Chapter 128
Chapter 128
Paladin Aion had not originally been such an outstanding Holy Knight.
Because of his family’s standing, he had trained with the sword and become a Holy Knight, but not only had his foundational faith been lacking, his aspirations leaned more toward scholarship than toward the sword or religion.
Then, one day, he came face to face with the Holy King’s daughter.
Her noble figure, white hair like fresh snow fluttering as she cared for people with a warm smile. In an instant, Aion had his heart stolen by the Saintess.
It was too deep to be called love, and too lofty to be called mere respect.
To Aion, the Saintess was faith itself, the very embodiment of a goddess.
However, as nothing more than an ordinary Holy Knight, he dared not stand by the Saintess’s side. And so, wishing to be with her even from afar, he trained diligently.
What he had not expected was that his hidden talent far surpassed imagination, and that the divine power he had lacked was filled the deeper and deeper his feelings for her grew.
Thus, Aion became the youngest Paladin, and with that honor, the knight of the Saintess.
All manner of honor and wealth followed, but none of it mattered to him. The days he spent together with the Saintess alone had been enough.
But a few days ago, his world had been shattered to pieces.
A single sword that bit into the Saintess’s neck. The Empire’s Third Imperial Prince, Leios von Ribera, had launched a sudden surprise attack, and he had barely managed to block it.
Had he been even a little late, the Saintess would never have seen the light again.
Yet when Aion saw the stream of blood flowing down her neck, his reason snapped.
Even if it meant waging war against the Empire, he had to exact a price. And so he had charged in to bring down Prince Leios, but the result had been disastrous.
“Paladin Aion.”
And now, he stepped onto the training ground to avenge that defeat.
“…Shouldn’t the Pilgrim’s Path be free of personal emotions?”
Unlike before, the radiant blond Prince Leios spoke. Aion shook his head, cloaking himself in calmness.
“Do not misunderstand. I am colder now than ever.”
As he spoke, he cast a brief glance behind him.
“…….”
The Saintess was clasping her hands tightly, looking this way with a worried expression. Aion smiled inwardly and tightened his grip on his sword.
‘You need not worry, Saintess. I, Aion, will surely strike down the vile foe before me and return to you.’
“I’m sorry, but I can’t go easy on you like last time.”
At the attitude that seemed to mock him to the very end, Aion did not hesitate and kicked off the ground.
Boom-!
The momentum of the two collided, shaking the training ground. At the omen of a battle on an entirely different level from an Expert-class fight, those watching nearby swallowed hard.
“Activate the barrier.”
At the Holy King’s command, the priests created a barrier that enveloped the training ground.
If up until now it had been a one-sided suppression, from here on it would be a fierce battle with blood flying on both sides. It was a precaution taken because the sparks could fly to those watching nearby.
Seeing the barrier unfold around them, Leios and Aion no longer hesitated and drew out their full power.
Vwooom—.
A blazing Aura Blade surged up along Leios’s sword.
A Paladin-class powerhouse could not be dealt with using the bare minimum of strength like the Holy Knights fought earlier. It was still a swift, decisive fight, but the difference lay in pouring out one’s maximum power.
Pabababat—!
The same was true for Aion. As if to declare that his defeat at their first meeting had been a mistake, he left no room for mercy in his hands and raised a dazzling light.
“…Isn’t this dangerous?”
One of the Holy Knights muttered uneasily as he watched the clash. The collision between a Sword Master and a Paladin was that violent.
‘He was said to be the Sword Saint’s successor.’
Every year, the Sword Saint held a gathering of Sword Masters in his territory.
It was a place where those who walked the path of the sword gathered purely, regardless of nationality or interests. Aion himself had participated in last year’s gathering in the name of a Paladin.
Among the many powerhouses gathered there, there was one man whose being called the pinnacle no one could deny.
The man before his eyes was the disciple of such an existence, but if it was not the master himself, Aion was confident he could bring him down.
The brilliant afterimage of aura poured toward him. It was surely that technique called the Star Cluster from the Sword Saint Style secret arts.
‘I will not dodge— I will meet it head-on!’
“Haaah—!”
His rough roar echoed across the training ground.
Thud.
At the sound of something collapsing onto the training ground behind me, I sheathed my sword and let out a small sigh.
“…The victor, Ostia!”
When I turned my head slightly, Aion’s body lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious. A Holy Knight, confirming his fall a beat later, declared it in a trembling voice.
‘A Paladin really is a Paladin.’
Before the next Paladin stepped onto the training ground, I stood in place and caught my breath.
After fighting so far with minimal movement, it was unavoidable that I had revealed a certain amount of my strength when facing him.
Still, this time, by good fortune, I had managed to bring down a Paladin without expending too much power.
I had thought that if I drew his attention with a Sword Saint Style secret art, nine times out of ten he would respond head-on. That had not been wrong, and just before our clash, I had momentarily used Blink magic to move behind him.
Normally, no matter how much one struck at a blind spot, it was a tactic that would not work against a Sword Master. But he had been completely focused on the front, and it seemed he had never imagined that I would use magic.
At the end, perhaps sensing my presence, he hurriedly tried to turn his body, but in a situation where the gap in skill was vast to begin with, blocking a surprise attack was a difficult thing. Aion was struck squarely on the neck by the flat of the blade and collapsed.
‘The stamina and mana consumption rate is about one-tenth.’
It was fortunate that I had brought down forty Expert-class Holy Knights and Paladins with one-tenth of my strength, but even if I squeezed out all of my remaining power, I doubted whether I could defeat the remaining nine.
‘Let’s not rush.’
I forced myself to ignore the worry and doubt that were beginning to sprout in my mind. If I fell here, Petra would die before long. All I could do was desperately pray that this situation would follow the laws of cliché.
