Chapter 798

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 24, 2025

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Telegram

“Elpinel, protect us!”

A storm-like charge.

The cavalry, gripping the Pure White Spear, became a massive wave of steel at the moment of impact, sweeping through the orcs’ rear without hesitation.

The orcs, clad in thick leather adorned with human skin and bones, had their protruding fangs pierced by the Pure White Spear. The knights following behind swung their longswords and maces, sending severed heads soaring into the sky.

“Groooah! You’re insane! Attacking while serving a weak god!”

“How dare you speak of our god with that mouth!”

The orcs, desperately turning their bodies, swung their swords and axes at the prey that had so boldly attacked them.

“What?! They won’t die! These things are strange!”

The humans, radiating Pure White Light and wielding longswords, were beings on a completely different level from any prey the orcs had faced before.

For the orcs, who had been sent to hunt down a single knight and hundreds of prey, these humans were impossible to match.

It didn’t take long for the rampaging orcs to be completely hunted down.

—

Decades ago, after a blue meteor tore through the heavens and fell, humanity, groaning under the tyranny of other races, obtained the Blessing of the Goddess, allowing them to surpass the limits of their species.

The more they killed other races, the more power they gained, guiding them to achieve feats beyond human capability.

Star’s Protection. Fragment of the Goddess. Heavenly Grace. Fighting Spirit.

After decades of various names being thrown around, a name emerged that all who had obtained the blessing could agree upon.

Feats.

This name became a symbol of the resistance consciousness of humans struggling to reject the fate of being prey.

Thanks to the blessing of Feats, humans gained the power to contend with other races, refusing their domination and rising up to establish resistance organizations worldwide.

In the old legends passed down from grandfather to grandson, the brave humans who fought against enemies with swords were honored with a title.

‘Knight.’

However, even with the power of Feats, it was nearly impossible for a handful of humans to achieve independence against the powerful forces of other races.

Most of the scattered resistance organizations were either annihilated by the armies of other races sent to suppress the rebellion of inferior species or met even more tragic fates.

Except for a few knight orders that stubbornly survived and maintained their lineage, seemingly under divine protection.

The Patricius Knight Order, serving Elpinel, the Goddess of Heaven and Grace, was one such organization.

—

The leader of the Patricius Knight Order, a hero who had surpassed the wall and reached the realm of miracles, Pipinus, despite achieving a picturesque victory, let out a deep sigh with a devastated expression.

Hearing rumors of a knight with skills rivaling an Orc Warlord leading hundreds of his people, he had rushed to protect them, but…

“Too late…”

When the knight order arrived, all that remained were burning ruins and brutally slaughtered corpses.

Though it was a disgustingly familiar sight, familiarity did not lessen the sorrow.

‘Elpinel, watch over their souls…’

Pipinus made the Holy Sign and prayed for the peace of the victims, hoping they could find tranquility in the embrace of the goddess after suffering such a cruel fate.

‘And please grant us the power to destroy those vile evil races…’

“Commander!”

At that moment.

“Here, there’s a survivor!”

One of the knights tending to the bodies shouted with an incredulous expression.

“A survivor?”

Rushing over, Pipinus could only make the Holy Sign again and pray to the goddess, looking down at the sole survivor lying like a corpse in a sea of blood.

“This boy…? No, is this even a boy?”

The survivor was an existence beyond Pipinus’s comprehension. Not only was he still alive despite six spears embedded in his body, but…

“His height…”

Though his pale face retained a boyish youthfulness, his body below the neck surpassed even the most seasoned knights.

It was as if a grown warrior’s body had been stitched onto a boy’s head.

“Commander, I heard the knight ruling this area was named ‘Big’ Karl… Could this boy be him?”

“…Perhaps. Who would have thought a knight with skills surpassing an Orc Warlord would be so young… Surely, it must be the blessing of Lady Elpinel.”

Carefully removing the spears and performing emergency healing with a Healing Miracle, the Patricius Knight Order returned to their base with the collapsed Karl.

After a simple funeral, burning the gathered bodies.

Six Orc Warlords slain. Five hundred warriors defeated. One survivor.

The battle that was a tragedy for some and a great victory for others left a scar in the heart of one boy.

A grudge that would never fade.

—

Half a month later.

When Karl finally awoke, he was met with the harsh truth that all those he had wanted to protect were dead.

Why did they have to die? Why was he the only one left alive?

Pipinus, a man with eyes like weathered rock, subdued the injured Karl as he screamed and raged, explaining the reason.

“They were killed because they were weak. You couldn’t protect them because you were weak. And… we couldn’t save them because we are weak.”

In those words filled with deep regret, Karl finally understood.

The reason he, 2067, and all the humans who called him a knight were suffering in this hellish world.

There was no grand reason he occasionally pondered.

It was simply because they were weak. That one reason alone made humans the livestock, prey, and playthings of all races.

“Then, I…”

At that moment, Karl vowed.

“…I will become stronger. Stronger than anyone in this world. So that I can repay the pain to those who committed atrocities simply because we were weak.”

I will kill all the orcs.

I will burn all the fairies.

I will bury all the other races in hell.

In the boy’s vow, filled with hatred bordering on madness, Pipinus nodded firmly and extended his hand to Karl.

“Welcome to the Patricius Knight Order, Knight.”

