Chapter 33 – The Culprit (2)

Adel, fallen to the ground, was pushing away the ghoul pressing down on her with her shield.

Beyond the gray iron, the horrible appearance of the fiend was seen without filter. Things like white pupils covered in dust with no focus, and melting skin.

“Kieeeek!”

Chatter, chatter.

As the strength drained from her grip holding the shield, the ghoul’s teeth drew increasingly closer. Along with hot breath, a bloody stench wafted strongly from the creature’s wide-open mouth.

*Ugh.* Adel, barely suppressing her rising stomach, thrust in the curved sword held in her right hand.

“Grrrk.”

The ghoul, stabbed in the stomach, coughed out rotten blood.

“Shit.”

Receiving the blood directly on her face, Adel spat out a curse and kicked the ghoul hard. Soon, rising quickly, she severed the neck of the ghoul that was flailing like a bug.

Wiping her mouth and spitting out saliva, Adel turned her gaze. Outside the iron bars, her master was fighting against ghouls numbering in the hundreds.

As a squire, she wanted to go out and lend a hand right away, but she had to endure. Because she had to protect Cara.

Adel was no fool. The moment Cara was done for, they were finished. Since they couldn’t block spells unless they were fellow mages.

Adel turned her head to the side.

The witch and the demon were still muttering with their lips, fighting among themselves. However, the situation did not look good.

Cara was sweating cold sweat profusely, and the brilliance of her eyes was gradually fading.

On the other hand, the demon’s eyes grew darker as time passed. His attitude also looked relaxed.

‘This is bad…’

Her thoughts could not continue.

“Kieeeek.”

Because another ghoul pounced over the iron bars. Adel put firm strength into her trembling arm and charged at the ghoul.

Slash!

Her sharp curved sword was swung. The ghoul, its upper body sliced long, returned to dirt.

“Pant, pant.”

The moment Adel bent her knees and gasped for breath.

Whoosh!

A tremendous wind blew. It was from Velloc’s direction. Adel’s head turned beyond the iron bars again. Her mouth gaped open.

Something flashed with a whish in the darkness, and a fountain of blood surged in the air. Corpses fell in heaps.

Adel rubbed her eyes. The ghouls that had been so numerous were wiped out. Shrieks were no longer heard either.

The underground monsters that covered the town had all fallen to the tip of the warrior’s blade. The black-haired knight who accomplished this, Velloc, was walking over with heavy steps. Both his armor and sword were stained completely black with blood.

“Hup.”

Adel, closing her loosely opened mouth tightly, corrected her posture and ran out.

Her master seemed to be shedding his human mask increasingly. Was this truly God’s blessing? If she received that power too, could she become strong like her master? Adel asked, carrying all the thoughts arising in her mind.

“Master Velloc. What on earth was that just now…”

“It seems to have been a sort of awakened state.”

Velloc said with a slightly tired look.

“An awakened state?”

“My sword sped up, while the enemies slowed down.”

“Can I also learn… Ah, the mage is in danger!”

Adel stopped shining her eyes and shouted urgently. Velloc’s gaze turned toward Cara.

Cara was now shouting as if struggling, her face completely red. The smile on the demon’s mouth had grown darker.

Perhaps because they were occupied with the spell duel, they didn’t seem to notice that the cursed ghouls were all dead and that Velloc had arrived.

‘No time.’

At this rate, the mage he barely saved would die again. Velloc raised his sword.

“I should deal with that guy first.”

“But didn’t the witch say? That he is an existence whom physical force does not work on…”

At Adel’s concern, Velloc looked at the skeletal demon, which was as hazy as smoke.

Since the church’s fire was also nearly extinguished, the creature’s appearance could now only be identified by the red pupils floating in the air. ‘Come to think of it, I seem to fight those guys only in particularly shitty situations. Is it an illusion?’

Cutting off his brief thoughts, Velloc said,

“We won’t know until we swing.”

“Such a…”

“Adel. There is a saying.”

“Yes?”

“Everyone has a plan until they get hit.”

Velloc glanced at his sword, which had been emitting a strange energy since earlier. And he recalled the strong impact when he sliced the troll and the snake demon, and the sensation he felt when dealing with the ghouls just now.

‘If I combine these three, won’t something happen? Won’t I be able to cut that guy too?’ It was an optimistic thought. Of course, it was merely an intuition. However, it was also the intuition of a heroic knight who had exterminated two terrible demons.

Squeeze.

Velloc concentrated all his strength into the greatsword he held. Under his massive monstrous strength, his body swelled greatly, and the giant blade trembled under the force flowing down his wrists. Soon, taking a deep breath, Velloc kicked off the ground.

A fierce cloud of dust rose. Along with the sound of the wind, the church’s iron bars drew closer in an instant.

The skeletal demon was in the air. Velloc intended to leap using the iron bars as a stepping stone and slice the guy. His steel greaves kicked the iron bars. Along with a roar, the iron bars collapsed, and Velloc soared into the sky.

Seeing her master’s bizarre action, Adel opened her eyes wide, and Cara, unable to withstand the demon’s spell any longer, screamed and collapsed.

[Tiresome bitch. Now, the end… Huh?]

Perhaps thanks to the noisy performance, the skeletal demon’s gaze turned toward Velloc, who had risen into the air.

[What? Why on earth are you here? The ghouls?]

The skeletal demon looked at the main road. A mountain of corpses was visible. ‘He killed all of that alone? No, first of all, why is he floating?’

The skeletal demon’s eyes turned toward the sword held in Velloc’s hand. The guy was taking a stance. It was a strike downward. The demon was momentarily flustered.

