Chapter 956. Mood (7)
I was confident that it happened a long, long time ago. It had to have happened way before the Order of Benigoa settled down here. Moreover, it wasn’t even a known story.
If the Mole Saint weren't Benigoa, the situation would get complicated, but the Mole Saint’s story was definitely Benigoa’s story. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have transformed this place into a dungeon.
The relief carving of Benigoa on the door was the biggest clue.
If this was the story of the saint who stopped the threat to the continent by allowing herself to get locked up underground from the moment she was born until the day she took her last breath...
‘That’d be a pretty good story, then.’
I was sure there were many other versions of it, but one thing I was kind of confused about was the fact that Benigoa’s story was actually edited.
The denizens actually had no idea what happened here.
In the memoirs of the people of the Order or the religious books related to Benigoa, there wasn’t a single piece of information about how Benigoa had ended up getting locked up underground her entire life.
Benigoa was remembered as the goddess who had brought light to the continent, and none of those scriptures had ever mentioned her life as a human being. As time went on, her story changed slowly until it was edited and rewritten. Still, it was strange how her story as a human being had disappeared in the process of her becoming a goddess.
‘Did someone hide it intentionally?’
If I were a devotee, I would hide it as well because the fact that we had to lock up a human being underground to get rid of the threat to the continent was pretty disgraceful.
If I were in their shoes, I'd tell the denizens that a saint named Benigoa had saved the continent, which was exactly what people knew about her today.
In that case, did Benigoa herself want to hide this true story of hers, or was it the opposite?
It was possible that she wanted to hide her miserable life at first.
Otherwise, the Mole Saint’s Cozy Sanctuary would have appeared earlier.
The Order of Benigoa was already in the middle of stabilizing, so there was no reason for her to do something like that at this point. There was also a chance that she simply did not want to remember the time she spent as a human being, or she might be in denial.
Perhaps she had no expectations from the continent. Perhaps she didn't care whether the truth would end up getting revealed or not, as she had experienced all those hardships underground. I assumed that was her feelings when she transformed this place into a dungeon.
‘She’s basically asking me to take care of this. She wants me to obtain the corpse inside the iron maiden, and she wants me to tell the world about what actually happened here.’
Benigoa’s blood was still flowing out of the iron maiden, so her corpse was still in there.
On top of that, Gelk had yet to complete his mission.
If this dungeon hadn’t appeared, the Mole Saint's story would have remained underground forever.
[C-Cardinal... Cardinal...]
'But... I’m not sure if this is going to work. It’s been too long, and the empire probably has yet to exist back then. This place was probably just an ordinary kingdom when all this happened.'
[Caaar... dinal...? Yooou...]
I wondered whether the Order had cardinals back then. The position could be different back then, but there had to be cardinals.
'Damn it, come to think of it, their name wasn't Order of Benigoa back then. What was their name back then? I feel like many things have changed since then.'
I couldn't help but feel like I should have kept my mouth shut.
I told Gelk to follow my orders, but I'd look weird if it refused to follow my orders. The people were already staring at me.
'Damn it, this won’t do.'
The answer to awkward situations was always the light, so spreading my wings was the answer here.
I spread my wings of radiant light, and a large amount of holy power filled the cavern. It was a unique and gentle but blinding light. The majority of the people around me exclaimed at the sight.
[Ahh... ahhhh!]
Even the monster was in awe.
“Gelk, complete your mission,” I said.
I spoke gently but with confidence as if I were trying to persuade the messenger, Gelk.
'Gelk, I know you’ve been through a lot. This Saint of Light understands that you’ve been wandering around like a ghost. It’s okay. Just let it go. Pour out everything that’s inside you.'
[Ahhhhh... Haaaaaaaa!]
'That’s right.'
I had no idea where its "true" eyes were located, as it technically had no face. However, the eyes all over it started crying as Gelk trembled like an aspen tree. Moments later, it stopped moving and spoke.
[T-the Mole... Moleee... Saint... went inside... the iron maiden herself... and killed herself...]
“...”
[The saint who supported the continent for a long time... rejected her own life... the saint was trembling in pain...]
‘Man, why is it having such a hard time talking?’
[The danger... the threat... to the brilliant and glorious continent... is now...]
‘I just want to smack it.’
[The... underground temple... must notify the Order... of the new plan... I cannot let the continent get destroyed...]
‘...’
[The saint will be born... Ah... the saint... will be born as the prophecy foretold... This saint will love the continent... embrace the continent... and live for the continent... But remember... my sons and daughters... my precious descendants... don’t let this saint look at the sky... don’t let this sky look at the light... If the saint looks at the light, you’ll lose everything... You’ll lose... all of your holy power and miracles.]
‘What the? Is that a prophecy?’
[A new prophecy... is needed. A new divine message... a new light that will support the continent... A new light is needed...]
‘What the? This feels strange.’
'Let me lower the brightness a little by folding two of my wings.'
[The continent... The radiant and glorious... continent... The continent... The continent!]
‘What the... the monster is acting strange.’
[The saint! The saaaint! Will appear!]
That scared me.
[The saint! Will appear!!!]
‘Shit!’
