Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 382



Only Krnovel

Episode 382. Breakwater Against Chaos (1)

[Okay, then.]

Linde spoke out loud, pretending to be cheerful.

[Could you give me some time to speak privately with our chief engineer? It’s been a while since we last met, so I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about.]

“……All right.”

Rottenhammer still had a look of uneasiness on his face, but Isaac sent the knights back with him. The knights also looked thoughtful at Linde’s words.

Isaac couldn’t have predicted what effect ‘Revelation’ would have on this expedition.

They are loyal knights who serve the Code of Light. They came to this land with the purpose of exalting the glory of God and defeating evil, but they heard from their elders, “You have come to die.”

Isaac looked at them blankly and thought.

‘If I turn back here… … .’

There is no reason for them to die in the play of the gods.

Isaac knows best that it is difficult to recover the Holy Land with only the Light Code. The lighthouse keeper’s plan of a thousand years will fail in vain. However, if Isaac turns back, even Linde said that there will be no next dawn army, so the Undead Cult will ultimately win.

A point where nothing can be overcome.

Isaac could sense that the coming decisive battle was the ‘critical point’ of this world.

‘The lighthouse keeper wouldn’t have insisted on calling it a millennial kingdom.’

Then, is the lighthouse keeper satisfied with just adding people to the Dawn Army? No, is the victory of the Immortal Cult actually connected to the lighthouse keeper’s goal?

Isaac couldn’t read the lighthouse keeper’s mind.

Should we still cheer them on, saying, ‘The Code of Light is better than the Immortal Cult’? Even Isaac was starting to feel skeptical now.

Isaac sighed deeply after thinking about it.

I can’t turn back now. I’ve come too far.

Whether it’s to stop the lighthouse keeper or to establish a tomb for the immortal emperor, we must occupy the Holy Land of Lua. We must go there and cause trouble or overturn the table and have a showdown with them.

If it’s there, there’s probably a deck that can be used to gamble with the gods.

‘The Hand of Midas… … I have to check what it is.’

Now it was time to return to the alliance.

Isaac looked back at Gebel and Linde before packing his bags.

Gebel was crouching down, talking softly to Linde. I couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but I decided not to worry.

Late in the afternoon, as the Isacrea Knights were getting ready to leave, Isaac returned to Gabel.

A thin plume of smoke rose in front of Gebel. The embers seemed to have cooled down long ago. Isaac tried to wait patiently for Gebel to turn around, but it didn’t take long.

“let’s go.”

Gebel looked much older than before he started his expedition, but he was also much more relaxed. He seemed to have returned to being a retired paladin, not a true deserter.

However, Linde, whose soul had already been enslaved to the Immortal Order, would not be able to find peace, having lost only her body. Retirement was impossible for her. However, this was also the path Linde had wanted, and he hoped that Gebel would be satisfied with the fact that she had not been helplessly killed.

***

The cheerful trumpet sound rang out.

It meant that the last remnants had been subdued and the entire area had been completely secured.

It was an overwhelming victory for the Elli Army.

It was a battle worthy of the name. The vast plains, the sound of drums and trumpets announcing war, the sound of horseshoes shaking the earth, and the entanglement of warriors armed with steel, their own display of affection as they crumbled and fell.

Sometimes, there were picturesque battles where you admired your opponent’s skills and felt a sense of friendship even though you never exchanged a single word.

Rather, that was why Cidrik’s expression was not good.

No, in fact, many of the knights of the Elli Army felt uneasy. They were so embarrassed that they couldn’t figure out why they felt this way.

But Cidrik knew.

‘Because there was no twist.’

The battle began when Ethelred’s army finally caught up with the undead, the Elril Army, who they named the ‘Lua Impersonators’. From the moment Elril Army discovered the ‘Lua Impersonators’, they had a strange feeling.

They charged as if they had been waiting in an open location where it was difficult to ambush or receive support. They had been luring us until now, but they had a determined attitude as if they were preparing for a final battle.

The Elli Army immediately counterattacked, and a fierce battle soon followed.

The Undead Elil Army fought well. Many warriors fell and at times their ranks were almost broken. Among them was even a swordmaster named Tolbad, who threatened Ethelred.

However, it was almost comical that an arrow flew from somewhere and missed Tolvard’s helmet, causing the helmet to spin around and Tolvard to fall down helplessly, unable to see ahead.

But in the end, they were unable to overcome their numerical disadvantage, so the knights of the Ellir army could not help but feel uneasy.

‘Why did these brave and skilled knights fight such a reckless battle?’

Because you are from Elril? Elril teaches you to be brave, not stupid. Assassination is a cursed act, but surprise attacks and ambushes are ‘wise’. With this kind of skill and mobility, you could have harassed the Elril army here and there, buying time and reducing the strength of the Isacrea Dawn Army.

If only they had performed at least one of the evil miracles of the Immortal Church, this feeling of uneasiness would not have existed, but since they had fought a battle that seemed like a painting, everyone seemed to be in vain.

“What are you doing standing there blankly?”

At that moment, a beautiful voice was heard. As soon as Cidrik recognized the voice, he immediately turned around and greeted her politely.

“Hesabel, why did you come to such a dangerous place? There’s blood everywhere.”

“Oh my… … What should I do? There’s blood everywhere, it’s so scary.”

Hesabel answered incredulously and nonchalantly dabbed her finger at the blood flowing on the floor. She put the blood on her hand to her tongue and said.

“It is a shame that the blood of the great warriors of Elril is being wasted on the ground like this.”

