"Is there a hidden mechanism here?"
I spent half an hour searching for it while keeping an eye out for other items I could take, but found nothing.
Shit, I should have at least asked War if he could transport me back to the surface. Regret washed over me as if I had forgotten the terrifying experience that had unfolded just thirty minutes ago.
Almost an hour had already passed, and yet I was still clueless about how to get out.
When the game transported me here, I had settled on the idea that I was being put in a testing ground, much like the starter village but with a higher difficulty and realism. This idea was further solidified after I received the starter pack box as my reward for completing the dungeon.
So it came as a surprise to find out that there was no exit present after killing the dungeon boss.
Whoever was behind this sure was feeling generous.
In a last-ditch attempt, I decided to check my inventory, hoping to find something useful. And lo and behold, my teleportation scroll was no longer grayed out.
How did I not think of this sooner?
If we still followed the game's rules, players weren't able to utilize teleportation spells once inside a dungeon, which might explain why I couldn't access it earlier. Since everything had become realistic, I guess the premise now was that you had to kill the dungeon boss first.
That was highly possible.
Anyway, I no longer wanted to waste even a minute of my time in this dimly lit cavern.
I spent a few moments figuring out how to use the damn scroll before I finally activated it with a thought.
Two minutes after Linus disappeared using the teleportation scroll, a figure suddenly materialized in the corner of the room.
Looking at the corpse of the young dragon, their arrival was too late.
They began to check the area and were bewildered to find out that other than the dragon's heart, everything was still intact.
No, if the rumored "Player" item was really here, that would be a big loss to them. That might explain why the perpetrator never bothered to take anything. This sheer evidence seemed to prove that those who came before them had a singular objective.
The figure could only hope that was not the case.
Upon entering the lair of the dragon and realizing they could still proceed with teleportation, the unknown individual could already infer the outcome.
Legendary beings like dragons were naturally born with magic. They breathed mana like their own and had numerous abilities, like laying down an enchantment that canceled even the higher forms of teleportation spells within their territory. That's one of the reasons why their lairs were harder to invade.
Delving deeper, the figure witnessed the aftermath of what seemed to be a bloody carnage. They had all died, either getting cut in half or turning into a meat paste.
Traces of malevolent energy could also be found, which alarmed the figure.
After carefully inspecting and still finding no clue about the identity of the perpetrators, they decided to report back the results of the investigation.
How the perpetrators managed to pinpoint the location of the rumor was another matter to discuss with the higher-ups.
In the middle of the bustling city of El-Rial, a figure suddenly emerged, revealing a young man, about 20 or so years old, in a bloody mess. His once symbolic white armor and coat, draped with a blue motif that used to be majestic, were now sullied with dried-up blood. It was strikingly in contrast with his clean and attractive face that could certainly capture the attention of the capital's ladies.
Yet his expression appeared distant and lost. One could not help but speculate what had happened to the young man.
A popular opinion among the crowd was that his group or companions had been completely annihilated and he had managed to escape thanks to whatever artifacts he had.
One spectator came close and offered his hand out of concern.
"Sir, can you get up? I can take you to the Temple of Kynes if you want." It was one of the guards currently patrolling the area.
The young man's gaze landed on the hand, and he began to open his mouth to speak.
"I'm fine." But after a few seconds, he spoke again.
"Please take me there. Thank you."
His tone remained detached from reality as he followed the guard.
At this point, many of the spectators began to take pity on the state of the youth. Aside from the use of teleportation, scenes like this were not uncommon, especially if your line of work involved delving into dangerous situations.
Take those adventurers, for example. They made a living by taking on jobs posted in their respective guilds, and depending on the difficulty of the situation, they wouldn't even know whether they would live or die the next day.
Along the way, the guard began to carefully question him as part of his duty to probe unidentified individuals who used teleportation inside the city.
"Are you an adventurer?" It so happened that the location where he teleported was in close proximity to the Adventurers Guild, though this could be a mere coincidence.
The young man took a moment before nodding his head.
"Can you show me your identity plate?"
".... Lost."
This time the tone of the guard started to get serious.
"Is there any other way you can prove your identity to me?"
After a brief hesitation, the young man retrieved a token adorned with intricate patterns.
At a glance, the guard recognized a portion of the design as a crest associated with divines. However, he lacked the knowledge to determine which specific god or goddess it represented, as there were numerous deities.
Individuals in possession of such tokens were typically priests or paladins.
Observing the young man's get-up, he seemed to fit the profile, yet his youthful appearance contradicted the image of a seasoned paladin. Could he be a knight-initiate, then? The guard could only look at him in respect and envy.
My initial shock at the change in my surroundings gradually subsided.
While I was looking at the information regarding the scroll I had just used, a hand suddenly reached out to me. I appraised the identity of the person and found out it was a guard asking whether I needed help.
Were the people here genuinely kind, or did I really look like crap right then? I hadn't bothered to maintain my appearance in a place like a dungeon, especially after experiencing a near life-and-death situation.
I took his offer since there was something I needed to confirm about the deities of this world, and a temple was a good place to gather information.
Along the way, I earned several strange gazes from the onlookers.
One old man, in particular, glanced at me before shaking his head with an expression of pity.
"..."
What the hell was that?
I previously thought of getting information from the guard, but it turned into me getting my ass interrogated instead.
However, I did manage to glean something from our interaction. My previous patron goddess, Lucia, did not seem to exist among the list of deities, at least as far as he could recall.
This reminded me of what the god I had encountered had said.
"THΔT PΦΦR F∃LL⊗W IS DΣAD."
To be honest, that didn't concern me as much as I was concerned about the new god I made a pact with.
I needed to know whom I was dealing with.
Although we had arrived at the entrance of the temple, I couldn't resist asking the guard if he had any knowledge of a deity named Amon. Before he could respond, an unexpected reply came from ahead.
"Amon is one of the evil gods, the daedric god of wrath and the fallen. He preys on victims using lies and deceit."
Emerging from the shadows of the entrance was a beautiful woman garbed in a Roman stola garment.
"Gentleman, you look like you have come out from a horrific battle. What kind of assistance do you require?"
As if by reflex, I immediately used the appraisal skill on her.
〈 Yllana Mildred: Level 35
Occupation: Priestess of the goddess Kynes〉
I was about to tell her about my circumstances, but I quickly shut my mouth after discovering another series of words appearing just below the appraisal result.
〈She will not hesitate to kill anyone related to evil deities〉
Holy shit, Sherlock, that was a close call!
