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Screening Quest (4)
I tried to wake it up after having seized various artifacts on the High Priest’s body.
The sleeping spell I put on it had already been lifted.
That was supposed to be enough to wake it up, but the alien only continued to snore loudly without moving.
“Harumph… Harumph!”
He drooled while having his mouth opened and his tongue stretched out.
I soon realized why he wasn’t waking up.
I also recognized the identity of the milk-like stench that filled the room.
I frowned.
‘This bastard is drunk. He’s completely wasted.’
He’s not just drunk. He has completely blacked out.
‘Drinking must be strictly prohibited according to the Mother Goddess of the land’s doctrine, though.’
The High Priest, the guardian of the doctrine and the symbol of the cult, was drunk and entangled with females.
‘Wait, the liquor that exists in this world is…’
Because of the skill that made me unable to forget once the information was saved, there was no way to avoid the unpleasant memory that flew in like a sling stone.
‘Milk liquor.’
The source of the material was probably…
I turned my gaze away from naturally heading towards it and the entangled females.
I then aimed my finger at the High Priest, who passed out that were prohibited by their religion.
Boong.
I lifted its body in the air with psychokinesis.
After putting it out of contact with the surrounding objects or creatures-
I activated my magic.
[Spark!]
Buzz!
A blue current wrapped around the body of the alien.
The High Priest convulsed like crazy while still in the air.
“Mooooooooo!”
The High Priest, who was screaming and trembling, fell to the floor.
Tsssssss!
Smoke rose from the scorched fur.
“Argh! W-who is that bastard?”
The electric shock seemed to have even blown away its hangover.
Only then did the alien wake up and became wary of its surroundings.
A terrified voice rang in my ear as I was under the interpretation magic.
“Human?! How can a human being be here!”
How surprised must it have been for its nostrils to expand nearly twice as much as usual and its eyes to become bloodshot?
It shouted desperately.
“Knights! Knights–”
It tried to call the Sacred Knights, who were on the lookout outside.
If a number of them, mixed with even SSS-Ranked in Earth’s standards, intervened, things would have been annoying even for me.
But the danger had been sealed off.
I cut off its words with a chilling voice.
“Calling for help is useless.”
At the same time, I began to take action in earnest.
Weeing!
A sharp fragment made out of sword energy surrounded its neck.
“K-heup!”
The High Priest seemed to be trying to grasp the situation as it tensed up.
I pointed to the artifact laid in the center of the room and spoke.
“Do you see that? The bedroom is sealed off with a barrier. Nobody can hear anything out there.”
“Oh, damn it!”
The High Priest was quite outspoken in swearing.
It looked around the room with its eyes the size of human fists, but there was no way it could escape.
“What the hell do you want?! No, who is your client?!”
It continued to huff and steam.
“If you’re a human being, then are you from that recent dimension? But there’s no way an alien species could find out where my bedroom is or which bedroom I’m going to stay in today!”
I think it was convinced I colluded with another Botarch.
“Who are they?! The bishops eyeing my throne? Or pagans who believe in the sun? Whoever you’re stuck with, come to my side! I promise twice as much… No, ten times as much as the reward they promised you! Anyway, you were promised something like Mana core in return, right? If it’s just cores, I have as much as–!”
He was saying that he’s going to give me as many cores as I wanted.
It was a little tempting, but I didn’t have to accept.
What I wanted was not an equal trading relationship.
The cow-headed alien, who had no idea of what was in my head, continued to ramble on.
“Yes! There is no way for the pagans to get information about the High Priest’s palace’s interior. It must have been one of the bishops. There’s no way the desire-filled ones could have conspired with each other; then there must be only one client!”
The alien was busy guessing my client.
“I got it. It’s the sixth bishop. He’s mobilizing an alien, huh? That sixth bishop bastard is the only one crazy enough to think of such a nasty, malicious idea! Anyway, that bastard is such a pain in the ass! He would starve even during the harvesting season!”
I cut off his words while he did his best to answer his own question while overwhelmed by rage.
“Right now, it seems like nothing’s coming into your head because you’re frustrated.”
I lifted the statue with one hand and shook it from side to side.
It was only then that the image of the idol was captured in its big eyes.
His jaw dropped open in shock.
“T-t-that–”
The high Priest quickly grabbed onto its stomach and pressed it.
It panicked when it realized that its fourth stomach was empty.
“How did you get it out?!”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I continued.
“I’m going to take this to my world.”
“…!”
I could hear the sound of grinding in between the High Priest’s clenched teeth.
It probably had a clear, vivid nightmare in its head about what my actions could lead to.
It could probably envision the scene of itself falling to the bottom of the cliff from the peak.
Its gaze had embodied an extreme tension.
“…”
Finally, it shut up and waited for my words instead of talking rashly.
‘Finally. Now we can talk.’
