Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 218



Only Krnovel

Episode 218. The Great Warrior (3)

“… … Anyway, if the Church of the Code of Light doesn’t take issue with me becoming the Great Warrior of Elril, then it doesn’t matter.”

If something happened, I thought the Sword of May would defend me. I didn’t think he was going to use me like this and pretend not to know. But for that to happen, the Sword of May had to be alive. It would be difficult to show authority with such a small and cute appearance.

“How is your body recovering? Wouldn’t it be better to return to Urbansus and recover?”

[Well, I guess that would be good. I was so focused on recovering while you were fixed in my horizon coordinate system that I didn’t even realize you were back on the ground.]

What is the horizon coordinate system? Isaac couldn’t understand what the May Sword was saying, but he understood it to mean that it was attached to him. He muttered, blinking sleepily as the May Black Watcher’s lighthouse began to dim.

[I will return to Urbansus for now. Come to the church and report, and I will issue an oracle and acknowledge it at the same time, so… … .]

Hwarururuk. May’s black horse disappeared without even finishing its words.

As sparks burn and leap up, then melt into the sunlight.

***

After sending back the Sword of May, Isaac prepared to go out.

Of course, one pig was not enough to cover Isaac’s physical condition. As a result, Isaac was in an extremely low-efficiency cost-effective mode. He would probably lose even if he fought Ethelred in this state.

But Isaac dragged himself out with great effort.

If you wanted to prey on something, it was safer to go out and hunt it yourself, and you also had to explain what had happened in Urbansus to the nobles of Ellil.

‘It took too long, considering what’s happening in the Gertonian Empire right now.’

Of course, in return, he had gained the powerful authority of the ‘Great Warrior of Elril’, but now the Dawn Army was just around the corner. Isaac had to cross the sea as soon as possible.

“Knight of the Holy Grail.”

When Isaac appeared in the hall, Ethelred approached him with a surprised expression. Ethelred seemed to have become stronger and bolder than before. Even without using Kaldbuch, it seemed that the events in Urbansus had greatly changed him.

“Are you okay? You don’t look too good.”

“It’s okay. Your Majesty… … .”

“Holy Grail Knight! Are you sure you’re okay? You’re all dead now, with only bones left?”

Even Rosalind was shocked and made a fuss. She thought it was a grandmotherly line, but the words of Morse, Reina, Delphric, and others who followed were not much different.

Before Isaac came out, he clearly felt that he had not changed much when he checked himself in the mirror, but they described his appearance as a skeleton with bones touching each other.

“My condition is not important. Rather… … .”

“Let’s talk while we eat first!”

It seemed that muscle loss was a more important issue for these muscle knights than the secret conversation they had with the gods in Urbansus. Isaac was hungry and had no strength to persuade them any further, so he complied.

Isaac was dragged halfway to the banquet hall and sat at the head of the table, eating the unlimited roast pork, pickled salmon, smoked lamb, and so on. Isaac tried to chew the meat that was forced into his mouth, thinking, “If I ate it with my tentacles, I wouldn’t have to chew it, it would be gone in an instant,” but he decided to stop because he felt like he was losing his humanity.

“I see you have already spoken with Her Majesty Aethelred?”

Isaac asked, seeing that the nobles’ attention was focused solely on him.

Ethelred nodded first.

“Yes. Sir Hesabel and I woke up first and met with General Lyanna, so we got to talk first. Meeting the Overlord? I never thought I would have such an adventure in my life… … .”

Ethelred still seemed to be overcome with emotion and had tears in her eyes.

Even Ethelred, who hates knights, must have been quite moved by his meeting with Elril, as he reacted like that.

But Isaac was curious as to whether Ethelred had met another Elril.

‘My aversion to Ellie only grew stronger.’

A god who wants his followers to be annihilated is not worth worshipping, in Isaac’s opinion.

Just in case, Isaac asked Aethelred what they had talked about.

As expected, the conversation between Ethelred and Elril consisted of simple greetings, words of congratulations, and a brief summary of what was currently happening in the Kingdom of Elril. And a question about Isaac.

‘Hesabel, how have you been?’

Isaac asked secretly, thinking that she might have asked about the Red Grail.

Hesabel’s answer was similar.

‘You complimented my appearance and the courage that allowed me to come here, and you asked about the current situation in the Walaika Kingdom. I thought you might ask about the dancer, but you didn’t ask about that. Oh, and you asked about Isaac too.’

