I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Stella couldn’t believe what had just happened.

At first, she was sure she could win easily. She had heard of the Silver Dawn Knights and knew their skills, but since he was a new knight, she thought he wouldn’t be very strong.

She believed the reason he requested a spar was due to his inflated confidence as a newly recruited knight, overestimating his own abilities.

So, after the spar, she planned to give him some light advice, telling him not to be too arrogant or reckless and to work harder after experiencing an overwhelming defeat and becoming dejected.

But now, it was Stella herself who was dejected.

None of Stella’s attacks landed. Wherever she aimed, however she swung, no matter how hard she struck, the man effortlessly countered as if he had known what Stella was going to do.

Later, she even channeled divine power and swung her iron mace with all her might, but even those attacks were all deflected by an ordinary sword that didn’t look special at all.

Unlike Stella, the man didn’t even seem to be using his full strength. There was no sign of his breathing getting heavier. He only frowned slightly every time he blocked an attack.

One hit. Just one hit would have broken the Moon’s Blessing surrounding her body and ended the spar. It could have been done with a glancing blow, without even needing a direct hit.

However, until the very moment the Moon’s Blessing ran out of its duration, Stella couldn’t land a single attack.

It was the first time. The first time she had been defeated so thoroughly, as if being toyed with. The first time she felt such an insurmountable gap between herself and a man.

This whole situation.

‘Was the shock too much?’

I looked at Stella, who was sprawled on the floor with her mouth agape and a blank expression, and rubbed my wrist.

My right arm was still tingling. Being able to withstand the impact didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Every time I countered her iron mace, my wrist buzzed as if it was being electrocuted.

It would be the perfect revenge to provoke her here by saying it was nothing, but I didn’t want to stir up trouble. Who knows how Stella would react?

But half of what I said was true. In vanilla mode, maybe, but in Darkest Light mode, bosses wielding huge weapons classified as Great Weapons were relatively easy.

Whether grazed by a lightly swung dagger or directly hit by a greatsword swung with full force, it’s all equally one hit. In that case, bosses with many small attacks are bound to be more challenging.

Bosses with ranged attacks or those with relentless combo patterns were the top priority for caution. The former could catch you off guard, and with the latter, a single mistake could mean death.

The best example was Rize.

“So, Inquisitor-nim.”

“…”

Her eyes, staring blankly at me, shifted slightly to the side. No answer, but it meant she was at least listening to me.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me? Like something you want to tell me, or maybe you suddenly want to grant me access somewhere.”

“…?”

A faint light returned to her eyes. But the emotion in her green eyes was one of questioning. It was a sign that she didn’t understand what I was talking about.

Now it was my turn to be flustered.

If you win the spar, the Inquisitor laughs heartily, praises the player’s skill, and reveals the location of a rune dungeon. Saying that with that level of skill, you might be able to clear it.

It was in that very dungeon that you could obtain the rune essential for accessing the final boss fight of the DLC.

“I don’t… don’t, know, what, you, mean.”

Stella stammered. I frowned slightly. This was a bit problematic. I knew the approximate location of the rune dungeon, but I needed the Inquisitor’s permission to enter.

Since it was a dungeon containing a rune, it was a place directly managed by the Holy Kingdom, so even if I knew the location, I couldn’t just barge in.

‘Should I just be blunt?’

The thought of throwing a straight ball, asking if she could grant me access to the rune dungeon, crossed my mind. The story was already twisted beyond recognition, so it wouldn’t matter if I got an answer that way, would it?

It seemed that her reaction after the spar had a significant impact. In the game, she would praise the player’s skill and laugh it off, but now she had a completely dumbfounded expression.

“Is there something you need?”

As I was pondering how to get Stella to grant me access to the rune dungeon, Selene swiftly approached me.

As usual, her face was expressionless and cold, but I could glimpse a hint of surprise directed at me.

Something I need. Of course, there was. I needed to quickly obtain the rune for entering the boss room in the rune dungeon and move on to the next part of the story. But I wasn’t sure if I could tell Selene about it.

“If it’s something you can’t say in such an open space, I understand.”

Perhaps misinterpreting my silence, Selene glanced at the battle nuns surrounding us and nodded. It wasn’t like I couldn’t speak because of those nuns.

“Follow me.”

“Ah!”

Selene grabbed my wrist and pulled me along. Seeing that, Stella let out an “Ah!” and reached out as if to grab us, but then her arm dropped limply.

Selene, holding my wrist, strode somewhere. I obediently followed behind her. I figured there wouldn’t be any harm in following her for now.

“This is the place.”

Selene only released my wrist after entering an empty cathedral far from the training grounds. It was a cathedral made of grayish marble and silver, giving off a very dark impression overall.

I could roughly guess where this was. With the grayish-white light filtering through the stained glass and the ceiling adorned with a painting that seemed to depict the moon, it was impossible not to recognize it.

It was definitely a chapel dedicated to the Moon Pope.

“It seems you had something to say to the Inquisitor. What is your request? If it’s not related to the Sun, I can do anything the Inquisitor can.”

Her purple eyes stared intently at me. It was an action born out of misunderstanding, but at this point, it was a win-win situation for me. If it worked out by telling Selene, great, and even if it failed, I wouldn’t lose anything.

Having finished my calculations, I opened my mouth.

“Can you grant me access to the rune dungeon nearby?”

“If you’re referring to the rune dungeon nearby… are you talking about the ‘Abyss’?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…I trust you understand what it means to request access to a rune dungeon.”

I nodded. To enter a rune dungeon also meant to claim and absorb the rune within it.

Although it was mostly a formality since the discoverers usually took it for themselves, discovered rune dungeons were treated as national property.

Because who knows what kind of useful effects the rune might have. For example, if it was a simple and effective rune like magic power amplification, all mages would be scrambling for it.

But I was a citizen of the Empire, not the Holy Kingdom. In other words, it was like saying a person from another country was going to take the nation’s property.

“I know. But I don’t think it’ll be a problem. It’s a place the Holy Kingdom has abandoned anyway after failing to conquer it, right?”

Selene flinched as if struck by a critical hit.

The reason why the rune was still intact inside the dungeon despite being discovered a long time ago was that the Holy Kingdom had failed to conquer the dungeon several times.

The reason why the Inquisitor readily granted access was also because she wanted to see if I, with the skill to defeat her, could challenge it. Of course, she did warn me that it was a dangerous place.

So, when the player clears the rune dungeon and returns, she’s incredibly surprised.

“…”

Selene lowered her head and fell into deep thought. I could hear her muttering something. She seemed so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize her thoughts were leaking out.

Of course, I couldn’t understand most of it. The few words I managed to catch were phrases I couldn’t interpret on their own.

“Very well, honored guest.”

After a long while, permission was finally granted. Although Selene said I could go to the rune dungeon, she seemed uneasy and stressed it several times.

“Under normal circumstances, this would never be permitted, but I will trust in the skill you displayed by thoroughly overwhelming the Inquisitor in the spar.”

Strength filled her purple eyes.

“But keep in mind. That place is no different from an abyss of unknown depths. Once you descend into a place where the light of the outside world cannot reach, there’s no telling what might happen. Moreover, the Holy Kingdom cannot fully protect you down there, even if it’s me. Do you understand?”

“Of course. So you don’t have to worry.”

“You should worry. It’s a dungeon that we couldn’t reach the end of even after descending for twelve hours straight. How can I not worry?”

I smiled inwardly as I looked at Selene’s hardened expression. Couldn’t reach the end even after 12 hours? Of course, that would be the case if you went down one floor at a time along the conventional path.

It would take less than 20 minutes using a different method.