Chapter 88 — Anomaly (Part 5)

Chapter 88 — Anomaly (Part 5)

POV: Lily

Lily was extremely nervous. Jonathan, on the other hand, felt great—even in high spirits. But Jonathan was rather stupid, so it wasn’t surprising that he was cheerful.

Right now, Lily’s group had entered the Rank-4 zone.

Yes, this place was too dangerous for Lily and Jonathan. Their levels were still too low for this zone. But the other members of the team had levels high enough to fight here without much trouble. More than that, they could have even gone into the Rank-5 zone.

But in order to help Lily and Jonathan level up, their team had spent a lot of time in the Rank-3 zone.

Now they had finally moved into the Rank-4 zone.

Although Lily and Jonathan would probably not be of much use in this zone, the team leader, Darmon, clearly knew what he was doing. So Lily was not against this decision.

And yet…

She was very worried.

As if she felt that something might go wrong.

Of course, she understood that it was most likely just her fears.

And then she felt a jolt in the ground.

At the same moment, everything around them seemed to grow darker.

The entire team stopped, looking around warily.

"GRRRRRRROOOOOAAARRR!!!"

And then a deafening roar of monsters rang out.

Hundreds of thousands of voices merged into one monstrous sound. From that roar, Lily nearly went deaf and immediately covered her ears with her hands.

When the sound weakened a little, she carefully lowered her hands from her ears.

"What is happening?!" she heard Jonathan’s panicked voice.

He was shaking his head and checking his ears, as if trying to understand whether they were alright. Apparently, he hadn’t even managed to cover his ears when that horrible roar sounded.

"Everyone, gather together!" Darmon ordered loudly.

From his serious tone, it was clear that the situation was truly dangerous.

"As close as possible," he added.

They quickly gathered around him, readying their weapons.

Suddenly, the ground around them began to shake violently.

Walls of earth rose from all sides and closed around them, completely surrounding the group.

That was Trevar’s magic.

The oldest member of their team—a very grumpy but extremely powerful earth mage who possessed many spells.

Lily felt the small stone room they were in begin to rise upward.

Then the movement stopped.

A few seconds later, she heard rhythmic tremors that made the ground shudder. They sounded more like the footsteps of some enormous creature.

Yes… most likely, Trevar had used magic to create a giant earth golem.

"What is happening?! Will someone explain this to me?!" Jonathan shouted again, this time almost in full panic.

"Someone destroyed the dungeon core," Darmon said.

"What does that mean?" Jonathan asked.

"It means we’re completely fucked," Trevar said grimly. "If we don’t get out of this dungeon soon, the monster tide will tear us to pieces."

After those words, silence fell over the room.

"Why would someone destroy the dungeon core?" Lily asked, unable to endure the silence.

"I don’t know," Darmon replied.

"I do," said the old man, Trevar. "I’m almost certain it was some brainwashed fanatics from the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion."

"You’d better not say things like that. Don’t accuse an entire religion based on speculation. There are hardly any such fanatics left nowadays," Darmon objected.

"Are you an idiot? Do you actually believe the words of those morons?" Trevar snapped back. "You know what they did two hundred years ago. Those fanatics destroyed most of the dungeons on this continent. Because of them, entire countries were cut off from dungeons. There aren’t any left there at all now. And those lands are completely under their control."

Darmon apparently found nothing to say in response.

Lily knew about the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion. As far as she knew, it was a rather peaceful religion. She had even visited their churches a few times. Their temples existed in this kingdom too, and they weren’t forbidden.

And overall, everything looked quite peaceful. The priests helped the poor, handed out food for free, and even healed people without payment.

Lily couldn’t believe that someone from the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion, could have done what Trevar was talking about.

Yes, there had been many religious wars in history. But that had happened a very long time ago. Now, large-scale religious conflicts were hardly taking place anywhere.

Sometimes small clashes happened. For example, between followers of the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion, and other religions. After all, that church wasn’t the only one that considered its god to be a god of light. There were other religions that also featured a god of light. And each of them claimed that their god was the true one.

But there hadn’t been bloody wars between them for a long time.

And in general… why would followers of the God of Light, Aurelion, destroy a dungeon core?

