Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 288



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Episode 288. The Opponent (9)

Isaac had no angels to serve. But now that he had brought in another faith, the angels would not be able to leave their beloved warriors alone.

The angel who possessed Lyanna’s body was Nimlot, the Lady of the Lake.

When they learned that the Lady of the Lake had arrived, the knights of Elil became even more enthusiastic and began to fight fiercely. The Lady of the Lake was the one who guided the knights who died in the Elil faith to heaven. The battlefield she protected was a heaven where heaven was guaranteed, so there was no reason to spare oneself.

And one of the characteristics of the Elril Knights is that they become stronger the more they are immersed in the madness of the battlefield.

“Nimlot, watch over my battlefield!”

One of the Elril knights let out a mad roar and cut Keshik’s torso in two with a single swing of his sword.

The orcs were dumbfounded at the sight of a mere knight, not even a sword master, cutting through the thick bones of the Keshik. However, the Elril knights charged fiercely as if it were a natural thing and they could not lose.

Eventually, the battle lines began to collapse much more quickly than before.

“Your Majesty the Khan!”

Teherma urged again.

Sahullan clicked his tongue. He could also expect the protection of the living, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a showdown with the Lady of the Lake here. However, in the meantime, all the forces in the front and rear would be defeated.

‘What a pity.’

Sahullan had enough men and resources to crush any number of Elril Knights, no matter how many came from the hearths of the world. But the battlefield was not favorable.

If he had known he would have to fight against three faiths at the same time, he would have completely changed his strategy, such as starting by setting fire to the mountain range.

“Step back.”

Sahullan quickly retreated through the ranks of troops who had already begun to retreat. An orderly march is easy, but an orderly retreat is several times more difficult. And that too when knights are charging in the madness of the battlefield.

When Sahullan finally crossed the bridge he had barely built, he had no choice but to make a decision.

“Break the bridge.”

Even Sahullan felt bad about ordering the destruction of a bridge built to achieve their strategic objectives in half a day, especially when there were still soldiers fighting for their lives on the other side.

They thought about destroying it right before the enemies crossed, but since there were angels on the other side, there was a high possibility that they would either desperately try to defend it or retake the bridge with a fierce attack before that.

The best way to save the remaining soldiers was to destroy the bridge now.

Boom, Boom! As the axes began to strike to bring down the bridge, the Elril knights, who had noticed the situation, began to press on even more fiercely. Nimlot in particular was at the forefront, crushing the orcs like a icy spearhead.

However, the orcs desperately tried to stop the knights. They thought that they would be reincarnated anyway even if they died, so they did not think that the Khan had abandoned them.

Because the soul will eventually succeed in ‘retreating’.

Eventually, the bridge collapsed and fell down before the Ellil Knights could arrive.

Countless orcs screamed and poured down the deep valley ahead, pushed by the knights of Elril. Teherma once again had a headache as she took in and guided countless dying souls.

‘This stopped the pursuit. Now let’s deal with the dwarves… … .’

Then Sahullan met Nimlot’s golden eyes.

Lyanna, who had been empowered by Nimlot, did not slow down her charge even in front of the collapsed bridge. The knights following her were no different. At the moment when Sahulan doubted their madness, Lyanna scattered the holy sword, Lumiad, that contained cold energy into the air.

On the collapsed stone bridge, pure white crystals began to grow with a loud noise. The crystal piers grew at an unbelievable speed and were sturdy enough not to collapse even if dozens of knights ran across them at the same time.

Sahullan burst into nervous laughter at the sight and kicked his horse. This was not a good place to deal with those war madmen. He planned to return to Soer for now, gather his forces, and wait for an opportunity.

But he wasn’t so lucky.

Kwarurururung! Sahullan lost consciousness for a moment due to the sudden lightning that shot up from the ground. However, he did not fall thanks to the strong balance of his horse, Ortea.

Even as dozens of orcs lay blackened and fallen, their love remained strong.

