Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. - Chapter 80

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 80 — Sanctuary of Rest: Decisive Moment
The surface of the Level 8 Gigantic Destruction Golem was composed of a substance that existed nowhere in the present, only in Golemopia’s future.
Ultimate Steel, they called it.
Due to its overwhelming defensive power and ability to block mystical interference, it could not be pierced by ordinary means.
I couldn’t pull off the same feat I’d managed in the Sin Library, where I’d supercharged my entire body with Lightning Transformation and torn through the Book Knight’s armor.
Roooaaar—!
The colossal golem’s jaws yawned open, and a beam of Transcendence – Magical Beam so thick it defied comprehension shot forth, striking the holy barrier that encircled the temple.
The pristine white curtain that had endured every assault without so much as a tremor was now shaking precariously.
“Just one more attack should do it!”
The duke-class commander golem flew near the massive construct I was perched upon.
“That annoying shield barrier’s been gone for ages, so we just need to shatter this protective veil!”
Seraphina must have exhausted nearly all her Holy Power.
The sacred artifact Tireon, which had steadfastly protected the temple for the past two days, had lost its power mere minutes ago.
If I didn’t deal with this golem quickly, everyone inside the temple would die.
“Don’t go.”
I deliberately ignored Yunji’s whisper, clinging to my body as it was, and dropped downward.
Falling.
Carefully adjusting my position, I managed to land near the lower jaw of the massive golem where it jutted out slightly.
“…Ugh.”
I barely squeezed my way inside its mouth.
This was the only entrance to penetrate into the body of the Gigantic Destruction Golem.
There was no exit.
Once this was over, there wouldn’t be enough strength left in me to crawl back out anyway.
“What?! What is that sentient being?!”
As I crawled forward with all the haste of a snail, the lively-tongued duke golem cried out in alarm.
“Don’t let it enter!”
“?? Unable to comprehend.”
Fortunately, the Gigantic Destruction Golem still hadn’t noticed my presence.
Thank goodness for being merely a Level 4 Socialite.
“If you don’t understand, just fire another Transcendence – Magical Beam!”
“Charging required.”
“…This is so frustrating!”
The moment the commander golem bristled and dove toward me.
Crash—!
A blade wrapped in Holy Power Vortex erupted from the ground, grazing its wings as it passed.
“Leave Kar alone, you cursed duke!”
It was Valentin.
With the aid of the Heresy Crusher, I peered down into the throat.
A long, vertical tunnel carved not for the consumption of food, but inscribed with countless magical circles for activating various Secret Arts.
Scorching vapor rose from below, enveloping my entire body as if smoking it into submission.
“So this is how ingredients feel, is it?”
“You really do love cooking that much.”
Strange voices reached my ear. I glanced sideways.
Two unfamiliar-looking children lay sprawled beside me on my right, perfectly parallel.
Who are you people.
“You don’t know who we are?”
“That’s sad, Kar.”
Not interested.
These were hallucinations and phantom voices, their effect on my mind doubled by the penalty of the Fragment of the Giant.
As they continued to mutter something incomprehensible, I ignored them and hurled my body downward.
Scorching energy flooded my entire frame, and crushing pressure constricted my mind.
Smash!
I landed on something.
Across my waist, of all places.
Sensation drained from my lower body, but what did it matter.
I’d swallowed Black Lightning beforehand for exactly this reason.
Crackle.
Something transmitted through the tattoo on my collarbone—some kind of intent.
I couldn’t decipher its meaning.
I could tell it was coming from a complete stranger… but after that, nothing made sense.
Even now, my awareness of where I am and who I am grows hazy once more, bit by bit.
“Heh… heh.”
And yet I laugh.
For reasons I cannot name, the feeling is good.
A surge of exhilaration and joy rising from deep within my chest.
– Caw!
As I lie sprawled across some hard, unidentifiable surface, chuckling softly, a blind raven suddenly darts out and pecks at my forehead with its beak.
Then it lunges for my eyes, my heart, my liver, tears through my belly—
Or does it.
Perhaps it merely taps my head lightly.
– Caw!
Presently, the handsome raven scratches at the hard ground beneath me, then presses its beak to my ear and shrieks loudly.
– Caaaaw!
“…I understand. Enough.”
The noise is deafening. My left ear is barely registering anything.
Or was it my right.
Did I never have a left one to begin with.
In any case, what I need to do is beginning to surface in my mind.
“Jinsil…”
– Caw?
“Try to break it.”
I tap the ground weakly, again and again.
“This is a Mana Core.”
Every other part of my body is coursing with Lightning Transformation and can be passed through, but pure mana packed within a Mana Core cannot be pierced.
– Peck!
The blind raven immediately strikes at it with all the force its beak can muster.
It looks futile.
I knew it would be.
Whiiiine.
As Jinsil struggles, a searing heat swells from all around, accompanied by a blue glow.
Another Transcendence – Magical Beam.
I cannot afford to delay any longer.
