A young man with blond hair and blue eyes.
He wore the armor of the White Church and carried a sword.
“I am Paladin Eric.”
He introduced himself politely, bowing his head. His name was Eric.
He was a Paladin affiliated with the White Church.
“My role is to send lost sheep to the Goddess’s side.”
Paladin Eric looked at the surrounding adventurers with a pleasant smile.
The adventurers also turned their gazes towards Eric.
It was true that Eric’s first impression was a bit stern due to his status as a Paladin.
However, as if to disregard that impression, Eric extended his hand first.
“If you don’t mind, may I guide you to the Great One?”
Everyone tilted their heads at Paladin Eric’s words.
‘The Great One?’
But they soon accepted the meaning without much thought.
Perhaps the Great One the Paladin spoke of was the Goddess.
And guiding them to the Goddess meant solving their current troubles.
Although he was beating around the bush, it was a characteristic of Paladins, so the adventurers simply nodded.
The image of a stoic Paladin who only looked to the Goddess and was loyal to the Church.
That was the common perception of a Paladin.
But the Paladin Eric before them was similar yet different.
Eric, with his stoic expression and a dry, emotionless voice.
Yet, he was the one who first offered a helping hand.
Furthermore, Eric’s rough appearance revealed his human side.
Because of this, the adventurers began to relax their guard around Eric.
“Great! I can go anywhere as long as it’s where the Goddess is!”
The adventurer who first approached the Paladin spoke up.
As she spoke, she took a seat next to Eric.
“Oh, that’s truly a righteous statement. May I ask your name?”
“Nella, I am Nella. I’m so lucky to meet a Paladin here!”
Her name was Nella.
Although she worked as an adventurer, she was also an fervent follower of the Church.
Happy to meet a Paladin in the mountains, she introduced herself to Eric with a wide smile.
“Nella… you have a beautiful name.”
Eric gave an unreadable smile in response to Nella’s words.
Then, he looked at the other adventurers and said,
“Well, let’s not stay here. My comrades are gathered not too far away.”
Comrades?
Everyone was delighted at Paladin Eric’s words.
If they were the Paladin’s comrades, they would most likely be Paladins themselves.
Even if not, they would at least be members of the Church.
Accompanying them meant accompanying the Church.
If they accompanied them, it was as good as ensuring their safety.
Of course, they had been safe until now.
They hadn’t even encountered a bandit, let alone a monster.
But the mountains were never an easy place.
Even if it was safe now, the situation could change at any moment.
If they were unlucky, they could encounter monsters at any time, or be killed by a group of bandits.
In a situation where variables could appear anywhere, meeting a Paladin was the greatest fortune.
An adventurer who had been grumbling until just a moment ago leaned towards Eric’s words.
“Alright. I’ll follow you.”
The adventurer who quickly agreed to follow the Paladin was named Silloen.
He had other thoughts in his mind.
‘It’s better than staying here.’
After all, the squad he belonged to was mostly made up of misfits.
Furthermore, there was no Pathfinder like Nariel who could find traces here.
Following the footprints backward, their original objective, had already lost its meaning.
In this situation, receiving the Paladin’s favor was also a good option.
The quest was to scout the mountains and observe their movements.
Broadly speaking, their current actions could also be considered within the scope of the quest.
‘More than that, there’s something going on.’
Moreover, he was curious about why the Paladins were in the mountains.
If he could find out this fact, it would be a great gain.
‘Perhaps…’
Suddenly, a possibility came to mind.
The one who gave them the quest was a noble from the Sail Kingdom.
And it was said that the White Church would visit the Sail Kingdom.
A noble from the Sail Kingdom sent the quest.
Then, was it a coincidence that they met Paladins in the mountains, the quest location?
Silloen thought the two were somehow connected.
With that thought, Silloen immediately followed Eric.
As one by one, the dam of hesitation broke, other adventurers naturally began to follow the Paladin.
Everyone closely followed the Paladin.
Their appearance was like chicks following their mother.
It was proof of how much they trusted the Church.
“But, Paladin, why are you here? Is something happening?”
Nella, walking beside him, asked Paladin Eric.
Eric fell silent for a moment, then turned his head towards Nella.
“Because there are those who dare to challenge the Great One. Ah, don’t worry. Everything will be over soon.”
Challenging the Goddess meant they were undoubtedly wicked heretics.
Because of such things, the Paladin was dispatched.
Nella agreed with Eric’s words.
The conversation was brief. The procession began again.
The adventurers walked for a long time with Eric.
No, not for a long time.
Before they knew it, they had reached a cave none of them had seen before.
“My comrades are waiting for us here.”
Eric said that his companions were inside the cave and began to lead them inside.
“It’s a really cleverly hidden place.”
Someone among the adventurers muttered while looking at the cave.
As he said, the cave’s location was subtly concealed by trees and vines.
