Chapter 123: Hel?

“His Holiness!”

The knights’ voices rang out, filled with reverence and fanaticism.

Muxuan nodded slightly in response and quickly entered the house.

However, upon stepping inside and seeing another person standing there alongside the Bishop and the Master Mage, Muxuan was momentarily stunned.

“His Holiness!”

Hearing the other party’s respectful voice, Muxuan immediately recovered and nodded.

“Jack, right?”

Muxuan still had some impression of Jack, but… why was he here?

“Thank you for remembering me, His Holiness.”

“I have an unseemly request. Could you let me go into the Black Mist to investigate…”

Jack was clearly surprised and excited that Muxuan remembered his name, but his face quickly filled with worry and anxiety again.

He hesitated for a long time before finally gathering the courage to speak.

Noticing Jack’s fearful yet determined gaze, Muxuan’s brows furrowed slightly, and his voice deepened.

“What happened?”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but for a moment, he didn’t know where to start.

He began to rub the hair on his forehead in agitation.

Seeing Jack in this state, the Bishop—who had been by the bed reciting the new prayers established by Beikeze’s Divine Decree for the Master Mage—stood up and approached Muxuan.

“His Holiness, perhaps it is best if I explain.”

‘A new Bishop promoted by Beikeze…’

Muxuan scrutinized him carefully and was reasonably satisfied.

At the very least, the man remained calm on the surface.

Moreover, in a short amount of time, he had used the Meditation Method to raise his strength to the Deep Black rank.

“Tell me the situation.”

The Master Mage’s eyes were currently tightly shut, and his head and arms were wrapped in several layers of bandages.

The rise and fall of his chest indicated his condition had stabilized; he was simply asleep.

‘Will we wake him?’

However, seeing the look the Bishop gave him and sensing the surroundings more closely, Muxuan suddenly smiled.

‘He has already mastered the Silence Spell.’

It seemed Lutherch had not been stingy with teaching certain spells.

“His Holiness, this Master Mage is named Nisanke. Although his words were incoherent when he first regained consciousness, we were able to piece together the general situation.”

“One word he mentioned many times was ‘Hel’… It seems to be a person’s name?”

‘Hel!?’

Hearing that name again after so long, Muxuan felt a momentary sense of trance.

In the very beginning, his Cardinal had been Hel…

Beikeze, Buzhaqi, and the others were also part of the group that stayed together for warmth…

‘So much time has passed… unfortunately…’

Looking at the Bishop before him once more, Muxuan sighed softly.

Most people currently in the Church had joined later.

Aside from people like Kamani, Buzhaqi, Beikeze, and Gelifende…

‘Hel…’

His gaze gradually turned solemn.

Muxuan nodded to the Bishop, gesturing for him to continue.

Even if Hel had absorbed a massive amount of The Strange, Muxuan, who had already reached the Deep Sea Layer, was no longer that wary of him.

Recalling how Hel had once made him lose sleep in the beginning, Muxuan’s heart grew heavy.

Regardless, it was indeed time to deal with the hidden danger that was Hel.

Lightforce could no longer save him.

“The Goblins seem to be using human bodies to cultivate The Strange, and this Master Mage was captured by the man named Hel.”

“However, shortly after the cultivation began, he was rescued by a rather tall figure.”

“Because that person had a mole on his right cheek, Jack seems to think it was Ro—”

At this point, the Bishop suddenly stopped, seemingly trying to remember the name.

“It was Roman!” Jack shouted immediately when he saw the Bishop falter.

Seeing the Bishop offer Jack an apologetic smile, Muxuan fell silent.

Roman…

If he remembered correctly, he was the person Jack had reported rushing into the Black Mist last time.

He had also received a blessing once.

For a moment, Muxuan’s mind raced.

Considering the man’s thirst for power, Muxuan immediately thought of many things and made several unpleasant guesses.

“You mean… you want to go?”

After a long silence, Muxuan slowly turned his head to look at Jack.

The man wasn’t particularly brave, yet he was taking the initiative to investigate for Roman’s sake…

He was quite loyal.

“Yes, His Holiness. And… I also have some power to protect myself.”

As he spoke, Lightforce condensed in Jack’s hands, forming a pair of daggers—no, they looked more like Shadow Blades.

Only then did Muxuan notice that Jack had also quietly broken through to the Deep Black rank.

‘However… going with this level of strength is likely insufficient…’

Moreover, even if the savior really was Roman, he might not be the same Roman as before.

With only the small amount of power bestowed upon him, it was clearly impossible for Roman to rescue a Master Mage from the hands of the Goblins and Hel.

But seeing the determination in Jack’s eyes, Muxuan swallowed his discouraging words and sighed helplessly.

“Since you wish to go so badly, then go.”

“Also, take these. May the Goddess’s blessing always be with you.”

With that, Muxuan took out two Light Stones—stones formed by injecting pure Lightforce—and handed them to Jack.

“Praise be to you, His Holiness!”

“Praise the Light!”

Muxuan shook his head as he watched Jack excitedly accept the Light Stones and hurriedly run out.

Those two Light Stones each stored one use of a Beam Cannon.

Generally speaking, they could deal with any of The Strange at the Deep Sea Layer level.

‘I only hope he finds the answer he wants while helping to scout the Goblins’ hiding places…’

At that moment, Qiansitelin walked in from outside.

She glanced curiously in the direction Jack had left before turning to Muxuan with a smile.

“His Holiness, I have good news. Lutherch just sent word that the Dwarf Tribe has delivered the first batch of standard equipment and has also sent two Dwarf smiths.”

Hearing Qiansitelin’s words, Muxuan raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised.

‘Is the Dwarf Tribe really that fast?’

“And what do you mean by that?”

Qiansitelin gave a mysterious smile and moved in front of Muxuan, closing the door behind her.

“Guess, His Holiness—do we have a blacksmith shop?”

Seeing the interaction between Qiansitelin and Muxuan, the Bishop nearby instinctively turned around and returned to the Master Mage’s side to avoid eavesdropping.

The corner of Muxuan’s mouth twitched at the sight.

Sure enough, Qiansitelin announced the answer in the next second:

“Bishop Valentin is asking whether you want to clear a spot next to the Mage Tower specifically to build a blacksmith shop~”