Not much different from Ethelred, but Isaac felt that this was clearly an indication that Ellil had decided to turn his attention to the surface.

The fact that Elil is interested in the ground certainly means that a great war is coming.

“General Lyanna? General Lyanna must have been to Urbansus too.”

The knights fell silent at Lyanna’s story. They exchanged cautious glances until Mors stepped forward and spoke.

“General Lyanna shut herself in her room after hearing that Master Isaac, His Majesty Aethelred, and Lord Hesabel had come to see Elril. She was said to have fasted and prayed to atone for her sins of daring to interfere with the Grail Knights’ mission.”

“You were deceived by the scheme of the apostate Calurian and turned your sword against your own people. You should not fast and pray, but be exiled or put to death!”

Rayna Hild shouted indignantly. Isaac was bothered by a particular word, aside from her insistence on harsh punishment for Lyanna.

‘The Apostate Calurien? Has Calurien already announced that he was isolating Elril?’

The fact that the Angel of Honor had imprisoned Elril was as shocking as the apostasy, so I thought it might not be made public considering the repercussions. After all, wasn’t the isolation a seal that Elril had accepted himself?

But as I listened to the story, I felt something was strange.

“Who would have thought that the Apostate Calurien, who has been sealed for hundreds of years, would be seeking to break the seal and seduce the guardians of the Holy Land, thus freeing himself? Don’t blame General Lyanna too much.”

Morse restrained Reina from getting too excited. Isaac could tell from those words that a ‘consciousness shift’ had occurred in them.

What happened in Urbansus has now become common knowledge for them.

Calurien, who symbolized the wisdom of Elril, has now become an apostate and a sealed evil wizard.

He bewitched Elril and started a war with the Code of Light, but was severely wounded and sealed by a ‘nameless knight’ who crossed the sea hundreds of years ago. Thanks to this, Elril reconciled with the Code of Light and remained as friendly neighbors as they are now… … This was the changed history.

Isaac, who had become a ‘nameless knight’ in an instant, could see how powerful and terrifying the power of Urbansus was. A wizard who had once held as much importance as a lighthouse keeper had suddenly fallen to the status of an apostate.

Calurien, who was stuck in Kachulainn, seemed to have anticipated this situation and remained silent.

If you lose the fight against Urbansus, you must be prepared to suffer this stigma.

Isaac accepted this changed ‘common sense’ without much thought. But then he suddenly remembered the fight he had with Elril in Rougeberg and almost dropped his fork.

At that time, Elril erased Luzberg from the world.

‘No, wait a minute. Then doesn’t that mean that Luzberg has been erased from history as well? Then the Brandt Dukes have disappeared, and so has Isolde?’

“What happened to Rougeberg?”

Isaac asked, trying not to sound impatient. Morse looked puzzled by the sudden question.

“Yes? You mean the Duchy of Brandt? Oh, you mean the wife of the Grail Knight. They sent several contact ships because they were worried that your return would be delayed. When I told them that you had entered the Holy Land of Elyon, they were convinced and returned.”

Isaac felt relieved at the calm words.

Fortunately, the incident did not seem to be accepted as ‘official history’. After all, the disappearance of Luzberg was not an ordinary major event. If Elril could change history so easily, he would have won long ago.

“So, you also met Elril, Holy Grail Knight? How was it? What did he say?”

The knights asked with a very curious look on their faces.

Isaac felt burdened because he couldn’t tell them the story of how Elril had told them all to go to the battlefield and die. But fortunately, he had one story they would enjoy telling.

It doesn’t seem that different from when we first met, but this time it probably feels different.

Isaac took out the Cachulain from his waistband and placed it on the table with its scabbard still in place.

“This is the holy sword, Cachulin, that was written by Ellil and retrieved by Ashtu.”

The room was suddenly enveloped in silence.

Isaac continued, hoping that people would focus on the meaning rather than his own meager explanation.

“Elil has handed me over Kachulain and appointed me as a great warrior.”

The restaurant was filled with shouts of shock and admiration as if it were exploding.

***

Even Lyanna, who had been locked in her room, had no choice but to come out when she heard the news that Isaac had been appointed as the Great Warrior of Elril. In fact, Lyanna, who had been in Urbansus with him, was not affected by the historical changes and remembered what had actually happened.

“Is this Cachulin?”

“Yes, but do not hold it in your hand without permission. I have been warned that if a non-warrior holds it, it will stab your neck.”

No one had ever brought in a death row inmate to test it. No one doubted the prestigious Knight of the Holy Grail, and giving the Holy Sword to an unqualified person was a great sin.

