## Chapter 210 – Für Elise
The light meant someone was there. Confirming this, Elise deactivated Holy Light. Simultaneously, the ring of light above her head vanished.
…As the sacred radiance disappeared, a sense of unease crept in.
But it was none other than Elise beside me. With the ever-devout Elise and me, the blazing macho warrior, setting things right in this land would be a piece of cake.
“…”
“…”
ㅡNo words were needed for Divine Friends.
We confirmed our intentions with a glance, then tiptoed inside. Actually, the only things you could really communicate with glances were “Let’s do it,” “Let’s kill them,” or “Let’s raid.”
Rina followed behind us, also muffling her footsteps. Old habits die hard; she was using an incredible stealth technique. Not a sound. I was a little jealous.
“…Oppa?”
“What?”
“No, I just thought you were staring at me.”
“Can’t I even look at my little sister’s face?”
“Ah…”
Rina had come along, saying she wanted to find her grandmother.
Would Rina’s grandmother really be here?
I didn’t know.
Even if she was, she wouldn’t be Rina’s grandmother anymore.
That ominous mummy… a horrifying figure straight out of a nightmare. You couldn’t call it human anymore. Rina didn’t seem to know yet, but there was no need to mention it.
Above all, those cultists had a history of using the undead.
ㅡ…
Flames flickered wildly, as if trying to devour the shadows.
We used them as a guide as we moved through the basement.
The shabby building above ground was probably just a facade. This basement, filled with an evil aura, was quite large, and the torches lighting the place were well-maintained. They must have been replaced and oiled regularly.
What purpose was this place built for?
One thing was certain: structures like this had a reason for being.
They wouldn’t have put in the effort for nothing.
Well, they might be using a pre-existing facility.
With my insight, I couldn’t tell when or how this basement was built.
Like grave robbers unearthing the unknown, we investigated each room we encountered. But we couldn’t find anything special… There was a certain scent, but it didn’t seem to be the right time yet.
It was when we turned a corner.
ㅡRustle, rustle.
Stop.
We stopped at the sound. At the same time, we held our breath and focused on the sound. The room beyond the corner. The sound was coming from there, and it was clearly artificial.
ㅡRustle, rustle.
I carefully peeked into the room.
“…!”
A snow-white back of the head, clearly bleached by some curse.
It was touching something.
Wearing a black robe, it was definitely a priest of the Eternal Life Society.
He was doing something, seemingly unaware that I was watching.
Extremely tense, I tightened my grip on my sword. That snow-white skin was as good as proof of the cultists. The pointed head, devoid of hair, seemed to indicate that he was not of this world.
Elise also peeked out and witnessed the truth before her eyes.
“…Elise.”
I pulled back my head and called Elise’s name very softly. Seeing my face, Elise nodded with a solemn expression filled with unwavering faith.
ㅡSneak, sneak.
As stealthily as a cat on the prowl.
ㅡThump, thump.
At the same time, a strange thrill like when we used to ring doorbells and run away as kids.
It was an extremely impulsive act, a kind of heinous outburst that couldn’t be explained by common sense. *Kee, hee hee.* Laughter kept trying to leak from my mouth… Elise had a similar look on her face.
United as Divine Friends, we were truly one in this moment. As if possessed, without either of us saying a word, we stealthily crept up behind the cultist priestㅡ
ㅡThwack!
ㅡThunk!
“…!”
We simultaneously committed a brutal sneak attack.
With lightning-like acceleration, Elise smashed her warhammer into the back of the cultist’s head, and I plunged my sword into his back to make sure he was dead.
The cultist collapsed in shock, frozen in place. He struggled a bit, but after taking another hit from Elise, he stopped moving forever.
ㅡThwack! Thwack!
ㅡThunk! Thunk!
What followed was a gruesome scene like something out of a depraved silent film. We silently mutilated the cultist’s corpse without any kind of dialogue or emotional expression. As if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Haa, haa… Saint.”
Having finished the job, Elise looked back at me with an excited expression, panting slightly. She had such a fresh face that you couldn’t imagine she had just cracked someone’s skull open to see what was inside.
What was it?
Did she want to be praised?
“Good job, Elise. Even though it was just one, at least we’ve slain one evil being, so the world is that much more stable. The gods will be pleased.”
As she wanted, I put my hand on Elise’s head and stroked it lightly, praising her. Elise expressed intense joy and seemed delighted.
“Heh, heh heh. I didn’t expect things to go so smoothly. Then, Saint, let’s search this one’s pockets. We need to take the rightful spoils of our sacred labor.”
“Heh heh heh… You get me.”
After instructing Rina to keep watch, I peeled off the cultist’s clothes with Elise, stifling our laughter. Elise seemed to feel a great sense of accomplishment and joy from killing a heretic.
It seemed a little abnormal, but I was the same, so let’s move on.
As a result of checking his desk and belongings, we were able to collect flasks containing some kind of reagent, crafting tools, a small carving knife, and miscellaneous items like unknown dried plants.
What are these for?
The only thing that seemed immediately useful was the scribbled gibberish written all over the place. The rest was just junk.
