With their enemies dead, Aaron quickly shoved the bear beast lord in his scabbard and shuffled through the cultist leader's and his followers’ possessions.

  “Some Uncommon gear, and a couple of Rare weapons. Nothing special, but I’m sure someone back at the base can make use of this stuff,” Aaron said, throwing it all in his scabbard.

  They split the loot, and Talia took her kill's worth, then they turned their attention to the chapel.

  “Alright, let’s see what’s waiting for us,” Aaron nodded ahead and led her into it.

  They passed through into the rotting chapel, and the door fell straight off its hinges as Aaron opened it. The entire chapel was half sunken into the swamp and falling apart. But that had little bearing on the hum of energy that was pulsating throughout the decrepit building, and growing stronger, and stronger as they walked deeper into it.

  Passing through a short corridor, they reached another door, and beyond that was the prize. The door opened into a small room, and at its heart, a purple crystal floated in the air, illuminating its surroundings in the same hue that filled its crystalline form, and it was absolutely pulsating with power.

  Shard of Divinity [ Mythic ]

  Once part of a divine core, this shard is but a remnant of a fallen god. Yet despite the passing of countless eons, it still hums with divine energy, a testament to the god whom it once formed a part of.

  The Shard of Divinity exudes incredible power, and while it can’t be harnessed directly by the non-divine, its power can be used to influence its surroundings.

  Aaron glanced across at Talia with a raised brow. “Er, cool? Not quite what I was expecting. What do you suppose we do with this?”

  “No idea. I didn't have a divine shard on my bingo card. But I suppose we take it back to camp. Maybe we can find a use for it later,” Talia shrugged. “It is Mythic, after all.”

  “Right,” Aaron nodded and reached out.

  “Wait, the others,” Talia reminded him. They didn’t actually know how long this dungeon would last after the anchor was removed, and it was best not to risk leaving those they had just rescued behind.

  But only a second later, Zero came bounding through the door, with the prisoners in tow. Their eyes lit up when they saw the Shard of Divinity, and they even seemed to hold some kind of reverence for it.

  “You know what this thing can be used for?” Aaron probed, hoping they might get some more answers.

  Old man Benjamin shook his head. “No idea… but it’s divine energy obviously. I remember a long time ago. When I was just a boy. They came down from the heavens. It was incredible. Enough power to pin you to the ground with their auras alone. Gods. Come to visit my little world at the edges of an empire. This… it feels the same as they did. Although not as powerful.”

  The old man seemed to lose himself in his words, staring off into the crystal. And Aaron understood why. Meeting Yendal in the flesh and visiting her divine realm had been something else entirely. However, nothing about what he said was overly helpful.

  That said, there was an obvious problem: this thing seemed a little too influential, and he had a feeling that it was behind both the cult and the cult-like behavior he had seen up in New Haven.

  “Well, maybe we can make use of it,” he said, swiping the shard.

  Aaron felt apprehensive about the crystal. Regardless, he wasn’t leaving a Mythic item behind, even if it was a can of worms waiting to be opened.

  True to the prisoner’s word, the moment Aaron had taken the shard and stowed it in his scabbard, the world began to shake and crumble, and where the shard had been, a portal appeared.

  “No time like the present,” Aaron shrugged and stepped through without hesitation, and Talia was only just behind him.

  And within seconds, all of them were free from the dungeon, standing in the basement of the old school again.

  Quest Completed! Rescue the Sacrifices

  Quest Rewards: Explosive Knuckle Attachment [ Elite ], Explosive Bolts x 1000 [ Elite ]

  Experience rewarded for completing a quest!

  [ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!

  83 → 84

  Aaron nodded at the notification. Not what he had expected for loot, but he couldn’t complain. He had taken the bolt throwers, and ammo would be helpful.

  As for the Explosive Knuckle Attachment? He wasn’t so sure about that. Maybe it could be fixed to his gauntlets somehow without taking anything away from them. But he wasn’t a bomber, like the cultists were, and wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to take his path in that direction.

  Not that it was a decision he had to make at that moment.

  “Not bad loot,” Talia commented, and he was reminded that they had both been given the quest.

  “Explosive Knuckle Attachment?"

  “Huh?” Talia’s brow twisted. “No? Crude metal pauldrons. They look a little rough, but they’re a higher Rarity than my current ones, and they sound better.”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Aaron nodded along. Many of the cultists had also worn a variety of crude metal armor, some of which they had looted from the settlement. And it seemed that the quest had taken inspiration from that to create a reward for Talia. But Aaron, not being much of an armor person, was given an attachment for his gauntlets.

  As far as he was aware, there was no guarantee that quest rewards would be directly useful for the person receiving them. But there did seem to be at least some force that increased the likelihood of just that happening.

  But his thoughts were quickly drawn away as a frantic Ryan came barging down into the basement, covered in sweat, with a thousand-mile stare.

  “What the hell happened?” He said.

  He looked like a mess. Shaky hands and wide eyes.

  “What? Something wrong, mate? We just did what we went in there to do?” Aaron replied.

  “Did something happen up here?” Talia said.

  “Yeah! Those people… the townfolk. A short moment ago, they started trying to kill themselves. We are, we restrained them. Been tying them up for their own good. Ah fuck,” he shook his head. “Fighting monsters is one thing, but these crazy bastards. I don’t know what the bloody hell is going on around here.”

  Aaron looked at Talia. “You think it’s because of the bear or the shard?”

  “Dunno, but we'd better go check,” she sighed.

  They followed Ryan out of the school and into the main square of the town, where they had restrained the people of New Haven, tying them up by their wrists and ankles to prevent them from harming themselves.

