Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 70 - Love of God (Part 5)
Chapter 70 – Love of God (Part 5)
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Translated by Pratt
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Someone shouted.
“It’s not too late yet! Move now-!”
Those who were attacking the fortress ran desperately toward the paladin who had killed the baby ground boar.
“Heh, hehe.”
However, the movements of the paladin who had killed the baby ground boar were much faster.
As he threw the carcass of the baby ground boar into the air, the small carcass scattered into the air like smoke.
Vireon’s expression stiffened hard.
“…It’s over.”
As if in response to Vireon’s words, the characteristic low growl of a ground boar echoed from far away.
Elbridge asked, hoping his guess was wrong.
“Vireon, what did that man just do?”
However, Elbridge’s expectations were completely shattered.
“There are two reasons a stampede occurs. First, when the population of ground boars becomes excessively large. Second, when a baby has died but its carcass cannot be found.”
“Is the carcass that important?”
“Yes.”
Vireon continued his explanation while scanning the battlefield.
“When a baby ground boar screams, the adult ground boars appear to save it. The adults run wild until they either rescue the baby or find its carcass. But that man just destroyed the carcass. What do you think will happen now?”
“…”
“Since they couldn’t find the baby’s carcass, the ground boars will run endlessly, searching for the baby that might still be alive somewhere. Smashing everything that blocks their way.”
A clear explanation.
However, Elbridge became confused for another reason.
“That’s a habit that can be exploited at any time. With what kind of confidence on earth did the southern orders wage war? Unless they intended to die together…”
Vireon shook his head.
“No. This is an extremely exceptional situation. People in the south do not induce stampedes, even if it means their order is disbanded.”
“Why?”
“Because if anyone commits such an act, not to mention the perpetrator and their paladins, their entire clan will be regarded as enemies by every order in the south and horribly killed. Inducing a stampede is the greatest taboo in the south.”
Around the time the explanation ended, Vireon’s gaze stopped at a spot in the forest.
About twenty paladins and priests were gathered a short distance away from the battlefield.
‘It is the Order of the Flowing Water.’
Those who had been captured by the Order of the Stump and dragged to the battlefield.
Just as Elbridge was about to move to rescue them, two ground boars bellowed and burst out from the forest.
Growl—
The two ground boars ignored Elbridge and ran toward the battlefield.
Seeing that, several people lamented.
“Damn it, they are already here!”
“Respond for now! Don’t give up already!”
The paladins of the Order of the Surging Sword skillfully coordinated their attacks and hunted down the two ground boars in an instant. It was a neat response, fitting for people accustomed to magic beasts.
But there was a problem. While they eliminated the two ground boars, five more ground boars appeared.
People shouted.
“Escape before we get surrounded!”
The paladins of each order began to scatter here and there.
However, the speed at which the ground boars gathered from all directions was too fast.
“Damn it!”
The scattering people gathered around the fortress walls as if pushed by the ground boars.
Vireon pulled Elbridge.
“We must also escape before it’s too late.”
However, Elbridge’s gaze remained fixed on the people of the Order of the Flowing Water.
“What do you plan to do about those people?”
“I do not weigh spoils against my life, Elbridge.”
That was right. To Vireon, the Order of the Flowing Water was nothing more, nothing less than spoils.
Of course, it was not that Elbridge could not understand Vireon’s words.
But even if he understood, he could not bring himself to flee immediately.
Elbridge recalled Leonhardt. Elbridge was not someone who, like him, could reject all compromise and perform only the right deeds.
Yet he was also not a person who could only look out for his own safety, nor could he turn his eyes away from a possibility that still remained.
“…No. There is still a possibility.”
“You will change your mind soon, Elbridge.”
Elbridge ignored Vireon’s words and ran to the side of the people of the Order of the Flowing Water.
‘I must do what I can.’
A ground boar was running toward the people of the Order of the Flowing Water.
Elbridge cut down the ground boar with a single stroke of his sword and offered a prayer to the Goddess.
“Goddess, grant me the authority of blockade!”
– Be careful, Elbridge.
Along with the oracle, dozens of giant pillars appeared in the air.
The pillars were much larger and sturdier than when he had unleashed his authority in the Mountain City Barkuntol.
The pillars created by the Goddess’s authority began to free-fall.
Thud, thud, thud, thud—
In an instant, the pillars surrounded the people of the Order of the Flowing Water, forming the shape of a temple.
