Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 305



Only Krnovel

Episode 305. Siero Dawn Army (1)

It was dirty and grimy, but I couldn’t help but recognize it. This was the realm of instinct.

Siero also recognized Isaac the moment he saw him. However, for the same reason, they both immediately started moving without revealing each other’s identity.

Isaac was the first to hurriedly lead the defeated soldiers out, gesturing with his hand.

“Come out! Are you planning to stay here until we all die?”

“Ha, but… … .”

They froze and looked back at Isaac’s instructions. Even in the midst of this, they were waiting for Siero’s orders. However, in the meantime, Siero had already run out to the door.

“Come forth! Didn’t the Law of Light say that if we endure the ordeal, the path will be opened for us? The test is over, so come forth with me and follow the messenger sent by the Law of Light!”

“Oh!”

Only then did the remnants of the Siero Dawn Army follow them, cheering. Isaac was dumbfounded, but he guided them anyway.

I did think that a dead Siero might be more valuable than a living Siero. But then I would have to kill all the defeated soldiers here too.

“Kururururu!”

Nell breathed her breath at the zombies that were starting to swarm her again. The group of Dawn Army were terrified by the majesty of the translucent dragon they had never seen before, but they only watched Siero striding away and chased after him. Isaac also ran while fighting off the group of zombies.

But then, a scream was heard tearing through the sky. It was the sound of Phantom Steed’s flight.

As expected, the alarm was not set up for nothing, as a Death Knight from the Undying Order appeared upon hearing the commotion. Fortunately, there seemed to be only one in number.

Isaac clicked his tongue and left the fleeing Siero Dawn Army to Nel.

The Death Knight also seemed to realize that Isaac was a more valuable target than a group of fleeing beggars, and immediately flew towards Isaac.

Clash! Phantom Steed slammed into Isaac with its enormous mass.

The Death Knight seemed to want to stage a nice showdown with the Paladin, but Isaac was stupid enough not to think of doing so.

Isaac quickly dodged to the side and used Isaac’s Sword Technique: Hand of the Drowning.

The intangible energy roughly grabbed the Death Knight’s trajectory and twisted it. The Death Knight, who felt as if space had been shortened for a moment, crashed headfirst into the ground at the same speed he had flown in.

Kwakwakwang! Isaac retrieved the drowned man’s hand and twisted it up to his waist. If it had been a normal knight, this would have been an attack close to corpse rape, not to mention the end, but Isaac didn’t think at all that this was the end.

Instead, he swung his sword again at the Death Knight who was lying on the ground in a pitiful state, trying to crush him.

Kkwaddeuk, ddeuk. At that moment, the armors disintegrated piece by piece and quickly rebuilt in their fallen places. The skull was the last to return, and he returned to the form of a Death Knight, perfectly prepared to fight.

“At this point, the young knights would blink and blink. You seem to have more experience than you look.”

“Do I look young? Actually, inside me is a man in his thirties.”

“Oh, really? Actually, there’s a 106-year-old grandfather inside me. Come back after eating three times as much.”

Despite his mysterious defeat, Isaac decided to help his grandfather go to the afterlife first, in accordance with the laws of the Book of the Jangyu. The Siero Dawn Army was now far enough away that he no longer had to worry about his eyes.

Thud, thud! Isaac quickly closed the distance and slammed down the Ruaddin Key. The Death Knight was surprised by his faster-than-expected speed, but also laughed at his lack of experience.

The undead don’t need to eat or sleep. People who work hard usually say, “I only practiced except for the time I spent eating and sleeping.” However, the undead can practice even in the time it takes to do those two things. And they don’t even need to adjust their condition.

The Death Knight kicked Isaac’s sword away with a precision that would have impressed even the most skilled swordsman in the Empire. Even the slightest misalignment could have shattered the blade and shattered his head, but for the Death Knight, it was as easy as breathing.

‘It’s time to pay the price for your arrogance, young one.’

