Chapter 19 : Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Thud, thud, thud.
As Ian walked down the corridor, drops of foul blood fell from the head of the paladin, whose eyes were not even closed in death.
The blood, as if pleading for recognition of its unjust demise, fell upon the pure white tiles, staining them red.
Someone, having incidentally raised their head at the sound of the falling drops, happened to spot Ian, or more precisely, the head he was holding.
“Kyaaaaaaak!”
At the ear-piercing scream, more people noticed Ian, and in an instant, chaos and fear spread like a plague.
“Murder, it’s murder!”
“A murderer!”
“Sir Furist?!
Paladin Furist is dead!”
Ian stood his ground, silently watching the chaos unfold.
Priests hurried to flee, while congregants with trembling legs stood in Ian’s path.
‘Whose faith is real?’
If holy power was God's gift for an individual's sincere faith, why did those pigs who fled to save their own skin possess it, and not the congregants who blocked the murderer's path to protect the holy temple?
Knowing that their meager holy power was being sold for gold coins and still not acting, wasn't that proof that God was just that indifferent to humans?
As I was having such thoughts, one of the congregants blocking the way shouted.
“To take a life in the sacred sanctuary!
God will punish you!”
“A demon!
It must be a demon!”
As if their blind faith had masked even their fear, the congregants who stood against Ian, who held a paladin’s head, united and raised their voices.
“If you wish to avoid divine punishment, turn back now!”
“Repent, you demon!”
“Ooh!
God is with us!
The demon will never pass through here!”
If I had to be precise, they were closer to being victims.
Victims deceived by God’s unkept promise.
God had promised them peace and well-being, but he never told them that they couldn’t grasp either of those with their hands clasped in prayer.
“I have come to follow God’s will.”
It would be troublesome if rumors spread that the young lord came all this way to kill a paladin himself.
I had to make them believe that the powerless, thoughtless madman had sent the free knight, ‘White Mask ’.
The plain white mask covering my face would become a symbol of a righteous and strong yet tragically loyal knight.
“My being here is the will of God.
God commanded me to summon the evil disguised in His name, and so I have come.”
Ian’s voice, hidden behind the white mask, echoed in the ears of the calm congregants, and Ian slowly walked towards them.
“Do you dare to aid the vile sinners who have tarnished the name of God?”
The black coat covering his entire body and the white mask, that bizarre combination and the voice that made their knees weak as if he were alive, made them flinch for a moment, but someone among the congregants, braving the suffocating fear, shouted.
“Sophistry!
We must stop the demon until the priests bring the paladins!”
“Do not be swayed by his tongue!
Protect the sanctuary!”
“The will of God is with us!”
A sneer naturally formed on my lips at the sight of the congregants who had even sat down to pray.
Where were those who should truly be protecting the sanctuary, and why were these people, who could do nothing but clasp their hands in prayer, risking their lives?
‘If they truly believe in the will of God, they will also believe that what is about to happen is the will of God.’
Ian, who approached the man who had shouted “sophistry,” cloaked his hand in mana.
‘Not enough to kill.’
Though their blind faith was irritating, belief was a matter of freedom.
Ian grabbed the hair of the man, who did not unclasp his hands, which were filled with resolve, and slapped his cheek.
Slap!
“It is a sin to not be vigilant even when seeing the name of God being tarnished.”
“Keo, keoheok!”
The shock, as if his soul was leaving his body, naturally made the congregant’s clasped hands come apart to block his face, but Ian did not stop.
Everything has consequences.
It was time to instill in them the basic common sense that one should not carelessly insult and block someone carrying a severed head.
Slap!
“It is a sin to not believe in God, but in those who sell His name.”
“What!
This is the sacred cathe……”
Slap!
“It is a sin to remain silent without shame, even when serving men instead of God.”
The man, already unconscious, hung limply.
Ian tossed the collapsed man aside and looked at the other congregants.
“You are all sinners as well, but I will forgive you, so get lost.”