That temple was a fortress for Elbridge and a protective barrier for the people of the Order of the Flowing Water.
As the immense authority suddenly manifested, silence fell upon the chaotic battlefield.
The authority Elbridge demonstrated was on a scale incomparable to what the paladins of the south could unleash.
The people of the Order of the Flowing Water muttered with dumbfounded expressions.
“This is…”
With his back turned to the people of the Order of the Flowing Water, Elbridge said,
“I have come to rescue you at the request of Mr. Isalvius. Do not be afraid.”
Though their hands trembled, the people of the Order of the Flowing Water nodded.
A small hope that they might live sprouted in their chests.
Vireon’s legs, which had been trying to flee, had stopped before he knew it.
Vireon thought that perhaps Elbridge really could save these people.
‘…Right. I can afford to linger a bit longer. I can survive somehow. Since I have the authority of leap.’
Vireon arrived by Elbridge’s side.
“Elbridge. What are you trying to do?”
“I will change the course of the water.”
In a moving mass, there was always a flow.
Like a rock embedded in the middle of a stream, Elbridge thought he could change the flow of the ground boars even just a little.
Growl—
The speed at which the ground boars gathered was growing faster. Just the ground boars within Elbridge’s sight already easily exceeded a hundred. It was difficult to even imagine how many ground boars were in the Great Forest.
But one thing was certain. The ground boars would endlessly multiply their numbers until they formed a colony of tens of thousands or even more.
Now, there was only one thing Elbridge had to do.
‘Hold out until the flow changes.’
Growl—
The ground boars rushed toward the fortress, toward the southern paladins, and toward Elbridge and the authority of blockade.
Elbridge lowered his stance, half-burying his feet in the soft southern soil.
Even though he had already unleashed the authority of blockade, there was still plenty of margin in the Goddess’s divine power.
This must have been the power of four seats.
Elbridge offered a prayer once more.
“Goddess. Grant me the authority of no retreat.”
The moment Elbridge’s shield shone white, the ground boar collided with Elbridge’s shield.
Boom—
Ground boars were not agile, and they did not have sharp claws.
But ground boars possessed the strength that came from their massive size. A strength much greater than that of most magic beasts.
That strength was difficult for ordinary people, let alone paladins, to withstand.
The paladins and priests of the Order of the Flowing Water thought Elbridge would be blown away by the ground boar’s sheer weight alone. Yet Elbridge did not push back even a single inch and blocked the ground boar’s charge.
Slash—
At the same time, Elbridge’s swung sword cleaved the ground boar’s skull and destroyed its brain.
Much less divine power than that of a normal magic beast seeped into Elbridge.
‘…It seems it is really true that they are a hybrid of a magic beast and a wild boar.’
If the divine power was only at this level, dedicating the carcasses to the Goddess would not have much meaning.
But that was fine. He had already expected as much.
Leaping over the carcass of the ground boar, another ground boar rushed at him.
Elbridge lifted his shield and thrusted his sword high. Elbridge’s sword pierced the ground boar’s heart in a single stroke.
Elbridge swung his sword like mad. Every time Elbridge swung his sword, a ground boar’s life was cut short, and before long, a small hill made of ground boar carcasses arose in front of him.
Growl—
When Elbridge was no longer visible, the ground boars began blindly ramming the authority of blockade. As if they believed their baby was inside the authority of blockade.
‘The situation is bad.’
The ground boars did not even care if their heads shattered or blood flowed from their snouts. Some even died from broken necks on their own while ramming the authority of blockade.
As dozens, then hundreds of ground boars tangled together desperately like that, Elbridge also became worried.
Since the authority of blockade had to withstand so much force, was it not natural that the consumption of the authority would accelerate?
“…Goddess. I beg of you.”
– It is still fine, Elbridge. Was your Goddess not a mid-tier deity with as many as four seats?
Contrary to her playful words, tension was clearly evident in the Goddess’s voice.
Before long, the ground boars filled Elbridge’s vision. Ultimately, Elbridge directed Vireon.
“Vireon! Please evacuate the people outside one by one.”
“…Understood.”
Fortunately, Vireon had the ability to do so. After throwing his harpoon onto a giant tree, Vireon began to carry the people outside one by one using the authority of leap.
However, this was a slightly overwhelming task for Vireon to handle. The problem was that the number of times he had to unleash his authority was too high.