I calmly spit out the words I prepared.
“I know that one of the most important and sacred duties of the High Priest is to protect this idol. What would happen to a High Priest who failed to do that? Well, it’s hard for me, an alien, to imagine that since there’s no precedent of such in history. Well, one thing is for sure.”
I grinned.
“You won’t die comfortably.”
It trembled slightly at the sight of me saying those words.
“Indeed, if you know so much about that can only mean–”
It seemed to be convinced of the existence of an insider again.
No matter what misunderstanding it made, I continued to talk, letting it be.
“I’ll take this statue, and if you don’t want to lose it forever, you have to follow my instructions from now on until the end of time.”
Even if I killed or kidnapped the High Priest, it’s no use if someone else replaced him.
Instead, I would have control over someone in charge, nominally or practically, of the entire race.
The fuel for its obedience was its desire for power.
That was the plan.
“No, wait a minute!”
It hurriedly exclaimed.
“I don’t know if you know, but we have to bring that idol out once a month and hold a mass celebration! If I don’t have the Mother Goddess of the Land idol then, I will be taken out immediately!”
It then continued soothingly.
“I know what you want, but this is the wrong way. There must have been a misunderstanding in the communication process with the traitor! Be with me from now on, and burn the bridges with those stupid bastards!”
It hadn’t given up hope that it could conciliate me.
“If you were able to sneak in even in the bedroom of the High Priest’s Palace, you must be an Awakened that can overpower the Sacred Knights. I’ll give you a generous price, so–”
I shook my head.
“I think you misunderstood, but I’ll take the original and leave you a fake one.”
“You only know so much. The Mother Goddess of the Land’s idol cannot be replicated. There are no materials, and there are no technicians anymore! No matter how carefully you imitate it, the bishops that always look for something to complain will find the difference!”
Instead of continuing to listen to him, I took out an artifact.
It was another SS-Class item acquired from the Spirit.
[Wartime Emergency Production Supply System – Type 3 (Rank: SS)]
– Item Description: Near the end of the final war, the weapon production and development planets owned by the Sebrarian Empire had been mostly destroyed. In that situation, the Imperial Supply Command gave up the improvement of weapons or the development of new weapons. They produced this item as a temporary measure and distributed it to the frontline troops.
There’s no theoretical limit to the number of artifacts that can be reproduced with this item, but the reproduce’s performance can never exceed the original. That showcases how desperate the war situation was when they mobilized this item, all the more so considering that the Empire constantly developed and poured out new and better weapons until the middle of the war.
※ Precautions:
- The higher the artifact’s performance is, the higher the amount of Mana cores needed for copying.
- If a certain level of change, destruction, or perishment is applied to the original, all replicas will be destroyed in unison. This penalty applies to all replicas due to the operating principle of presence probability diversification and local multi-dimensional superposition.
- From the context mentioned above, most living things that are always undergoing constant bodily changes cannot be replicated. Inanimate objects that do not have a definite form cannot be reproduced as well.
“…?!”
It looked at the artifact I had with an odd look.
It was like a lamp that had a circular cover.
Ignoring its gaze, I pointed my finger at one of the items it still wore.
Although it looked fancy and luxurious, it’s not an artifact that embodied a Mana, so I just left it.
Shhhhh!
It became baffled when the bracelet it was wearing slipped out of its hand by itself.
“What now?!”
The bracelet floated in the air to come close to me.
I opened the lamp cover and put a small Mana core inside.
I then activated the item.
Swaaaaaaaaa!
A starry fog poured from the lamp and covered the bracelet.
The flashy cloud that pierced the bracelet like an X-ray beam then began to gather and form a shape at a short distance from me.
“What!”
In the place where the alien stared at with its eyes turned upside down, the tangled starlight created another bracelet.
I checked how much of the core inside the lamp had been used up.
‘As expected, it consumes less Mana if it’s not an artifact.’
But it’s a bit of a waste of Mana to clone diamonds or expensive rare gems.
In other words, it was less economical to use for resource replication.
‘Perhaps the replication of a special object or an artifact of a certain level would be a good use for this.’
I threw the replica to the High Priest.
“Now, can you see the difference?”
“…!”
It couldn’t talk easily.
No matter how much they said they were a race with excellent eyesight, they wouldn’t be able to find any difference.
In a material sense, it’s a perfect copy.
“But you know what?”
Deliberately, I crushed the original bracelet in my hand.
As I did that…
“Ah!”
The replica it was holding quickly turned to dust, causing it to collapse and be blown into the air without leaving a trace.
The High Priest’s hand was soon empty.
The reason why I showed that result on purpose was obvious.
Whaaaaa!
I lit the lamp once again.
That time, of course, I used it on the idol.
“Ugh!”
It realized the situation and gritted its teeth.
