Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 163



Only Krnovel

Episode 163 witch hunt (4)

Isaac sat in a warehouse in a nearby private house and began the ceremony.

Because the witch’s curse could spread, other nearby knights except Hesabel were strictly prohibited from approaching.

Of course, the knights of Elil were like priests and paladins of other denominations, so they insisted that they could pray together to protect him. However, when Isaac gave him a stern warning, he obeyed without saying a word.

‘Worship of the strong is convenient in times like this.’

In fact, the reason I kicked out the knights was because I didn’t know how ominous the ritual that was about to unfold would look. Hesabel asked, glancing at Isaac as he prepared for his ritual.

“Are you okay with body transformation?”

“are you okay. “It’s just a little bit of feathering and itchy fingernails.”

“Is that really all it is?”

Hesabel asked in disbelief, but Isaac told her to prepare for the ceremony.

But it was true. The witches’ curse did not deeply affect Isaac.

Perhaps it was because of the countless sacred objects he wore, but it was easy to guess other reasons as well.

[Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

Nameless Chaos never wanted his agents to be ‘harmed’.

Even that simple notification sound felt unpleasant. Maybe it was thanks to him, but the curse’s effect was weak.

‘Even if I suffer from a curse all day, I guess it’s just a little itchy.’

However, the rat tail sticking out of my butt was starting to tickle me, so I wanted to block the curse. It was a deformed area that was not told to Heshabel.

After a while, Hesabel stood up as if she was ready. Isaac asked when he saw the altar that Hezabel had made with blood.

“Is it over already?”

“yes. As it is, we would need more sacrifices, prayer priests, and assistant priests… … Since we have the ‘Rite of Division’ and the ‘Book of the Nameless Insect,’ we can omit quite a few things.”

Needless to say, the Ritual of Division is an EX-level ritual relic of Elil and the Red Grail, and the Book of the Nameless Bug is an EX+-level relic related to the founding of the church, although it is unfinished.

If the tools are good, there is no need for sacrifices, trivial procedures, or prayers.

“Then let’s begin.”

The ceremony that Isaac performed was not an extremely grand one.

It was just a ‘take it back’ ritual. Although curses are powerful, they are also very risky. This is especially true if the other person is skilled in curses or rituals. This ritual, called the ritual of parrying or returning, was a powerful and most effective way to defend against the curse.

‘Now that I think about it, I heard that among the exorcisms, there are exorcisms for throwing away flesh, and there are also exorcisms like salpuri… … .’

Didn’t even a certain lightning-scarred wizard defeat a bald, noseless wizard with a curse reflex?

As long as curses exist, this kind of ritual will exist in any faith.

The witches thought that Isaac was just an ignorant Holy Grail Knight and did this.

It was intentional. That’s because Isaac didn’t use much of his abilities and only swung his sword to catch his witch. Perhaps, if the tentacles had been revealed, Hecatli might have thought twice.

Even when Isaac was playing games, he used this kind of parrying ritual to put an end to witches.

In the game, there was no ‘Rite of Splitting’ or ‘Book of Nameless Bugs’, so I had a hard time gathering materials, but there was nothing better than this to kill witches who were difficult to catch all at once.

As Isaac sat in the center of the altar, Hezabel recited a prayer and drew the ceremonial division into the book of the nameless worm. At the same time, the nameless bug’s book muttered something and new words began to be engraved.

Isaac could tell that it was a new ritual of the ‘Nameless Chaos’ cult.

And those words seeped into Isaac’s eyes as if they were being sucked in.

[…] … When Saint Isaac caught the witch’s curse and lifted it, the distorted curse returned to the form that Saint Isaac hated and loathed the most… … .]

***

Crack, cluck.

Isaac watched the scene unfold before his blurry eyes. A sight of dozens of shapes unfolding like prisms came into view. Isaac realized that his strange appearance was because he was seeing the world through dozens of eyes, and he began to close them one by one.

Only then could he truly see what he, or rather Hecatli, who had sent the curse back, was doing.

‘Oh no, they ate me up.’

The curse returned by Isaac transformed Hecatli’s body. Hecatli’s head disappeared, and only a bunch of colorful tentacles burst out, fluttering like a bouquet of flowers, chewing and swallowing what had been her sister.

This alone showed how powerful Sister Hecatli’s curse was. If Isaac had used the ritual alone to impose the curse, it would not have had this much power.

Sister Hecatli’s carelessness had come back to haunt her.

‘Wait a minute, stop eating.’

Isaac didn’t care what Hecatli ate, but it was difficult when they shared their senses like they did now.

Isaac first looked at Hecatli’s condition.

While the Hecatli I caught had the appearance of an old woman, the Hecatli over there, with half of its body chewed off, had the appearance of an obese middle-aged woman. On the other hand, Hecatli, whom Isaac had taken control of, had the appearance of a young woman, except for the top of her neck.

The tentacles that replaced the head also looked like strange flowers that did not exist in the world, perhaps due to the influence of witches who manipulate nature.

It looked like a bloody bouquet. It was harrowing yet strangely beautiful.

‘Was it revived by replacing the body that was old after being used? So it looks like they sent old Hecatli on an expedition.’

In any case, Isaac had now completely transformed Hecatli into one of his subjects. From her body she purged the remnants of her divinity, eliminating any room for resistance from her, just as Jihylet had done.

With this, all Hecatli were completely eliminated.

It was the end of the witch who had terrorized the Kingdom of Elil for hundreds of years.

‘This might be useful.’