Since the undead have no blood, all the blood scattered on the ground was Ellilgun’s. They were busy collecting and burning the corpses to prevent the undead from being resurrected here and there, but they couldn’t collect the blood.

“But my blood is well kept here. Not a single drop has been spilled.”

Sidrik spoke proudly, exposing the back of his neck. Hesabel wondered if he was offering her a drink, but she didn’t feel like it, so she pretended not to hear.

When Hesabel didn’t respond, Sidrik felt a little disappointed, but he felt like he would run away if she approached him. Not because he was scared, but because he didn’t think he could withstand the stimulation.

“So why were you just standing there with that shit-eating expression on your face?”

“Oh, you should speak nicely like a lady.”

“Baby, Walaika vampires live forever until they are eaten by someone. Have you ever thought about how old I am?”

“Speak as you wish, sir.”

The two lightly discussed their opinions and agreed to return to their original tone of speech.

“It was a picturesque battle with a small force against a large army. They were brave enough to be admired, but they could have fought better, so they chose to fight head-on and lose. Aside from my awe, I honestly don’t understand.”

“Oh, that’s what I thought every single day when I went to the Kingdom of Elril. Congratulations on finally having the intelligence to think that far.”

“Hmm, I think the same thing every time I see the warriors fighting against me. But they had plenty of ways to harass us. So why did they suddenly start a final battle?”

Hesabel turned her gaze to the east. Her gaze was directed into the distance, as if recalling some place that was not visible from here.

“Maybe there was no other way.”

“There was no other way?”

“When the battle was ending earlier, I rode Nell to scout the area. I also thought this battle was a bit strange, so I wondered if there had been an ambush. Then I found something strange far to the east.”

“If it’s strange… … .”

Hesabel whispered in my ear with a strange expression on her face.

“Monsters of the apocalypse.”

Cidrik’s expression hardened. It was not so much because of the shock of the words as because Hesabel’s actions were too provocative.

Hesabel, who understood Cidrik’s expression differently, continued speaking carefully.

“Perhaps they ‘accidentally’ encountered the alien monsters that had flown in from the south and were exhausted. With their numbers reduced and unable to carry out their original mission, they probably wanted to decorate their own end. Since they were undead anyway, they probably didn’t have much of a burden about death.”

Sidrik was about to say that it would be better to reorganize the force after the retreat, but then he imagined himself in that situation.

It didn’t seem like there would be much difference in the choices. Reason and the heart are separate things.

“… … That sounds plausible.”

Hesabel was about to say one more thing, but decided not to.

Hesabel had also heard from Isaac about the appearance of the great angel ‘Pale’ and Isaac’s victory. This undead – Elril-kun may have been planning to corner Elril-kun with Pale’s help at the crucial moment.

But the moment Pale was defeated, that possibility disappeared, and they had no choice but to fight to the death.

‘As expected, my great deceiver. I can’t predict how far he will reach.’

While Hesabel’s evaluation of Isaac was reaching its peak, Sidriq suddenly opened his mouth.

“Does the Grail Knight have anything to do with Chaos?”

Because of the great shock, Hesabel’s reaction was unnaturally slow.

“yes?”

“That swordsmanship.”

Cidrik said, thinking deeply.

“High-level swordsmanship is usually born while finding a motif from some form or phenomenon and implementing it. Just as Aldeon’s swordsmanship imitates the authority of the king, and Georg’s swordsmanship imitates the snow storm of the north.”

“… … .”

“But the swordsmanship used by the Grail Knights has a certain brutality that is similar to that of the apocryphal monsters we fought this time. No, it would be wrong to sum it up as brutal. Let’s call it bizarre.”

Hesabel was puzzled by the sharp look displayed by this foolish sword master.

Thinking back, it was the same when I first saw him. I thought he was foolishly fooled, but he omitted the important story and immediately showed his ability to execute his plan as soon as he judged that information had been leaked.

Contrary to his appearance, he is a person you cannot let your guard down.

And that means that these words were more likely to be words meant to test Hesabel than to provide any evidence.

“They say that Mirmia also used the monsters of the outside world for their own good. Perhaps the Grail Knights… … .”

“Well, maybe you learned it by slaying monsters in the external world?”

“No, considering the age of the Grail Knight… … .”

“Or maybe the Grail Knights are actually cultists who are favored by Chaos. They sprout tentacle-like things from their hands and eat people, and they even command monsters from other worlds and perform unholy rituals that we have never heard of.”

“… … No, I didn’t mean to say that… … .”

“Isaac, you too have been worrying about the dark side of the sword. I think it would be best not to make unpleasant assumptions.”

Seedrik also kept his words short, as he had no intention of insulting or framing Isaac. Hesabel dismissed it as ‘just a coincidence’, but decided to keep an eye on this loose-fitting yet sharp-edged swordmaster.

Hesabel softly patted Cidrik on the side.

“Come to think of it, what was the motif for Knight Seedric’s swordsmanship? I saw it before and it was quite beautiful and splendid.”

“Oh, of course. Speaking of my swordsmanship… … .”

“Not now, but later.”

Hesabel whispered in Cidrik’s ear.

“In a quieter place, away from the blood-filled, corpse-strewn battlefield.”

After saying that, Hesabel stepped back. Cidrik watched her walk away, caressing his burning face.

Then, suddenly, a question occurred to me that I couldn’t help but ask.

“Excuse me, sir. How old are you?”

Hesabel smiled at Cidrik’s words and answered.

“Twenty-five.”

On the surface, it seems to be exactly that. There is no way to know whether it is true or not, but since the lady said so, Sidrik decided to believe it.

‘You’re younger than me… …!’