  “You,” Bobo spat. “You killed the hungry one. The truth! The protector! The salvation of New Haven!”

  “You mean the bear?”

  Bobo snarled. “Not just a bear!”

  “I thought you wanted us to kill that beast? You let us go down there,” Aaron scratched his head, genuinely confused.

  “You idiot! You were supposed to go down there as food for the hungry one! He was supposed to consume you and grow stronger, as he does everything! And thus, giving the great hungry one strength to protect New Haven against all threats!”

  “Well, that didn’t last very long, did it?” Aaron shrugged, and Bobo and his people looked mortified at the casual nature of the statement.

  “Why you! You won’t get away with this divine sacrilege!"

  Aaron was mostly ignoring them. They were obviously insane, and he didn’t entirely blame them. The integration was hard, after all. However, he did want to test one thing, and pulled the divine shard out from his scabbard, and they all fell silent.

  “The holy relic,” Bobo murmured.

  “This thing must have some hold over weaker people,” Aaron mused, looking at how the townsfolk stared at the shard.

  “Yeah, it seems to,” Talia agreed. “Probably best you keep it hidden in your spatial storage. That thing could be trouble.”

  “Yeah,” Aaron said, stowing it.

  Their faces seemed to relax once the shard was away, although they still didn’t look too impressed with their captors.

  “Would you relax? We can keep you safe. We have a settlement, and we’ve already proven ourselves by defeating your bear god messiah thing. Surely that counts for something.”

  The townsfolk of New Haven glanced at one another, but it seemed that they couldn’t so easily leave behind everything they knew. They had built an identity around the beast lord, and even though the truth was before them, it was hard to swallow.

  “Oh, whatever,” Aaron shook his head and started eating.

  He had gotten very skinny, drawing on all his energy to fight the bear, and it was time to recover, and he quickly started to fill out as he threw finger foods into his mouth.

  “Wha… what is this?” Bobo said, eyes widening. “The hungry one has returned? That is why he possesses the holy relic?! But in a new skin! He has taken on our form; it is a sign of divinity! We were saved by holy intervention! It was what stayed our hands! The holy one does come to bring us to salvation, not death!”

  “The holy one!” The rest of the townsfolk began to chant in unison.

  “Wait, no!” Aaron waved his hands. “What are you talking about? I’m no holy one! And it was Ryan and his people that saved you from your damned selves, not some divine intervention!”

  Despite his protests, the townsfolk refused to listen and continued chanting. Eventually, Aaron gave up and said he needed to confer with his counsel before retreating to talk with Talia and Ryan. The mood was somewhat grim, as, despite the victory, Aaron felt extremely unsettled having an entire town of brainwashed people worshipping him.

  “This is kinda fucked,” said Ryan.

  “Yeah, no shit,” said Aaron. “Do we have anyone with, like, a mind healer Profession or something that can fix them?”

  “I think we have a therapist somewhere…” Ryan mused.

  “Sounds like you're stuck as a cult leader for now, though, Mr. Hungry One,” chuckled Talia. “Maybe you should offer them some of your cooking. That’ll scare them off.”

  Both Ryan and Aaron stared at her. The situation was not bad enough that humor was off the table, but neither of them had expected Talia of all people to crack the first joke.

  Did her sense of humor turn dark with her hair? Aaron wondered.

  “Now that I think about it, being a cult leader does kinda suit that new hairstyle of yours,” Ryan added after a few seconds.

  Aaron had almost forgotten about his haircut, and the reminder only made him groan.

  “On second thought, maybe having him cook for them isn’t a good idea,” said Talia. “What if they like it? Then we’ll have even more people like him.”

  “Good point,” said Ryan, nodding.

  Aaron groaned again, but their jabs did help lighten the mood, and the conversation turned more positive. Even if the townsfolk were mentally screwed for now, it was most likely curable, and on the bright side, none of them were hostile or trying to kill themselves anymore. And as long as Aaron was leading them, they had no more desire to stick around the doomed town. They could be safely led back to the Bellagio, and from there, Julius and his men would take care of them.

  They confirmed their plans, then returned to the townsfolk, and just as they hoped, it was very easy to convince them to leave. And with two D grades and Aaron guarding them, the trip back to the settlement was a non-issue.

  Despite the unexpected ending, victory did taste good. And it wasn’t just about knocking out another beast lord for the quest.

  The trip had been fruitful. Aaron had plenty of corpses, including the two beast lords, and he was going to cook up a storm in preparation for the ants.

  But before they even entered the settlement proper, a squad of Julius’ scouts reached them at the outskirts and directed them straight to the Bellagio.

  “It’s Dorian, he’s back, and he’s giving his report to Julius. You should come,” one of the scouts said.

  There was no argument. Aaron, Ryan, and Talia rushed off, leaving Zero and the rest of the group to escort the people the rest of the way.

  “Can’t a man get a moment to do some cooking?” Aaron said as they flew toward the old casino.

  Aaron wasn’t just thinking about food to create a useful dish, though. He wanted to throw the last of his soul-strengthening ingredients from the trials together, and maybe even see if he could increase their strength. After all, with D-grade quickly approaching, he wanted to push his race evolution toward D-grade as well.

  Not to mention a moment to sit down and purchase his new Skill, and hopefully, all the thought he put into it would pay off.

  “We definitely can’t let the New Haven people near Aaron’s house,” commented Talia.

  “Agreed,” said Ryan, nodding seriously. “The last thing we need is a religion around… that.”

  “Well, maybe it would be good for him,” countered Talia. “He could get a powerful new Profession.”

  “Oh yeah…” said Ryan. “The Holy Chef of Disturbing Dishes.”

  “Oh, quit it, both of you.”

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