## Chapter 580 – A Good Friend to Meet

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
“Kkeureureureureuk!!!!!!”

The frenzied screams, accompanied by extreme overreactions, continued for quite some time.

Tears were already streaming down Bacherel’s face. He soon knelt down, grabbed the remains of the Abomination, and spoke as if telling the most despairing story.

“What sin… what sin did these people commit!!! Why must innocent people become such horrific monsters!!!!!!!”

It was the most terrible cry.

The paladin and priest also knelt and shed tears, while Elise, greatly shocked, constantly let out angry shouts.

“Saint-nim!!!!! We must annihilate any remnants of the heretics that may be left!!! Their purpose, it no longer matters!!! Summary execution is the only answer!!!!”
“That’s right!!!! Elise!!!!!!!”

This was qualitatively different from when bandits massacred civilians during the Crusades and used their corpses to create evil pagan structures.

They merged living people together, creating screaming monsters.

Judging by the size of the Abominations, this was not something that could be done by just one or two people. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. Those innocent lives were endlessly tortured, cursed with evil magic, and reborn as damned monsters.

“Uooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!!!!!!!”

The pain of imperialism…! It was more terrible than that!!!!

ㅡTrickle, trickle.

Tears streamed down my face as well.

And so we wept together, wailing loudly.

“Unni… Blackie’s crying…”

The powerlessness to prevent such a cruel reality was too terrible.

“Blackie, don’t cry. Come here. Hmm?”

Winia, looking worried, approached, put down her staff, and hugged me. I buried my face in her chest and endlessly shed tears.

“Winiaaaah…!”
“Oh, my Blackie. Was it that shocking?”

Winia slowly stroked the back of my neck as she spoke. Strangely, I felt comforted by the warmth radiating from her hand.

“Your heart is so damn weak.”

My heart, which had been stronger than anything, suffered a great blow at this moment. Then Claudie came over and took my hand.

“Katt, how angry are you to be crying like this?”
“So angry! I feel like I’m going crazy!!!!”

Such a reality should never exist!

It is precisely because of things like this that religious people exterminate heretics with inhumane measures. This is a world where individuals can obtain transcendent power. If an evil person treats the lives of others like insects solely to achieve their own goals, then such disasters will occur again and again!

If that happens, the world will eventually collapse!

Adults despair, and children weep in sorrow!

ㅡThe tears of children!

The fallen tears of children will cause a great flood! We must build an ark in preparation for that time! To survive the day of judgment and the new world!!!

“Katt… then what should we do with the heretics?”
“As Elise said!!! We must kill them all!!!!”
“Hehe, that’s right. Then we need to calm down first, right? Now, breathe out slowly. Get a grip.”
“Hoo, hoo… hoo…!”

As Claudie said, I had to calm down first to kill them all. Following her guidance, I slowly exhaled, washing away the turbid thoughts in my mind.

“I’m calm now. Thank you. Winia, Claudie.”
“It’s good that Blackie calmed down. Then let’s have them clean up the remains. These need to be cremated.”

Winia picked up her staff again.

Cremation, huh.

I immediately approached Bacherel, who was in despair, grabbed his shoulder, and said.

“…Commander Bacherel. It was a truly terrible and shocking event. But we cannot back down. We have a duty to slaughter all the heretics who may be left in this underground area!”
“That’s right… Paladin!!!”

Bacherel also came to his senses and jumped up.

“However! If we cremate them right away, it will hinder the search! Let’s simply collect these remains and resume the search!”

Bacherel, who had shed a torrent of tears, skillfully gave orders. He had calmed down now. However, endless rage was swirling in his kind eyes.

“This place must be a very important facility for those heretics…! There will definitely be valid clues to reveal their identities and purposes! We must find those as well!!!”
“You’re absolutely right, Commander Bacherel!!!”

As Bacherel said, there must be a reason why the heretics created such fucked up abominations. Of course, there must also be a reason for reviving the corpses, and there must be a reason for brainwashing the heretics.

Why did these Abominations have to be created?

Why did innocent people have to transform into monsters and suffer?

I don’t know for sure, but creating something like this would have required a huge budget and manpower. They would never make something like this just for fun.

Which means, perhaps.

Perhaps something even more terrible.

This Abomination may just be a preparatory step for creating something even more terrible and cruel.

The Abomination is just a process.
This may be some kind of research.

Is their goal to create a more heinous monster?

ㅡFlesh Golem.
ㅡThe muscle giant in the slums.

It is speculated that those were also created by heretics. Still, these Abominations seemed weaker than those evil giants back then.

Anyway, there are too many unknowns.
We need to investigate this place.

We quickly collected the corpses, shared our opinions for a while, and ate jerky. After that, we entered the path next to the basement.

There, the corpses of six heretics I had killed were sprawled out.

I don’t know if there are any other heretics.

“Saint-nim. You did a great job. To quickly eliminate the heretics in such a moment. If they had been alive, we would have had a hard time.”
“You have to kill these guys as soon as you see them.”

From the corpses’ possession, we could only find necklaces with their symbols and simple belongings. Of course, there were also wands, so I made sure to take them.

As we continued down the path, another room appeared.

