Everyone witnessed an unbelievable sight.
It was clearly a skeleton, an undead monster.
However, a sacred power was felt from within the skeleton.
In fact, the skeleton’s bones shone faintly.
An undead monster imbued with holy power.
Looking closely at that mysterious light, Liana couldn’t open her mouth either.
“……”
Why was a mere monster instilling faith in them?
It was an impossible story.
It was a contradiction, a joke that no one would believe.
Yet, an impossible, contradictory scene was unfolding before their eyes.
Everything they were experiencing now was real.
Had they ever seen a record of such an existence before?
No.
If not, had they ever heard a story?
That was also no.
In the first place, the existence of negation possessing holy power was never recorded anywhere, nor was it known to anyone.
This must be a miracle.
If this is not a miracle, what else could be?
As she was now, she could only believe so.
The paladins around her felt the same way.
That being before them was undeniably a messenger sent by the Goddess.
That messenger had plunged them into trials.
At the same time, it instilled in them a strong faith.
Yes, if it wasn’t for that, there would be no way to explain the current situation.
Even now, the Goddess’s messenger stood with both arms spread wide.
It was a benevolent posture, as if inviting them into their embrace.
“Ah…”
Tears flowed from Liana’s eyes.
And she regretted it.
She could quickly understand why the Goddess’s messenger had descended to the earth without having to ponder it.
‘She has come to punish us.’
The messenger held a sword in its hand.
A black sword that exuded an unsettling aura just by looking at it.
Liana immediately knew that sword was a Demonic Sword.
But why would the Goddess’s messenger wield a Demonic Sword?
The meaning of that Demonic Sword was punishment.
A punishment for them.
Furthermore, a punishment for the Church.
She had spent a considerable amount of time in the Church.
Therefore, she knew the current state of the Church well.
Liana was raised by the Church in her childhood.
The Church took her in when she became an orphan after losing her parents at an early age.
She received various educations while growing up there.
Along with faith in the Goddess, she learned basic qualities such as manners, morals, and beliefs.
Fortunately, she had a talent for swordsmanship, so she joined the Knights of the Church.
And so she came to her current position.
For Liana, the Church was her entire life.
It most certainly was.
But at some point, the Church changed.
The people in higher positions acted only for their own benefit.
The people below were also blinded by greed.
And were the Knights of the Church clean?
Not at all.
The person called the Captain, under the guise of renewal, pushed his subordinates to the brink of death.
A prime example was the former Vice Captain, Berter.
Currently, nineteen Knights along with him were also missing.
Liana turned away even when she saw such things.
She thought that a small sacrifice was unavoidable if it meant the Church could grow.
But after seeing the Goddess’s messenger, her thinking changed.
‘The Goddess has given us an answer that our direction is wrong.’
This thought led to one conclusion.
‘The current Church must change.’
And what she had to do from now on was obvious.
Liana cautiously opened her mouth.
“Um…”
Her emotions welled up, making it difficult to speak.
Still, she put strength into her voice.
“My name is Liana. What should I call you…?”
First, she introduced herself.
Then she asked what to call the being who could be called the Goddess’s representative.
She couldn’t keep calling him “you” forever.
“Clack?”
But Liana couldn’t understand what he said.
She only heard the sound of bones clashing.
While she pondered for a moment.
“Lady Liana, that person is a Saint.”
Someone appeared from behind.
He was armed with the armor and sword of a Paladin, which anyone could see, and Liana knew him well.
“Er, Sir Eric…?”
Eric, who was one of the nineteen Knights who had disappeared with Vice Captain Berter.
It was natural for Liana, who was the Captain’s adjutant at the time, to remember him.
“Why are you here…?”
Eric, whom she thought was already dead, was alive.
Her eyes trembled.
In fact, Eric was being controlled by a Banshee, but Liana didn’t know that.
Normally, she might have noticed, but the existence of Maru, who possessed holy power, had blurred her judgment.
“Unlike others, I was chosen by a great being.”
Eric smiled and slowly moved his steps.
The great being referred to Kanghyeon Lee here.
“The Goddess chose me…?”
However, to Liana, Eric’s words sounded different.
Unlike others, Eric was uniquely chosen by the Goddess.
That’s why he survived in this mountain range.
“And according to His will, He sent me here to assist the Saint.”
This meant that Celia, the Chief Administrator who followed the great being, had sent him here.
The purpose was to support Maru.
“So that’s how it was.”
Liana nodded.
Eric must have been tasked with assisting the Saint at the same time he was chosen by the Goddess.
Listening to Eric’s words, Liana became more certain of her own thoughts.
“Then the reason the Saint descended to earth is also…”
“That’s right.”
