When I jumped around the roof toward the mine, I saw many church knights running around the city, shouting loudly to get people's attention and evacuate them to the church.
Getting outside the city that was surrounded by mountain ranges was hard. So it was a good decision to move them to the church as it was the safest place in this city with a strong barrier protecting it.
That was good. Sandra finished her job nicely.
As I got closer to the mine, my bad feeling intensified. It was creepy and insulating. Whatever was inside sent a chill down my spine.
'It's similar to something beyond the waterfall but way weaker.' I thought as I landed in front of the mine's entrance. It extended down into the ground instead of looking like a cave entrance.
The entrance was small, probably only fit three or four people with the mine cart at the same time. There were quite a bit of rock hills around me made from the excavated ground.
Dim magic lamps were the only source of lighting both outside and inside the entrance, making it impossible to see beyond 50 meters.
This was the perfect time to use that magic item.
I strapped [Caliburn] onto my waist and raised the [Purple Eye] in my hand. Because it was inside my <Holy Barrier> and was recognized as a harmful being, it wasn't purified by my <Sanctuary> earlier.
I admitted I was too rash in my decision earlier. But thankfully, this monster was still harmless.
Taking out a magic item that could trace a monster's master or its main body, [Trace Scroll], I deactivated my <Holy Barrier> and grabbed the [Purple Eye] to keep it from moving around.
"Show me where your master is," I said as I activated the magic item by injecting 1 MP into it.
The [Purple Eye] moved around, trying to escape my grip, but was unable to as the [Trace Scroll] unruffled, creating a map similar to my radar. The map drawn inside started from my current location, extending to where this monster's master was.
It showed some glowing dots in the clearing area, deep inside the tunnel. Indeed, the mastermind was inside.
"Good." I nodded, satisfied, and destroyed [Purple Eye] by squeezing it. Purple blood sprayed on my hand, and I quickly used <Purification> to clean it.
I didn't need to worry about being parasitized or cursed due to my <Ill Status Immunity> and <Mind Control Immunity> skills.
"Now then. Let's enter."
I jumped down the hole and ran inside, using the scroll in my hand as a guide. My <Presence Detection> radar only changed after I went 50 meters inside, and I quickly found 12 dots in the distance.
What showed on my radar and the [Trace Scroll] was similar. From the intersection to the clearing where the culprit was supposed to be, there was no difference at all.
And with <Appraisal>, I marked the person with a <Summoning> and <Ritual> skill.
"Jonathan Steelwill." I muttered that person's name as I ran toward him at full speed. "It's truly him."
The result that my <Appraisal> showed me was like this.
---
Name: Jonathan Steelwill (Fallen)
Race: Devilkin
Lv: 37
Sins: 423
Virtues: 0
Status:
HP: 100/100 (MAX 100)
MP: 57/57 (MAX 100)
STR: 21 (MAX 100)
VIT: 54 (MAX 100)
AGI: 23 (MAX 100)
DEX: 25 (MAX 100)
INT: 56 (MAX 100)
LUC: 35 (MAX 100)
---
Skills:
[Lv 6 Summoning] [Lv 5 Ritual] [Lv 3 Illusion Magic] [Lv 2 Swordsmanship]
---
Titles:
[Hell's Cult Bishop] [Hell Summoner] [Heretic] [Viscount Steelwill]
---
'Hell's cult bishop?'
That was one hell of a title. People like that existed, huh?
Or rather, how could I not know about them? The church was also unaware of this Hell's Cult or something.
I doubted the Goddess didn't know about this, though. I bet she just hid that a cult like this existed to keep people ignorant and uninterested in it. After all, people couldn't join something that didn't exist.
'Damn. She should've told me about this!'
Or the Goddess just didn't care about this cult because it was so insignificant to her. That was also a possibility. Even I could destroy them alone if I wanted to, and the Goddess knew it.
Colten Steelwill's status wasn't like his father, but he also had [Hell's Cult Follower] and [Heretic] in his title, and he was also a Devilkin. They had sold their soul to either the Devil or primordial Succubus. The latter was impossible.
Anyway, I confirmed it. They were the real perpetrators.
Meanwhile, Mair Steelwill's status was like this.
