Chapter 248

Muriel, who had been thought dead, stirred.

Her slender right hand, trembling violently, reached her chest and poured out divine power.

She, who had restored her own body, managed to get up. Rex hurriedly supported her.

“Your Eminence! You are alive! Oh, Strict Order and Goodness! Thank you!”

“…Thanks to God’s protection, it narrowly missed my heart.”

Wrapped in the name of God, the lie became a plausible miracle. Rex also noticed nothing suspicious.

In reality, she hadn’t narrowly avoided death. She was already dead, so there was no need to avoid it.

‘Still, it wasn’t without impact. I’ll have to visit a Holy Ground soon.’

Just then, conveniently, Rex changed the subject first.

“Your Eminence, there is a matter I must report. Sir Clovis, who was in charge of your escort, was… by the black swordsman… Khhh…”

“He has passed away.”

Muriel finished the sentence Rex couldn’t bear to utter. It felt less like consideration for him and more like impatience to save time.

Rex assumed it was just his imagination and stated the next matter.

“And… Holy Ground Construction was taken by the black swordsman.”

“Holy Ground Construction? Anything else?”

“That is all.”

“I see…”

Muriel’s eyes darkened. Lost in her thoughts, she softly opened her mouth.

“Sir Rex, the face of that black swordsman…”

“Your Eminence?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

At that moment, strange noises were heard. Wailing ghost sounds seeped up from the ground of the central courtyard, which had become a graveyard.

Benedict, Muriel, and Rex flinched, wondering if another dark magic was activating.

Fortunately, there was someone among the leadership who was quick to assess the situation.

“Quickly, dig up the ground! There are people alive!”

Cardinal Cattleya, who had avoided harm by being inside the building, called out to the Holy Knights and gave instructions.

Indeed, her words were true.

Under the excavated earth were survivors, unconscious, crushed by the weight of the soil.

Their groans were their last desperate screams.

“We must hurry before they suffocate!”

Popopopop! (Sound of dirt exploding)

Then, soil burst like a fountain from one spot in the central courtyard. Two Aura Masters emerged, having dug their own way out of the pit.

“I’ve dug it all out, Marquise Lekandro. Come on out.”

“You’re truly incredible, Duke.”

“Ahem, I have a knack for digging. It’s the result of years of training.”

Duke Hispenril and Marquise Lekandro tore off the skeletal arms clinging to their bodies and tossed them aside.

They were about to lend a hand in rescuing the buried people when Pope Benedict approached and spoke in a solemn voice.

“Duke, Marquise, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“What happened to that swordsman?”

“It seems the Holy Ground Construction artifact was his objective, Marquise. He used only that to open a Gate and vanished.”

“A Gate…? Does that mean he wasn’t human, but a demon?”

“…I don’t know.”

Upon hearing the reply, Marquise Lekandro looked up at the night sky.

The triple moon still dominated the night sky at its zenith.

Duke Hispenril, who was pulling the citizens of the theocracy out of the ground, spoke.

“It seems the catastrophe isn’t over yet.”

“The black swordsman left a message before he disappeared.”

It was Rex who interjected to convey the important fact.

Everyone’s gaze gathered on the muscular young man with the buzz cut. “-Go wait on Litniel Plain. The Demon King will emerge into the human world through there.”

“He foretold that the Demon King would emerge through Litniel Plain.”

“…!”

Muriel, Duke Hispenril, and Marquise Lekandro’s expressions hardened.

Only Pope Benedict quietly lowered his eyes.

“It seems a Demon King Dungeon is about to burst. Though we don’t know which Demon King it will be.”

In response to Marquise Lekandro’s opinion, the others expressed agreement with their silence.

It was a serious matter.

Even an SS-rank Dungeon Burst had caused near-annihilating damage to the capital of the Ragneif Magic Republic and the Elfenheim Holy Theocracy.

But a Demon King? This was a terrible catastrophe.

Moreover, a Burst had the effect of elevating the power of the dungeon’s owner.

A Demon King with elevated status would be far more powerful than within the dungeon.

Duke Hispenril’s grim voice was heard.

“The survival of the Serentra Continent is at stake. We must concentrate all our forces on Litniel Plain.”

They had to prepare for a Demon King subjugation battle.✠ The system map displayed the name of my current location as follows:

Tomb of Chaos Gods [혼돈 신릉].

The name, ‘Tomb of Evil Gods,’ was truly arrogant, daring to call them gods.

