Volume 7, Chapter 37 – The Gospel and the Pitfall

This was a room filled with bright light, so dazzling it was like having a giant interrogation lamp shone directly into one’s eyes. But in contrast to the bright light, the room was not spacious, only the size of a normal bedroom. A group of men, all shrouded in black robes, sat around a long conference table.

They were members of the self-proclaimed Divine Religion.

Originating in the Norta Empire and established less than two hundred years ago, the Divine Religion, with the support of the Norta imperial family, had managed to push out most of the Ymir Church’s temples from the Empire in less than a hundred years. It was once prophesied within the Empire that in at most ten years, no one in the Empire would believe in the Ymir Church. Although there was an element of exaggeration in this, it offered a glimpse into the influence of the Divine Religion within the Empire.

It was worth noting that the Divine Religion was not a religion entirely propped up by the imperial family. The biggest reason they were able to quickly gain the trust of the people was that no matter what prophecies they made, they would eventually come true. From natural disasters to man-made calamities, from foreign countries to their own, and even across races, as long as one could see the shadow of the Divine Religion in an event, the scales of victory would ultimately tip in their favor. Even if the Divine Religion sometimes made decisions that were baffling to everyone and seemed like a losing deal no matter how you looked at it, in the very end, they would always emerge as the final victors in an unexpected way.

To give an example, the most celebrated story was that of the savior. In the past thirty years, the Divine Religion had mobilized a large number of people along the coast of the Empire to search for a savior who could save the world. After ten years of effort, they finally found a child in an obscure village who possessed the blood of a human, a dragon, and a sea monster. Due to his appearance, which was different from that of a human, no one thought highly of the Divine Religion at the time. The nobles even openly mocked them in court, believing that the Divine Religion’s prophecy had failed and that they had randomly found a monster to cover up their lie and explain to the masses—just like half-elves, mixed-bloods were always an unwelcome race.

Thus, the Divine Religion bore this stigma and quietly raised the savior. It was not until the savior used magic for the first time that people discovered that his talent for combat was astonishingly high. Not only could he use third-tier magic at the first tier, but he was also adept at close-combat magic. Before he even reached adulthood, he already had the strength to slay a dragon.

If one were to nominate the strongest warrior in the Empire, it would have to be the savior chosen by the Divine Religion. Therefore, from then on, the Divine Religion’s prestige was unrivaled. In comparison, the Ymir Church’s vague descriptions of their god began to waver in people’s hearts and gradually faded from view.

Now, these members of the Divine Religion, who served as an advance team, were gathered in an underground room near the labyrinth.

Thump, thump.

With the sound of a staff hitting the ground, a man with a limp, completely shrouded in a black robe, entered the room. Unlike the other cultists who were already seated, this man’s hood was inlaid with a large inverted cross emblem.

The moment the man appeared, everyone rose from their seats.

“Lord Bishop.”

“Sit.”

“Yes.”

The man first glanced around the room. Noticing an empty seat at the table, he tilted his head slightly, then sat down on a wooden chair with the help of those around him.

“Darius is not here?”

As if not knowing how to explain to the Bishop, the cultists, shrouded in their black robes, looked at each other. After a silent exchange of glances, a man sitting next to the Bishop spoke with a heavy heart.

“Lord Bishop, Darius… he died in the line of duty.”

“Mm.” With the Bishop’s exhale, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy. “He failed… Where are his remains?”

“The one who returned said that Darius was defeated by a woman who appeared suddenly. Although he fought with all his might, in the end, he could only use his Holy Blade to buy time for the others, allowing his subordinate to escape and report back.”

Rеаd оո ΚatReаⅾіոgCafе

“In other words, you haven’t seen his body yet, is that right?”

“Yes. We’ve only learned that the woman who defeated him is the new cardinal of the Ymir Church, Yisi Enya, who was granted the Crest of Saint Mistilteinn by the 24th Pope, Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu. We believe it is unlikely that Darius will return alive. Rather than have him reveal our intelligence after being captured, it would be better for us to take the initiative…”

The speaker made a slitting motion with his hand, the unspoken meaning being to eliminate the person who could potentially leak information. Killing a person was far simpler than saving one. Poisoning and cursing were both methods that would not leave a trace.

The Bishop hesitated.

This hesitation made the men at the table anxious.

