Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-204

The moment the smoke engulfed the Sword of May, her flames turned black. Though she didn’t fully understand the nature of the smoke, she knew it was rapidly weakening her fire.

The flames emanating from her body were her connection to the Codex of Light and the source of her power in Elil’s Urbansus.

“I knew those Codex of Light bastards would stir up this chaos eventually! Did you think I’d just sit around waiting?”

Isaac might have recognized the smoke as ‘carbon dioxide gas.’ However, even he wouldn’t know how to counter it effectively.

The Sword of May struggled to maintain her weakening flames and concentrated her power on a single strike.

Calurien sensed the danger and moved swiftly.

Bang. In the next moment, Calurien realized that the Sword of May was no longer in front of him, and that his right side had been completely blown off.

The Sword of May glared at him from 500 meters away. Meeting her gaze, Calurien chuckled.

“I didn’t know that bulky body of yours could move so quickly. I thought you just toddled along at human walking speed.”

[And I didn’t know that decrepit, wretched body of yours could move so quickly. Don’t you ever exercise? Sweating a bit, are we?]

At the Sword of May’s words, Calurien laughed and waved his staff. Then, more Calurien clones appeared around him. One of the clones cast a spell, instantly healing Calurien’s injuries.

The Sword of May also rekindled her fading flames. However, her fire didn’t blaze as intensely as before. In Elil’s Urbansus, it was difficult to regenerate her flames.

Her gaze naturally turned toward the ground.

The true secret weapon she had prepared was still not ready.

‘I hope you’re quick about it, Holy Grail Knight…’

***

Unfortunately, Isaac wasn’t in a good situation either.

“Kill the intruders who dare to invade Elil’s sanctum!”

Elil’s knights, soaked in blood and madness, charged en masse. They were a formidable force, controlled by a single powerful leader.

As they unleashed their advanced swordsmanship and charged, their momentum became a massive force sweeping across the battlefield.

Rumble, rumble! To break their momentum, Isaac quickly attacked their weak points. The knights’ surge threatened to overwhelm him, inflicting numerous wounds on his body, but Isaac found openings amid the chaos.

No matter how strong a chain is, breaking its weak link will cause it to fall apart.

Isaac used his swordsmanship to shatter the knights’ formation, disrupting their fierce momentum. However, breaking the flow didn’t mean all the knights were dead.

‘Edelred needs to step in.’

A king wielding Kaldbruch was a strategic weapon of immense power.

However, Edelred was facing his worst enemy.

“You beardless whelp!”

The late King Alfred, who had died of high blood pressure, charged with a thunderous laugh, wielding a massive two-handed sword. Despite the apparent wildness of his strikes, each blow contained the essence of Aldeon swordsmanship, forcing Edelred, even with Kaldbruch, to sink his feet into the ground to withstand the force.

But it wasn’t Alfred’s strength or skill that was hampering Edelred, it was his own fear.

‘Shall I shoot?’

Isaac considered rushing to help but paused to hear Hesabel’s intent. Hesabel had disappeared somewhere the moment the battle began. She hadn’t fled but had hidden in the most advantageous spot on the battlefield.

Isaac bit his lip and sent his will to her.

‘No, this is something Edelred needs to overcome on his own.’

Facing and overcoming his trauma, fear, and guilt was a rare opportunity. Isaac didn’t want to deny Edelred the chance to grow.

‘If he surpasses this barrier… Edelred might glimpse the realm of the Swordmaster.’

***

No one can predict who might become a Swordmaster; it’s a rare and unpredictable talent.

It was said that only followers of Elil could awaken the power of swordsmanship, but Isaac, who was not a follower of Elil, had also awakened it.

While the talent was believed to show prominently at a young age, Villon demonstrated his awakening after becoming undead. This suggested that perhaps the power of swordsmanship was not a miracle exclusive to followers of Elil.

‘Or maybe people have misunderstood the very nature of swordsmanship and sword aura all along.’

Because only followers of Elil had become Swordmasters, the power of swordsmanship had been regarded as a miracle of Elil.

But how could Isaac, who wasn’t a follower of Elil, use swordsmanship?

Perhaps there were unknown conditions for awakening the power of swordsmanship, and it wasn’t that only followers of Elil could awaken it, but rather that other faiths might have prevented their followers from awakening it.

While becoming a Swordmaster was not something that could be achieved through effort alone, Isaac knew that Edelred had the potential to become one.

‘What Edelred needs is experience and to overcome his fear of his father.’

If Edelred could win this battle, he might achieve significant growth. Whether that would lead to becoming a Swordmaster in the short term was uncertain, but it would certainly help him overcome the current challenge.

Thud, thud, thud!

Another group joined the fray.

Giant golems, magical constructs created by Calurien, approached.

Isaac dashed forward to prevent them from interfering with the struggling Edelred. As he moved swiftly, the golems struck the ground, creating craters and splashing mud like waterfalls.

Isaac employed his “Eight Paths” swordsmanship on the nearest small golem. The Luadin Key, surrounded by sword aura, sliced through the stone as if it were tofu, reducing the golem to dozens of pieces in an instant.

‘This is… tricky.’

However, Isaac’s expression was not bright.

The golem crumbled quickly, but the broken stones floated back up, reforming into their original shape.

Instead of a solid rock golem, it had become a golem composed of gravel. Being an inanimate object driven by magic, a golem could only be destroyed by breaking the magical catalyst inside it.

