Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 345



Only Krnovel

Episode 345. The Sea of ​​Nightmares (7)

Tukhalin’s thunderbolt, unlike ordinary thunderbolts, rises from the ground to the sky. When his hammer first strikes the bare ground, he offers a ‘prayer’, and his faith becomes a thunderbolt and rises to the desired location.

Tukhalin likened the lightning strike to sparks flying out during a smelting operation.

In other words, the real power of the lightning hammer lies in the explosive power that occurs in the brief moment when the lightning strikes.

Boom! Kwarurur… … Blue lightning spread across the stormy sky like tree branches. The serpent, which had been torn apart by the miracle of Tukhalin in the sea, trembled and jumped up onto the surface for a moment. The width of its body itself was half that of Aidan’s stomach, but it was so long that it was difficult to gauge its end.

“You little snake! How dare you block my elder’s path!”

Tukhalin roared and slammed his hammer down on the deck again. With his strength, he could have destroyed Yenkos’ ship, but he left not a scratch on the deck.

Instead, a shockwave and lightning of enormous power erupted from somewhere in the sea. The Serpent’s joints were seen shaking along with the white foam. The broken bone stems and charred marks were clear.

As the Serpent’s movements were interrupted, the flow of the vortex slowed noticeably. It was clear that the Serpent was creating the vortex.

The Serpent, perhaps feeling that it could not stand up to Tukhalin’s attack, changed direction and attacked Yenkos’ ship. Tukhalin did not even try to dodge the giant Serpent that was coming at him from the front.

When Yenkos tried to turn the boat around in a hurry, he shouted at him instead.

“Keep going!”

“but…….”

“Just think about the sight of that guy’s skull hanging on a medallion! We’ll catch him and go!”

Yenkos was astonished, but he could not refuse the order. Not because he had to obey him, but because the Serpent’s spine was already blocking all sides and wrapping around his stomach.

The Serpent suddenly pounced on Tukhalin, who was sitting on the foredeck. Tukhalin twirled his hammer around and around, then, the moment the Serpent charged in, he brought it down hard on the Serpent’s forehead.

Kwakwakwakwang! This time, a tremendous shock was transmitted to the surrounding area, enough to engulf even Yenko’s ship.

The Serpent writhed, letting out a soundless scream.

The vicious venom that spewed out from his teeth attacked Tukhalin. Tukhalin felt pain as if he had dipped his hand into a furnace, but he still burst into laughter.

“It’s lukewarm!”

Once again, lightning struck the ship.

***

Kwarrurung, kururung, kurururur… Aidan Bearbeck adjusted his grip on the wheel as he watched the thunderbolts and loud noises continuously erupt from the Yenkos’ ship.

There, great heroes and legendary monsters were fighting. It was a scene that would have been convincing only in myths from before the Age of Light.

Aidan couldn’t believe he was there.

But somewhere else, another hero was chasing him.

If the world’s furnace had a hero named Tukhalin, the Salt Council had a hero named Horace. Although he was a person from hundreds of years ago, the anecdotes he accumulated were adapted into countless versions and turned into legends and fairy tales.

That Horace came back from the dead and was fighting a modern-day hero, Isaac.

‘No, to be exact, the person Horace is trying to fight is… … me?’

Horace, even in the midst of all this, was still firmly convinced that if he could sink Aidan’s ship, Isaac would not be able to escape. With the appearance of Tukhalin’s ship, that possibility was now unknown, but he was still obsessed with Aidan’s ship.

Aidan lamented his fate, suddenly having to compete with a legendary hero.

‘I’m going to compete with Horace in steering skills?’

The whirlpool created by the Serpent had become much more gentle than it had been at first, but it was still a disaster to sailors in terms of scale and size. In the meantime, a storm invaded, pouring down rain, and within the whirlpool, pieces of broken ships were thrown like reefs.

A situation where even the slightest mistake could lead to a complete breakdown or destruction.

‘In a place like this, me and Horace?’

Aidan let out a hollow laugh.