[The saint will appear! As the prophecy foretold!!! The saint will appear! This saint will love the continent... embrace the continent! And live for the continent... But remember! My sons and daughters... my precious descendants!!! Don’t let this saint look at the sky! Don’t let this sky look at the light... If the saint looks at the light, you’ll lose everything... You’ll lose... all of your holy power and miracles! The saint will appear!!!]
“Aaaah! Damn it, Hyun-Sung!” I shouted.
[The saaaaint!!!]
“...”
It was such a grotesque scene that I forgot about my character.
The mouths embedded in the monster opened wide and screamed like a lunatic.
[The saint! Will appear!!! The saint!!! The saint!!! Is here!!!]
A cacophony of deafening voices repeated the same words.
‘Shit, I hope no one heard me scream just now.’
I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to feel relieved about this or not, but no one was listening to me. Everyone was focused on the bizarre monster. Even if there was someone listening to me, I was sure they thought they misheard me.
Unfortunately, it seemed that one person managed to hear me.
An arm suddenly burst out of the monster's figure, and it made a beeline for me. I knew I had to say something here to explain why the monster was suddenly running rampant.
“You’ve... You’ve been completely corrupted...”
'If we’re not on the same page... then you’ve been corrupted.'
“...”
“Rest for the monster...” I said.
The problem was that it wasn’t that easy to put it to rest.
Kim Hyun-Sung split the arm in half with a single stroke of his sword.
The monster looked like it was vomiting whatever it had eaten as pale monsters rushed out of it like a deluge.
[The saaaaint!!!]
‘Go away!’
[The saint will come! The saint will come!!!]
The sight of pale monsters crawling up the ceiling and walls was so disgusting.
[The saaaaaaaint!!!]
The monster extended its arm and charged at me. It was obvious why it had decided to charge at me. The main force wasn’t really shocked by the monster's actions, and they sent troops toward the monster.
Their numbers weren't important. This monster was nothing more than a gatekeeper at the start of a dungeon.
The strike squad members fought the monsters, and colorful spells flew everywhere.
Kim Hyun-Sung slaughtered the monsters with wings.
There were too many of them for one person to handle, but it didn’t really matter to Kim Hyun-Sung. He spread his wings and spun once in mid-air, sending the monsters plummeting to the ground.
Appendages in a variety of sizes burst out of the fallen chunks of meat, and the chunks of meat tried to crawl away. Unfortunately, they were nothing more than chunks of meat, so everyone made quick work of them.
‘Division.’
It seemed that they could return to Gelk and merge with him again.
The chunks of meat that couldn’t move forward turned to Gelk and started making their way toward it.
[The saint!!! The continent... The continent will be saved again!!! It will forever be radiant and glorious... That’s how it will be!]
‘This is easy.’
I glanced over at Han Sora, and she nodded at me before casting a spell.
She cast a poison-type spell at the chunks of meat. The poison seemed to be capable of purifying anything under its influence as the ground dyed in purple was slowly clearing up.
Gelk became sluggish, and the chunks of meat that couldn’t fuse properly fell to the ground.
[For the future of the continent! For the new saint!!!]
The monster could no longer maintain its form.
It seemed that the monster was in a DPS check phase earlier.
[Ahhh... ahhhhhhh!]
The monster seemed to have realized that its massive body wasn't going to last long, as it extended its hand out as far as possible to try and escape.
However, a sizzling noise echoed afterward as its arm melted away.
‘Ha-Yan.’
Jung Ha-Yan was quietly casting a spell beside me.
‘I wonder if this monster will drop any items.’
A functional item would be nice, but it’d be nice if it dropped an item related to the dungeon. Perhaps Gelk’s journal, letter, or documents that’d help clear the dungeon. Of course, anything expensive was nice as well.
The hunt continued while I was having many other thoughts, and it was all because there wasn’t much I could comment about the fight. I was satisfied by everyone, as they were all doing their roles.
Soon, something caught my attention.
‘Gelk is really disgusting.’
The monsters looked disgusting, but the things they did were even more disgusting.
The mutilated and grotesque-looking chunks of meat were crawling toward me as if it was trying to get their hands on the saint.
Just then, the monster seemed to have lost its mind as it roared with its appendages extended toward me.
[The saaaaaaaaaaaaint!!! The saaaaint!!!]
‘Ah, shit.’
[Gaah! The saaaaaaaint!]
I wasn’t the only one upset. The troops at the front line all looked terrified while staring at the monster. The monster wasn’t afraid of getting hurt or dying. There were many types of monsters in the dungeon, but this type of monster was really unpleasant to handle.
[Hahahahaha! Hahaha... hahahaha!!! The saint!!! Will come!!! The saint!!! Will appear!!! It’s the saint!!! The saint!!! Has arrived!!!]
Everyone's expression remained solemn until the end of the fight.
It couldn't be helped. They all realized that the dungeon was more grotesque and bizarre than they had ever imagined.
‘Damn it... I’m feeling uncomfortable as well.’
I had no idea that things would turn out this way, either.
'I'm serious, Hyun-Sung. Really, Hyun-Sung...'
“Damn it...” Kim Hyun-Sung mumbled. “Damn it! That's why I said that you shouldn’t come here!”
Kim Hyun-Sung threw a fit as if a button to annoy him had just been pressed.