Blood trickled from Vireon’s nose, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“Damn it. What on earth am I doing…”
Vireon grumbled continuously about how difficult the work of risking danger to move ‘spoils’ outside was.
When they had moved about half of the people outside, Elbridge realized that the load placed on the authority of blockade had decreased.
The ground boars that had been repeatedly ramming the pillars were stealthily moving toward somewhere else.
Was it because they judged they could not bring down the authority of blockade?
No. The flow had simply changed.
Elbridge confirmed the cause of the shift in the flow.
‘The fortress wall has collapsed.’
The wall of the Order of the Sinking Shadow. One corner of that wall had collapsed.
Growl—
Full of excitement, the ground boars rushed inside the fortress as if pouring in.
Seeing that scene, the paladins of the Order of the Flowing Water stamped their feet in distress.
“No, no… There are people inside there too…”
There must have been numerous people inside the fortress. The people of the Order of the Sinking Shadow, and ordinary southern people.
But the reason the paladin of the Order of the Flowing Water was in even greater agony lay elsewhere.
“How many people from the Order of the Flowing Water are inside that fortress?”
“At the absolute minimum, there must be twenty. Is there any way to save them?”
Elbridge shook his head.
This was not a matter of avoidance or compromise. It was simply a matter of possibility and impossibility.
If he left his position to save them, even the people they had rescued just now would die. And it was not as if Elbridge could block the ground boars that were already sweeping through the fortress.
‘Damn it.’
However, thanks to the ground boars flocking toward the fortress, a way out opened up for Elbridge once more.
Elbridge deactivated the authority of blockade and said,
“This is our only chance. Let’s escape.”
Vireon also shouted to the priests and paladins of the Order of the Flowing Water,
“Move!”
The people of the Order of the Flowing Water repeatedly looked back while running after Vireon and Elbridge.
One paladin said, weeping,
“People are dying inside the fortress. Our God is weeping…”
There was a high probability that the story of the God of the Flowing Water weeping was not metaphorical. According to Isalvius’s words, was the God of the Flowing Water not a deity who loved his followers dearly?
Watching twenty or so of his followers die while gripped by terror, it did not seem likely that the God of the Flowing Water could maintain his composure.
Elbridge clenched his teeth tightly and replied,
“…There is nothing we can do. We must move.”
Elbridge thought.
Perhaps the God of the Flowing Water was too human to be a god.
*
The party moved northward, toward Vireon’s fortress.
The rain that had started as a light drizzle began to pour down like a torrent.
Unlike in the east, the slightly lukewarm rainwater felt like the tears shed by the God of the Flowing Water. Though that probably was not really the case.
It turned into a muddy swamp, making their feet sink deep. Elbridge thought as he took his steps.
‘Did the ground boars swallow their rage and disperse?’
That could not be. Was Vireon’s face not still stiffly frozen?
If so, where had the ground boars headed?
It was unknown. But only one thing. Elbridge hoped the stampede would not head this way.
Only around evening did the party return to the fortress.
In the sky darkened by rain clouds, not even a sunset appeared.
When Elbridge and Vireon arrived in front of the fortress, people who were highly excited came out to greet them.
The Silver Harpoon Order, the Order of the Flowing Water, people from orders whose names they did not even know, and a few onlookers…
Rombel shouted in a loud voice,
“Hey! You’re back?”
Rombel approached Elbridge with a pleased smile.
One could tell just by looking at his expression. It was the expression of someone who had successfully completed their mission.
“You look like drowned rats. But it seems things went well, didn’t they?”
“…Well.”
“What do you mean, ‘well’? When you rescued so many people and brought them back.”
Just as Rombel said, since only two people had smuggled back twenty-odd people, it was clear that it was an achievement exceeding expectations.
But a worry that could more than overshadow that achievement had arisen.
Vireon spoke to his subordinate, Dicha.
“Dicha.”
“Yes, Master.”
“A stampede has begun.”
The atmosphere of the people who had come out to greet them sank in an instant.
“…The followers of the Order of the Flowing Water mentioned that the God of the Flowing Water was weeping. Is it because of that?”
“Yes. Many followers must have lost their lives because of the stampede. For now, let’s go inside and discuss countermeasures. Whether we should remain in the fortress, or abandon the fortress and evacuate somewhere…”
Just as they were about to enter the fortress while talking like that, Vireon’s steps stopped.
