Chapter 31

Chapter 31
## Chapter 31: The Enigma of Yormungand

Absolution.

An Indulgence was exactly that: a formal grant of forgiveness. A high priest within the Holy Church of the Goddess was permitted to bestow such a document only three times throughout their entire existence.

Consequently, the act of issuing one demanded extreme prudence. A single error in judgment could result in the priest being stripped of their holy standing due to the very pardon they signed. The Church maintained an uncompromising stance; the Ten Cardinal Sins defined by their faith were beyond redemption. Any clergyman who dared to grant an Indulgence to a sinner guilty of those specific transgressions would find themselves promptly excommunicated.

“Regardless of your status as the heir to the Knight King, I cannot simply provide an Indulgence to an individual whose character is unproven.”

Andrew’s refusal was entirely logical. To issue such a decree was to gamble with his entire career and spiritual authority. In the hierarchy of the Goddess Church, attaining the rank of a full priest was an achievement of immense significance.

Out of a hundred acolytes who might labor for a decade, only one would eventually be ordained. A priest assigned to oversee a city held a station so exalted that even the local nobility treated them with the utmost deference. It was a position of hard-won prestige, and Andrew was unwilling to jeopardize everything he had achieved on a whim.

“If something has already been provided, shouldn’t there be a fair exchange in return?”

The priest shook his head firmly at my suggestion.

“An Indulgence is strictly personal. While your contributions to the sanctuary are noted with gratitude, a pardon intended for the Knight King cannot be transferred to anyone else.”

“But the ‘absolution’ has already taken effect, has it not?”

Andrew fell silent, his lips pressed into a thin line.

He knew something was wrong. An Indulgence was a sacred pact with the Goddess, a spiritual tether that could be triggered by will alone, requiring no physical scroll. Because of this divine connection, it was impossible for anyone other than the designated recipient to utilize its power.

*Yet, it had happened. The grace of the Indulgence granted to the Knight King had somehow shielded me.*

The anomaly occurred the moment I had looked at him and declared, “Your transgressions are washed away, Andrew.”

For the priest, the situation defied all theological laws. In this world, committing sins generated “Malice.” While common folk lived in ignorance, the clergy possessed the sight to gauge a person’s moral standing at a glance.

**[Fame: 84]**

**[Malice: 0]**

The numbers were plain to see. It proved that this man, despite his mysterious claims, had lived a life of virtue. However, the crisis lay with Andrew himself. The moment he had directed the Prayer of Adoration—a ritual reserved exclusively for the Goddess—toward a mortal man, his own Malice had surged.

He had desecrated the fundamental tenets of his faith. For a priest, Malice wasn’t just born of cruelty; it accumulated whenever one acted in direct opposition to divine doctrine.

*A priest is forbidden from absolving themselves. In a matter of days, the Holy See will discover I directed the Great Prayer toward a human.*

Exile or a return to the rank of acolyte was his certain future. Andrew had knowingly abandoned his vows to ensure the safety of the city, and now he was drowning in the weight of his spiritual debt.

*And yet… the stain vanished.*

The instant I spoke those words of forgiveness, the Malice clinging to Andrew’s soul dissolved like mist in the sun. The power of the Indulgence had been invoked. Having felt the direct touch of the Goddess’s light, the priest could no longer deny the truth. He recognized the signature of that grace as surely as a creator recognizes their own work.

“The Knight King spoke of you. He mentioned that you, Priest Andrew, carry a heavy burden of gratitude toward him.”

“I…”

“A debt that a dozen lifetimes could not settle. In light of that, is a single pardon for his chosen successor truly too much to ask?”

Andrew’s throat tightened. The man was right; his life was owed to the Knight King. But that was a confidence shared in total privacy. How could this successor possibly know?

“Did Lord Wilhelm himself tell you of this ‘debt’?”

“If you require proof, I can describe the nature of it myself.”

“Then speak.”