I do what I had already resolved to do.
Crackle-snap!
With my right hand now transformed into a sharp lightning formation, I sever my left arm below the elbow.
Black lightning spills from the wound like blood, crackling and pouring down.
– …Caw?
“Don’t just sit there—gather up the Spark of Glory for me.”
Then I reach into the interdimensional space within my shadow and swallow a very small stone.
The information keeper’s eye is outside, so I cannot read the text, but my body’s nature must have shifted to stone.
From this moment on, I am a walking temporary altar.
“Lidnishi, I trust you know how deeply I revere you without my needing to voice it?”
Chanting in measured tones, I pull out two candles and light them on either side of me.
“I believe with faith exceeding that of any ordinary Socialite by more than a hundredfold. I hold without doubt that you shall ever be my guide upon the path toward truth.”
Except for one particularly demanding evil god, the content of prayers matters little to the others.
What truly matters is the living sacrifice itself.
If the offering tastes good, formality and proper ritual can be overlooked.
And.
The offering that evil gods find most delicious is the Socialite who performs the ritual himself.
“Here I offer you a portion of my frail form.”
The final secret technique of the Socialite.
Self-Sacrifice Ritual.
The offering I dedicate in perpetuity is my left arm.
“In exchange, I beseech you to dispose of this Mana Core in the wisest manner possible.”
You will do well.
Once, you glimpsed truth itself and knew all the knowledge of the world.
“Wisest of the wise…”
Now, what words should I be speaking.
For a moment the words escape me, and I hesitate before finally squeezing out the phrase with effort.
“Please, I pray you find me delicious.”
—Screeeech!
The blind raven shrieked and swiftly devoured its severed left arm scattered across the ground.
Whoooom!
All the while, blue light flooded the space around me in threatening flashes, and heat rose through my entire body as though boiling me alive.
Whether it did or didn’t matter little.
I’d done all I could, so I simply lay flat on my back.
“Was all this really necessary?”
“Tell me about it. Seems like a pretty stupid call, doesn’t it, Kar?”
The unfamiliar man and woman I’d glimpsed earlier had somehow sprawled out beside me and struck up conversation.
“Never mind these strangers. Bring me Yunji instead, illusion.”
But the poor child did not appear.
A pity.
To see her again, I’d have to wait for a nightmare or until my mental energy depleted once more.
I closed both eyes and simply savored the sensation of heat building throughout my body.
Crackle, crackling hiss.
Then the Mana Core beneath my back began to shatter.
Almost simultaneously, the blue light and heat vanished in an instant, and the tremor that had been transmitted steadily ceased.
The Level 8 Gigantic Destruction Golem must have stopped moving.
Before I could even savor the sense of accomplishment, consciousness began to sink below the surface of sleep.
【…You truly commit the most absurd acts.】
Just as my mind was growing almost entirely hazy, the voice of the Wise One echoed faintly from some distant place before cutting off.
My already weakened consciousness couldn’t withstand the presence of that great divine being, so they withdrew hastily.
A malicious god would have boldly said everything they had to say at a time like this, regardless of whether a mere socialite lived or died.
……
With these thoughts, consciousness threatened to evaporate.
Was this the end?
Dying at C-rank was a bitter shame, but since these golems hailed from A-rank Golemopia, they weren’t the worst grave to find oneself in.
Just as I was about to release the spirit I’d barely held onto, along with a faint sense of satisfaction.
Whissh.
Suddenly.
A pure white radiance unfurled from my body.
Not just one kind.
A white approaching gray and a completely pure white.
The power of a divine being, identical yet distinct, flowed into me like groundwater welling up from below.
—Caw, caw!
The blind raven, trembling in distress, withdrew into its eye socket.
《I sense the presence of a hypocritical goddess emanating from you! Two of them, no less!》
The goddess of clear wisdom and steadfast protection.
The guardian of the fragile flame.
Artein had descended upon me.
Both the goddess of the present and her manifestation in the past within the Dungeon.
《Your life force and mental power are surging at once. And the dangerous accumulation of dark solitude within you fades away! It galls me to say it, but this time you’ve been of great help!》
“…Artein, you came a little late. Both of you.”
Still, I felt somewhat satisfied.
My bold wager, staking my life on Artein’s aid reaching me, had succeeded.
‘So this works…’
In the game, such a thing would have been impossible, so I truly believed the odds of death were far greater. Yet in the end, things unfolded favorably.
Humans, after all, must live swayed by emotion.
Had I adhered only to rational judgment, I would never have reached such an ideal conclusion.
Only then did I relax my body fully and speak in a soft whisper.
“Artein, if perhaps I’ve earned your favor, might I ask for a subscription and a like?”
Two nearly identical wills rode upon the relentless white radiance pouring down.
‘What manner of words are these?’
‘What did you just…?’
“I meant to ask that you take continuous interest and perhaps offer some sponsorship now and then.”
