'... ... Okay.'
I gently stroked the newly appeared tattoo on the back of my hand. With this, I had met all the conditions for the boss battle against the creature abandoned by God. All that was left was to proceed with the story.
'Is the top part finished being cleaned up too?'
Having finished my work, I left the rune stone behind, which had lost its light and was now crumbling, and stared blankly up at the ceiling of the boss room, waiting for the magic circle leading to the dungeon entrance to open.
As a tease to players who return to the surface in a good mood after obtaining the rune, a mid-boss will attack you as soon as you reach the entrance of the dungeon. And it will be right behind the player.
Most of the first-time users would struggle to defeat Lucia, acquire the rune, and then ride the Joa Ra magic circle to the ground, only to get hit in the back of the head by that guy and die in an unexpected manner.
But now there was no need to worry about that at all.
'They have to be able to win.'
Just the power above includes four knight commanders of the Silver Dawn Knights who once served the Emperor, one of the two great chariots of the Holy Nation's military power, the Inquisitor, and a double-digit number of battle nuns.
It would be strange to lose to a mere mid-boss. Even if the knight commanders attacked me one-on-one, I could easily defeat them within 30 seconds and spend the rest of the time leisurely resting.
Soon, a green magic circle was drawn where the rune stone had been. It was a magic circle that led straight to the ground. I got on that magic circle and was soon transported somewhere.
When my vision briefly darkened and I came back, I was on a bridge slightly lower than the entrance to the dungeon. I put strength into my wobbly legs to keep my balance.
The sunlight was much clearer and warmer, and it was a stark difference from the gloomy, pitch-black sunlight I had experienced when I first entered the Rune Dungeon.
I walked straight up to the middle of the bridge. I was careful not to slip as much as possible, and then I jumped up to the upper bridge and held on to the edge.
"Ah, Delta!"
I met eyes with Lize, who was looking down from outside the dungeon. Lize smiled brightly at me and waved her arms. As a result, the oil wrapped in her white sleeveless top swayed from side to side.
Judging from the fact that he wasn't wearing any armor, it seemed like he had already defeated the mid-boss a while ago. I explained that since there was only one monster that would come out, it was okay to take off the armor after defeating it.
Lize, who had crossed the bridge in one breath, pulled me up with one arm while I was struggling below, and straightened my disheveled clothes.
"Did you handle it well?"
I raised the back of my left hand without saying a word.
Lize smiled brightly as she saw the tattoo become more complex, with the 'Rest in the Abyss' rune obtained in this dungeon added to the Vitality Boost rune obtained last time.
I stroked her head a couple of times. A pleasant breathing sound, "Huh-huh," escaped from between her cherry-colored lips. After I finished stroking her, I walked forward, and Lize followed me closely.
It felt good to finally set foot on proper ground. The bottom of the dungeon was covered in a black liquid mud, and the bridge was dirty and slippery, as if they had smeared something on it.
The battle nuns looked at me with blank eyes, and Selene, at first glance expressionless, but her jewel-like eyes were constantly quivering with surprise.
"...I am glad that you returned safely, Your Excellency."
"You look really surprised?"
"Of course it could not be otherwise. How could I not be surprised when He single-handedly destroyed a place that our Holy Nation had failed to conquer several times despite making countless sacrifices in less than an hour?"
"I told you I would do that. I just kept my word. Everything was fine up there, right?"
I looked around. The dark and gloomy scenery I had seen when I first entered was nowhere to be found, and only a clear, clean sky and green grass spread out wide.
Suddenly, in the corner of my vision, I saw the corpse of a monster that was so thoroughly destroyed that it was beyond words. I snickered inside. It was exactly as I had expected.
"Yes. Nothing happened except that monster appeared."
"Well then, now that we're done here, let's go back. You guys have nothing to do, right?"
"We followed you, Delta. What else do we have to do here?"
The other knight commanders nodded in agreement to Lize's words. In fact, the fact that he was taking off his armor was an action that meant that there was nothing more to do here.
"Okay, I'll be heading back now, so please pack your weapons. Everyone, let's go back."
Selene gave orders to the battle nuns. The battle nuns moved in unison and surrounded us from all sides as if they were enveloping us. There were no more monsters to come out anyway.
The knight commanders put on their armors one by one. Full plate armor is usually quite uncomfortable to put on and take off, but the knight commanders put it on as if they were wearing everyday clothes.
Selene, who was in the lead, moved first, and we followed her. The battle nuns moved at a certain distance around us.
"Huh? Delta, what's that on your waist?"
