Chapter 868

【 DEMACIA’S CONFLICTED FEELINGS 】

Watching the names on his party list gradually turn gray, while the newbie players in the chat group frantically complained, Demacia could only sigh helplessly.

“Ah, I’ve told you all before. The waters in human territories run deep. Newbies simply aren’t equipped to handle them. One wrong move, and you’re doomed!”

Well, it seemed this expedition with these paying newbie clients had been a complete waste.

However… if he could rescue Old John, then he might still be able to break even.

A rough kick from behind sent Demacia tumbling into a dungeon.

The dungeon was dark and damp, illuminated only by the faint glow of dim magical lamps hanging on the walls. Visibility was poor.

However, as an elf, Demacia naturally possessed excellent night vision, which allowed him to see his surroundings clearly.

Looking around, this appeared to be an enormous dungeon with no visible end. Countless prisoners were locked inside the cages lining both sides of the passage.

Faintly, Demacia seemed to hear the indistinct sound of prayers coming from deep within the dungeon. The voices did not appear to belong to a single person. Instead, they sounded like a group of people praying devoutly together.

However, whenever he tried to listen more carefully, the voices would disappear again, as though the people making them had been startled.

Demacia grew curious.

Unable to resist, he secretly activated the spell [Eye of Faith] to see what was going on.

However, he immediately froze the moment he activated this skill, which allowed him to examine the faith of others.

The prisoners locked inside the cages on both sides of the dungeon radiated neither the green light of nonbelievers nor the red light of those who worshipped other deities. Instead, most of their auras were white…

White…

That was the color of a relatively new believer of the Church of Life!

Moreover, unless his eyes were deceiving him, there were quite a few blue auras mixed in as well.

Those belonged to devout believers!

Good heavens!

Were all the prisoners in this dungeon believers of the Church of Life?

Even though Demacia had already prepared himself for this possibility, given the increasingly tense relationship between the Eternal Church and the Church of Life, he was still astonished by the sheer number of Life believers imprisoned here.

However, something about this situation seemed strange…

For Life believers to be so fanatical about their faith that the guards had arrested them and thrown them in here, surely their faith would have to be at least devout, if not outright fanatical?

Take himself, for example. Aside from players, the only people reckless enough to charge the city guards in broad daylight as though their lives meant nothing were devout or even fanatical believers.

Yet here in this dungeon prison, the overwhelming majority of the prisoners radiated white light, indicating that they were only ordinary believers.

Wasn’t the number of ordinary believers here a little too high?

Demacia examined the prisoners’ levels of faith in astonishment. Meanwhile, the guard escorting him wrinkled his nose and shouted toward the depths of the dungeon.

“Where are the dungeon guards? We’ve caught another lunatic from the Church of Life. Hurry up and lock him away!”

He covered his nose and mouth, apparently finding the dungeon’s stench rather unpleasant.

It took quite some time before two guards finally sauntered over.

However, the moment Demacia saw them, or more precisely, the purplish-blue light of faith radiating from their bodies, his eyes widened.

Holy shit!

What was he looking at?

These two guards were also followers of the Church of Life?

And not just ordinary followers either. They were practically on the verge of becoming fanatical believers!

Goddess above!

Wasn’t this Dororia Castle’s prison, where political prisoners and heretics were supposed to be held?

How had even the guards ended up on their side?

No… Wait.

They still had NPC nameplates!

Holy shit!

These guys had even awakened into rare blue-grade NPCs!

At that moment, Demacia’s expression became extraordinarily complicated.

Unlike his peculiar reaction, the two prison guards appeared perfectly calm.

However, Demacia possessed keen observational skills. He noticed that whenever the guards glanced at him, there was a certain warmth in their eyes.

Their gazes were different from those of the guard escorting him. These were the eyes of people looking at one of their own.

Although they concealed their feelings well, Demacia’s exceptional night vision allowed him to detect the faint emotion hidden deep within their gazes without much difficulty.

“Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen.”

The prison guard who was clearly the captain addressed the soldier escorting Demacia.

His tone was gentle.

However, having already sensed something was amiss, Demacia could vaguely detect the deep-seated aloofness concealed beneath that gentleness.

The soldier waved his hand dismissively, seemingly unconcerned by the remark.

Or perhaps he simply couldn’t be bothered to speak to these guards who practically looked and smelled as though they had become one with the filthy, stinking dungeon itself.

After roughly tossing Demacia onto the ground, the two soldiers left, apparently unwilling to spend another moment in this place.

Thus, the dungeon fell silent once more, shrouded in darkness.

