Chapter 968: Altanus (5)

‘There may be more than one invitation to the social gathering.’

I was sure that would keep Kim Hyun-Sung, as that was the only thing he could do right now. I[1] knew what was happening to the expedition group without seeing it with my own eyes. I had written down guidelines for each of the key figures, but they definitely wouldn't follow them to a T.

Fortunately, I wrote them while considering their behavior.

The others would move according to my wishes, but Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan would probably do something absurd, like looking for a way to return to the past.

They’d probably set up camp in the area where I had disappeared and do things that would delay the expedition. They’d bring all the competent members to that camp, which would delay the expedition.

‘Commander Jin needs to hold things together.’

If possible, I wanted Jo Hye-Jin to be in charge, but Kim Hyun-Sung was kind of her weakness. The expedition had to continue regardless of what I had to deal with here.

If they really had cleared the library, then the prayer room was their next destination. I still couldn’t confirm whether Jin Cheong was the one who had accepted the quest, but since I managed to confirm that he had accepted the Linked Quest, there was a high chance that he had accepted the quest "A Warning From the Past." as well.

‘Actually, come to think of it, there might really be a few more invitations.’

Obviously, Kim Hyun-Sung would be useless even if he were to come here.

It’d be better if…

‘If Ji-Hye noona comes here.’

Anyway, it felt like some of the priorities had been handled. I managed to confirm that this event wasn't just a simple event, and I succeeded in delivering my message to the expedition group.

The next tasks at hand were delivering information and handling the overdue tasks.

First of all, I thought it would be best to acquire information about the prayer room, as I was already here.

The prayer room on the eighth basement floor had hundreds of rooms rather than just a single room. There were also chapels where everyone prayed together, but there were places for people like me who needed personal space.

Some of them were even used as confessionals by the priests…

'All of them must have become monsters.’

Father Draktaris was probably the boss monster here. He was a priest who was in charge of the private prayer rooms and had amazing holy power.

“Father Draktaris is a strict and stubborn person… and he’s one of the priests in the Underground Temple with a lot of holy power. He’s famous for living for the sake of Lady Lucifer. I have never really seen him that much, though…” Templar Genny said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes… it’s because Father Draktaris has his own guards… He’s so strong that he can’t be compared to a low-level Templar like me,” Templar Genny said.

‘This is going to be tricky.’

“It’s a shame since I wanted to meet him,” I told him.

“He’s always in the prayer room somewhere, so if you visit the prayer room often, I’m sure you’ll eventually run into him,” Templar Genny informed me.

‘Does that mean he appears randomly?’

This was a corridor-style building, so it wasn’t easy to bring in a bunch of troops at once.

The archbishop had guards on a similar level as the low-level Templars. If I had a lot of space to work with, then things would be easier, but the space was limited, so things were going to be a bit tricky.

‘It’s too small for a group to move around in.’

I needed a certain number of people to clear this place. I pondered briefly and reached the conclusion that three parties made up of five people were needed to clear this.

The most reasonable decision was to create a small party centered around the Blue Guild. I was bothered by the memory I had seen through Kasugano Yuno, but this place was different from the future I had seen.

“The statues in each prayer room also contain Lady Lucifer’s holy power. It seems to contain a blessing that comforts the priests who come here to pray. I sometimes come here to pray as well…” Templar Genny paused.

‘There are even relics in each room…’

Those relics were blessings to the enemy, but it was a cursed holy relic to our allied troops. Every time a room was opened, there would be a skirmish. It was highly likely for them to get exhausted—both physically and mentally.

I assumed Draktaris and his guards would appear once the party members were exhausted, and that was when the boss fight would begin.

If I were to assume that the statues would inflict debuffs as a part of the special event… I had to exclude Ha-Yan from this, as the statues' exact abilities were unknown. Han Sora could be used as her suppressor, but situations like this were always worrying.

It would be ideal to create a party with Park Deok-Gu, who had a ton of HP and could take a beating, our Hye-Jin, who was capable of making objective decisions, Elena, who had a ton of holy power, and Sun Hee-Young.

We'd then take Rafael’s party with us.

‘I’ll exclude Kim Hyun-Sung as well, just in case…’

Kim Ye-Ri, Lee Chang-Ryeol, and Park Lian were all excluded from this part of the expedition, too.

“Templar Genny, I’ll get back to what I was doing…” I told him.

“Yes, Father. I’ll wait for you outside,” Templar Genny said.

“Thank you.”

The prayer rooms were big since it was on a huge plot of land.

It was too narrow to fight in, but it was big enough to move around. There was a small altar and a statue on one side of the wall. I was sure the rooms were designed like this.

I was kind of worried, but I thought it'd be best if I included Alps as well since Shiro’s buff was going to be helpful to the group.

[The Epic-rank Linked Quest has been completed.]

[Create an Epic-rank quest.]

