Episode 499 Stone statues being punished (2)
From the next day, Ray started researching magic.
Thinking only of magic in the dungeon, as if shutting themselves in a small room, the goblins had nothing to do.
There are no monsters around and the air is cleaned by Ray every two hours.
If there was a concern, there was no food and drinking water, but since there was a centipede’s meat brought from the 15th floor, it could be endured for a while, but even that is the limit to endure for a week.
To that end, the Goblin Queen decided to make at least some preparations.
“We are going to find out where it goes underground.”
She commanded the goblins and explored the surroundings.
Due to the miasma in the hallway, they couldn’t go very far, but as long as their mana allowed, they wandered around quite a lot.
Two days had passed since Ray studied magic and the goblins spent their time exploring dungeons.
The dungeon is quite large.
No matter how much she and the goblins wandered around, they only scratched the surface of the area.
“There must be no end to this…”
The Goblin Queen wiped the sweat from her brow.
Mana consumption was so severe that cold sweat flowed.
In the case of goblins with low mana, it was often seen that even if they walked well, they would fall down.
When I was thinking about whether I should go back like this.
The goblins found something.
They couldn’t bear to come close and called the goblin queen.
“Queen… There is a pond here.”
“A new… statue….”
A statue?
At their words, the Goblin Queen quickly approached them.
Then, far away from where the goblins were, a small room caught my eye.
I couldn’t get close to it because of the strong miasma, but from a distance, it definitely looked quite similar to the stone statue of the girl I had seen before.
“To think there is another pond… can’t it be that the source is not the same place…”
She bit her lip with a pale complexion.
It is not known how long it will take to deal with one source, but at this rate, apart from the lack of food, they themselves will die from mana depletion first.
She thought she should tell Ray about this first.
“I’m going back today.”
The goblins nodded at the Goblin Queen’s words.
It was a situation where the poison was uncomfortable.
If they could go back, they couldn’t have been better.
Not knowing what the queen was thinking, the goblins were just amused at the thought of going back.
* * *
Quite a bit of time has passed since the saint disappeared.
However, Seongguk was in such a predicament that it could not even announce him.
On one side, demonic religions prevailed, and on the other side, a new religion that changed its name to ‘satellite religion’ was born.
As if the two powers had been prepared before, they made a company and jumped into the upper world, but the prestige was not light, and the Seongguk was struggling.
Fortunately, with the help of half a million upper ranks, they managed to hold on somehow, but since they couldn’t sell holy water or heal people with divine power, their funding line was drying up.
Since the disappearance of mana and divine power, the line between priests and ordinary people has become blurred.
There was no need to lean on them unless it was at a funeral.
The Demonic Church took advantage of the weakening of the Holy Kingdom and made efforts to grow.
Their growth took place at a tremendous rate.
As the position wielded by them in the upper world increased and the number of believers increased, they became a huge force that could not be recklessly done in the position of the Holy Kingdom.
Of course, in the past, the Seongguk would have been able to easily subdue them, but the Seongguk, now in chaos, is truly a toothless tiger.
Rather, they were in a situation where they could not arbitrarily impose sanctions for fear of their collapse, so it wasn’t long before the continent’s religions were divided into three.
A holy country that worships the Goddess Gaia.
A demon cult that worships demons.
A satellite cult that believes that a saint wielding inhuman powers is a god.
Of course, there were people who did not attach much importance to the division of religion, but this is no small matter.
First of all, the damage inflicted on the Holy Kingdom is enormous.
On a continent where only one religion existed, the importance of the Holy Nation would decrease.
Even if that happens, the Seongguk, which has produced successive saints, will not decline so easily, but the financial damage will be significant.
In addition, the justification for giving a mace to heresy also disappears.
If demonic religions and satellite religions, which are clearly heretical, reach out to other cults without even touching them, they will surely say that they will decide the existence of their forces according to their own taste.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the hooligans can’t do any direct harm, but if the believers turn their backs on such a problem, it’s the holy country that will eventually suffer a loss.
Until now, as much as they had benefited from the continent’s exclusive ‘Divine Kingdom’, they were suffering severe blows when competitors appeared.
The number of priests and priests who have lost their divine power and turned their backs on their faith in despair is also not small, so they are literally in a situation of dilemma.
In the Great War of the Holy Kingdom, where meetings were held every day, nobles gathered and suffered headaches.
Every day is the day when the demons and the satellite religions only suffer.