Sahullan knew the man who could strike lightning from the ground. He was a tough opponent for an old man to deal with. An old, cross-eyed dwarf with a hammer as big as his head appeared before Sahullan.

The dwarf smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.

“It’s been a while, Sahullan.”

“Tuchalin. I didn’t know you could survive with your head cut in two.”

Tukhalin touched his left eye, which was covered by a large blindfold.

“Today is the day I will roast your old horse and eat it.”

Sahullan was furious at these shocking words.

Soon the two old warriors clashed together with a fierce roar.

***

This battle, involving the Orkan Code, the Code of Light, the Hearth of the World, Elil, and, known only to a very few, the nameless Chaos, took place over several days.

The World’s Brazier Cult roamed the entire mountain, visiting abandoned mines that even Isaac could not fully understand as if they were their own home. The Olkan discipline was torn apart by the sudden appearance of dwarves and lycanthrope warriors in places where no enemy could possibly appear.

On the other hand, the Knights of Elril fiercely tore through the orcs they encountered and advanced forward. They killed all the orcs they encountered, seemingly ignorant of retreat, detours, or negotiations. There were heroic efforts by a few orcs here and there, but they were unable to make any meaningful difference in a situation where the entire command structure was torn apart.

But the faith that Isaac thought deserved the highest praise was the Olkan Discipline.

The Olkan Discipline surprisingly succeeded in retreating, with the hammer called Elril in front and the anvil called the Gelifard Mountains and the World’s Furnace behind them.

Sahul Khan escaped with a considerable force of soldiers.

“It is a military fraud to say that you do not feel the fear of death.”

Isaac grimaced as he looked down into the valley below, where countless piles of orc corpses were growing.

When the command system collapsed and the situation became more uncertain, Olkan Discipline chose to go with the ‘death’ path. He decided that this great raid was a failure and chose to return in death. This was also a serious threat to Isaac.

Strategically they had the upper hand, but the Orcs of the Olkan Discipline were simply outnumbered.

“However, thanks to Sir Isacre’s advice to push forward while creating a retreat route, we were able to fight while reducing the damage. If we had fought all the orcs, which numbered close to 200,000, we would have suffered enormous damage as well.”

The young king of the kingdom of Elril, Ethelred, thanked Isaac. It had been half a year since they had met and parted ways, but Ethelred seemed to have matured considerably since then, perhaps because of the experience he had had back then.

“I’m just grateful that those little dwarves listen to me.”

Isaac was actually the most nervous about that.

The World’s Brazier holds a strong grudge against the Orkhan Discipline, just as the Light’s Code hates the Undead Cult. However, the leader of the World’s Brazier Cult’s warriors, Tukhalin the Thunderhammer, has somehow agreed to Isaac’s request to create an escape route for the Orcs.

Isaac still couldn’t figure out what he meant.

Anyway, as a result, the damage to the orcs was enormous, while the damage to our allies was small.

While the casualties of Elril and the Brazier of the World, Isacrea’s forces, barely exceeded a thousand, the Orkhan Discipline suffered over 150,000 dead or wounded. If you include those who fell or got lost somewhere in the Gelifard Mountains, the number could have been as high as 20,000 more.

It was a great victory with a casualty ratio of approximately 170:1.

Militarily, Sahullan’s army was virtually annihilated. Of course, there were still several times as many troops in the rear, but they were inevitably inferior in quality to the troops led by the Khan.

Throughout history, there had been no such absurd victory, save for the intervention of angels. But Isaac believed that it was not because he was good, but because the gamble of bringing the two faiths into this battle had paid off.

The World’s Furnace would not have intervened if it had not been for the Olkan Discipline, and if the Emperor’s excommunication had not occurred, Ethelred would have gone to Ultenheim first instead of Isacrea Territory.

Historical coincidence created this landslide victory.

However, the overwhelming victory was marred by the escape of Khan. If nothing else, Tukhalin held a great grudge against Sahullan, so this was an outcome that even Isaac had not anticipated.

However, the hero who accomplished the escape was eventually captured by the Isacrea army.

