The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 028

EP.28 They Pray and Repent (1)

Leading the Holy Knights is Vice Captain Werther. He, along with the Holy Knights, cautiously advanced. They were currently in the Saleh Kingdom’s nearby mountain range, specifically inside a cave. Since there were traces of the vampire they had been pursuing leading to this place, they had followed suit.

Under Werther’s command, the Holy Knights were searching for the vampire within the cave.

“Stay focused, everyone!”

They had already confirmed that this place wasn’t a dungeon. Although they couldn’t measure the dungeon’s aura, the Holy Knights couldn’t relax even a bit.

First and foremost, their opponent was a vampire. No matter how you looked at it, a monster is still a monster, even if it’s a mouse in poison. They had stationed two Holy Knights separately at the cave entrance as a precaution.

Among those who had entered the cave were a total of 18 people, including Vice Captain Werther. Even if the vampire went on a rampage, escaping from this many Holy Knights was impossible.

The main reason Werther was on edge was that the place was too clean. Someone was continuously maintaining this place.

“Vice Captain!”

Eric, who had been leading the way, Called out.

Upon seeing Eric’s call, werther moved forward to investigate. A sudden variable had appeared in front of them.

“Three paths,” he muttered.

The path they had been following had unexpectedly split into three. The interior of the cave was even larger than it appeared from the outside. Werther pondered for a moment.

‘How should I handle this?’

Currently, the best option was to split their forces and search separately. There was less burden here because this place was not a dungeon. Although the idea of someone continuously managing this place bothered him, he paid little attention to it.

“Could they be crazy enough to mess with the Holy Knights of the White Order?”

We are the White Order, the only order on the El Dorad Continent.

There shouldn’t be anyone audacious enough to meddle with Holy Knights of the White Order. However, werther had one more concern.

The others might also recognize the existence of the Demon Sword upon seeing the vampire. Even those who hadn’t been greedy for it might be consumed by desire after seeing it.

‘In any case, it all ends with the Demon Sword.’

Werther reaffirmed this to himself and tightened his grip on the sword. He vowed that he would take his own life if there was an entity that obstructed him, even if it were the order itself.

With this resolve in mind, werther began to distribute the personnel. Currently, there were 18 people, including himself, and there were a total of three paths.

By forming three teams of six members each, each team would take one of the paths. Werther first assigned the personnel to the teams one by one.

“First, team 1 consists of Eric, thomas…”

Following the orders, team 1 was assigned to the leftmost path.

“The team I just called, including me, is Team 3!”

Vice Captain Werther was assigned to the rightmost path.

“Stay focused until the end and do your best! That’s all!”

The three teams each headed towards their respective paths.

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Aren and Celia, who were eating dessert, fell into thought for a moment. It wasn’t a particularly profound issue, it was just a matter of how to deal with the Holy Knights who had entered the dungeon.

Aren had already informed Celia about this.

Those Holy Knights probably followed Aren and entered the dungeon.

“It’s a dilemma.”

First, there was her role. If she personally intervened, defending the dungeon would be a breeze. However, did the Master want that?

Lately, celia often left her position following the Master’s orders. If she continued to act, it would mean fewer opportunities for others to act. In terms of dungeon defense, this would lead to problems.

What if she had to leave her position, and a situation like this arose? To prevent such a situation, celia decided to observe from behind. Most likely, the Master would prefer this approach.

The second concern was the Master’s command.

Initially, the Master had asked all the Holy Knights to show mercy. But what exactly did the Master mean by “mercy”?

Celia had thought and thought about it. And she concluded that mercy meant being within the Master’s embrace.

That’s why she had intended to turn the Holy Knights into ghouls to place them in the dungeon, assuming the Master’s mercy was to be interpreted in this way.

“I was foolish.”

But that wasn’t the case. Recently, the Master had commanded that everything be offered as sacrifices.

‘I must have misunderstood.’

So, the Master had probably restated it in simpler terms.

