Chapter 1478 – 1478. Paladin: A Journey Of Eradication
A young man, covered in blood, trembled before my eyes. I watched him intently.
“He is not a corrupted one. He is human.”
“Is that so.”
The Inquisitor pulled a dagger from his robes and stabbed the man through the heart, killing him.
I asked the Inquisitor in a calm tone,
“Why did you kill him?”
“He was an impious man. He doubted the existence of the Goddess Herianne and was brought here for insulting the Order. He was not corrupted, but he was a heretic. For the sake of the Order’s existence, heretics must be eliminated.”
“I see.”
“…Is that all?”
“What do you want from me?”
“…The previous Paladin would have rebuked us. He would have scolded us.”
“I am different from the previous Paladin. You bear the burden of your own sins.”
“Of course. We are fully prepared. If it is a judgment from the Goddess Herianne, we will accept any judgment. Everything is for the Goddess and the Order.”
The Inquisitor continued to bring in heretics. There were 23 in total. Except for two, all were corrupted. I killed all the corrupted ones. The Inquisitors looked at me with respectful eyes.
“To take the lead in eliminating the corrupted… You are truly amazing. You are more than enough to be a role model for all of us.”
I wiped the blood off my sword with a cloth. It seems they are misunderstanding something, but the reason I killed the corrupted myself was all for experience points. There was no other reason. And there was no need to tell the Inquisitors that fact.
“What do you plan to do about the vermin hiding in the city?”
“Please help us. Walk with us through the city and identify the heretics for us. We will then kidnap the heretics and bring them here.”
“Is there really a need to do that? It’s fine to kill them as soon as you see them. The city can be sealed off by the Holy Knights.”
“There is a sacred barrier here that prevents the corrupted from exerting their power. We will interrogate them to find out the cause of their corruption.”
“…Indeed. I understand. However, there is a condition.”
“Please speak.”
“I will be in charge of executing the corrupted. Killing them is proof of my faith.”
I couldn’t let these guys take the experience points.
The Inquisitor’s eyes sparkled as he exclaimed in admiration.
“Indeed, a Paladin… You are truly an example for us.”
I walked around the city with the Inquisitors. I dressed as a traveler. Instead of armor, I wore leather clothes and pulled my cloak deep over my head to hide my Holy Eye. My job was to find the hidden corrupted and inform the Inquisitors. Then the Inquisitors would record the corrupted, and the corrupted would be kidnapped at night and brought to the church basement.
The Inquisitors interrogated them, and I executed those who had finished their interrogation.
Ten days passed like that. Since the city of Valentier had a considerable population, there were many corrupted.
‘Thanks to the Inquisitors handling the small fry, I easily gained experience points.’
[Name: Eugene
Class: Holy Knight
Level: 30
Strength: 20 Agility: 10 Stamina: 10 Holy Power: 11
Skills: Holy Eye (Lv. Master), Holy Aura (Lv.1), Holy Sword (Lv.3)]
I leveled up three times.
It might seem like only three, but it can’t be helped. The higher the level, the more experience points are required. I used the accumulated blessing energy to strengthen my Holy Sword.
I went to the sanctuary to meet the Saintess.
“I have been waiting for you. The elixir is complete.”
“Thank you.”
“I have only done what I had to do.”
I received the bottle containing the blue liquid from the Saintess. Without hesitation, I drank the elixir.
[Stamina increases by 1.]
My stats increased. It was the same as leveling up once. I put down the empty bottle with satisfaction. There was no limit to the elixir. If I had to point out a limit, it would be that it required byproducts of a certain level or higher.
“Paladin, the Inquisitors have found the cause of the corruption.”
“What is the cause?”
In fact, I knew the cause through the original story. The reason I didn’t step forward and took a half-observant stance was to gain experience points. To face the Great Demon, I had to become stronger than anyone else.
“It’s rats.”
“Rats?”
“Demonic rats are roaming through the underground waterways. The rats are spreading the energy of corruption and tempting people down the path of corruption. It is presumed that there is a demon controlling the rats in the underground waterways. Paladin, please find and eliminate the demon in the underground waterways.”
“I understand. Killing demons is my duty and mission.”
I led the Holy Knights to the underground waterways. Unlike the game, there was no need to handle everything alone.
The underground waterways were dark and foul-smelling. The remains of human and animal corpses were scattered everywhere. They were the leftovers that the demon had eaten and discarded.
“How terrible.”
“To think that a demon was hiding beneath the city…”
“We will never forgive it!”
The Holy Knights were burning with motivation.
Squeak.
The sound of a rat was heard. I and the Holy Knights stopped walking. Hundreds of red eyes turned towards us in the darkness.
We immediately took a battle stance. The rats rushed at us all at once.
