Chapter 135: Guardian (5)


    "...sigh," Shinto shook his head helplessly as he was the first to turn away from the broken pieces lying lifelessly on the ground. Moments after, he turned to Frey who had a defeated expression on her face.


    "...was there really no other option?" Frey frowned as she noticed the approaching Shinto.


    "It''s like I said, the final choice goes to the slimes," he answered whilst pointing his finger over towards the two slimes who were by the rubble. "All we can do is speak to them about this. We''ve got no power to revive this guy..."


    "..." she bit her lips as she firmly turned to Shinto. "Then... If let''s say, we defeat this big bad boss, Sanke... Could you lend me the ne?"


    "...sure?" he tilted his head. If all things went well, the curse of the ne would be lifted, thus allowing for normal yers to wear the equipment without worry. "But... Do you really have to go this far?"


    "Huh?" Frey blinked at Shinto''s question. "I mean... It''s something I want to do, right? So why not!"


    "Bah..." Ethaniel scoffed at Frey''s answer. "You''re going through all that effort for someone who we just met? Heck... It''s a statue at that..."


    "Does it even matter on they look like or their race?" Frey red at Ethaniel. "This guy was able to think for himself and he''s feeling regretful over all the thing''s that had happened... So I''d say that''s more than enough reason to care!"


    "...well, you do you," Ethaniel shook his head in an uncaring manner as he walked away, quickly heading over towards the slimes.


    "I understand your sentiments I guess," Meanwhile, Shinto patted on the shoulder of Frey. "You''re free to do whatever you want after we finish with this dungeon. Though, it might take a bit more convincing on some to have them help you."


    With a tap on the shoulder, Shinto quietly walked away as he soon followed after Ethaniel.


    "..." Frey looked at the back of Shinto in a manner of determination, though, her fists seem to be shaky. "...if only the option of convincing could work for other cases too," abruptly shaking her head away from the thought, Frey scurried over as she regrouped with the team.


    ...


    Whilst heading to the slimes, Shinto''s eyes fixed on the countless notification that had popped up post-death of the Guardian. Among the notifications regarding the quest of ''Serenity for the Guardian'' and its loot notices, a certain notification piqued his interest.


    [ The judges have decided on the verdict. ]


    [ The previous fight with ''Renryth, The Cursed One'' has been ruled as a fight of ''lesser good'' due to the interference of an outside force messing with the initial judgement. ]


    "...tch," Reading the notification, Shinto clicked his tongue. "You made me wait to have this as an answer?" he frowned. Shinto had hoped that by defeating Renryth, he could''ve dealt with two birds and one stone.


    His original n was to activate [ Sanctum Brilliance ] andst hit Renryth, or at best, be a part of the final blow. While he was doing that, he could''ve triggered his passive [ Divinity Gauge ], thus making way for an event to happen as stated by the description whilst alsopleting his quest [ Gifted Diviner ].


    However, that seemed to be not the case.


    "...sigh. Why did I even think that would work?" he sighed. If he was considering the facts correctly, the possibility of things going his way was extremely low. It was due to the fact that the person who they fought wasn''t actually Renryth, but Sanke taking control of him. "...well, I guess I''ll have to find another foe that counts as evil to finish the quest then." Just as he was muttering to himself, his notification system soon popped out a new notice.


    [ However, in consideration of the judgement of ''Great Evil'' that has appeared as an outside force within this dungeon, the judges of good and evil has decided to give a task to the Shadow Diviner, in agreement with the messenger. ]


    "...?" His eyes raised in slight confusion as he read the text on his system.


    [ A subquest of the dungeon has been created! ]


    [ Judgement of Great Evil: Sanke ]


    Difficulty: S+ (-Catbs of the Deserted Sanke Quest Line)


    With the urrence of a ''Great Evil'' that seems to rival that of dark matter that has long been rooted into the roots of the world, the branch of good and evil, as well as the messengers all, havee to an agreement to task you with the job to defeat this being.


