Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 308



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Episode 308. Siero Dawn Army (4)

Devan’s expression hardened.

I know Isaac is right, but carrying out that order could actually lead to the collapse of the Siero Dawn Army. Just as he was about to refute with difficulty, Siero opened his mouth.

“Do that.”

“Yes? Sir Siero, then… … .”

“Do so. If you do nothing, you will be killed by a group of bandits at the hands of the villagers. If you do as the Grail Knight says, at the very least, you will die as the vanguard of the Dawn Army led by the Grail Knight.”

Devan’s expression was only faint. He spoke cautiously.

“Will this wash away the sins we have committed?”

“Who would shake off this plague to wash away their sins?”

Siero glared at Devan as if he was furious.

“I’m not saying we should all survive together! I can only survive if you guys survive!”

Devan shut his mouth at Siero’s rebuke. Isaac didn’t miss the look of confusion that crossed his face.

Devan nodded, seemingly realizing that Isaac and Siero were right.

“Understood. I will immediately arrest all the guys who caused the trouble.”

From Devan’s point of view, it was difficult to accept.

The ‘troubled ones’ are the ones currently guarding the Kraan fortress. If they see their own people being captured, their morale could hit rock bottom again. Then, the rebellion might start among the Dawn Army before the residents.

Siero also seemed to know that and stood up weakly.

“No, if you tell, there will be trouble. Just tell me who it is, and I will convince them.”

Devan nodded with a sheepish expression.

Still, they were all people who had followed Siero. As they were the ones who had rushed out to save Siero, who was isolated in the middle of the undead army, it was right for Siero to step forward in order to reduce the backlash even a little.

But Isaac followed Siero’s side just in case.

Isaac whispered to Siero.

“You’re good at it.”

“… … I don’t know if I’m really doing well. It might feel like the soldiers are swinging their swords from behind while fighting. Devan would be worried about that too.”

“The more elite the army, the stricter the discipline. If you want to call yourself a ‘military’, you should also know that military law is strict. And there won’t be as much opposition as you think. People have a sense of guilt, so if discipline is corrected, they feel relieved even if they are punished.”

“… … You have a lot of trust in humans? But as you know, Nephilim’s magic isn’t an omnipotent power that works all the time. In order to ‘persuade’, you need a ‘cause’ before that. If you just slap a result without any probability, there will be a backlash.”

Isaac felt that the story was somewhat similar to the manipulation of Urbansus.

Certainly, what he said was true. If a soldier is punished without any reason in the middle of a battle, the other soldiers will feel that ‘they are being treated unfairly.’

“Once you make an excuse, that’s it. And there’s no way the guy who caused the problem only caused it once.”

Then Isaac continued speaking, feeling the palm of his hand.

“In the first place, what I’m after isn’t some petty thief or something.”

***

In an isolated fortress surrounded by hordes of zombies on all sides, there is limited room for looted treasure or for criminals to hide.

Devan pointed out the looters and Siero persuaded and threatened them to reveal their hidden assets. Naturally, some resisted, but Siero’s rebuke that the wealth was of no use when they were all about to die forced them to give it up.

Since there were no siege weapons other than the zombies that the Death Knights dropped from the sky, the task of returning the treasure to the residents was not difficult. Furthermore, the zombie drops became less frequent after the sun rose, giving us more time to proceed.

Of course, there were cases where compensation was difficult. In those cases, I instructed that the perpetrators be given a clear and severe punishment.

“next.”

The square in front of the city gate was filled with residents who had come to hear the news that the Dawn Army would return the looted goods and punish the crimes they had committed. The soldier whose name had been called was dragged out by Devan’s hands, tied up. The man who had been dragged out stared at Isaac with a dazed expression.

“Hendrik. You have been charged with the murder of civilians, rape, and arson. This is a great harm to the honor of the entire Dawn Army, and a crime committed against the brothers of the Code of Light who are supposed to be protected. You are to be put to death according to the law.”

Isaac is a noble and a knight. He can be punished by Imperial law and by the precepts.

Especially since there were no ‘real’ priests or paladins here right now, there was no one who could protest Isaac’s authority. Even Siero, the only one who could express dissent, nodded with a stern face.

“Law of Light, please lead this poor man who is lost in the darkness to the light.”

As soon as Siero’s death sentence was spoken, the man began to squirm as if he realized the situation.

“Wait, wait! How could this be happening! I worked so hard for you!”

Siero desperately turned away from him. From his perspective, it was a complicated thought, as he had sentenced the person who had only seen and followed him to death.

As Siero continued to ignore him, the man shouted at the other soldiers.

“You guys, you guys too! How many of you haven’t committed that crime! You all came here to get a piece of the action… … Ugh!”

Devan slapped the man in the face he was dragging. Once, twice, the man was speechless as his face quickly became covered in blood.

Isaac stopped Devan before he could kill the man. Executions must be carried out without emotion. The man looked at Isaac and opened his mouth to mumble something.

But Isaac didn’t listen to what that meant and prepared to swing his sword. Then he whispered to Siero, who was standing next to him.

“Siero, look straight ahead. I don’t know about the others, but you have to look straight ahead.”

“… … Do I really have to do this? Even if you let me fight to the death… … .”

“You want to increase the number of enemies by one? There must be a clear distinction between those who are executed by military law and those who die gloriously on the battlefield. The execution squads and convict squads are trash. Such systems make noble duties seem like punishment.”

Isaac is neither a war evangelist nor a soldier worshipper.