After that, I continued the sparring matches with the remaining Paladins.
Naturally, from that point on, surprise attacks using magic no longer worked well. They neutralized my magic by exploiting the opposing nature of divine power and magic, and the sparring matches descended into a muddy quagmire.
After that, up to five of them were not much different from Aion, so I was able to claim victory without too much difficulty.
After sharpening all my senses to their limits, I managed to secure victory without a single wound.
The remaining ones were four.
The fifty-seventh sparring match was the fiercest fight so far. That Paladin, in terms of swordsmanship alone, was absolutely not inferior to me.
Moreover, having watched all the previous sparring matches, he had grown accustomed to my sword and stubbornly clung to me, hindering my movements.
No matter how much it was me, I could not come away without injuries, and by the end of the sparring match, blood dripped onto the training ground from the cracks in the wounds scattered over my body.
The fifty-eighth sparring match.
The Paladin who introduced his name as Bamara spoke to me the moment he stepped onto the training ground.
“I’ll give you some time. Heal your wounds freely, whether with potions or elixirs.”
“…I’m not the type to refuse goodwill. I offer my thanks for the consideration.”
When I looked toward the Holy King, he gave a slight nod, as if it had been discussed beforehand. In response, I took potions and Mana Beads out of my Subspace Pouch and consumed them to my limit.
“Hoo…….”
All my wounds were healed, and the mana I had expended was replenished to some extent.
To be honest, even if I somehow won this sparring match, I had thought the next, the fifty-ninth, would be my limit. More than half of my mana had been consumed, and as my wounds accumulated, my body was growing heavier by the moment.
But the Paladins showed consideration, saying that the goddess was not so harsh, and I gratefully accepted it.
“Begin.”
Thus began the fifty-eighth sparring match.
Bamara had not awakened like me, but his momentum alone surpassed mine.
If that had been all, it would have been fine, but after enduring the shock of the fierce battles up until now, my sword finally failed to withstand it and snapped.
In the end, I summoned Excalibur.
I had wanted to save it for the final opponent of the sparring matches, the strongest Paladin of the Holy Kingdom, but I had expended more strength than expected.
At this rate, even if I won the next sparring match, I might end up frustrated at the final turn, so it was a decision I had no choice but to make.
After one hour of fierce exchanges, Bamara finally bent his knee and acknowledged his defeat. I acknowledged him as well. Among those I had crossed swords with since coming to this world, excluding the Sword Saint, he was the strongest.
Of course, there were likely stronger monsters out there, but by the standards of my own experience, that was the case.
Then came the fifty-ninth sparring match.
“……?”
At the sight of the Paladin quietly stepping onto the training ground, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
The Paladins who had stood before me until now had been rough like a raging storm, passionate like an erupting volcano, and possessed a weight like the deep sea.
But the fifty-ninth Paladin’s very presence was faint. He was right in front of me, yet it felt as if he did not exist. It was as though I were facing an Assassin.
‘Still, don’t let your guard down.’
Though the name was unfamiliar, being the fifty-ninth meant he was surely among the most formidable in the Holy Kingdom. It might become even more difficult than the previous sparring matches.
Tadadadat-!
Soon, he kicked off the ground and rushed toward me. It was not a particularly fast speed, but I did not lower my guard. I had no idea when or how he might launch an explosive attack.
Clang-!
“……?”
But the opponent’s attack was far too ordinary. Like the previous Paladins, he did not form an Aura Blade, nor did he create armor of divine power to protect his body. He simply swung his sword with pure physical strength, and my confusion grew.
Clang-!
Just in case, I swung my aura-wreathed sword to knock his blade aside, but it slipped feebly from his grasp and rolled across the training ground floor.
At that, not only I but also those watching the sparring match around us expressed their confusion.
“…What are you thinking?”
Holy Knights had the duty to throw everything they had into a fight against one walking the Martyr’s Path. But he used not even a shred of divine power, and after losing his sword, he merely stood there blankly.
‘…Could it be that he plans to commit a foul and cancel the Pilgrim’s Path itself?’
Considering the value of Goddess’s Tears, it was not an impossible possibility. Grinding my teeth, I glared at the Holy King, thinking he might resort to such a petty trick, but he too seemed just as bewildered.
“Pick up your sword, and throw your full strength against me.”
Just as Bamara had done, I gave him time to grasp his sword again. Even so, if he refused to fight properly, I intended to bring him down without mercy.
Petra’s life was on the line here; there was no room for leisure.
“…….”
But even at my words, he did not pick up his sword. Instead, he stiffened his body, raised his head, and looked at me.
“What in the world…….”
Just as I was about to question the Holy King about what this was all about, the bizarre act he performed forced my mouth open.
Crack, crackle.
The Paladin’s head began to turn slowly. It seemed as though he was trying to look at those around him, but soon it passed halfway and completed a full rotation, returning to its original position.
“…Ah.”
Someone watching drew in a sharp breath. And understandably so—the Paladin’s neck, having rotated a full circle, had torn all the muscles and flesh apart, blood pouring out until the training ground floor was soaked.
Without a word, I raised Excalibur at the abnormal situation.
Then, blackened blood sprayed from the Paladin’s eyes and nose, and an intense demonic energy I had never felt before surged from his entire body.
“Aaaaargh-!”
“D, demonic energy! Is he a Demon?!”
The sudden turn of events plunged the venue into pandemonium. The flustered Holy King tried to step forward together with the Holy Knights and priests, but before that, the Paladin engulfed in demonic energy shed bloody tears and opened his mouth.
[This Agares will ask.]
A voice like metal plates being scraped rang in my ears. Frowning, I took a step back, and he continued.
[Is it you who calls yourself a Hero and interferes with me.]