Let's go sabotage! (3)

I was well on my way with my destructive activities.

As a result of taking my time to cause mayhem, the place was already in shambles. There were holes in the ceiling and floor giving it the appearance of a ruin. If someone were to tell me to fix this gigantic magical tool in its current state, I'd probably respond with how it's be faster to just start from scratch.

"I guess it's about time to head back… but I need to destroy that black thing first…"

I once again picked up the soldier who was lying in the hallway and held him under my arm like a sack of rice. The guy was fast asleep and still not waking up… He's alive, right?

Entering the room with the black Dungeon Core, I attacked it with an [Elemental Burst]. A crack formed on its surface as if it were a melon.

The thing's pretty sturdy. It didn't break with a single shot. Another [Elemental Burst] it is.

"Whoa!? Something's coming out—"

A jet of black smoke billowed out. Not wanting to breathe in what looks like harmful smoke, I quickly moved away and left the room… I dropped the soldier I was carrying, but I gave up on going back to save him since that would've required me risking being engulfed by the smoke. I was the one who brought him there, but I didn't feel obligated to go that far.

The black smoke remained in the room like it had a will of its own and was absorbed by the fallen soldier. What's happening? The soldier didn't move an inch.

All of the smoke was absorbed by the soldier and the black Dungeon Core that was spewing out the smoke crumbled into small pieces, forming a mound of gravel.

"… Looks like the dungeon's not going to collapse just yet, so that's good."

I didn't know if it the passages were originally sturdy, if they were reinforced later, or even if the power of the dungeon still lingered for a while, but there was no immediate sign of collapse.

I decided to leave the soldier behind. If the dungeon wasn't going to collapse, it should be okay to leave him.

… Most importantly, I didn't want to get close to the one who absorbed that black smoke. I didn't want to get bitten if he turned into a zombie or something while I was carrying him.

"That's far enough, intruder. I won't let you escape."

There was an enemy blocking the path on my way back.

A familiar figure. A woman with green hair in priestess garb.

The Saintess of the Church of Holy Light, Alka.

Without any attendants, she alone stood in my path… right, she was connected to the Church of Holy Light now that I thought about it.

[Oh, that's a familiar face. I wonder why the Saintess purposely came all the way there?]

[Rokuko-sama. Kuromaku should be a religious base of the Church of Holy Light, so it's more like we've purposely come to the Saintess's base, is it not?]

I could hear RokufaRokuko and Tran'sNarikin's conversation. This place is a religious base?

"… Saintess Alka. You're alone?"

"You know of me? If so, it would be convenient if you surrendered without a fuss… Even if you break through here, there are soldiers blocking the way. There's no escape."

Saying that, the Saintess readied daggers in both hands. I thought she used a different weapon before… Well, daggers were probably better for dealing with a human in a passage.

I also began taking out a Magic Sword Blade Golem from my [Storage] and prepared to face her—at that moment, she lunged at me. I grabbed the Blade Golem and pulled it out of the [Storage] to block her attack.

So that's the limit for Narikin's body?

"Now that you've drawn your sword, there's no room for discussion. I'll cut off your limbs and restrain you."

"I'll respectfully decline."

While retreating, I thought about what to do against the Saintess.

"—[Sleep]!"

"That won't work on me!"

I try to put her to sleep, but of course, a Saintess would have resistance skills. Now how should I escape without actually winning… Even if I somehow dealt with the Saintess, there were soldiers waiting, so maybe it'd be better to use my return by death?

I didn't feel like dying on purpose, though.

Oh, right.

I created some distance between us. Then, I pulled out a sleeping soldier from my [Storage] and pointed my sword at his neck.

"Don't move. Are you okay with anything happening to this guy?"

"…! Taking hostages, how cowardly…!"

"Heh heh, say whatever you want. Unlike you, Saintess, this guy won't come back to life will he?"

I'm totally the villain here. Well, this time I'm more of a terrorist causing complete destruction… right?

"However, once he became a soldier… he was be prepared to die…!"

"Seriously? You're quick to abandon him, Saintess."

"You must have already killed others, anyway! Since you've already killed them, there's no reason for me to listen to you!!"

"Ah, just to clarify, I haven't killed anyone, okay? I just put them to sleep."

Well, the safety of one particular soldier was questionable at this point.

"… Say that again."

The Saintess's eyes glowed red. Was it some sort of lie detection magic? I answered her confidently.

"I haven't killed anyone. At least not yet…! If you promise to let me go unharmed, I'll release this soldier without hurting him."

"Gh, but…!"

"I get it, I get it. To prove that I'll release my hostage properly, you can take the soldier lying over there."

Saying so, I cleared the way and urged her to proceed. The Saintess cautiously moved deeper into the area.

Then, as soon as the Saintess went deeper, I quickly used [Create Golem] to make a hole in the ceiling and lifted myself up to the surface with [Stone Pile]. I had already confirmed with the map function that there were no buildings directly above me. As soon as I escaped, I used [Create Golem] to seal the hole.

"Haha! If the passage is blocked by soldiers, I'll just open another way!"

Ah, I left the soldier I took as a hostige lying on the ground as a service. I had a reputation for not lying even when I deceived people, after all. I only needed the researchers to extract information.

Just when I was about to say [Goodbye, Saintess] and was feeling smug…

"Flames, become a bullet and pierce my enemy, [Fireball]!"

"Whoa!"

A ball of fire grazed my face and flew on by.

The Saintess was chasing me from the hole I'd sealed. Tch, sealing it with earth wasn't enough?

"How dare you destroy the workshop?! How did you do it!!"

"Do you really think I'd answer that honestly?"

The Saintess's weapon had changed from daggers into to a spear, probably since we'd moved into a wider space.

As expected of the Saintess, the pride of the Holy Kingdom. It didn't seem she'd let me escape so easily. Guess I'll have to try a bit harder.