abcnovels
Chapter 53
Chapter 53
[Sub-quest 'Light of Hope' 2. <The Beast of Aldone Kingdom> cleared!]
[Sub-quest reward will be given.]
[Sub-quest updated!]
[Sub-quest 'Light of Hope' 3. <Rescue the Beast of Aldone Kingdom>
Content: You have found the traces of the beast within the Aldone Kingdom in the limited time. Now it's time to find and rescue him.
Objective: Find and rescue the beast of Aldone Kingdom within 24 hours (This quest is a linked quest)
Success: Next quest clue
Failure: -
Final reward: ???
[Do you accept?]
[Yes/No]
'So that was the right trace.'
My lips curved slightly up. I liked the quest content quite a bit.
'Rescue.'
I was planning to do that anyway. I accepted the quest, and Zain, who was following me along the wall, asked in a low voice.
"Wow... What is that?"
"It looks like the beast's trace."
"A beast in the middle of the city?"
"...It's not impossible."
"Huh, those Rizes cultists, what did they do this time?"
I ignored Zain's rage and looked around.
As I turned my gaze along the wall, I saw a chapel at the end of it.
"I found it."
Zain's eyes naturally followed my direction. There was a chapel slightly bigger than the one we saw in Rovel there.
'In the original work, the Diego Church couldn't find the Rizes Church's whereabouts very well.'
I sneered. It was amazing that we couldn't find it when it was so obvious.
'Well, even if it's the Diego Church, Aldone and Bahano are on the edge of the continent, so it's hard to care about them and their influence doesn't reach all of them.'
I overlooked one fact. I knew a lot through Woosebeop, so it was easy for me to find the Rizes Church's whereabouts.
Anyway, I walked straight toward the Rizes Church's chapel. Zain followed me with an anxious look and asked.
"Master, you're not going to barge in or something, are you?"
"What?"
"I mean, you did that last time too."
My eyebrows slightly narrowed at Zain's words. It was obvious that Zain was referring to what happened in Rovel. But I felt wronged. Technically, it was Terdius who started it then.
"I'm not going to do that."
I said firmly. I had no intention of making a big fuss here. I planned to move only as the quest instructed.
The reason was simple.
'According to Woosebeop, the Diego Church would have sent an apostle to the Bahano Kingdom.'
I might have come to Aldone because of the hidden route variable.
So if I made a big fuss here, I might get involved with the Diego Church. If I got involved with the Diego Church's apostles other than Terdius, it would be hard to save my life.
"You're not going to do that, but what are you doing now?"
Zain whispered with all his strength and turned his head to check around. Fortunately, there was no one passing by. Zain looked up anxiously. He had no choice. I was climbing over the Rizes Church's wall.
And I casually looked down at Zain and said,
"Come on."
"Excuse me?"
Zain wanted to say something back, but before he could, I had already gone over to the chapel side completely. In the end, Zain had to follow me. As I crossed the wall, Zain whispered to me as I was looking at the chapel casually.
"Master, what are you doing? You just crossed the wall like that."
But I was stubborn. I put my finger on my lips and quieted Zain down.
"Calm down. For now... I'm just going to check out the situation. I won't cause any trouble."
I said with serious eyes, but Zain somehow couldn't trust me.
But he couldn't leave me alone either, so Zain had to nod reluctantly.
We headed straight for the back of the chapel. As he followed me with his lips pursed, something came to Zain's mind.
"Wait a minute."
He hastily grabbed the hem of my robe.
"Master, isn't it impossible to enter the Rizes Church or Diego Church without their God's blessing?"
I nodded lightly at his question.
"That's right. But we're different. You and I have Kyros' power. Kyros' power can neutralize their power."
Zain opened his mouth in surprise at the unexpected words. Seeing him, I smiled gracefully. In fact, I felt new emotions.
Before, when I infiltrated the Rizes Church in Rovel, I didn't have much divine power then, so I had to make and drink a potion.
But now that the Kyros Church has acquired a holy relic, and the number of believers has increased steadily, my divine power has increased enough that I didn't need to do that. Besides, Zain had received divine power directly from Kyros.
"So just follow me quietly."
Zain answered softly and followed me.
We headed for the back of the chapel. As I said, Maseen's blessing did not attack us. As Zain admired it again, I casually touched the chapel's lantern. With that movement, a wooden door leading to the underground appeared on the floor.
"No way, how can you be so natural?"
