Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-154

Excitement and chaos, darkness, and the light of lanterns distorted the streets making it hard to discern colors in the distance. There was no intention to use harsh measures. It was merely about pushing colors into the eyes or ears and giving them a quick shake.

It was better than having limbs broken, although it might mean sleepless nights for a while.

That was when Yulihida, who had been just watching the fight with his arms crossed, suddenly spoke up.

“Don’t use your tricks, Isaac.”

‘What?’

In the midst of the commotion, Isaac turned towards the clearly audible voice. Yulihida was still watching him with an indifferent gaze. Wondering if she might have noticed the color beyond, Isaac decided to retract it for now.

He could tell that Yulihida was sizing up his abilities.

Whether this brawl was her intention or not was unclear.

“Alright! It’s my turn now!”

After having already taken down two knights, Isaac confidently snapped his fingers as a female knight appeared.

She wore a green cloak adorned with a wild boar insignia, the symbol of the current King of Elil, Aldeon.

‘The Aldeon Knights… A royal order, then.’

Considering they hadn’t come out to greet a foreign envoy but were involved in a street fight showed the standards of this nation. Yet, inwardly, Isaac felt this was a good development.

He was curious about the real level of a proper knight, not just street thugs.

Isaac, though incredulous, faced her with his sword drawn. So far, there had been no need to kindle the flames of the Luatdin key.

“Come at me, arrogant foreigner! I’ll carve a fancy scar on that pretty face!”

The female knight, encouraged by her comrades, smirked and immediately swung her sword. Isaac, seeing the visibly slow and lifeless sword, felt a slight disappointment. However, when the blade met, it almost snapped his wrist.

‘What kind of strength?’

It was an insane force that seemed impossible for her stature. Isaac quickly twisted his wrist to deflect the sword and collided with her using his shoulder.

The female knight seemed surprised that Isaac had managed to handle her first strike. Her subsequent moves were full of openings.

Isaac realized the nature of the Aldeon Knights’ swordsmanship.

‘They swing with the momentum to split a torso in two on the first strike, and think later? A crazy idea, but it might be useful.’

In fights among skilled swordsmen, the outcome is often gauged before the start. If the skill levels are similar, the one who attacks first is at a disadvantage, especially if the first move is a powerful downward strike.

Whether parried or dodged, the following move can be chosen at will.

Isaac intended to counterattack after receiving the knight’s sword.

But the Aldeon knight used that to her advantage.

Her first strike was powerful enough to break wrists and heads, removing ‘parrying’ or ‘dodging’ as options.

However, Isaac managed to deflect the sword just in time.

‘Really, what if my head had been split… There was no murderous intent though.’

When Isaac did not move, the female knight quickly backed off amid jeers from her comrades. Her face turned red, but she raised her sword again, this time with a serious expression.

“Try blocking this, handsome!”

She swung down from above again. This time, Isaac struck up from below with all his might. The knights laughed at the apparent strength contest. The downward strike was naturally advantageous.

Clang! The moment the swords collided, Isaac felt even greater pressure than before—a ridiculous strength that should not have been possible for her size.

Even Isaac, armored in miracles, nearly had his knees buckle under the force.

‘Advanced swordsmanship.’

The Aldeon Knights’ advanced technique appeared simple. More strength, more weight.

But simplicity was the essence the military should strive for.

Isaac liked this style of swordsmanship, which was in some ways the exact opposite of his own. There might be something to learn from it.

Of course, there was no reason for him to directly receive such a brutish charge.

Naturally, Isaac let the sword slide off. The female knight anticipated this and tried to slam into him with her shoulder, following the flow.

The problem was, her sword did not move as expected.

It stuck as if glued, or as if something was holding it and wouldn’t let go. The female knight suddenly locked eyes with Isaac.

And she felt a chilling, entwining force in his calm eyes.

‘Swallowed…’

At that moment, Isaac’s fist smashed into her jaw. As her posture was already compromised, her jaw was struck hard, causing her to stagger. Isaac thought she would surely fall, but the female knight, merely out of sheer willpower, roared and slammed her foot on the ground.

“Haah!”

With veins bulging in her eyes, she glared at Isaac.

Isaac was astounded.

‘As tough as she is strong… A real wild boar?’

Isaac had seen the female knight fall unconscious. However, she had just shouted out of pure determination and woken up from unconsciousness. It was questionable if that was even possible with sheer willpower, but it suggested that the average level of an Elil knight might not be so low after all.

And contrary to his initial disappointment, there might actually be true knights in this kingdom.

“Justice does not fall!”

The female knight bellowed, swinging her two-handed sword. Though it seemed reckless, each strike had a tempest-like force behind it. Isaac could tell that her swordsmanship could break a tree with a single slice.

“As long as justice stands, it does not falter!”

But Isaac had no intention of repeating this brute-force clash. His body twisted, tracing a strange curve.

The female knight felt herself being dragged into a mysterious, chilling pull, as if sinking into quicksand. She struggled to remain standing.

However, in the next moment, Isaac was already before her.

The abyss yawned and pulled her in.

The female knight made a final desperate swing. Isaac met her sword directly.

Crack. Isaac’s sword aura, like a saw tearing through, devoured and shattered her blade instantly. As she watched the pieces scatter, Isaac’s fist burst forward and struck her face.

Bang. The female knight was flung up, her head slamming into the ground. With a loud crash, she stretched out and then collapsed.

