Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 372



Only Krnovel

Episode 372. Division (2)

The Death Knight named Levante stopped a short distance away from Isaac instead of directly colliding with him.

Isaac imagined taking advantage of his moment of carelessness to decapitate him, but he knew that doing so would also lower the morale of the Elil Army, so they stood together to face him.

Since he was standing in front of the Knights of Elril, if the opponent came out fair, Isaac had to face them fair as well.

“Isaac Isaacrea. Commander-in-Chief of the Isaacrea Dawn Army.”

[Isaac! You are the renowned Grail Knight. Your fame has spread far and wide, even to this distant land! But why did you sneak in like a thief, leaving the great battlefield behind?]

A sly laugh of derision spread through the undead army. If Isaac were an Elril knight, he might have felt a little embarrassed, but they had chosen the wrong opponent.

Isaac answered coldly.

“Well, I came here to win, not to be stupid.”

The atmosphere suddenly froze. It was just funny to Isaac that he was a loser and opened his mouth like that. Isaac thought that they had finished introducing themselves and stopped talking.

Kwadududu! The horse ran as fast as it could without any warning.

Levante quickly raised his sword and blocked Isaac’s sword. Crack! A sharp metallic sound rang out. Levante staggered, but barely managed to avoid falling.

‘Well, I swung it to stop it.’

It was a kind of bell that rang so as not to hear nonsense like it was a surprise attack or that it was cowardly.

It means to stop talking nonsense and come at me.

Isaac waited for Levante’s movements to return to normal.

Levante had already realized that Isaac was far stronger than him, but he was not a knight of Ellir if he retreated because the enemy was strong.

Even after becoming undead, they were still insane.

[I’ll learn a thing or two!]

“Well, if you have the talent to do that… … .”

The moment Levante rushed in, Isaac breathed his sword energy into Cachulain. As the purple sword energy shimmered ominously, Cachulain’s form and pattern were delicately revealed. Levante flinched as he recognized the holy sword of Elril, but the next moment, the holy sword was already splitting his crown.

Kkwaddeuddeuk! Cachulain cut Levante’s sword, helmet, skull, armor, and even the Phantom Steed he was riding in half in one fell swoop. Even the Elril knights looked on in astonishment at the unbelievable sight.

It might be possible for Ethelred to draw on Kaldbuh’s power, but he didn’t have the confidence to tear it apart like a piece of paper.

Thanks to the soul-eating ability of the Sword Knight, Levante was unable to regenerate. It was not enough to be a nutrient, but it was useful in preventing regeneration.

The battlefield was briefly engulfed in silence at the overwhelming sight of the Death Knight not even being able to rise again, but it was only for a moment. Soon, the battlefield heated up as if it had been lit on fire.

Two death knights simultaneously emerged from the undead army.

[Annabel of the Tempel family… …!]

[Bidric, the Knight of Orleans… … .]

The two exchanged bewildered glances at each other, as if they had no intention of attacking at the same time. However, instead of yielding, they both charged at the same time. They thought that someone as strong as Isaac would never avoid a fight.

However, Isaac glanced at them and without hesitation, turned his horse around and headed back towards the Ellil Army. The two Death Knights looked slightly flustered, but they raised their swords when they saw the two knights suddenly appearing as if to take turns with Isaac.

Lyanna and Sydrik blasted their swords, intersecting with the rushing knights.

Kang! Card-crack. Cidrik had already knocked down his opponent before he could even clash his sword three times. He didn’t forget to crush his opponent’s skull with his words so that he wouldn’t recover easily. However, instead of knocking him down, Lyanna was holding him down with her sword, engaging in a power struggle.

It wasn’t that she was weaker than Cidrik and was wasting time.

“If you are Annabel of House Tempel, aren’t you my great-grandmother? Why are you standing in the way of your descendants in this desolate place?”

The opponent had no facial muscles, so it was impossible to tell what expression he was making. However, the tip of his sword wavered only briefly, and he pushed Lyanna away again without hesitation as he swung his sword.

Kang. Lyanna, who knew that there was a murderous intent on the tip of the sword, distorted her face and struck down Lumiad.

Kwadudududu! A brutal and brutal coldness pierced through even the coldness of the dead and destroyed their entire bodies.

It was Ellil’s etiquette not to show favoritism even when dealing with ancestors.

The morale of the Elril army rose sharply as three enemy knights were defeated in a straight duel. On the other hand, the morale of the undead army should have declined, but there were no signs of this.

Instead, when the flag bearer waved his flag once, all the knights started to run towards Lyanna and Cidrik at once.

At that sight, Ethelred showed her anger.

“Those cowards… … Charge with all forces!”

Soon the first battle within the Urdantu Empire began.

***

“Good start. A great win.”

After returning from the battle, Isaac began a meeting with the commanders, including a report on the battle results. Isaac and the Elril army achieved results by defeating more than half of the undead forces.

As Tukhalin said, it was a ‘great victory’.

That is, if the opponent were human.

Isaac had no intention of tarnishing Elli’s victory, but he had to point this out.

“It doesn’t matter how much damage you inflict on an undead army. They will eventually reassemble their bones, find their armor, and return in good shape.”

On the other hand, humans are wounded and exhausted. The Elil army also suffered casualties, although their morale was boosted by their great victory. They are in high spirits now, but as time goes by, they will realize that victory means nothing until they capture the Holy Land of Lua.

We tried our best to burn and destroy the corpses, but it was hard to find firewood in the middle of the desert. And it was also difficult to ask the priests who were supposed to be healing the wounded to burn the corpses.

“However, since it has been confirmed that there is no Lua Belin on the other side, Jim’s knights will be relieved for a while. It seems that there is no Sword Master power either.”

Ethelred said.

Swordmasters can use swordsmanship even after they die and become undead. The traitor of Elril, Vilon Georg, is a great example of this. Isaac thought of several people in the Undead Order who could use swordsmanship, but he had no idea who they would be.

“Not only the level, but the number of enemies wasn’t that many to begin with. It seems like the purpose was to deter or reconnaissance. That’s what I thought… … .”

When Ethelred was about to say something more, Tukhalin stopped him for a moment, as if he had more to report.

“As Her Majesty Aethelred said, when the commander-in-chief rushed forward, enemies were discovered on the flanks and rear as well. It was towards the Isacrea Knights. They too retreated after a brief skirmish, perhaps for reconnaissance purposes.”

Isaac nodded.

“Oh, yes. I heard. I heard that Captain Rottenhammer and Mr. Tukhalin were active. Thank you.”

“No, who is active is not important right now. What is important is the identity of the enemies. It seems like the Isacrea Knights are quite concerned about them.”

“What is your identity?”

Geeeeek, thud.

Then someone approached Isaac. It was Gebel.

He was approaching, dragging his heavy armor with both hands. Gebel met Isaac’s eyes and opened his mouth heavily.

“It was the Avalanche Knights.”

The armor he brought was engraved with a crescent moon and a sword overlapping it. The same tattoo as the one on Gebel’s body.

It was the symbol of the Avalanche Knights.

Isaac tensed at the sight of his expression, which was more menacing than anything he had ever seen before. He now understood why Gebel, who always had an indifferent expression on his face, had been called a ‘mad dog’ in the past.

“Who are you?”

“I don’t know. I treated him a little harshly because he didn’t talk and resisted a lot.”

The identity of the person brought by Gebel is unknown, but the skull, armor, and every bone joint were all cut by swords, making them a mess. I briefly thought that Gebel had a grudge against the Avalanche Knights, but it was probably just a way to prevent the opponent from escaping.

Gebel removed the Death Knight’s skull and had the priest seal it, a ritual that would prevent resurrection, false miracles, and whispers.

Anyway, it seems like the other person has no intention of talking right now, so we can question them little by little.

***

‘Avalanche Knights.’

It is no coincidence that the Avalanche Knights appeared.

Isaac had a bad feeling. He didn’t know how it was because he wasn’t there, but the question was how many people had apostatized. Judging from Gebel’s reaction, it seemed like it wasn’t a small number.

“Has anyone ever had a conversation with him?”

Gebel shook his head, but answered heavily.

“Only one of them had a sword with a peculiar pattern. It was a strangely crafted sword made by a craftsman of the Undead Order. And as far as I know, there is only one person who uses that sword.”

“Who are you?”

“Chief Linde. She took the sword from the Immortal Cult master and then burned his body to pieces.”

Isaac remembered hearing that name in passing a long time ago. It was the name that came up when Rottenhammer and Gebel were reunited.

In Isaac’s memory, when Rottenhammer asks, “What happened to Captain Linde?”, Gebel answers, “He’s dead.”

‘You are the commander of the Avalanche Knights.’

Unless someone else had killed the paladin named Linde and taken her sword, it was clear that he had become a death knight. But whether Linde had become a death knight or whoever had killed Linde and taken her sword, Gebel had to hunt him down.

A cold, burning fire appeared in Gebel’s eyes.

“Isaac. I’m sorry, but I… … I think I’ll have to take a break from here for a moment.”

Isaac looked at Gebel with a complicated expression.

It is Gabel’s duty and right to pursue the Avalanche Knights. Isaac has no right to stop it. However, for him to pursue the Avalanche Knights alone would be tantamount to allowing them to die.

The worst case scenario is that we will encounter Gebel again on the battlefield as a member of the Immortal Cult. If the Avalanche Knights have apostatized en masse, it is unlikely that Gebel will join them.

“I don’t want troops. No, even if they were offered, I would refuse. I can’t drag my soldiers to their deaths. I just need to know the truth.”

“No, who cares?”

Then a growling voice was heard.

It was Rottenhammer. He strode toward Gebel and swung his sword at him.

“Chief Rottenhammer… … .”

“I thought you were still as strong as ever, but when did you become so soft? It’s natural to crush and burn the undead without fail, but you’re going to walk in alone with your limbs? I’ll kill you right away, so I’ll ask for your troops!”

“… … It’s a personal matter. I can’t burden Isaac… … .”

“If you really want to go, the Knights of Isacrea will join you! If our comrades on the battlefield can’t even finish their military service and are wandering the underworld, what good will it do if we just leave them alone?”

Rottenhammer looked at Isaac as if asking for permission.

Tukhalin had a look on his face that said to stop him from making such an absurd statement about splitting up when there was still a long way to go. It was nowhere else but the middle of enemy territory where supplies were impossible. The enemy was undead, and they couldn’t even loot or supply. Splitting the force now would be suicidal.

Then, to make matters worse, Ethelred cautiously raised her hand.

“I’ll tell you something I couldn’t tell you before. The Knights of Elril are trying to chase after the undead army carrying the Belin banner that attacked from the front.”

“… … .”

Isaac’s expression became even more disturbed.

“Could it be because of our ancestors whose graves were robbed?”

“You may remember the name Annabelle of House Tempel, who fought against Lord Lyanna. She was Lord Lyanna’s maternal grandmother, but there were no members of House Tempel who fought in the Dawn. Her family’s flag and armor, which were believed to have been stolen, were found.”

Ethelred also spoke with a complicated expression, as if she was troubled by saying such things.

“If we don’t pursue them, it will be difficult to ensure the morale of the Elril Army.”

Only then did Isaac realize the true purpose of the Immortal Cult’s battle.

They were trying to tear the Isacrea Dawn Army apart with their old grudges, affection, and longing.