[Hidden Quest: Punishment]

Grade: S

Restriction: Calamity Church

Reward: Level +2, 2 Skill Points

Penalty on failure: The Calamity Church’s power weakens.

Description: The Ares Church is the greatest church that rejects the Calamity Church. Because of that Ares Church, the Calamity Church has had to live in hiding all this time. But today will be different. Brothers, deliver punishment to the cunning Ares.

It was the quest that had appeared before the war between the Ares Church and the Calamity Church broke out.

This was a reward that could be obtained regardless of whether one was an NPC or a user.

And in the case of the NPCs, they truly could be called nothing but fanatics who worshiped only the Calamity Church and lived solely for it.

Those members of the Calamity Church had gathered under Vera, Gremory’s Proxy.

[Soon, a great purpose shall be fulfilled.]

Gremory’s Proxy Vera possessed a special power, and she made that great purpose known to everyone.

That great purpose.

To be exact, the members of the Calamity Church did not know what it was.

And yet as many as four legion commanders were standing before the Calamity Church and fighting for them.

Listed in order of rank—

2nd, Fuoruo, Legion Commander of Explosions.

7th, Irma, Legion Commander of Illusions.

11th, Ereon, Legion Commander of Resistance.

16th, Gediya, Legion Commander of Tamers.

Every single one of them wielded power on the level of legend.

Because they served as the core of the army, the members of the Calamity Church did not even know precisely what that great purpose was, yet they were drawing immense strength from it and felt no fear.

In fact, the power of those four legion commanders was strong enough that there was no need for them to feel fear.

When Fuoruo, Legion Commander of Explosions, pointed at the holy knights with a finger, a fan-shaped explosion erupted among them.

KRAAAAAANG—!

Dozens of holy knights were erased without a trace in an instant.

And the power of the Legion Commander of Illusions was bizarre.

When the old man waved his staff, holy knights stabbed their comrades in the back.

“Cough...... Ro, Rolls...... why are you......?”

That was not all.

The demonic beasts that Gediya, Legion Commander of Tamers, had called forth and kept crouching in wait.

They were crawling out of dungeons, or answering his summons from the places they had built up for themselves.

“They’re werewolves!”

“How many are there?”

“They look like there are thousands of them!”

“GRRRRRRRR!”

“KRAHAAAAGH!”

“U-uaaagh!”

Demonic beasts and Calamity Church members appearing without end.

And the biggest problem among them came from Ereon, the 11th Legion Commander.

The reason the Calamity Church had not been able to act recklessly against the Ares Church was because of holy power.

In terms of basic strength, the Calamity Church was overwhelmingly superior, but in front of the Ares Church they would often weaken.

At minimum by 20%, at maximum by 50%.

However, the trait of Ereon, Legion Commander of Resistance, made it possible to ignore that.

[Ereon’s army is not weakened by holy power and is not vulnerable to holy power!]

[Ereon’s army will advance endlessly unless a holy power that surpasses Ereon exists.]

Ereon was a legend.

At present, there was nothing in the Ares Church capable of opposing that.

And it was also due to the cleverness of Vera, Gremory’s Proxy.

Under normal circumstances, the Calamity Church could never even dream of invading the Ares Church.

Even now, it was only possible because Ereon was here, and the other thing that had made it possible was Baal’s Original Sin.

From the very beginning, legion commanders could not come out of dungeons.

But she had prepared for a long time in order to become the first servant of Gremory.

Although Asura Kabel would not have taken the position even if she had been offered the 1st Legion Commander seat, that was only because Kabel had been given the chance to advance into Asura.

This was still a time when not even ten users had yet become legends.

The 1st Legion Commander was clearly an outstanding legend as well, and there were as many as twenty-one legions under that command.

She was pouring everything she had into becoming a new legend—the Demon Legion Commander.

“Advance. Punish the filthy Ares Church. You who were oppressed, you who were scorned! Do not forget that when this land becomes darkness, darkness itself becomes justice.”

And she was cunning as well.

“You who witness our greatness, you evil ones who have lived while hiding your true nature—do not forget that in this land, everything is permitted!”

