Sylvia had come today prepared to be toyed with, but when she heard Veronica's words, her pupils still involuntarily contracted.
"Heretical worshippers? You mean... there are still humans living in the Dungeon? Are you joking?"
The news was undoubtedly hard for her to believe.
Although she had seen ruins in the Academy Dungeon that seemed to show signs of human habitation, she had always assumed that Dungeons were now nothing more than monster nests, dangerous remnants of the Ancient Era. There should not have been any humans living inside them.
Yet now Veronica was telling her that not only were there living people in the Dungeon, they were heretical worshippers?
It was indeed a little too much for her to accept all at once.
"I'm not joking. As for your question, I can tell you that those people are human. Or... at least they once were."
Veronica replied, a trace of complexity in her tone.
"But now... even I can't be certain. After all, after surviving for so many years in an environment like the Dungeon, no one can say for sure what they've become."
Sylvia fell silent for a moment, absorbing this astonishing revelation.
Then she asked, "You said they're heretics... does that mean they worship the Goddess of Night too?"
Veronica shook her head. "No, it isn't the Goddess of Night they worship."
She paused, then uttered a term unfamiliar to Sylvia. "They worship five other deities-the Outer Gods."
"Outer Gods?" Sylvia frowned.
Although she was a Candidate Saintess of the Church of Light and had received some theological instruction, this was the first time she had ever heard that term.
Veronica explained:
"According to the Church's ancient records, the so-called Outer Gods were five deities who came here from another continent in the distant past. Their powers