Paladin of a Fallen Order (Novel) - Chapter 71 - Love of God (Part 6)

Chapter 71 – Love of God (Part 6)

===================

Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

The scenery outside the fortress walls was like a sea.

Rumble—

Every time the God of the Flowing Water gestured, a massive wave swept over the ground.

The ground boars instinctively curled their bodies, trying to withstand the wave they were encountering for the first time in their lives.

However, even the size and weight of the ground boars could not withstand the massive wave.

Squeal, squeeeal!

Swept away by the waves, the ground boars flailed their limbs desperately.

But the swimming skills of the ground boars were pitiful.

Most of the ground boars could not rise to the water’s surface, and even those that briefly floated soon sank.

They had saved their lives by receiving divine help at the threshold of death.

However, the people were seized with anxiety. In particular, the anxiety felt by the priests of the Order of the Flowing Water was even greater.

Isalvius muttered.

“…O God.”

Elbridge offered a prayer in a low voice.

“Goddess. Will the God of the Flowing Water be able to handle this situation?”

– It is impossible.

“As expected. No matter how much of a god he is, there is no way he can directly intervene on the ground…”

– No, Elbridge. This is not a matter of the way authority is exercised, but a matter of the total amount of authority manifested.

The Goddess’s voice was always bright and cheerful, but that was not the case now.

And Elbridge felt various emotions in the Goddess’s voice. Regret, tension, and even a bit of relief.

Elbridge asked back.

“What do you mean by the total amount of authority? Wasn’t authority granted in proportion to their seats, as decided by the Chief God?”

– It is similar, but different. Even without a seat, a god can manifest mighty authority. Look. Has not the God of the Flowing Water, who has only a single seat, shown authority that does not match his status?

“Then, the reason gods cannot bestow authority is…”

– Because they are not permitted. The gods know exactly how much authority the Chief God has allowed them, and they simply do not cross that line.

The Goddess’s voice was so soft that even Elbridge could barely hear it.

As if conveying a secret that must not be leaked to Elbridge.

– A god manifesting authority through a paladin is to use that authority efficiently. Rather than doing everything with authority from start to finish, it is more efficient to lend power to a capable paladin.

Conversely, it meant that the God of the Flowing Water had used his authority in a highly inefficient manner just now.

An inefficient method. And a total amount of authority that clearly went far beyond the appropriate limit.

“Goddess. Then… what happens if one exerts power beyond the standard set by the Chief God?”

– You will see that now.

With a deep sigh from the Goddess, the oracle ended.

Elbridge leaned against the half-collapsed southern fortress wall and looked outside.

As if a transparent wall stood in place of the collapsed fortress wall, the waves wrapped around the wall and surged violently, yet did not rush inside.

How much time had passed like that? Finally, the waves subsided.

The vast amount of water that had filled the ground around the fortress walls also scattered in all directions.

The ground, which had turned into a muddy swamp, revealed itself.

The carcasses of drowned ground boars were scattered here and there.

Gurgle…

Fortunately or unfortunately, there were ground boars that had not yet stopped breathing.

The ground boars that miraculously survived got up, vomiting water, and fled into the forest, stumbling in fear.

All the ground boars in the lead were either dead or had fled.

Perhaps because their spirits were broken, even the ground boars that had not been swept away by the waves fled into the Great Forest. The foolish ground boars probably would not even remember the squeals of the baby ground boar.

People looked up at the sky.

Rain was still pouring from the dark, cloud-filled sky. The God of the Flowing Water slowly descended to the ground.

When he was in the sky, the God of the Flowing Water had the appearance of a benevolent old man.

But now, his eyes were bloodshot, and dark red veins bulged on his face. Both of his arms were becoming dyed in a dark red, bizarre color.

Marcus muttered in an anxious voice.

“Shit, anyone can see he’s completely lost it…”

It was an extremely blasphemous remark, but fortunately, the paladins and priests serving the God of the Flowing Water did not hear it.

The God of the Flowing Water spoke, panting.

– If only I had made the decision a little sooner…

The God of the Flowing Water did not regret manifesting his authority in vain. Nor did he rejoice at the sight of the believers he had rescued from the stampede.

