[Inside the holy dungeon]
"Take care, the three of you" [Ash]
"May the goddess be on our side" [Saint Louis]
"We will need that" [Linda]
"How about a quick song from me to buff us up, as well as making us even more motivated" [Seraph]
"Can't hurt to do that. We will need all we can since we're infiltrating the holy palace" [Alaric]
Exiting the camper van golem, we let Seraph buff us up and motivate us for the last time before splitting into two groups.
The first group will be entering the holy palace (the country where the holy palace do have its name, but it's easier and more frequently referred as the holy palace as a whole) via the official route, and that's they will use the dungeon entrance to gain entry into the country. The one on this group will be Saint Louis as well as Alaric (who will use shadow dive once they're near the checkpoint) and Linda (which can go undetected. Either this is the effect of being minion of god of death or because of her being the lesser lady of the holy death, Santa Muerte is still uncertain).
Saint Louis will come under the pretext of official visit, all "alone" (hopefully those two remain undetected) and we will meet him once all of us are inside the country. According to him, there's an inn where the new religion operated silently.
"Alaric. Try to use shadow dive on Saint Louis once again" [Ash]
"Right" [Alaric]
As mentioned before, those who use the shadow dive will usually have their light susceptibility increase, and with Saint Louis here having a phenomenal light affinity, let just hope Alaric here won't get toast alive.
"Are you alright?" [Saint Louis]
"Sting a bit, so long as you're not fighting, it will be fine" [Alaric]
"Tell me quickly shall you are in trouble. I will teleport you right away" [Linda]
"Will do" [Alaric]
Last minute checking for them, and looks like everything are clear.
As for Seraph and I, we are the second group, and we will try to find a way in by using the ancient tunnel. Reason we can't just enter the country straight or at least use some sort of bluff like back in Kiserre? Simple, it's risky for both of us. I am basically an archenemy for those old follower, so it's like a terrorist trying to enter the country while being inspected by police and army back on earth (so does Saint Louis, but he still hold some power, so they can't easily turn someone as influential as him away). Seraph here also have some bad records with the old follower. He can shape shift but that still doesn't really hide his identity from the goddess orb. Should just ask Rumia to manipulate the orb for us, but oh well
And why don't I use shadow dive as well? Simple, to avoid detection. It easier to spot two people rather than a single person
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"We are off" [Ash]
"Good luck everyone" [Linda]
Parking my camper van golem inside my item box, Seraph and I begin to search for nearby entrance to the ancient tunnel. Seraph claims that he knows a nearby entrance, but how to navigate it... Well, we will think of something. As for Saint Louis and co, they will walk there, traveling along the main road.
Traveling the holy dungeon, I definitely didn't sense anything holy about it. It basically a light elemental dungeon, nothing holy here like holy mana or holy miasma floating around. In any case, I don't think they mistakenly put the name holy dungeon when deciding the name, it just all for propaganda if you ask me. You have a religion which have the holy palace as their headquarters, so it makes sense if the dungeon leading to the country be called holy dungeon. That will sound better for them
"There's the entrance" [Seraph]
"Sure is a small entrance as compare to other" [Ash]
"At least we can still walk comfortably" [Seraph]
"True. Don't want to squeeze around" [Ash]
So the entrance is all set, which leave us with
"Going through it blindly will be our last resort, for now how about we think of something" [Seraph]
"Agree" [Ash]
As the two of us brainstorm idea together, we decided few plausible idea
1. If its looks like someone with high enough ranking among the holy palace member are close by, we will attack him while pretending to be a mole monster. Drag him to the ancient tunnel and see whether he knows the way in or out. Kinda risky and kinda unreliable, plus no way to know whether he can navigate it. I thought of just straight up using memory dive, but again, risky. He might be train to resist it, or worse, train to identify the user. Plus, if I didn't do it right, he might suffer brain shutdown and this will cause trouble for all of us. They might blame the easy target, that is Saint Louis doing something to him. I don't prefer this instead,
2. Use earth sonar magic and hope for the best. Again, kinda not prefer this one, so
3. Hopefully there are dark guild members nearby. Kidnap him, memory dive and straight away navigate the ancient tunnel. Better alternative between the three, but sadly
(The archbishop...) [Seraph]
(We don't have a choice, aren't we. No sign of dark guild member after searching for so long, and this might be our only chance) [Ash]
(Then operation attack him like a mole, begin) [Seraph]
(Debuff him quickly!) [Ash]
(Right!) [Seraph]
Seraph quickly debuff the archbishop, weakening his mirage mana resistance, that way, he can be more susceptible to illusion magic. He looks like he's searching for something, I don't know what it is but I don't care. I quickly use mirage magic and
"Giant moles! So many of them" [Archbishop]
(Good! Now!) [Ash]
Using earth magic, I quickly drag him into the ground, knocking him unconscious by giving him a strong blow to the head with rock magic as well since I don't want any unnecessary resistance from his side. Once that's all done, we put him inside the ancient tunnel, and watch him away from afar (Worst part is, waiting him to regain his consciousness back. Goodness, how long will you stay unconscious!)
"Huh... Where am I?" [Archbishop]
(FINALLY!) [Ash]
"Huh! Damn! I survive! That stupid moles! Plus, this looks like the ancient tunnel! Blast it!" [Archbishop]
(Ooh...) [Seraph]
"Whatever!" [Archbishop]
He quickly navigate the ancient tunnel. From the looks of it, he seems to know his way around. Good!
(Holy palace, here we come... Hopefully) [Ash]
Please just go back to your home...