The two guards examined Demacia and exchanged nods. To his surprise, they reached out and untied him.

Then, under Demacia’s astonished gaze, they spoke respectfully.

“You must be one of the Elven Chosen Ones, correct? Our mentor is waiting for you inside…”

Demacia: “…”

Wait a minute…

Had he really entered the prison meant to imprison criminals, or was this actually the underground headquarters of the Church of Life?!

Demacia tried opening his mouth, feeling an overwhelming urge to gave a retort.

He had anticipated that he might fail to find his target after entering this prison. He had anticipated being locked up separately and losing his freedom. He had even anticipated that this supposedly impregnable castle prison would be so heavily guarded that moving around freely would be impossible.

But this?

This was the one thing he had never anticipated!

Nevertheless, Demacia was beginning to piece together what might have happened inside this castle.

Elven Chosen Ones…

Mentor…

Demacia couldn’t help looking toward the depths of the dungeon. An absurd yet highly plausible suspicion began to form in his mind.

“Mentor?”

He cautiously tested the waters.

“That’s right. Our mentor, Pastor John.”

The guard answered reverently.

Demacia: “…”

There was always someone greater than oneself, just as there was always a higher mountain beyond the one already climbed.

He suddenly began to suspect that his own missionary abilities might not be as impressive as he had imagined…

Following the prison guards, Demacia proceeded deeper into the dungeon as casually as though he were taking a stroll through his own backyard.

The farther he went, the more violently his eyelids twitched.

The light of faith!

Every cell lining both sides of the passage was filled with the Goddess’s faith radiance!

Good heavens!

The auras started out white, but the farther he went, the more blue ones he saw. Some of the blue auras had even begun turning purplish, just like those of the prison guards!

Those were signs that the believers were transforming into fanatical believers!

Almost every prisoner in this entire dungeon had apparently been swept up and converted into a follower of the Church of Life!

Th-this…

How much Priest experience would that be worth?!

Witnessing the scene, Demacia wore an expression of indescribable complexity and profound sorrow.

To be honest, his motivation for infiltrating Dororia Castle’s prison had not been limited to just rescuing Old John. Another major reason was that he wanted to use his extensive missionary experience to give his fellow inmates a lesson in ideological education.

After all… there was no better place to persuade, ahem, attract like-minded individuals than this.

Yet he had never imagined that the entire place would already have been painted in the Goddess’s colors.

Demacia had no doubt that if the prison were not so heavily guarded, and if rumors that legendary-rank experts and high-ranking clergy were stationed inside the castle were not true, these prisoners would have already joined forces and broken out.

After years of imprisonment, every one of these inmates was undoubtedly a formidable character. If all of them became followers of the Goddess, the power they could wield would be absolutely terrifying!

Of course, Dororia Castle’s prison was no ordinary facility. It had managed to hold so many prisoners for a reason. Even if Demacia helped them unite and launch a breakout, they would probably suffer devastating losses before escaping.

Nevertheless, as long as they could rescue John, the Goddess’s Divine Favored Saint, that would be enough for Demacia.

Under the dungeon guards’ guidance, Demacia arrived at a large cell at the very end of the dungeon.

In the center of the cell, a dim magical lamp cast a soft glow over a middle-aged man sitting cross-legged on the ground with his back perfectly straight.

It was none other than Old John.

A faint radiance seemed to emanate from his body. It was the manifestation of the power of faith.

The anti-magic shackles around his wrists and ankles had not been removed, as their removal was beyond the authority of ordinary guards. Only the Church’s Inquisition had the authority to manage them.

Even so, the light of faith continued to radiate from his body.

This could only mean one thing.

Even with his powers sealed, his faith was still capable of breaking through his restraints to a certain extent!

This was a manifestation of the sublimation of faith…

Demacia’s expression turned solemn.

Through his skill [Eye of Faith], he could see that Old John’s aura was no longer the pale gold normally associated with the Goddess’s Divine Favored.

Instead, it had transformed into a dazzling golden radiance, sparkling with tiny golden motes of light.

It was the same phenomenon Demacia had only ever witnessed in Big Sister Zero and Alice!

This was the color associated with someone who possessed the dual status of Saint and Godwarden of the Goddess!

Even Old John’s NPC nameplate had changed. It was no longer purple, indicating an Epic-grade NPC, but gold, signifying the extraordinarily rare Legendary-rank!

At that moment, Demacia’s eyes widened, and his heart pounded wildly.

No wonder he had been able to sense John from so far away. The purity of the man’s faith had already surpassed that of a fanatical believer and reached the level of a true Saint!

