Chapter 470

Walking through the deserted city, I pondered.

Yesterday’s events, the dawn’s happenings, and what lies ahead.

Archbishop Radenis of Kranuus is an untrustworthy figure. A dangerous character, at that.

Especially the fact that it’s annoyingly difficult to just kill him off. Seeing how he’s practically begging for death, it might just be his goal to die by my hand.

Fanatics love causing major incidents with their own lives. They see it as the ultimate devotion to their god.

The Special Operations Unit is unreliable.

Fritz, the Sacred Order member suspected of sending the report to Lacey, was captured by Belcus and became his pawn. And then he died by my hand.

There might be other Sacred Order members besides Fritz… but even if there were, I couldn’t trust them. Who knows what tricks Belcus has up his sleeve? He might have already used Fritz to kill them all.

Belcus. Yes, he’s another big problem. I don’t know why he was hiding in the Holy Kingdom, but he’s definitely the one who manipulated Lacey’s manifesto to incite the people.

A demon who enjoys watching the chaos he creates from a distance, after stirring up discord with all sorts of schemes. By now, he’s probably hiding somewhere other than Arad, pondering why he was discovered by me.

If he had stayed in Arad, I would have torn the city apart to find and kill him. He’s not a difficult enemy to deal with, as long as I’m careful with his powers.

After this is over, I’ll find a way to hunt him down and kill him.

My final concern was the Astraea Church Order. The second culprit in this mess, and possibly the most inflexible in the Holy Kingdom.

They won’t stop just because someone talks back. They believe they’re doing the right thing, after all. At least Wilhelm, the guy who gave the orders, probably thinks so.

If I reveal to them that all this was Belcus’s conspiracy, would they calm down? Hmm… I doubt it. They probably wouldn’t even believe it in the first place.

Even if they did believe it, nothing would change. Instead of understanding and backing down, they might consider the protesters as those bewitched by demons and suppress them even more harshly.

No, they definitely would. Wilhelm the Iron-Blooded. The most stubborn priest of Astraea, the leader here.

So… this is the only way.

“What a grand welcome.”

Jin drew his longsword and pointed it forward. Towards the golden, radiant paladins who had filled the space before him.

…No need to overthink it. While I was taking a short rest, the Astraea Church Order had already made their decision.

To exclude me.

“Are you ready to welcome the master of Arad?”

As I calmly spoke those words, hundreds of spears and swords were pointed at me.

—

The divine light resting on the golden armor shone dazzlingly. The paladins of Astraea, having completed their battle preparations, waited for me.

There were about five hundred of them. Each with a stiff, hardened expression, making them seem more like golden statues than people.

From the looks in their eyes, a mix of hostility and determination… there was no room for compromise. I didn’t expect them to not even let me enter the cathedral.

“Is Wilhelm not here? The master of the city has arrived, yet he doesn’t even show his face. For someone called ‘Iron-Blooded,’ he’s quite the coward.”

I rested Durandal on my shoulder and scanned them. Led by high-ranking paladins, numerous paladins had formed a defensive formation blocking the wide avenue, and the rooftops of surrounding buildings were also filled with paladins.

Though the divine light made it hard to see, behind them were battle priests preparing attack miracles. It was a formation more suited for slaughtering powerful monsters than dealing with people.

“Were you looking for me?”

Not wanting to be called a coward, a middle-aged man presumed to be Archbishop Wilhelm pushed through the priests and revealed himself.

Wilhelm looked like a stone statue compressed by a press and coated with plaster, having shed even the last shred of mercy. Not only was he impossible to reason with, but he also looked like he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed.

…Still, I should at least give him a final warning.

“Yes, I was looking for you. I’d like you to take your subordinates and leave my city. It’s too bright for me to sleep.”

“Unfortunately… no, it’s not even unfortunate.”

Wilhelm let out a hollow laugh.

“Whether it’s the ramblings of a madman or the stubbornness of a fool, I have no intention of accepting such a demand. The justice of the scales knows no compromise, and there are no exceptions. It is our duty to eradicate those who follow chaos for the sake of proper order.”

A straightforward answer. Calling it the stubbornness of a fool shows he’s figured out my intentions… but he’s saying he won’t be satisfied until he massacres the protesters, even if it kills him.

A lunatic fanatic.

“Well, I doubt Astraea wanted her citizens slaughtered.”

“A butcher of Ka`har dares to speak of her in my presence? We merely follow her scales. If our actions are wrong, she will punish us. Not you.”

“…Ha, acting all high and mighty without a single saint candidate.”

Really. What do they know about following the will of a god?

“If Astraea was pleased with what you’re doing, wouldn’t your church have a saint candidate?”

The fact that there isn’t one is proof that even the goddess Astraea doesn’t agree with their so-called ‘absolute justice.’ At least, that’s my guess.

“…That’s merely proof that we are still lacking. We have not yet achieved true order, so she has not bestowed her child upon us.”

But Wilhelm seemed to disagree.

It’s not that they’re wrong, but that they’re still lacking. So they need to kill more. Their way of thinking is fundamentally different.

Well… I didn’t expect him to be someone I could reason with anyway. If he were, I would have fought with words instead of a sword.

