## Chapter 236 – The Holy War Army
Thanks to the miraculous exploits of Saint Kim Kat, the village regained its justice. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d done something a little crazy, but everyone seemed happy, so I guess it was fine.
I also helped dismantle the Six Towers.
Having been hailed as a saint, I couldn’t exactly back out. I shuddered at the wickedness of the heretics and recovered the remains of those who were originally villagers.
Severed bone fragments and limbs.
Heads with quietly closed eyes.
Each piece was incredibly light, yet felt so heavy. The pain, the sorrow, and the weight of life… the essence of humanity.
“…Massacre.”
A terrible war.
Compared to the good-natured people who believe in normal religions, those who worship evil gods are so cruel.
They gain powerful strength relatively easily by sacrificing humans or offering the suffering of innocents to their gods. Righteous religious people have no choice but to struggle to prevent such trends.
Human nature is inherently evil, so if you don’t put on the brakes, madness will erupt to the ends of the universe. Earth, which has experienced witch hunts and world wars, has been like that, and this other world I’m seeing seemed highly likely to follow suit.
So, I have to stop it.
Now that I’ve become a saint, I’ll do my best.
As a seeker of Fusion Confucianism, which reveres propriety, I will never forgive these heretics who have fallen into such an evil path.
The stew execution was clearly a heinous atrocity born of madness. But it was just retribution. It was simply paying the price for wickedness in the right way.
It was cruel, but it had to be done.
ㅡSimmering.
As I concluded as such, as a macho being, I felt mana surging from within. Fire. No, mana surged like lava, scorching my insides, climbing up my spine, and embedding itself deeply in my brain.
…Did I break through a wall?
Upright thought.
Without compromise, I do what I believe is right.
“…Is this it?”
I then performed the deadly moves of the Real Jang Kwon martial art. And, using Real Jang footwork to regain my balance, I drew my sword and unleashed Real Jang swordsmanship.
ㅡPapat!
Next, I performed the Real Jang Sword Dance, a culmination of my close-quarters combat skills. The fiercely swung sword tore through the air in the most efficient trajectory, thereby severing the walls and hesitations in my heart.
ㅡWhoosh!
For me, sword dance is not just about swinging a sword. I throw punches and kicks to respond to each situation, and even use ground techniques.
And I block the enemy’s attacks with my armor while stabbing with the sword along the optimal path.
ㅡShwaak!
“I control… the impulse.”
ㅡTsszz.
I felt the surging mana stabilizing.
I circulated the amplified mana throughout my body. An alien sensation, clearer and colder than before, enveloped my body.
The tiny mana pool is being refilled.
“Haa… haa…”
Very subtly, but surely.
Very little, but oh so clearly.
The mana increased slightly.
“I have attained inner enlightenment.”
Sweat streamed down.
Madness and sorrow.
And I felt the heart that had been trapped in pain clearing up.
“I make no excuses or compromises when it comes to killing the enemy.”
I looked up at the clear sky.
The tragedies of the World War and the Korean War must not be repeated. The tragedies of the Jews who died in Auschwitz and the blacks who died in the sugarcane fields must not be repeated.
We don’t need the KKK.
We don’t need imperialism either.
We don’t need fascism, and we don’t need war.
“I am Saint Kim Kat.”
This journey of the Holy War Army has given me great enlightenment.
That alone would be a great harvest.
I saw the cremated remains of the massacred residents and the tears of the women wailing as they watched… tragedy. This tragedy must not be repeated…!
I must destroy all the followers of Ejatz!
I made up my mind.
“Saint.”
“…Elise.”
Elise, her face as expressionless as usual, called out to me.
I answered vaguely and slumped against the wall, and Elise came and sat next to me.
“The judgment is over. All the heretics with tattoos met a terrible and miserable end, just like they did.”
“I can tell just by the smell, you know.”
“It’s not a very good smell.”
Come to think of it, is it almost dinner time?
After a moment of silence, Elise said.
“But even if we judge the heretics here, the evil will not disappear, and the dead will not come back to life.”
That’s right.
“To prevent this from happening again, we need to exterminate the heretics. Look at the women of the village wailing over there. Such pain. And such sorrow should not exist in this world.”
Firm resolve.
“The people who have lost their families, lost their children, and are suffering terrible pain… We, the Holy Light Crusaders, will serve until the day Paradise descends to prevent innocent people from suffering.”
The crusaders and paladins who were caught up in madness and executed the heretics are, in essence, righteous people with kind and good hearts.
That’s why they serve to stabilize the world.
Elise also often shows violent and fierce aspects, but that’s only when dealing with heretics and monsters.
She says that there should be no sorrow in the world, no pain, and she seemed extremely righteous and just.
As I always say, Elise and the Holy Light Crusaders serve to drive out the wicked from the world and bring Paradise to earth.
Although their actions and attire are a bit extreme.
Their mindset is genuine.
“…You’re right, Elise. This tragedy must not be repeated.”
“Will you come with us?”
“Of course.”
Cloudy made a lot of money by rummaging through the bodies of the bandits who had been massacred. Ending the journey here and returning to Isvant would be a huge profit.
But I had made up my mind to exterminate the heretics.
“I knew you would. You are indeed a righteous person, Saint. That’s why… yes. That’s why your family is harmonious.”
“…Is that so? Am I really righteous?”
“Yes.”
“Hehehe…”
“Let’s go in now.”
The day is coming to an end.
A day that was nothing but madness has come to an end. The executions were complete, and the paladins were interrogating those suspected of being bandits through due process.