The hand holding the wheel felt like it was going to cramp up because of the rough waves, but instead, it became even stronger. It was a chance to compete with the legendary pirate captain and his ship-driving skills. Where else would you get a chance like this?

“Pull in the sails, sailors! Let’s do this!”

Paaaaah… … The sails screamed as they inflated to their limit. Aidan’s ship, caught in the whirlpool and wind, was moving at an incredible speed he had never experienced before. Aidan was already not sure how he was controlling this ship.

But the ship, the crew, and the captain all moved as if they were one.

It was a moment that could only be expressed by the words, “the sea takes care of me.”

Aidan measured the distance between himself and Horace. Horace, despite having lost many sailors, was still pursuing Aidan at almost the same speed. Aidan felt both fear and awe at his skill.

But honestly, he wasn’t sure if it was Horace he was afraid of, or another figure opposing him.

***

While Tukhalin was fighting the Serpent and Aidan was fighting Horace, another invisible battle was taking place on the other side.

Isaac stared at Horace, or rather at the dead December that was watching over him from afar. What was before his eyes was clearly Horace, but above him was the apparition of a monk with twelve faces, as big as a giant tree, staring at Isaac with sunken eyes.

[Back off, baby.]

It was not a voice of ridicule or contempt, but rather a voice like that of an adult really soothing a child.

The dead December was speaking directly into his head.

[Captain Horace is a poor man. I promised to protect him until he fulfilled his oath. You, the followers of the Light Code, and no one else, should interfere with Horace.]

Dead December whispered in a detailed manner. Isaac ignored what he said and strode towards Horace. However, at that moment, the presence of Dead December became so strong that it weighed down on Isaac.

Isaac barely managed to avoid falling or backing down, but the pressure grew stronger as he approached Horace. Each step felt like stepping into a dense abyss. There was a force inside that threatened to crush Isaac and burst him.

Isaac stared at the dead December, barely able to catch his breath.

“Oath? Is that the oath that you can’t quit the Dawn Army until the Holy Land, Lua, is reclaimed?”

The dead December looked at Isaac as if he found it strange.

[Everyone who knew about that oath is probably dead now. Anyone who could talk about it is tied up in the belly of the ship. Where did you hear it?]

Isaac didn’t answer. It was difficult to even breathe a word. The dead December seemed not to be that curious about the answer anyway, so he whispered softly. As if he believed that he would be persuaded and back down after hearing the situation.

[Arezel Brandt, the commander-in-chief of the 7th Dawn Army, offered Horace, who was captured, a condition in lieu of a death sentence. He wanted to open up a sea route to the Holy Land of Lua, and asked him to lead the fleet.]

It was a bold approach that was hard to expect from the Code of Light. Moreover, at that time, the Code of Light’s religious order was in conflict with Elril and the world’s furnace due to its dogmatic attitude, so even the flag of the ‘Baekje Kingdom’ was meaningless.

It may have been an idea that was possible because the commander-in-chief was the Brandt family, which had a certain level of naval power within the empire.

[Considering Horace’s faith and honor, it would have been enough to receive a promise. They knew neither lies nor deception. But you, the followers of the Light Code, did not believe in any other faith. They forced Horace to swear an oath of faith. They said that he could not leave the Dawn Army until the Holy Land of Lua was reclaimed. It was a cruel act that trampled on pride.]

‘Well, I guess it wasn’t that bad.’

Isaac thought that Horace might have thought, at the time, that it was ‘unpleasant, but that’s possible’. After all, the captains of the Salt Council were not the kind of people who would steer a ship carelessly.

[Horace faithfully carried out Arezel Brandt’s orders. He led the fleet with miraculous skill, and succeeded in landing 20 of the 60 ships of the 7th Dawn Army on Mirmia.]

It was a terrible situation where 2/3 of the ships were lost from the start, but Isaac had seen and experienced firsthand how terrible the storm was. Thinking back, it is an unbelievable miracle that even 20 ships were able to pass through the storm.

Horace faithfully accomplished the mission he was given.

But the problem started from here.

