battle that had taken place inside had concluded.

Floretta could instinctively realize that the fragments of abyss and shadow that had so heavily weighed down her body until now had completely disappeared without leaving even a single shard behind.

‘Ahh…… That person…… truly……’

Floretta firmly held back the tears that were about to burst out.

It wasn’t the moment for that yet. The moment to truly rejoice was after the person who had gifted Floretta and Luna a future appeared unharmed.

After thanking that person, praising that person, and extolling that person’s actions, only then could she truly shed tears of relief. She shouldn’t do so yet.

If that person, as the price for granting freedom to Floretta and Luna, had paid some great sacrifice, then she would never be able to purely rejoice.

“Inquisitor-isiyeo, Inquisitor-isiyeo. Please check the barrier. There is no need for us to panic at all.”

Floretta pointed to the barrier that enveloped the path leading to the Holy Kingdom’s underground. The divine power felt from the barrier, the white light containing God’s power, was shining more brilliantly than ever before.

The flustered Stella and Selene, as soon as they saw that, immediately calmed down. What did it mean for the barrier to shine brighter than ever before? It was something they could understand with a little thought.

“Honored Guest-nim…… succeeded, did they……?”

“…….”

The two of them were on the verge of losing their minds. For such a long time, they never imagined that monster, which had been gnawing at the Popes’ hearts, would simply vanish like this.

Since they didn’t know how desperate a battle the person who went inside had fought, the expression “simply vanished” might be an incorrect choice. But at least on the surface, it seemed that way.

Even the Popes had no suitable method and had to swallow their tears and prepare for one side to sacrifice themselves, and now it’s really over with this?

“I will prepare to welcome them.”

Floretta brought both hands together in front of her chest. Her ample mounds were gently pressed by her wrists, changing their shape. Her fingers intertwined, and her eyelids closed.

The building’s form slowly began to disappear. The barrier, which had maintained its existence for hundreds of years, finished its task, transformed into a brilliant light, and ascended to the sky.

In the place where the barrier disappeared, as if nothing had ever been there, to the point of feeling desolate, only the empty sky and vast land were visible. Nothing remained.

Literally, there was nothing.

“Uh…… Where did the pit go?”

“I don’t know either, Inquisitor.”

Stella and Selene’s voices stiffened. The bright smile that had bloomed on Floretta’s face gradually faltered. It was because they realized something was strange.

The appearance of the building’s interior in the three’s memories was not flat like that. There was a pit that extended endlessly downwards, and its inside was filled with abyss and shadow.

But now nothing of it existed. As if it had been like that from the beginning, as if mocking the three’s memories.

It was impossible.

“……For now, let’s wait.”

Floretta, trying hard to suppress the rising anxiety, uttered the words, “Let’s wait.” Waiting here wouldn’t make the non-existent pit reappear, but for now, she had to.

Stella and Selene were just as anxious. The two of them hurriedly approached the spot where the barrier had been active. And standing on it, they extended their senses downwards to their limit.

Nothing was felt.

All that could be sensed was dirt and rocks. There were no fragments of abyss or shadow, not even a trace of the pit that had originally been in this spot. It was as if everything they had experienced so far was a lie.

“Surely beneath here, there was a path leading to the underground, right? My memory isn’t wrong, is it?”

“The Inquisitor’s memory is not mistaken. And mine is the same, so please put your worries aside. There was definitely a path leading to the abyss in this spot.”

“But then…… why can’t anything be felt now?”

“……I don’t know either.”

Selene gritted her teeth. For now, she truly knew nothing. It was a great shame. Her tightly clenched fist trembled.

“For now, let’s wait. As His Holiness the Pope said, let’s wait. You never know. They might be lost and wandering.”

“I understand, Inquisitor. I will wait.”

The two of them trudged back to the Pope’s side. Floretta, with an visibly anxious expression, was staring at the spot where the barrier had been, tightly clasping her hands in front of her chest.

Time passed. 5 minutes became 10 minutes, 10 minutes became 20 minutes, 20 minutes became 30 minutes, and 30 minutes became 1 hour. Even then, there was no sign of the path reappearing, or that person reappearing.

“…….”

As the situation turned out this way, one possibility slowly began to rear its head in Floretta’s mind.

Self-sacrifice.

That utterly terrible possibility.