Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 45 - C-Rank Dungeon: Nightmare World (3)

Chapter 45 – C-Rank Dungeon: Nightmare World (3)

 

【I knew you’d ask for that!】

Sue’je let out a hearty laugh.

“Ahahaha!”

Then gently stroked my cheek with a faint current of lightning.

【I figured you would, so I painstakingly gathered up every bit of my divine power in advance! I did well, didn’t I?】

I was so grateful for such considerate care that I rewarded Him with a bright smile.

“Thank you.”

【…….】

For a brief instant, accompanied by a distant scream, Sue’je’s presence disappeared.

Then it returned.

【From now on, don’t smile like that. Unless you want me to disappear!】

Crackle!

Violent black lightning suddenly surged throughout my body.

The tattered, cheap clothes I was wearing were completely burned away.

The lightning lingered unusually long, tracing every inch of my body…

Then the transformation was complete.

【Ta-da!】

When I opened my eyes…

I found myself wearing an entirely new outfit.

A priest’s robe is dyed completely black.

Unlike the pitch-black darkness of Nightmare World, however, this ceremonial robe possessed a comparatively brighter shade of black, like Sue’je’s own lightning.

 

[Divine Relic – Sky Invader]

[A dreadful jet-black garment bestowed by that revolting Sue’je. While wearing it, you instinctively perceive the location of anything noble, sacred, or pure.]

 

The Unclean Sovereign of the Sky was the symbol of defiled authority.

He tolerated not even a single fragment of blue sky or pure white clouds.

Therefore…

He was forever plagued by the desire to taint every place, object, and existence that was perfectly pure.

The Sky Invader, imbued with Sue’je’s wish, functioned as the mandatory uniform worn by every cultist serving the Unclean Sky.

【Alright, I’m off now. Oh… next time, would you mind performing the ritual half-naked?】

“Of course. My body is the private property of the Exalted One.”

【Ahahahahaha!】

Thus…

The revelation of the Exalted One concluded amidst joyous laughter.

Quietly standing there, I examined my new attire.

Then I fastened the Authority of Restoration around my neck and spoke.

“Everyone. The location of the white land we must find has now been identified.”

It felt perfectly natural.

Somewhere far away… There existed…

A tiny fragment of pure white.

A pure dream surrounded by nightmares.

“The second stage of our expedition plan, obtaining the Divine Relic Sky Invader, has been completed successfully.”

“…Karr?”

“What is it?”

“Do cultists normally obtain Divine Relics this easily…?”

Of course not.

“If it were that easy, the cults of the evil gods would have conquered the world again long ago. He gathered together every last scrap of His divine power just to give me this. And this is the lowest-grade Divine Relic.”

Sue’je would probably suffer from a shortage of faith for quite some time.

I felt so grateful…

I resolved to move as slowly as possible whenever changing clothes for the next month.

“Now then. On to the next stage.”

Nightmare World Expedition.

Stage Three: Finding the Pure White Land.

“Things will become even more dangerous from here onward. So please pay even closer attention to my instructions.”

 

***

 

The randomly determined location of the White Land wasn’t terribly far away.

At our pace…

It would take just under two days of steady travel.

Neither particularly lucky…

Nor particularly unlucky.

Sometimes it appeared so far away that even running at full speed for three days wasn’t enough to reach it.

Compared to that… This was fortunate.

“…I’m getting tired.”

Because this was a dream… We never needed sleep.

Nor rest.

So we’d continued our forced march without stopping for even a moment.

My companions were steadily growing exhausted.

Furthermore… Once a full day had passed…

The Dead King had once again begun watching us.

“Pendrick…”

“I’m okay… I think.”

Pendrick was still merely an explorer trainee.

He was already on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

Rosalia’s expression remained unchanged…

But her footsteps had become noticeably slower.

‘I’m at my limit too.’

Nearly twenty curses from dark mages covered my body.

Every one of them restricted bodily movement.

At this point…

Even the simple act of moving my legs felt burdensome.

“Keep going.”

I couldn’t show weakness now.

If I did… Everyone else would falter as well.

No matter how exhausted I became…

The expedition leader had a duty to steady everyone’s spirits when they had all reached their limits.

“You can do this. I believe in your talents. I trust your abilities and Mysteries completely.”

No labyrinth could ever be conquered alone.

Every explorer needed companions…

To face hardships and adversity together.

“If we combine our hearts and our strength… There isn’t a single labyrinth we cannot conquer.”

This wasn’t even a top-ranked labyrinth.

It was merely the C-Rank Nightmare World.

Such a place was hardly a worthy grave for our Moonlight Expedition Team.

“When this expedition ends… Lady Astrimia will finally be freed from the curse, forcing forgetfulness upon her. And she’ll be able to share her happiness with Pendrick.”

Then… The entire continent of Pletica would learn…

That we had conquered a previously unconquered dungeon.

“…Just hearing that gives me strength.”

Pendrick smiled weakly.

“……”

Rosalia looked at me with clear approval.

“Let’s continue.”

We resumed our march through the darkness.

“There they are!”

One day and twenty hours after we’d resumed traveling…

Despite carefully adjusting our route…

We once again encountered a pursuing group of demons.

Before the battle began…

One enemy, apparently a dark mage, shouted,

“They have a shadow-walking assassin and a swordsman wielding a shining blade!”

“Priests of Solitary Silence!”

“Attack the insane half-elf!”

