Chapter 82

I couldn't help but gasp.

Suddenly, a woman who looked exactly like Pope Astira appeared before us.

But the atmosphere around her was so different from the Astira I knew. Despite their identical appearance, she looked like the same person.

...Who is this person...?

"Teacher, who is that woman...?"

"It's Astira."

"...Astira...?"

I was confused again.

She was a woman who looked exactly like Pope Astira and had the same name.

"...Ah, hello... I'm Astira. Nice to meet you, cute girl. ...By the way, that's a really nice dress, isn't it...?"

The woman who called herself Astira smiled softly at me.

"Astira, this is Leen. She's one of us."

"...I'm sorry. My name is Linneburug Creis. I now go by Leen, so please call me that."

"Hmm, so you're Leen. And that handsome boy over there...? For some reason, I don't feel like he's a stranger."

"...Mother...? No, that can't be... Who are you...?"

Tirence also looked confused in front of her.

It's no wonder. I felt the same way.

She looked exactly like the Pope, so much so that she could be the same person.

But I felt that this person was completely different from that Pope.

This woman, in contrast to the Pope who stood at a distance and glared at us, had a soft smile that made me feel at ease just by standing next to her.

Tirence, looking at her, answered hesitantly.

"Excuse me... My name is Tirence."

"Is that so. Tirence. That's a nice name... I don't feel like you're a stranger either, for some reason..."

As they looked at each other and exchanged words, Mr. Noll had been pointing the 'Black Sword' at Saint Misra without letting his guard down.

The Pope and Saint Misra, whose hand had been crushed by Mr. Noll, didn't move from there. They seemed to be on guard, watching Mr. Noll's movements.

"...Where have you been, Mr. Noll?"

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself... It seems we were inside that blue stone."

"...Inside that core...?"

"Yes. Then, it suddenly ran away. I chased after it."

"...Ran away?"

I couldn't understand Mr. Noll's words right away.

Mr. Noll had been inside the core of the dungeon.

Someone inside the core of a dungeon?

...I've never heard of such a thing.

And... ran away...?

...Who... from who...?

"Really... I'm surprised. How did you get out of there?"

As I was confused, the Pope, who had not moved for a while, spoke.

"...How...? After you left, I found a hazy place and just hit it with this sword, and I got out... I don't know why, though."

"That's really unbelievable. That sword, and you. I didn't think you could catch up so easily... I was still underestimating you. I need to reflect on that."

Then, the skeleton slowly grabbed the Pope and lifted her in front of its face.

"For now... let's settle for this body. This should give me some power."

Tirence watched as the Pope, lifted by the skeleton, was burned by the flames that enveloped her, standing still.

"...Mother...?"

"...Tirence. I will soon become the blood and flesh of this one. You should come here soon too. It's a very happy thing. This is the supreme 'salvation' in the Misra Theocracy."

"Mother, what are you...?"

In front of the stunned Tirence, Saint Misra threw the Pope into its jawless mouth.

"──What?"

Suddenly, a vast amount of miasma rose around us.

At the same time, blood flowed from the bones of Saint Misra's entire body, and a small amount of flesh began to cling to it.

"──Gh──Gh──Gha──"

The groaning sound, like an earthquake, seemed to be coming from the monster's unfinished throat.

From the giant, human-shaped monstrosity in front of me, I felt a surge of power so strong it almost made me lose consciousness.

I couldn't move again.

This was beyond the realm of a monster.

Something that a human could never stand up to.

The slight sense of relief I had felt a moment ago was instantly replaced by despair.

In an instant──

A loud noise.

I felt something collide with and break through the ceiling of this space where the core of the dungeon was.

It happened so quickly that I couldn't react.

It seemed that the skeleton in front of us had suddenly thrust its hand into the ground and forcibly launched something.

I couldn't see the series of movements at all.

I didn't even know what had been launched.

I shuddered again and desperately tried to calm down and look around, and I noticed that one person was missing.

It was──

"......Mr. Noll...?"

There was no sign of Mr. Noll, who had been here just a moment ago.

The person who was missing from here was Mr. Noll.

──Damn.

He had been waiting for this opportunity all along.

The chance to remove the greatest threat, Mr. Noll, from the scene.

What's left is us.

To it──we are nothing but prey.

My legs trembled with fear again.

But the skeleton, which had gained a little flesh, didn't even look at us and continued to look up, emitting a strange, low sound.

"──Gh──Gha. What is this──delicious──delicious──"

The groaning sound, like an earthquake, was the voice coming from the monster's throat.

"V, V──Vva, V, delicious──V──V──A, V, V──Vva──V, delicious──GhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGhGh