Chapter 93

Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 93Episode 93

“Poisonous Bastards.”

An underground space where light is created through magic.

Calliope muttered as she climbed on top of the contaminated corpse of the Giant Worm.

A foul odor was emanating from the decomposed body of the giant worm, and an unpleasant atmosphere filled the closed space.

“Has it begun?”

Calliope had created an underground passage connecting Topaz Lake and Ox.

It was intended to make contact with Dio as concise as possible in case of an emergency, but it was by no means something Calliope made in a haphazard manner.

‘It was made quite deep, but seeing as it has appeared all the way here…’

Calliope was lost in thought as she looked down at the giant worm’s corpse.

If Ox was the goal, there was no way the demonic beasts would have come all the way here.

However, judging from the range of action of the giant worms that appeared in search of this spacious underground place hidden deep in the ground, they had a clear purpose.

‘I’m looking for something.’

Calliope, who left behind Ox, which must have been in chaos by now, guessed the conclusion about the purpose of the demon beasts.

“Hmm…what is it?”

Calliope looked back.

Her gaze was on a platform carved as flat as an altar.

There, the woman chosen by the sun was staring at Calliope, bleeding.

The power of the sun overflowing into her.

If those who wanted overwhelming power would not be surprised to covet her power.

Calliope grinned at Sephia.

* * *

Ox entered a lull as the demonic beast retreated.

However, people did not miss the tension in response to Dio’s warning.

Still, contrary to what I thought the warlocks would attack right away, they didn’t move.

‘I’m moving much more cautiously than I thought. Is it because of Bertio and the Luna Church?’

The battle just now was literally like a prelude to exploration.

Is it because it is a force that is not expected to be their main force?

The damage to Ox was very minimal.

Most of the temporary barriers were destroyed, but they could be repaired.

The only other damage was a few collapsed buildings and a few injuries.

Even this was not life-threatening thanks to the treatment provided by the priests.

“What should I do now?”

Calco opened his mouth towards Dio.

There are currently three people gathered in the temporarily installed tactical barracks.

Diamond disguises herself as a suspiciously strong mercenary.

Calco, a senior knight of the Duke Bertio, a master of swordsmanship.

Conrad, leader of the Holy Knights of the Eastern Diocese of Luna.

They gathered to discuss what happened next.

“It is said that the enemy’s strength can be roughly determined by the number of demonic beasts… but nothing is certain.”

“According to the priests and wizards who are on guard in the vicinity, the number of demonic beasts that were first confirmed is gathering again.”

Conrad shared the report he heard from the soldiers with a serious expression on Dio’s words.

“Wouldn’t it be better to attack from here before the warlocks summon more demons?”

“It’s not possible.”

Dio immediately dismissed Conrad’s opinion.

“The number of those who have joined the demonic beasts is already greater than ours. “There is no reason for us to give up our defense when we are at a disadvantage.”

Even to protect the residents of Oaks, it was dangerous to leave the village.

However, dispersing power is not a good idea either.

“Well, how strong would the demonic beasts be if they gathered together? “They are probably embarrassed by our power and cannot attack easily.”

Calco said, recalling today’s battle in which he blocked the demonic beast’s attack without any significant damage.

“I think we just need to focus on defense and wait for reinforcements, as you said.”

Calco had sent soldiers to the city to inform them of the situation in Ox, and was relieved to think of the reinforcements that would come from the Duke’s side.

“You shouldn’t be so optimistic. “We must be wary of the group of warlocks who control the demonic beasts.”

“But I don’t think they have any intention of moving easily either…”

“If the warlocks are considering Bertio’s support, they will try to finish the job as quickly as possible. “The reason we’re not moving right now is probably to figure out what Ox’s current power is.”

“…If that is true, how should I deal with it? “If they come, can we stop them?”

Hearing Conrad’s words full of worry, Dio looked at him.

Normally, if he was in a position at the rank of knight commander, he would try to lead the war situation directly, but Conrad did not do that.

Conrad looks quite dependent.

‘That’s probably because the force that Conrad is currently leading is not under his direct control.’

Twenty paladins and ten priests in Ox.

Dio only found out now, but half of them came with Inspector Telzia, who was dispatched from the holy nation of Atra.

So, it is good news that their skills are superior compared to priests in the Eastern Diocese, who are generally less skilled than those in other dioceses, but…

‘The problem is that their direct superior is Telzia.’

Dio thought of Telzia, who was currently imprisoned in an abandoned warehouse.

Telzia firmly believed that it was Dio who controlled the demonic beast.

Because she was causing so much trouble, everyone agreed to detain her first.

It was fortunate that Kalko took the initiative to silence her.

Telzia justified her actions in the name of the saint, and came forward in the name of the Kalkoga family in place of Conrad, who was embarrassed by her.

-How dare you! Are you saying you will take the side of heresy right in front of me? What are you doing! Catch them now!

-If there is a problem with them, I, Calco, the senior engineer of Bertio, will take responsibility for everything.

The paladins and priests who had to follow Telzia’s orders were unable to do this or that.

Even though it was an order from a superior, it was difficult to consider Dio, who had killed a demonic beast right in front of him, a heretic.

In addition, he was aware that a huge threat called a warlock was still nearby.

Taking advantage of their hesitation, Kalko persuaded the priests, risking his and his family’s honor.

In the end, the Holy Knights agreed to quarantine Telzia in order to avoid political friction with Bertio.

-All of you will be punished for disobeying orders and heresy… Ugh!

Of course, Telzia’s cries of anger at this decision were heard.

