Inside the Cathedral of the Deep

So, we endured half a day running around on the church roof under a hail of bullets, and finally returned to the Cleansing Chapel.

Just to open a door!?

The members of the Guzha Squad had strange expressions. They understood that this was a shortcut, and they also understood that if they died again after opening the door, they could quickly return to the church from the Cleansing Chapel without having to run through the cemetery and the roof again.

But, but... we really feel so tormented!

If it weren't for the concern that forcibly breaking down the door would result in the loss of the reward and other unpredictable consequences, probably no one would be willing to go around in circles here. Nobody!

However, after glancing at Fingel beaming, gleaming Fingeri, the members of the Guzha Squad silently retracted their thoughts.

Well, it seems Fingel really likes this design.

No wonder he's a big shot; he can find joy even in a journey filled with suffering. The Guzha Squad is far inferior in this respect.

"The design is really ingenious; it feels like the most exquisite area I've ever encountered."

While marveling at the scene, Fingel invited people to sit down by the campfire. Under the firelight, their strength gradually returned, and their fatigue slowly subsided.

Upon closer reflection, the Cathedral of the Deep seems to be the first map in all of the Zane Dungeon to feature the ability to unlock shortcuts and reuse campfires. Apart from the Catacombs of Carthus, which have a unique environment that allows for straightforward movement, the other areas are more like throwing adventurers in and letting them wander around aimlessly, especially Lake Liurnia.

After a long day of exploring the world, a small and exquisite miniature garden can be a refreshing change.

Looking at the other door that couldn't be opened from this side, Fingel couldn't help but wonder where he would find a shortcut to open it. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

The members of the Hasawi Squad were relaxing, while the Guzha Squad took out their notebooks and started writing and drawing, seemingly trying to record the route they had taken. Fingel and his group didn't care about these things because they didn't plan to create a strategy guide, but the Guzha Squad valued them very much.

Having explored the main routes through the cemetery and onto the roof, Tus tried to recall the path and realized that the only remaining route seemed to be the fork in the road branching off from the rooftop. From there, one could reach the interior of the Cathedral of the Deep.

During the break, Tus also told everyone about Jack Baldo in the well, which resulted in a group of people surrounding the well and asking Onion Knight if he needed to be fed with various supplies. In the end, all Onion Knight could do was repeat "Thank you, no thanks," as if he had been played with too much.

"Great, you've rested enough, let's continue!"

Upper Rank and heading towards the fork in the road, the adventurer finds himself in a long, winding corridor, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The light illuminating the area seems to come from nowhere, casting a faint purplish-black hue over the space—an unsettling and oppressive color.

From here, you can't see what's going on elsewhere. There seems to be a doorway around the corner. Matilda took the initiative to walk in front. The moment her big figure appeared in front of the doorway, a group of small, thin slaves jumped down from the ceiling. Some landed on the ground to trim her feet, while others jumped on her and scratched her head. In the end, she killed them one by one.

When the slaves appeared, no one's expression changed. They all basically guessed that there would be an ambush here, either around a corner, in the ceiling, or in a doorway, or even all three directions at once.

Just as people were thinking this, they saw Church Knight, covered in tin cans, rush out of the doorway. He had just clashed with Matilda when another one rushed out from around the corner, this time with several slaves.

Well, it really is true that enemies will come from three directions. As expected, Sion always chooses the most fun-loving moves.

The monster composition inside the Cathedral of the Deep is quite simple: slaves and Mud Monster as the lowest level monsters, Maggot Man and the Deep Bishop as the backbone, and Church Knight as the minor elites. In addition to these, there are a few big guys and surprises.

The Church Knight's strength is at the D Rank Strength Balance. No matter how much he is strengthened, he can't leap to the C Rank; at most, he'll be D++.

Therefore, it took the combined efforts of the Guzha Squad to defeat a single Church Knight, while a single member of the Hasawi Squad could handle several knights at the same time; the difference was too obvious.

From the moment they climbed onto the roof, the Guzha Squad showed signs of becoming a burden, and now they've completely become the atmosphere-building group.

"Go, go, go, seniors!"

The Church Knight's moves were wide and sweeping, like miniature the Cursed, but Matilda had no patience to entangle with them and quickly dispatched them.

If we can't quickly kill the Cursed, can't we quickly kill you?

As you proceed along the corridor, you'll encounter four Church Knight along the way. Defeating them will not only drop their equipment but also Hero Meat Chunk or Raw Meatball, which in some ways fits the background of the Cathedral of the Deep. However, the corridor ends in a dead end, with three treasure chests prominently displayed at the end, seemingly tempting people to open them.

Fingel threw a few Flying Dagger, successfully confirming that all three treasure chests contained Treasure Chest Monster.

Returning the way they came, they entered through the doorway through which the Church Knight had rushed out earlier, and finally arrived at a more spacious room. The room was furnished much like the Cleansing Chapel were performed, and it seemed to be a place where church members prayed. The rake-like candlesticks burned quietly, adding a dim light to the dim church.

Fingel sat on the row of wooden benches, looking at the pulpit, imagining himself as a believer listening to a sermon, and the sense of immersion immediately came.

But before he could think any further, he saw several Living Dead crawl out from under the pulpit.

Wait a minute, those don't seem to be Living Dead. They're either tall and thin or short and stout, and they're all wearing robes with exquisite embroidery. You can tell at a glance that they're not ordinary people. They're holding strangely styled weapons, like short knives, but with the exquisite craftsmanship of ritual implements. These guys are definitely not just Living Dead.

Their name is the Deep Bishop.

