Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 217



Only Krnovel

Episode 217. The Great Warrior (2)

Now that he had the undeniable authority of Cachulin in his hands, he didn’t know what to say when he returned to the Germanian Empire.

‘Should I just pretend not to know and call it a new knife?’

If that’s the case for the great warrior of Elril who holds the holy sword, then I should know that. If I don’t want to become a swordsman… … I thought that, but I thought that if I did that, I would really become a great warrior of Elril, so I decided to stop.

Isaac assured himself that he was a rational and reasonable person. Surely he could find a reasonable way.

Isaac spoke to Kachulainn, looking at the jewel set into it, the Dragon Heart of Calurien.

“Exile Calurien. How is the air on the ground?”

Calurien’s dragonheart glowed with light as his thoughts flowed into his head.

Calurien also felt bewildered by this situation.

[Was this what you intended?]

“I thought it would be nice to take your Dragon Heart and go back. I didn’t know you would be taking Kachulain with you. This is a burdensome gift for the recipient.”

In addition, he brought up the division ceremony that he was going to return. I wondered if there was anyone else besides Elril who had carried two of Elril’s holy swords until now.

[I can’t blame him. He’s been crouching for a while, so he must be ready to spring back. How hungry must he be, stuck on this remote island, when he’s been shouting for victory, glory, and courage.]

Calurien seemed to understand Elril, but he had a hard time clearing away his complicated feelings.

Elril’s order was that rather than the Elril sect behaving in a way unbecoming of Elril’s followers, they should all go out to the battlefield and die.

His angels too will find it difficult to escape Eliel’s intentions now.

The suicide option on Cachulain may have been a command containing Elril’s will.

‘Isn’t this a scheme to strip me of my title as a great warrior and have me beheaded if I don’t listen to you later?’

Isaac began to doubt Elril’s intentions, but the Dawn Army was going to happen anyway.

Isaac was just trying his best.

“Come to think of it, why did the other sects cooperate so much when Elril was banished to the island? The Code of Light is obvious, but there was also the Salt Council, the World’s Furnace, and even the Orkan Discipline.”

Considering that the Olkan Discipline is now a group belonging to the Black Empire, it is true that Elril was a ‘public enemy’ of that era. Even more so than the current Immortal Cult.

Of course, considering the feats that Elril had demonstrated, it would be understandable, but I wondered if it was really necessary, considering that Elril had not massacred any race before they were born, resurrected dead gods as undead, or caused the extinction of a third of humanity.

But Calurien’s answer was calm.

[The gods did not like Elil from the beginning.]

Isaac seemed to know the reason even before he heard it.

Elril was an ancient god-like being who occupied half of the world without being one of the nine faiths at the time. And yet, he spoke of the secrets of the gods too easily. It seemed that the gods would not like a god who was so loose-lipped.

But the reason Calurien revealed was unexpected.

[Originally, the divine beings were not generous to those who gave birth to Nephilim.]

Hmm, as expected, Nephilim are sinners… Isaac was about to nod when he suddenly felt something strange.

“… … The one who gave birth to Nephilim? Not the Nephilim?”

[Nephilim? The gods don’t really care about Nephilim themselves. They are just the result of sin, not sinners. However, giving birth to Nephilim is the greatest sin that a person with divinity can commit. If caught, it will surely lead to the downfall of any faith.]

Archangel, that is, one who takes away the name and status of an angel, and makes them into someone who never existed. Archangels are not common, but they are found frequently enough to appear in the Isacre territory, which shows that there have been countless people throughout history who became angels but had their wings taken away.

And even now, the original names of many of those archangels are unknown.

It is clear that they must have been great people who influenced history.

‘Is that why Ellil was ordered to kill his pregnant wife? Because the dancer was a Nephilim?’

But when I thought about it, it was strange.

‘But why is giving birth to Nephilim considered a sin?’

Isaac was concerned about that.

It was fortunate that he was not a being that greatly offended the gods, but he could not help but think about his biological parents.

If Elil had to apostatize, become a god, and give her heart to protect her Nephilim child, then Isaac’s parents must have paid a terrible price as well.

Reproduction and growth are the instincts of living things. From God’s perspective, it is a joy to see the livestock being raised grow bigger and more prosperous. But why is it considered a sin and controlled?

Just as Isaac was about to think about it, the arm that was holding Cachulain suddenly fell off.

“huh?”

He tried to lift Cachulin again, but his arms were weak. Only then did Isaac realize that he had lost all his strength. Only later did he feel an overwhelming sense of emptiness.

It was thanks to the fight with Elril that he poured out everything he had eaten so far.

‘Why now?’

[It seems that the divine power of Urbanus that was in his body has left him in response to the pressure of the surroundings.]

Calurien noted Isaac’s condition keenly and spoke.

[It’s just that the power has been fully restored to its original state. Don’t worry, it’s not a life-threatening situation.]

‘Oh, no.’

But the people Calurien was talking about were ordinary people, not the Nephilim.

Isaac staggered and fell to the ground before he could keep his composure.

Although he had maintained a healthy body with all kinds of blessings, when the ‘dead god’s intestines’ growled in his empty stomach, it became difficult to even move while wearing the armor. Even though the armor had the blessing of being lightweight. If it weren’t for the muscles and stamina he had worked so hard to build up, he might have collapsed long ago.

Isaac struggled to get out of his armor before giving up and lying down. His eyes kept closing as if he was suffering from both low blood pressure and low blood sugar.

‘… I guess I’ll have to leave the return to Hesabel and Ethelred.’