“Dark mages!”

“Keep the assassin and swordsman from approaching!”

By now…

The enemy had completely figured out our party composition.

From this point onward…

My role would become more important than ever.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Crackle!

To draw aggro…

I transformed my body into lightning and scattered bolts in every direction.

Naturally…

I didn’t forget to fire flames using the Artifact Ember of Glory.

“I am Karr. A half-elf who reveres Lord Lriria.  above every other deity. My lifelong dream is to become one of His Priests of Solitary Silence. And I’ve always loved dark magic… I study curses, plagues, and poisons every single day. Long live Lord Lriria. I love dark mages.”

“……”

Silence descended upon the dark battlefield.

It had already been quiet before…

But now the atmosphere became especially silent.

“Why are you reacting like that? Do you mock my devotion to Lord Lriria? And my love for dark magic?”

“…Be consumed by twilight!”

Apparently… They did.

Fwoooosh!

Violent flames swirled through the air.

Then, suddenly split into hundreds of fire beetles that flew toward me.

At the same time… A towering pillar of flame erupted upward.

From its pointed tip… A blazing beam shot downward.

 

[Ar·my·Swarm].

[Ex·ter·mi·na·tion·Tower].

 

Neither was a trivial Mystery.

Bzzzzz!

Golden fire beetles… Almost the same color as my hair and eyes…

Covered my body.

Gnawing at my flesh while burning it.

Bzzzzzz!

A crimson beam pierced clean through my abdomen.

I glanced down briefly at the neat hole where my stomach had been.

Then smiled.

“Haha. I was actually wondering what life as a donut would feel like. So thank you for letting me find out.”

Perhaps pleased to hear my gratitude…

The priests froze for a moment.

Crackle.

Using Black Lightning Bloom, I blasted away every beetle.

Then hurriedly retrieved another Vitality Recovery Potion from my subspace.

My body recovered quickly.

But… The headache had reached the point where I could no longer endure it.

‘I’ve never consumed this much Sanity before.’

 

[Current Sanity: 0/100]

 

For the first time… The cultist’s resource Sanity 

Had reached zero.

Even in this condition… I could still use Mysteries without issue.

One of the few advantages of the Cultist class.

The downside… Was that every use of Sanity flooded me with severe mental illnesses.

Madness, Hallucinations, Extreme depression, Schizophrenia, the complete deluxe package.

The expensive Mental Barrier Potion allowed me to endure them to some extent…

But its effects were fading rapidly.

I needed to be careful.

 

[I recommend drinking another potion immediately.]

 

Just as I obediently uncorked another Mental Barrier Potion…

Whoooosh!

Astrimia… Who had been quietly gathering power…

Suddenly erupted with dazzling starlight.

The dark mages practically rejoiced at the sudden light.

At that very moment…

Pendrick swung his aura-coated sword.

“Hell calls for you!”

Reacting to the ambush…

The dark mages hurriedly unleashed a barrage of Mysteries.

Murky green spikes, Fangs, Mist, Massive tree trunks, and Hellhounds burst forth through summoning.

“Stop the swordsman!”

“Keep detecting the assassin’s approach!”

The same dark mage who had shouted orders earlier barked commands at his shaken allies while hurling dark magic nonstop.

An opponent far beyond Pendrick’s current abilities.

Struck by a green orb…

Pendrick was knocked backward toward me.

Then, Resisting Body transformed his physique into one slightly resistant to dark magic.

Immediately afterward… He charged once more.

Fwoosh.

Meanwhile…

The priests continued relentlessly focusing all of their attacks upon me.

I endured them.

Taking every single attack with my own body.

Until…

“…Ghk.”

At one point… While the assault continued without pause…

Several enemies suddenly coughed up blood.

First… One.

Then… Ten.

After that… Everyone.

Even the Hellhounds began coughing blood…

Collapsing one after another.

“…What have you done?”

The leader of the dark mages… One of the few still standing… Demanded.

Normally… I wouldn’t bother explaining anything to my enemies.

But since he was about to die…

I decided to make an exception.

“Assassination isn’t accomplished only with blades.”

Poisoning.

Stabbing and slashing from ambush were merely one aspect of an assassin’s methods.

They had never realized…

That assassins of House Brites became more poisonous… The darker their surroundings were.

“……”

Rosalia…

Who had secretly spread poison throughout the battlefield with the Crimson Death Rose while hidden within the shadows… Rose beside me.

Meanwhile…

The poisoned demons’ naturally blue skin became even bluer.

They continued vomiting blood.

“…You will not survive.”

“Will we?”

Pendrick cut down the dark mage leader…

Who had barely managed to neutralize the poison enough to stand again.

The other dark mages struggling back to their feet couldn’t escape Astrimia’s beautiful blade either.

Heads rolled to the ground one after another.

Rosalia returned as well…

After finishing off every surviving priest.

‘Tap.’

Then she tapped my arm… and held up six fingers.

“You leveled up? Congratulations.”

It was only natural.

She had slain countless enemies by now.

“You’ve entered the difficult stage. From Level 6 onward… The Rank of the Soul rises at an absolutely miserable pace. So keep at it.”

I’d have loved to throw her a celebration party…

But neither the situation nor the location allowed it.

Reluctantly… We focused solely on the expedition.

Gathering the party after eliminating every demon…

We resumed walking.

“We’re almost there.”

At last… The White Land lay directly ahead.