Its exterior was said to be a combination of a pyramid and a tower, making it a truly fitting structure for Sanarak, which consisted of a sea of sand.

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ says that his true form prefers a sleek, towering form rather than a pyramid.]

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ is slightly disappointed by its height of only 200 meters.]

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ comments that he likes the constant temperature control system using hellfire and hell-ice flowers.]

[‘Scathing Critic of Balance’ asks if he’s the only one having fun.]

[‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ tells him to stop chatting and analyze the structure quickly.]

As I walked through the dark passage, Agnes and I exchanged thoughts.

“Indeed. It’s a dark and gloomy atmosphere, befitting a Demon King’s Castle.”

The Tomb of Chaos Gods was originally a place that didn’t exist in the original story.

I was cautiously taking each step, maintaining a high level of vigilance.

The interior of the tomb was empty, so I didn’t see a single demon during the quite long distance I covered.

However, it wasn’t completely unguarded.

Uoooooo…

Suddenly, the wall to my right rippled, and a ghostly moan flowed out. As expected, demonic architecture was different. Periodically, the walls, ceiling, and floor would turn mushy like mud, and the shape of a face would emerge.

“It appeared again.”

Thump.

When I crushed it with my fist, the face retracted, and the wall returned to its original smooth stone.

<Hmm, it doesn’t seem like a human-faced tree.>

“This is probably…”

I cautiously spoke my hypothesis, based on the traditions of the Demon Realm and Carpheios’s tendencies.

“It seems like humans and demons sacrificed during construction. I think they bind their souls to the building and use them as guards.”

[‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ says that’s correct.]

Historically, in human history, there was often a custom of human sacrifice during massive civil engineering projects like building city walls, embankments, or bridges, hoping the structures wouldn’t collapse.

There’s no way demons wouldn’t do such wicked and cruel things that even humans have done.

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ explains that it’s called a ‘Human Pillar Ritual’.]

Let’s stop this unpleasant talk here.

It was still a long way to the deepest part, our destination.

Since the stairs weren’t connected in a straight line, I had to move from one end of a floor to the other multiple times. It was truly an architectural marvel with terrible convenience.

I walked and walked to reach the next set of stairs.

But then I ran into a problem.

“Oh.”

<Oh.>

Even though I had diligently followed the map, I reached a dead end.

As I wondered what was going on, a decorative object caught my eye, attached where the dead-end wall met the ceiling.

A bronze relief of a cat wearing a pharaoh’s hat. It spoke:

“…”

It must think it’s a Sphinx.

Agnes was flustered.

<Huh? It seems the door opens if we answer the riddle? The number of legs changes, so it must be a magic beast… Ugh, what on earth is it?>

For a Possessor, it was an easy difficulty. I stated the name of that ‘magic beast’.

“Human.”

<Meow-ding-dong!>

Drrrrrk, the stone door, disguised as a wall, opened.

From then on, it was similar.

“Time.”

<Meow-ding-dong!>

Some questions were philosophical, but also…

“…Carpheios.”

<Meow-ding-dong!>

…some were silly.

“…Newly Born Chaos Evil.”

<Meow-ding-dong!>

…and some were wishful thinking that Reed would surely like to hear.

Agnes was annoyed.

<Ugh, that little cat. If it wasn’t cute, I’d smash it.>

Towards the end, the questions became equally uninspired.

They were just empty praises for Carpheios or Reed, which was good because I didn’t have to use my brain, but it was mentally exhausting.

“I think we’ve only come down about a third of the way…”

What was so difficult about making a straight, continuous staircase, I wondered?

I vowed that if I ever caught the demon who designed this place, I wouldn’t let them off easily.

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ hopes you realize how magnificent the Tower of Trials was this time.]

‘It was the best. But you’ve finished floors 299 and 300 now, right?’

[‘Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ says you’ve graduated, so he can take his time.]

Around that time, another dead end and the cat bronze relief appeared directly ahead.

What would the answer be this time, Carpheios or Reed?

I walked unenthusiastically towards the cat bronze relief and waited for the question.

But it was different from what I expected.

“…”

This was a new form of mental attack.

While I hesitated, the cat’s eyes gleamed.

“…Tesillid Argent.”

<Meow-ding-dong!>

The stone door again opened with a harsh grinding sound.

However, the scenery beyond the door was completely different from the path we had walked so far.

“Oh.”

<Oh.>

A wide, bright, open space greeted Agnes and me.

Privilege for the Possessor