Chapter 235

Chapter 234 – Statue of the Goddess of Atonement

Ever since I returned from the Mirror Scroll Dungeon, I had been holed up in my room for nearly three days, trying to sort out my complicated thoughts.

During that time, quite a few people stopped by to request a visit, but I politely turned them all down. The Silver Dawn Knight Commanders, of course, were among them, and Aurora was no exception.

I didn’t even respond to Kaiquilia’s orders.

It was exceedingly rude, to the point that it wouldn’t have been strange for someone to drag me out and demand an explanation right then and there. Yet, all Kaiquilia did was come to my door and quietly turn back.

It seemed my situation had spread far and wide; even Minerva, who should have been deep into her research on the Ancient Scrolls, came by for a moment. She didn’t come inside, just made it to the door.

Except for Aurora, all the women were more than capable of breaking through that ornately decorated door a hundred times over, but they seemed to want to respect my wishes.

Nevertheless, it had little effect. My head was still a jumble, and my thoughts were as disorganized as ever.

Nix’s cryptic words she had left behind at the end lingered on my mind. A world far older than Brightest Darkness 3, and an even older world than that.

It was clearly referring to Brightest Darkness 1 and 2. And it was evident she was asking who the protagonists of those two were.

Whether it was the protagonist of Brightest Darkness 1 who burned himself to restore the world’s stability or became chaos itself, or the protagonist of Brightest Darkness 2 who pieced together the crumbling world or became its ruler.

‘…Why did she insist on telling me that? What connection do those two have with me?’

—knock knock.

As I clutched my throbbing head while my situation grew ever more complicated, I heard someone knocking on the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

It was Lize.

I glanced at the clock. It was about time for a shift change. If it was Lize, it would be right around her off-duty time, so she probably stopped by on her way back.

“Why are you here?”

“Why do you think? My man has been holed up in his room for three days, and I’m worried! I thought I’d check if it was okay for me to come in this time. If not, I’ll just head back. I have no intention of forcing my way in.”

Her voice was packed with concern. Guilt stabbed at my chest, and I felt it was time to think of a different approach, so I made a decision internally and spoke up.

“You can come in. It’s open.”

“Huh? Really? You won’t regret this later?”

As if she had been waiting for those words, the door swung wide open. She wasn’t wearing armor but was dressed in the Silver Dawn Knights’ usual white sleeveless top and blue dolphin shorts.

“…Why do you have that expression? Are you okay?”

Lize looked at me with a deeply concerned expression, then came inside. Her bottom, wrapped in dolphin shorts, gently perched on the edge of the bed.

Beads of sweat slowly formed on her skin, and her peach-colored skin peeked through the tightly fit white sleeveless top. Lize’s fragrance wafted through the warmth I felt as she sat next to me.

“Why aren’t you saying anything cheeky about grabbing my chest this time? You’ve always done that until now.”

I tried to lighten the mood by throwing in a joke, but Lize puffed out her cheeks and poked my cheek with her index finger.

“I know how to read the atmosphere, you know? Delta, you’ve been holed up in your room for three days, and when I finally get permission to come in, you look like you’re about to die. Did you think I’d be cracking weird jokes?”

“So you thought it was a weird joke too?”

“……”

Her finger poked my cheek harder. I smiled and gently pulled on her wrist. Lize willingly came along as I led her.

Even if she didn’t go willingly, I could have overpowered her anyway.

I leaned back against the head of the bed and slightly spread my legs, seating Lize between them. She sat down quietly, leaning her back against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist.

Though her sleeveless top felt slightly damp from sweat, I didn’t mind. It didn’t smell at all, and even if it did, I certainly wouldn’t hold back on this kind of affection.

Lize remained still in my embrace. Had it been any other time, she would have been grinding her backside against me or pulling my arms to squeeze her chest.

“What happened that made you look like this? I’ve never seen you with such a serious expression.”

“…It’s just. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“A lot? This doesn’t look like just a lot. Look at you! Your face is like half gone. What in the world were you thinking that the guy who usually stays cooped up in his room ends up looking like this?”

Lize turned slightly to face me and gently caressed my cheek. Her fingers wandered from my cheekbone down to my jaw.

“Ha, why did it turn out like this?”

In response, I didn’t want to reveal the full truth. Her finger began to poke my side relentlessly.

“Stop mumbling to yourself and say if you need anything. His Majesty the Emperor, Your Holiness the Pope, Lord Raphael, even the Silver Dawn Knight Commanders. They’re all your women, after all. Anything within our ability, we can grant your wishes.”