The word "bishop" sounds quite prestigious, but in the Yugi's Cathedral of the Deep, they're as common as stray dogs on the street. Gong Qiying couldn't understand why the Yugi was set up this way, but he simply treated them like regular monsters.

Compared to the weak monsters in the Yugi who only throw fireballs and wildly swing their weapons, they showed their true skills in this other world.

The bishops raised weapons of unknown origin, hurling scorching fireballs of varying sizes at the people. These weapons didn't seem particularly frightening; their firing rate wasn't fast, and they could be easily dodged. The Guzha Squad had managed to withstand them.

Fingel raised his hand to signal people to calm down; he wanted to see what tricks these monsters would use.

So the bishops put him on display.

[Fireball], [Flame Jet], [Sweeping Flame], [Ignite Fire]. They use basic and advanced versions of fire spells, including spells that even Fingel finds dangerous.

However, because the bishop moves so slowly, barely faster than Living Dead, his threat level is greatly reduced.

In addition to these fire spells, the bishop also casts the spell "Deep Soul," which successfully made Fingel stand up from his chair to defend himself. This is because the dark, murky sediment of souls tracks enemies and is quite fast, at least faster than the bishop.

"Ouch, that hits me a little."

The bishops, sensing the power of the Deep Soul, all wanted to repeat the spell, but before they could succeed, they were chopped into mincemeat by the crowd.

Well, if these bishops were a little more skilled, like normal humanoid monsters, each of them could cause as much trouble as the Church Knight. Unfortunately, their constitution is similar to that of the Living Dead, so they can only sit at the same table as the Maggot Man.

"The magic's power is decent, but unfortunately it's still not enough," Fingel said regretfully. "If their numbers were greater, and they gathered together, they might pose a real threat."

"If I could design this underground city, it would definitely be a grand spectacle, like forming a 'choir' of hundreds of people. That would be exciting. It would be too boring if they came out one by one."

"Shut your mouth, you jinx!" Matilda wanted nothing more than to shove her fist into his mouth. Every time Fingel spoke, she had a bad feeling, just like with the Gatling on the high platform earlier.

But, surely the Zane Dungeon can't actually produce a bizarre scene where hundreds of bishops appear at the same time, right?

As she thought about it, she began to feel a little insecure, which was a sign of her acknowledgment of Sain's strength.

Leaving the small house, there were more stairs leading upwards. Halfway up, a bishop stood on a high point and threw fireballs at them. If they ran towards him, there were also Church Knight hiding in the corners to launch sneak attacks. Their positioning was quite insidious. Tus almost had his head smashed into his body.

If it weren't for the giant iron ball rolling down from above, I'd give it a bad review.

"I keep feeling like we're going in circles on a winding road. Is this really inside the church?"

As soon as the Guzha Squad finished speaking, Fingel pushed open the door in front of him, and his view suddenly opened up.

No longer were the cramped corridors and staircases, nor the oppressive prayer room; what appeared before them was...

It's a panoramic view of the deep, Cathedral of the Deep!

They stood on the second-floor platform, overlooking the entire interior of the Cathedral of the Deep, gaining a new understanding of the concept of "greatness." The individual human being was infinitely shrunk in front of the cathedral, appearing very insignificant.

Far across, on a brightly lit platform, numerous bishops and knights gathered, exuding an extraordinary aura; it must be an important location.

It may seem like you can get there by taking a straight line, but there will inevitably be obstacles.

There's no way to get to the platform on the second floor because there's no path. Adventurers can only go left, as the right side is still collapsed. So, they have to find a way down to the lower level and then run back to the platform. But two huge gates block the only way to the first floor.

What's disgusting is that the ground floor is covered with a green, sticky, unidentified substance that looks a hundred times more disgusting than the Swamp in Farron Keep!

Near the Swamp by the high platform, a giant was curled up, its fate unknown, but judging by Sain's track record, it would surely be able to stand up.

What's most frustrating is that the most light spots are distributed precisely in the area where the unknown substance is most concentrated and right next to the giant's foot. The designer's intention is obvious at a glance!

This is nothing short of a blatant scheme to lure people into the past!

The gate connects the two sides of the second floor and can be used as a bridge to facilitate exploration for adventurers.

"How about we use our Flight Spell to fly all the way there? We can fly straight to the high platform on the other side."

Faced with the magician's suggestion, Fingel began to think about it seriously.

Based on Sain's past habits, the high platform opposite is probably the battleground for the boss. The two gates show obvious signs of activity, so we should be able to find the mechanism to lower them.

Therefore, the normal approach to exploration should be to use the gate as a bridge and search for the mechanism that lowers the gate on both sides.

However, they have the ability to skip Flight Spell, or rather, when most adventurers see this kind of map design, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely Flight Spell.

But what they can think of, can't Sain think of too? There will definitely be measures to counter Flight Spell, just like what happened at the magic academy.

We should continue with the normal exploration, but I really want to know immediately what's on that platform and whether it's the leader.

"Everyone, let's vote."

Fingel turned to the people and shared his conjecture, saying, "Raise your left hand if you want to explore slowly, and raise your—"

Before he could finish speaking, the ground suddenly trembled. Tus's eyes widened as he pointed behind Fingel, stammering, "Giant, giant."

A massive shadow cast down from behind, and Fingel slowly turned around.

A giant was standing there, its enormous body bringing an immense sense of oppression. This thing had been curled up underneath, so people hadn't noticed it!

"This is the first time I've ever seen a living giant."

On this day, people were reminded once again of the fear of being dominated by giants.