Isaac’s words were close to a governing philosophy. Those who sacrifice their lives for others should be treated well. However, if they become soldiers as a punishment for their crimes, the soldiers next to them will feel that they have become soldiers because they have no connections or power. That is also not good for military morale.

As soon as Siero barely raised his head and made eye contact with the man, Isaac swung his sword and decapitated the man. The other soldiers collected the corpses that had fallen in vain and piled them on one side. This was where the firewood was prepared to be burned before being resurrected as undead.

This was the last execution. More than twenty soldiers were executed that day alone. The soldiers carried the bodies in silence, and Siero personally set them on fire.

Whoa whoa.

The oil that had been generously sprinkled burned fiercely in conjunction with the miracle that Siero had performed.

The blazing flames and heat were clearly visible to the soldiers and residents.

It was a kind of beacon.

Now, the Siero Dawn Army was a spark declaring a break with the past, a departure from the past that would lead them in a completely different direction.

***

Of course, Isaac never dreamed that killing and burning people would turn this rabble into elite soldiers. Siero may have imagined it, but the world is not that simple.

‘But at least they realized they weren’t a bunch of thieves.’

Isaac hoped that they would at least recapture the spirit they had when they first joined the Dawn Army, when they set out on their journey with lofty ideals and dreams of glory. That would be the best outcome Isaac could hope for.

Isaac secretly observed the soldiers with confused eyes. There were about 5,700 soldiers in the castle. Although he could not confirm all of them, it seemed that about one in six of them were dissatisfied with Isaac’s merciless execution.

From their perspective, the rolling stone was something that ruined an otherwise ‘good’ journey.

And the other two were expecting a ‘real dawn army’ that was different from before, just as Isaac had expected.

These are the people who tried to keep the minimum line or not get swept away even when the Yeomyeong Army was no different from a group of thieves. They are overshadowed by those who try to belittle the average by saying, “Where is there a person who hasn’t committed a sin?” or “Everyone does it,” but there are always those who try to keep their conscience in any group.

And the other three… … were just clueless. They were either just trying to finish this damn expedition and go home, or they were scared, or they were just tired, and they were acting according to the situation.

He looks the most pathetic, but he is the most ordinary person.

Isaac was putting on this show-not-a-show for these ordinary people. If their surroundings were good, they would act good too.

‘Come to think of it, is it still there?’

Isaac kept an eye on the group that dominated the atmosphere within the Dawn Army, perhaps the most minority group, but the one that was most extreme and barbaric in its behavior and was the one that was ruining the atmosphere.

Isaac’s real target was them.

But at the same time, Isaac had to be mindful of the external situation. The Undead Cult had not shown any movement other than bombing the corpses. But that meant they were doing something that was tightly hidden.

***

“Have you decided yet?”

“… … .”

Rich, Aletma urged the new follower of the Undead Cult, Batena Krann, the King of Krann.

Batena Krahn became a follower of the Immortal Cult according to the contract he made to donate his soul after death. It was difficult to find any human aspect in him as he had already decayed and the flesh had begun to fall off.

Despite this, Batena was not completely open to the Immortal Cult. It was not because he wanted to convert in the first place, but because he had missed the opportunity to break the contract when he was suddenly murdered.

“We have come from far away to seek your vengeance and preserve your territory. It is because of the contract you made with His Majesty the Immortal Emperor. Yet you still treat us like invaders.”

Richie said, sounding frustrated.

“Those who murdered you and your people and invaded your territory are a bunch of beggars from the Light Code. They pretend to be righteous in the world, but they are a group that does not care about the means and methods for those who are not on their side. No, if you look at the things they did this time, they are merciless even to their own believers. Do you still intend to protect them?”

“I don’t care how many times those scumbags die and fall.”

Batena Krann snapped back, seeming annoyed.

“What I fear is that by revealing the secret passage, Krann will become the territory of the Undead Cult forever. The Undead Cult will be able to take over the fortress at any time through the secret passage.”

The Krahn Fortress was protected by a powerful miraculous protection, but like all fortresses, there was a secret passage that could be entered and exited secretly. This secret passage was also designated as a ‘permitted path’. It was also the secret passage through which Batena Krahn escaped after being killed and resurrected by the death insurance.

At his words, Richie showed a mental smile.

“Since the King of Krann is a member of the Immortal Cult, isn’t it natural that it belongs to the Immortal Cult’s territory?”

“My child is still alive. He is now the successor to Kran, and the territory of Kran does not yet belong to the Undying Cult.”

Richie tapped his fingers against his jawbone. As a priest of the Undead Cult, he could already force the arrogant king to give his soul to the Undead Realm.

But Lich was also once a follower of the Light Code. He decided not to use coercive means out of respect for the devout King of Krann. But at the same time, he remembered an old saying.

The most painful apostasy is one that comes from the most faithful believer.

Richie opened a book he had miraculously created in his hand.

Parallax, Batena Krahn’s gaze shifted as a bluish book with cold air radiated from it opened. After confirming the ‘List of the Dead’, Lich muttered while touching one side of the book with his slender fingers.

“Rehena Krahn. Expected to die.”

Batena’s only remaining pupil shook violently. Richie, who had no facial muscles and thus no way to show his expression, spoke to him leisurely.

“The deadline is tomorrow. The signature is… … burns.”

It was a statement that virtually took away one’s choice.

As a non-priest, Batena could not read the book, so she had no way of knowing whether the Lich’s words were true or not. However, if the secret passage was not revealed, the Lich could ‘fulfill’ the prophecy. Since she did not mention who would kill him.

Eventually, Batena Krahn had no choice but to open his mouth.

[Serial] The Knight of the Dead God