The interrogator from the temple… is terrifying.
This person’s eyes are completely blank.
It seems that after the interrogator tortured Berg, he quickly confessed.
I didn’t witness that scene, nor do I want to.
“That person is an assassin named Berg. It seems he belongs to the dark organization ‘Basilisk’s Fang.’”
Lord Dardale is wearing a serious expression. It seems like a very dangerous organization.
“Lord Thomas, the dark organization ‘Basilisk’s Fang’ has many strongholds not only in the Kingdom of Kurudia but also in other countries. Unfortunately, there are many nobles in this country who are utilizing ‘Basilisk’s Fang.'”
This organization is even more dangerous than I imagined!
“Do you know who ordered my assassination?”
“No, unfortunately… It seems that ‘Basilisk’s Fang’ has separate departments for handling jobs and performing assassinations. The request to Berg passes through several individuals within ‘Basilisk’s Fang.’”
Lord Dardale added, “However, it doesn’t seem like Viscount Fiatt was involved.”
“How do you know that?”
“It seems that a large sum of money was paid for this assassination. The Viscount’s family assets have been seized, so it would be difficult for them to move such a large amount of money.”
“…Could it be the Lightstar family?”
“That seems like a reasonable assumption.”
“I was targeted by Lightstar before as well, they really are persistent…”
“We are closing in on the Lightstar family. The investigation will not proceed through the assassin but will focus on the Lightstar family’s surroundings.”
I wonder if the Lightstar family is aware of what the temple and my grandfather are doing.
They might know and still be acting, but they probably don’t. If they knew, they wouldn’t be doing anything that could endanger themselves.
Two months later, I heard that many of the ‘Basilisk’s Fang’ strongholds had been destroyed.
It seems the Kingdom’s knights were responsible, but my grandfather and the temple might have been behind it.
After the interrogation, I decided to test something on Berg.
It was a skill I learned at Level 5: the ability to change the rank of a target.
Berg’s rank was B, so I tried to lower it to the minimum rank of F, but the ability didn’t activate.
When I tried to drop it to C, the ability activated.
“Ugh…”
I felt a large amount of mana drain away.
When I checked, I had lost 15,000 mana points.
I suppose I used that much mana because it would drastically change a person’s life.
When I checked Berg, his rank had indeed dropped to C.
Moreover, his divine blessing turned him from a dark swordsman into just a regular swordsman. The skills ‘Dark Swordsmanship’ and ‘Shadow Movement’ were gone, and only basic swordsmanship remained.
His Life, Stamina, and Mana were also reduced.
It was clear that rank down affected all aspects of a person’s abilities.
Next, I tried lowering his rank to D.
It succeeded, and once again, I lost 15,000 mana points.
It seemed that the mana consumption was the same regardless of how much the rank was reduced: 15,000 points per rank.
The next day, after my mana recovered, I tried lowering it by two ranks, and the consumption was 30,000 points.
Whether I lowered it by two ranks in one go or one at a time, the mana consumption was the same.
Berg’s rank finally dropped to F, and his divine blessing turned him into just a villager. All his skills vanished, and his abilities plummeted.
The rank conversion ability truly is a godlike power…
“Lord Thomas, would you please stop?”
Lord Dardale was asking me to stop my dungeon exploration.
It was probably because he was concerned that another assassin might be sent after me.
“There’s no choice. No matter how dangerous it is, I must do it. I know you’re worried, Lord Dardale, but please understand.”
I had been encouraged by Deuro to explore the Arirakk Dungeon, so not going was not an option.
Besides, I had managed to handle a low-level assassin this time, but if a higher-level one came, that would be truly dangerous.
In order to avoid being harmed, I needed to become stronger myself.
Despite Lord Dardale’s opposition, I headed toward the Arirakk Dungeon.
Captain Susanna and four other temple knights accompanied me. With knights so close, I figured assassins would be less likely to attack.
The monsters in the first floor of the Arirakk Dungeon were Little Armor, moving suits of armor about a meter tall, and Skeletons, made of human bones.
“Ha!”
Ben destroyed a Skeleton with a single strike.
The bones wouldn’t sell, but occasionally small jewels could be found inside skulls.
The chance of finding a jewel was very low.
Unfortunately, the Skeleton Ben defeated didn’t have a jewel.
“I offer a prayer to the Great God of Light, Lightrudo! Light Arrow!”
A Light Arrow pierced a Little Armor, causing holy light to burst from the inside.
This phenomenon doesn’t happen when Light Arrows hit slimes or Little Buffaloes.
It only occurs with undead creatures.
“If we’re careful, the monsters on the first floor seem manageable.”
The Arirakk Dungeon was an old dungeon, and the lower floors had already been explored.
Thus, there was a map, and it was easy to move on to the second floor.
We passed through the second, third, and fourth floors without much trouble.
On the fifth floor, we found the boss room.
When the large metal double doors were open, we could enter.
If they were closed, it meant someone was already fighting inside.
When we arrived at the boss room, the doors opened immediately.
Sometimes, there’s a wait for your turn, but we were lucky.
When I, Ben, Sharmie, and the temple knights entered the boss room, the door closed automatically.
Once the door was fully shut, black mist appeared in the center of the room and began forming something.
The boss room had a 50-meter diameter and a 10-meter high dome at the center.
In the middle, a headless knight on a headless horse appeared.
“That’s a Battle Mail monster. Be careful of the spear it’s holding.”
The horse was about the size of a pony, and the armor wasn’t too large.
However, the spear was sharp, and if we got hit, it would cause a debuff, lowering our abilities temporarily.
Despite the horse having no head, it still charged with a whinny.
Ben blocked the spear head-on with his shield.
“Take this!”
He was pushed back about a meter by the spear, but Ben didn’t get hurt.
“This is nothing!”
Ben swung his Morning Star down, and the horse flew backward.
The boss was indeed strong, but the other monsters were no match for it.
However, the monsters from the fifteenth floor of the Ashwood Dungeon were much faster.
I drew my Thunderwood Bow and fired an arrow.
When it struck the armor’s chest, there was a loud sound and a flash of light.
The bow could infuse arrows with thunder.
While it cost more mana, regular arrows cost 5 points, and thunder-infused arrows cost 15 points, making them still affordable to shoot.
The thunder arrow was incredibly effective, and the Battle Mail was paralyzed.
“Follow up!”
“Roger!”
“I offer a prayer to the Great God of Light, Lightrudo! Light Javelin!”
We focused our attacks on the paralyzed Battle Mail and defeated it quickly.
The result was an overwhelming victory, and the battle was smooth with no close calls.