Silence fell over the street.

‘Was that too much?’

However, since she was already unconscious, she wouldn’t have felt any pain. Isaac was sure that she could withstand even this. The knights’ silence was due to another reason.

“Wow! Wow! Reyna has fallen! Reyna Hilde has!”

“When was the last time this happened? Almost a year ago?”

“Damn, why did it have to be when I bet on her!”

Amid the cheers and cries of despair, Isaac blankly turned his head. It seemed that no one else was eager to jump in. But, who knew? It was hard to find a sane person in this area.

At that moment, Yulihida, who had been watching the fight, approached him. Remembering that she had been sizing him up, Isaac internally anticipated her reaction.

“Pathetic. But with a little tweaking, it might become useful.”

It was the harshest criticism Isaac had received since he had been named.

Yulihida walked nonchalantly and stood opposite Isaac. In her hand was a low-quality sword left behind by the bald man who had been knocked out.

“Let’s make a slight adjustment, Isaac.”

***

The crowd cheered for the unexpected new challenger.

This challenger was smaller and stockier than the knight Reyna who had just fallen, and she was not wearing proper armor. Moreover, she smelled as if she had been rolling in the sludge of a harbor.

But her stance with the sword was correct.

Isaac looked around and said.

“Here?”

“Why not?”

“What if I accidentally kill everyone here?”

His tone was mocking, but it was doubtful she understood.

“Of course, if I really used my full power, this world would be doomed.”

“The stakes are getting higher.”

“But now that I have an idea of your level, I think I can match it. Go ahead.”

Yulihida moved naturally without a signal.

The speed wasn’t too fast for Isaac to observe and respond. The swords clashed exactly where he had anticipated.

However, Isaac felt as if Yulihida had intentionally matched her movements to his sword.

It was as if she was saying, this is just the beginning.

And the real duel began.

Yulihida’s sword suddenly split into rapid attacks. Isaac recoiled in alarm, slashing at the incoming strikes. But it felt like not even four arms would be enough.

‘Advanced swordsmanship? No, this is…’

It was simply performing the stabbing motion quickly and repeatedly.

Yulihida’s scimitar, commonly used by sailors, was not ideal for such quick stabbing actions. It wasn’t her usual style of swordsmanship, nor was it her weapon of choice. She was just making do with what was available.

But her movements were so fast that they created afterimages.

Fast enough that Isaac could barely fend them off.

However, Yulihida showed no signs of rapid breathing or losing balance.

‘Could she speed up even more?’

Isaac felt a chill.

Matching one’s level exactly to the opponent’s is harder than overpowering them.

Yulihida was clearly looking down on him. The level of skill was incomparable even to that of Bashul.

“Are you only going to defend, Isaac?”

Thunk. Isaac swung his sword, ready to sustain minor injuries.

Isaac’s Swordsmanship: Hand of the Drowned.

This was a move he had devised while creating new advanced sword techniques, inspired by the way the Drowned King used to whirl and pull with his tentacles. It was intended for scenarios where he needed to capture fleeing enemies or close gaps, but it was also effective against these fast, shallow stabs.

A strange sound, like tearing the air, filled the area.

It was a noise that had never occurred during practice sessions before. Yulihida’s sword trajectory warped following Isaac’s sword.

Yet, Yulihida’s expression remained unchanged.

She casually swung her sword horizontally. An incredible force shattered the Hand of the Drowned and broke free. Isaac felt absurdly frustrated as his advanced sword technique was easily broken.

“Why are you even doing this crap?”

Isaac was at a loss for words. It was a technique he had tried to improve after being criticized for ‘overwhelming murderous intent’ during a spar with Bashul.

“Trying to suppress your killing intent? And you think you can solve that with advanced sword techniques? A pathetic attempt.”

But Yulihida easily deciphered Isaac’s intentions and thoughts with just a few swings of her sword.

She scoffed and continued.

“Being too talented is also a curse. If you were a bit less gifted, you might have found the right path even if it was a roundabout one, but since you’re smart, you resort to tricks.”

Calling advanced sword techniques mere tricks?

Isaac felt anger rising, but he was also intrigued to see Yulihida’s true skills.

“Instead of trying to eliminate your weaknesses, you should focus on improving what you’re good at.”

Crack, crack. The sound of metal breaking echoed each time Yulihida’s sword clashed with Isaac’s. Isaac’s sword was the sacred Luadin Key, while Yulihida’s was a rusty scimitar. The fact that it had lasted this long showed her exceptional skill in wielding it, but it was her sword that was chipping and bending.

“If the problem is that your killing intent makes your moves too obvious, then you should overwhelm your opponent with enough killing intent to cover the whole world.”

Isaac gritted his teeth.

Alright, then take this.

Isaac gritted his teeth and used Isaac’s Swordsmanship: Eight Branches against Yulihida. He didn’t consider whether she could block it or not. To defeat this overpowering being, he thought he had to give his all.

It was as if there was no next if this strike failed, just like the Aldeon knight had swung his sword.

Isaac’s sword involuntarily began to seep with sword energy.

The paths carved fiercely into the plaza’s stone ground flew towards the defenseless Yulihida.

Suddenly, Isaac saw a strange illusion.

His swinging sword’s trajectory took the form of purple tentacles flying towards the opponent.

At that moment, Isaac had become the embodiment of the Nameless Chaos.

Tentacles that devour everything and destroy all were unleashed.