Paladin In Dark Fantasy - Chapter 4
A figurehead exists to attract the attention of others and to promote the group’s identity and Paladins were one of the figureheads of the Varanches Church.
{T/N:- the raws for the church name is ‘바란체스교의’. If there is some other good, proper translation for its name, do tell me.}
Authority and Dignity, Divinity and Nobility; as the doctrines advocated by the Church, a Paladin, its symbol, had to incorporate all these values. Among these, external factors were also the reason why it was so important.
Aiden shaved his ragged beard and neatly raised his hair. Then, after taking off his dark leather armor, he put on the sacred armor.
“Sir Aiden, it is absolutely perfect,” said one of five new recruits given to him by the Bishop while he served as Aiden’s temporary squire.
For Paladins, seeds were essential. Since it was difficult to put on and take off the sacred armor by themselves, they needed someone to attend to them.
At the moment, Aiden was currently staying in the VIP room of the Lord’s castle. He was checking his armaments and making plans for the battle that was going to take place tonight.
“Isn’t that a little too much?”
Aiden mumbled as he stood in front of the full-length mirror. He thought it was cool when he saw it in the game, but when he put it on, it stood out too much.
Of course, its practicality was perfect. Most blades can’t even scratch it and it absorbs most of the impact.
If there was a problem, it was its huge weight, but it had nothing to do with Aiden.
“What do you mean too much? It suits you very well.”
The servant’s eyes twinkled as he looked up at Aiden; a supernova who accomplished the ordeal in two years and was appointed as a Paladin. Rumors were already circulating within the empire.
Serving Aiden was also a source of pride for the servant. Even if it was a temporary job.
“What is your name?”
“It’s Euron.”
“I want to know the skills of you and the other recruits.”
The recruits were professionally trained elites by the Church. Their understanding of tactics, including combat abilities, was exceptional, distinguishing them from the general enlisted men.
He should have been confident in his skills, but Euron’s expression wasn’t like that.
“That, that…”
Aiden thought it was a little strange. But whatever it was, he had to know their skills.
“Draw out your sword.”
“Huh? what it is.”
“Hurry. I want to see your skills.”
An order. Euron couldn’t hide his wonder.
“You mean here?”
It was unnecessary to go outside. If they only compete for a few moves, Aiden would realize everything.
Euron paused for a moment before drawing his sword, sensing Aiden’s serious expression.
“All right, I’d like to ask you to do something.”
Aiden made a motion for him to charge and Euron dug straight at it. It was a simple stab, but Aiden realized his abilities were lacking.
Ting. Without even pulling out his sword, he parried Euron’s attack with his metal plate gauntlet.
Even the way he let go of the sword he was holding was perfect.
Euron’s face flushed. It was his shame at his lack of abilities, as well as his frustration at betraying Aiden’s expectations.
Aiden, on the other hand, spoke calmly.
“Are the other four like you?”
Euron did not answer immediately.
“I need to know the strength. Answer me.”
“······ They are very similar.”
“I see. Go out now.”
Depressed, Euron glanced at Aiden’s face. Strangely, there wasn’t any disappointment on his face. Rather, he was calm, as if he had expected it.
Euron’s impression was correct. Aiden was just focusing on the fact that his instincts were becoming more and more true.
‘All of them are sloppy.’
The Demon Church was involved, but only five troops were provided. In addition, individual skills were lacking.
Yeah, let’s say that the highest power, Paladin and Holy Mage Xerath, are part of the group, and their mission is ambush reconnaissance.
Then the problem was who was in the main unit.
The Bishop’s plan was to raid the Demon Church, where children were being sacrificed, identify the escape routes of the fleeing remnants, and destroy their bases.
From a practical standpoint, the enemy’s key figures will be stationed at the site of human sacrifice. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to focus all of our power on the raid?
What if Aiden is not the only Paladin? If that’s the case, there was no need to disregard all of the procedures and commission Aiden in the first place.
Furthermore, the ambush location was a cemetery, which was extremely inconvenient.
Aiden knew what kind of person Bishop Forel was. Obviously, he’s attempting to reclaim the kidnapped children, to satisfy his own greed.
But he couldn’t figure out why did he hire Aiden and Xerath. If it wasn’t for the use of force, it would just be annoying.
‘Does he have other ulterior motives besides the children?’
All of a sudden, the door opened and Aiden’s thoughts were interrupted.
“Huh, it was true that clothes are wings. But why such a long face? You look like a knight in agony. What is it?”
Xerath came in. There was dirt all over his silver uniform, and the smell of a rotting corpse emanated from him.
“Where have you been?”
“Ha, you’re quick to notice. How did you know?”
“Your clothes are dirtier than before. Also, I can smell it. A rotten smell.”
Xerath scratched his head as if he was dumbfounded.
“I told you that you turned… but your eyesight is not that of a human. Smell as well.”
In fact, Xerath’s appearance was neat to anyone who saw it. Aiden’s eyesight stats allowed him to detect even a single grain of dirt on his clothes.
For a Paladin who fights most of his battles at night, Sight is very important, and it was a result of investing in spare time.
At this distance, even the sebum in the other party’s pores was visible.
