Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-166-2

He was curious how Isaac, a follower of the Codex of Light, could wield such a sword aura, but he dared not ask.

At that moment, Isaac muttered looking somewhere in the distance.

“Such impressive folks.”

“AAAAHHHHH!!”

Thud thud thud! The junior knight who had fled earlier had now returned on horseback, charging at Isaac. It must have been their mission to survive and report back, but it was their duty as followers of Elil that overwhelmed them.

“Stand down, Holy Grail knight…!”

Isaac neither wanted to confront the charging horse nor avoid it.

He simply blinked for a moment and then activated the Eyes of Chaos.

His eyes started to swirl with a faint violet hue, quickly capturing the knight’s vision, thoughts, and instincts. No strong suggestion was needed.

The skill with which he had quickly downed the senior knights and the rising sword aura.

The junior knight was already terrified, and the fear of the rider easily transmitted to the horse.

Heeheeheehee!

The horse bucked wildly, throwing the knight to the ground. With a loud crash, the knight moaned and couldn’t move.

Isaac kicked the fallen knight over with his foot and said,

“Seems like you all prefer talking while lying down? Let’s have a chat then.”

***

“…We are the Elion Knights, loyal to General Lianne Georg.”

If there are Aldeon Knights in the capital Aldeon, then there are Elion Knights in the Holy Land Elion.

Despite sounding mundane, the Aldeon Knights are known as the White Lion Knights, and the Elion Knights are known as the Black Hawk Knights.

However, they are commonly referred to by their regional names simply for ease of remembrance.

“Yeah. What’s your name?”

Isaac asked the knight who had first charged but was knocked down by a groin kick. He was the highest-ranking and relatively in better condition than the others. The knight hesitated for a moment before responding reluctantly,

“Hurk. Hurk Felt.”

“My dear friend Hurk. What message did you come here to deliver to King Edelred?”

“Not to King Edelred… We came to observe you. Holy Grail Knight, Isaac Issacrea.”

Hurk surprisingly gave a straightforward answer.

“Me? I’m just a foreigner. Why would the Georg family have any reason to antagonize me?”

While Isaac had indeed planned to suppress the Georg family to assist Edelred, he argued otherwise for now. Of course, having the ritual of division threatened the Georg family’s position since no mere guardian of the Holy Land could refuse Edelred’s offer to return the relic.

However, Hurk revealed an unexpected piece of information.

“You must be here to deliver a message from Emperor Waltzemer. To start raising the Dawn Army and request troops and supplies. But in the land of Elil, there are neither hands to spare nor swords to hand over, nor hearts to support. Holy Grail Knight.”

“Dawn Army?”

Isaac’s reasons for coming all the way to the Elil Kingdom were indeed as Hurk mentioned.

Borrowing the formidable military strength of Elil.

Considering the average level of knights Isaac encountered in Elil, they far exceeded those from the Gerthonia Empire.

It would be desirable for any emperor, given that the entire nation was obsessed with warfare.

“We have decided not to sacrifice ourselves for a meaningless foreign war. Although we despise the Aldeon scum as well, intervening in affairs across the sea is also out of the question.”

Ptui. Hurk spat on the ground as he spoke.

Isaac felt perplexed by his reaction.

‘This could be problematic.’

His worry was that there was no unified force within the Elil Kingdom. Even if they cooperated with Edelred, without a solid backing, it would be difficult to receive proper military support. That was why he had intended to conquer Georg, but he hadn’t expected them to think like this.

‘…The Elil knights are refusing to fight?’

More than anything, this was shocking news to Isaac.

Elil knights did not shy away from combat. They had not been involved in the Dawn Army because the Codex of Light sect had provoked their pride, and they had been too busy fighting among themselves as the civil war intensified.

But if the cause and conditions were justified, he believed they would willingly sacrifice themselves in this holy war.

That was typical of Elil and its followers, especially the conservative guardians of the Holy Land of Elion.

‘There’s something off here.’

Isaac considered this reaction to be not normal.

“Alright, I understand. So you intended to kill and bury me quietly, making it seem as if I was never here?”

“…….”

Hurk did not respond. His silence was admission enough that killing Isaac had been one of their options.

Isaac expanded his thoughts.

Reyna Hilde had misinformed him about his arrival date, and Edelred had not even received a report.

Initially, he thought it was just poor administration, but knowing that the Georg faction thought this way made him reconsider.

‘Not just Georg, but many knights in Elil might think this way.’

Isaac thought even broader.

‘Perhaps someone in Elil, or an angel of Elil, doesn’t want to meddle in the affairs of the Gerthonia Empire?’

Focusing his thoughts, Isaac deemed it premature to conclude right now. He looked over the sitting Elion knights and gestured to the youngest who had fallen from the horse.

“You, the youngest, go home.”

“What? Wh, why…?”

“The rest are hostages. You go and tell Georg my message.”

He looked anxiously at the other senior knights. Including Hurk, the knights had solemn expressions, but they knew that Isaac was showing mercy. At least one must return to relay what had happened here and the circumstances.

“…What message are you speaking of?”

Isaac quietly organized his thoughts before speaking.

“It’s time for Elil to break its silence.”