Chapter 472

As I pierced through the dense formation of paladins like a drill, I expected dozens of swords to come flying at me from all directions.

Breaking into the center of their formation meant that the entire surrounding area would be filled with enemies.

Of course, even so, there was no need to worry. Unless it was a strike from a high-ranking paladin, most blades wouldn’t even be able to pierce the leather of my armor.

I just had to be careful of attacks on exposed areas and keep moving. That’s what I thought.

But the situation that unfolded was completely different from what I had expected.

“He’s broken through! Form a circular encirclement!”

The paladins retreated as if they had been waiting for this, clearing the center. They maintained a considerable distance from me, forming what looked like a five-layered circular formation. Except for five of them.

“…He’s in. Just as expected.”

Five high-ranking paladins, including Pellman, whom I had seen yesterday. These individuals, who seemed to be the strongest forces of the Arad branch, were waiting for me in the now-cleared center of the formation.

“Expected? More like broken through.”

“To destroy the barrier meant to slow him down in one strike and push through… I’ve heard the rumors, but isn’t this more of a monster than a demon?”

“Can we even hold him? Did the Archbishop make a reckless decision…?”

They didn’t seem particularly confident. As the saying goes, the more skilled you are, the more accurately you can gauge someone’s strength. The tension they felt was incomparable to that of ordinary paladins.

“Don’t say such discouraging things when Astraea is watching.”

Pellman lightly scolded them and pointed his sword at me.

The divine light he summoned enveloped the blade, emitting a brilliance so intense that the shape of the sword became invisible. It was the same “Blade of Order” I had been breaking and shattering relentlessly, but as expected of a high-ranking paladin, the density of power was on a different level.

At this level, it might even withstand Durandal’s slashes.

To think that a mere steel sword could be strengthened to the level of a silver sword just by believing in the gods and following their teachings. Knights struggling with swords mixed with a bit of silver or black iron must be envious.

“Five high-ranking paladins… So, is this all?”

I shrugged slightly and let Durandal hang loosely at my side. Five high-ranking paladins attacking together. In the past, I might have been tense, but now, it wasn’t enough to give me a sense of crisis.

“No need to be disappointed. We haven’t even started yet.”

As Pellman finished speaking, a golden pillar rose from the rear of the formation and descended above the heads of the five paladins.

Divine script densely engraved on armor radiating holy light. The brass armor glowed with divine light, and a translucent veil of light spread behind their shoulders, fluttering like a cloak.

The Armor of the Protector and the Executioner’s Cloak. These were the representative blessings of the Astraea Church Order.

So… they poured all their holy power into the Blade of Order and used the blessings of high-ranking priests for the rest? Efficient, indeed. Now, I wasn’t just facing five high-ranking paladins but also several high-ranking priests.

Though it was a bit unusual for the blessings to target paladins, this combination of knights and priests was a classic way to face a powerful enemy.

This might be a bit tricky… Maybe I’ll have to use Reversed Heaven. I wanted to preserve the Power of Feats as much as possible, not knowing when Astraea’s main force would arrive.

Well, it’s better to get tired than hurt.

“Go! It’s time to show the severity of the scales!”

“For the Goddess of Order—!”

“Astraea—! Carry out your justice!”

With Wilhelm’s command echoing from somewhere, the five paladins, now transformed into golden figures, charged at me. Their speed surpassed that of master-level knights. Golden afterimages stretched behind them.

Certainly, if five of these guys attacked, most demons would be slaughtered like dogs before they could even react.

“Good, this is more like it!”

They were faster than I thought, probably because they poured so much holy power into it, but it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t even need to use Reversed Heaven.

I spread the Power of Feats throughout my body, strengthening both my muscles and nerves. My sharpened reflexes clearly sensed their movements. The trajectories of their slashes were vividly visible.

I blocked the longsword aimed at my collarbone with Durandal’s blade, twisted my elbow and wrist simultaneously to deflect it, and closed the distance. At such close range, I naturally spun my body and struck the paladin’s helmet with the hilt.

A golden spark flew as the paladin, struck hard on the head, lost his balance and fell to the side.

If it had been a bare head, it would have exploded like a watermelon, but thanks to the blessing he was wearing, the actual damage was just a dented helmet. Like getting hit with a hammer while wearing a helmet.

With Astraea’s healing and the Pillar of Faith active, he’d probably get back up soon. To subdue him, I’d have to cut off his limbs… but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time.

I turned my gaze away from him and countered the blades of the other four charging from all sides.

“Inom!”

I blocked the slash aimed at my spine with my left arm, grabbed the halted longsword, and threw the paladin along with it. The paladin aiming for my solar plexus stopped his attack to catch his comrade and was pushed back.

“Still not enough—!”

A paladin who had crouched low and charged thrust his longsword vertically. What’s with this guy trying to pierce a woman’s groin? That’s not a place a paladin should aim for. A sense of disgust welled up.

I twisted my right foot to block the attack with my armor. A loud clang echoed as a deep scratch was carved into the black iron scales, but as Asha had guaranteed, the Winter Armor’s scales easily withstood even a master’s strike.

“You bastard!”

A follow-up kick. My right foot, extended without holding back, literally tore through the paladin’s crotch.