“Wh, where is this…!”
“Hmph… something like a prison?”

As Claudie said, it felt like a prison.

“…”

Iron bars and small chains. And various things like experimental tables, drugs, and bizarre tools were scattered haphazardly.

“…They imprisoned people here.”

I examined the inside of the iron bars, but I couldn’t find anything special.

There was no one.

No one, as if there had never been anyone from the beginning.

“Did they all become Abominations…!!!! Kkeu, kkeureureureuk…! Kkeureuk!!!!”

Bacherel trembled and unfolded something like a journal that was placed on the experimental table. Of course, it was in an unrecognizable language. We took the remaining evidence and put it in the priest’s bag.

In that way, we continued through the basement.

The purple lights were still on. That means there is a source of this light. And that source is likely to be at the core of the heretics.

The basement was connected in a chaotic manner, like an ant nest.

We found a place that looked like a garbage dump, and several rooms where the heretics lived. But no matter how much we moved, we couldn’t find any valid clues.

“Saint-nim. Those Abominations are not something that can be made easily. It is clear that it requires quite complex means and highly evil knowledge. There will inevitably be a blueprint with the manufacturing method written on it, and there is a high probability that it is here.”
“…That’s right.”

Elise’s words were perfectly reasonable.

Not just anyone could make something like that. It is impossible to simply sew and weave people together. There must be special processing and procedures involved. Of course, there is also a high probability that the heretics noticed in advance, packed their bags, and ran away.

“More than anything, the facilities.”
“Facilities?”
“Looking at the size of the basement, I don’t think those large Abominations could move freely. Unless there is a structure with a large secret passage that opens, the Abominations will be trapped in that room for life.”

Certainly, their size was too massive.

So much so that they couldn’t use any passage.

“Therefore, there is a high probability that the creation of those monstrosities was also done in that room. They bring people in and perform various procedures.”
“Hmm… Commander Bacherel. What do you think? It seems like Elise’s words are reasonable.”
“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

I think we’ve roughly explored the entire second basement floor.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a passage leading down. There was nothing special on the first basement floor either, so we can assume this is the end.

“Then let’s go back to that room.”
“Understood.”

The room with the Abominations, which we had returned to, was filled with a terrible stench.

Secret passage, huh.

“Let’s take a look around here for now. Winia. Can you turn on the light?”
“Okay.”

ㅡTsupat.

As the light magic was cast, the basement was completely illuminated. As it became brighter, the horrific scene was blatantly exposed.

Fragmented corpses and huge chains.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

Then Claudie approached the right wall and began to run her fingers over it.

“Claudie? Is there something there?”
“There seems to be some kind of gap.”

A gap?

“Claudie-nim! Perhaps that is the door to a secret passage!!”

At the same time, Elise shouted.

“A se, secret passage!”

Immediately, everyone rushed over to check the wall. As Claudie said, it felt like there was a slight gap in the wall. We didn’t know because it was dark, but there was a passage!

“Is there no way to open it! Paladin! Priest! There must be some means! Find it quickly! There must be a secret hidden inside!!!”
“Understood!”
“Yes!”

ㅡSecret passage.

“Oh, shit?”

Clearly, when the heretic hit the wall of the passage earlier, the Abominations’ restraints were released at the same time.

Could there be something there?

I immediately ran over there.

“Blackie, where are you going!”
“Just a moment!”

When I arrived there, Winia followed me.

“Blackie, what is it? Is there something here?”
“When the heretic hit here earlier, the Abominations’ restraints were released.”
“Hmm… does that mean there’s something here?”
“I think so.”
“Wait a minute.”

Winia closed her eyes and began to tap the wall with her staff.

ㅡTok. Tok. Tok.

Each time she tapped the wall, blue waves emanating from the end of the staff spread widely across the wall. It looked like she was using some kind of magic.

“…This is a bit difficult magic.”
“Something like search magic?”
“Yeah. There’s definitely something there. Above Blackie’s head height. Touch it.”

I immediately reached out as Winia instructed.

“Here?”
“It seems like there’s something there, but I don’t know if it’s okay to just bang on it.”

It seemed like there was some kind of button. Then I should talk before banging on it.

“Here! Please come this way!!!”

I immediately called out to the group in a loud voice.

“Did you find something!!”
“As a result of Winia using magic, it has been determined that there is some kind of operating device here. But I don’t know what it is, so I can’t press it.”
“Hmm… is that the problem. Whatever it is, it’s something we have to do. Then I’ll have everyone retreat to the next room for now, so try pressing it.”

Immediately, the entire group retreated to the next room, and I quickly and forcefully hit the part that Winia had told me about.

ㅡKugugugugu!

At the same time, the bricks went in, and the surroundings shook.
I also quickly pulled my body into the next room.

“Oh, shit! Isn’t this fucked up!”
“Saint-nim. Rest assured. The vibration has stopped.”
“Katt. It seems okay. Shall we go check?”

And so we cautiously returned.

“Th, the door has opened!”

The right wall of the room was completely open.

ㅡThe secret passage had opened.

No, it was too big to be called a secret passage. It just felt like a room that was originally one had been divided into two.

“Let’s go in quickly!”