“Lord Bishop, we all had the resolve to be martyred when we were sent out by His Holiness the Pope. Darius must have felt the same. None of us wish to be bewitched by mind magic. If the people from the Ymir Church were to discover our intentions from Darius… a key part of the [Revelation] might…”

“…I understand.”

Hearing the word “Revelation,” the Bishop’s hesitation gradually dissipated, replaced by a complex expression of irresolution. From a drawer-sized black hole, he took out a hardcover book nearly half a meter thick. When the cultists saw this black book, which seemed to swallow all light, their eyes were all filled with the reverence characteristic of devout believers.

“The Gospel…”

“You may all leave. I must consult the prophecy.”

“Yes.”

No one refused. The black-robed cultists rose one by one.

After the room had quieted down, the Bishop took a deep breath, opened the parchment pages, and kissed the inverted cross necklace hanging around his neck.

“May the Gospel forever be conveyed to us, the humble.”

◇

“Master, Miss Camilla is ready.”

“Hmph, finally ready? Go back and inform Camilla to send those weeds to meet the Goddess.”

“Yes!”

After Refina had gone, Edith poured magic power into Gungnir and ran at full speed to a room where monsters were sleeping. Then, she threw Gungnir into it with all her might. With a loud explosion and the howls of countless monsters, the sleeping creatures all rose, their eyes filled with rage as they charged straight at Edith.

Rеαd oո КatRеaԁiոgCаfе

But this was exactly what Edith wanted.

They’ve taken the bait.

Following a pre-drawn route, Edith led the herd of flaming cattle through the labyrinth. As expected, she guided them to the vicinity of the “Field of Revelry of the Steel-Blade Bees” on the tenth floor.

“Everything is going smoothly. Now then.”

Throwing another short blade behind her to enrage the herd, Edith suddenly accelerated, leaving the cattle behind.

This is the last corner.

Counting down in her mind, Edith rounded the corner and came to a ‘dead end’. The path ahead was blocked by rocks. To avoid being caught by the herd behind her, her only option was to turn right into the “Field of Revelry of the Steel-Blade Bees”, but that was also a place of no return.

That is, if Edith didn’t know the plan.

Even though continuing forward would mean crashing straight into the wall, Edith charged ahead without hesitation.

“Camilla!”

“Understood! Mary, Tiffany, pull it up!”

“Yes!”

Just as Edith was about to hit the wall in front of her, the ‘wall’ suddenly rose like a vertically moving stone gate. Then, after she had rushed through, it fell back into place.

Then.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

The deafening sound of the massive herd trampling the ground, countless dust particles falling from the cobweb-covered ceiling, and the violent tremors of the earth underfoot. If it were someone with weak nerves, they would surely have turned and fled in terror by now. But Camilla’s group just stood behind the curtain, waiting for it to be over.

This was an idea that Camilla, Edith, and Refina had come up with together.

With their current strength, unless they were willing to consume a large amount of magic potions and endure the pain of charging forward, it was almost impossible to defeat the numerous Steel-Blade Bees and Exploding Pods. In fact, if Camilla hadn’t frozen the bees in their hive with [Twilight of Eternal Frost] at the beginning, they wouldn’t have even been able to defeat the bees.

Unlike the Steel-Blade Bees commanded by the people of the Divine Religion, this was their hive. Besides being at least ten times more numerous, there was also a queen, who was different from the ordinary bees. According to the information Edith had pried out of Yisi, the queen’s level was very close to that of a guardian. The only reason she hadn’t appeared was that she was in her egg-laying period and in a weakened state.

Faced with such a tricky situation, they could only take a different approach. Since they couldn’t defeat them themselves, then they would ask other monsters to help them. That way, they might be able to achieve victory. Therefore, they had searched room by room and finally found a herd of flaming cattle on the eleventh floor, near the tenth.

Rеαԁ оո КаtRеαԁіոɡCαfе

Fire was undoubtedly a disaster for plant-type monsters. The only remaining problem was how to lure the herd from the eleventh floor to the tenth. After experimenting, Edith discovered that the reason the monsters didn’t cross floors was not because they were under some kind of restriction, but because they themselves didn’t know the routes within the labyrinth. So, as long as she enraged them, they would follow her all the way to the tenth floor, which led to the current scene.

The “Field of Revelry of the Steel-Blade Bees” was filled with the bellows of the cattle, the explosions of the pods, and the buzzing of the bees. Even without seeing it, they could imagine the chaotic scene inside.