Andrew watched me with a mix of skepticism and desperation. He clearly doubted that a man as honorable as Wilhelm would reveal such a sensitive secret. What the priest failed to grasp was that the man standing before him *was* Wilhelm.

I offered a casual shrug before delivering the revelation.

“You were the one who conducted the secret ritual to save ‘Eldritch Andasar’.”

“You… you know of her true form?” Andrew gasped.

“That she was your daughter, hidden from the world?”

“!!!”

The priest’s face went pale with shock. It was an expected reaction. In my previous life, Andrew was a primary source of quests regarding honor and reputation. It was only by completing every single one and reaching the peak of his favor that the hidden objective, “The Salvation of the Eldritch,” became available. Only Wilhelm had ever achieved it.

Eldritch Andasar was Andrew’s secret child, transformed into a monster by the *Cursed Black Grimoire of Eldritch*—a rare artifact used in crafting high-tier gear. I had been the one to purge the corruption and claim the book.

Only Wilhelm possessed that knowledge. To Andrew, it was inconceivable that the Knight King would have gossiped about such a tragedy.

*All those endless tasks for honor were just his way of searching for someone trustworthy enough to keep his secret forever.*

His own daughter had become an Eldritch—the very antithesis of his faith. It was a scandal that required the shadows. Though she had been saved from the curse, she had vanished shortly after.

“I will lead you to Andasar.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“I am aware of her current location.”

“Where is she?! Tell me!” Andrew lunged forward, gripping my coat, his professional mask shattered. His daughter had been saved, but her disappearance had left him hollow. Back then, even I didn’t know where she had gone. But things were different now.

“Cramdel.”

She was in the fortress of the outcasts—the city of monsters.

“Cramdel? But… that is a place where no human can survive.”

Andrew couldn’t fathom how his daughter could be in such a den of shadows. But his understanding was limited.

“The curse is gone, and the grimoire is destroyed, but the transformation left its mark. The moment she became an Eldritch, Andasar moved beyond the realm of humanity.”

“Oh, Goddess…”

Andrew’s knees buckled. He looked like a man crushed by his own failures. I leaned in, providing the final push needed to sway the grieving priest.

“If I am to bring her back to you, I require that Indulgence. Do we have an agreement, Priest Andrew?”

The deal was struck.

—

The following day, I departed the Knight’s Garden in a carriage drawn by a Hydragon.

“Is that the document?” Isabella asked, eyeing the parchment in my hand.

It was a thick, weathered piece of brown vellum. To the naked eye, it appeared blank, but this was the true Indulgence. Once triggered, the sacred seal of the Goddess Church and the recipient’s name would manifest—a fail-safe for those who demanded physical proof of divine favor.

“I’ve never actually seen one before,” Isabella admitted.

“That makes sense. The Goddess Church has no foothold in the Great Desert.”

The Desert Queen held a deep-seated animosity toward the Church. I suspected that even now, her scouts were mobilized and scouring the lands for us. She wasn’t the type to let a princess slip away without a fight.

“How exactly did you become the Desert Princess?” I asked, finally addressing the question I’d been holding back. In the timeline I remembered, she had never held such a title.

Isabella looked away, hesitant. “The Queen… she granted me the title after she witnessed my ‘Mystery’.”

I paused, processing that. The Queen elevated her because of a Mystery? That didn’t align with what I knew.

In this world, a Mystery was a visual manifestation of power—an aura or “effect” that marked an individual’s soul. In the game, it was like the glow an item gained when upgraded. The upcoming main quest was centered around obtaining one of these.

*She shouldn’t have had anything special yet.*

As far as I recalled, she only possessed a standard white aura, a common Mystery with no inherent stats. I couldn’t remember her having anything that would warrant a royal title.

“What kind of Mystery do you have?”

“I can show you… if you want.”

I nodded, and Isabella held out her hands.

Suddenly, dark, intricate markings began to crawl across her skin. Countless black, circular patterns formed, covering her like the coat of a predatory cat. They looked like staring eyes, or perhaps…

*Snake scales.*

The realization hit me instantly. I recognized that specific pattern.