Normally, they would have passed by without noticing it.
Silloen also looked at the cave.
As he looked, he felt a slight unease.
‘Are there really other Paladins inside?’
He didn’t know why, but he felt strange.
More importantly, was it really okay to go inside?
He secretly took out an artifact from his pocket.
It was an artifact used to check if it was a dungeon, a commonly used item among adventurers.
‘It’s not a dungeon.’
Fortunately, the cave was not a dungeon.
Originally, since no energy was detected, it was considered a normal cave.
After confirming, Silloen followed the other adventurers into the cave.
“……”
Inside the cave, it was gloomy.
Not a single breeze blew, but it exuded a chilling atmosphere.
Only the sound of water droplets occasionally falling from the ceiling echoed in their ears.
A quiet silence.
And a chilling space.
These two combined to create an illusion of an abyss.
Everyone thought this and only looked at Eric’s back.
Eric remained silent.
He just kept walking.
Then, a junction of three paths appeared.
Paladin Eric was still silent.
Just like before, he simply walked on.
Although there were three paths, he entered the first path on the far left.
The others followed Eric without suspicion.
Upon entering the first path, the gloomy aura intensified compared to before.
It was so chilling that it made their spines run cold.
“Uh… Paladin?”
Something was wrong.
Nella, who was right behind Eric, called out to him.
“Are there really comrades here…?”
Perhaps it was just a feeling.
But she had a strong intuition that there were no other Paladins here.
And that intuition seemed to trigger a warning of danger in her mind.
Despite Nella’s cry, Eric did not stop.
He just kept walking forward.
But then, a strange phenomenon occurred.
“Hee… hee hee!”
Nella suddenly started laughing madly.
She brought both hands to her head and kept laughing.
“Hee hee hee!”
She laughed and laughed.
Then, she tightened her grip on her head.
*Crack*
With the sound of bones, her head twisted in a strange direction.
Despite her head being twisted, Nella’s expression remained a smile.
“Damn it!”
Silloen, at the very end of the procession, cursed and drew his sword.
At this point, it was impossible not to know.
That things were going wrong.
Starting with Silloen’s action, the other adventurers also stopped in their tracks.
And everyone drew their swords.
But their swords were lost.
They didn’t even know where to go in the first place.
“Haha!”
One by one, adventurers who made laughter similar to the dead Nella began to increase.
The sight of everyone smiling in the same way was not just strange but also unpleasant and eerie.
The adventurers who were laughing madly drew their swords.
The direction of their swords was two:
Their own necks.
Or the necks of those in front of them.
As the direction of their swords was decided, they began to swing them mercilessly.
A thick scent of blood filled the air.
Everyone’s joyous laughter echoed and resonated.
Crimson liquids scattered in the air.
“Wh-what is this…!”
Silloen was horrified by the scene unfolding before his eyes.
Fortunately, not everyone had lost their minds.
He himself was fine.
But the problem was that the others were swinging their swords indiscriminately.
No matter how insane they were, they were still people.
Hesitation could be felt from his sword.
“……”
But a moment’s hesitation led to a completely different outcome.
Someone’s sword pierced Silloen’s neck.
Blood began to gush from his neck.
Silloen’s vision was colored red.
His eyes were slowly closing.
Just before his eyes closed, the scene he saw was.
“H-help me!”
“Please…!”
It was indeed a pandemonium.
His body fell to the ground.
The bodies of other adventurers also collapsed to the ground.
The number of adventurers finally remaining was seven.
But none of them were normal.
Red bloodstains covered their entire bodies.
With an unknown expression, they just kept smiling ecstatically.
As only they remained, Paladin Eric, whom they hadn’t paid attention to until a moment ago, approached.
“As expected, you are my comrades.”
There were flying beings here.
Beings like ghosts, simultaneously present and absent.
They were all Banshees.
The current situation occurred because the Banshees controlled the adventurers’ minds.
And Eric, too, was once a Paladin.
But now, he was merely a being whose mind had been consumed by a Banshee.
“My brothers and sisters who have received mercy from the Great One.”
Eric smiled with satisfaction.
“Go.”
Eric raised his hand and pointed to the passage leading out.
“Inflict judgment upon those who dare to block the path of the Great One.”
He whispered softly.
“Guide them all to the embrace of the Goddess.”
The blood-stained adventurers began to rush forward.
***
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
Countless alarms rang out.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
The sacrifices offered after a long time.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
– Celia offers the adventurer as a sacrifice to the Master.
But this time, the sacrifices offered were not important.
With a new alarm, a system appeared.
– The number of sacrifices offered has reached a certain point.
– Clues to unlock the next system have been obtained.
[Dungeon Monster Strengthening System] (Locked)
That system was the Monster Strengthening System.
It was what I saw when I first obtained the ‘True Dungeon Master’ trait.