“Phew, it’s a good thing the bodies of those Illusion Butterflies weren’t dragged away by monsters. Otherwise, this plan would have been impossible.” Letting out a light breath, Camilla lowered her Twilight of Eternal Frost and waved at Mary and Tiffany. “Alright, you can let down the curtain now.”

“Okay.”

“I feel like my heart is about to jump out of my chest.”

Mary and Tiffany lowered the branches that were holding up the curtain. In their eyes, this curtain was just a piece of white cloth stained with dust. But if you were to look at it from the other side, you would see a surface that had been transformed into a wall by illusion magic. The wings of an Illusion Butterfly would automatically change color to match their surroundings, and this effect would last for about half a day even after the butterfly died. So, Camilla’s group had collected the wings, spread them on the curtain, and thus deceived the eyes of the flaming cattle, luring them into the Steel-Blade Bee’s room. The rising and falling of the wall they had seen earlier was actually just the rising and falling of the curtain.

“Speaking of which, although this will take care of the threat of the vine-type monsters, how are we supposed to collect the pollen? If the cattle trample the Bee Flowers, it would defeat the whole purpose.”

“Of course I have a plan. I’ve already frozen the Bee Flowers with this staff—by the way, this was a gift from Onee-sama.”

“Hmph.”

Whether out of displeasure or indifference, Edith let out a soft huff.

Laxy, who was watching from the side, clapped lightly.

“A truly splendid battle. Such cooperation would be given high marks by many Third-Rank Angels even in the Kingdom of God. It’s hard to imagine that you have not undergone combat training in an academy.”

“Academies are just places for weak nobles to show off. Even the Royal Academy can’t escape the hierarchy of status. To have a level 20 commoner deliberately lose to a level 5 count’s son for the sake of a noble’s status, and to treat that shame as an honor, is disgusting.”

“Uh… I’ve always had a question. Since Camilla is Edith’s younger sister, why is one a pureblood and the other a human? I remember that a pureblood and a human can only give birth to a non-pureblood vampire.”

Laxy looked at Camilla. The power source Yisi had given her had temporarily put her at ease, allowing her to fully observe the group’s battle plan. In their conversations, she had learned of the relationship between Camilla and the others.

“My only older sister is Yisi Enya. This woman is just an accessory.”

“Hoh, you’ve got some nerve. It seems it’s time for you to learn the authority of an elder sister.”

“Authority? You’ve never even touched Onee-sama’s lips. Loiswell is nothing special after all.”

“Heh, heh, heh…”

Rеαd οո КatRеaⅾіngСаfе

This is bad.

This is very bad.

Yisi’s heart skipped a beat.

Pepe’s current state was undoubtedly one of anger. Although she and Pepe had actually kissed before, it was when they were in their spiritual forms. With Pepe’s personality, she would absolutely replicate it on the spot for Camilla to see.

Although, in terms of the act itself, she felt it was a reward, considering that Mary, Refina, and the proper angel Laxy were present, it would be nothing short of a public execution. Mary might be corrupted by Pepe, being with Refina there would feel strange, and Laxy might think she was shameless if she saw it.

Yisi immediately took a few small steps away from Pepe. Then, just as she had expected, Pepe, who had turned around, suddenly grabbed at the spot where she had been standing—and caught nothing but air.

Edith frowned.

“Come here.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m not going to eat you.”

But it’s indecent.

To end the current crisis quickly, Yisi guiltily looked at the ground and awkwardly changed the subject.

“Um… it seems to be quiet in the room now. Shouldn’t we go and check? What if something went wrong…”

“Your attempt to change the subject is too clumsy. I can let the matter of the staff go, but I didn’t expect you, who looks so innocent, to have already gone that far with Camilla. If I don’t teach you a lesson—hmm?”

Before she could finish, a white light shone from Camilla, Mary, Tiffany, Edith, and Refina all at once. From Yisi’s [Omniscient Map], everyone had gained at least one level.

Camilla had leveled up twice, Tiffany three times, and the others once. Now, Camilla is level 16, Mary is 16, Tiffany is 14, Pepe is 25, and Refina is 17.

And the monsters in the Steel-Blade Bee’s room, from fighting each other, were reduced to less than a third of the bees surviving, with the rest either dead or about to die.

Can you level up even by tricking monsters into killing each other?

Putting that question aside, what made Yisi relieved was that, due to the joy of leveling up, Pepe had temporarily forgotten—or perhaps she still remembered—about the kiss. Yisi had escaped for now.