Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 246



Only Krnovel

Episode 246. Unholy Beings (4)

The nameless message of chaos reached Isaac’s ears even though his eyes were closed. His consciousness escaped from Urbanus just before the door closed. It meant that the praying white tree had completely collapsed, so Isaac closed his eyes and looked at the reward of victory.

[Children of Chaos / Must have the ability ‘Parasite from Beyond’. The parasite immediately devours its host and grows explosively, transforming into a ‘Children of Chaos’.]

That was the end of the description of the original Chaos Scion abilities. However, the enhanced Chaos Scion abilities had something new added.

[Additionally, you can summon or send back the Chaos factions that have already been created in the world through sacrifices. However, there must be a sacrifice infected with the ‘Parasite from Beyond’ prepared at the place of summoning.]

‘That means summoning and counter-summoning of the clan is now possible.’

Isaac can call or send back his followers no matter how far away they are. This was a very useful perk, as Isaac was in a position where it was difficult to easily bring along a conspicuous group of followers. Hecatli, for example, was left behind in the kingdom of Elril, as he could not find a way to bring her on his ship.

‘I guess I should first check the definition of a family.’

In a broader sense, Kyle and Hesabel, who are currently ruling the Isacre territory, are also part of the Chaos faction.

Even more broadly, Isaac’s followers, who he has unknowingly influenced, are also nameless members of the Chaos Force, so not all of them will be summoned. Given the need for sacrifices, it’s likely that… …the ‘summoning process’ will be extremely disgusting and shocking.

Isaac opened his eyes. As soon as he opened them, his eyes met with Hesabel’s, who was right in front of him.

He struck her forehead without realizing it.

Hesabel fell out, leaving a red handprint on his forehead.

“Oh, shit. You surprised me.”

Hesabel rubbed her forehead and grumbled.

“Do you really think you can beat up someone who risked their life to protect you?”

“Even when I’m sleeping, I get startled when I see you hanging from the ceiling, and my heart races. Every time I want to hit you, I can’t reach you, so I can’t. If you don’t want to get hit again, keep your distance.”

He didn’t think Hesabel had any strange thoughts. Those people were originally attracted to Nephilim-like appearances. Isaac was confident that he wouldn’t be surprised if Hesabel was chasing him for his face rather than his victory. Her uncle had died because of that.

Isaac looked around.

It seemed as if Hesabel’s words were not an exaggeration, as traces of a brutal melee were spread out around. The number of monsters that had died impaled on the walls and floors alone exceeded double digits.

At the bottom of the cliff, a praying white tree with its waist completely cut off, stretched out to the ground. The praying white tree, drained of all its blood, would soon turn into white sand, just like in the capital.

Isaac was sorry about that.

Isaac had already received his reward, but he needed to replenish the faith he had expended while performing the ritual. And the nameless Chaos Clans all had plenty of useful faith.

‘It’s a waste to leave food behind.’

Isaac placed his hand on the praying white tree’s torso and pushed his tentacle in.

In the flesh that had not yet cooled, various internal organs that were biologically difficult to explain were arranged in a disorderly manner. Isaac ignored the useless things and searched for the core of the flow. He felt a heart that had stopped and was firmly established in the center.

Isaac’s tentacles grabbed it and crushed it in one breath, eating the fragments.

Just that one heart made me feel full and at the same time, I felt an enormous amount of divine power building up.

[Dark Eucharist / You can prey on the target with your tentacles or treat them as a ‘communion’. Faith increases in proportion to the quality of the communion. Enemies who witness the communion will fall into a state of fear or confusion, but your followers will fall into a state of religious ecstasy.]

At that moment, the dark Eucharist was triggered. Isaac looked around slowly and realized that it had become quiet, and saw Neria and the so-called nameless Chaos believers sneaking out of their hiding places. All they could see was a masked man laying his hand on the corpse of a praying white tree, but it looked like a sublime religious painting.

They fell to the floor in tears. Neria crawled toward Isaac, but stopped a little way away. She couldn’t bring herself to go any closer. The sins and foolishness of the past years surged up her spine.

“Prophet, Prophet, please… … .”

The ignorant believers, having witnessed the true return of God, simply bowed their heads and begged for mercy. But now their eyes have been washed and their minds have become clear.

“Please, tell us how to wash away the sins we have committed.”

Isaac looked around at Neria and the believers. These were essentially Barbarians who had been abandoned or apostatized from the Code of Light or other faiths. They might have come because they were curious, or they might have been truly dissatisfied with the world and wished for its destruction.

‘What should I do with these lives that have no answers?’

If they were paladins, they would have killed them without a second thought, but Isaac knew that they were simply ignorant.

Isaac thought back to his friend from the previous world who had been habitually saying, “I want to die.” But Isaac knew that he didn’t really mean it.

It just means that they want to go to a warm southern country and relax without any worries. If they wanted destruction, there is a problem with the world that made them want destruction. And Isaac now has a hard enough edge to smooth out that rough world.

Isaac reached out to them.

[I will tell you a new commandment.]

The waves of thought that resonated through the mask were transmitted to everyone. They bowed their heads and waited for the new commandments of the new prophet who would lead the new era.

[Eat plenty of vegetables, get enough sleep, work honestly, and don’t torture animals for no reason.]

***

Thump, thump, thump, krrrrr… … .

The debris blocking the stairs came crashing down with a loud noise. Rottenhammer and the paladins were on their way down to find out what was really happening down there.

Rottenhammer wanted to jump into the gaping hole alone to check it out, but was stopped by the knights who warned him not to go in, saying that there might be many monsters down there.