***

When Isaac opened his eyes again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling and a familiar Hesabel. Now, whenever he opened his eyes in an unfamiliar place, Hesabel was stuck to the ceiling like a pattern and he had become accustomed to it.

Hesabel keenly noticed that Isaac had opened his eyes and quickly came down from the ceiling.

“Are you okay, Isaac?”

Hesabel’s red wings still sprouted from her back. However, she had cleverly folded them up and draped them around her shoulders like a cloak. Thanks to this, it looked like nothing more than a robe decorated with unusual feathers.

“Um, okay. Where am I?”

“Elyon Citadel. The child king insisted on carrying Isaac, but his legs were dragging, so I carried him. Lyanna Georg and the Knights of Aldeon have declared their protection, so I think it’s safe to say.”

“Rihanna? Looks like she’s back to life?”

“Yes! They said that you woke up on the same day as us. As soon as you came out of the crystal, you sent someone to the Holy Land to guide us. You almost carried Isaac all the way to Elyon Citadel. Do you know how many days we were in Urbansus?”

Isaac squinted his eyes and looked out the window. It was clearly late spring when he had come in, but now it looked like full-blown summer.

“48 days?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

Even when I entered and exited Urbansus through the Moonwell ritual at the Salt Council, 48 days had passed.

There may be some significance to the number 48, or it may be impossible to stay longer than that. Once you enter Urbanus, you must complete that number before you can return.

Isaac tried to get up, but bent over due to extreme hunger.

The intestines of the dead god were threatening to eat all the muscles Isaac had worked hard to build up over the years if he didn’t put something in quickly. But he didn’t even have enough strength to lift a spoon. He was sweating profusely.

‘Are all Nephilim originally like this?’

That can’t be. It wasn’t like this even in the monastery days. Isaac was like an over-tuned engine right now. If it had enough fuel, it would show tremendous power, but if it didn’t, it would be worse than a normal engine.

“… … Hesabel, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, yes! I knew that would happen, so I prepared!”

Hesabel had already dealt with Isaac’s hunger in the Isacre territory. Isaac had already found a whole roasted pig lying cold next to him.

It wasn’t the time to be picky about taste.

Isaac gave Hesabel a thumbs up and held out his left hand instead of a fork toward the pig.

***

After escaping the situation where he almost starved to death, Isaac decided to take stock of his situation and the pros and cons.

What I gained was the status of the Great Warrior of Cachulin and Elril, and the Dragon Heart of Calurien. What I lost was the meat I had been filling my stomach with. Thanks to that, all my temporary privileges were gone. It was a bit disappointing to lose the Poison of the Corrupted Angel, but it was useful enough.

Now that he had achieved the status of Grand Champion of Elril, Isaac had virtually surpassed King Aethelred in symbolic authority.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the knights of Elril will disobey Ethelred’s orders and listen to her, but at least they won’t be able to ignore her. And while Nameless Chaos was certainly upset by this fact, he didn’t know what the Code of Light would think.

“Sword of May, come out for a moment.”

Isaac called out to the Sword of May, which had disappeared for a moment, hoping that it would recover and show itself again. However, the Sword of May did not show itself.

Isaac thought about it and then turned on the watchman’s light. The gentle light spread out and fixed the order. Only then did something start to react.

A small, wing-shaped flame appeared before Isaac’s eyes. Around the flame, two old, chipped swords were standing upright and spinning around. Isaac realized that these small, delicate flames were the Swords of May.

“Sword of May, are you alright?”

[Yes, he’s alive. Judging from the surroundings, it looks like he met Elril and came back.]

“You didn’t think it would fail, did you?”

[Everything flows according to the plan set by the lighthouse keeper. There is no way it can fail.]

She added, speaking calmly.

[And considering your skills and talents, I didn’t think you would fail as badly as Kalurien. You’re a guy who can figure out a way to crawl out of hell.]

Isaac lowered his head, taken aback by the unexpected compliment.

“Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, I have already met Elil, and I have now returned from Urbansus. However, something has come up that is a bit tricky, so I came to ask for your opinion.”

May turned her small black body around to look around.

[Now that I think about it, that sword.]

At that moment, the Sword of May blinked while looking at Isaac’s hand. His gaze was directed at Cachulain, who was lying on Isaac’s lap. Isaac was nervous that the Sword of May would recognize the identity of the dragon heart embedded in Cachulain.

[It’s the Holy Sword Kachulain. Was it used as a catalyst to seal Elril?]

“Um, yes.”

Instead of pointing out the black dragon heart of May, he just said what he wanted to say. It seemed like he didn’t care or didn’t notice. There was almost no sign of Calurien in the dragon heart.

“Elril gave me this sword and appointed me as a great warrior. He didn’t even ask for my opinion.”

[To the Great Warrior?]

May’s Black asked, somewhat surprised.

[It’s an honor. Congratulations.]

“It doesn’t seem like it’s a problem?”

[I was also appointed during the first dawn army.]

“… … I guess they unexpectedly pick a lot of people?”

[No. Only one is selected at a time. However, since the lifespan of a great warrior is short, several can appear at the same time if a major war breaks out. After all, I only relinquished my responsibility as a great warrior after I died.]

It seems that Ellil appoints as a great warrior anyone who is good at fighting and serves his purpose, regardless of religion. After all, a great warrior is someone who directly carries out orders given by the gods, so it is not strange for anyone to receive it. However, it was certain that Isaac was the only one to receive the position of great warrior in the hundred years that Ellil had been silent.

[And this is the first time I’ve seen someone receive a holy sword. Usually, you only receive a title. Maybe Elril is also giving you special treatment.]

Isaac was a little uncomfortable with the idea of ​​special treatment from Ellie, so he wished it hadn’t happened.