“But, why are you looking at me like this?”
“No. Where have you been since then?”
“I think we should talk about it anyway.”
Xerath looked at Aiden’s expression.
“Did you not feel anything strange?”
In the current situation, Xerath was an absolute ally. Because he was a person close to a fanatic of the Church.
He never did anything that was against the doctrines.
“Everything is strange.”
“It will be quick.”
Xerath pulled up a chair and sat down at the table.
“I have seen some of the places the bishop said.”
Tonight, it was an area presumed to be a place where the Demon Church would offer the children.
“It’s definitely demonic, and they even set up a barrier.”
It looked like something was going to happen there.
“I took a step back for the time being. If you touch the barrier, they will notice. It was most likely installed for this purpose. It was crude. Anyway, I went to the cemetery where we were planning to ambush and discovered something interesting.”
Xerath grinned.
“Some places in the cemetery have been dug up.”
Traces of Necromancy. To plant a spell on several corpses, and wait until the spell spreads throughout the cemetery.
It was black magic that awakened all the dead in the cemetery with magic when the magic spell was all over.
“The standard was quite high. It’s embarrassing to say, but I couldn’t get rid of it.”
It was natural that undoing the spell was much more difficult than casting a spell. However, if someone as strong as Xerath couldn’t get rid of it, the opponent’s level would be formidable.
“Anyway, what does this mean?”
Xerath asked a question as if he were dealing with a monk.
“Either it’s just a simple preparation, or they know our plan in advance and have set a trap. It’s one of the two.”
“Right. But, isn’t it a little strange? Of all things, our ambush location is a cemetery, and there are a lot of strange things going on.”
Xerath was putting his weight on the possibility of a trap.
“If so, who is setting us up and for what?”
“I don’t know about that.”
If the bishop was behind the scenes, why was he doing this? It was something that I didn’t know at the moment.
“Anyway, there are two options.”
“Either I report this to the bishop, or I go into the trap myself and dig up the truth.”
“Ha ha, so. What are you going to do?”
If he chooses the latter, Xerath may assume that Aiden thinks the Bishop is behind it.
But it didn’t seem to make any difference.
“I hate having a headache. I will see it with my own two eyes.”
“Great. You and I got along.”
“The sun is going down. Let’s move slowly.”
We led the recruits straight to the ambush.
༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛
The outfits Aiden and Xerath wore were unsuitable for ambush and night raids.
At midnight, there was no light in the mountains because the uniform and sacred armor reflected the moonlight and made it shine brighter.
“Wear this from here on out.”
Xerath handed over a black hoodie to Aiden.
The moment he put it on, the brilliance of the sacred armor faded.
“It is a material that absorbs light. In such a case, it is useful, so you should have one.”
As the only source of light in the hillside disappeared, the surrounding area was covered with still darkness.
The new recruits trembled, as if nervous
“I will walk from here.”
Aiden tied the horse to a tree and climbed the hillside. As he got closer to the cemetery, the concentration of magic in the atmosphere increased.
It was now visible to the naked eye. The moonlight shattered over the magic that had settled like a mist, dyeing the surroundings purple.
Euron followed Aiden, barely enduring the trembling of his hands and feet.
After some time passed, they finally arrived at their destination.
The tombs and tombstones were arranged neatly, and the scale was quite large.
“It’s a perfect environment to be possessed by the demon.”
At Xerath’s words, the recruits swallowed their saliva. Aiden wanted to leave the recruits behind but he didn’t want to raise unnecessary suspicion.
To be honest, they were of no use at all. It was clear that the bishop had entrusted the leftovers/dregs.
“Oh, Sir Aiden. What can we do?”
Euron asked with fear.
“Don’t do anything, stay here.”
Even though he was hurt, Aiden couldn’t help it. Because it was better than losing a precious life through hasty action.
Aiden held his breath as he hid himself completely in the dense forest.
The surroundings were dark without a single light, but Aiden’s gaze was fixed on the cemetery.
In the darkness, where they couldn’t see an inch ahead, the recruits relied solely on their hearing.
The grasshoppers croaked and leaves rustled in the breeze while the howling of the beasts occasionally echoed chillingly.
Aiden looked away, confirming that he heard something fall down. On the other side of the graveyard, a human appeared out of nowhere.
At the same time, all of the forest’s sounds came to a halt.
‘The recruits are agitated.’
He couldn’t see, he couldn’t hear. Like a sinking ship, it seemed to be sucked into the desolate darkness.
The soldiers were bewildered. As expected, it was right to leave it aside.
Aiden thought about retreating. To give up the enormous experience of an Undead?
In addition, only by capturing the necromancer could the question be solved.
‘Doing it.’
He exchanged glances with Xerath.
The moment they nodded to each other, the sounds of life that had stopped began to be replaced by those of the dead.
Cracking!!
To shake off the rotten flesh and steal the things of the living,
Beings longing for life more than anyone else climbed the graveyard.
Eek!!
The tenacity of longing for life glared at the living in unison.
Aiden immediately took off his black hood. As the moonlight shone upon the dead, the recruits were terrified.
“Don’t be afraid-!”
A blazing halo illuminated the darkness and covered the dead.