Vireon suddenly prostrated himself on the spot and pressed his ear to the ground.
“…Damn it. Get inside!”
No one asked for the reason. Vireon’s urgent voice explained everything.
The stampede was coming toward this fortress.
‘Whether it was rotten luck, or if they followed the party for some reason.’
The party entered inside the fortress.
As the word of a stampede spread, silence encroached upon the entire city like paper soaking in water.
People climbed up the fortress walls and looked out at the Great Forest.
Growl—
And not long after, the ground boars revealed themselves.
There were easily more than several thousand visible right away.
‘There was no way to prepare, and no time to prepare.’
Maintaining their running speed exactly, the ground boars began to ram the fortress walls with their massive bodies.
Thud. Thud. Thud—
The thick fortress walls shook slightly.
If the walls collapsed even a little like this, the aftermath was all too obvious.
“O God of the Silver Harpoon…”
People’s faces turned pale white.
The apostles of the Silver Harpoon Apostleship, and even Vireon, wore extremely grave expressions. No matter how brave they were, there was no way to stop a stampede. They could only hope to survive by sheer luck.
Thud, thud, thud.
Growl—
Markus asked Elbridge, his entire body stiffened with tension,
“S-Sir Elbridge. It’ll work out somehow this time too, right?”
“An honest answer, or a hopeful answer. Which one do you want?”
“…Never mind. The God of the Sunshower is telling me not to listen.”
Markus’s expression became wretched.
Indeed, in this situation, it was not as if the God of the Sunshower would have a solution.
Elbridge thought about what he had to do.
‘He would observe the situation from atop the wall, and unleash the authority of blockade at the spot where the wall collapsed.’
Of course, he did not think that would be a fundamental solution.
Once the wall started collapsing, it would gradually expand the range of damage. In the end, it would end up as a futile effort.
Elbridge offered a small prayer.
“Goddess. What should I do?”
– …
Elbridge smiled bitterly.
He thought that was the end, but the Goddess of the Rusty Shield delivered an oracle in a serious voice, unlike her usual self.
– Elbridge. The child your Goddess cherishes the most.
“Yes, Goddess.”
– Do not worry. No matter what price must be paid, I will save you at least…
The Goddess’s words sounded a bit strange. A price?
What price would a god pay?
Thud. Rumble—
At that moment, a portion of the southern wall collapsed with a rumble.
Elbridge immediately ran toward the southern wall.
‘First, he had to block the space with the authority of blockade…!’
As Elbridge ran like that, a strange thing happened.
The dark sky grew a little brighter.
Everyone raised their heads to look at the sky, without anyone needing to say it first.
Looking at the sky, there was something enveloped in light descending through the rain clouds.
It was a human form.
‘A god?’
However, it was not the Goddess of the Rusty Shield.
It was an elderly, male-form god.
Isalvius, who was nearby, muttered,
“O God of the Flowing Water…”
Ah, it was the God of the Flowing Water.
However, to Elbridge’s eyes, the appearance shown by the God of the Flowing Water was a bit strange.
In the past, when the Goddess of the Rusty Shield revealed herself in the Mountain City, she showed her presence in a highly splendid and strong appearance.
Long ago, it was the same when other gods occasionally revealed themselves on battlefields. Gods would show their most confident and majestic appearance in front of their believers to boost morale.
But now, the God of the Flowing Water was weeping and suffering.
‘It didn’t seem to be an intention to boost morale…’
The God of the Flowing Water opened his mouth.
– My children. Forgive your god for being cowardly and narrow-minded, thereby missing the opportunity.
The voice was not loud but grand, and it was heard clearly by everyone.
However, yet Elbridge’s question remained unresolved.
For what on earth reason was the God of the Flowing Water descending now?
The God of the Flowing Water pointed his finger to the sky.
Thereupon, the raindrops pouring from the rain clouds gathered together, forming a massive mass of water.
– Forgive this unworthy father.
The God of the Flowing Water pointed his finger at the herd of ground boars.
Then, the massive mass of water created in the air became a wave that swept over the ground, washing away the land. Even the herd of ground boars could not withstand that massive wave.
The god personally stepped forward for his believers, but no one rejoiced.
Elbridge, Rombel, Markus, and Isalvius.
And everyone froze like stone.
Everyone realized that something was fundamentally wrong.
Something that should not happen.
Clearly, something not permitted even to a god was taking place.