Chapter 67
[Wow… This Bishop guy is total trash, isn’t he?]
The end of Bishop Kallion, observed through Si-Yeon’s vision, was the very epitome of ugliness.
It’s surprising that a guy who was supposedly a High Priest of the Holy Imperial Church would throw away his faith and everything else the moment he faced death, begging and offering money and power.
The inner thoughts I examined with [Appraisal Eye] were also incredibly wicked.
At least that guy Julius, who infiltrated our Knight Order and got caught by me, had pure faith in his god.
Isn’t this guy just a corrupt religious figure with high divine power?
[I think I know why the people of the Arden Domain despise the Holy Imperial Church so much.]
I nodded.
Not long after that, the war completely ended.
The result? An overwhelming victory for Arden, of course.
Most of the Enemy Army either died or surrendered.
The Allied Army’s casualties were practically nonexistent.
Soon after, a short System Message appeared before my eyes.
It was the next quest.
[Objective: Manage the Post-war Situation and restore stability to the Arden Domain.]
[Great.]
We had crossed the biggest mountain.
Now all that was left was the minor cleanup.
There was something I had to do for this.
A very important task that only I could do.
That was -
We patted our Retainers' heads who had fought so hard.
[Hmm. My hands won’t have a moment to rest.]
* * *
Not long after, the Retainers returned.
After patting Katarina, Riri, and then Sera,
“Master. I have executed the Bishop of the Holy Imperial Church and brought his blood.”
Finally, Si-Yeon knelt before me, offering the blood of Bishop Kallion.
“Ahem. Yes, Si-Yeon. You have done well.”
“Thank you. Master…”
I gently patted the hardworking Si-Yeon’s head a few times and received the blood.
A moment later.
[Hmm.]
I held the cup containing the Bishop’s blood and walked over to the egg I had carefully placed in the bathtub.
In truth, drinking Human Blood only replenished blood power.
It didn’t give experience points like the blood of vampires or Monster Blood.
But still, it was the blood of a High Priest of the Holy Imperial Church, a Bishop.
I was curious if it might have some special taste.
Without much thought, I took a sip.
However,
[Blergh! Crazy, it’s so salty!!!]
I almost spat out the blood I had just drunk.
This tastes like Kkanari Aekjeot!
Is it because he’s a human who handles divine power?
It was a salty taste that was terribly incompatible with my Vampire palate.
Ugh… Divine power sure is dangerous.
I had thoroughly learned my lesson.
[Ugh. I absolutely can’t give this to our kids either.]
I arrived, frowning like that, in front of the bathtub with the egg.
[Status: Strongly desiring the blood you are holding]
Huh? The egg wants this salty blood?
It was quite strange that a creature about to be born a Vampire would want blood containing divine power, but with the status window popping up like that, I couldn’t just ignore it.
It was a headache to dispose of anyway since it tasted bad, so it was actually better that I found a use for it.
I generously poured all of the Bishop’s blood over the egg resting in the bathtub.
[Status: Very satisfied]
[Well, I’m glad at least you’re enjoying it.]
* * *
A few days passed since then.
“Distinguished One.”
Lord Reuben’s face had become so much brighter that he looked ten years younger and full of life.
“How is the situation?”
“Thanks to the Distinguished One, everything is proceeding smoothly. The enemies have completely lost their will to fight, and the Lord of the Valil Domain has personally sent a Surrender Envoy.”
According to the Lord’s explanation, the situation was like this.
In this war, the Valil Domain fell for the Bishop of the Holy Imperial Church’s temptation, practically emptying its own Territory to mobilize almost its entire Army to invade Arden.
But since those thousands of Main Force troops had vanished in this war, it had become an empty house without a single soldier.
In the end, the terrified Lord of Valil prostrated himself and declared unconditional surrender.
He reportedly begged to come under Arden’s rule along with a massive tribute.
And even though we killed the Bishop, the Holy Imperial Church’s side was surprisingly quiet.
Were they embarrassed because they got beaten so badly?
“Furthermore, to commemorate forever the great miracles performed by the Distinguished One, we have newly compiled the family’s history book.”
The Lord reverently held out a large, thick book.
[What is this?]
I opened it and briefly glanced at the contents.
It was a language I had never seen before, but I could understand the contents Thanks to the Tower’s Auto-translation Function.