“Items of unknown use. I wonder why he had these things… Could he have been doing some kind of evil research?”
“Research… Was he trying to do some kind of experiment?”
Evil experiment.
What would the test subjects be?
I didn’t want to imagine it, but increasingly vivid fantasies swirled in my head.
Test subjects crying out in the darkness, turned into mummies with grotesque sounds… In my imagination, they resembled the bizarre appearance of self-mummified monks, *sokushinbutsu.* The monk, confined in brilliant gold leaf, would still be alive, yearning for life even without having attained nirvana…
ㅡShake!
I shook my head violently to extinguish the raging fantasies.
The mana in my body was going berserk, as if reacting to something. I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. It wasn’t difficult.
“Saint? You don’t look well. Is something bothering you?”
“…Ah, it’s nothing. Maybe it’s just too hot.”
It’s okay. I have Elise.
Anyway, the cultist’s existence had been confirmed, so this was a win.
There must be remnants of their gang and treasures somewhere here. Have confidence, Kim Kat. These cultist priests will never be able to defeat me and Elise, true warriors trained in murder and hunting.
Above all, they didn’t have tattoos on their faces, and they didn’t even have any weapons.
If we ambush them, we’ll win one hundred percent.
“Then let’s go to the next place. I feel like an impulse to eradicate evil beings is raging within me… My heart won’t calm down.”
Elise, clutching the part of her chest protected by light armor, said with a flushed face. She seemed to be really looking forward to hunting cultists. Hmm… If this were outside and we were doing something normal, it would have been incredibly cute.
“An emotion that won’t calm down. You can call it an unstoppable urge.”
Of course, she’s cute now too.
My Elise is the best.
“An unstoppable urge… Is that what you mean? Yes. This unstoppable urge feels like it’s about to burst out. Surely this is a sacred task that the God of Order has given me. To satisfy him, we must eliminate those guys as soon as possible.”
Elise, putting the pile of papers in her arms, said as she went out of the room. I followed her, and Rina, with a frightened expression, stuck close behind me and followed.
“I think it’s a really happy thing to do sacred service with the Saint.”
“Heh heh. Me too, Elise. I feel joy when I’m with you too.”
Elise = Joy is the formula.
When I said it with a smile, Elise smiled too.
“…Once again, the urge is rising. Hurry, to the next heretic.”
We rummaged around inside, searching for the next victims. The basement was large, so it took time, and finding them didn’t go as planned.
So far, we had only found a messy warehouse full of useless items and oil jars that seemed to be used to feed the torches… Is there nothing else?
Surely there can’t just be that one bastard from before.
There must be something more. This isn’t worth it. As things didn’t go as planned, I started to get more and more annoyed.
“…They’ve appeared.”
“No need for words.”
“Of course!”
And that annoyance was expressed as extreme violence. A shadow appeared in front of us, and we were completely consumed by madness and ran towards it.
“…Huh?”
The owner of the shadow was, of course, a cultist priest. His dark eyes widened as he saw us rushing towards him, and his equally dark mouth opened. Did he think we’d let him scream?
ㅡThwack!
ㅡSwoosh!
A combined technique that brought together the power of friendship and faith.
My sword pierced the guy’s neck at the same time that Elise’s warhammer struck his abdomen.
“Kuheok…!”
Hitting him like that, he naturally couldn’t make a loud noise and only made a whooshing sound. It wasn’t difficult to end the life of the guy who was curled up in pain. We immediately moved the corpse into a nearby room and undressed it.
“…Saint. It seems there’s no harvest this time either.”
Nothing came out of the guy’s corpse.
Elise looked at me and said a little darkly.
“Well, what if there’s no harvest? It’s not like we’re serving for money. Killing heretics is the biggest reward.”
Elise knew that I was after treasure. She must have been worried about that. I said that, taking Elise into consideration.
“T, those pious words…! Yes, that’s right! The Saint’s words are right, and they’re right! B, but my honest wish is that the Saint would take treasure… Don’t you like it? Spoils of war.”
“Of course I like it, but you don’t have to worry too much. We’ll find some as we go. Loot is just a secondary thing. Our main purpose is the blood of the wicked, right?”
“…Keuheut! I just want to take care of you personally, even if it’s just a little bit!”
While putting the brakes on the moved Elise, we started exploring again. All we could find here were strange documents or miscellaneous junk. Above all, there were only two cultist priests.
Is this the end?
Just then, Rina said.
“O, Oppa… This place is suspicious.”
Rina, who was touching the wall, said that.
I wondered what was suspicious, so I went closer, and sure enough.
We were able to find a hidden door.
“This bastard… He’s quite useful! Oh! Good job, our Rina!”
“Ah, ah… Yes.”
Rina did her part for the first time in a while!
I knew a *dodger* couldn’t be left out of the party!
After messing up her hair haphazardly, I pushed the door open. As soon as I pushed the door, I saw stairs going down to the basement, and Elise and I almost grinned as we went down.
I have no doubt that the real thing is right down there.
Whatever truth is lurking there, it doesn’t matter anymore.
I was very angry because I didn’t get a single drop item on the first basement level.