Where had their faith, which had cried out “demon,” gone?
The congregants, who had looked at the fallen man with horrified eyes, began to back away one by one.
Ian left them behind and entered the depths of the cathedral along the corridor.
* * *
“What did you say?”
Demnok, the bishop dispatched to the Moner domain, asked the paladin who had come to report with a dumbfounded expression.
“An intruder has killed Paladin Furist and is coming this way.
I have issued a summons to all paladins and monks.”
Demnok still looked around as if he couldn’t believe it.
The depths of the ceremonial hall, filled with lavish decorations, and the statue in the form of God looked down on him with a benevolent expression.
“An intruder?
Here?”
Who in the world would dare to invade the sanctuary?
Even in times of war, religion was a line that was not crossed.
“I’ve seen all sorts of crazy bastards.
Did he have an acquaintance who died because they couldn't get treatment…?”
There were people every day who complained about how they could let a sick person die.
Incompetent and selfish humans who didn’t understand that saving a life required money equal to the value of that life.
Normally, he would have had a prospective monk or paladin beat them up and chase them away, but if a murder had been committed in this sanctuary, it was a different story.
“Send a few congregants to the Lord’s Castle and call the security forces.
I must protest strongly to the Regent about this.”
Wasn't this a blessing that had rolled in on its own feet when he was looking for a pretext to extort more money?
“The ruffians of this domain are so dangerous, we should demand a life allowance on top of the treatment fee every time we provide treatment.”
Demnok stroked his bulging belly and smiled with satisfaction.
Ten years ago, when he was first appointed here, he thought his career as a cleric was over, but God helps those who help themselves.
Now, there was no one in the entire Moner territory who did not believe in the God of Light, and as long as the clerics held the lifeline, no one could go against the will of the clergy.
‘If I raise the tribute a little more on this occasion, it wouldn’t be impossible to become an archbishop.’
A dream he had never forgotten since he put on the holy vestments seemed within his grasp, and he squeezed his belly fat several times.
* * *
“Stop!”
Ian, who was walking down the corridor, turned around at the shout from behind him and saw six paladins blocking his way.
“How dare you spill blood in the sanctuary, even God will not forgive your sins!”
The knight who stepped forward threatened Ian while gripping his sword.
The warm divine power unique to a paladin could be felt, indicating that he was a rather skilled paladin.
“Vice-Captain Cromwell?”
“I have no name to give a sinner!
Knights Templar, destroy the evil!”
The vice-captain, who saw Ian as a golden opportunity for promotion, ignored his superior's order to avoid a confrontation with the bastard and wait for the Lord's Castle's security forces, and charged at Ian with his six subordinates.
‘A chance to become the Knight Commander!’
He was a sinner who had committed murder in the cathedral.
If he caught him, he could become the new Knight Commander or even apply to be an inquisitor.
He had been nervous because he had heard that the man had killed Furist, but the mana felt from the sinner's body was pitifully weak.
However, Ian looked at him as he charged with his sword gripped and quietly recited as if delivering a death sentence.
“Vice-Captain Cromwell and six members of the Knights Templar.
God is looking for you.”
Ian threw Furist’s head at the knights charging with their holy power to obstruct their vision.
“How dare you!”
The vice-captain, who was running at the front, quickly cut down Furist’s head, but what awaited him was a shower of brain matter and Ian’s dagger stabbing through it.
Crack!
Ian’s dagger, which accurately aimed for the seam of the helmet, pierced the vice-captain’s neck with surprising ease, and the gushing crimson blood soaked Ian’s body.
The vice-captain hurriedly drew upon his holy power and clutched his pierced neck, but his holy power, which was only at the beginning of the 4-star level, was not enough to heal the wound.
“Gurgle……!”
The vice-captain, who had failed to even properly gauge his opponent’s capabilities in the first place, had to give up his life with a futility that belied his skill.
* * *
My five senses sharpened in the warm blood that soaked my body.
