Chapter 450 (Side Story): Killing Two Birds with One Stone (4)

Instinct. Even after years away from active combat, Kai’s natural hunter’s senses hadn’t dulled and were warning him they were dangerous.

“Damn it!”

As Kai instinctively cast Sacred Barrier, black spikes made by the enemy shot straight toward his forehead at the same time.

Clang!

The shield instantly shattered, and fragments scattered before his eyes without being able to block even a single strike.

“The aura of heresy...”

“For the resurrection of Betix.”

“Purify.”

“Purify.”

The fanatics in black robes muttered as they came toward Kai. At that point, he understood what was happening.

Crazy cult bastards.

Kai drew his sword and charged toward them, dodging the incoming spikes.

“Purify.”

“Purify.”

Claaang!

His sword struck against a black barrier and couldn’t go further.

They’re stronger than I thought...

He had thought pulling them into close combat would work since they were Clerics, but their defenses were far more solid than he expected. It was probably due to the level difference between him and them.

[Betix’s Dark Priest LV.210]

No matter how much real money he invested to boost his progress, a 140-level gap was impossible to close. Knowing this better than anyone, Kai immediately turned and fled without hesitation.

The leading priest shook his head. “That’s useless.”

With the staircase behind him already gone, there was nowhere to run. The priests, who were slowly pursuing him to judge the heretic, furrowed their brows. As expected, it was a dead end. However, the human they had been chasing was nowhere to be found in that place.

***

Kai, who had been preparing for a last fight with his back against the wall, blinked.

Helik rushed over in a panic and scanned his body thoroughly. “Kai! Are you okay?!”

“Helik?”

“I urgently called you because you seemed in danger! Are you alright?!”

Ah, that startled him. For a moment, Kai thought the enemies had used some kind of illusion skill.

Relieved, he collapsed onto the ground and said, “So you were watching the whole time?”

“Of course! I’ve got nothing better to—no, I mean, who will look after you if I don’t?!”

Rashya, who also came over with Helik, cleared Kai’s mind and asked, “That must’ve been a shock, wasn’t it? Who would’ve expected Betix’s priests to be there.”

“Do you know that order?”

“To some extent.” Rashya confirmed that they were a group of insane fanatics worshipping the demon king. “But something’s strange. Why would thousands of dark priests be inside that labyrinth...”

“Wait, thousands?”

“

Oh,

I guess you didn’t know. From what we’ve seen, they’re wandering everywhere all the way down to the fifth underground floor of the labyrinth. And with the High Priest seemingly present, it looks like they’re preparing something big.”

Kai’s brows furrowed,

There’s no way the Demon King Betix summoning quest is happening this early.

Of course, he didn’t know every single event and storyline in

FanOn.

He only knew the major ones.

But this is way too soon.

The Betix summoning event wasn’t supposed to start until the first half of next year.

Kai urgently asked, “Rashya, are there any adventurers like me on the lower floors of the labyrinth?”

“Yes, there were. Not many, but... I’ll just show you rather than explain.”

When she lightly touched her finger in the air, ripples spread out, and the image of the labyrinth’s lower floors appeared. Thousands of dark priests were kneeling before the High Priest of Betix, and at the very front stood several familiar faces.

The Carmelo Family!

It felt as if a puzzle in his mind finally clicked into place.

Have those bastards been secretly progressing the Demon King Betix resurrection quest?

If that was the case, it all made sense. Even their desperation to obtain the Heart of Butifon became clear.

“That was real close.”

If he hadn’t stabbed the Heart of Butifon to decrease its effect, Betix would have already been summoned and roaming the field by now.

Even if he was summoned, he wouldn’t be in perfect condition.

After all, this would be a forced summoning a full year earlier than planned, and using incomplete materials on top of that. At the same time, Kai recalled what the knight on the first basement floor had said.

—One more thing. This is a church I have not seen before. May I ask which god you serve?

—There are rumors that many harbor ill intent in this labyrinth lately, so I recommend finding companions to travel with if possible.

So that’s what it was.

Normally, people wouldn’t ask a Cleric about their order upon first meeting. There were so many sects across the continent that most wouldn’t recognize unfamiliar ones anyway.

That’s also why knights, who usually traveled in groups of two or three, were moving around in groups of ten.

The territory must have gathered some intelligence on Betix’s order in advance. Still, even they probably hadn’t anticipated it would be this serious.

Thousands of Betix-related NPCs...

Kai rubbed his chin for a moment, sinking deep into thought, but his conclusion wasn’t complicated.

Dang it, this isn’t good.

Nearly every top-ranked player was preparing to head to the Yushin region at the moment, so naturally, interest in the main continent had started to become less. And in the middle of all that, if Betix suddenly got summoned for everyone to see, the tower they had painstakingly built would crumble in an instant.

This is nothing like the scenario we planned for.

Most importantly, Betix was a level 500 boss monster.

If he gets summoned, the entire game could be ruined.

Kai had to stop it, no matter what, and the method was simple.

I need to kill every Betix-related NPC inside that labyrinth right now.

Organizing his thoughts, Kai raised his head. “Rashya, is that so-called High Priest on the lower floors strong?”

“He’s strong. Really...” Rashya glanced at Kai, hesitating, and answered cautiously, “He’s far stronger than you are right now, Kai.

Ah!

I’m not saying you’re weak, of course...”

“I understand what you mean.”

In the past, maybe he could’ve managed, but at his current level of 73, it was absurd to face the entire order alone. Still, it wasn’t like there was no solution.

