Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 313



Only Krnovel

Episode 313. Taxes and Death Are Inescapable (3)

Siero gritted his teeth.

I couldn’t bring myself to say, ‘It wasn’t me, it was some piece of trash called Devan who did it. I don’t know.’

It was not because of the lofty idea that a subordinate’s mistake was the superior’s fault, but because Devan was already buried in the underground sewer below. And it was highly likely that he would think that he was making excuses.

Thud, thud. Batena Krann seemed to have grown much larger than it had in life, as if its corpse had swelled as it became undead. It made a loud thud as it approached. The eerie, sharp iron hammer came closer to crush Siero’s head.

“Now, wait a minute.”

Instead of fighting the undead monster, Siero performed a wonderful miracle and opened his mouth. Of course, Batena did not stop, but instead started running faster. Siero knew that getting hit by that hammer and dying was his way of paying the price for his sins.

But that couldn’t be done.

“All right, take your children!”

Just before the hammer smashed into Siero’s skull, Batena stopped moving at the words he shouted desperately. His slitted, burst eyes stared at Siero through his helmet as if they were burning.

“You… … are you threatening me with my children!”

The Yeomyeong-gun who was watching from the side also looked on in shock at Siero’s words. No matter how many evil deeds Yeomyeong-gun had committed up until now, he had never thought of such a terrible idea as ‘killing the father, stealing his wealth, and then threatening the children when the father returned as an undead.’

Siero belatedly realized that he had said something that could have been misunderstood and hurriedly waved his arms.

“No, no! Your children are still alive! Inside the castle!”

“What? Then… … .”

“You have committed a mortal sin, so I can let you die! But there is chaos inside the Kraan fortress right now! Do you see that black pillar?”

Siero pointed to a black pillar that was clearly visible even from outside the fortress. Batena Krahn also paid attention to Siero’s words, as he was quite concerned about the black pillar.

“A monster summoned by the Immortal Order is causing chaos. The Grail Knights are holding it back, but it’s hard to give a definitive answer. Will your children be safe once that monster destroys the walls? First, help your children escape.”

“… … I’ll do that after I smash your head in.”

Batena Krann glared at Siero with menacing eyes before speaking. The moment Siero bit his lip again, a soldier from the Dawn Army suddenly stood in front of him.

Batena’s face was distorted.

“What are you, you punk! How dare you stand in my way!”

“Please, do not touch the priest Siero.”

The young soldier of the Dawn Army, whose name Siero could not even remember, spoke trembling.

“Sir, if Father Siero was truly evil, he would have threatened to bring the children and open the way. Or he could have confronted His Majesty with the flames that swept away the zombies earlier. Ha, but don’t you think it’s something you can’t do, and are trying to talk to him like this?”

“Are you saying in front of me right now that Father Siero is good?”

Batena burst into laughter. It was a miserable laugh.

“There are 14 wounds on my back, 1 on my neck, and 7 on my legs where you stabbed me with your daggers! Do you guys determine morality by the number of times a guest stabs his host?”

The young soldier of the Dawn Army did not answer. However, other soldiers began to stand beside him, hesitantly.

Another soldier said.

“There must have been a misunderstanding. All those who plundered the city returned their property and were punished, and some were even put to death. So… … .”

Batena Krahn stared at the young soldiers and let out another low laugh.

“No, come to think of it, why do I have to talk to you guys? You guys are on the same side as the Yeomyeong Army that killed me. It’s like a criminal protecting another criminal. If that’s true, then die with the priest Siero that you so worship.”

As Batena Krann raised his hammer high once more, Siero caught the flame in his hand.

I felt sorry for Batena, but thinking back on it, I felt it was a waste of my life to kill her for a sin that wasn’t my own.

Crunch! But before Siero could use his flames, a red feather arrow flew in and pierced the back of Batena Krann’s hand. The iron hammer fell with a loud crash, and at the same time, a huge, mottled shadow fell over their heads.

“It’s a dragon!”

A group of women screamed.

It was a familiar dragon to Siero. And soon, the loud noises of pounding the ground echoed along with the majestic trumpet sounds.