Isaac and Ethelred were heading there.

***

At the edge of the cliff where they had arrived, a Keshik was lying on his knees with his arms bent behind his back.

It was a humiliating sight for Keshik, who could not even sit down, let alone lie down, but his expression looked peaceful. Tukhalin was sitting on top of him.

“The Knight of the Holy Grail has arrived.”

Tukhalin only glanced at Isaac while oiling his bloody hammer. Since Tukhalin’s status was similar to Dera Heman’s in the Code of Light, Isaac was the first to offer his courtesy.

“Thank you again for your participation in this strange war in a strange land, Tukhalin Ede Pada.”

“Ha, this isn’t a strange land. I crushed orc heads here 360 ​​years ago. Wherever I smell orc blood, that’s my battlefield.”

Aethelred looked surprised at the mention of 360 years.

360 years is an old man, even considering the lifespan of a dwarf. Tukhalin had already been informed that he would become an angel after death, and had already been given a name. The title of ‘Thunder Hammer’ was the new name he would be given after death.

However, Tukhalin, who was not yet dead, was still active as a warrior.

“I heard you were chasing Sahul Khan until the end. Iza interfered at the end.”

“That’s right. Sahullan, that orc bandit leader. He acted like he was going to fight for his life several times, but whenever it seemed like he was going to lose, he would quickly run away. Later on, even insulting his wife didn’t work. Young orcs these days value their lives.”

At Tukhalin’s words, Keshik, who was lying on the floor, stirred.

Tukhalin lifted the hammer briefly and then dropped it. Keshik groaned with the sound of bones breaking.

Isaac touched his face and then opened his mouth.

“His name is Atlan.”

“Is he important enough to remember your name?”

“He is a man worthy of being called a warrior of the Olkhan discipline. He is the son of Sahullan Khan, and if there had been no particular problem, he could have become the next Khan.”

That was one of the reasons Isaac deliberately kept Atlan alive.

If Sahullan dies, Atlan, who owes Isaac a debt of gratitude, will become Khan, and this could lead to a more favorable negotiation. Even if Sahullan escapes, the underworld may try to appoint a younger Khan instead of the ‘incompetent’ Khan. In that case, there is no one more suitable than Atlan.

But now, Atlan, who was Isaac’s joker, was strangely lying under Tukhalin’s butt.

Tukhalin looked surprised at the news that he could become Khan.

“Is that all there is to it, though his skills aren’t that great?”

“That must be because you were seriously injured when you fought me a few days ago.”

Tukhalin thought for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Come to think of it, something a little strange happened when I was fighting this guy.”

“Is this strange?”

“I was just about to catch Sahullan when this guy suddenly rushed at me. He wasn’t even armed. I quickly broke his leg, but by then Sahullan had already run away.”

Tukhalin grumbled and then continued.

“So I was going to smash his head in to vent my anger. Then suddenly… … the horse that Sahulan always rode. The horse that Sahulan cherished like a wife, suddenly abandoned Sahulan and ran towards me. No, I’ve never seen a horse go so crazy and wild. I thought to myself, is this really something an orc chieftain should ride? I smashed its skull.”

Tukhalin pointed at Atlan as if he was uneasy.

“At that moment, this guy said something to his mother.”

“Ah, um.”

“No, I’ve heard stories about orcs getting horny from horses, but is that true? Does it make sense for them to have babies?”

“That… … I don’t know the details either.”

“Anyway, after seeing him like that, I felt a bit bad about killing him. That’s why I brought him here to teach him some life lessons. When a man is born, he should dream of change and fight against the world, not just lazily think about stealing and plundering… … .”

Tukhalin grumbled for a while before turning his back and disappearing, as if leaving the decision about Atlan up to Isaac. It seemed as if he didn’t care whether he killed him or not.

Isaac sighed and sat down in front of Atlan only after the talkative old man had disappeared.

Atlan looked at Isaac with calm eyes.

He looked neither angry nor desperate.

Atlan was the first to speak.

“Was it all your scheme, Grail Knight?”