Eric nodded.
His expression was solemn, with a resolute determination.
“It is the will of the Great One. The Great One desires absolute loyalty from the continent.”
“Ah.”
Liana was misinterpreting Eric’s words in her mind.
The Great One must be the Goddess.
It was undeniable.
And the Goddess wanted everyone on the continent to follow her.
Absolute loyalty meant strictly following the Goddess’s words.
In short, it meant not abandoning one’s personal faith due to deviation and greed.
It certainly must be so.
Ultimately, the Saint had descended to earth carrying the Goddess’s will as she had thought.
It was to instill a sense of caution in the corrupt and degenerate Church.
Up to this point, she understood.
However, there was still one unresolved question.
The reason they had climbed this mountain range in the first place.
They came to find their missing subordinates.
And why had the Sail Kingdom blocked access to the mountain range?
Liana asked about this point.
“Clack, clack, clack-?”
(I dealt with those three, and I don’t know about the mountain range access, but?)
As Maru answered Liana’s question, Eric, who was next to him, assumed a praying posture.
“……”
And then there was silence for a moment.
It was because he was thinking about how to answer Liana’s question just a moment ago.
He knew it would be absolutely wrong to answer exactly as Maru said.
“Hmm…”
He closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
This was the greatest challenge in the monster life of the Banshee controlling Eric.
If he said the wrong thing here, the Chief Administrator’s plan would be distorted.
Moreover, he might incur the displeasure of the Great One.
After thinking for a long time, the Banshee spoke through Eric.
“Do you happen to know if nobles of the kingdom sent adventurers to the mountain range?”
A completely different story came out.
“Adventurers? But access to the mountain range was forbidden…”
“Originally, yes. But…”
When Liana asked, Eric briefly explained what had happened.
– That the Sail Kingdom has noble forces currently trying to weaken royal authority.
– That nobles ignored the royal commands and sent adventurers to the mountain range independently.
– And that the king’s princess is already in the embrace of the Great One and controlled the mountain range according to His will.
Everything was heard from Celia or experienced by himself.
And all of this was true.
And in addition to this, he added one more remark.
“Perhaps I suspect that the disappearance of our brothers is all the work of the nobles.”
Eric’s words were vague.
He didn’t say the missing brothers, but the three paladins who went missing this time.
Perhaps he was suspecting that the priests and paladins who disappeared earlier were also the work of the nobles.
Listening to his words, Liana turned her gaze to the Saint in the form of a skeleton.
“So that’s how it was.”
It was said that the king’s princess already belonged to the Great One.
This meant that the Sail Kingdom’s royal family was already within the Church’s embrace.
Although she didn’t know why the mountain range was controlled, if it was the Goddess’s will, there was no reason to worry.
‘Then…’
Liana recalled Count Beerton, whom she met before climbing the mountain range.
He was a person who sought to weaken the King’s power by borrowing the power of the Church.
She couldn’t hide the desire emanating from his face.
What if, in this situation, all of this was Count Beerton’s conspiracy?
What if he orchestrated all of this from the beginning, seeking the Church’s power?
‘I’ve been played…!’
Liana’s face contorted.
In the end, all of this was the work of nobles attempting a rebellion.
However, the target of that rebellion was the Sail Kingdom’s royal family.
The important thing here was that the royal family was already embraced by the Goddess.
That meant that those arrogant nobles had dared to draw swords at the Goddess.
Liana’s face contorted.
Seeing Liana’s angry expression, Eric’s expression softened.
And he assumed a praying posture again.
‘Surely there’s a note Celia-nim wrote…’
While in a praying posture, he secretly unfolded the note Celia had given him.
– Princess Irena was used to secretly embed skeleton knights in the nobles’ mansions.
There is no risk of being traced as they were purchased from the Merchant Guild.
Celia’s gifts sent after contracting with Princess Irena.
The gifts were skeleton knights armed with the kingdom’s knight armor.
And a few days ago, she had ordered Princess Irena to secretly deploy them in the mansions of the aristocratic faction members.
Nobles who tried to seize the kingdom backed by the Church.
Now, in turn, they would be expelled by the Church’s power.
“Lady Liana. I will tell you something important from now on.”
Eric’s words began as he looked at Celia’s note.
***
The scene viewed through the screen was very interesting.
– The paladins of the White Church have been successfully recruited!
At the same time, an alarm popped up.
“Indeed, I’ve never heard of an undead having holy power.”
As Maru transcended to 5-star, he evolved into a Skeleton Paladin.
Thanks to that, Maru, despite being an undead monster, possessed immense holy power.
There was no record of such a monster existing, not only on the El Dorado Continent but also on Earth.