After repeating the same process, I created another idol that perfectly matched the original’s physical appearance.
I handed over the replica to it.
“No one will notice that that’s a duplicate. If you hold on to that, you’ll be able to maintain your position as a High Priest. You won’t have to come down from the peak of power.”
The High Priest was also silently listening as if it was sure of that.
It had nothing to argue with.
“And, you know, right? Even if I’m far away if I found out you have violated my orders…”
I affirmed.
“I’m going to make a dent on the idol I have in my hand. Making a tiny flaw would be enough. Because at that moment, the reproduced item that I made before that will all disappear. Then it’ll be revealed everywhere in the world that you’ve lost the idol.”
“Damn you!”
I was convinced of one thing by its reaction.
If the High Priest was a very devout religious person, it must have been angry, furious, and cursing at the fact that such an important sacred object had fallen into pagan hands.
It wouldn’t even be strange to shed tears and wail loudly at the shock that the idol had been tainted, at least according to the characteristics of the Botarchs I knew.
But the look of the High Priest was different.
‘It has no anger against blasphemy. There’s only fear and anxiety that its power will collapse.’
I’m glad that it’s that kind.
If the alien were surely a devout fanatic, my plan wouldn’t have worked.
“… Yes, so what now?”
The High Priest seemed to have accepted reality.
It knew that if it wanted to stay in power, it had no choice but to obey me.
“What the hell do you want from me, motherfucker?!”
I looked at the guy who blew steam from its nose in frustration.
“First of all, this is the primary demand.”
I gave a declaration.
“Retreat all the Botarchs left in the dungeon connected to Earth. Don’t ever look over there again.”
“Damn, that’s it, after all. I got it.”
If they won the war and secured a large land, it would be a good addition to its achievements.
Even if another High Priest sat there, the invasion on the Earth would continue.
Therefore, it was reasonable to keep it seated after making a reason why he couldn’t invade.
It rolled its eyes.
“I will make all the warriors I sent to your dimension retreat as well.”
“You don’t have to. They’re already retreating.”
“What?!”
At that moment, I could feel it getting rowdier and rowdier outside.
‘Yes, it’s about time.’
What happened on Earth had reached their main dimension.
The speed was incomparably faster than the means of communication that the outskirt guards had.
There must’ve been some magical means on a different level.
‘I’m glad I ran right here after the success of the first quest.’
I continued with a smile.
“I look forward to the quick implementation of my demands.”
Making sure that I secured the original idol, I activated the [Door of Hope].
“Now then, I’ll see you later.”
As soon as the blue gate was completed, I jumped over it.
*
The High Priest who was left alone in the room realized that the barriers surrounding the room had disappeared the moment Seo Jin-Wook disappeared.
That was because the density of the air changed immediately.
Then, with amazing timing, it noticed a presence outside the door.
A priest shouted in an urgent voice.
“High Priest, we have an urgent matter at hand! Allowed me to enter–”
“Wait.”
The High Priest quietly drew Mana into its hand.
After concentrating it, he saw the Botarchs sprawling on the bed.
They were women who shared a night of pleasure with it.
The High Priest moved without hesitation.
Crush!
Crack!
Every time it struck its fist containing Mana, the women’s heads broke one by one.
‘Everyone seems to be asleep, but–‘
After a while, the bed was soaked with blood and
The High Priest seemed to have regained its composure rapidly after Seo Jin-Wook disappeared.
It was starting to think with a calm mind.
‘If anyone had woken up but pretended to be asleep, they could have heard the conversation.’
It couldn’t let any information leak out. That would break its power and cause the ground it stepped on to collapse.
Even if the probability was extremely minimal, it couldn’t take risks.
The High Priest, who shook the blood off its hand, spoke towards the door.
“Okay, come on in.”
The door opened, and a Priest came in hurriedly.
It paused for a moment due to the sight in the room.
The High Priest spoke in a monotonous manner.
“I have found a trace of blasphemy in them. They were all judged immediately.”
The Priest didn’t ask for details.
It merely deeply bowed.
It lays its arms, legs, and head on the ground and fell on its face.
“Praise the holy event that carries the divine will! I’ll get rid of the remains of these filthy things. But before that, I beg your pardon! The news that the military on the dimension with the broken boundary had…!”
The Priest carried on with the report.
It was about the rampage of the holy beasts that made the earth fertile.
The dispatched Priest’s status was unknown, and the expedition team had already begun to retreat based on the judgment of the commander of the unit.
The High Priest continued to think.
‘Everything must have been the work of that bastard. Damn it. We messed with the wrong species!’
It thought about the situation despite its regret and anger that was rising like bitter gastric juice.
‘I’ll have to pull out of that dimension for now.’
But will that ever end?
The High Priest realized that the situation had become messed up, and unknowingly, it fell into a shallow silence.
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