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The Paladins agreed to quarantine Telzia, but were not active in countering the warlock’s attacks.

Conrad could not make a decision for them, and they thought it would be better to take Telzia back to the eastern diocese or the Holy Kingdom.

The only reason I’m staying in Oaks now is because of Conrad’s request and the imprisoned Telzia.

“First of all, we need to become one.”

Dio opened his mouth, pointing at the uncooperative Conrad.

Whatever the current situation, the cooperation of the Holy Knights of the Luna Church is inevitable.

And solving this was the first thing they had to do.

“I guess so…but the paladins are negative about this fight. I wish the Holy Kingdom would recognize what was going on here and make a new decision…”

Conrad also knew this, but since he only held the rank of leader, there was nothing he could do beyond holding down the Holy Knights.

All he can do is trust that the Luna Church will send support on its own.

“Even if they knew, they wouldn’t stop Telzia’s actions.”

“Even though the warlock showed up to show off?”

Conrad shook his head at Dio’s words, saying that couldn’t be possible.

However, Dio knows the true nature of the Luna Church.

The will of Telzia, the inspector dispatched from the Holy Kingdom, was the same as that of the saint.

The inspector is under the direct control of a saint.

‘I won’t ignore the warlocks, but their top priority will be me and Sepia.’

If he was just a wanted person, they wouldn’t have sent inspectors all over the continent to look for him.

However, since he could not tell these facts to Calco and Konrad, Dio thought in silence for a while.

Before taking countermeasures, it is absolutely necessary to rally the existing forces.

“Let’s try to persuade Priest Telzia.”

“If it were possible, I would have done it a long time ago…”

“I have a way.”

* * *

A shabby warehouse guarded by Bertio soldiers.

Inside the warehouse, Telzia was tied to a chair and was struggling to escape.

Watching Telzia fluttering about like a fish out of water might have made you feel sorry, but her venomous eyes did not look pitiful at all.

“Eup eup!”

Telzia, who had been gagged because he was making so much noise, became even more upset when he saw Dio’s face.

“Ugh…”

Dio sighed at the thought of hearing nonsense again, but in order to talk to Telzia, he had no choice but to temporarily loosen her restraints.

“Whoa, you bastard heretic! You will not die in peace! “I will burn you to death and cut your embers into pieces!”

Sure enough, as soon as Dio removed Telzia’s gag, a cool curse was heard.

Dio could have been enraged by her willingness to intervene as a lieutenant, but Dio was not of a weak mind enough to be swayed by her abusive language.

“On what basis are you concluding that I am a heretic?”

Dio quietly asked Telzia, who had removed her gag but was still tied to the chair.

“under! Pretending not to know until the end! Even if you can fool Bertio’s stupid second son, you can’t fool me!”

“That’s a bit of a politically dangerous statement.”

Was it simply a slap in the face, or was it his intuition as an inspector?

Others were just treating Telzia’s words as forced, but not Dio.

No matter what the guessing process was, it was correct that Dio was a wanted man sought by the church.

“An unidentified group disguised as mercenaries! And a fake force that mimics the light of the moon. Even though all these circumstances point to you as a heretic, are you planning to turn away?”

“Fake strength?”

“okay! “Do you think I don’t know that you used that power to summon demonic beasts?”

Surprisingly, Dio thought that Telzia had a keen sense of perspective as she spoke accurately about the reasons for her confidence.

Telzia seemed to think that the power of the sun that attacked the demon beast was the power used by heretics.

“Above all, if you had nothing to hide, there would be no reason to hide yourself! “Your lies are useless in front of the saint’s relics!”

“hmm.”

Aside from the belief that borders on madness, there was a reason for Telzia to push things like this.

Dio could somewhat understand why she remained in the position of inspector general.

However, the ability she had was just a guess based on senses without considering the errors.

If we were to judge the facts, wasn’t Telzia’s guess half right and half wrong?

Moreover, because they only place importance on the orders of the religious order, their ability to perceive the situation is significantly lower than that of ordinary people.

Then….

“Okay. Let’s say you’re right. “Then why am I still trying to protect the village?”

“Because you’re an inside spy!”

“…okay?”

Telzia’s thoughts were firm, having already decided that Dio was a heretic.

However, in the current conversation, Dio has clearly decided how to deal with Telzia.

Here, it is a wrong choice to deny heresy until the end.

However, admitting that it is heresy is not a good idea.

In the end, you have to convince Telzia to be persuasive.

If you want to convince Telzia, who is obsessed with fanaticism, you have no choice but to deceive.

How can you fool me?

What if you are now suspected of heresy?

Dio smiled softly.

What Telzia said.

Inside spy.

There is a difference between a heretic and a spy.

Even though we only know that the recognition-impairing magic was applied through the relic, didn’t we see his real face?

“We walk.”

“What…?”

Telzia’s eyes, which were spewing out anger at Dio’s unexpected words, turned round.

Knowledge that Dio knows.

The knowledge of the deceased.

He is confident that he knows all the circumstances of the Luna Church in order to defeat the Demon King.

For Dio, who has this vast knowledge, it is very easy to deceive Telzia, who is just an inspector.

Dio raised his index finger toward the sky and closed his eyes.

And Dio’s words continued as if he were praying.

“Even if it is on the back side of the moon.”

“!!”

Every power has a shadow.

The moon also has a shadow.

They are different from believers who leave the moonlight behind and work in the sun.

Devotees of the moon who work in shaded areas where moonlight does not reach.

The word that refers to them is…

“Are you all ‘moon walkers’?”

‘It’s easy.’

Dio suppressed his laughter.

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