Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 276



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Episode 276. From the Abyss Again (1)

Isaac didn’t create a handy time travel device that would allow him to change history whenever he wanted.

Just activating the Watcher’s Lighthouse consumes a huge amount of divine power and stamina. And now, this is just a ‘temporary history’ that occurs until the ‘present’ is caught up.

If Isaac fails to create a sufficiently plausible development or creates a history that is too advantageous to him, it will be quickly dismissed as ‘non-existent’.

Then you will immediately encounter Dera Heman again in the secret vault.

‘What this means is that you shouldn’t try to revise history with Urbanus by making the excommunication of the emperor nonexistent or going to kill the Pope.’

Isaac sees the Urbanus transformation as a dangerous double-edged sword, as evidenced by the fact that the god of the Salt Council attempted to transform himself and was buried beneath the salt desert.

It is also too easy to call in the intervention of angels of other faiths. Isaac, who is still struggling to deal with even one angel, was not doing any good by drawing unnecessary aggro. Above all, the problem with the Urbansus transformation is that you have to find an angel whose purpose matches yours.

What if the angel chosen as the ‘writer’ betrays or does not act as he wants? The worst situation can occur. Therefore, Isaac was able to foresee the future to some extent.

Because of the probability and timeliness, there is not much room to change history.

Crises and hardships will come at similar rates.

This time, the two, wearing the confessional attire, easily approached the dungeon. Since the ‘confession’ of the imperial nobles and knights was already taking place throughout the prison, there was no one to stop them.

“… … You really got here so easily. I can’t believe it. Thanks to you, Isaac.”

Basch muttered as he descended deeper into the dungeon. He seemed oblivious to the changing course of history, being nothing more than a ash-covered, shambling body. It made sense, considering he was similar to the old Raella.

Thinking about it that way, Isaac realized once again how sincere Baschul was about revenge.

“Why are you suddenly looking at me with pity?”

“… … It’s true that both you and Gebel are old people who have nothing to do but take revenge. If I had a family, I would have gone back there.”

“Why are you suddenly arguing? Are you trying to show off that you’re married? It’s normal for knights to be single.”

“I just had an idea. I won’t stop you from getting revenge, but if you’re done with everything and have nowhere else to go, come to the Isacre territory. Mr. Gebel is there too, so you two can talk things through and resolve things, and you can take care of the war orphans.”

“Why are you an orphan? I’m not close with kids.”

“I thought Mr. Gebel could do it too, but when he actually did it, he was really good at it.”

Basch laughed out loud at Isaac’s words. However, Isaac’s words seemed to have made him think about many things.

That’s usually the case with people who are crazy about revenge. They think about revenge, but they don’t think about anything after that.

This is why after avengers finish their revenge, they feel empty and say nonsense like, “Revenge is meaningless.”

Even while taking revenge, you should make friends, develop hobbies, and find new relationships or happiness in life in advance so that after taking revenge, you can feel a sense of relief like you’ve ‘finished the old laundry’ or ‘taken the poop that was a week old’.

If you’ve dedicated your whole life to one thing, how could you not feel empty when it’s over?

Isaac didn’t want to become like Gebel or Baschl.

Both of them have spent their entire lives obsessed with revenge and living boring lives, so I hope they can find some fun in life even when they grow old. Seeing Gebel enjoy tormenting the new recruits made me think that maybe Baschul could find new joy in life too.

“… … Isaac, you said you had business in the secret vaults, but I appreciate you prioritizing rescuing the Emperor. If there’s trouble, I’ll block the way, and you can escape with the Emperor. The Emperor might be of some help in stopping the Orkan Discipline.”

“Oh, good. I trust Basel.”

Isaac answered coolly.

In fact, Isaac knew that there was bound to be trouble.

Because they know that at least a similar or more dangerous level of hardship than before the change must occur before it is accepted as ‘real history’.

***

“Stop. Who is it?”

As we approached the dungeon where Baltzemer was, two paladins with golden lion symbols on their armor stopped us. Unlike the other prisons, the paladins were standing guard, so it seemed like they were of a different class.

Isaac answered, lifting the sleeve of his confessional cassock.

“An order has been given to interrogate the apostate Baltzemer.”

“His Holiness the Pope has ordered that no one should touch Waldsemer, let alone see him. I have neither heard nor received any orders, so step aside.”

As expected, he responded resolutely, without giving any room for improvement, as expected of a tightly shut knight. There was no sign of any wavering even on the tip of the spear he was aiming at. Isaac let out a sigh and pushed forward the cart loaded with torture tools.

“Can’t you see here? The order signed by His Holiness the Pope… … .”

The moment the knights’ eyes turned to the cart, Isaac and Baschul simultaneously leaped forward and swung their swords. The knights immediately raised their spears in response, but it was difficult to stop the two men who had prepared themselves for the attack.

Isaac used Kachulain’s acceleration ability to quickly pierce the gap under the paladin’s helmet and stop him from screaming. Vashul left behind a shape of ash, and in the next moment, he was already drawing a trail of dust and striking the paladin’s neck.

What was more surprising was Bashuul than the paladin.

He looked at his ash-covered hands with a look of horror. Then his eyes met Isaac’s and he became even more horrified.

“Did you know?!”

“I just happened to find out.”

Isaac did not specifically mention the ‘erased history’.

Since his true identity had already been revealed, he felt that there was no need to hide it and so he displayed his power. Although it was very reassuring to have an angel on his side, he had no intention of using that power recklessly.

The prison of Baltzemer was naturally sealed. However, when the Ruaddin Key was inserted, the seal was easily broken and the lock fell off. The complacent response of the religious order was wrong, as they did not expect that someone with the Ruaddin Key would sneak in.