    You as the ''Diviner'' must defeat Sanke.


    Quest Clear Reward: Depending on the conditions that have been fulfilled, you will gain different sort of rewards.


    Based Reward: Divinity +3, Shadow +2


    Defeat Sanke with only the presence of yourself: Divinity +10, All Divinity Skills will level up by one, The beings of Divinity will take interest in you and you''re much likely to gain their favour, You will gain insight of the info of ''Divinity''.


    Defeat Sanke with two or fewer party members: Divinity +2, Shadow +4, You will gain insight on the info of ''Shadow'', The beings of Divinity will only slightly take interest in you.


    Defeat Sanke with three or more party members: Shadow +5, You will gain insight on the info of ''Shadow''.


    *The best reward will only be taken into effect.


    Quest Failure: The beings of Divinity will see you as a mere failure of one who takes up the title of Diviner.


    ...


    "A quest to defeat Sanke..." he thought to himself whilst going through the details of the quest. "...and it''s a ss quest?" It seems the side of Divinity has much more interactions than that of the side of Shadow. However, what interested him the most was that despite it being a quest that seems more oriented for Divinity, signs of the Shadow side were prevalent.


    "Hmm... The quest has conditional rewards, huh?" he noted the details as he ounted for the number of people that can enter into battle against SankeEthaniel and Raina. Thus, the most definite reward that Shinto would get would be the second one. "That''s a no brainer... I can''t solo fight this guy and Frey, Kon and the others are out of the option."


    Nodding his head, he closed his quest window still with a slight surprise. However, he shook the look off as he quickly reached towards the rubble with the slimes and Ethaniel.


    "...the statues are dealt with and everything is in check," Reru mumbled to himself. "Now all we have to do is wait for that human to finish with the training and we''ll be good to go with defeating Sanke."


    Upon closing in onto Reru, Shinto called out to him. "Hey, Reru. What are we going to do now that we''ve dealt with the statues?"


    "Huh? Oh. You can rest I guess," Reru shrugged. "We still have a long day ahead before yourpanion finishes up with her side of the n. So, just stay put here and save energy."


    "Huh? Are we not going to go back and escort Raina?" Shinto questioned.


    "No need," he stated. "If her training is trulypleted, then, she would be able toe here on her own with directions from Renryth."


    "...that''s your reasoning?" he raised his brow.


    "Yes. If shees here just fine, she''s ready. If not, then, we''ll be at ends meet."


    "Then... While we rest, what are you going to do?" Shinto asked.


    "Me? I and Rustly will be leaving," he stated. "Unlike you humans that are immune to the curse, we''re not. So, instead of making waste of time, I''ll be reporting to the king. Then, our people will help with distracting the Farchu to prevent any distractions for you."


    "Huh?" Rustly uttered out. "We''re doing that? Why didn''t you tell me?!"


    "Do I have to tell you everything? In any case... We''ll be leaving," he stated as Reru moved towards Rustly, in the next moment, he begun to drag him away.


    "I-I see..." Shinto nodded his head with slight confusion as he saw that Reru and Rustly were hurriedly taking leave.


    "Hey, what''s up with their sudden leave?" Ethaniel tilted his head in question.


    "...they''re going to be helping us with preventing outside forces froming in apparently," Shinto answered as he turned towards the group. "In any case... They asked for us to rest here while we wait for Raina."


    "Huh? Wait here? In front of Sanke''s den?!" Kon cried out. "Are they plotting something or something?!"


    "This sounds he suspicious..." Ethaniel red at the closed doors that Reru and Rustly walked through. "They seem to be in a hurry too...."


    "Hmm..." Thinking on the matter, Shinto shook his head. "Whatever it is... Even if I had stopped them, I don''t think they''ll even bother to answer. So we''ll leave it that and discuss other important matters."


    "The quest distribution rewards, right?"


    With a nod of his head, Shinto quickly opened up his inventory as he took out the items that he had obtained from the statue.