One SSS Affix per Level: My Novice Club Can Slay Gods!

Lorne had only just finished speaking when he stopped.

Who was he supposed to report this to?

Did the Holy See have informants inside the City Lord’s Mansion?

Could the people at the registration office even be trusted?

If Marco had dared to leave written correspondence behind, then the people involved were probably far more powerful than a single deacon.

Every second they hesitated was another second in which the Investigation Team members might be killed.

John picked up the Black Iron Key from the ground.

"Now that we know there’s something wrong with the Holy See, who can you trust if you go back?"

Lorne fell silent.

"You might be placed under surveillance the moment you enter the city."

John looked toward the southeast.

"We go to the Ashen Ruins first."

"We rescue anyone still alive and find solid evidence."

"That’s better than returning with a single letter and walking straight into your own grave."

Lorne gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

After a moment, he gritted his teeth.

"The Ashen Ruins are still forty miles from here."

"I know a shortcut."

The two did not linger.

Following the Drywater Riverbed, they headed directly toward the Ashen Ruins.

Behind them—

A black raven hidden within the shadows of the ruined village slowly opened its eyes.

It then spread its wings and flew toward Sunset City.

...

Less than half an hour later, the two arrived at the Ashen Ruins.

This place appeared to have once been a fairly large settlement.

Now, all that remained were vast stretches of collapsed buildings and charred stone walls.

Wind passed through the broken doors and windows, producing a sound like distant sobbing.

Lorne soon discovered a pile of objects in the center of the ruins.

Armor.

Longswords.

City Guard cloaks.

And more than a dozen Investigation Team badges.

Every piece of equipment and clothing had been neatly stacked together.

Yet there was not a single person nearby.

"It’s the Investigation Team’s equipment."

Lorne picked up one of the badges, his expression darkening.

"Twelve people."

"Not one is missing."

John looked around.

They had undoubtedly disappeared here.

Otherwise, the Dark Magic Society would not have left all their equipment behind.

He took out the Black Iron Key dropped by Barton.

If there was a key, then there had to be a door nearby.

"Split up and search."

The two began searching through the ruins.

More than ten minutes later, Lorne moved aside a collapsed stone pillar and suddenly discovered a slightly darker stone slab beneath it.

Working together, they lifted the slab.

A rust-covered black iron door appeared beneath the ground.

At its center was a keyhole.

John inserted the Black Iron Key.

Click.

The iron door slowly opened to both sides.

Cold, damp air surged up from underground.

A system notification appeared.

[You have discovered the Hidden Dungeon: Underground Cathedral of the Holy Candle!]

[Dungeon Level: Lv.25.]

[Recommended Party Size: 100 players.]

[Dungeon Difficulty: Extremely Dangerous.]

[Enter Dungeon?]

A hundred-player dungeon.

John glanced at Lorne beside him.

There were only two of them.

"Enter."

[Hidden Dungeon activated!]

Darkness swallowed both of their figures.

...

After a brief sensation of weightlessness, John’s feet landed on solid ground.

A long staircase stretched downward ahead of them.

White candle stands had been placed every few meters along both sides of the stairs.

There were no flames.

Yet the candle stands themselves emitted a deathly pale glow.

The two followed the staircase downward.

After walking for several minutes, an enormous underground cathedral finally appeared before them.

The entire cathedral had been constructed from a milky-white crystalline material.

Thin streams of light flowed slowly through its walls, pillars, and vaulted ceiling.

Despite the passage of countless years, there was still no obvious sign of damage.

Ancient.

Solemn.

Yet filled with an unsettling, deathly silence.

Twelve crystal statues carrying long spears stood before the cathedral doors.

The moment John approached—

Crack.

The head of the statue at the very front suddenly turned.

Blue light appeared inside its hollow eye sockets.

Immediately afterward, all twelve statues stepped down from their pedestals.

[Holy Candle Crystal Guard]

[Level: Lv.22.]

[Rank: Elite Monster.]

[HP: 7,200/7,200.]

[Physical Defense: 860.]

[Magic Defense: 440.]

[Skills: Piercing Thrust, Crystal Bulwark.]

Twelve crystal spears were raised simultaneously.

John had already lifted the Fire Crystal Staff.

"Fire Serpent."

Boom!

A flaming serpent trailed a blazing tail as it crashed into the guard at the very front.

[-15,040!]

[Damage Calculation: 1,075 × 240% × 120% × 5 = 15,480. Final Damage: 15,480 - 440 Magic Defense = 15,040.]

The crystal guard exploded on the spot.

Before the shattered crystal fragments could even hit the ground, a second Fire Serpent had already shot forward.

Boom!

[-15,040!]

[You have slain a Lv.22 Holy Candle Crystal Guard. EXP +180. Silver Coins +5!]

[You have slain a Lv.22 Holy Candle Crystal Guard. EXP +180. Silver Coins +5!]

Fire Serpents surged forward one after another.

The crystal guards were blasted into fragments in rapid succession.

[You have slain 12 Holy Candle Crystal Guards!]

[EXP +2,160!]

[Silver Coins +60!]

[You have obtained 12 Holy Candle Crystal Cores!]

[You have obtained 3 Refined Crystal Spears!]

Lorne stared at the crystal debris covering the ground and remained silent for a moment.

"The entrance guards of a hundred-player secret realm..."

"And they’re already gone?"

John put away his staff.

"Their defenses were average."

Lorne glanced at the crystal head on the ground, which was nearly half the height of a person.

He said nothing more.

The two pushed open the cathedral doors.

Creak—

The heavy sound echoed repeatedly throughout the underground space.

Behind the doors was a vast worship hall.

Twelve enormous white crosses stood in neat rows along both sides of the central path.

A person had been bound to each cross.

They were the members of the Missing Investigation Team.

All their clothing and equipment had been stripped away.

Their bodies had withered until nothing remained but a thin layer of gray-white skin stretched over their bones.

Their chests did not rise.

Every HP bar had fallen to zero.

Twelve people.

Not one had survived.

Lorne stood frozen in place, as though he had been nailed to the ground.

The longsword in his hand trembled violently. His knuckles turned white from the force of his grip, while his breathing gradually became heavy and uneven.

His gaze moved repeatedly between the shriveled corpses.

It was as though he were desperately trying to confirm what he was seeing.

Or refusing to believe it.

"Will..."

His voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

"Charlie..."

His shoulders began to tremble.

"You..."

Before he could finish, his voice completely broke.

The next instant, he abruptly raised his head.

His eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.

"You bastards—!!!"

The roar almost tore apart the cathedral’s deathly silence.

Lorne could no longer suppress his emotions.

Like a wild beast that had completely lost control, he charged forward. His longsword dragged across the floor, producing a piercing screech as he rushed toward the depths of the cathedral.

"Lorne!"

John shouted after him.

But Lorne seemed not to hear him at all and disappeared around the end of the corridor in the blink of an eye.

John cursed under his breath.

He had only just been praising the intelligence of the game’s NPCs.

Now this one was behaving as though human speech no longer existed.

John had no choice but to quicken his pace and follow.

As he left the worship hall—

A blurry figure suddenly emerged from the shadows behind one of the crosses.

The shadow silently watched John for a moment.

Then it merged back into the darkness.

John noticed nothing.

As they continued deeper into the cathedral, faint black smoke began appearing around them.

At first, it merely flowed close to the floor.

Gradually, the smoke rose past John’s calves.

Then his waist.

Eventually, it swallowed the entire corridor.

[Warning!]

[You have entered a Corrupted Fog Zone!]

[Dark Corrosion activated. You will lose 10 HP per second!]

[-10!]

[-10!]

[-10!]