It was the moment Karl, still a young boy, rose as a knight.

—

Three years passed like an arrow.

Karl, who joined the Patricius Knight Order, learned and grew under the senior knights, accumulating countless achievements.

The Patricius Knight Order, once a small group of a few hundred, grew into a formidable force that even the Beastmen Kings and Orc Warlords feared.

Delighted by Karl’s growth, Pipinus adopted him as his heir and successor to the knight order.

Every time he saw Karl, he was reminded of the son he had lost over a decade ago.

He gave Karl a new name in ancient language, meaning the same as his own.

Karolus Magnus.

The Great Man, Karolus Magnus.

That was the name of the future leader of the knight order, who had surpassed the wall and achieved the miracle of will before even turning twenty.

“…Usually, you’d adopt a son-in-law, not a son, right?”

“Nonsense. Hand over our Berteia to a cold-hearted guy like you? Don’t even dream about it.”

“I wouldn’t hope for that.”

“What? What’s wrong with Berteia! Where else would you find such a fine bride…!”

Though it was questionable whether the woman who knocked out a man with a single chop could be called a ‘fine bride’…

In front of Pipinus, whose mental age seemed to drop by twenty years whenever his daughter was mentioned, it was hard to bluntly say, ‘Your daughter is more like a bear than a person.’

Thus, Karolus accepted his position as Pipinus’s adopted son without complaint.

After all, becoming Berteia’s brother seemed a thousand times wiser than becoming her husband.

—

Karolus, who had already reached the level of a master when he was carried on Pipinus’s horse, spent three years slaughtering countless other races at the forefront, growing his own Feats.

Beyond enhancing his physical abilities, he reached the realm of manifesting the miracle of will by imbuing his soul into the Feats he spread across the world.

【Valor’s Eye】

That was the name of the miracle Karolus had obtained.

Just as a creature seeing the world with one eye cannot distinguish distance, Karolus’s sword could cut through the very scene before his eyes, regardless of distance.

Though the power weakened and the energy consumption became immense as the distance increased… Karolus intuitively understood.

Though currently, he could barely cut down a tree hundreds of meters away, if he honed and grew this power to its limits… he could slice a mountain with a single strike.

‘Someday…’

With this sword, I will cut down the vile World Tree that the cursed fairies worship.

That was his deepest wish.

—

Destruction arrived, carrying fire and storm.

“Dragon! The dragon, Dabran, is attacking!”

A scream of terror shook the knight order’s fortress.

The dragon, a monster with endless strength and bottomless ferocity, was the synonym for an unstoppable calamity.

Scales that repelled even the steel weapons of heroes. A rain of magic like meteors. Breath like lava spewing from its gaping maw.

The Patricius Knight Order, which had grown into a formidable force that even the Beastmen Kings and Orc Warlords dared not attack lightly, was annihilated by the calamity that descended from the sky.

“Evacuate!”

“Scatter! Scatter and run!”

“Elpinel, save us…!”

In the face of a monster that flew through the skies, unreachable by spears and swords, and melted stone walls in an instant, what value could human strength hold?

“Karolus! Take care of Berteia!”

Even Pipinus, the hero who had surpassed the wall, had no way to deal with the dragon’s rampage. He could only throw his spear at the dragon, accepting death to save as many as possible.

“I will fight too! With my sword…!”

“I forbid it! No matter what, escape and survive! Even if we die here, you must not die!”

“But…!”

“This is an order! If you die, it’s all over. Who can replace you? A hero who surpassed the wall at nineteen, the greatest talent humanity has ever seen!”

Slapping the hesitant Karolus, Pipinus ran off without looking back, toward certain death.

“Father!”

That day, Karolus lost his friend, his subordinates, his people, and his father.

All that remained was one thing.

“Father…!”

Only his fifteen-year-old sister, weeping bitterly.

—

The fiery calamity that swept through the Patricius Knight Order’s fortress burned everything to the ground.

Only Karolus and Berteia survived.

Whether they survived because Pipinus and the knights held the dragon’s attention until they turned to ash, or because, as Pipinus often said, Elpinel’s blessing was with Karolus, he could not know.

Not knowing, he raged.

After the dragon left. In the ashes of their fortress.

Weeping tears of blood, he glared at the unresponsive sky.

“Elpinel! Damned incompetent gods of heaven! Are you watching us? Can you hear our voices?!”

A wail-like scream echoed loudly.

“If you’re watching, you can’t let this happen. If you’re listening, you can’t let this be! The wails of those who serve you flow like a river, yet what are you doing? Just watching? Laughing from your high heavens like children watching ants struggle on the ground! Can you still call yourselves gods?!”

The hatred of a man who had lost and suffered endlessly for twenty years erupted like a volcano.

“Can you hear me? If you’re listening, answer me. Answer me! Elpinel!”

And then,

Above the screaming Karolus.

– Whoosh!

A blindingly radiant Pure White Light pierced through the clouds.

“Ugh…!”

Blinded by the brilliant flash, Karolus closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again.

“What… is this…?!”

Before him stood the figure of a woman, embracing a Pure White Greatsword.

A woman with twelve wings draped like a dress, a radiant halo behind her head, weeping tears of blood.

【I’m sorry. Resent me for my powerlessness. My child.】