Zain looked at me with a faint suspicion in his eyes. Then I smiled smoothly.
"I've done it before."
I was a veteran.
"Huh, really..."
Zain looked at the secret space that appeared on the floor with admiration. I opened the wooden door, and below it was a staircase leading to the basement.
We quietly went down the stairs with a faint lantern flickering for about five minutes.
The stairs ended. What appeared after that was one iron door in front and another iron door on the side.
The two iron doors of the same shape and size had one difference, which was the presence or absence of a lock. The front door had no lock, and the side one had a lock.
"Which way should we go?"
I pointed to the side with my chin at Zain's question.
"It's usually more curious what's hidden."
Zain silently agreed with my words and took out a universal key from his pocket. He jiggled the lock a few times and it opened with a small click.
Zain immediately opened the door. The inside was so dirty that dust flew up even with a small breeze. And it was also very narrow, barely enough for two or three people.
But there were iron bars inside. The space that had one wall entirely made of iron bars felt like a solitary cell in a prison.
Zain unconsciously gulped. It was because someone was crouching behind the iron bars.
"A person...?"
The Banra man with dark black hair had lean but firm muscles. But his body was full of wounds as if he had been abused, and he had a black tail.
Zain was startled as he scanned him.
"That's...!"
My voice came from beside him.
"He's from the Mont tribe."
I said briefly and started to go inside. Zain grabbed my robe's hem in surprise.
"Master, you can't go near him. The Mont tribe is wary and fierce!"
"I know. But I can't just leave him alone."
I answered softly and approached the iron bars. Then the man inside flinched.
"Hello."
I greeted him warmly. Then the man's face turned to me. I slowly scanned the man's face.
The clear golden eyes of the young man who still looked young were holding me in his gaze. He was a handsome guy, just like I saw in Woosebeop.
I lowered the hood I was wearing.
"Can't you talk?"
That shouldn't be the case. He was clearly on guard.
'Can't be helped.'
I smiled with a business-like smile and introduced myself.
"I'm Leviathan. I've come to save you."
My words awakened Troy's dead hope.
And I knew that very well.
Troy Mont.
He was the last descendant of the Mont tribe, the natives who lived in the plains near the Bahano Kingdom.
The black panther beastmen had appeared since the continent was formed and lived only among their tribe, forming a small community of about fifty people.
Among them, Troy was the son of the Mont tribe chief and the person who would become the next chief.
But he got tired of living in the forest all the time and went to the city one day.
'The forest is too suffocating.'
He said it was a trip, but it was actually more like running away. Although he left without saying anything to his family, the trip was fun.
He traveled around the Herpheon Empire for about half a year, and he saw many people and cities.
Although he couldn't get close to them and just watched them from afar, he was happy nonetheless.
When he returned to the forest after a long time after finishing his half-year trip,
'Mother, Father, I'm back... What is this?'
Troy witnessed the horrible scene that unfolded before his eyes.
All of his tribe were stained blue all over their bodies and were not in their right minds.
At that time, Troy didn't know that it was because the Rizes Church fed them Happy and made them addicted, or that they were doing 'monsterization' experiments.
Then suddenly, a black mist appeared and wrapped around the forest and his tribe's bodies.
Troy, who didn't know why, could only watch the situation.
But then, his tribe screamed. Along with their last breaths, half his tribe lost their lives, and the remaining half became monsters.
'Why are you doing this?! Father! Mother! Please come to your senses!'
He shouted at them, but his words didn't reach them. His tribe lost their reasoning and became aggressive.
'No, no, don't do this. It's me, Troy!'
He looked at his tribe but they didn't recognize him. They turned into black panthers and attacked Troy.
At first, Troy only focused on pushing them away. He was stronger than anyone else in his tribe as the chief's son, so it was possible.
But that also became impossible as time passed. His tribe's aggressiveness increased and his life was endangered. In the end, he had no choice but to hurt his beloved tribe with his own hands.
'It's a dream. Yes, this is all a dream. It has to be a dream...!'
Troy shed tears as he killed his tribe with blood on his hands. The tears that flowed from his eyes mixed with the blood on his face and looked like bloody tears.
'Sob, sob, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'
Troy apologized endlessly as he killed his monsterized tribe. And finally, he cut off his father's breath.
'...Thank you, Troy.'
His father said that in his last moments. Troy couldn't say anything.
He collapsed among his tribe's corpses and just shed tears.
Something flew at him then.