*The Scales of Yormungand.*

I was momentarily stunned. How could Isabella possibly possess that?

“Where did you acquire this?”

“It started with a dream,” she explained softly. “I dreamt of a colossal serpent coiled around me. When I woke up, these marks appeared. They don’t seem to do anything, though.”

“You were chosen,” I whispered.

“Chosen for what?”

“The Desert Queen recognized it for what it truly was.”

The Mystery of Yormungand’s Scales provided no immediate combat boost, but it served as a divine key. It was the prerequisite for claiming a Star. Specifically, it was the path to the Star of Yormungand—one of the thirty-two celestial powers and the only one that players had never managed to locate. It was a Named Transcendent Star.

*I could have secured that at level 10 if I had the key.*

But Isabella was only level 8. It was far too early for her to be touching the realm of Transcendence. To stumble upon such a rare Mystery by chance was statistically impossible.

*She must have triggered a hidden requirement I never knew about.*

Whatever the reason, the Queen had seen the potential for a Transcendent Star and secured Isabella as her heir to keep that power within her kingdom.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Isabella asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“It’s nothing.”

I brushed it off, but internally, the stakes had just shifted. The Queen would never stop hunting her. And frankly, neither would I. Whether as an ally or a successor, Isabella was now the most valuable asset in the world.

“Wait… where are we going?” Isabella asked, looking out the window. Her confusion was justified; the view was nothing but endless rows of tombstones.

“Necrovelly. It’s the quickest route to Cramdel.”

This was the City of the Dead. As the name implied, no living soul resided here. It was a wasteland of spirits and the walking dead, but it housed the only warp gate leading to the fortress city.

“This is the spot.”

I brought the carriage to a halt near a specific section of the cemetery. I stepped out, grabbed a heavy shovel I’d purchased, and began to dig.

*Thwack. Thwack.*

“What on earth are you doing?” Isabella shrieked, watching me desecrate a grave.

**[Desecrating a resting place increases ‘Malice’.]**

The notification popped up, but I ignored it. This was exactly why I had secured the Indulgence—to offset the necessary evils of the journey. I had a specific target in mind.

*The Necrovelly Subterranean Vault.*

Somewhere in this sea of rot was a grave that functioned as a hidden entrance to a dungeon. That dungeon contained the shortcut we needed.

“Empty. Not this one.”

Isabella stood by, mortified, as I moved to the next plot and began tossing dirt.

**[The ‘Heavenly Spirit Egg’ reacts.]**
**[Hatching progress is accelerating.]**

I paused for a second. *It reacts to moral alignment?*

The egg had stirred when my Fame rose, and now it was responding to my Malice. It seemed the creature inside was sensitive to the weight of my soul, regardless of the direction it leaned.

*It doesn’t matter.*

I couldn’t stop now. Reaching Cramdel to secure the “Supreme Mystery” was the priority. Besides, if the egg liked a bit of darkness, I wasn’t going to complain.

*Clang!*

The shovel hit something solid and metallic.

**[Discovered: Necrovelly – The Raven King’s Hidden Vault.]**

—

A Dungeon.

According to the world’s history, dungeons existed in the liminal space between civilization and the Abyss. Because of this, they often contained tears in space—warps. The secret path to Cramdel was buried deep within these halls.

“This is madness! Where are we? I demand to know where we are…!”

“Quiet! Don’t you notice the ravens have stopped screaming?”

We had been navigating the dark tunnels for a while when a sharp, youthful voice echoed through the corridor. I stopped, narrowing my eyes.

This was the Necrovelly Vault. It was a place of death where no child should be able to survive. And yet, the bickering of a boy and a girl drifted clearly through the air.

“Is this some kind of prank? Where’s the camera?”

“Brother, I told you to shut up!”

“I need a bathroom! Let me out of here!”

“Ugh, did you swallow a steam engine? Stop shouting!”