Because it was absurd. ‘Surely. He wants to cut me with that piece of metal? With that sword in which no holiness is felt?’ Soon, having finished its thoughts, the demon’s body shook. The creature burst into wild laughter. The black smoke convulsed in all directions.

[Muhahaha. Did your brain empty out just because you caught a few ghouls? A fellow who isn’t even a Paladin wants to swing a mere piece of iron and slice me? Me, the grasp of illusion and corruption, Caraxus?]

Even at the demon’s mockery, Velloc said nothing. He just widened his eyes, recalling the sensation from earlier. That sensation when everything slowed down. At that, the time began to flow slowly according to his will.

His body flying toward the demon and the figure of the laughing demon with spread arms both slowed down. The distance to the creature grew closer and closer. Finally, he reached the place where the sword would touch.

As he faced the demon at point-blank range, the sword’s trembling grew more severe. That was partly due to his monstrous strength, but it was also anticipating the demon’s blood it would soon taste.

At this moment, Velloc could tell. It was time to level up.

Raising his sword, Velloc muttered briefly.

“Farewell.”

Velloc swung his sword,

[Right. Let’s see your little tricks— Ugh.]

and the demon exploded.

Boom!

As the creature died, a shockwave spread across the area along with a roar. Velloc, who was in the air, crashed straight into the burned-out church while still holding his sword.

Pitch-black ashes billowed, and heated bricks and half-burnt wood wrapped around Velloc’s body. The iron plates of his plate armor heated up, and intense heat was felt.

“Damn it.”

Rising with a short curse, Velloc hurriedly tried to leave the spot. At that moment, a pure white light flashed. Frowning, Velloc covered his face with one arm. However, he soon lowered his arm slightly and tilted his head.

“What is this?”

It was strange. Though it was certainly a light striking his eyeballs, for some reason, it wasn’t blinding. Rather, as he was exposed to the light, the fatigue in his body dissolved, and his wounds began to heal. The heat was also no longer felt.

Velloc, bewildered, examined his surroundings. The light was emanating from the statue of the Goddess behind him.

Despite the magic exploding and the entire church burning down, the stone statue of the Goddess was intact. Rather, as the demon disappeared, it had turned pure white as if having its grime washed off.

“Why do I have to go through this hardship?”

No answer returned. Instead, the voices of the women were heard from behind.

“Master Velloc! Are you alright?”

“Velloc! Are you okay?!”

When Velloc turned his head slightly, Cara and Adel, who had regained their senses before long, were running over. Soon, the two also opened their eyes wide upon seeing the statue of the Goddess emitting light.

“What in the world is this…”

Cara, looking at the appearance of the statue of the Goddess, spoke as if understanding.

“It’s the statue of Helena, the Sun Goddess. And this light… is unmistakably holy power.”

“A Goddess?!”

Unlike Adel, who found it fascinating, Cara, being a mage, showed an uncomfortable expression and backed away slightly from the range of the light. Since Cara seemed to know something, Velloc asked her,

“Does a statue of the Goddess normally emit light like this?”

The light from the statue of the Goddess was growing increasingly stronger. It looked ready to illuminate this entire city, transcending the ruined church. Cara, running her fingers through her hair with a “hmm,” soon opened her lips.

“In my opinion, it seems she intends to bestow a miracle upon the knight who drove out the demon of this city and purified the church.”

Fwoosh!

As soon as Cara’s words ended, the light emanating from the statue of the Goddess gradually condensed and began to gather into a single mass. It looked like watching a ball made of light. Soon, the sphere of light that was floating in the air began to slowly descend toward Velloc.

Velloc backed away slightly before he knew it. He had never been close with the church in his previous playthrough or the one before that.

Since he was a war knight who routinely waged wars to seize land. To him, the church was merely a place he visited once in a while to make a donation and reduce his increased karma value after killing some people.

“Is this alright?”

At Velloc’s worried question, Cara nodded at once.

“Helena is the Goddess of Justice who governs the sun. In my opinion, if you only absorb that sphere, you will become a Paladin who receives the protection of the Sun God.”

A person who knew absolutely nothing about doctrine or piety receiving blessings directly from the Goddess to become a Paladin wielding miracles? It was a sight so astonishing that church members would have coughed up blood had they known.

Cara shook her head. Indeed, that man fully deserved it.

Had he not beaten to death a spiritual entity type demon with a single piece of iron without even having holy power?

When she saw the demon dying before her eyes, Cara felt like the common sense she knew was crumbling. That made it more interesting. Indeed, if that monster-like man accepted holy power, how much stronger would he become?

‘I get to see with my own eyes a historical scene worthy of being recorded in a book.’

Cara’s brown eyes shined. Soon, her eyes scowled in a sightly manner. The sphere of light bounced away the moment it touched Velloc’s body. For some reason, the statue of the Goddess also seemed flustered.

At the bouncing recoil, Velloc pointed at the sphere of light with a bewildered expression.

“Why is it doing this?”

Cara also spoke in embarrassment, then clapped her hands.

“Strange? Velloc, by any chance, do you have divinity… Ah! You. You said you definitely received a blessing! From an ancient god!”

“That was just something I said…”

Velloc’s words could not continue. Because the sphere of light, which had bounced off after trying to penetrate his body dozens of times, suddenly headed toward Adel who was next to him.

Adel opened her black eyes wide. Soon, the sphere of light slid straight into her chest. At the holy power shaking her body, Adel let out a feminine scream and sank down.

“Kyaaa!”

“Adel!”

Velloc, running over in haste, supported Adel. Cara also opened her eyes round and examined her condition. Adel, held in Velloc’s arms, frowned and muttered with difficulty.

“Master Velloc… it’s hot. As if burning…”

Soon, light began to emanate from Adel’s body.