“The center of the underground waterways is just ahead. The demon will be there. Do not retreat, advance.”
“Yes! Paladin!”
“For the Goddess!”
The Holy Knights shouted. They wrapped their swords in golden Holy Aura and swung them at the rats.
These rats were different from ordinary rats. They were about the size of small dogs, and their teeth were sharper than those of wolves. They were rats empowered by demonic forces.
Squeak! Squeak!
The rats kept rushing in. There was no end to the killing.
“Paladin! We will take care of this!”
“Find and eliminate the demon controlling the rats!”
“I will trust you with that.”
I used Sprint and dashed forward. The rats formed a wall by bunching together. I didn’t stop and thrust my shoulder forward.
Bang!
I broke through the wall of rats with a shoulder attack and advanced forward. Even so, the rats blocked my path to the end. I took out an explosive holy water and threw it.
Boom! Boom!
The explosive holy water neatly cleared the rats, but the rats surged back like a wave and filled the space again.
‘I still have explosive holy water left!’
I gritted my teeth and threw the explosive holy water. After using all the explosive holy water, I was able to reach the demon.
“Hehehe. You finally made it here?”
The demon was attached to the ceiling. Its head was that of a rat, and its body looked like a larva cocoon. The lump of flesh hanging from the ceiling was pouring something out through a hole. Splish, splash. I looked at what had fallen into the ankle-deep waterway. It was rats. The rats wriggled and headed towards the place where human corpses were piled up. The newly born rats devoured the human corpses that had been brought by the corrupted.
It was a disgusting sight. But what was even more disgusting was the stench that stung my nose. If I relaxed even a little, this stench would make me want to vomit.
The demon attached to the ceiling scanned my body with hungry eyes.
“You look delicious. The demons who have eaten Paladins say… there is no human with a taste as special as a Paladin. Especially the intestines, they say it’s a taste that you wouldn’t know if you ate it with three others and one of them died?”
“Nonsense.”
I leaped towards it. A thin arm popped out of its body. The thin arm, like a tree branch, was over 2 meters long. I used the blessing of Sprint to leap once more in mid-air, rotating my body to avoid its attack. I kicked off the ceiling, slashed at it, and landed on the ground.
“Kuaaaaaaak!”
It screamed. The rats nearby started rushing at me like crazy. I lowered my gaze to the floor. The water was ankle-deep, and there were no allies around.
‘Thunder.’
Golden currents spread in all directions through the water. The rats that were rushing at me were electrocuted and annihilated. The demon, still hanging from the ceiling, was flustered. The demon opened its mouth wide and spat out acidic liquid.
I dodged the acidic liquid and raised my left hand.
‘Holy Sword.’
Golden holy power gathered in my hand and took the form of a sword. Holding a sword in each hand, I leaped towards it and swung my swords in succession.
“Kueeeek?!”
The demon’s cocoon-like body, which had been hanging from the ceiling, fell to the ground. I raised my sword to finish it off.
“Do you think it will end like this!!”
The demon’s cocoon-like body swelled up and then burst. A large amount of acidic liquid covered me. The acidic liquid melted the Stormbreaker armor and began to melt my skin. I regained my consciousness, which was about to fade away in the smoke.
•••
“Hehehe… You took a direct hit, you fool… My little ones. Come here. Quickly become my flesh and blood.”
The demon, with only a rat’s head and long, tree-like arms remaining, crawled on the floor of the underground waterway in a gruesome state. Its minions, who had just been born, gathered around it. The demon devoured the squeaking minions. The demon’s body slowly began to regenerate.
‘Not enough, not enough. More. I need to devour more…!’
The demon walked through the underground waterway. The Paladin must have melted away, so it was planning to devour the Holy Knights who had come here.
Splash.
The sound of water was heard from behind.
The demon’s movement stopped abruptly.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The demon, with its eyes wide open, slowly turned its head back.
A human, with half of its body melted, stood proudly. The sturdy armor and large greatsword had melted more than half, unable to maintain their proper shape. The human was even worse. Half of its head had melted away, revealing its brain. A liquid mixed with intestines flowed from its abdomen.
It was a fatal wound.
It was strange that it was still alive.
The demon saw the Paladin in front of it as something other than human.
The Paladin raised the greatsword, which was more than half melted. Golden light gathered on the sword’s blade, forming a blade to replace the broken one. The demon hesitated. It desperately moved its arms, trying to get as far away from the Paladin as possible.
“Perish here.”
“Hateful Paladin!! Get lost! Don’t come! I said get lost…!!”
The demon’s last struggle echoed through the underground waterway, but the Paladin’s holy sword mercilessly sliced through the demon’s head.
Splash!
The Paladin collapsed.
And then.
The Paladin stood up.