The Death Knight immediately tried to attack Isaac using his secret technique that he had trained for a hundred years.

But Isaac had one more weapon the Death Knight hadn’t expected.

Isaac had no intention of engaging in a swordsmanship duel with the Death Knight in the first place.

Kkwadduk! The colors from beyond that flowed through the Ruaddin Key and instantly enveloped the Death Knight’s sword. It wasn’t enough to last long, but it was enough to upset his unstable balance. Then Isaac’s left hand dug into the inside of the Death Knight’s helmet.

The tentacles instantly grabbed the Death Knight’s cervical spine and ripped it off.

A Death Knight that moves with spiritual power will not die if you tear off a few bones. However, in order for it to move similarly to when it was alive, it must be in a ‘similar state to when it was alive’. You can’t suddenly tell it to crawl on all fours or walk on its hands.

The cervical spine is essential for supporting the head, and if it cannot support the head, the sense of balance is lost. If the balance is lost, the person cannot tell where his or her hands are and where the ground is.

Isaac turned the Death Knight into a newborn baby by removing a small piece of bone and ran away.

‘It’s not easy to kill a Death Knight in a short period of time… … .’

Another Death Knight or Lich might come at any moment. Isaac had no intention of struggling to fight in the middle of enemy lines.

Leaving the 106-year-old dementia patient to their own devices, Isaac fled in the direction the Siero Dawn Army had fled.

***

Isaac was able to meet Siero again only after they reached the foot of the mountain. They were all exhausted from running so hard that they were rolling around, and Siero was no exception. His face was pale and he looked as if he would suffocate at any moment.

Isaac looked at the sight with pity and was about to open his mouth, but before he could, Siero opened his arms and shouted.

“My savior, my guide, my brother! I thank you for your hand. If it is all right, may I set aside time to say the prayer of blessing?”

Isaac nodded nervously, as it was common for a priest to offer a prayer of blessing to a paladin on the battlefield. Siero took Isaac to a quiet place under the pretext of offering a prayer of blessing. However, he constantly checked to make sure that only the two of them were around.

Eventually, Isaac, who could no longer stand to see that sight, spoke first.

“You don’t have to worry, it’s just us.”

“Really? I have to be sure… … .”

“If your identity is discovered, how will I be safe? Let’s talk openly.”

Only then did Siero finally let out a breath of relief. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Isaac with interest.

“Well, when I heard the rumors, I thought it might be true… … but I didn’t think it would really be true. Right? Even a paladin. You must have had a hard time since you were young. How did you endure it?”

“I just tried hard.”

“Do you think I didn’t try hard? But there’s this innate limitation. No, I really can’t believe it even when I see it. The famous Light Code, the Saint of Resurrection, the Great Warrior of Elril… … Nephilim.”

The last words were muttered by Siero as if he was asking Isaac for confirmation. Isaac nodded in return.

“I never thought that the famous priest Siero would be a Nephilim.”

It’s a lie. I actually knew that. But I didn’t know that it would be so instinctively recognizable as Nephilim at first sight. Perhaps there’s some kind of resonance between Nephilim.

‘Siero… … .’

But Isaac’s gaze toward Siero was not very kind.

Siero, who ignited madness and agitation before the dawn army began.

Siero, who had stirred up the masses with his fearsome charm, quickly became the most important figure in the Dawn Army, mobilizing crowds numbering in the tens and even hundreds of millions.

But how many people were burned at the stake, sacrificed to stupid strategies, and committed crazy acts because of this guy? Honestly, when I think about it, I would have been more than happy to cut off his head right away.

The reason he didn’t immediately kill her was because the madness wasn’t entirely Siero’s fault.

The dawn army was the spirit of the times and the madness incited by angels.

Siero was just a useful tool.

In any case, the background that made such things possible was the bloodline called Nephilim.

As expected of a Nephilim, Siero had a very handsome appearance, but perhaps because of his hardships, he looked a little old for his age. However, if he washed and dressed up well, he would once again be able to boast a good appearance that would incite the public.