Lyanna couldn’t help but reproach herself even more for having blocked Isaac’s path when he had come to see Elril in person and brought the token. She almost wanted to bite her tongue at the thought of almost betraying the cause, but she still had a chance to repent for her sins.

“… … If Elril has entrusted you with the great position of Grand Master, then he must have entrusted you with great responsibility. I do not doubt Elril’s intentions, but I would like to know what mission he has entrusted you with.”

There is no need to beat around the bush or persuade. As long as there is a clear symbol, it is simply conveyed.

“Ellie wishes for the Dawn Army to join the war.”

The god of knights gave the knight a sword.

Could there be a more accurate symbol than that?

Although he omitted the order to go out and die, Isaac had no intention of getting angry with such a socially inept remark. The news that Elril had ordered the Dawn Army to join the battle spread throughout the Elyon Citadel in an instant, and chaos ensued.

Already, the Elyon Citadel was filled with nobles from all over the country, including the Aldeon Army, the Georg clan, and Rosalind Soltain, so it was practically a general assembly of the Elyon Kingdom. Isaac was horrified at the thought that if even one angel fell here and cut them down, the entire Elyon Kingdom leadership would be blown away, but there was no better stage to gather opinions.

“Are you the Yeomyeong Army?”

Rihanna spoke in a somewhat timid tone.

Of course, there were quite a few knights who did not want the Dawn Army to participate in the war. Not all of the Ellil believers were war maniacs who couldn’t stand to die. Even if they were not fanatics, they knew that their own lives were precious.

“You don’t seem to feel like it?”

“How could that be, but… … .”

Lyanna was, in fact, willing to go to war if it was a glorious war. However, the reason she was hesitant was because she had seen her uncle turn his back on the Dawn Army after their participation, and she knew that there were many nobles she knew who did not want to go to war.

While the young knights were already excited about the coming great war, the older knights were frowning at the sacrifices and tolerance that the Kingdom of Elril would have to make to join the Dawn Army.

And among them, Rosalind Saltain was also a very attractive person.

“Your Majesty Ethelred. Your Majesty promised Soltane autonomy and independence. If so, I believe you will respect Soltane’s independent opinion regarding the Dawn Army’s participation in this war as well.”

It was inevitable that independent opinions would emerge immediately after the civil war ended. Self-government was what Aethelred had promised. However, I never expected that he would speak like that right away, even though he had the status of a great general and had brought Cachulin with him.

Of course, Rosalind was the only one who could say something like that so openly.

Ethelred also spoke as if he was in trouble.

“Lady Rosalind, of course I respect Soltane’s opinion as I promised. But as you have seen, the threat of the Undead Cult does not escape this distant island. Have you not heard that they have turned our knights into death knights and have the audacity to raise Elril as an undead?”

“I too have seen them and fought them. But Your Majesty, remember that the reason the Undead Cult was able to infiltrate the Kingdom of Elril was because the knights who fought in the Dawn Army returned corrupted. Those who learned wrong things returned to the Kingdom tainted.”

Isaac wondered if Rosalind had always been so dogmatic and closed-minded. Then Rosalind suddenly met Isaac’s eyes. She glanced at a few nobles.

Isaac recognized that the nobles were neutral nobles who were secretly on her side.

Only then did Isaac realize Rosalind’s intentions.

‘Ah… … So you’re calling yourself the devil’s advocate.’

In any case, there is a possibility that the Kingdom of Elril will split because of the Dawn Army. Before that happens, Rosalind wanted to clearly organize her opinions on behalf of the anti-Dawn Army faction and create an opportunity to unify.

“Okay. Then let’s do it this way.”

Rosalind argued for a while, then gestured helplessly.

“Let us decide the outcome through a duel. If this is truly Elril’s will, he will demonstrate his intentions once again in a duel.”

“duel?”

“Yes. We will choose Lyanna Georg as our champion.”

No one can disagree with her, she is the strongest of the opposition faction. Since she was a sinner anyway, Lyanna, who had been silent and kept quiet, was surprised when she was suddenly chosen as a great warrior for the duel. However, even the nobles of the anti-Dawn faction would agree with her.

“Then we will have the Knights of the Holy Grail… … .”

“No, even though he received Cachulain, he is a believer in the Code of Light. This is something that must be decided within our Order of Elril.”

Rosalind looked at Ethelred and said confidently.

“I would like to have His Majesty Aethelred step forward as my opponent in the duel.”