In this land.

The meaning of those words.

At present, every broadcasting station in the world was airing this live.

It was a message directed at them.

“I know your true nature. Steal and plunder. Trample others and climb above them. We will grant you that chance. When this land becomes despair, all of it shall be permitted!”

She was making use of the nature harbored in human beings.

Some of those watching the broadcast—

“Plunder is allowed?”

“You can kill however you want?”

“Kh, you can do anything?”

They were marveling at what the world would become if the Calamity Church came to rule this land.

Of course, the Ares Church was not about to sit back and watch that happen.

“That is nonsense. Only where there is law can there be a beautiful world, and only where there is order can people walk a path of peace. If every single day becomes a repetition of plunder and theft, it will instead turn them into madmen!”

Those were the words of Saintess Aria.

And this too struck a chord with many of those watching the screen.

“If everything were chaos, would we still take joy in going on a walk after work?”

“Would we still be able to feel the joy of celebrating an artifact drop?”

“They say once you become addicted to adrenaline, you keep chasing even bigger thrills......”

For now, people still leaned more toward good.

As had been mentioned, it was only for now.

Even so, it doesn’t matter. Those who stand for good only watch. Those who stand for evil are the ones who act.

The Ares Church had a force of 180,000, while the Calamity Church had 120,000.

But Vera was certain that the more they kept pressing forward, the more people there would be to help the Calamity Church.

Unfortunately, most of the high rankers won’t participate.

Vera knew those clever bastards well.

They would pretend to stand on the side of good and remain bystanders.

Unlike the good who merely watched, more and more users were joining the side of the Calamity Church.

That too was because of the legion commanders.

Because they were there, the users siding with the Calamity Church were entering the war convinced of victory.

And the Ares Church also had such beings.

...But they will not appear.

The ones she was worried about.

The ones still hidden behind a veil.

The Lamps.

The Lamps were beings who could inspire certainty of victory, and because of that, they might gather people together.

But Vera was certain the Lamps would not appear.

They were gathered from the start for the sake of sealing Gremory.

The Lamps were a collective of around thirty unofficial rankers.

This hypothesis might have sounded absurd, but it was the most credible one.

The experts had also been saying that it would take at least around thirty people to seal a great archdemon, which only made it more certain.

They would not want to reveal their identities.

Because of that, Vera was certain the Lamps would not be lit.

And then four days passed.

It was when the Ares Church was beginning to be pushed back in earnest.

Vera touched the Dagger of the Evil God inside her robe.

If she stabbed the Pope and offered him as a sacrifice, Gremory would awaken.

She believed without a shred of doubt that within the next two weeks, that great event would take place.

But there was one thing she did not know.

*****

Atlas.

“......”

There was one Lamp—the smallest, and still the smallest.

A being too insufficient to light the flame yet, so no one had ignited it.

Even if it were lit, its wick was so small that it would be pathetically weak.

“Grrrr......”

“Lucky Lump?”

“What’s wrong with Lucky Lump?”

That tiny Lamp sensed some kind of danger, bared its rice-grain-sized teeth, and stared toward the place where Vera was.

And Lucky Lump knew.

Once that being awakened, the first target it would strike would be Atlas.

That day, all of this would vanish into history.

Lucky Lump ran.

“Kkieeeee—”

Before anyone knew it, Kkoko, who had returned, KyooKyoo, and Lucky Lump had all gathered in one place.

They huddled together in a corner, lost in thought over a great undertaking.

Of course—

“...What are those three doing?”

“Seriously. Them all huddled together is way too cute.”

WHIP—!

“Grrrr......”

“Kkieeeee—”

“Kkyu!”

We’re serious!

They each bared their teeth.

“...They’re even cuter when they’re mad.”

“No way......”

“I want to smother them with kisses......”

In the end, they were simply far too cute-looking!

So they drooped in disappointment.

“Kkyu......”

KyooKyoo could use Dragon Fear, but the number of times it could do so was limited, and at present it could only use 1st-class magic.

And Lucky Lump had no power to hurt someone or bite down hard on them.