[Archbishop of the Prayer Room - Legendary Rank]

[Father Draktaris is a devout priest residing in the prayer room. As a faithful servant of Lucifer, he possesses enough holy power to threaten you, and he is always accompanied by loyal and powerful guards.

[The statues of evil spirits in each prayer room will curse you and will constantly test adventurers with weak minds.

[Only certain heroes can overcome this crisis—an adventurer with a large shield, a priest with a massive amount of holy power, the Queen of the High Elves, a warrior with gray wings and his comrades, and a dog capable of blocking out negative thoughts.]

‘Who else is there?’

A martial artist was needed, as the space to move was pretty small.

[Heroes capable of using their bodies as weapons are needed as well.]

Jin Cheong’s soldiers, and lastly…

[The red beast.]

If the statues could truly attack people mentally, then bringing Hee-Ra noona was the right choice, as she had the strongest will out of all the people I knew.

[I wish good luck to the heroes who have willingly set foot on such a dangerous place for the continent's sake.]

This was basically an open-book test. Before creating the quest, I felt like I needed to leave a letter. I had to write a letter to Kim Hyun-Sung and Jung Ha-Yan.

In the letter, I needed to include that there were things I needed to do here that I could help them from here, and there weren't any issues with my identity here, as I had been invited to the social gathering.

I also needed to include that my time here was limited, and I’d return once the social gathering was over.

Lastly, I decided to write something nice like words of support and that should be enough. Since it was going to be a letter from the past, it’d be like a journal or an autobiography…

[Registering the Epic-rank Linked Quest, Archbishop of the Prayer Room.]

[??? has accepted the Linked Quest.]

There were things I needed to do before that quest was completed, so I gathered my hands quietly and unleashed light.

The room was instantly filled with light, and I was sure people outside could see the light seeping out. As always, the radiant light spread everywhere, and it even went into the other prayer rooms. I didn’t spread my wings because I found it scary for some reason.

‘I’m sure it’s still effective.’

As expected, I heard murmurs outside.

The miracle made people gather one by one…

“O Lucifer…”

“O Saint Altanus…”

“What in the world…”

I wasn’t sure why they mentioned Saint Altanus, but it was probably proof that she had a huge influence on this place. Even on the continent, they said things like, “O Saint of Light” or “Son of Light.”

The light that filled the room was dimming slowly.

I stayed in the prayer for a while because I needed the crowd to become curious.

The crowd outside didn’t leave my private prayer room alone, and their murmurs were getting louder.

I was sure the higher-ups were here as well.

If I stayed here for an entire day, they’d probably wait for me the entire day.

A priest would be able to express how touching it was to meet the Goddess after spending two or more days in this room, but I wasn’t planning on spending two days here. We were in a state of emergency right now, after all.

Silence filled the room and the crowd didn’t say anything.

What could they say to the crying priest covered in sweat?

No one was dumb enough to ask me whether I had met the Goddess or if I had heard Lady Lucifer’s voice. I lowered my head quietly, praised the Goddess, and cried. Templar Genny cast a dumbfounded gaze at me. He had been by my side all this while, after all.

I walked quietly, but I fell to the side.

‘I must’ve fallen naturally.’

Templar Genny grabbed me and supported me.

“Father, are you okay? Father,” Templar Genny asked.

I forced myself to get up and nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine, Templar Genny. C-Could you get the archbishop for me?” I requested.

“W-What?”

Obviously, the archbishop was here. He came here with his guards.

As a loyal follower of Lucifer, he looked at me with a warm gaze.

“This man…”

“He’s a priest who has been invited to the social gathering, Father Draktaris,” Templar Genny replied.

“I see. Does he…” Draktaris muttered with a pale face, afraid that someone might hear him.

“I-It’s not something we can discuss here, Father.”

“...”

“I think it’s best if we go somewhere else. Hellis, please escort him,” Draktaris ordered.

“Yes, Father,” Hellis replied.

“I-I…”

“You are?” he asked.

“I’m Templar Genny, Father Draktaris,” Templar Genny answered.

“I think it’s best if you come with us,” he suggested.

I had just received a divine message, and I was in the middle of trying to recover my wits. However, I was being moved against my will. We walked down a small corridor and left the prayer room. Soon, we entered a reception room.

Draktaris seemed to be a man who favored minimalism, as the decorations in the reception hall were far from being fancy. I nodded because it made sense for him to practice minimalism. After all, he was a priest who lived only for Lucifer rather than a corrupted priest.

“Now…”

“...”

“Can you tell me what happened?” Draktaris asked.

I took a deep breath, but I was still crying.

Then, I looked pale and nervous as I answered, “Saint Altanus…”

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“...”

“The divine message told me that she’ll slowly lose her holy power,” I said.

I wasn’t wrong here.

1. Lee Ki-Young’s POV ?