Divine Grace requires only ample Faith to bestow, after all, regardless of whether the recipient is one’s own believer.
Since I was already making a conscientious request, I added one more matter to my plea.
“Forgive the imposition, but might you grant me one favor?”
The moment I’d squeezed out those final words, slumber rushed in.
This time I felt certain it wouldn’t lead to death, so at last I closed my eyes at peace.
After all, C-rank is hardly a fitting tomb for me.
***
Crunch.
Having barely felled the third massive golem, Seraphina twisted her body and forced strength into her legs to rise.
There was no Holy Power left in her now.
She could still contend with mob monsters, but if higher-level golems kept coming, she wouldn’t be able to hold the line.
‘What of the other golems?’
Turning her head to survey the battlefield, she saw that the golem under the Purification Torch commander’s watch had just fallen.
And what of the explorers’ golem?
– Shoot already!
Following the orders of a flustered beetle-form golem, they were preparing to fire forth a Secret Art developed in some distant future.
‘…Did they fail?’
The golden-haired half-elf harpist and the explorers—those who had fought alongside her even while staking their lives in a world that didn’t truly exist.
The thought that they had fallen into eternal sleep made her heart ache.
What tormented her more was the fact that she no longer had the strength to stop that golem’s attack.
Seraphina clenched her lips and reached for the holy relic Clerisium to throw it, grasping at any means of resistance.
Crack-crack-crack.
The moment she picked up a buckler that had been rolling nearby, the massive golem’s entire frame began to shudder violently.
Convulsing from head to foot, it then ground completely to a halt.
– …What just happened?!
Seraphina’s eyes widened as she watched the bewildered beetle-form golem dart about near the stationary colossus.
They had succeeded.
Explorers far below Level 8.
What astonished her more was that from within the golem, she sensed the untainted presence of one who shelters all people.
In fact, two of them.
– Ha! I admit you’ve put up unexpected resistance, but this isn’t over yet!
The commander golem flew toward the rear of the battlefield.
Seraphina’s expression hardened instantly as she turned her gaze.
From the distant sky, nine floating-type golems—each larger than the massive golem she’d only just managed to topple—were drifting serenely toward them.
– Nine Level 9 Flying War Golems! You won’t be able to hold out any longer!
“…….”
That was true.
Even at full strength, she couldn’t have withstood such power.
Yet she had no intention of surrendering.
The surviving few holy knights, sharing the same resolve, began to move their bodies toward the approaching golems with stubborn determination.
Seraphina, too, joined their ranks, holding spear and buckler in both hands as she advanced.
– You creatures really are pathetic! Now just stop and….
Boom—!
– …Huh?
The tittering commander golem fell silent, dumbly staring toward the direction from which the aircraft had been approaching.
One of the nine flying-form golems had plummeted to the ground and was engulfed in flames.
– What, what in the—screeeech!
The stammering commander golem let out a shriek.
– Snaaaarl!
A colossal wyvern that had swooped in at tremendous speed devoured the beetle golem and spat it out in chunks.
The commander unit was scattered across the battlefield as countless pieces of scrap metal.
“Greetings, Your Holiness.”
A knight in light armor mounted upon the wyvern gave Seraphina a casual wave of greeting.
“Reinforcements have arrived.”
“…Welcome.”
Seraphina finally allowed a smile of relief to cross her lips as she sank to the ground.
Cassius Blackburn, Commander of the Dragon Cavalry.
A Level 10 Monster Warrior of the Rymes Kingdom.
The mightiest warrior of this age had come to their aid.
“Artein suddenly granted me a revelation. She said to tell the crown prince that she’ll make excuses on his behalf—just to fly here with all haste, protocols be damned.”
“I see….”
“Rest easy now.”
The Dragon Cavalry commander, gesturing deliberately with his cavalry spear toward the flying golems, spoke with ease.
“I am here.”
“…I am grateful.”
Cassius Blackburn shot forward like an arrow and began launching a fierce assault against multiple Level 9 Flying War Golems.
What a comfort.
Only now that she felt the weight of his presence could she finally let her shoulders drop.
‘You’ve done it, Kar.’
Seraphina, who had been watching the Dragon Cavalry commander’s exploits in stunned silence, rose to her feet and walked toward where the sacred presence of the goddess had emanated.
Her face was creased with bewilderment.
“Artein, how much favor do you hold for him…?”
For Artein to bestow Divine Grace upon one who was not her devoted follower.
And to grant a revelation, no less, to the Dragon Cavalry commander who stood outside her faith!
Unknown to the other believers, this was something that would have been utterly impossible if Artein remained as she was — a goddess fixated on gain and loss, squandering far too much Faith in the process.
Surely it was proof that she held this half-elf Kar in the highest regard.
Standing before the massive Golem that had ceased its movements, Seraphina lifted the sacred object Sigea with a faint smile playing at her lips.
“I understand your feelings all too well.”
Perhaps, she thought, she favored him even more than Artein herself did.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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