“But why on earth were you here like that? Isn’t this even the territory of the Undead Cult? And what about those undead and death knights?”

“Ah… … There were some complicated circumstances recently… … .”

Siero explained the situation with a trembling expression.

***

To put it simply, the Siero Dawn Army was a spontaneous militia formed from the crowd that gathered at Siero’s instigation.

They gathered in such great numbers that they mistakenly believed that they were more powerful than the Pope’s army.

Eventually, they began to advance with an ambitious sense of mission to reclaim the Holy Land before the main force of the Dawn Army.

“For your information, I tried my best to slow down their advance. Seriously. The Undead Cult is not a bunch of idiots, and they wouldn’t be defeated by a militia without any paladins or priests. But at some point, I couldn’t control it on my own… … .”

No matter how overwhelming the charisma that Nephilim exerts, it is only to the people around them, at best those whose voices can reach them.

A crowd of hundreds of millions? That’s just like a tidal wave with some animalistic instinct.

The countless armies of the Olkan Discipline are made up of soldiers trained through a strict system and countless reincarnations, making it impossible for ordinary people to control them.

From this point on, Siero was already being swept away by the tidal wave. It must have been all about saving his own life. In the meantime, the place they chose as their first destination was ‘Kran’, a small country and neutral fortress city located between the territory of the Gertonian Empire and the Immortal Cult.

“The King of Krann was a follower of the Code of Light. He welcomed me, but he… … did not welcome the Dawn Army.”

It was unlikely that even if Luaddin, not the king of Kraan, returned alive, he would welcome a horde of beggars numbering close to a million. Those numbers were not human. They were locusts.

“King Krann tried to provide some food and lodging, but that, a little quarrel arose… … a little accident. My condolences to the king.”

“… … Did you attack Krann?”

“My men called it ‘active supply.’ It doesn’t matter what you call it. At any rate, from that point on, the Dawn Army seemed to have completely let go. They were looting and burning Krahn… … and then a few days ago, the king of Krahn returned.”

“You came back?”

“Well, um, the King of Krann was probably the life insurance policyholder. A follower of the Code of Light with life insurance! Does that make sense?”

Isaac clutched his head.

Krann is a small country and a neutral city anyway. Although they are followers of the Code of Light, they have tried to maintain neutrality to the extent of taking out life insurance. They cancel it before they die.

But this time, without any time to spare, his brothers of the same faith slaughtered his land.

So the King of Krann returned from the afterlife, this time leading his brothers in the faith.

It was a classic way for the Immortal Order to expand their power externally. It was no surprise that they had attempted to overthrow the Kingdom of Elril in a similar way.

What is surprising is the tragedy committed by the Siero Dawn Army.

‘… … No, it’s not surprising since the Crusaders sacked Constantinople in real history. In the first place, isn’t it obvious what a hungry and mad crowd will do wherever they gather?’

Isaac sighed and continued asking questions.

“Yes. So all of the Siero Dawn Army are dead and only this handful remain, right?”

“No, that can’t be! Most of them seem to have already fled, but there are still quite a few left in Kraan. There, they are heroically holding off the undead forces while preparing to fight to the death.”

Isaac was certain that the ‘undead army’ they were holding back were all just the Dawn Army brought by Siero. With their brothers who had been on their side until yesterday now turning into fresh zombies, there was no way anyone in Krann could be in their right mind.

“No, wait. Then why are you here?”

“Ah, that’s… … .”

Isaac reflexively threw his fist at Cielo, who was trailing off.

Siero, whose nose had collapsed in an instant, screamed and collapsed. Isaac was a little surprised to see the nephilim’s nose as weak as a reed, but he had no intention of restraining himself.

“You ran away leaving your men behind and ended up stranded in that warehouse, right?”

There was no longer a shred of honor left in Isaac’s speech.

[Serial] The Knight of the Dead God