“Kuuuaaaah!”

The paladin fell, foaming at the mouth, his eyes bulging. Serves him right. Even with healing miracles, that area wouldn’t recover functionally, though it was more of a psychological factor.

“For order and justice!”

The last to charge was Pellman.

Instead of swinging his longsword widely, he made short, precise strikes, aiming for the gaps in my armor. Worried about a counterattack if he left an opening, huh? Experienced.

Indeed, the attacks were weaker but fast and short, leaving little room for counterattacks.

-Clang! Clang!

The blue-silver longsword and the golden blade clashed violently, scattering fragments of light like fireworks. The crossing blades. After three, four, six exchanges, the Blade of Order imbued in Pellman’s sword lost its power and dispersed.

“Kuh…!”

Pellman, realizing this, let out a groan and leaped back. I tried to chase after him, but the paladins who had regained their stance during the opening Pellman created charged again, so I had no choice but to give up and parry their swords.

Hmm.

After crossing swords, I realized it was bothersome but not dangerous. If I was willing to take some injuries, I could end this right now. I didn’t even need to use the Heroic Tale.

Is this all they prepared to capture me? Was Wilhelm’s head as hard as a rock, not just his face?

If not…

========[ Wilhelm ]========

“Truly, the strength I’ve heard about is unbelievable. She’s not even using the infamous Red Life Force Technique, yet she’s this powerful. She’s incomparable to the former Empire’s Greatest Sword.”

Wilhelm silently observed Ai-shan Gi-or wreaking havoc within the circular formation, swallowing a sigh of admiration.

The ideal warrior every swordsman dreams of was right before his eyes.

Transcendent physical abilities. Tireless stamina. Brutal yet refined swordsmanship. A silver longsword believed to be a relic of the Twelve Knights and armor with unbelievable performance.

She was truly a superhuman, capable of rivaling an army single-handedly, the kind that appears in old heroic tales.

“No wonder the Emperor and Elmain favor her. Power unmatched by anyone, and a mercy worthy of being called noble. Except for her rough speech, she’s the very model of a knight.”

If Ha-shal-leur could hear his thoughts, she would have been quite surprised. Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Wilhelm held her in high regard.

“Mercy…”

He had already figured it out. Though her methods were quite forceful, Ha-shal-leur acted this way to minimize the number of deaths in this situation.

Despite declaring the city’s occupation, she hadn’t laid a finger on the rioters, and the paladins who had fallen to her hands had all suffered only serious injuries, not deaths. This proved her intent.

The spirit of enduring hardship to save the weak. If this isn’t called mercy, what is? If she had sincerely served the gods, a holy mark might have descended upon her immediately.

Mercy.

Wilhelm understood how noble a spirit it was. It’s just that he had a value more important than mercy.

The being he served was Astraea, the Goddess of Order and Justice. The goddess of the scales who mercilessly judged the sins of the wicked.

“There are no exceptions to order. There is no compromise in justice. The moment you take a step back, it can no longer be called order.”

That was his belief.

—

Wilhelm wasn’t unaware. If he had ruled a bit more flexibly and compromised with the citizens’ demands, this situation might not have happened.

But for Wilhelm, such compromise was impossible. Especially in these turbulent times for the Holy Kingdom.

Even knowing it would provoke severe backlash, why did he impose the same punishment on all crimes?

Differentiating the severity of punishments meant acknowledging that crimes themselves had varying degrees of severity. Heavy crimes deserving death and light crimes deserving moderate punishment.

For Wilhelm, this was akin to planting the seeds of corruption.

“The moment the concept of superiority and inferiority takes root, the inferior is inevitably looked down upon. If crimes have degrees of severity, people will start compromising with themselves.”

Compared to a capital crime, this level of wrongdoing is nothing. Just pay a fine or spend a little time in jail, right?

If all crimes were punished equally, people would fear committing crimes. But if the weight of punishment varied with the severity of the crime, relatively minor crimes would be seen as no big deal.

That was the beginning of disorder. Petty theft, assault, fraud, deception. Countless miscellaneous crimes would spread like wildfire.

Thus, Wilhelm insisted on execution by burning without exception, anticipating the people’s backlash. To achieve a world of order and justice, free from even a speck of sin.

That was his faith. The reason he could acknowledge and praise Ha-shal-leur’s mercy yet still oppose her.

“Begin!”

Wilhelm, having stopped his contemplation, gave the final command to the priests who had been waiting for his order.

Ha-shal-leur didn’t know yet, but the core of the Purification Formation of Spirit Slaughter hadn’t even been activated.

Purification meant erasing everything cleanly, leaving nothing behind. If it were just about surrounding with troops and attacking with a few elites, it wouldn’t be called a purification formation.

All the priests, including the high-ranking ones, raised their heads, radiating holy light. The paladins forming the encirclement created a holy barrier, wrapping around the inner area.

Ha-shal-leur should have wondered. Why the relentless bombardment of light had ceased the moment the formation was deployed.

Within the multiple layers of the paladins’ encirclement. Above the clearing where five high-ranking paladins and one hero were engaged in fierce combat—

Dozens of layers of the Light of Judgment unfolded.

It was no longer a golden rain but a literal waterfall of holy light.