Lize tilted her head as she saw the sacred catalyst tied to the back of my waist. Selene's eyes glanced in my direction at those words, but the angle was so obscured by my body that I couldn't tell exactly what she was saying.
What Lize saw was the sacred catalyst that Lucia had been using. Only by giving this to the Inquisitor can the Lucia event end.
I just left the catalyst I used to enchant the sword. It wasn't an event item anyway, and I could later get a holy spell that was almost as good as the one from the Pope.
I had planned to visit the Holy Land at least once, if only for the blessing enchantment I received from the Pope. But the order of things got completely messed up because of Stella who suddenly showed up.
"It's a sacred catalyst. I picked it up down there."
"okay?"
It was a short answer, but Lize backed away obediently. She didn't even have the slightest intention of asking how or why she picked it up. Selene must have had similar thoughts, as she quickly turned her head away.
I had no idea how the Inquisitor would react if he saw Lucia's Divine Catalyst. There was no option in the game to show the Inquisitor the Divine Catalyst.
This was an event related to the Inquisitor, not the Inquisitor.
Since I no longer had to be wary of my surroundings, my walking speed was also much faster. Naturally, the time it took to reach the crack in the barrier was also shorter. Soon after, a golden halo appeared.
"Your Excellency, may I have a moment with you after you leave the barrier?"
"I don't mind since I'll have time left anyway, but why?"
"I would like to hear an explanation about what happened in the Rune Dungeon and the effects of the Runes."
"If that's the case, then of course I should do it. Okay. Can I just go out and follow you?"
I answered that I knew. I was originally going to tell the Inquisitor, but it wouldn't be a big problem if I told Selene.
Because the person who gave permission to enter the Rune Dungeon right away has changed.
"Yes, thank you for your kindness."
Selene bowed her head slightly to me as a gesture of gratitude and led the battle nuns to take up positions on either side of the rift.
"You go first. I'll follow you."
Unlike the inside of the crack that was visible from the outside, the outside of the crack was not visible from the inside. Only a golden halo was visible. So I had a vain thought that it was a barrier.
We followed Selene's words and pushed ourselves into the crack.
"Why are the guests coming out from inside the barrier that blocks the Rune Dungeon?"
As soon as we came out, we found Stella looking at us with a glum expression and her arms crossed under her chest.
Behind them, the battle nuns stood in a line. The knights who had originally guarded this place were nowhere to be seen.
Neither the Inquisitors nor the combat nuns had weapons in their hands. Stella's expression was not one of anger, but rather of mild discontent. It seemed like there was nothing to fight about here.
"Well, isn't it just as you see it?"
"...You entered the Rune Dungeon?"
"That is correct."
Stella clutched her forehead. Her deep sigh was filled with heartfelt lament.
"Your Excellency. Although His Holiness the Pope has declared that he will welcome you as his honored guests, you are still entering the Rune Dungeon without permission—"
"I gave my permission."
At that moment, Selene walked out from beyond the rift.
"I have granted you permission to enter the Rune Dungeon, so you, your noble guests, are by no means trespassing."
"...Inquisitor, is that you?"
"Yes, that's right."
"What on earth were you thinking? I wish they were seriously injured or killed—"
"Don't you, the Inquisitor, know better than anyone the abilities that the Honorable Guest possesses?"
Stella's face turned slightly red as if she had been hit right in the face, and she coughed slightly as if trying to change the subject. It seemed that she was remembering the time in the sparring where she had been terribly crushed without being able to hit me even once.
The knight commanders' eyes were fixed on Stella, who looked so strange that they couldn't even look at her. They couldn't see her face because she was wearing a helmet, but it was obvious what kind of face she had.
"Ahem, big. I see. I suppose his skills are like that. So, what was the result? Did you give up on the subjugation and just come back?"
"You may now release the barrier."
"...Huh? Really?"
"I would not lie about such things, Inquisitor. I will call the Paladins back later. I have ordered them to stand back just in case."
"No, I didn't mean to say it was a lie… I was just surprised to hear that you'd already cleared the dungeon, even though it didn't seem like long since you entered."
Stella's gaze turned towards me. I took advantage of this opportunity to quickly open my mouth.
"By the way, I have something to give to you, Inquisitor."
"Yes? To me?"
"Yes. To the Inquisitor."
The green eyes turned towards me and opened in bewilderment. It was an expression that said something I had never expected.
"What is it? It's not like the head of a monster from the Rune Dungeon, is it?"
Stella laughed out loud. I quietly picked up the sacred catalyst that was tied to my waist and handed it to Stella.
"...."
Stella stopped laughing when she saw the divine catalyst.