Chapter 14: Chapter 14 – I Am Searching

I hate spiders.

They have eight legs (which are hella creepy), eight eyes (which are hella creepy), and bigass mandibles (which are hella creepy).

Crest spiders were even worse, because they had all of these godforsaken qualities, except they were bigger and they had sharp teeth. It was absolutely godawful.

I would never understand why the cultists chose to use them as guards, but it didn’t matter. They’re dead now, and they can’t hurt me anymore.

For some reason, Lucrezia thought it rather amusing that I was so perturbed by the crest spiders, but she never experienced what I did. Just remembering that cave in was terrifying.

Admittedly, I’d played a little harder into the act to try and ease her tensions a little.

Even as we entered the cave containing the cultists’ hideout, she was nervously fretting about whether her previous travel companions were safe.

If she continued to do so, it would only be a liability. I simply did what I had to do.

It definitely... wasn’t to try and ease her fears.

...Right?

To save time, I used [Complete Analysis] in order to get the layout of the dungeon. It was a lot less complicated than the dungeon that I’d found Lucrezia in, presumably because it had only been recently constructed.

It was then that the thought had finally occurred to me: in order to construct something like an underground complex, there would need to be a large amount of resources being moved and also generate some noise.

Yet, these cultists were capable of setting them up and then popping out of nowhere to start kidnapping people in the dark of the night.

There had to be something that I was missing.

“Hey, Lucrezia. Just out of curiosity, do you know how dungeons are made?”

Lucrezia regarded me with a look of concern. “Are you planning on constructing your own?”

“...Huh? What made you think that?”

“Well, that’s why most people ask,” she explained. Apparently, in the eastern part of the continent, creating a dungeon was the equivalent of founding a new tribe. However, dungeons there took on a great variety of forms compared to the cave-like dungeons of the west. Even cities could be made into dungeons.

“Ah... Nah, that’s not why I wanted to know. I was just wondering how these freakin’ cultists are poppin’ up everywhere without anyone catching them.”

“Hm... That’s a good question, actually. I suppose I shall have to ask my father once we return!”

I made a mental note to remind her about that once we reached wherever the Zaltsel clan made their home. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would be incredibly important for unifying the barbaric tribes.

Not only that, but I might as well go ahead and see if there was a way to disrupt that process too. If making a dungeon was basically equal to starting a new tribe, I couldn’t have them start splinter groups after I’d worked so hard to unite the tribes.

I guess I’ll consult the rulebook later.

Since the dungeon was smaller and less labyrinthine this time around, I was able to memorize the entire floor plan fairly easily. There was a set of stairs at the rear of the dungeon which led down into a small antechamber that opened up into a hallway and a series of rooms.

There was no doubt that the cultists were hiding down there and waiting for nightfall to do whatever nasty shit they were plotting.

Since Lucrezia and I woke up as soon as daybreak began, it was still only morning. There would be ample time for us to wipe out the cultists and search the facility before we ran the risk of possibly running into reinforcements or visitors.

I didn’t think it would be likely that the cultists would send people to check in on this base since it was holed up in the sticks, but Lucrezia thought otherwise. I listened to her advice. It was better to be safe than sorry.

It was always better to be safe than sorry.

The stairway and the antechamber was built in the same fashion as the dungeon I’d found Lucrezia in. There were even a few symbols on the walls that I recognized.

The floor was carpeted just as before, and mana-fueled lanterns lined the walls. It was obvious that the occupants were here, and thanks to my increased physical abilities, I could accurately identify voices coming from the left side of the hallway.

It seemed that Lucrezia had picked up on them too, but she suddenly gasped as we approached the room, standing still as if stunned.

“Lucrezia! Are you alright!?”

I immediately began inspecting her, afraid that I had inadvertently led her into an invisible magical trap. The likelihood was pretty much nil, but as much as I hated to admit it, just the thought alone terrified me to no end.

“That’s... That’s Antenora’s voice...”

Inwardly, I did a victory pose and whooped in triumph. Looks like I really would be able to make good on my promise!

Gah! Stop getting excited, Ryuuko! You haven’t even saved ‘em yet, you idiot! And remember! This is all for the sake of unification! Unification!

“Let’s hurry, then.”

As I was about to kick open the door that led to where Antenora was supposedly being held, a voice stopped me.