Instead, he used the Paladin’s power and miracles without sparing a single stroke to successfully open a passage that they could barely pass through. When Rottenhammer finally reached the underground cavern, he was speechless at the sight of the horrific wreckage and the smell of blood.

“What the heck is this… … .”

It was easy to tell that this was a profane place just from the carvings and reliefs left on the walls and pillars. And the praying white tree was seen stretching up to a huge hole connected to the ground. The praying white tree was now melting into white sand, but because it was so large, its shape was almost completely preserved.

And in the middle of the crowd stood a familiar face.

“Isaac!”

“Chief Rottenhammer. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Even though he was caught ignoring his own words and going in, Rottenhammer was neither surprised nor angry. He was not stupid enough to say such a pathetic thing when Isaac’s warning had already been confirmed to be true.

Instead, he was mired in a different sense of inferiority.

“Is it really true that here… … the cultists performed an impure ritual? Have I been protecting that group all this time?”

Although he was following the orders of the church, it was no different from denying his life’s work. He had beaten countless Barbarians and pagans to death with a hammer. And yet he was protecting the cultists who were performing such a great ritual with his own hands.

As Rottenhammer bit his lip in anger and self-loathing, Isaac shook his head.

“No, they weren’t cultists. They were just a bunch of idiots who were sacrificed for experiments.”

“You little idiots?”

“Yes. Perhaps one of the priests of the sect was studying the nameless miracle of chaos. Those who were here were simply those who had nowhere to go.”

One of the virtues of the Order of Light is to seek and study knowledge. It is not strange that the study of pagans is considered one of that knowledge. However, performing the ritual directly and calling upon unclean beings is going too far.

Rottenhammer had also heard a little about what had happened in Ultenheim and Camille. He was silent for a while and then looked around at the sea of ​​blood. There were no intact bodies left, but there were plenty of fragments that looked like human remains.

“Are they all dead?”

“I think so.”

In fact, Isaac had the believers flee towards the secret passage after announcing the new commandments. It would be difficult to find them, as they collapsed the passage after they fled.

I don’t know how they will accept the new commandments. However, since they heard the commandments while their faith in themselves was at its peak, I expected that they would be imprinted in their minds to a degree close to brainwashing. In Neria’s case, they even imprinted ‘parasites from beyond’.

Isaac hoped they didn’t make fun of the commandments.

It was a commandment that might seem like a joke, but it was said with sincerity. I wanted them to chew on its meaning and realize it for themselves.

“Did you kill that monster too?”

Rottenhammer asked, pointing to the remains of the praying white tree.

Rottenhammer knew that he and the Templars had not been able to deal enough damage to the monster to kill it. Perhaps given more time, it would have begun to behave erratically and collapsed on its own before that. The battle, which could have taken a toll on anyone, ended with only a few casualties.

Isaac nodded.

“I was lucky.”

Rottenhammer sighed heavily at Isaac’s answer and dropped the hammer on the floor with a loud thud. Then he knelt on one knee in front of Isaac and bowed his head.

The knights looked at him, surprised by Rottenhammer’s actions.

“First of all, I apologize. For not believing you and almost causing a bigger disaster. And thank you. Thanks to you, my men were saved. Maybe you saved my life too. No, you may have saved the lives of tens of thousands, including the Lenheim Diocese.”

“No, don’t do that.”

Isaac was embarrassed and tried to stop him. In fact, it was Isaac who had called the praying white tree, so it was embarrassing for him to receive an apology and thanks.

But Rottenhammer said steadfastly.

“From today, the Knights of Brient will designate Isaac Isaacrea, the Saint of Resurrection, as their patron saint. Our original patron saint was Saint Brient, but the deeds of the Saint of Resurrection cannot be said to be inferior.”

Isaac was shocked, if not bewildered. The knights who came down with him were also shocked.

Each order of knights has a patron saint that serves as its symbol. The character and identity of the order of knights are determined by the deeds of that patron saint. This is an incident where the Brient Knights could end up becoming the Isacrea Knights.

Not only was it unusual for a patron saint to change, it could also cause internal backlash. Isaac was still a rookie with little experience as a paladin.

“No, the opinions of the subordinates or the bishop of Lenheim Cathedral… … .”

“My men will agree. If they are against, I will take the time to persuade them. And the diocese of Lenheim doesn’t matter. Since our base is there, we receive support from the cathedral of Lenheim, but we are not affiliated with it. If we move our base, the bishop won’t be able to tell me what to do.”

“No, but… … .”

“If you refuse, I can’t throw a tantrum. You don’t have to give permission right now. But I would like you to think of this as a kind of pledge and determination on my part.”

Only then did Isaac realize what Rottenhammer had decided to do.

He was already extremely disappointed with the Order of the Light. With the Order that had deceived him, with their actions. And that disappointment had not been building up for a day or two. This incident was just the last drop of water overflowing.

That is why he chose to be loyal to a trustworthy saint rather than to the religious order.

‘Ah… … This is difficult.’

Isaac couldn’t be happy that he had a loyal knighthood, because he was worried that Rottenhammer would be disappointed again when he found out that he was a nameless agent of chaos.

But eventually Isaac was able to figure out which way he should go.

Now his good deeds had to be sincere, not hypocritical.

Whether it’s Rottenhammer, Isolde, Gebel, or Ethelred.

Not just to survive and succeed, but also so that he doesn’t disappoint others who believe in him when his true identity is revealed one day.

As an unnamed agent of chaos, Isaac had to prove that he was an undeniable good.

Isaac looked back on his past actions once again.

‘… … Now that I think about it, I don’t think there was a time when I wasn’t sincere.’