“Kkie?”

Kkoko tilted its head with a bird-brained look that seemed to say, What were we just talking about again......?

“......”

“......”

The two beings looked at Kkoko for a moment.

Then the second one, KyooKyoo, smacked it on the head with a wing, and Kkoko remembered.

As expected, sometimes the power of the second older brother was necessary.

“Kkie!”

Kkoko became solemn again.

Anyway, faced with this deranged combination, Lucky Lump let out a deep sigh.

Then Lucky Lump looked at KyooKyoo, who had gone all droopy and dejected.

And then it looked at Kkoko, the bird that could go anywhere, burning with motivation after getting scolded by its second older brother.

“Maaang...?”

And then it understood.

KyooKyoo, born as the child of a true dragon and born with an affinity for evil, had been purified by Lucky Lump and had become a dependable second older brother.

The legendary Myriad Mile Bird that lived on the Island of Stories and could go anywhere had become a good younger brother who listened well.

From the very beginning, they had not been “together,” and Lucky Lump had originally been alone.

But Lucky Lump had brought those two together.

And when it had kidnapped Kkoko, Hyunsoo had in the end been truly happy about it.

“MAAANG!”

Lucky Lump first made them face the fact that they had no power.

“MANG MANG!”

But even if they were not strong, it made them realize that they had something special.

“Kkyu?”

“Kkoko?”

What was it?

They had Kkoko, who possessed the special power to fly anywhere.

“MAAANG!”

And they had KyooKyoo, who guided the new younger brother properly.

“MANG MANG MANG!”

And they had Lucky Lump itself, which possessed the ability to draw someone in.

“Kkyuu......?”

“Kkoko?”

“MAAANG......!”

That was right.

The thought currently filling Lucky Lump’s mind, that weak little Lamp—

was something tremendous.

“MAAANG!”

Let’s go find allies who will help us!

“Kkyuu!”

“Kkoko!”

The three of them thought it was a good idea.

Even if they were weak, they could just get help from other beings with outstanding power!

And before that greatness began—

“Mang!”

Lucky Lump said they should get permission first.

The three beings started moving.

Scurry scurry scurry—

They were so cute, it was like those Pocket Monsters that used to be popular long ago had come to life.

At present, Hyunsoo was fast asleep in blissful slumber, so the one they went to find

was Kabel.

“Mang mang!”

Kabel was taken aback by Lucky Lump’s one-sided notice that they would not be able to go on walks together for a while.

And then the three beings said—

“Mang!”

“Kkyu!”

“Kko!”

Even if we can’t play with you for a while, don’t be too upset!

What in the world......?

Just going by the words alone, it almost sounded like Kabel was not the one taking them for walks, but rather they were the ones taking Kabel for walks!

KyooKyoo was even patting his leg as if to say, You’ll be okay while we’re gone, right?

“......?”

Anyway, Kabel focused on what they were trying to say.

After listening to them, Kabel lowered himself to one knee and asked,

“It may be more than you three can handle, and it may be dangerous. Even so, you still want to go?”

“Mang!”

“Kkyu!”

“Kko!”

It’s something we have to do, so we’re going!

They’ve really grown up......

Kabel felt an indescribably swelling emotion.

It was as if he were a parent who had raised children.

He was a thorough man.

“Take this with you.”

He fastened a collar around Lucky Lump’s neck that read Beware of Dog.

“If danger comes, this collar will protect you.”

And he put a pair of pet goggles on each of the three, something he had bought for them beforehand.

Once the three of them were wearing them all, they looked like pets riding on an airplane.

With even goggles on, they looked solemn.

“Mang!”

“Kkyu!”

Lucky Lump and KyooKyoo climbed onto Kkoko’s back and began to rise into the air.

And soon—

FWOOOOSHHH—

They turned into fire and vanished.

Only after they had disappeared did Kabel feel a chill run down ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ his spine.

“...Lucky Lump is going to gather allies.”

He realized that the idea itself was something far more tremendous than it sounded.

The great opening act of Lucky Lump Assemble was beginning.