[But Arezel Brandt was disappointed and frustrated by the great loss. However, it was now too late to go back through the storm. They wanted to pass through the salt desert of Mirmia and head towards the holy land of Lua… … but ironically, it was the lighthouse keeper who blocked his way.]

To be exact, it is the sun that the lighthouse keeper raised above Mirmia.

The small sun, still burning brightly, was shining like a lighthouse over the sealess harbor, scorching the salt desert day and night. The 7th Dawn Army suffered from the unexpectedly terrible heat and thirst.

No moisture dared invade the salt desert, and no living creatures could be found. Even while passing through the salt desert, monsters from the outside world attacked them without rest, and the undead of the Undead Church, who did not care about the heat, only watched from afar as if it was a joke.

[Finally, Arezel Brandt prayed to the lighthouse keeper in despair. Please lift the curse on Mirmia. Please help us to carry out your will… … .]

The dead December muttered with great sympathy.

Isaac suddenly realized that he was speaking as if he had seen the scene. Perhaps December, who had died during the Seventh Dawn, had also been watching from afar, like the other undead, as his angel slaughtered his followers.

[But the lighthouse keeper did not listen.]

The lighthouse keeper was simply focused on keeping an already dead city dead.

As if insulting the city’s corpses was more important than saving the lives of its believers.

[Arezel Brandt went mad. His soldiers, and the Knights Templar. In the end, before the 7th Dawn Army was completely destroyed, Arezel squeezed out the last of his sanity and gave the order to retreat. He never said that he would die in the Holy Land of Lua.]

It was in the face of miracles that they realized, ironically, that God had abandoned them.

[But when everyone accepted the order to retreat… … there was one person who refused the order with fiery anger.]

Isaac turned his blurry eyes from the dead December to the captain, Horace, below him.

[‘You said I could not escape the Dawn Army until the Holy Land of Lua was reclaimed. You dragged me into this dungeon, and now you are making me a renegade of my oath?’]

Horace’s voice rang out shrilly in Isaac’s ears.

The Salt Council fell into ruin when an ancient captain broke his oath to the lighthouse keeper.

The shining holy place, Mirmia, was left in ruins, and its followers were scattered across the world. But this time, Horace himself became an oathbreaker by the Code of Light.

[But the 7th Dawn Army didn’t have the confidence to go through that storm again without Horace’s skills. They ended up taking Horace’s subordinate sailors hostage, and even put a chain around Horace’s neck, tying him to the ship and dragging him out to sea. So that if they accidentally sank the ship, they would drown with him.]

There, December, who died, smiled deeply with satisfaction.

[It was unnecessary. Horace didn’t hesitate at all.]

The undead Horace steering the boat in front of them and the countless skeletons hanging from the bow were explaining the results.

[As soon as he set sail for the open sea, he sank the entire fleet in the waters off Mirmia. The 7th Dawn Army was annihilated in that way.]

The dead December reached down and caressed Horace’s head as if he felt sorry for him. But his touch was nothing more than an illusion. The hallucination was only visible to Isaac, so Horace, who was concentrating all his senses on steering, did not even feel the presence.

[I felt pity for him as he remembered his oath even as he died. I decided to give him mercy and a chance. The Code of Light coldly enforces order and discipline, but we must postpone death and give him more chances.]

Thus, Horace became the admiral of the great fleet commanded by the Immortal Order.

Horace swore to serve the Dawn Army until the Holy Land was reclaimed. However, he is now a member of the Undead Church. And the Holy Land, Lua, is the territory of the Undead Church. In other words, the ‘recovery of the Holy Land’ was carried out in a slightly different direction when Horace became a member of the Undead Church.

Horace is no longer a member of the Dawn Army.

Just an object of deception and ridicule.

The sight of the knights hanging from the ship’s deck and being humiliated came back to Isaac’s mind once again.

The skeletons hanging from the railing, whose skulls Horace had been crushing, calling them ‘deserters’, were in fact the soldiers and knights of the 7th Dawn Army who were retreating at that moment.