Yes, Lily had read in books that some fanatics had destroyed dungeon cores more than two hundred years ago. But she had never heard that those people were specifically from the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion.

"Are you sure about this? I read in history books that they were fanatics who worshipped dark gods," Lily said.

"Oh, don’t believe those books. They were all created by the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion," Trevar snorted. "They spent enormous resources rewriting history. I remember perfectly well what was written about those times when I was a child. The old books described in detail those dark days when crowds of fanatics roamed the continent. But when I grew older, those books suddenly disappeared. The old editions were destroyed, and new ones appeared in their place."

"Guess who rewrote them?" he continued with a crooked grin. "Of course, the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion."

Lily had already wanted to object, but thinking about it logically, Trevar could very well be telling the truth.

As far as she knew, he was over one hundred and fifty years old, maybe even around two hundred. When she had once asked him about his age, the old man had only shrugged and said that he had stopped counting the years long ago.

"Definitely over one hundred and fifty"—that was all he had said back then.

"Why would followers of the God of Light, Aurelion, destroy a dungeon core?" Lily asked.

"I don’t know the exact answer to that question. But I think… it’s greed," Trevar replied.

"Hey, don’t start this again!" Darmon cut in.

"Shut up, you stupid idiot!" Trevar barked. "What, are you a supporter of the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion? Do you want to defend them?"

"Fine, sorry. I won’t interfere anymore," Darmon said.

Although Darmon was the leader of their team, sometimes even he received insults from Trevar as if he were some child. Then again, if you compared their ages… Darmon really could be called a child compared to the old man.

"Now, where was I? Ah yes… greed," Trevar continued. "Those idiots destroy dungeon cores, calling them gates of hell. They claim that dungeon cores were created by the devil or by some dark gods. Of course, they have different versions. But the essence is the same—they consider dungeons an evil that must be destroyed. Along with everyone who uses their resources: adventurers, the cities that are built around them…"

Lily frowned.

"But I don’t see the logic in that. Where is their greed, then? How is this connected to greed?" she asked.

Dungeons brought enormous wealth. Greedy people would try to use them for their own benefit, not destroy them.

That was why Lily completely failed to understand why Trevar had called the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion, greedy.

"Oh, their greed has nothing to do with getting more money. Though they love money too," Trevar said. "What they truly crave is power."

"Power?" Lily repeated.

"Yes. You’ve been to the temples of the God of Light, Aurelion, haven’t you?" Trevar asked.

Lily nodded.

"There, they seem so kind. They hand out free food to the poor and homeless, and even heal them for free. But for some reason, there is no such mercy in the countries they fully control," Trevar said.

"What does that mean?" Lily asked.

"For example, I’ve been to a country called Belvaria. There are no dungeons there at all. And although officially that country is ruled by the royal family… everyone knows that the real power belongs to the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion."

He snorted.

"And compared to this country, people there live much worse. Here, even a peasant can buy a health potion and recover. Yes, it costs money, but it’s not that expensive. Even an ordinary farmer can afford a Rank-1 health potion."

He fell silent for a moment.

"But in Belvaria, health potions are forbidden. Medicine in general is barely developed there. The Church forbids it."

"The only way to recover from an illness or a wound is to turn to the priests of the God of Light, Aurelion. And their prices are so high that even members of the middle class can barely afford treatment. And the poor…" He shrugged. "The poor treat themselves with whatever herbs they can find. Or they simply die. Because they don’t have the money to pay the church."

Lily couldn’t believe that such a thing was possible.

She remembered the faces of the priests in the temple of the God of Light, Aurelion. So smiling, so kind.

How could such a church be so cruel?

On the one hand, she wanted to believe in the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion. But on the other hand, Trevar was their companion. He had lived a very long life and seen many things.

And judging by how Darmon reacted… it seemed that he didn’t doubt the old man’s words either.

"And they also hate dungeons," Trevar continued. "Because in them, people become stronger. And the stronger a person becomes, the harder it is to control them or brainwash them. That’s why they hate dungeons."

"But then why…" Lily frowned. "People who never worked with dungeons and never trained in them could hardly just go and attack a dungeon core."