Far behind, knights were coming forward, slicing apart the zombie army, and everyone was looking at them. Above their heads, the most talked about flag of recent times was fluttering.

It was the flag of the Elril Kingdom Army and the Isacrea Army.

***

Doo doo doo doo doo!

The hooves of the Elril knights’ horses beat like drums across the wasteland. The furious advance was so intense that even those far away could feel the vibrations.

A little behind the front line, Ethelred, who was advancing under the escort of the Knights of Aldeon, discovered the people standing in front of the Krann Fortress. He quietly put down his visor and took the royal family’s holy sword, Kaldbuh, in his hand.

“Rescue the Dawn Army in Siero.”

It was a sound so small that it was drowned out by the sound of horse hooves, but the commander of the knights, Delphric Hild, who assisted Ethelred, gave the king’s order with a loud shout.

“Save the Dawn Army, Siero!”

“Advance! Reach the Siero Dawn Army! Reach it in one breath!”

The Knight Commander’s orders were slightly distorted as each knight repeated them to suit their own personality, and by the time it reached Reina Hild, it had been changed to ‘Kill everyone except the living!’ The lower-ranking knights under her command thought the order was somewhat contradictory, but it was not a difficult order to understand.

Because there were zombies everywhere.

Ethelred let out a deep breath as she felt the power of Kaldbuch pulsing through her. As the power of the angel flowed through her veins, the scent of the forest began to flow from her breath, and the heat of the bright yellow sun began to burn in her eyes.

At the same time, Ethelred kicked her horse and rushed forward.

Kwagagagagak! The power flowing through Kaldbuh also affected the horse riding it, as it crushed the zombies in one breath with just its hooves. Ethelred also felt no resistance when cutting the zombies beyond cutting through the air.

Despite Aethelred’s sudden actions, the escort knights were not flustered and quickly followed him and assisted him so that he would not be isolated.

With Ethelred at the forefront, the Elril army was like scissors tearing apart the zombie army like a piece of paper. King Krann, who was surprised by the attack from the rear, was not even able to prepare.

Instead of shouting, Ethelred remembered Isaac’s request for her to come here.

‘Teacher, I just arrived.’

The Krahn Fortress was not originally the intended route for the Elril Kingdom Army, as they had not yet heard the news of the destruction of the Siero Dawn Army.

But a few days ago, Hesabel came riding on Nel and relayed Isaac’s message. Isaac asked her to come to Krahn Fortress, leaving her with a strange instruction not to interfere until the people in Krahn Fortress came out in person.

Ethelred thought it was strange, but it was none other than his teacher who asked him to do so. He changed his course of attack without even thinking about it.

And less than a day after arriving near the Krahn fortress, an unusual phenomenon occurred: black pillars rose up and fortress soldiers spontaneously opened the gates and rushed out.

Ethelred, certain that this was the moment Isaac had spoken of, immediately began to charge.

“Defeat the wicked!”

At the king’s command, the knights charged forward with fierce cries. The advanced swordsmanship of the knights became more powerful when used by many at once. As the madness and miracles unique to Elril, which were strengthened on the battlefield, began to spread, the Undying Order was able to experience Elril’s power for the first time in a long time.

It was unfortunate that the only people who felt its power were zombies and Krans whose careers as undead were still in their infancy.

“These damned kingdom bastards!”

Batena Krann turned his gaze to Aethelred instead of Siero. Siero was taken aback by the sudden turn of events, but realized that this was what Isaac had meant when he said, ‘Somehow it will work out.’

“Stop those warmongering invaders!”

Batena Krahn turned her attention from Siero to the Elril Kingdom Army. It was also because she liked the simple choice of ‘stopping the invading foreign invaders’ more than Siero, who somehow made her feel uncomfortable. Batena forcibly denied that fact.

‘After we defeat the Elril Kingdom troops, Siero is next.’

But Batena already knew.

His puny army of zombies couldn’t even topple a single elite knight of Elril. So Batena ran forward with his mace in hand without hesitation.

Ethelred, who was running ahead, spotted a large, heavily armored warrior running towards him. Ethelred recognized the unusual and splendid armor, the armor that a king would wear, and stopped for a moment, straightening his posture. When Ethelred suddenly stopped, Batena also stood in front of him and glared.

