"Ah, I’ve said it before, the waters in the Human Kingdom are deep, newbies can’t handle it at all, one careless move and you’re done for... "

Staring at the names dimming one by one on the team list and the frantic complaints of novice players in the chat channel, Dema sighed helplessly.

Well, this time the boss run is for nothing.

However... if we can rescue Old John, maybe we can make up for it.

A rough kick came from behind, and Dema was kicked into a dungeon.

The dungeon was dark and damp, with only dim magical lamps on the walls emitting a faint glow, visibility was poor.

However, being an Elf, Dema naturally had strong night vision, allowing him to see his surroundings clearly.

This seemed to be a rather expansive dungeon, its end not visible, while on both sides in the cages, many prisoners were held.

Vaguely, Dema seemed to hear an indistinct prayer coming from deep within the dungeon, not from one voice but a group of people praying sincerely.

However, when he tried to listen carefully, the sound vanished, as if startled.

Dema felt curious.

He couldn’t help but secretly activate [Eye of Faith] to see what was going on.

But the moment he activated this skill that could view faith, he was instantly stunned.

In the cages on either side of the dungeon, the light of faith emanating from the prisoners was neither the green of non-believers nor the red of other believers, but mostly white...

White... that was the color only Life Church’s novice believers had!

Moreover, if he wasn’t mistaken, there seemed to be quite a few hints of blue mixed in.

Those were devout believers!

Holy cow!

Does this dungeon hold only Life Church believers?

Even considering the recent tensions between the Eternal Church and the Life Church, Dema had been somewhat prepared, but he was still startled by the number of Life believers in the dungeon.

However, there was something very strange.

For Life Church followers fervent enough to be caught and brought here, their level of faith should at least be devout, if not outright zealous believers, right?

Take himself for example, someone like him who would recklessly charge the City Guard on the street—besides players, there were only those devout believers or even zealots.

But here, the majority were novice believers in white.

Isn’t there just a bit too many novice believers here?

Dema looked in surprise at the level of faith within the dungeon, while the guard escorting him pinched his nose and frowned, shouting towards the depths of the dungeon:

"Guards? We’ve caught another Life Church lunatic, hurry and lock him up."

He couldn’t help but cover his nose and mouth, seemingly uncomfortable with the smell in the dungeon.

After a long while, two dungeon guards finally walked over slowly.

However, when Dema saw the two dungeon guards—or more accurately, the bluish-purple light of faith on them—his eyes instantly widened.

What the heck!

What did he see?

Even the dungeon guards were Life believers?

And ones about to become zealots at that?

By the Goddess, is this really Dorolia Castle Prison where political prisoners and heretics are held?

How did even the guards become one of us?

No... wait, they have NPC frames too!

They’ve reached blue-tier rare NPC status!

At that moment, Dema’s expression was quite a sight to behold.

Unlike his bizarre expression, the two dungeon guards seemed exceptionally calm.

But Dema, with his keen observation, noticed that their gaze upon him from time to time was warm.

It was a look meant for one of their own, different from the guard escorting him.

Although deeply concealed, with Dema’s excellent night vision, it was not difficult to catch a trace of emotion in their eyes.

"Thank you both for your hard work."

One of the dungeon guards, obviously the captain, said to the guard escorting Dema.

He spoke gently.

But Dema, who had a premonition, vaguely sensed that beneath the gentleness lay deep estrangement.

The guard waved dismissively, apparently unconcerned with his words.

Or rather, they seemed too reluctant to converse with dungeon guards who almost blended with the filthy and smelly dungeon.

Once Dema was roughly tossed down by them, they left immediately, unwilling to stay a moment longer.

The dungeon returned to darkness.

The two dungeon guards studied Dema, nodded to each other, and surprisingly, reached out to untie him.

Then, under Dema’s astonished gaze, they respectfully said:

"Are you the Elf Chosen One? The mentor is waiting for you inside..."

Dema: ...

Wait, did he really enter a dungeon holding prisoners, and not the Life Church’s underground headquarters?!

He opened his mouth, filled with countless things to say.

He had imagined not finding his target upon entering the dungeon; he imagined being isolated and losing his freedom; he also imagined this rumored impregnable castle prison being so heavily guarded that he couldn’t move freely...

But he didn’t foresee the current situation!

However, vaguely, Dema sensed he might have guessed what was going on in the dungeon.

Elf Chosen One...

Mentor...

Dema couldn’t help but glance towards the depths of the dungeon, a somewhat absurd yet highly likely conclusion forming in his mind.