Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 235



Only Krnovel

Episode 235. When looking into the abyss (1)

Isaac approached the tentacles that had hardened as the night of whispering rampaged.

The tentacles had transformed into pillars entangled with tree roots. With a light swing of the sword, they scattered and collapsed like soft clumps of ash. They looked like the same white sand that appears when the plague breaks out.

Isaac dug through the ashes with his knife and came into contact with something inside.

The monk’s face, pale as a skull, remained in the form of a mask. His lower face was grotesquely distorted, twisted like the legs of an octopus.

The part that was initially thought to be the monk’s face was also likely to have been a mask.

‘Claire and her group also wore masks and performed rituals. It is common for nameless Chaos Priests to wear masks, so it seems that this guy also wore a mask as his face.’

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that it wasn’t an ordinary mask.

[Creeping Fear (A+)]

[Fear never comes in a stern, sinister form. It creeps into your everyday life in a dark and sinister form, until one day you find it at your doorstep, on the corner of your wall, or at your bedside. When worn, it allows you to communicate through thought waves, and causes those of a lower rank than the wearer to feel fear.]

‘This could be useful.’

Isaac felt secretly glad.

He was thinking that it would be nice to have a mask because his face was sold too much. He also liked the intimidating appearance. He pretended to collect evidence without being awkward and picked up the mask and hid it inside his armor.

“Are you done?”

Isolde asked, looking somewhat tired. Isaac turned his head and looked around at the young priests sitting on the floor.

“The real thing starts now.”

***

If we report Claire and her gang to the church or just cut off their heads here, the situation will be resolved easily. We have irrefutable evidence and witnesses.

It was clear that if the church took them away and scared them a little, they would easily confess.

But if that happens, they will definitely be hung at the stake. Isaac had no intention of doing that. Not out of pity, but because it was clear that they had been used as well.

“Where did you get your information on this ritual?”

Isaac and Isolde made Claire’s men kneel on the floor and began to interrogate them. They didn’t even wonder how Isaac had found them at the right time and defeated the monster.

Originally, the Knights of the Holy Grail were miraculous beings.

“This, this is what we found in the underground tombs.”

It was the answer he had expected, but it wasn’t the answer Isaac was hoping for. Isaac shook his head.

“No. You don’t have the ability to do that. This deep underground tomb, the exact data, the ritual procedure, the procurement of materials for the sacrifice, even the deciphering of the documents written in Gore, it’s not a ritual that you can accomplish in a few months, even if it’s a little clumsy. There’s someone who helped you. Tell me about him.”

Isaac believed that this incident was not something that could have been committed by Claire’s gang alone.

These guys were too clumsy and incompetent for that.

Of course, he would be considered a smarter person among his peers, but this was going too far. It was highly likely that the Immortal Church had secretly leaked the information, or that there was a real cult that was secretly encouraging it.

Claire and her friends looked at each other in confusion. Isaac watched them with confused eyes. It wasn’t hard to figure out their true feelings through their frantic glances and expressions.

“I, this is information that we actually found out among ourselves… … .”

Isaac sighed. These guys really didn’t know they were being fooled.

“Who encouraged you to enter the catacombs?”

Only after Isaac gave them a hint did their eyes widen in surprise. Only then did Claire open her mouth hesitantly.

“Ka, Cardinal Camille entrusted us with the care of the ossuary… … .”

Cardinal Camille? Isaac fell silent when the name of the high priest who had entrusted him with the mission was mentioned. Isaac thought for a moment and then asked another question.

“Was it Cardinal Camille who told you about the teachings of the owl?”

“Uh, um, yes. That’s right.”

Claire answered, but she didn’t seem to understand why Isaac was asking her this question or what Camille had to do with this ritual. She spoke cautiously, as if worried that Isaac might misunderstand.

“I, Holy Grail Knight. Cardinal Camille is also my grandmother. He only trusted us to take care of the cemetery, but he never told us to go underground or hinted at any information related to this ritual. Despite his high position, he is a person who is so enlightened that he is interested in the ‘new doctrine.’”

Claire’s words sounded more like she was speaking out of genuine respect for her grandmother than simply taking her side because she was her own.

It was a strange sight for a priest who used to talk as if the upper echelons of the church were all corrupt old farts, but it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had heard the story of the owl’s teachings from Camille.

But given that Cardinal Camille was an extremely political figure even within the church, there was no reason to take such a risk.

If he was a cardinal, every single action had to be seen as a political act.

Something in Isaac’s head was coming together like a clockwork puzzle.

‘Nameless chaos, young priests, new doctrine, teachings of the owl, knights of the Holy Grail… … are you trying to implicate me?’

Isaac felt a strange sensation.

He is the most notable saint in the church these days. He has cast out pagan angels, has been made a saint, has had his patron bishop become a cardinal, and has recently been recognized as the great evangelist of Elil.

However, the few words that the Grail Knight had uttered began to spread among the young priests under the name of ‘new doctrine’. Furthermore, there were many parts that were similar to the ‘Teachings of the Owl’, which the religious order also did not like.

At that time, the Grail Knights entered Ultenheim, and Cardinal Camille decided to link the foolish young priests within the order with the Grail Knights. He spread rumors that the ‘new doctrine’ that Isaac had spread might be related to the nameless chaos, thus tarnishing their reputation.

The Grail Knight’s weakness is exposed, his momentum is broken, and the Order takes control of the Grail Knight.

The ending is that everyone lived happily ever after except for the Knight of the Holy Grail.