They’ll take care of it.
Most of the buildings in the village were empty, so the Holy War Army, soldiers, and adventurers were told to go into any building they liked and rest. Winia and Cloudy had already picked a room and gone in to rest.
I trudged back there too.
“I’m back.”
“The Saint has arrived.”
“You’ve finally recognized me as a saint.”
“Bullshit.”
When I returned, Winia and Cloudy were in comfortable clothes, laying out the looted jewelry and cash on the table and settling accounts.
The sheer amount of it made me realize Cloudy’s power.
“Come here, my Saint.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Winia was teasing me, but Cloudy seemed genuinely happy. Cloudy examined the looted ring as if appraising it and said.
“We’re going to make more than I thought?”
“I guess so. At this rate, we won’t have to worry for a while.”
“Hehe, right?”
Good. Let’s help with the settlement too.
I took off my armor and put it away in a corner of the room. This room must also be the house of a massacred victim. The heretics occupied it, and now we’re using it… It feels strange.
“Ah, the smell of blood. Blackie, go wash up. The bathhouse is operating normally over there.”
The bandits had to live in the village, so they didn’t touch the water facilities at all. Stalls were opened in the half-normalized village, and well. As many people as an army were stationed there, so they cleaned and repaired the necessary facilities.
I also took off my clothes, grabbed underwear and a towel to change into, and went to the bathhouse. It wasn’t far away, and there were quite a few users.
ㅡMurmur, murmur.
When I went in, the people who were pouring water on their bodies murmured.
“The Saint… it’s the Saint.”
“The black-haired Saint.”
“The Saint has come.”
I smiled and waved my arm.
“It’s a righteous evening. Thank you for your hard work today.”
“O-oh, oh…!”
Suddenly, a solemn atmosphere.
I also took a seat and sat down, took cold water from the pipe with a gourd, and poured it on my body. The smell of blood was thick on my body. It was because I participated in the work of dismantling the Six Towers.
I also smelled of corpses.
I took my time and carefully wiped every nook and cranny. Slowly with cold water. I quietly poured water over my head as if washing away the troubled heart.
***
The Holy War Army began to rebuild the village.
The adventurers and mercenaries took a rest, but the paladins burning with a sense of justice and the baron’s soldiers, whose hometown was around here, willingly devoted themselves to erecting palisades or cleaning the village.
After all, they had nothing to do while stationed in the village until the next journey. The women of the village also participated in the labor to rebuild their village.
Reconstruction.
All the men in the village are dead, so I don’t know if it can be rebuilt. Well, I think the baron will take some measures when the war is over.
“Saint, good news.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
I was also helping lightly to move my body a little.
As I was shoveling dirt with my shirt off, Elise approached and said.
“The allied forces of the lord of Isvant and the lord of Krasheim are sequentially retaking the villages occupied by the heretics.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. That’s what I heard.”
“That’s good.”
The subjugation force that was advancing in another direction was also successfully smashing the heretics. I had been sending messengers a few days ago, and I didn’t expect to hear such good news.
It’s a very good thing.
“Then how much is left?”
“Only one village that was occupied first remains.”
The village that was taken first.
“One…”
Was that village called Yertak?
I think that’s where Kopson told me about.
“I don’t know the exact schedule, but I think they’re planning to attack simultaneously from several directions to coincide with the start date of the attack.”
“Are they going to attack from all sides?”
“That’s right.”
“Then it’ll be a piece of cake.”
If the subjugation force and the Holy War Army attacked together, it felt like they could even take down the demonic forces, let alone the bandits. The power shown by the paladins and crusaders was truly transcendent.
Who would have known that they would smash the palisade with brute force? I was thinking of at least a siege-like thing, but I couldn’t have imagined it.
Well, of course, it’s possible because it’s another world… I guess I was just thinking with the common sense of Earth for a moment at the word war.
“I heard that most of the heretics there have received the blessing of the evil god and have considerable power. But even so, they won’t be able to stand against the Holy War Allied Forces.”
“Ah, so are the real heretics blessed by Ejatz gathered there?”
“I think that’s the case. That’s their base.”
“Hmm…”
I thought of Zerdas, who had met a miserable death.
He must have also been a considerable powerhouse who had received Ejatz’s blessing, but he died without being able to use his strength against the crusaders. Still, if those guys are swarming around, it will be quite dangerous.
If those guys are swarming around, I can understand why Baron Dodens was defeated in the first place. And they probably occupied the surrounding villages by sending only the rabble and the guys who would command them instead of dispersing their forces.
“I heard that Baron Dodens, who has recovered his forces, is also launching an attack there, so the win rate will increase dramatically.”
“So the three lords and the Holy War Army are attacking together?”
“Yes. It seems like the end of the Holy War is in sight.”
Anyway, that’s the base of the heretical bandit bastards who worship Ejatz. If we just smash that and go back to Isvant, it will be over.
“Saint, I will help too.”
Elise picked up the shovel that had been set down.
How ridiculous.
I am second to none when it comes to shoveling.
The work is already all done.
“No, I’ve almost finished this side. And I’m going to go in soon. I’m going to save my energy because we’re going to fight soon. You shouldn’t overdo it either, and take a rest. You haven’t slept for days taking care of the village women.”
“It’s not hard at all. And it’s something I can’t do unless it’s now.”
“No, no, you have to rest while doing it. Come on, let’s go back. Resting now is something you can only do now.”
“…I understand.”
In that way, I participated in the village reconstruction in a leisurely manner and saved my strength until the day we advanced again.
