Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. – Chapter 80 – Sanctuary of Restful Purification: Fight to the Death

Author: Cireng

Chapter 80: Sanctuary of Restful Purification: Fight to the Death

The exterior of the Level 8 Gigantic Destruction Golem was made from a material that did not exist in the present, existing only in the future of Golemophia.

Its name was Ultimate Iron.

Because of its unparalleled defensive power and ability to block mystical interference, it was absolutely impossible to pierce through it by ordinary means.

In other words, I couldn’t repeat the stunt I had pulled in the Library of Sin, where I transformed my entire body into lightning and passed through the Book Knight’s armor.

KWAAAAAA—!

The giant golem opened its mouth wide, unleashing an enormous Transcendent Mana Beam that struck the Saint’s barrier surrounding the sanctuary.

The pure white curtain, which had remained unmoved against every previous bombardment, now shook precariously.

—It looks like just one more attack will do it!

The peacock-type commander golem flew over near the giant golem I was standing on.

—The troublesome shield wall disappeared long ago, so all we have to do is break that barrier!

Had Seraphina nearly exhausted her divine power?

The authority of the sacred relic Tireon, which had faithfully protected the sanctuary for the past two days, had already faded a few minutes ago.

If I didn’t destroy this golem quickly…

Everyone inside the sanctuary would die.

“Don’t go.”

Ignoring Yoonji’s whisper, who had somehow attached herself to me, I dropped downward.

I fell.

Carefully adjusting my position…

I barely landed on the giant golem’s slightly protruding lower jaw.

“…Urgh.”

I crawled my way into its mouth.

This was the only entrance through which one could infiltrate the Gigantic Destruction Golem’s body.

It wasn’t an exit.

Once everything was over…

I wouldn’t have the strength left to crawl back out anyway.

—Huh? What’s that intelligent lifeform doing?!

As I crawled forward like a snail…

The ever-cheerful peacock golem flinched in surprise.

—Don’t let him get inside!

—?? Unable to comprehend.

Fortunately…

The Gigantic Destruction Golem still hadn’t recognized my existence.

Thank goodness I was nothing more than a measly Level 4 cultist.

—If you don’t understand, just fire another Transcendent Mana Beam already!

—Charging required.

—…You’re all seriously hopeless!

Just as the commander golem angrily flew toward me…

KWA-GAGAGAGAK!

A sword wrapped in a vortex of divine power shot up from the ground and grazed its wing.

“Leave Lord Karr alone, you peacock bastard!”

Valentin.

Thanks to the Heretic Crusher buying me time…

I looked down into the golem’s throat.

A long vertical passage engraved with magic circles used not for digesting food…

But for activating various mysteries.

Scorching hot smoke billowed upward from below, slowly roasting my entire body.

“So this is how ingredients feel.”

“You really did love cooking.”

A strange conversation suddenly reached my ears.

Turning my head…

I saw two unfamiliar children lying beside me.

Who are you?

“You don’t know who we are?”

“That’s disappointing, Karr.”

I wasn’t interested.

They were just hallucinations and auditory illusions made twice as powerful by the penalty from the Fragment of the Colossus.

They kept mumbling something…

But I ignored them and threw myself farther down.

Intense heat engulfed my body.

The pressure squeezing my mind grew stronger.

Crunch!

I landed somewhere.

Unfortunately… On my waist.

I’d completely lost sensation below it.

Who cared?

I’d swallowed black lightning beforehand precisely because I expected something like this.

‘Crackle.’

Some sort of will flowed through the tattoo on my collarbone.

I couldn’t understand what it meant.

I understood the beginning…

“Why would a complete stran…”

After that, nothing made sense.

At this point… Even my awareness of where I was… And who I was…

Was gradually becoming blurred again.

“Heh… heh.”

Yet… I found myself smiling.

I didn’t know why.

But I felt good.

A joy…

An ecstasy…

As though they were bubbling up from the depths of my heart.

Kyaaaak!

As I lay sprawled atop some unidentified hard object…

The Blind Crow suddenly appeared and pecked lightly at my forehead.

Then it pecked out my eye.

Devoured my heart. Tore into my liver. Ripped open my stomach… Or maybe not.

Perhaps it had merely tapped my head a few times.

Kaw!

Eventually…

The handsome crow pecked repeatedly at the hard surface beneath me before crying loudly beside my ear.

Kyaaaaaak!

“…Got it. That’s enough.”

You’re too noisy.

I can barely hear from my left ear… Or was it the right?

Maybe I never had a left ear in the first place.

Either way…

I vaguely remembered what I needed to do.

“Truthy…”

Kaw?

“Break this.”

I weakly tapped the ground beneath me.