“The Silver Dawn Knight Commanders?”

“No, the others will come around soon enough. Really.”

Instead of responding, I tightened my arms around her waist. Lize quieted a bit.

“I… do need something.”

“You do? Really? What is it?”

“Not right now. Probably much later.”

Right. It’s not something urgent right now. There was something else I needed to do later.

If I couldn’t find an answer alone, I could always borrow the power of something else.

‘It’s probably around here.’

I glanced around and took a step forward. The forest was seriously overgrown, making it slightly dark even in broad daylight. Logically speaking, it was a completely unsuitable place to search for something.

But I was sure no one was nearby. Not that there was nothing here either. I walked through the underbrush, following the awkwardly grown trees.

If there hadn’t been those bent trees like in the game, I probably would have been lost. Fortunately, unlike before, these things matched my memories perfectly.

‘I remember there were a few creatures wandering around here…’

Just as I thought, where could they be? At that moment, I spotted a wolf loitering up ahead.

‘See? My thoughts are pretty sharp.’

I cursed myself inwardly as I prepared to draw the Wingless Nightmare but hesitated for a moment.

This might be an opportunity to test the dark magic I learned from Nix. I had cast spells aimlessly in the air half-conscious but hadn’t yet gone through a real combat test.

Instead of drawing the Wingless Nightmare, I lightly clenched my left hand. Mana began to gather in my left hand. The blue color gradually turned black.

The wolf seemed to sense something strange; it turned its body. Just as it was about to howl for its companions, I swung my arm.

A pitch-black sphere that had formed from my left hand engulfed the wolf. It was one of the dark magic spells Nix had taught me, ‘Black Flame Sphere.’ The jet-black sphere hit it right on the head.

—BBOOOM!

“…Huh?”

The wolf was sent flying backward with a grand explosion. It didn’t make a sound, just flew far away and crashed into a nearby tree, dying instantly. Not even worth looking at—instant death.

I stared blankly at my left hand, which had just unleashed that dark magic. Was that real power? The creature was at least no early area monster.

Sure, with 60 mana, I had stats good enough to take down even a final boss by game standards, but just because of that, could I deal a one-shot kill in a situation with Darkest Light Mod applied? I wasn’t so sure—

‘……’

Again, Nix’s words came to mind about how stats and levels were part of the process of ‘regaining’ my original strength. And whether this world could simply be dismissed as a mod.

‘Let’s not think too complicated. I’m going to ask about that.’

I forcibly shoved those thoughts into the back of my mind and carefully stepped past the now pitch-black wolf corpse. I walked deeper, following the strangely shaped trees.

How long had it been? The entrance of the cave finally came into view. At the end of this path, I would find what I was looking for. A place where I could be unbothered and no one would come.

I took a step inside. The interior was completely empty. Just a regular cave; there wasn’t even a torch or a single human skeleton, which would normally be found in such a place.

‘Found it.’

At the end of that empty cave, there was a petite statue. Contrary to my memory, the woman’s face was quite beautiful, but that was fine. When had I ever encountered a situation that was less than good?

Even as a statue, it had a significantly attractive face, and hair that flowed down to her ankles. And one could easily tell it was female. That was all the information I could gather because something furry was wrapping around her body entirely, making it impossible to see below her neck.

This statue was referred to as the ‘Statue of the Goddess of Atonement’ in the game. If I had been in an antagonistic state with an NPC, I could request atonement here with experience points to lift that state.

However, the reason I came here was not for atonement.

‘Is this the god of the Holy Kingdom, perhaps?’

Near the statue, I found a very faint symbol of the Raphael Holy Kingdom. The symbol itself was so faint that at first, some thought it was a bug resulting in the model appearing in an odd place.

There were many arguments about whether this represented the sun or the moon. In the original game, the statue wasn’t a perfect beauty like this but had an androgynous appearance, leading to considerable debate over its gender despite being called a goddess.

So it made sense that many users combed the map looking for another one to clarify, but they never found it.

‘Before I start…’

I approached the statue. In the game, there was no way to check the inside of it. In the first place, it wasn’t implemented.

I grabbed what seemed to be the fur covering the surface. I had no idea what this was, but it felt incredibly soft, just as it appeared. As I pulled on it, the body of the statue gradually revealed itself.

And my eyes widened in disbelief.

“This is also a mod… No, what is it?”

It was the statue’s outfit that seemed unusual.