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The Brilliant Chalice of Divine Decree, the most powerful healing item only craftable after following countless complex steps. Once complete, it had nearly god-like power, just as its name suggested. That power could not be used for miscellaneous things though, it was purely focused on healing. In a way that was exactly why it was perfect to solve Soul Howl’s dilemma.

Stigmata was a symbol that tore through the skin as it manifested. As it was borne out of divine power, common medicine and holy magic were not powerful enough to contrarest its effects. But the Brilliant Chalice had a similar type of power, so it could actually get Stigmata under control.

By healing the wounds, the divine power would lose its shape, so it would naturally attempt to resurface again. By using the Brilliant Chalice further, it was possible to channel that divine power and mold it into shape to manifest as healing power, just like the chalice.

『If everything works well and the host’s body becomes acclimated to the divine power, the person can gain immense power. But as that was accomplished through the Brilliant Chalice, it’ll only manifest as healing miracles.』

Divine power was too immense for humans to handle properly, but humans also have the ability to adapt greatly. If one learned to control that power, they could reach the heights of various disciplines. When aided by the Brilliant Chalice one could only obtain healing powers though.

『That seems like a more than sensible compromise. Only someone desperate to become some form of hero would wager their life for a small chance to gain a different type of power.』

Having a chance to gain incredible power did not mean everyone got it. In most cases they would succumb to the overwhelming divine power instead, as it was something that exceeded human understanding.

Choosing the solution guaranteed to work was clearly more prudent.

『That’s a rather extreme way of putting it, but yes, that’s basically true, Mira.』

Humans would often gamble their own safety, disregarding prudence and charging on recklessly. Succeeding would make everything worth it, but failure could be disastrous. Sadly only those who succeeded left their names in history, perpetuating the cycle of inspiring others to be reckless as well. The Spirit King sighed and laughed drily, having heard such stories countless times.

The devil’s carved seal was actually Stigmata, but knowing what it was did not change the fact that anyone marked was in serious danger of dying. Luckily there was a way to treat it now.

(Either way, getting the Brilliant Chalice won’t be a waste of time then, or rather that’s the best way to treat Stigmata. That’s a relief to hear.)

Mira was glad to hear Soul Howl’s efforts would not go to waste. But then she thought of something else.

(Is he aware of that space, I wonder?)

She was thinking of the large cave underneath the Chalk Castle, and whether Soul Howl knew of it. The entrance was extremely concealed, but he had been living there for a long time, so maybe he had discovered it already.

And if he went down there, maybe he knew what had been there before the devil came. That could also be a clue as to what triggered Stigmata.

The cause was not too important now that she knew how to cure it, but she was still curious. Mira stood up and walked to the shower room’s door again to ask another question.

「Something’s wrong!」

Before her knuckles hit the door, Soul Howl leaped out while shouting loudly.

「Woah?!」

Mira did her best to dodge, managing to get out of the way enough to avoid a direct hit, but she also tripped and fell down. She managed to turn that into a roll to lessen the impact, but that left her skirt completely turned up. Still her first reaction was to shout 「What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?!」

「Ah, sorry for that. But this is an emergency.」

His apology did not ring sincere, and instead he focused on getting dressed as fast as he could.

「I think you have a bit of an emergency too, but mine takes priority.」

He looked at Mira when he was done, noticing her fully exposed underwear and chuckling to himself, but the smile quickly turned to stress again.

「Don’t keep me waiting then, what happened?」

Mira could tell Soul Howl was in distress, so she swallowed any further complaints as she sprang on her feet and straightened her clothes. Meanwhile Soul Howl took out a mana potion and downed it in one go before explaining, 「All my golems have been defeated instantly.」

「What…」

He had left fifty golems in the arena, which would attack one after another in staggered intervals. Considering the time when they left, there should still be forty remaining, but they had been wiped out in an instant. That qualified as an emergency.

The golems left were the most simple ones for necromancers, so monsters in an area with an A rank of difficulty could defeat them easily. But they had been created by Soul Howl, who possessed power roughly equal to Mira’s, so his golems were far more resilient, and they were the reason Soul Howl gained the nickname of Great Wall. Defeating forty of them simultaneously was no easy feat.

But that was exactly what had just happened, for a reason unknown to them.

「Do you think the Prowler passed through?」
「That could be, but still…」
「I know, it still wouldn’t explain it.」

One possibility crossed both of their minds, something called the Mechanical Prowler. It patrolled the entire seventh floor, and mercilessly hunted down anything that was not a monster. It was the strongest enemy of the Ancient Underground City, barring the Machina Guardian that was considered a raid boss, and was the one entity no adventurer in the dungeon ever wanted to face.

Something still felt off though. While the Mechanical Prowler posed a threat, Mira and Soul Howl should be able to defeat it if they were careful. On top of that, it did not have any large scale attack that could defeat forty golems at once.

「We won’t be able to stop the boss from healing now, so we have no choice but to go check what happened.」
「You’re right, I just hope we get there before Machina Guardian enters its healing phase.」

It was a bizarre situation, but if they left things as they were, Machina Guardian would heal all the damage they had just inflicted. So the two went back to the arena to check what happened, while being cautious of their surroundings.