Jihylet is a member useful for infiltration and camouflage, and Hesabel is useful for ritual assistance and assassination. Hecatli seemed to be able to entrust Isaac with the area of ​​shamanism that was still weak.

‘To do that… … It would be better for Hecatli to remain a feared being rather than disappear completely.’

Isaac decided not to tell Ethelred that Hecatli had been completely eliminated. Simply suppressing the curse and defeating the witches would be enough. Hecatli will still remain a feared presence on the outskirts of Elil. That way, he will be able to use his card at any time.

‘However, there will be no more human sacrifices, disappearances, or raids on border villages.’

In the end, one day, when stories about witches turn from true stories to ghost stories and legends, that will be the time when the real Hecatli dies.

Until then, it was decided to keep it as a check on the Kingdom of Elil.

Isaac gave Hecatli his first command.

‘Send your relatives back to the forest. and… … .’

***

“Isaac!”

As soon as Isaac appeared, knights flocked to him. Ethelred was at the front.

“Are you okay? The curse… … .”

Ethelred hurriedly checked Isaac’s condition. Isaac, who had already eradicated the curse, showed no further signs of physical mutation.

“The curse has been defeated. “The witch will no longer be able to harm me.”

There was exclamation among the knights. In fact, more than one knight died or was maimed due to the witch’s curse. Dying while fighting on the battlefield was an honor, but being crippled or living a miserable life because of a curse was the most terrible thing for them.

Although they were considered, the very fact of being pitied was humiliating in the Kingdom of Elil, so most knights chose to commit suicide. Or a colleague or friend lends a hand.

Ethelred exhaled as if relieved.

“Thank goodness. Then there will be no need to draw lots.”

“Drawing lots?”

“After all, the opportunity to end a Sword Master’s life does not come often.”

Isaac thought it was a joke and tried to smile, but then became nervous when he saw the knights standing behind him nodding with serious expressions.

Of course, it would be better to die than to be cursed by a witch and live in a grotesque state, but I wanted to live as much as possible. Because as we live, we might have a chance to break the curse.

However, I remembered that for the Knights of Elil, getting such an ‘opportunity to make their comrades feel comfortable’ was a kind of honor. Moreover, if it were a Holy Grail Knight, it would be even more precious.

“If something like that ever happens, I hope you’ll ask for my consent.”

“Well, if you can still talk, you must…” … .”

“No, even if I can’t say it, I’ll explain it with my actions, so make sure…” … .”

Purrrrrrrrrrrrr! At that time, countless flocks of crows suddenly flew up from the surrounding fields. The knights realized that it was a witch’s attack and quickly drew their swords to protect Isaac. However, instead of attacking, the flock of crows that filled the sky roamed around in circles in the air.

Then they all started shouting at once.

“Holy Grail Knight! Holy Grail Knight! “A witch forgets grace, but she never forgets resentment!”

Morse shouted indignantly at the witch’s voice.

“Those who lost talk a lot! “Stop your tail and get out of your stinking den right now!”

At the sound of Morse’s voice, the crows cawed in unison. It sounded like a laugh. A few archers raised their bows and fired, but there were too many people flying around.

“It’s funny, it’s funny! “Do you really think you won?”

“You thugs of Elil, if it weren’t for the Holy Grail Knight, you wouldn’t be… … .”

At that time, Isaac muttered quietly.

“Stop it and get out.”

The voice was so calm that only the knights standing nearby could hear it. But at that moment, the crows spread their wings and dispersed.

But even at that moment, the witch’s voice rang out.

“We are defeated by the light and glory of the Holy Grail Knight and are driven out like this!”

“I will come back and try again sometime… … ! “Aaaah!”

The voices of the crows echoed and moved away.

‘… … I should have decided on the lines myself.’

This warning was Isaac’s script. Isaac’s final command to Hecatli was his instruction to return the beasts he had mastered to the forest, while also leaving a strong condemnation for himself.

It was to show the Elil knights that Hecatli was defeated by Isaac, and at the same time, to firmly imprint Isaac’s presence in the Elil Kingdom.

However, Hecatli’s script was too theatrical. Isaac’s face got hot at his excessive acting tone, but fortunately, the Elil knights were only indignant and did not care about Isaac’s expression.

“Damn witches, you’re stuck in that swamp and can’t even move! Grail Knight, don’t worry. “We will definitely put an end to those witches someday.”

“… … no. You don’t have to worry about it. General Morse. “Anyway, when they regain their strength and come, the gap will be so wide that they won’t even be able to reach my feet.”

All the knights were impressed by Isaac’s answer. Even though he had already reached a sufficiently strong level, his response that he would not settle and continue to advance was enough to serve as an example to knights.

At that time, Isaac had other thoughts.

‘Soon, nameless chaos will give out rewards.’

***

[Nameless Chaos is watching you.]

[‘Eyes of Chaos’ is strengthened.]

[‘Eyes of Chaos’ now grants the opponent a choice of Confusion/Fear/Frenzy.]

The reward for defeating Hecatli was to strengthen the ‘Eye of Chaos’. It was a useful ability in non-combat situations, but it was disappointing because it was ambiguous in combat situations, but it was a perk that made up for that shortcoming.

‘It’s a good debuff skill.’

However, if this was used ‘strongly’, there was a possibility that tentacles would protrude from the eyes. If you pay attention to that, it can be quite useful.

In particular, Isaac liked the debuff skill because he now had to go meet the Sword Masters, who were said to be less than five people in the Elil Kingdom.

‘I need to find out how much I should use.’