Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 256



Only Krnovel

Episode 256. The Coming Temple (5)

After sending Isolde away, Isaac took Angela and headed to the Isacrea estate.

It was something I couldn’t leave to Hecatli or Jihilet, so I had no choice but to take her myself. However, I thought about walking her because I thought the little girl might be afraid of riding a dragon, but surprisingly, she didn’t seem that scared.

Nell seemed interested in Angela, but it was unclear whether it was a sense of familiarity or curiosity about her flesh. Angela, on the other hand, showed no emotion even as Nell flapped her wings and flew hundreds of meters.

‘If you fly this high, you’ll probably be curious, whether it’s scary or amazing.’

Isaac even tried to make a somewhat aggressive move, even though Isolde would be terrified if she knew. Angela flinched, clutching at Nell’s firm mane, but she also didn’t seem scared.

‘Is he originally a generous person, or has the shock of losing his parents dulled his emotions?’

That could be the case. However, he was worried that she might not be sensitive to external stimuli. Isaac decided to ask the priest about Angela as soon as he arrived at the estate.

***

“Go, did you go? Did you go?”

“Oh my god, what the hell is that?”

The scattered group of Siero Dawn Army crawled out from behind the trees where they had been hiding, one by one. They had been chased by a flock of crows and scattered in all directions, and without a proper center of gravity, their numbers had been greatly reduced compared to before. Originally a group of over a hundred, they now numbered only about thirty.

The morale was already at rock bottom. Just moments ago, they were staring up at the sky in fear at the sight of a giant crow flying overhead. In fact, it was Nel, the one Isaac and Angela rode, but no one thought it was a dragon.

“What on earth is this place that has all these crazy crows running around?”

“I thought I would be treated well since it was the territory of the famous Knights of the Holy Grail… … but I never thought they would let such evil things roam around!”

The group of Dawn soldiers looked around anxiously, their teeth chattering.

It felt good when each village came out with farming tools to join the Dawn Army. It felt like they were doing something great, and the villagers even helped by saving up money. As we walked along the road, we met people with similar goals and bonded with each other, and as our numbers grew, it was fun to see even the great nobles and knights looking at us with uncomfortable eyes.

But soon after, their good mood did not last long as they ran out of money. They had no choice but to collect donations for their noble expedition, but no one welcomed them. When they asked for food or a place to sleep, they were not only not welcomed, but even locked in the door.

The priest’s words that every house would welcome them and that a large crowd would greet them as soon as they left Yeomyeonggun were a lie.

They left their hometown with great hospitality, but they had no choice but to start plundering because they had no face to return. As their numbers increased, problems began to grow. It didn’t take long for the plundering to become violent. They were already no different from bandits, but they still believed that they were the Dawn Army and that if they joined Father Siero, the gates to heaven would open.

That is, if I don’t die in some unknown place like this.

“Come to think of it… … I heard there’s a castle here called Traelgul where an evil spirit lives. You didn’t come down from there, did you?”

When someone started to sound anxious, they all noticed. They all spoke to the only person who could help them, in order to gain some peace of mind.

“Hey, student. You said you were headed this way, right? This is where the Holy Grail Knights rule, so what brings you here?”

A man asked a haggard-looking young man.

The student priest, Claire, looked up at the sky blankly while wiping his dusty glasses.

“Well, crows are also clever beasts used by the Inquisitors. Perhaps they were sent down by the Code of Light to admonish us for the wrongdoings we have committed.”

“Ha. Give that guy a pat on the head.”

Another man hit Claire on the back of the head.

“He’s a student, but I thought he was smart because he’s a priest, but he’s really useless.”

“If he were a decent person, he would be in a cathedral or a monastery. Why would he be wandering around a place like this?”

Claire stumbled and picked up her dropped glasses and cleaned them.

Isaac’s prediction that the path to becoming a priest would not be that difficult was wrong.

The houses that had already been plundered by the Siero Dawn Army were not openly hostile, but they had no food to offer him, and for Claire, who had no stamina to begin with, the long distance itself was an ordeal.

Ironically, it was the Siero Dawn Army that helped Claire and her group at that time.

With barely enough food and drink, Claire and her party were barely able to travel with their lives hanging on.

Their addition was also welcomed by the Siero Dawn Army.

Even though they are students and cannot perform proper miracles, as they are members of the Dawn Army in name, the authority of groups with priests and those without is on a different level.

It was thanks to Claire and her party that they were able to gather a hundred people. By then, Claire knew that they were more like a bandit group, but she couldn’t get away. She tried to stop them several times, but she ended up getting beaten up instead.

At first, the men were reluctant to touch the priest’s body, but now that they knew that there was no harm done, they swung their fists without any hesitation.

Claire didn’t even resist.

The comrades who had been with him eventually died or fled. Only Cler remained to go to the Isacre territory. After all, he had heard rumors that his grandmother, Cardinal Camille, had turned into a monster after touching the nameless doctrine of chaos, so he had no intention of going back.

He now thought that this journey itself was a hardship and a punishment given to him. It was natural for him to wander to this extent in order to repent for the sins he had committed.