Due to the complex crafting required, lower-level golems typically had larger catalysts, but these golems were the work of Calurien, a dragon and angel, and the progenitor of wizards.

Despite cutting it into small pieces, there was no sign of the catalyst.

‘Using the tentacles wouldn’t help either. Tentacles can devour almost anything, but not stone.’

Moreover, these golems weren’t just made of stone. Whether it was Calurien’s preference or not, some were composed of steel, titanium, and even lava.

Despite his bitter smile, Isaac began to channel the “Color from Beyond.”

The situation was difficult.

If the Sword of May couldn’t defeat Calurien, Isaac would have to fight an angel after dealing with all these golems.

This might be the worst situation since Isaac had appeared in this world.

‘Which means, today I will surpass my limits once again.’

Isaac leapt onto the gravel golem, raising the Luadin Key and releasing a powerful burst of sword aura.

Crackle! The blazing flames roared and exploded like a lightning bolt.

The sword aura shattered the gravel golem into pieces again, but this time, it bound the debris, preventing it from reforming, and pulverized it once more.

This all happened in less than a second.

Amid the shattered fragments, a teal-colored stone that didn’t fit in disintegrated. The golem did not rise again.

It wasn’t a strategic action but a brute force method of smashing with raw power. Given the number of golems, it wasn’t a tactic that could be repeated often. However, it had an effect; even the knights of Elil, who had been surrounding Isaac, hesitated.

The heavenly knights, who would resurrect even if killed, did not halt out of fear of death.

On the contrary, they felt a strange reverence towards Isaac.

Isaac stood firm, facing countless enemies and overwhelming beings without retreating. It didn’t matter that he was a heretic or that he had invaded Elil’s sanctum.

To the knights, he appeared as an ideal figure, reminiscent of the highest aspirations of Elil’s faith.

Isaac met Edelred’s eyes from a distance. He gave a sly smile to the knights and Edelred before charging at another golem.

From the knights’ reaction, Isaac saw a glimmer of hope.

The success or failure of this battle depended on Edelred.

***

“You’re weak, even with Kaldbruch in your hand!”

Boom. Edelred’s father, the tyrant Alfred, laughed maniacally as he launched attack after attack. Despite his massive size, his strength and speed were befitting a Swordmaster.

“Guh…!”

Edelred tried to counter Alfred’s strikes with Kaldbruch, but Alfred never engaged in a simple test of strength.

Alfred had quickly assessed that Edelred’s skill level was far beneath his own.

Even though Edelred borrowed angelic power through Kaldbruch, it wasn’t truly his own. Compared to Alfred, he lagged in skill, speed, and experience. It was clear from the way Alfred’s sword clashed with Kaldbruch without breaking that it wasn’t an ordinary sword.

“This one’s mine! Don’t interfere!”

Alfred even excluded other knights, insisting on fighting Edelred alone.

Edelred found this strange.

‘Doesn’t he recognize me as his son?’

Alfred had only died a few years ago. He should recognize Edelred. Yet Alfred didn’t hurl the usual degrading and demeaning remarks at him. Though he mocked Edelred’s skill, it was as if he were taunting a knight encountered on the battlefield.

Edelred had no intention of appealing to fatherly affection. But standing before his father’s sword as just another knight made his blood run cold.

‘Father…’

“How dare you daydream in front of me!”

Thud. Alfred kicked Edelred’s stomach, trying to topple him. If Edelred had fallen, Alfred would have immediately driven his sword into his neck, but Edelred barely managed to brace himself with Kaldbruch, staying upright. His breathing grew heavy. Fear crawled up his spine. Memories of being beaten by his father at night resurfaced.

Alfred’s thunderous laughter and sword swings felt more like lashes. The thunder was his scornful words and mocking laughter, the pouring rain like the whispers of his courtiers under his tyrannical rule.

Edelred felt himself regressing, becoming younger, weaker, more miserable. Despite the angelic power in his hands, it felt as insignificant as dust.

A cruel smile spread across Alfred’s face.

“Give me Kaldbruch! It belongs to me!”

Boom! Suddenly, a tremendous noise erupted from one side of the battlefield. Isaac had smashed a giant golem with a single strike. The thunderous noise drew the attention of the knights.

Isaac stood atop the rubble, not basking in his victory but scanning for his next opponent.

A veritable war god.

A sight worthy of the tyrant Elil’s incarnation.

Despite the distance, Isaac’s eyes met Edelred’s. Edelred flinched, feeling a surge of shame. Compared to Isaac, he felt small and insignificant. Yet, a part of him hoped Isaac would come to his rescue.

But Isaac merely gave a small smile and ran towards another foe.

As if saying that Edelred could handle this on his own.

That implicit, unwavering belief sent a sudden shiver down Edelred’s spine.

“How long do you plan to daydream?”

Alfred swung his massive sword at Edelred again.

The pinnacle of Aldeon swordsmanship. An advanced sword technique that could shatter a fortress gate in one blow, carried by sword aura. Edelred felt as if a battering ram were descending on his head.

Thud. Edelred effortlessly parried Alfred’s sword.

At the same time, he pushed Alfred back. Alfred, who had no intention of engaging in a test of strength, quickly retreated, sensing something different about Edelred’s demeanor.

Indeed, Edelred was undergoing a transformation.

–TL Notes–