“Just a moment.”

He immediately contacted Boyd, requesting that Cheonhwa bring every force they could mobilize to the Sanctuary of the Ancient.

But relying on this alone isn’t enough.

Cheonhwa was indeed one of the top guilds in the game, but they were still a large-scale organization. Even if Boyd gathered their forces immediately, it would take time before they arrived.

Someone needs to delay Betix’s summoning before they get here.

No matter how he looked at it, there was only one person fit for that role, himself.

“Helik.”

As Kai’s expression turned deadly serious, Helik swallowed hard before replying, “Y-yes?”

“Would you be willing to form a New Covenant with me?”

“A N-New Covenant? That’s...”

For the first time, the same Helik who always nodded immediately at his words, hesitated. But Kai didn’t feel offended by it. After all, a New Covenant was far riskier than any guarantee in our society.

If I form a New Covenant and fail to uphold my side of the contract...

Helik would lose her divinity forever and fall to the level of a mere mortal. But even so, there was no other choice.

Seeing the look in his eyes, Helik realized he wasn’t joking and asked, “

Hm

... Is the summoning of this Betix really that dangerous?”

“If left alone, this world will fall into ruin.”

“That would certainly be a problem...” Helik nodded firmly and made her decision. “Very well, I’ll do it.”

“Really...?”

Even though Kai was the one who asked, he honestly thought the chances of her agreeing were low. After all, this wasn’t just any deal. It was a New Covenant.

“Just so you’re aware, a New Covenant means—”

“Kai, do you take me for a fool who doesn’t know that much?” Helik puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. “I’m a god, you know. I understand a New Covenant better than you do.”

“And yet, you’re fine with this?”

“You’re a funny one. Why bring it up in the first place if you didn’t intend to go through with it?”

No, it wasn’t that. Now that she actually agreed, he felt a chill down his spine. If he made even the slightest mistake, it could put her in danger as well.

Sensing his unease, Helik said softly, “Kai. Do you remember? I would’ve ceased to exist without you.”

She was right. If not for him, she would have died at the hands of none other than her own kin, Muldine.

“You’re the one who saved me back then. And even now, you’re suffering through all of this just to help me.” Helik reached down and gently patted Kai’s head as he sat on the ground. “Above all else, if a god cannot trust her own apostle, then who in this world could she possibly trust?”

“Helik...”

Something about her words struck him deeply. It felt like when a daughter you always saw as a child saved up bit by bit and bought you a carnation for Father’s Day.

“

Ahem

. Kai, so what kind of promise must I make for you?”

“

Ah,

that is...” Recalling the plan he had in mind, Kai said, “Do you happen to know what a loan is?”

***

The guarantee—no, the New Covenant—was established.

[You have formed a New Covenant with the Solarian God Helik.]

[The Solarian God Helik has loaned you 10,000 Benevolence stat points.]

[You must defeat the High Priest of Betix within 12 hours.]

[If you fail, the Solarian God Helik will lose her divinity.]

A stat loan. It was the most basic form of stat boost obtainable through a New Covenant in this game.

Normally, a god forming a New Covenant with a player is nearly impossible unless it’s under very special circumstances.

Even Pegasus Corporation had assumed that only players with the High Priest class, who maxed out their intimacy with a god by the final episode of

FanOn

, would be able to achieve it.

10,000 Benevolence stats...

Because of Dr. Jim’s nerf, only 1,000 points were applied per stat. However, since Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Agility, and Holiness all rose by 1,000 each, it was effectively an increase of 5,000 stat points overall. On top of that, Kai invested all 360 of his unused stat points into Strength.

[Kai]

Class: Solaris Cleric

Level: 73

Title: Herb Addict

Strength: 1408 Stamina: 1057

Intelligence: 1020 Agility: 1035

Holiness: 1010 Benevolence: 10,020

This was what he called the Benevolence Loan Mode. Even if this status window only lasted for twelve hours, it was far beyond what a mere level-73 player could possess.

Since the Benevolence stats have been boosted so drastically, the restrictions are just as heavy.

First of all, this status would last only twelve hours. If he failed to defeat Betix’s High Priest within that time, Helik would be doomed, and so would the entire game. Of course, if things went smoothly, he could kill two birds with one stone.

There will be no need to stick to the original plan anymore.

The moment the Betix order was wiped out, the Solarian Church’s influence would skyrocket.

The Carmelo Family. I still don’t know why those bastards are doing this...

But at least he clearly understood their goal. They wanted to summon Betix and turn this game into hell itself.

“I’ll never let that happen.” Kai slowly got up from his seat and turned to face the two gods. “I’ll be back.”

“Wait! Wait just a moment!”

Helik raised her hand to stop him, then hurriedly ran up the dozens of stairs into the temple. When she came back down, she was carrying something nearly as large as her own body.

“

Huff... huff

...”

She held out the sword she had been holding in her arms.

“When I came into this world, all the holy relics were lost, so this is the best I could recreate! I only managed to make it resemble the original shape... There wasn’t enough divinity yet...”

The Holy Sword Prius. As she said, it was no longer a Mythic-grade weapon, nor did it have any extravagant effects like before. But Kai silently extended both hands and accepted the sword.

“I’ll borrow it for a bit.”

A sword meant to cut down evil and establish justice upon this land. There couldn’t be a more fitting weapon for slaying Betix’s fanatics.

“Then, I’ll be off.”

With those final words, Kai returned to where he was meant to be. Benevolence Loan Mode Kai, deployed.