Ethelred was the first to open his mouth and lift his visor.

“Ethelred Aldeon, son of Alfred, lord of knights, master of Kaldbuch, king of Elil. And you?”

It is only natural that those of noble standing should introduce themselves on the battlefield. This is clearly stated in the Ellil etiquette.

Batena Krahn felt unfamiliar, but a smile escaped his lips.

“Lord of the Krahn Fortress, Master of the Lehe Plains, King of Krahn. I am Batena Krahn. It is an honor to meet the King of Elril.”

“I am honored too.”

Ethelred dismounted in accordance with his opponent’s level. If Isaac had seen it, he would have sighed, but Ethelred had no way of knowing. Even Ethelred, who despised chivalry, had only seen such things growing up, so he did not feel anything strange.

But to Batena Krann, all of this felt fresh.

To Batena, who had met her end after being betrayed and humiliated, Ethelred’s actions seemed to beautifully correct her end.

Batena Krann will not meet his end by being betrayed and stabbed in the back, but will die a heroic death while defending his fortress on the battlefield.

Batena met Ethelred’s eyes and ran towards him, laughing heartily.

Aethelred could not kill his precious opponent in an ordinary manner. He did his best to be polite and showed the best swordsmanship he could.

The swordsmanship of Aldeon’s swordsmanship, which cuts and destroys anything with a single blow, and the swordsmanship of Isaac’s swordsmanship, which devours anything with a ferocious murderous intent, are combined.

A loud noise rang out as swords and hammers crossed.

But Batena felt like she had been thrown into a crusher rather than hit with a weapon.

Batena didn’t even get a chance to take Ethelred’s first blow. His gaze slowly tilted. In his dizzying vision, he saw people standing in front of the gate. It was Rehena Kran and Helga Kran, held in the arms of soldiers.

Ironically, Batena now had no choice but to trust Siero.

Please protect the children from the sinister power crouching within the black pillars beyond that fortress.

***

The harvester does not feel pain, but he is not insensible.

The moment Isaac’s ‘Hidden Ritual’ was activated, the Harvester felt an overwhelmingly alien sensation all over his body. The fact that his body, which was invisible to Urbanus, could feel the change meant that this was a miracle, and a very powerful miracle at that.

It felt as if each strand of darkness was licking his body as if tasting it, playfully biting and sniffing it, like a giant predator rolling its prey in its mouth with its tongue.

Fortunately, harvesters do not feel fear. However, they are not emotionless.

Fear, anger, etc. are the brain’s neural functions to overcome the current situation. Fear warns us to escape the current situation, and anger secretes adrenaline to prepare for a fight. Therefore, the harvester felt both emotions at the same time.

To resolve the two conflicting feelings, the Harvester decided to eliminate Isaac.

Of course, no matter what kind of ‘thought’ the harvester comes to, there is always only one conclusion.

Phew, kugugugu!

The reapers’ attacks grew more ferocious as they swept towards Isaac.

The reaper’s scythe shattered the space covered in color beyond with even more brutality and certainty. However, Isaac dodged the reaper’s attack with much more agility and speed than before.

All the ground, all the atmosphere, even all the coincidences of the moment were helping Isaac.

Isaac’s form was distorted to the point where it was difficult to recognize him. All you could see was a few tentacles.

The harvester nervously tried to cut down Isaac.

Crack! Kachulain roared like an animal as he collided with the reaper’s scythe. However, Isaac clearly understood that he could neither cut down nor kill this formless being.

There was only one attempt worth making.

It is left to the same Urbanus existence.

“Then let’s try again.”

Isaac planted Cachulain in the ground and moved his fingers in strange patterns. It was difficult to even describe how many tentacles there were on his fingers because tentacles were seeping out from every joint. Isaac estimated the position of the harvester in front of him and formed shapes with the tentacles.

There is no special ritual or anything. It just specifies coordinates and directions.

“… … It’s revenge. Eat it up.”

Isaac summoned the ‘Abyss’s Grasp’ once again.

An ominous cry erupted from within the hidden ceremonial curtain.

[Serial] The Knight of the Dead God