He merely grieved as he thought of the believers who had already been swept away and died.

The God of the Flowing Water muttered.

– Goddess of the Rusty Shield. God of the Sunshower. God of the Silver Harpoon… You all must be watching me. But now, I cannot hear your voices. Was I too weak of a person to ascend to heaven?

The God of the Flowing Water was still weeping.

His transparent tears were turning gray. The color of the raindrops falling from the sky also darkened bit by bit, turning gray.

‘Ominous.’

What was visible was the image of a fallen god. Yet Elbridge’s instincts were screaming that the one standing before them was not a god, but a demon.

It was a bewildering situation.

But apart from that, Elbridge’s head was clearer than ever before.

Was the answer to the numerous questions he had held until now not right before his eyes?

Why could a paladin accumulate divine power by hunting demons and magic beasts?

Why did the Goddess of the Rusty Shield tell him not to hate demons…?

The god’s breathing grew increasingly rough.

Huff, huff…

And, parts of his entire body began to swell.

Crunch, craaack.

His spine bent and sharp spikes jutted out. His facial features, except for his mouth, collapsed and vanished. His entire skin was dyed dark red, and a strange luster flowed from his whole body.

Before they knew it, his physique had grown to nearly twice that of an ordinary human, and it was still growing larger, bit by bit.

Now, no one would be able to deny the fact that he was a demon.

The dark red demon growled and glared toward the fortress wall.

Blind malice toward humans. It was the most common reaction displayed by demons.

Whoosh—

The demon swung his arm wildly.

With that, a massive pillar of water rose along the demon’s fingertips and struck the fortress wall.

Thud—

A dull vibration spread in all directions along the fortress wall.

The power contained in the water pillar was strong enough to be comparable to a stampede.

Almost everyone was terrified. They feared the demon, and they feared the fact that the God of the Flowing Water had become a demon.

Yet, there were those who stepped outside the fortress walls, defying the fear. Elbridge, Rombel, and Marcus.

Marcus’s legs were trembling faintly, but the others did not notice.

‘He hasn’t fully awakened as a demon yet. We must settle this as quickly as possible.’

Elbridge finished his judgment and kicked off the ground.

“Even if it’s dangerous, we finish this as quickly as possible. Rombel! Aim for the rear! Marcus! Draw his attention somehow!”

As Elbridge rushed forward head-on, the demon created the aforementioned water pillar and targeted him.

“Bestow upon me the authority of no retreat!”

Elbridge’s shield shone white, blocking the ash-gray water pillar. The water pillar, flying as if brushing against the ground, targeted Marcus this time. Marcus rolled on the floor in fright, dodging the attack. It was not graceful, but it was a practical response.

Deciding to eliminate Marcus first, the demon shot water pillars at him in succession.

“Fuck—!”

Marcus spat out a curse.

Marcus dodged as many as three attacks by running, rolling, crawling, and even twisting his body bizarrely. Truly, a remarkable improvement.

While Marcus created an opening, Rombel, who had approached and taken a position behind, leaped into the air. He intended to split the demon’s head open with his axe.

At that moment, Rombel saw the spikes growing on the demon’s spine wriggle slightly.

“…!”

Instead of swinging his axe high, Rombel thrust the flat of the axe blade forward, covering his body like a shield.

Clack-clack-clack—

The spikes shot out and hammered against the flat of the axe. But that was not all.

The demon immediately spun around and struck Rombel.

“Keugh!”

Rombel coughed up blood and rolled across the ground.

Yet, Rombel’s approach definitely had meaning. Had the demon not lost sight of Elbridge, even if only for a brief moment?

Slash.

Having approached unnoticed, Elbridge swung his sword and severed the demon’s right arm.

‘His skin isn’t hard yet.’

So far, so good. But there was another problem.

Sizzle—

A few drops of the demon’s bodily fluid splattered onto Elbridge’s face. Immediately, the fluid made a strange sound and began to burn his skin.

Burning the skin of his face was not a big issue. He could bear a bit of pain.

The problem was that a drop or two of the fluid had splattered into Elbridge’s left eye. Almost instantly, the vision in his left eye vanished, and his sense of distance grew blurry.

Pain could be endured, but a functional impairment was not a problem that could be solved by enduring it.