No matter what preparations were made, they were responding as if they had planned in advance.
It is not possible to cause a holy war.
The nobles could only lament themselves in a situation where they couldn’t do this either.
at that time.
A priest cautiously gave his opinion.
“Satellite religion was definitely a religion that worshiped saints as gods, right? If so, wouldn’t it be a problem that could be solved if we could bring the Holy Son into the Holy Land…?”
His words caught the eyes of the nobles.
Certainly it is.
Originally, the saint was chosen by the goddess Gaia.
He had enemies in the Holy Kingdom.
It is said that a new religion called satellite religion worships the saint as a god, but that is also a problem that will be solved when the saint returns to the Holy Land.
Or rather, it seemed that the Seongguk could absorb the huge power of the satellite bridge.
Zeke, who was appreciating the meeting as usual, nodded.
“…To put it bluntly, it will happen.”
But even so, there is a problem.
Even though 20,000 troops from Lesian, Celia, and the Holy Kingdom gathered and entered the dungeon, there was no particular harvest.
“I don’t know if I can really save my master just by gathering troops now.”
He was such a strong lord.
It was clear that he, who had beaten the necromancer who was said to have closed the age of sorcery, was unable to come out of the dungeon on his own, but it was unlikely that soldiers would be able to rescue him.
Eucliwood took the word.
“You must be trying to figure out how to get out of there. He is the kind of person who will come out even if he has to beat and destroy the dungeon. By now, you might have recovered your mana unlike us, who are clueless.”
It was frighteningly close to the answer.
If Ray had heard it, he might have gotten chills.
After a pause, she spoke again.
“So you don’t have to worry. We, Belacroaga, are concentrating all our efforts around the dungeon where the saint is confined under the cooperation of Celia Kingdom. If there is even a small change, I will be the first to inform you, so please do not waste any more troops.”
When the number of soldiers is reduced, there are dangers both inside and outside.
Even so, it was impossible to move until the enlistment of the nobles.
The Duke of Trey and the Marquis of Belacroix said this, but the other nobles couldn’t tell them to use soldiers.
The priest, who first spoke up, wanted to send a rescue team even if it meant using a little more soldiers, but soon kept his mouth shut.
“Everyone gathered here must know that the current situation in the Holy Land is not good.”
Eucliwood’s words drew the attention of the audience to her.
She looked at each one and said.
“It is said that new religions are emerging and wars are raging in various places, but a holy nation is a holy nation. When the age of magic in the past came to an end and many kingdoms perished, the Holy Kingdom always stood there. All we have to do is follow the guidance of the Goddess. Leave all your worries to the goddess.”
The aristocrats gradually fell in love with her words.
Eucliwood’s words were the truth.
They are a holy nation, not a kingdom.
In the end, it’s just a force gathered by those who believe in Gaia.
Isn’t that the same for those who are new religious forces?
So far, the goddess held out her hand to them in any danger.
so that.
“So conventionally.”
No matter what danger lurks.
“Goddess.”
It is believed that it will punish the wicked and smile at them in the past.
“You will choose us.”
A fearful blind faith kindled a fire in their hearts.
* * *
When the goblins delivered the news, Ray threw away his magic research and got up from his seat.
“There’s not just one source!”
To his cry, the Goblin Queen responded with a calm face.
“I’m not sure. But… the scenery of the stone chamber was quite similar to the place where the statue of the girl was.”
“Guide me. I want to see it with my own eyes.”
At his words, the Goblin Queen silently guided him.
I must have walked for about 30 minutes through the winding corridors of the dungeon.
From a distance, the Goblin Queen pointed with her finger.
“There it is.”
At the location she pointed to, there was a relatively small stone chamber.
“Umm…”
Ray swallowed his saliva and moved closer to the stone chamber.
Unlike the first stone chamber, where the door was firmly closed, the second one was half-open.
Did someone even open it?
He put his hand on the door and pushed it.
Iron spatula-!
That’s right-!
When the door opened with the sound of chains being released, the scenery inside the stone chamber was clearly visible.
Just like the stone statue of a young man in the center of the stone chamber, transparent poison dripped from his mouth drop by drop.
If there is a difference between the two statues, the girl statue is in a reverent posture of prayer, while the young man is in an awkward posture.
However, it is strangely full of vitality.
To say it was a simple statue was a bit unsettling.
Besides, there’s one thing I’ve been concerned about since before.
I could feel the divine power from the stone statue, albeit weakly.