And an undead at that.
A being possessing mutually opposing attributes.
It was no wonder the paladins perceived Maru as a special being.
I examined Maru’s abilities.
– Rank: ★★★★★
– Race: Skeleton
[Traits]
– Nimble Movement (F+)
[Basic Information]
Health: A
Attack Power: S (Bonus +1 stage due to Demonic Sword)
Defense: B+
Magic Power: B
Holy Power: A+
[Skills]
– Loyalty as a Paladin (S+): Kanghyeon Lee (Activated)
– Judgment of Light (A)
His stats increased as he transcended to 5-star this time.
It wasn’t just reaching 5-star that was important.
What was important was that the undead monster’s weakness was perfectly offset.
“If I use this well, it’ll be a big hit.”
Moreover, there was a being blowing wind beside Maru.
It was a paladin controlled by a monster Banshee, which allowed them to draw in other paladins.
Is that all?
Using him, Maru wouldn’t need to stay on the El Dorado Continent all the time.
This was a huge advantage.
“Rather, if Maru’s appearance is continuously exposed, his specialness might disappear.”
The first time is always special.
Now everyone revered Maru as divine, but if they saw him continuously, they might get used to that appearance.
Even if Maru wasn’t on the continent, if needed, they could have the Banshee convey the story.
But there was a problem here.
The opponent was fundamentally a Paladin belonging to the Church.
What if the Paladin in front of them realized that they were actually being controlled by a Banshee?
“I should give that Banshee a power-up too.”
Fortunately, it was a Banshee who had gained enlightenment.
Although its rank was 3-star, since it played a rather important role, giving it a power-up seemed appropriate.
‘Should I give it holy power? Or is there a good trait somewhere?’
As I was thinking for a moment, an additional alarm popped up.
– You have achieved a remarkable accomplishment!
– Penalties have been removed. All locked systems have been unlocked.
All the locked systems were released as the dungeon waves were resolved.
– Your dungeon’s reputation spreads through your astonishing achievements.
– Those who become jealous of the dungeon’s rising reputation will emerge.
– The [Dungeon Social Gathering] system has been unlocked.
And a new system was opened.
“Dungeon Social Gathering?”
I tried to touch the system, but a new alarm appeared first.
– Please select a monster to participate in the [Dungeon Social Gathering].
“Hmm.”
Social Gathering…
When I saw the word “Social Gathering,” I thought it might be a gathering to interact with other dungeons.
In other words, the monsters attending here are the representatives of the dungeon.
Of course, you shouldn’t think of interactions naively.
“So it’s a place where they gauge each other’s strategies and check them, right?”
It’s a gathering of monsters from various dungeons.
It would undoubtedly be a terrifying political venue.
It would be good to send Celia to such a place, but it shouldn’t be thought of lightly.
“Celia is currently like the final boss of the dungeon.”
You can’t show everything about my dungeon from the beginning.
“I need someone suitable.”
Someone with moderate strength and who can maintain a poker face.
It would be even better if they could gauge the opponent’s strength.
“Hmm… who could it be?”
After thinking for a long time, I finally decided.
“It’s best to choose him, right?”
– You have selected Arch Lich (★★★★★) as the monster to participate in the [Dungeon Social Gathering].
I chose Arch Lich as the monster to attend the social gathering.
Currently, Arch Lich is performing the duty of Inspector.
When I saw him directly last time, he was clearly recording and doing his job as an inspector well.
Arch Lich would surely play his role well at the social gathering.
Moreover, since his base form is a skeleton, his emotions wouldn’t be visible from the outside.
He was a talent specialized for social gatherings.
– Please select a sub-monster to participate in the [Dungeon Social Gathering].
“?”
This time, it’s not one, but two?
Well, sending two is probably more reassuring than one.
“By the way, Sub-monster…”
Is it like a supporting role?
“Then, who would be good next?”
Arch Lich, in a way, gives a stiff impression.
So, for the sub-monster, someone with opposite characteristics to Arch Lich would be good.
Furthermore, someone with artistic sense would be even better.
“Since it’s a social gathering, someone with a good sense would be good, right?”
Who would be such a monster?
“Hmm.”
This time, the thinking time became a bit longer.
“Right! He was there!”
I immediately found the person who flashed in my mind and touched him.
“By the way, will it be okay since the location is different?”
The dungeon he manages is beautiful.
It seems he has a talent for decorating.
That means his artistic sense is not bad either.
“Since it’s an Incubus, he’ll probably create a good atmosphere.”
And fortunately, I could select him as a monster to attend.
– You have selected Azmo (★★★★) as the sub-monster to participate in the [Dungeon Social Gathering].