---
Name: Mair Steelwill (Fainted) (Cursed)
Race: Human
Lv: 12
Sins: 423
Virtues: 0
Status:
HP: 100/100 (MAX 100)
MP: 57/57 (MAX 100)
STR: 10 (MAX 100)
VIT: 12 (MAX 100)
AGI: 14 (MAX 100)
DEX: 11 (MAX 100)
INT: 11 (MAX 100)
LUC: 47 (MAX 100)
---
Skills:
[Lv 2 Swindle]
---
Titles:
[Greedy Man] [Viscount Steelwill's Illegitimate Son]
---
He was just a greedy man used by his two family members without knowing about it. Poor guy, but I didn't want to save him as he was, without a doubt, giving the assassin named H the mission to poison Queen Eve.
The other citizens were a different story. I needed to save them from their cursed status and did my best not to harm them. They were the only reason I didn't use <Dimensional Breaker> to destroy the mine.
"There it is."
After running for a few seconds, I saw an exit leading to a large clearing lit with red light. With my heightened senses, I could also hear mutterings like chanting something.
I unsheathed [Caliburn] and used <Blessing of Angel>. It imbued my sword with a holy attack that increased damage against evil and dark-type monsters or cursed people.
My sword glowed, giving me some vision in the dark as I arrived in the clearing.
Just like the Viscount's room back in the mansion, magic circles drawn with blood covered all the walls, ceiling, and ground. The number was more than the one in that room; all of them were glowing red.
A small purple fissure, like a crack, was floating in the air. From there, a dark cloud seeped out. It was cold and eerie.
The identity of that dark cloud was Hell's atmosphere, and it brought a curse that normal people could bear. And that crack was Hell's entrance. Albeit small, it could be used as a connection to summon a monster from Hell.
Jonathan, standing in the middle, injected MP into the magic circles. Ten unconscious people surrounded him, and Colten was standing just right on his side. They were trying to summon another monster from hell.
The Viscount's skin was turned grayish blue, and his left eye had a black sclera and red iris. His right eye was missing, and I found out what kind of monster one eyeball came from. It was his.
'To think a human eye can become a cursed item… Is it because he has fallen?' I guessed, but I shook my head to stop.
It wasn't time to be fascinated. They had noticed me.
"Ooohhh??"
A distorted and low-pitched voice escaped Jonathan Steelwill's mouth as he looked at me.
"We have a visitoor."
His words were dragged at the end, and his head was tilted to the right. I didn't know that a person's bones could bend that much. This was the first.
Anyway, it was time to do some Paladin duty.
I stood up while gripping [Caliburn] tightly in my right hand. I couldn't use <Sanctuary> for a while, so I needed to stop them before they summoned the Hell monster, or the citizens would die.
"Jonathan Steelwill and Colten Steelwill." I called out to them with narrowed eyes.
Both men looked at me. The older one had his lips spread from ear to ear while his son looked serious. His dark purple hair covered his eyes slightly, but I knew he glared at me with intense killing intent.
"In the name of Goddess Teri, I order you to stop this at once." I declared.
Of course, I knew they wouldn't stop, but I needed to make a performance. There was someone spying on this clearing using a low-level <Clairvoyance>. Such a trick…
I secretly sent [Love Letter] to Tris. I was sure she wasn't sleeping and instead gossiped with Eli at this time. You know, the usual girls' talk.
The content of the letter was to get Headmistress Alesia to help me track whoever was spying on me right now. I also wrote down my current coordinates so the headmistress could teleport to me.
That headmistress should work every once in a while.
So…
'I need to stall for a time slightly and stop them from killing the citizens at the same time. How troublesome.'
"Kufufufu." Jonathan laughed eerily as his head straightened. "Colten. Take care of him." He called out to his son.
"The church slave, huh?!" Colten growled dangerously as he put on metal gloves with spikes on them. "No matter. I will kill you and send you back to your church. Today is the time when our God descends to the world, and you shall not interfere!"
'God, huh?' I raised my sword as Colten walked toward him. 'Looking at the magic circles, I have 10 minutes before it fully activates. I believe that's enough time for her to track the <Clairvoyance> user down.
Colten also didn't seem to recognize me as the Paladin, thanks to my [Shadow Cape] hiding my hair and face. My clothes were also regular ones and not the Paladin uniform.
Good. He would look down on me with this, and I would act as such until Alesia arrived.
I got into a stance and shouted at him, "Blasphemer! I shall cut you down!"
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