“This is the mana core.”

While every other part of the body could be passed through while transformed into lightning…

A mana core filled with pure mana couldn’t.

Kak!

The Blind Crow immediately struck it with all its might.

It didn’t even leave a scratch. As expected.

Whiiiiiiine.

While Jinsil struggled…

Blue light and searing heat began spreading from every direction.

Another Transcendent Mana Beam.

There wasn’t any more time.

I immediately did what I’d already decided.

Crackle!

Using my right hand transformed into razor-sharp lightning…

I severed my left arm below the elbow.

Black lightning mixed with blood poured down.

…Kaw?

“Quit standing there. Go collect the Ember of Glory.”

Next…

I took out a tiny pebble from Radiant’s subspace and swallowed it.

Since my information manager had crawled out through my eye socket, I couldn’t see any status messages…

But my body’s properties had probably become stone.

From this moment on…

I myself was a walking temporary altar.

“Lidni… You know I hold you in the deepest reverence without me needing to say it aloud, don’t you?”

Quietly reciting the prayer…

I placed two candles beside me and lit them.

“I believe in you at least a hundred times more than any ordinary cultist. I never doubt that you will always guide me on the journey toward truth.”

Except for one exceedingly picky Evil God…

The contents of the prayer didn’t really matter to the others.

The important part…

Was the living sacrifice itself.

If the offering tasted good… They didn’t care much about etiquette or ceremony.

And… The Evil God’s favorite offering…

Was always the cultist performing the ritual.

“I offer you part of my frail body.”

A cultist’s ultimate trump card.

The ritual of self-sacrifice.

The permanent offering… My left arm.

“In return… Please deal with this mana core in the wisest manner possible.”

He would accomplish it.

Once upon a time…

He had glimpsed truth itself and possessed all knowledge in the world.

“O Wise One…”

What was I supposed to say next again?

Unable to remember for a moment…

I hesitated before forcing the words out.

“Please enjoy eating me.”

…Kyaaaak!

With a loud cry… The Blind Crow quickly devoured my severed left arm.

Wooooong!

Meanwhile…

The blue light surrounding everything flashed menacingly.

The heat rose as though it intended to boil my entire body alive.

Whatever. I’d already done everything I could.

So I simply lay there spread-eagled.

“Did you really have to go this far?

“My thoughts exactly.”

“That was an unbelievably stupid decision, Karr.”

The unfamiliar boy and girl from before had once again appeared beside me.

“Forget your hallucinations. Bring me Yoonji instead.”

But the pitiful child never appeared.

What a shame.

I suppose I’d have to wait until another nightmare…

Or until I exhausted my mental power again.

Closing my eyes…

I quietly enjoyed the sensation of my body being consumed by heat.

Crack… crack-crack…

Then… The mana core beneath my back began to shatter.

Almost simultaneously…

The blue light and heat disappeared.

The constant vibrations also ceased.

The Gigantic Destruction Golem had probably stopped moving.

Before I could even savor the accomplishment…

My consciousness began sinking into darkness.

【…You truly do the most outrageous things.】

Just as my consciousness nearly faded away…

The Wise One’s voice echoed faintly from somewhere far away…

Before abruptly disappearing.

He had withdrawn immediately.

My fragile consciousness probably couldn’t endure the overwhelming presence of a Great Divinity.

An Evil God should’ve boldly said everything He wanted regardless of whether a mere cultist lived or died.

“…”

My thoughts dissolved together with my consciousness.

So this was the end.

It was unfortunate to die in a C-Rank dungeon…

Though these golems originated from the A-Rank Golemophia, so it wasn’t the worst possible grave.

Just as I was about to completely let go…

Satisfied, at least a little…

Saaaaa…

Suddenly.

Pure white light quietly rose from my body.

Not just one kind.

A white tinged with gray.

And a flawless pure white.

Two powers…

The same, yet different…

Flowed into me like underground springs.

K-Kaw?!

The Blind Crow shuddered in terror before retreating back into my eye socket.

[You can feel the presence of two Hypocrite Goddesses within you!]

The Goddess of Clear Wisdom.

The Goddess of Unwavering Protection.

Protector of the Fragile Light.

Artein had descended upon me.

Both the present-day goddess… And the past goddess recreated within the labyrinth.

[Your Life Force and Mental Power are rapidly recovering! Even the dangerously accumulated Dark Solitude has disappeared! Frustrating though it is, this was an enormous help!]

“…Lady Artein. You were both a little late.”

Still… I couldn’t help feeling pleased.

My gamble…

Betting my life on the possibility that Artein would help me… Had succeeded.

‘I can’t believe that actually worked…’

Nothing like this had been possible in the game.