“Where are they!?” The cultist’s voice cracked like a whip.

There was an indiscernible murmur that came in response.

“She says she doesn’t know.”

“WHAT!? How can she not know!? The Seventh Star reported that the Twelfth Star was completely wiped out when they visited the western headquarters! It’s obvious that her people were the ones who took the offering vessel!”

“She says she has no knowledge of what transpired, Your Stellarity.”

The man being referred to as “Your Stellarity” screamed in fury. “And to think the mere Twelfth Star was given the honor of sacrificing the offering vessel!”

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Lucrezia tugged on my sleeve, her expression tense and worried.

I pressed my index finger against my lips. There was vital information to be learned here. Seeing as the rulebook didn’t cover anything outside of the actual system and the basics of the world, this was a great chance to learn more about this cult.

“We will have to inform the First Star of these changes. The Nocturnal Ocean Plan must not be stopped.”

“Of course, Your Stellarity. Now, what shall we do with these sacrifices? With the offering vessel missing, they are worthless.”

“No. Place them in the cells. We can use them for fodder later. I’m sure the crest spiders are feeling a little peckish by now.”

Upon hearing that, I smashed through the door with a kicking, causing it to literally fly off its hinges and crash into one of the cultists.

As the rest of the room’s occupants stared at me, I simply beckoned towards them.

“Your pets are dead, assholes. Now it’s your turn. Who’s first?”

Damn. I’m SO fucking cool. Praise me, Lucrezia!

Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t actually sneak a peek to see if she was enamored with me because the cultists were already beginning to cast spells.

I closed the distance to the nearest cultist and grabbed him by the neck, crushing his windpipe and disrupting his spell in mid-cast. 

With my newly upgraded physical attributes, they had absolutely no chance against me.

Honestly, it felt a little unfair that I was able to just directly raise my stats while also being able to learn magic without any prior study. In fact, I might’ve considered being merciful to these subhuman pieces of trash if not for what I was about to witness.

Although the cultists could only view my movements as a blur, one of them had managed to react quickly enough to grab hold of a dark haired woman in manacles.

“S-S-Stop! I-If you don’t, I’ll kill her!”

I stared at the cultist with a dangerous look in my eyes.

He flinched.

The woman had pointed ears and two small nubs on her forehead much like Lucrezia’s. It wasn’t too much of a longshot to say that this was probably Antenora.

There were other captives in the room, but they possessed different qualities. I recognized a few as being part of the Cliodé species, a group of demi-humans with animal traits that hailed from the eastern part of the continent.

Obviously, every fantasy setting had to have girls with animal ears. It was the bread-and-butter of the genre.

Still, that didn’t change how cute they were.

There would be plenty of time for that later, though. Right now, I was focused on the cultist holding a knife toward Antenora. I could probably reach him before he did any real damage, but I didn’t want to risk it.

There were still four more cultists remaining. Five, if you included him.

A few of them were recovering from the initial shock of seeing me annihilate their companions effortlessly, and the leader was already beginning to charge up some sort of electrical spell. 

I could see sparks gathering around his fingertips as an orb of crackling white grew ever larger between his palms.

Before I could make a decision though, a crescent of razor-sharp water shot past me and very neatly decapitated the cultist next to Antenora.

Everyone—including me—turned in surprise to see who was responsible.

It seemed that while the cultists were completely focused on defeating me, they’d forgotten about Lucrezia’s presence.

Hell yeah! That’s my girl!

“Get away from her, you monsters!”

The head cultist immediately jabbed his finger toward Lucrezia. “The offering vessel! Capture her immediately!”

Unfortunately for him, the action had canceled his own spell.

It didn’t take me more than a second to send the three cultists to the ground with holes in their chests. He was the last one standing.

“Sorry, mind repeating that?”

I exerted the full extent of my killing intent onto the head cultist, the sheer pressure causing him to sink to his knees. His eyes filled with dread as he realized that this was the end of the line.

“...Long live... the Black Constellation...”

I raised my fist, preparing to finish him.

My fist descended toward his head.

He closed his eyes, accepting his death.

CLANG!

The sound of my knuckles striking steel resounded throughout the otherwise silent room.

“Shade Jusis Karlant of the Black Constellation reporting for duty, Your Stellarity.”

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