‘Should I request healing authority from the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss right now? No. Not yet—’

At that moment, the demon’s left arm, flying from outside his field of vision, struck Elbridge’s breastplate.

Crack!

Because he was focusing on his disrupted sense of distance, he had failed to consider that his field of vision had narrowed.

‘It feels like a couple of ribs are broken.’

However, the pain could not hold Elbridge back.

Elbridge rolled twice on the ground and then stood up almost immediately.

Since a demon was bound to continuously target an opponent who showed an opening, it was highly likely that it would chase Elbridge immediately to slit his throat.

When he raised his head, sure enough, he saw the demon rushing toward him.

The moment Elbridge precariously restored his balance and raised his shield again, someone blocked the way in front of him.

“My God…”

It was Isalvius. Before anyone knew it, Isalvius had slipped out of the fortress and joined the battle.

But Isalvius was someone who could be of no help in combat. Was he not the one who could not even participate in the Grand Festival directly and had to hire five paladins from another order?

Since the god he served had turned into a demon, he could not even exert healing authority.

The demon’s left arm, which had grown long claws, flew toward Isalvius.

Step—

Elbridge grit his teeth and kicked off the ground. Would shielding Isalvius with his shield be faster, or would the demon’s claws tearing Isalvius apart be faster?

‘Too late.’

No matter how he thought about it, the demon’s claws reaching him would be faster.

‘Since it has come to this…’

Just as Elbridge was about to use Isalvius as a sacrificial lamb to strike down the demon—

The demon embraced Isalvius with his left arm.

‘What?’

At the unexpected situation, Elbridge’s movement stopped.

The demon growled and panted heavily.

And he spoke faintly.

– Isalvius… Crybaby Isalvius…

Elbridge was bewildered. A demon speaking?

Moved to tears, Isalvius opened his arms and embraced the demon.

The fluid leaking from the demon’s wound burned one of Isalvius’s arms, emitting a foul odor. Even though it must have been incredibly painful, Isalvius did not loosen his arms wrapping around the demon.

“My God…”

Isalvius was weeping.

The demon raised his left hand, which had grown long claws, and wiped away Isalvius’s tears, taking care not to pierce him.

The not-yet-fully-formed demon trembled as he stood up.

And pushing Isalvius away slightly, he spoke to Elbridge.

– Silent Knight. Kill me before it is too late.

The demon knelt down so Elbridge could easily cut him down.

“No. You can’t…”

Isalvius shook his head frantically, as if having a fit, trying to approach the demon once again.

At that, the quick-witted Marcus rushed over and held Isalvius back.

“Get over here!”

“No. No!”

Whether because it was difficult to overcome his instinctive urge to kill, the demon’s body trembled violently from time to time.

However, Elbridge stood leaning on his sword like a cane and asked the demon.

“God of the Flowing Water. Do you have any last words?”

Elbridge had experienced countless battles up until now.

But this was the first time he had given a demon time to leave a will.

The demon spoke.

– I have left a sealing tool in the Lake of Eternity.

“Did you know it would come to this someday?”

– Just a little bit…

While still kneeling, he straightened up his violently trembling body.

And finally, he cried out at the top of his voice.

– My children! Come! I shall share this foolish father’s end with you!

Elbridge raised his sword.

And he swung it twice.

Stab.

With the first strike, he pierced the demon’s heart.

Slash.

And with the second strike, he severed the demon’s neck.

Thud.

The demon’s headless body fell powerlessly.

Faintly glowing fireflies flew up from the not-yet-fully-formed demon’s body.

The fireflies, growing in number, multiplied until they were countless, and then scattered into the dark world.

Next, a dense divine power spread in all directions, enough to make the whole world feel full.

This divine power was the final love left behind by the God of the Flowing Water. This divine power would become the strength of the priests and paladins who had lost the god they were meant to follow.

‘Though that will only be the case when they come to serve a new god…’

The lukewarm raindrops unique to the south stopped before anyone knew it.

Elbridge looked up at the sky.

As the rain clouds drifted away with the wind, a sky filled with stars gradually revealed itself.

Elbridge sat quietly, watching the spectacle of the night sky’s stars and fireflies mingling together.