She immediately noticed the inconsistency in the old man’s words.

"Well, that’s where their hypocrisy comes in," Trevar said.

He smirked.

"Although they say that dungeons are gates of hell created by dark gods and all that nonsense… they use dungeons too. They just call them something else."

"What?" Lily asked.

"Temples of Trials," Trevar replied. "In essence, it’s the same dungeon. Monsters, treasures, traps… By defeating monsters, you gain experience points and become stronger. They just call them Temples of Trials instead of dungeons."

He smirked.

"But in essence, it’s still the same dungeon. It’s just that such 'Temples of Trials' are completely controlled by the Church of the God of Light, Aurelion," Trevar added.

"Then why do the believers accept that?" Lily asked. "If a dungeon and a Temple of Trials are the same thing, don’t they see that?"

"Well, first of all, not just anyone is allowed in there," the old man replied. "Only vetted and prepared people are permitted into the Temples of Trials."

He was silent for a moment, then continued:

"Second… deeply religious people are fairly easy to manipulate. For them, logic is often not as important as faith."

He shrugged.

"And you also have to take into account that the average person doesn’t especially like to think."

The old man snorted.

"And most importantly, those damn priests are very good at persuading people," he added, and there was obvious anger in his last words.

Lily thought about the old man’s words.

After those revelations, the world suddenly seemed a little darker to her.

Before, churches and temples had been places of light and kindness to her. But after what she had heard, she suddenly began to doubt… not only the temple of the God of Light, Aurelion, but all temples in general.

Suddenly, the old man’s face became serious. Very serious.

"Did something happen?" Darmon immediately asked.

"A large number of monsters are approaching us," Trevar said.

"What do you mean, 'a large number of monsters'?" Darmon frowned. "Your golem is already walking straight through a tide of monsters. How could there be even more?"

"No, this is different," the old man shook his head. "They’re much stronger than this small fry under my golem’s feet. And also… they’re moving unnaturally. Not toward the dungeon core, but straight toward the exit. At this speed, they’ll catch up to us soon."

"What kind of monsters? Can you show me?" Darmon asked.

"Now."

A small opening appeared in one side of the stone room. Darmon walked over and looked outside.

"Golems?" Darmon said in surprise. "I’ve never heard of there being golem monsters in this dungeon. Especially ones this big… and this strong. If they destroy Rank-4 monsters that easily, then they themselves must be at least Rank-5."

"I know. That’s why I’m worried," Trevar replied.

He frowned even more deeply.

"And also… why are these damn golems destroying monsters? If they’re dungeon monsters themselves?"

"Maybe those golems belong to some adventurer," Darmon suggested.

"Don’t talk nonsense!" Trevar snapped. "Do you see how powerful they are? If some adventurer could create golems like that and in such numbers, we would have known about them a long time ago."

He thought for a moment.

"Of course, it’s theoretically possible… but highly unlikely. It’s much more likely that the monsters have started behaving abnormally. More unpredictably."

"Hey, that’s impossible!" Darmon objected. "The Adventurers’ Guild instructions clearly describe monster behavior when a dungeon core is destroyed."

"Those instructions are full of crap!" Trevar said irritably. "Maybe in most cases they’re right. But sometimes anomalies appear that don’t follow the rules."

"Can you make your golem move faster?" Darmon asked.

"What do you think I’m trying to do?" the old man grumbled. "I’m already going all out. It can’t go any faster. These damn monsters under its feet are getting in the way."

Lily stood up and walked over to the opening to see what kind of golems they were.

She looked outside.

In the distance, she saw a stream of monsters literally being swept away by enormous golems. They crushed the monsters as if they were tiny animals.

Lily noticed one of the golems fall and get destroyed. But almost immediately, another took its place.

It looked like a huge number of such golems were moving this way. From here, it was impossible to determine their exact number, but there were clearly many of them.

Suddenly, she saw something flash by quickly. A figure leaped over the golems and rushed through the stream of monsters.

It was moving unbelievably fast.

For a moment, Lily thought the silhouette resembled a human… but she wasn’t sure.

Maybe some kind of humanoid monster?

"Damn! We’ve got someone on the roof!" Trevar shouted.