Creak.

As the door opened, a dark prison scene was revealed.

The conditions in the prison were not as bad as one might expect. There were beds, though they were filled with rags, and toilets that could be used for maintaining dignity. However, compared to the conditions enjoyed by the prison’s owner, it might have been no better than a pigsty.

A man was crouching in a corner of the prison cell.

He was a man who came close to seizing the world in his hands and then fell into the abyss.

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

When he heard Baschul’s voice, Baltsemer slowly raised his head.

***

Baltzemer was recalling a memory.

I was around twenty years old.

He fell seriously ill for no reason. This was not surprising, since he had often suffered from minor illnesses because his brothers bribed servants to mix poison in his food.

He survived each time, but this fever was severe.

His whole body felt as if it was boiling, and no matter how many times the priests and doctors visited him, he just shook his head.

In his fevered mind, Baltsemer imagined himself being quenched in fire.

The world’s furnace was said to be filled with the material that would be reborn as a god, and that one day it would break the furnace and be reborn. And that god was said to be the true law of light.

Baltsemer imagined himself as the light code that had entered the furnace to be reborn. The underground fire where the gods were being forged would be much hotter and more painful. This poison was not even painful… … thinking so.

It was a blasphemous thought, but the sick man had no room to think about such things.

Flesh melts, bones disintegrate, and spirit vaporizes and scatters. Then flesh is pounded and pickled again, bones are reassembled, and spirit solidifies and flows out.

In a vision of breaking and reassembling itself over and over again, Baltsemer saw his body taking the form of a stag.

The stag had a mane of flame and horns that radiated heat.

Baltsemer was fascinated by the beauty of the stag. However, the stag was not yet complete. It was still weak and could not even stand on its own feet.

Baltsemer eagerly awaited its completion.

Then a servant came in. He was his favorite servant, a servant who had been like a friend to him since childhood. He could trust and eat anything he gave him.

The servant sprinkled oil all over the room with a stern expression and took out a dagger.

He aimed his dagger at the stag that was still being slaughtered, at Baltsemer who was lying in bed with a fever. He intended to personally finish off the tiresome assassin who would not die even if he took poison, and then set fire to him. Baltsemer tried to scream, but his hoarse throat could not produce any sound.

The moment the tip of the sword touched his neck, the room was filled with bright light.

It was a brilliant flash of light, as if the sun had descended into the room. Just a single pillar of brilliant light was quietly looking down on him in the middle of the room. Just by his appearance, the room was filled with heat, the flowers withered, and the curtains and the dry floor caught fire. The flames spread quickly through the room, riding on the oil, and the assassin with the dagger was reduced to ashes in an instant.

Baltzemer stared at the angel, engulfed in flames. He knew who it was, instinctively, no, just by the will that the most famous angel had secretly revealed along with his voice.

[I will be with you.]

The lighthouse keeper whispered quietly to Baltsemer.

The flames spread quickly throughout the mansion. There were screams, shouts, and cracking and breaking sounds. Baltsemer was in the middle of the conflagration, but he didn’t feel even a little heat. It was as if the flames were the safest place for him to be.

That night, Baltsemer was reborn as a miraculous body, a holy man.

It was the day he truly decided to become emperor.

***

Baltsemer looked up at Baschul with blurry eyes.

Unlike the thoughts he had just been lost in, this dark space made him weak and feeble. However, the voice of the guard knight, Baschul, could not be confused.

Basch hurriedly approached Baltsemer and supported him.

“Can you move? You have to hurry.”

“Baschel… … It’s really Baschul. Where the hell am I, in my right mind? If I were alive, I would have run away.”

“Your Majesty still has a lot of debts to repay. I cannot let you die peacefully until you have paid them.”

Baltsemer was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly shook off Baschl’s hand and sat down.

“I… I deceived you. I don’t deserve your help.”

“Your Majesty, why are you doing this?”

Baschl was flustered and urged Baltsemer on, but Baltsemer refused to touch him until the very end.

“I offered to help you take revenge on the Order of Light. I took that as an attempt to expose the Order’s corruption, find its weaknesses, or at least steal some of its authority.”

“I know that. I just accepted it because we both agreed with each other… … .”

“That was a wrong goal from the beginning. I said I would make the earth ruled by humans and the heaven ruled by gods, but in fact I was wrong. I believed that I could become the one who could represent both the earth and the heaven.”

What difference would it make if Baschul killed the blind men? Of course, it could be possible if the next people in power reform themselves.

But Baltsemer had no such intention. He simply wanted to become the greatest power, adding the power of the church to the power of man. He thought that was the duty and right of a human being chosen by the lighthouse keeper.

Of course, there may be a philosophy and ideology for the people, for governance, and for the future. However, it was revealed the moment the lighthouse keeper appeared that it was nothing more than an impossible dream from the beginning.

“I was under the delusion that I was a human chosen by the lighthouse keeper. But now that I think about it, I think the lighthouse keeper appeared just to fuel my pride and vanity.”

Baltzemer muttered in a dejected voice.

“In the end, I threw away the authority of the Emperor and entrusted everything to the lighthouse keeper. I wanted to rely on the authority of Heaven. I broke the Treaty of Licht myself.”

“your majesty.”

“In the end, I betrayed my subjects, my subordinates, and my followers who trusted me. I simply wanted to become a blind man who even held the power of the emperor.”

Baltzemer muttered, scratching his face with a look of despair.

“If I were to challenge Heaven, I should have done it with my own strength until the end, just like I have done so far… … I should have challenged it with my own strength alone, without relying on the angels!”