“…”

In Celia’s opinion, mercy ultimately meant being within the Master’s embrace. But the outcome was different.

In summary, what she thought was this, the offering would become nourishment and become a part of the Master.

So even if someone was offered as a sacrifice, it was no different from being in the Master’s embrace. The meaning of the Master’s mercy and the offering were the same.

‘Indeed, a merciful Master. Today, celia gets one step closer to the Master’s thoughts.’

Celia nodded silently, and Aren asked, “What’s on the pretty lady’s mind?”

“I was just admiring the greatness of the Master’s grace.”

Their tea time continued.

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***

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Three teams of Holy Knights had split up. Among them, the first to arrive were Team 2. They were the team that had headed towards the middle of the three paths. The Holy Knights included in this team were bewildered.

“What! Why are goblins here?”

It had been clearly stated that this place was not a dungeon. However, monsters, goblins to be precise, were present.

The Holy Knights held their weapons ready and gathered in a defensive formation.

“At least they’re just goblins.”

“That’s right! They’re just goblins, anyway.”

All the Holy Knights nodded in agreement.

Even though there were only six of them, they were proud members of the White Order’s Holy Knights. They were all equipped with top-tier gear.

Goblins were not a significant threat, no matter how numerous they were. Although some of the goblins’ equipment looked unfamiliar, they paid little attention to it. After all, they were just goblins.

However, there was a separate problem. They were too numerous. Goblins were continually pouring out from the cave entrance.

The goblin numbers continued to grow, and this was the issue. The strategy had to change.

“Damn it! We hold out as long as possible until reinforcements arrive!”

They must hold out. There was a high likelihood that only this part of the dungeon had monsters. Otherwise, such a large number of goblins would not make sense. Therefore, simply stalling for time would allow the other teams to come to their aid.

So, as long as they held their ground, they had a chance against the goblins, no matter how numerous. The Holy Knights faced off against the goblins, biding their time.

At that moment, holy Knight Cable noticed a presence at the very back.

“That…”

It looked different from the other goblins, especially the golden crown on its head caught their attention.

“Goblin Lord!”

The Goblin Lord was a 5-star monster. What was even more concerning was that it wasn’t alone, numerous goblins surrounded it.

Facing this situation with only six people was not viable, no matter how well-equipped the Holy Knights were. They were clearly at a disadvantage.

“Shouldn’t we consider retreating for now?”

The primary objective was to inform the presence of the Goblin Lord. They all nodded in agreement and began to slowly step backward. In a place like this, showing your back was equivalent to inviting death.

They continued to face the goblins with their swords drawn while moving back.

During this, the Goblin Lord started to move. It raised a long staff and pointed it at the Holy Knights.

“What’s that?”

“Could it be a poisoned stinger?”

A poisoned stinger staff, a weapon commonly used by goblins. Perhaps the object the Goblin Lord was holding was a type of poisoned stinger staff?

“At least goblin poison can’t harm us! Don’t worry and keep retreating!”

Fortunately, the Holy Knights had undergone resistance training against poison as part of their training. While not immune to all poisons, they had enough resistance to withstand goblin poison, at the very least.

As they retreated, there was a loud thud, and a Holy Knight fell. Right through the center of his face. In the blink of an eye, someone among them couldn’t move.

-Thud-

Once more.

Another Holy Knight fell.

-Thud.

–

None of them could react properly.

-Thud-

Another sound, and a Holy Knight collapsed.

-Thud-

It was impossible for any of them to respond.

-Thud-

Their comrades fell one by one.

It was as if a demon played the music of death, a secretive melody that brought tragedy and pain to the listeners. Or perhaps, despair.

The last remaining Holy Knight, cable, threw his equipment aside and closed his eyes. He folded his hands in prayer.

“Goddess… please, protect the lost souls. Please…”

Fortunately, the demonic music stopped playing, but it wasn’t because the Goddess answered his prayer. The demonic music ceased because the demons themselves reached out towards Cable.

Silence and regret were the only things left.