When the Distinguished One raised the Scythe of Pitch Black,
The adversaries turned to ash and faded away,
And heaven and Earth held their breath at her noble figure.
Thereafter, she personally sent four Retainers to the Battlefield.
Those wearing the masks of beasts vanquished the enemy,
Slaying ten thousand and capturing one thousand.
…
[Speechless.]
Is this a history book or a bible?
So this is how history gets glorified.
Anyway.
Most things were working out well.
We won the war perfectly and even received the surrender of the enemy Territory.
It seemed the situation was well resolved without my having to step in much.
In truth, I still had one thing left that I absolutely had to resolve.
Namely, avenging Sera.
The wicked Holy Knight who harmed Sera’s parents was the enemy she spoke of.
He belonged to the Holy Imperial Church Branch in the very Valil Domain that had just surrendered.
The reason I promised her revenge when I took Sera in as a Retainer in the first place was because I thought I could easily slice that guy up on the side while clearing the quest, since I’d be getting involved with the Valil Domain through the war anyway.
So for a few days, I dispatched Si-Yeon and Katarina, and mobilized all the informants in the Territory to thoroughly track down that Holy Knight’s whereabouts.
They say messing with the Holy Imperial Church is a taboo in this World.
But I already killed a Bishop, so what’s a mere Holy Knight?
However, the report that came back a few days later was completely different from my expectations.
That Holy Knight had already left the Valil Domain for another place several months ago.
[Oh my. This is an unexpected variable?]
This was troublesome.
If he ran away, I could just track him down and catch him, but this wasn’t a problem on that level.
This place wasn’t reality, but a place created by the Tower of Trials.
The Tower’s 5th Floor stage was limited exactly to the Arden Domain and the enemy Territory, the Valil Domain.
Just as in an Open-World Game, when you reach the edge of the map, you are blocked by an Invisible Wall and can’t advance any further. Due to a System Restriction, the system was structured so that I couldn’t go beyond that point at all.
[Then… what do I do about Sera’s enemy?]
To be honest, when I first met Sera, I coveted her potential so much that I just blurted out I’d grant her wish without thinking ahead.
But the situation was different now.
I had grown too attached to Sera.
I had confidently declared that I would avenge her.
Wouldn’t I feel too sorry to just let it fizzle out now?
But I couldn’t just call Sera over and tell her the truth either.
[Sera, this World you’ve lived in your whole life is actually a Fake Stage created by the Tower of Trials. So the map doesn’t open beyond there.]
How would Sera react if I said that?
If she found out that her Tragic Past and even her parents' deaths were all fake, how great would the shock be?
[Haa. This is driving me crazy. Should I just lie and say he died of a disease…]
I was resting my chin on my hand, pondering how to solve this problem for a long time.
Knock, knock.
With a light knock, the door opened and Sera came in.
“Master, would you like a cup of tea…? It smells nice.”
Sera approached carefully and offered a steaming teacup.
She set the teacup down and spoke in a small voice.
“Thanks to Master, my Hometown has found peace. Thank you…”
“…”
“I’m really happy to have become Master’s Slave…!”
She clasped her hands tightly and continued.
“Even though my enemy ran away, if I’m with Master, I’m sure we can find him and get revenge. I believe it.”
As I looked at Sera smiling shyly, a corner of my heart ached.
I couldn’t say anything and just forced a smile for her.
[…What do I do about this.]
My lips wouldn’t part.
How could I tell the truth to such a good kid?
My insides were burning with a heavy heart.
Ding - !
A System Window suddenly popped up, and the World stopped.
[You have completed all objectives of the third story.]
[The Tower of Trials is evaluating your story.]
[Calculating…]
[Evaluation Score: 120]
[Rank: S+]
[The story of the Nightmare 5th Floor has ended.]
Ah.
I sighed inwardly.
Is this how it ends after all?
I had achieved an S+ rank by acquiring a whopping 120 points, and it said it would even give a Final Reward, but.
I didn’t feel very good.
The fact that I had to leave the Tower without keeping my promise to Sera left a bitter taste in my mouth.
But then.
A New Message Window popped up.
[You have achieved the feat of attaining an S-rank or higher in all stories, acquiring a Special Final Reward.]
[A New Difficulty for the Tower is unlocked!]
[Infinite (∞) difficulty has been activated.]
[Huh…?]
Infinite Difficulty?