Honestly, I was getting tired of this nonsense. The sight of someone who had created a sea of blood yet believed themselves to be justice was starting to disgust me.

With a guy like that as their leader, no wonder the city ended up like this.

Religious faith? Fine. That kind of mindset can be helpful at times.

If you put a paladin of Astraea in front of a monster, they’ll fight to the death without expecting any reward, solely for their beliefs.

That’s certainly a positive aspect of religious faith.

But can you really say that such faith is more valuable than human lives? Of course, he’d say yes. Typical fanatic.

**I don’t think so.**

“Enough of this meaningless conversation. I’ll give you one last warning. Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur de Median. Leave Arad and return to Nasiriya. We can overlook your previous interference, but we cannot tolerate any more.”

Perhaps thinking that continuing the conversation would be a waste, Wilhelm cut it short and delivered his ultimatum. The offer was to leave Arad and let bygones be bygones. A negotiation proposal, supposedly.

I had no intention of accepting.

“You’re the ones who should leave. Weaklings giving orders to whom?”

I pointed my sword at the paladins and lowered my stance. Durandal, imbued with the Power of Feats, glowed blue and emitted a chilling aura.

“Refusing the offer of mercy and choosing punishment, as arrogant as they say. You’ll regret that choice.”

“Didn’t you know? I quit drinking a long time ago. I don’t care about mercy or punishment.”

As I smirked and spat out a cigarette, Wilhelm raised his right hand high.

– Whoosh!

Brilliant divine light illuminated the surroundings. Hundreds of Astraea’s followers. The divine light they emitted spread out, almost blotting out the sky. A golden tidal wave covered and surged across the world. An overwhelming, holy sight.

So what?

Just a branch, not even the main diocese. I haven’t lived so carelessly as to lose to these guys.

I gripped Durandal firmly with both hands, kicked off the ground, and charged towards them.

A golden rain poured down.

—

The light of judgment, unleashed by dozens of priests. A torrential rain of judgment punishing sinners overturned the ground with a deafening roar.

I was running towards the defensive formation but abruptly changed direction and took refuge in a building to the side.

– Crash!

The wooden door shattered into pieces as I kicked it. The broken fragments swept through the building. Of course, there was no one inside. If there had been, it would have been a disaster. An ordinary family home could have suddenly become the scene of a massacre.

As soon as I entered the building, I looked up at the ceiling. Surely, a few paladins were stationed above.

I leaped vertically and struck the ceiling with an ice blade. The roof exploded as if hit by a cannonball. Dark brown brick fragments scattered in all directions.

Just above the roof. I emerged through the debris and looked down at the panicked knights whose footing had crumbled. Four of them. One priest. No high-ranking ones.

My left hand, tucked into my chest, drew four daggers.

“Bare-handed, the roof…?!”

“Don’t think of him as human! Treat him as a human-sized monster!”

Not a bad judgment. Annoying, though.

Who are you calling a monster?

– Swoosh!

The thrown daggers shot out like black lightning. A speed difficult to react to unless you’re a master. The black iron blades, breaking through the Armor of Divine Light, pierced their bodies. Beyond penetration, they carried the force to tear off limbs.

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

Paladins with their right arms severed lost their balance and fell. The priest fell through the collapsing roof.

With healing miracles and protective miracles, falling from this height wouldn’t kill them.

– Thud.

I landed lightly on the edge of the roof and swung Durandal at the paladins scrambling to pick up their swords with their left hands.

Two slashes. Paladins with only their left arms and right legs remaining spurted blood as they fell in a line.

From the moment the battle began, I erased all other thoughts and focused on just one thing.

I must not kill.

Fighting with my hands tied, but it was unavoidable. If I killed them out of annoyance, it would truly become irreparable.

So, I had no choice but to sever their limbs.

– Hummm!

After quickly disabling four, the area around me brightened, and a clear vibration sound rang in my ears.

The miracle of a high-ranking priest, the Weight of Sin. A binding miracle that makes the body heavier based on the sins committed.

If caught, I might just fall. Before the miracle’s power could constrict my body, I kicked off the roof railing and threw myself sideways to evade.

“He’s coming this way!”

“Ai-shan Gi-or!”

Paladins swung their swords at me as if they had been waiting. Golden divine light enveloped their blades and shone brightly.

The miracle enhancing physical abilities, the Executioner’s Cloak, was also active, making their swordplay quite fast.

But it was still only at Hersh’s level.

I caught the blade aiming for my shoulder with an ice blade and crushed it, then leaned back to evade the spear thrust at my side.

A kick with immense force. The tip of my foot crushed the paladin’s armor like clay.

“Ugh…!”

The kicked paladin vomited blood and flew like a soccer ball, crashing into a building wall.

Without even checking his final moments, I cut down the paladins rushing at me and quickly moved to another spot.

– Crash!

As soon as I leaped away, the light of judgment poured down on the spot where I had just been.

The roof, hit by the bombardment of light, shattered into pieces and collapsed.

Staying in one place for too long was dangerous.

These lunatics were pouring out area attacks without caring about their own allies.

Well, since the power of the technique varies based on the sins committed, they probably don’t feel much pain even if they get hit.

The fierce battle continued endlessly.