Of course, this is just an estimate.

Isaac, who was obsessed with suspicion, might have made absurd assumptions. It also did not explain why Cardinal Camille had been disseminating information about nameless chaos to young priests and had been turning a blind eye to it.

‘I’ll have to confront Camille about this first. How dare she frame me with such a ridiculous accusation of being associated with some nameless chaos just because I’m doing so well… … I can’t forgive her.’

Although something seemed odd, Isaac decided to be angry about the evil cardinal’s plot.

Anyway, now that we knew who was behind this, we had to decide what to do with these priests.

Isaac looked back at Claire.

The young priests who had successfully performed the ritual and declared that they would hand over their souls to Isaac were now great nameless chaos cultists and apostates.

Isaac opened his mouth to them, who did not know at any moment that divine punishment would strike.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to return to the church alive again.”

The already pale faces of the priests turned even paler. One of them made a strange noise and fell to the side. Isaac was not trying to scare them, but to teach them how to deal with it, so he kicked the fallen priest to wake him up.

“So come to your senses and listen. It’s not about your true intentions or the nobility of your family or anything like that. It’s about the fact that you can receive a more severe punishment because you’re a priest.”

Priests and paladins are forgiven for their high social status, which means that they can overlook most of their sins. However, the crimes that are even more unforgivable to these clergy and that should be punished several times more severely than ordinary people are heresy and apostasy.

In a situation where the dawn is right in front of us, the excuse of ‘research purposes’ will not work.

“There is only one way for you to be forgiven now.”

“What, what is it… … ?”

“First, run away from here. I will provide a place for you to hide, so hide for a while and earn enough merit to make the sect want to find you and kill you. Fortunately, since you are an unordained priest, the divine punishment will not come directly to you.”

The priests staggered at Isaac’s words.

What kind of merits must one perform to be forgiven for one’s apostasy and survive?

But the way Isaac spoke was the way he himself had chosen.

By parasitizing within the Church of the Light’s Law, they are recognized as useful beings, and when cut off, the Church clings to them so tightly that it is as painful as cutting off a piece of flesh.

“Well, well, then what should we do?”

“For now, there are no official victims of this incident, so I’ll leave it at that. I’ll provide you with food, clothing, and a place to sleep, so just follow my instructions.”

When Isaac said he would take responsibility and look after them, the priests looked relieved, though their eyes were wet. It seemed to them that having a prestigious Grail Knight personally teach and care for them was a sufficient act of atonement. However, it seemed that they had no idea that the Grail Knight was a nameless agent of chaos.

‘I will raise you to be a useful socialite.’

There’s an old saying that goes, if someone hates you for no reason, give them a reason to hate you.

Camille had framed Isaac for being involved with the Nameless Chaos, so he planned to create Nameless Chaos Priests as she wished.

***

Isaac handed Claire’s group over to Hesabel outside of Ultenheim.

The guards did not find it strange that the priests were leaving the city, and did not even search them. Isaac gave them money for their travel expenses and instructed them to go to the territory of Isacrea.

I didn’t give him enough money for the trip. Instead, I hoped that the time he spent in Ultenheim, where he lived comfortably, would be gone. It would be hard, but the priests wouldn’t starve to death in the territory of Gertonia.

If you just let go of your pride, people will line up to give you charity.

After sending Claire and her men away, Isaac headed back to the Ultenheim Cathedral.

“Is it okay if I basically just disposed of criminals on my own?”

When Isaac asked her along the way, Isolde seemed to think for a moment and then opened her mouth.

“I don’t think it was a mortal sin since it was an attempt. However, if the truth had been revealed to the church, he would have died for sure. If someone can be given a chance to atone and turn from their mistakes without dying, I think that’s right.”

Isaac felt relieved that Isolde’s thoughts seemed to match his own. Of course, he did not think as noble as hers, but he thought he had come up with the best result.

“Come to think of it, you seemed quite surprised when that chaos monster attacked you. Did you see anything?”

Isolde flinched at Isaac’s question. She seemed to be contemplating her answer, then groped her fingers along her chest and muttered.

“I could see the beating heart inside its throat. It seemed as if the heart had taken over its body like a parasite, leaving the rest of its body as a shell.”

Isaac was at a loss for words for a moment.

Isolde absorbed the heart of the red-flesh prophet. She had swallowed the power of an angel, but she seemed to think of it as a curse rather than an ability of her own.

Perhaps it was because of this feeling that he was unable to fully exert his power even after swallowing the heart of an angel. He was afraid that if he were to fully use that power, he might be taken over by the red-flesh prophet.

Just as Isaac was about to tell her that there was no need to be so afraid, Isolde asked.

“When he died, he transformed into a giant tentacle and died. Is that a fear that Isaac has?”

Isaac kept his mouth shut. He was in no position to tell Isolde what to do.

Just as Isaac worries that one day the tentacles will burst through his body and overwhelm the world, Isolde also fears that the heart inside her body will eventually take control of her.

The two, holding the monster in their bodies, walked side by side in silence.

“Well, I think I should report the incident to Cardinal Camille. I think he’ll be curious about the sudden disappearance of the seminary students.”

Isolde nodded.

“Please give me a room, Isaac.”

The sect tried to entangle Isaac, but this also provided valuable clues to Isolde, who was trying to find the sect’s weakness.

But that information wasn’t available right now.

It was up to Isaac to decide how to behave.

Isaac headed to the Ultenheim Cathedral.

It was still unclear which one was the monster.