Secret – 1

‘……Done.’

I gently caressed the new tattoo that had appeared on the back of my hand. With this, all the conditions for fighting the boss battle against the creature abandoned by God were met. All that remained was to advance the story.

‘The top must be cleared up too, right?’

Having finished my task, I left behind the rune monument that was losing its light and crumbling, and stared blankly up at the boss room’s ceiling, waiting for the magic circle leading to the dungeon entrance to open.

As an element to screw over players who joyfully returned to the surface after obtaining the rune, a mid-boss would attack as soon as they arrived at the dungeon entrance. And from behind the player, no less.

First-time players would usually defeat Lucia after a fierce struggle, acquire the rune, then happily ride the magic circle to the surface, only to get hit in the back of the head by that guy and die absurdly.

However, there was no need to worry about that now.

‘As if they could lose.’

The forces up there alone consisted of four Knight Commanders of the Silver Dawn Knights, who once served the Emperor, an Inquisitor, one of the two main powers of the Holy Nation’s military, and battle nuns numbering in the double digits.

It would be stranger for them to lose to a mere mid-boss. Even if the Knight Commanders fought it one-on-one right now, they could easily defeat it within 30 seconds and then leisurely rest for the remaining time.

Before long, a green magic circle was drawn where the rune monument had been. It was a magic circle that led directly to the surface. I stepped onto the magic circle, and soon I began to be transported somewhere.

When my vision briefly went dark and returned, my body was on a bridge slightly below the dungeon entrance. I put strength into my swaying legs to regain my balance.

Much clearer and warmer sunlight greeted me. There was a distinct difference from the utterly gloomy, black-colored sunlight when I first entered the Rune Dungeon.

I walked straight to the middle of the bridge. Being careful not to slip as much as possible, I leaped up to the bridge above, grabbed the edge, and climbed up.

“Ah, Delta!”

My eyes met with Rije, who was looking down from outside the dungeon. Seeing me, Rije smiled brightly and waved her arms wildly. Because of that, her large breasts, encased in a white sleeveless top, swayed from side to side.

Judging by the fact that she wasn’t wearing armor, it seemed the mid-boss had already been subjugated. I had explained that since that was the only monster that would appear, it was fine to take off their armor after catching it.

Rije, who had crossed to the middle of the bridge in one go, pulled me, who had been struggling below, up with just one arm, and then tidied my disheveled clothes.

“Did you handle it well and come back?”

I silently held up the back of my left hand.

Seeing the tattoo, which had become more complex with the ‘Rest in the Abyss’ rune obtained from this dungeon added to the Vitality Enhancement rune they had acquired together last time, Rije smiled brightly.

I stroked her head a couple of times. A pleasant sigh, ‘Huuu,’ escaped from between her cherry-red lips. When I finished stroking and walked forward, Rije trotted along behind me.

Finally setting foot on proper ground, I felt a sense of relief. The bottom of the dungeon was a muddy mess of black liquid, and the bridge above was a terribly slippery place, God knows what they’d coated it with.

The battle nuns stared at me with blank eyes, and while Selene appeared expressionless at first glance, her jewel-like violet eyes were constantly trembling with surprise.

“……I’m glad you returned safely, Honored Guest-isiyeo.”

“You seem quite surprised?”

“Of course, it’s only natural. How could I not be surprised when you single-handedly brought down a place that our Holy Nation failed to subjugate multiple times, despite numerous sacrifices, in less than an hour?”

“I told you I would, didn’t I? I merely kept my word. Nothing unusual happened up top, did it?”

I looked around. The dark and gloomy scenery from when I first entered was nowhere to be seen; only a clear, clean sky and lush green vegetation stretched out widely.

Suddenly, in a corner of my vision, the thoroughly shattered corpse of a monster, so utterly destroyed that ‘慘’ wouldn’t even begin to describe it, came into view. I let out a small laugh inwardly. It was exactly as I had expected.

“Yes. No incidents occurred, except for the appearance of that monster.”

“Then, our work here is done, so let’s head back. You all don’t have anything else to do, right?”

“We just followed you, Delta. What else would we have to do here?”

At Rije’s words, the other Knight Commanders also nodded in agreement. In fact, the very act of taking off their armor signified that there was nothing more to do here.

“I understand. Then, we will return now, so please prepare your armaments. Everyone, return.”

Selene gave orders to the battle nuns. The battle nuns moved in perfect order, surrounding us from all sides as if to encircle us. Not that any more monsters would appear anyway.

The Knight Commanders donned their armor piece by piece. Full plate armor was originally quite inconvenient to put on and take off, but the Knight Commanders put it on smoothly as if it were everyday clothes.

Selene, who was at the very front, moved first, and we followed behind her. The battle nuns moved at a certain distance, surrounding us.

“Huh? Delta, what’s that on your waist?”

Rije tilted her head, seeing the divine catalyst tied to my waist. At her words, Selene’s eyes briefly flickered in my direction, but the angle was such that my body obscured it, making it impossible to tell exactly what she was referring to.