***

“Anyway, we can’t go back here. Since the scattered ones have nowhere to go anyway, they’ll all eventually gather at Isacre Village.”

“Let’s fill our bellies and find a place to rest. I heard that Isacrea is a peaceful place where we can live comfortably… … .”

That means they’re looking for other places to plunder. A single isolated house can easily be plundered by a group of thirty people.

A man said, nodding.

“There’s a house I saw over there earlier. Let’s stop by.”

The group of Dawn Army immediately moved in the direction indicated. Soon, as they had said, they came across a house in a quiet place. The surroundings were well-organized, and a few sheep were tied up inside the fence. The Isacrea clan had said that the security was stable, and it seemed to be true.

They were excited to taste meat for the first time in a long time.

At that moment, Claire suddenly jumped out in front of them and shouted.

“Run away!! There are thieves here!! Run away!!”

The men ran straight to him, swearing, grabbed his head and threw him to the ground.

“이 개새끼가, 일도 안 하는 주제에!”

“Kill him!”

A mob beating of Claire began. But they soon realized that it was not the time to beat Claire. A woman came out of a house after hearing his cries.

As soon as she made eye contact with the group of Dawn Soldiers, she ran out of the house.

“Get him! I’ll call the guards!”

If the security is stable, it means there are patrolling guards. The group of Dawn soldiers ran to catch the woman who ran away, leaving Claire behind. At that moment, Claire, who had been beaten and crouching, suddenly stood up, raised her hands, and shouted.

“The light is with me!”

The group of Dawn Army flinched in shock when they realized that Claire was trying to use a miracle, but nothing happened. Claire, who had already been tainted by the ritual of chaos, had no power left to use a miracle. The men, realizing that he was just talking nonsense to buy time, tried to chase the woman again.

But Claire recited the prayer again.

“Let me gather together the scattered fragments of oblivion with your hands!”

What kind of a useless prayer is this? A man tried to run, but something grabbed his ankle and he rolled on the ground.

For a moment, it felt like something like a black tentacle had crawled out from the ground and grabbed his ankle.

“What, what is this?!”

Claire was also surprised.

It was just a prayer he had read in the records, and it was a phrase he had never thought of writing. He had never even thought that a miracle would be granted to him, who was not even a believer.

But it was only for a short time. The miracle was only able to capture a fleeting moment, and it was quickly undone. But the woman had already disappeared beyond the fog surrounding the valley.

The group of Dawn soldiers, realizing that they had screwed up everything, looked around for someone to vent their anger on. There, right next to them, was someone they could have easily killed, lying helplessly.

Claire was grinning with a resigned expression, as if she had realized her fate.

‘Law of Light, Owl, Lords of the World. I have at least saved one person.’

A man holding a stone approached with brisk strides. Claire closed her eyes as she looked at the stone that would become her signature.

But even after waiting for a long time, the pain I was waiting for did not come.

Claire opened her eyes slowly, looking puzzled.

A man holding a stone stood there blankly in front of him. The others were just looking at him. No, Claire realized that their gaze was slightly higher than hers.

Suddenly, I wondered if the fog had always been this thick around here.

Something fell in front of Claire with a thud.

It was the head of a man who had just been holding a rock and trying to hit his head against it.

Soon, a bloody murder drama began to unfold in the thick fog.

***

Crunch.

Claire watched from beyond the fog as a large armored knight crushed the skull of a Dawn soldier with one hand. The knight threw the man, whose head had been strangely shrunken, down, then counted on his fingers the number of those still alive.

The group of Dawn soldiers tried to escape from ‘that thing’ several times. However, this thick fog strangely distorted their sense of direction, so no matter how many times they ran, they would always end up back where they were. Eventually, they gave up on running and rushed at the knight, only to be brutally murdered.

[… … Ten. This should be enough.]

The knight muttered to himself, making a strange noise inside his helmet, and then turned his gaze to Claire. Claire, who sat down in a daze, was the only one who had watched the knight from the beginning to the end.

[This is the territory of Traelgul, the lord of the castle. The innocent will be spared, but those with evil intentions will have to pay a toll of one of their heads, arms, or legs.]

Claire just listened to his words blankly. Traelgul looked at Claire quietly and spoke as if urging her.

[… … Spread the rumor so that everyone who passes by here hears about it. Got it?]

“All right.”

Claire answered for now. If she didn’t answer, she felt like she would have to find someone among the other nine who would.

Traelgul nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and then disappeared into the fog.

Even after Traelgul disappeared, the remnants of the Dawn Army lay prostrate on the ground, sobbing and groaning. Then, some of them realized that the fog had cleared and ran away in a panic. The direction they were running was, of course, not to the east where the Isacre territory was, but to the west where they had come from.

Now they will run away and create new rumors surrounding the Isacrea estate.

There are rumors of a certain phantom knight who is full of terrible horrors.

Claire staggered to her feet.

It was already night, and the sun had set. From a distance, lights that seemed to be part of a patrol could be seen approaching. They, too, seemed to have wandered through the fog for quite some time. Unlike the other remnants of the Dawn Army, Claire approached the torches toward the east.