Chapter 534: The Stupid and Punchable Goddess
"Everyone, come get your magic potions!"
Luna shouted through a megaphone to the gathered adventurers.
Meanwhile, the guild staff began unpacking bottles of magic potions from their luggage, distributing them to the numerous adventurers.
"Let me ask you all—do you know what our mission objective is?"
Kazuma Satou gathered his three companions and asked them with a serious expression.
"To take down a Demon King Army executive!"
Megumin's eyes flashed red—a telltale sign of excitement among the Crimson Demons.
"To fight with honor befitting a knight!"
Darkness, clad in full armor, proudly lifted her chin.
"To sneak around! Hide when possible, let others do the fighting, and take the rewards for ourselves!"
Aqua crossed her arms, wearing an expression of smug disdain as if she had already seen through Kazuma's intentions.
"Aqua gets full marks! You two get zero!"
Kazuma gave Aqua an approving smile, as if praising a promising student, while looking at Megumin and Darkness with exasperation.
"Why?! The Crimson Demons never retreat in moments like this!"
"Megumin's right! And as a knight, how could I resort to such underhanded tactics!"
Megumin and Darkness immediately protested.
"Shut up! If Megumin shows up, the Headless Knight will target us first! Blame yourself for never listening and coming here every day to cast Explosion Magic! And Darkness, you just enjoy getting captured and tormented by monsters—you don't even deserve to say that!"
"Uh..."
"Tch..."
The two fell silent, unable to retort.
"Listen up. We joined this raid to get the reward money, but we don't actually have to fight the Demon King Army executives. With Wiz and that handsome guy around, there's no need for us to do anything. If we can get rich without lifting a finger, why work hard? Once we get inside, no causing trouble—got it?"
"I couldn't agree more, Master Kazuma!"
Aqua and Kazuma quickly reached a consensus.
"Ugh..."
Darkness slumped her shoulders in resignation, feeling too disheartened to even raise her sword.
Megumin pulled her hat low, her crimson eyes hardening with resolve.
"Everyone, this is as far as we can go. Once inside, please be extremely careful!"
Luna and the guild staff remained outside the castle, cheering the group on.
With the strongest adventurer from the Belzerg Kingdom of ten years ago leading the charge, what was there to fear?
Under Wiz's leadership, the adventurers marched forward with high spirits, advancing boldly toward the castle.
"Bind!"
At the castle's main gate.
Thief-type adventurers eagerly pulled out hook-shaped ropes, using their skills to launch them toward the battlements. After scaling the walls, they opened the gates from the inside.
"Such a creepy castle!"
As the group of over twenty people poured inside, someone shivered and rubbed their arms.
The moment they stepped into the castle, the temperature seemed to drop several degrees. Despite the sun being high in the sky, an icy chill seeped into their bones.
"This is the presence of the undead!"
Aqua had been lazily trailing at the back of the group, but upon seeing the situation, she suddenly perked up, her expression turning serious in an instant.
"There must be tons of Undead monsters here! Perfect, I'll scatter their ashes to the wind!"
Without waiting for Kazuma to stop her, Aqua had already dashed to the front of the party.
"Undead are the natural enemies of priests. They can't stand these lingering monsters that harm others," Darkness explained half-heartedly, though her expression seemed oddly pleased.
Kazuma covered his face.
Even though Aqua was the only one who truly agreed with him, she was also the first to run off like an overexcited husky!
Aqua was a genuine goddess, the very object of priests' worship. She despised the Undead more than anyone—she'd eliminate them on sight, and there was no stopping her.
"Wooohhh!"
From the depths of the corridor ahead, countless ghosts surged forward.
"Oh no! Undead monsters are immune to physical attacks!"
"Where's the priest? We need a priest!"
The adventurers who had volunteered to take the front lines immediately panicked.
"Turn Undead!"
At that moment, a holy radiance erupted from behind, washing over the ghosts like a tidal wave and effortlessly erasing them as if they were mere mirages.
"Whoa! Amazing, Miss Aqua!"
"You've got this!"
"We're counting on you!"
"Leave it to me!"
Flattered by the praise, Aqua immediately got carried away and gleefully took the lead.
Ghost after ghost emerged from every corner of the castle, floating menacingly toward the group.
"I won't let the Undead steal the spotlight! Turn Undead! Turn Undead!"
Aqua shot Wiz a glare before gleefully charging into the swarm of ghosts, relentlessly casting her Undead-purifying magic.
"Do you know her?"
Eiji and Wiz were walking in the middle of the group.
Neither of them had any intention of fighting—the monsters were already being handled by the adventurers ahead before they could even act.
According to them, they didn't want to take the reward without contributing, so they insisted Eiji and Wiz save their strength for the final boss.
Kazuma gave that idea a thumbs-down.
"Ahaha, I used to visit the cemetery every night to lay some restless souls to rest. One day, Lady Aqua and the others took on a ghost-extermination quest, and we happened to cross paths... I almost got purified."
Wiz laughed awkwardly.
A Lich was the king of the Undead, and gods hated the Undead more than anything.
In other words, a Lich was a god's greatest enemy.
The moment they met, Aqua had immediately cast "Turn Undead" without a second thought—definitely not a pleasant memory.
"She really is a god, huh."
"Mm. The fact that she nearly purified me proves it. Only a god could wield that kind of power."
Wiz nodded emphatically.
No priest, no matter how strong, could purify a Lich. Only a god—the source of a priest's power—could purify the king of the Undead.
Eiji quietly grew more cautious.
Despite Aqua's airheaded and punchable demeanor, her power was the real deal. He'd have to be careful not to underestimate her and end up defeated by surprise.
"Hey, isn't the number of ghosts getting out of hand?"
"Why does it feel like all the ghosts in the castle have gathered here?"
The front line of adventurers had been replaced entirely by priests, using purification abilities to hold back the tide of ghosts.
Against an army of ghosts this size, no single priest could stand alone—except for Aqua, who was deep in the fray, cutting them down left and right.
The power of a goddess was truly something else!
"Eeeeeek! Help me, Kazuma-san! Help me! There are so many undead knights up ahead, my purification isn't working at all—I'm gonna get beaten to a pulp! Save me!"
Then, with tears and snot streaming down her face, Aqua came fleeing back from the front.
Trailing behind her was a massive swarm of ghosts and undead knights.
Eiji: "..."