Suddenly, my body was filled with vitality, and my muscles became tougher.
[Desire for Blood is activated.
Attack power and attack speed increase.]
[Entering Berserker state.
Desire for Blood incites madness.]
[Immovable Mind resists madness.]
[Steel Heart resists madness.]
Pushing away the dead paladin in my arms, I lightly shook my body.
The sense of elation and surging adrenaline that I felt throughout my body made me feel omnipotent, as if I could do anything right now.
‘One blow per person.
I will send you to the side of the god you believe in.’
This was a kind of after-service request.
If there was a problem with a product, it was only natural to complain to the service provider.
So, it was no different from sending these defective products to God's side to request a quick A/S.
In the meantime, they would be able to have a private audience with the god they so desperately wished to meet, so it was truly a win-win, a massive bloodletting service for mutual benefit.
“Die!”
Avoiding the swords of the paladins who had formed a line and were stabbing from five directions, I jumped into the air and wrapped my legs around one of their necks.
“The armor will break……”
Crack!
It seemed the bastard believed that one couldn't bend iron with leg strength, but unfortunately for him, he was wrong.
‘Is it because he’s a zealot?
They have strange beliefs.’
As if he were the protagonist of a novel, he must have believed that he could easily defeat the villain before him.
Even though I had come into the cathedral with a paladin’s head in my hand, they didn't even show a hint of nervousness.
It seemed their precious faith had given them a false belief.
That the almighty God would help them punish evil, so they would never lose.
However–
“The subject is wrong.”
After the sound of breaking bones was heard from the neck that had been strangled by leg strength alone, I threw the body between two incoming swords to obstruct their path.
The other two swords came down with a fierce momentum as if to split my head, but I rolled on the floor to avoid them.
Swoosh!
The fierce sound of the sword cutting through the air as it passed right by me, and the knight with a horrified expression, as if he never thought I would roll towards a descending sword.
“You may want to believe that I am evil, but”
I threw the dagger held in a reverse grip at the bastard’s eye as if I were sowing seeds.
Clang!
Thud!
The knight dropped his sword and hurriedly blocked the dagger with his hand, but the dagger, imbued with mana, pierced through his hand and continued on to its original target, accurately gouging out his eye.
“I am the one who is just.”
The paladins, with hardened faces, surrounded Ian once again.
The knight who seemed to be the highest-ranking among them shouted at his comrades to raise their morale.
“We just need to hold on for a little while!
Other paladins and clerics are already on their way here!
Focus on defense!”
The three knights raised their swords and widened the distance.
The advantage of a paladin was a defense so robust that it was impossible to break through.
Knowing that he was an opponent they couldn't easily kill, they intended to hold their ground until help arrived.
But unfortunately for them, their opponent was not a good one.
“There is no castle wall in the world that cannot be brought down.”
Ian, who had retrieved the dagger embedded in the eye of the fallen knight, looked at the paladins, controlled his breathing, and walked following the Ghost King’s footwork.
Then, Ian’s form began to blur.
“Sorcery!”
By the time one of the knights, who was wary of Ian, shouted, Ian had already flown forward and was right in front of him.
Crack!
Ian’s dagger pierced the knight’s temple, and he pulled out two daggers from his pocket and threw them at the other two.
Clang!
Clang!
Both of them succeeded in blocking the thrown daggers, but they could not stop Ian who followed right after.
A single blow that condensed all the muscles in his body to their limit and then exploded.
‘Kill .’
Slice!
As the technique, created solely to kill the opponent, separated the knight’s helmet and neck at once, the remaining knight collapsed and dropped his sword.
“Th-this can’t be… how can just one person……”
Urine flowed from between the legs of the knight who was crawling with both hands.
“Now, let’s go.
God is waiting.”
“Wait, please, please!
I……”
Ian approached the knight who was waving his hands frantically and, with an indifferent expression, plunged a dagger into the knight’s forehead.