Honestly…

I’d believed dying was far more likely.

Yet somehow… Everything had turned out well.

People really should live according to their emotions.

If I’d stubbornly clung only to rational judgment…

I’d never have reached such an ideal ending.

Finally relaxing my body…

I whispered quietly.

“Lady Artein. If you’ve taken a liking to me… Please remember to subscribe and leave a like.”

The endless stream of white light carried two nearly identical wills.

“What are you talking about?”

“What on earth are you saying…?”

“I mean… Please keep taking an interest in me… And maybe support me once in a while.”

Bestowing Mystery only consumed faith.

It wasn’t actually necessary for someone to be your believer…

Since I was already making such a modest request…

I decided to ask for one more thing.

“If it isn’t too much trouble… Could you grant me one more favor?”

Having finally managed to say everything…

Drowsiness overtook me.

This time…

I was certain it wouldn’t end in death.

So, at last… I peacefully closed my eyes.

As expected…

A C-Rank dungeon simply wasn’t worthy of becoming my grave.

***

Rumble…

Having barely managed to destroy the third giant golem…

Seraphina staggered as she forced herself back to her feet.

She had no divine power left.

She could still fight ordinary monsters…

But if another high-level golem appeared…

She wouldn’t be able to stop it.

‘…What about the others?’

Looking across the battlefield…

She saw that the Holy Knight Commander had just defeated the one assigned to him.

Then… What about the golem assigned to the explorers?

—Hurry up and fire already!

Following the frantic urging of the flapping peacock golem…

It was preparing to unleash a Mystery developed in the future.

‘…Did they fail?’

The blonde half-elf… And the explorers…

Who had risked their lives fighting alongside them, despite this world not even being real.

Thinking they had all perished… Made her heart ache.

Even worse… She no longer possessed the strength to stop that attack.

Biting her lip… Seraphina was nevertheless prepared to throw the sacred buckler Clerisium one last time.

Crrrrrk…

The instant she picked up the buckler lying nearby…

The giant golem’s entire body suddenly began shaking violently.

It trembled from head to toe…

Before freezing completely.

—…What happened?!

Watching the bewildered peacock fly circles around the motionless giant…

Seraphina’s eyes widened.

They’d succeeded.

Explorers nowhere near Level 8…

Had actually succeeded.

Even more astonishing…

She could sense the immense presence of the One Who Protects All emanating from inside the golem.

Not one… But two.

—Ha! I’ll admit you’ve done better than expected, but this still isn’t over!

The commander golem flew toward the rear of the battlefield.

Following its gaze…

Seraphina’s expression instantly hardened.

Far across the sky…

Nine floating golems even larger than the giant one they had barely defeated were leisurely approaching.

—Level 9 Flying War Golems! There’s no way you can survive this anymore!

“…”

It was true.

Even if she had been at full strength…

She couldn’t have stopped that force.

Still… She had no intention of giving up.

The surviving Holy Knights apparently felt the same.

The handful who remained alive steadily advanced toward the incoming golems.

Seraphina… Holding spear and buckler…

Joined them.

—You living creatures really are pathetically stupi–

BOOOOOOM!

—…Huh?

The commander golem, who had been mocking them…

Blankly looked toward the approaching aircraft.

One of the nine flying golems had crashed to the ground…

Engulfed in flames.

—Wh-What is… GYAAAH!

The commander screamed.

—Grrrrrr!

A gigantic wyvern suddenly swooped in…

Bit down repeatedly on the peacock golem…

Then spat it out.

The commander shattered into countless pieces of scrap metal scattered across the battlefield.

“Greetings, Saint.”

A knight wearing light armor atop the wyvern casually waved at Seraphina.

“The reinforcements have arrived.”

“…Welcome.”

Only then did Seraphina finally smile in relief as she sank to the ground.

Cassius Blackburn. Commander of the Royal Dragon Cavalry.

A Level 10 Monster Warrior of the Kingdom of Lumes.

The strongest warrior of this era… Had arrived.

“Lady Artein suddenly granted me a revelation. She said she’d personally explain things to His Majesty later, so I should ignore all procedures and fly here immediately.”

“I see…”

“Rest now.”

The Dragon Cavalry Commander leisurely leveled the cavalry lance in his hand toward the flying golems.

“As long as I’m here.”

“…I’m counting on you.”

Cassius shot into the sky like an arrow…

Immediately launching a fierce assault against the swarm of Level 9 flying constructs.

Reliable.

So overwhelmingly dependable…

That Seraphina could finally relax.

‘You really did it, Lord Karr.’

Watching the Dragon Cavalry Commander fight for a moment…