This was the highest class of NPC beneath the Goddess herself and the handful of Mythical-rank beings!

Demacia swore that he absolutely had to get on this man’s good side!

At that moment, he completely forgot his earlier speculation about some sort of grandmaster-disciple relationship. Instead, his mind was already racing as he considered how best to ingratiate himself with Old John.

Getting on the good side of a powerful figure was perfectly reasonable. A golden-grade NPC, after all.

There was no shame in it.

Old John wore a calm expression as he continued quietly explaining the teachings of the Goddess of Life to the people around him.

The cell was filled with prisoners of all shapes and sizes, each of whom regarded him with profound respect.

“Mentor, the Elven Chosen One has arrived.”

The guard’s respectful voice interrupted his quiet explanation.

Old John raised his head and looked toward Demacia.

He smiled faintly.

“Long time no see, Lord Demacia.”

He still remembered me!

—No, wait.

He had actually recognized me!

Demacia was both surprised and delighted.

After glancing at the remarkably high favorability rating he had with the man, Demacia suppressed his excitement and spoke with a solemn expression.

“Mr. John, you’ve suffered greatly. I’ve come to rescue you.”

However, Old John merely smiled and gently shook his head.

“Thank you for your kindness, Lord Demacia. However, I’m quite comfortable staying here in this prison.”

Comfortable?

Demacia couldn’t help glancing at the filthy, disorderly surroundings, his expression turning strange.

Noticing his reaction, Old John explained gently.

“You see, the most lost and confused souls on this entire continent have gathered here. Being able to guide them out of their confusion and kindle the light within their hearts, isn’t that a source of great happiness?”

Demacia: “…”

Suppressing his urge to complain, he sighed softly before speaking.

“Mr. John, the situation across the continent is becoming increasingly delicate. Our clashes with the Eternal Church are growing more frequent, and the Inquisitorial Knights are being deployed in greater numbers throughout the various regions. A Holy War… may not be far off.”

“Once a Holy War breaks out, there’s a good chance the Eternal Church will use you, as one of the Goddess’s Divine Favored, as a sacrificial offering. From what I know, such things are not uncommon in holy wars fought over faith…”

“I possess a one-time-use divine artifact capable of unleashing the power of a Mythical being. It can break through the True God’s blessing protecting this castle.”

“Combined with the Life believers you’ve gathered here, we should be able to break out in one decisive strike.”

As he continued speaking, Demacia found himself unconsciously addressing John with increasing formality.

Regardless of how one looked at it, Old John deserved respect. Developing such a large following in such a short time was no ordinary accomplishment.

However, even after hearing him out, Old John continued to shake his head.

“And what would escaping accomplish?”

Demacia was momentarily stunned.

“Obviously, we’d keep running until we reached our own territory!”

He answered instinctively.

“But how many people would die along the way? Would all of this be done solely for my safety? How many of the Goddess’s followers would have to sacrifice their lives just for my sake?”

Old John countered.

Demacia was rendered speechless.

Having just been escorted into this prison, he had already caught a glimpse of what Dororia Castle was like. It was undoubtedly a heavily fortified stronghold.

To be honest, even the ordinary guards patrolling the castle above had given him a sense of danger or exuded an intimidating aura.

Oh, the prison guards were no exception. Their strength was probably at least in the lower Gold rank, yet Old John had already persuaded them to switch sides.

“Lord Demacia.”

Old John sighed softly.

“I can more or less guess what the Pope intends to do by imprisoning me here. He probably plans to execute me before the holy war begins, perhaps after subjecting me, and even the Church of Life itself, to severe humiliation.”

“However, what he intends to do is precisely what I want to happen.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting him. I also look forward to discussing our respective faiths and doctrines with him. In my view, such a confrontation is necessary.”

“This is a test for me, as well as an opportunity to temper my resolve.”

“Although faith in the Goddess continues to grow stronger throughout the world of Seigües, unlike you elvenkind, we humans remain far too fragmented in our beliefs.”

“Therefore, what we need is an opportunity… An opportunity to truly ignite the faith in everyone’s hearts, awaken them completely, and unite humanity as one.”

“At the same time, we need an opportunity for the common people of this continent who remain lost and confused to see the empire’s corruption and the church’s hypocrisy for themselves.”

“And I am willing to become the torch that lights the way.”

As he spoke, Old John raised his head and looked directly at Demacia, his eyes shining with conviction.

“Lord Demacia, I want to become the flame that rekindles the common people’s faith. Will you help me accomplish this?”

Demacia was momentarily taken aback.

This time, his expression grew truly complicated.

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