What Rije saw was the divine catalyst Lucia used. Only by delivering this to the Grand Inquisitor would the Lucia event finally conclude.

The catalyst used to apply the Blessing enchantment to the sword was simply left behind. It wasn’t an event item anyway, and later, I could obtain a divine spell from the Pope that was practically a superior version.

Because of that Blessing enchantment obtainable from the Pope, I had planned to visit the Holy Nation at some point. It’s just that the sudden appearance of Stella completely messed up the order of things.

“It’s a divine catalyst. I picked it up from down there.”

“Oh?”

It was a brief answer, but Rije readily backed off. There was no sign that she would ask how or why I picked it up. Selene seemed to have a similar thought and soon turned her head away.

I had no idea what kind of reaction the Inquisitor would show if she saw Lucia’s divine catalyst. In the game, the option to show the divine catalyst to the Inquisitor didn’t even exist.

This was an event related to the Grand Inquisitor, not an event related to the Inquisitor.

Since there was no longer a need to be vigilant of the surroundings, my walking speed was also much faster. Naturally, the time it took to reach the rift in the barrier also shortened. Before long, a golden glow became visible.

“Honored Guest-isiyeo, would you be able to spare some time after we leave the barrier?”

“It doesn’t matter, since I’ll have plenty of time anyway, but what’s the reason?”

“I would like to hear an explanation about what happened inside the Rune Dungeon, and about the effects of the rune.”

“If it’s about that, of course I should tell you. I understand. Should I just follow you right after we go out?”

I readily gave an affirmative answer. Although I was originally supposed to tell the Grand Inquisitor, even if I confided in Selene, it wouldn’t cause too much of a problem.

Because the person who granted permission to enter the Rune Dungeon had changed in the first place.

“Yes. Thank you for your kindness.”

Selene, who slightly bowed her head to me as a sign of gratitude, led the battle nuns and took positions on both sides of the rift.

“Please go out first. I will follow.”

Unlike from the outside, where the inside of the rift was visible, from the inside, the outside of the rift was not visible. Only a golden glow could be seen. ‘Is that why it’s a barrier?’ I thought idly.

Following Selene’s words, we pushed our bodies into the rift and…

“Why are the Honored Guest-nim coming out from inside the barrier that sealed off the Rune Dungeon?”

As soon as we came out, I found Stella staring at us with a sullen expression, her arms crossed below her chest.

Behind her, battle nuns stood in a line. The Holy Knights who originally guarded this place were nowhere to be seen.

Neither the Grand Inquisitor nor the battle nuns were holding weapons. Stella’s expression was also closer to mild displeasure than anger. For now, it seemed there wouldn’t be a big commotion here.

“Well, isn’t it just as it looks?”

“……You entered the Rune Dungeon?”

“That’s correct.”

Stella clasped her forehead. The deep sigh she let out was heavily mixed with genuine lament.

“Honored Guest-nim. Although His Holiness the Pope has declared that he will welcome you as precious guests, even so, entering the Rune Dungeon without permission is-“

“I granted permission.”

At that moment, Selene walked out from beyond the rift.

“I granted permission for entry into the Rune Dungeon, so the Honored Guest-nim have by no means trespassed without authorization.”

“……Inquisitor, you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What on earth were you thinking? If they had been seriously injured or even died-“

“Don’t you, Grand Inquisitor, know better the skill that the Honored Guest possesses?”

Stella’s face, having been hit where it hurt, flushed slightly, then she gave a small cough as if to change the subject. She seemed to recall the time she was utterly crushed in a spar, unable to land even a single hit on me.

Seeing Stella like that, which was clearly unusual, the Knight Commanders’ gazes pierced her from the side. Although their faces weren’t visible because they were wearing helmets, it was obvious what kind of expressions they were making.

“Ahem, ahem. Alright. Let’s set aside the skill for now. So, what was the result? Did you give up on the subjugation and just come back?”

“You may now release the barrier.”

“……Huh? Really?”

“I do not lie about such things, Grand Inquisitor. I will call the Holy Knights back later. I ordered them to stay far back, just in case.”

“No, I didn’t mean you were lying…… It’s just that it hasn’t been long since you entered, and you’re saying the dungeon has already been subjugated, so I was surprised.”

Stella’s gaze turned towards me. I quickly opened my mouth, seizing the opportunity.

“Speaking of which, I have something to give to Grand Inquisitor-nim.”

“Huh? To me?”

“Yes. To Grand Inquisitor-nim.”

Her green eyes, directed at me, widened in bewilderment. It was the face of someone who had heard something completely unexpected.

“What is it? It’s not, like, the head of a monster from the Rune Dungeon, is it?”

Stella let out a hearty laugh. I quietly picked up the divine catalyst that had been tied to my waist and held it out to Stella.

“…….”

Seeing the divine catalyst, Stella abruptly stopped laughing.