Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-94

As if the one who had made a mess was now angry, Isaac displayed his tentacles right in front of him and yet was the one to get angry.

“But it’s definitely a miracle of another faith…”

However, the argument didn’t continue further.

What does it matter? After all, they were both marked for death.

Both Isaac and Al Duard thought so.

Isaac made the first move.

Springing from the ground, Isaac rapidly closed the distance to Al Duard. Naturally attempting to prepare for a miracle, Al Duard was instead taken aback.

“Charging at me without using a miracle?”

Although he was quite fast, to a point where he seemed capable of confronting a swordsman head-on, the distance was still too great for Al Duard, who aimed his skull at Isaac and recited a prayer.

He didn’t use the death curse. Intuitively, he knew not to waste such a power-intensive miracle on a madman who could dodge the death curse.

Instead, a chill rose from the ground, entwining around Isaac’s ankles.

It wasn’t ordinary cold. The chill used by the Immortal Order was a nefarious energy crawling up from the afterworld. Isaac, as if waiting for this moment, scraped the ground with the Luadin key. The heat from the key drove away the encroaching cold.

“Aren’t you going to use a miracle? But that Luadin key is quite troublesome.”

Even if Isaac continued not to use miracles, it wasn’t going to be a problem. Isaac’s skill didn’t look bad, but whether he was a Holy Grail Knight or whatever, someone who didn’t use miracles couldn’t match a priest. However, Al Duard didn’t forget the powerful miracle that had swept across the mountain slope and stayed alert.

Isaac charged forward towards Al Duard. Calmly, Al Duard turned his body into mist, ethereally moving back rapidly.

Isaac’s blade swiped through empty air. Earlier, Al Duard had avoided an unidentified attack through etherealization.

But Isaac continued his assault, using the Isaac Swordsmanship: Eight Paths.

Crack! Al Duard flinched at the sight of eight trajectories tearing through the ground, flying towards him.

“It’s not a miracle. But the momentum…?”

The ferocity and brutal aura felt in the swordsmanship were reminiscent of that previous miracle.

And the end of those trajectories accurately aimed for the point where Al Duard’s etherealization would end.

“You already know the timing of my etherealization? How presumptuous for such a young man!”

Al Duard hurriedly recited a prayer right before his etherealization ended. Another black pattern on his halo burned away, opening up another gap. The moment etherealization ended, the Luadin key accurately aimed for Al Duard’s skull and limbs.

However, something suddenly appeared between them, pushing Isaac away with great force.

Isaac’s eyebrows twitched.

“A Death Knight? No… a Dullahan.” (TL- Dullahan is a headless horseman from Irish folklore)

Similar to a Death Knight in its armor and great stature, wielding a sword but without a head. Instead, burning black smoke continuously billowed around the neck area. Unlike Death Knights, who could use miracles, this being possessed comparable strength and swordsmanship skills.

Summoning such a strong entity usually required a medium, ritual, and preparations. Until now, the bonfire had been used for the ritual, but Isaac’s sweeping attack caused Al Duard to lose all his preparations.

“Did you prepare prayers and offerings on that halo in advance?”

It was clearly a precious relic. It was tempting, but also a nuisance.

As a Liberation Bishop accustomed to operating deep within enemy lines alone, summoning and commanding other beings when necessary, Al Duard didn’t expect Isaac to prevent him from summoning anything so quickly.

But the one who lost composure was Al Duard.

“To think I’d have to use such a valuable card so soon…”

The Dullahan he had summoned was a warrior from the Elil Order, accidentally acquired while creating a liberated zone.

The Elil Order, devoted to a deity who became transcendent through force, consisted entirely of warriors without distinguishing between priests and paladins. Consequently, a renowned warrior within their ranks boasted incredible skills, and Al Duard had happened upon one such warrior, recently buried due to old age, and transformed him into a Dullahan.

Conversion was impossible, so he remained a Dullahan, but his skills were still exceptional. Al Duard had cherished him but had no choice but to bring him out to confront Isaac.

Al Duard touched the scorched marks on his skull.

“This isn’t the skill of a mere greenhorn.”

In the midst of confusion, the summoned Dullahan swung his sword, as massive as his body.

Isaac, seemingly unfazed by the sudden appearance of the Dullahan, immediately started to counter.

Clash, clash, clash! The sounds of their swords clashing were unbelievably harsh.

Al Duard’s face twisted as he watched the battle. The Dullahan’s skills were indeed enough to press Isaac, but the Luadin key still posed a problem.

Even as the Dullahan pressed on, his sword quickly became a wreck.

Yet, being a skilled undead, the Dullahan tried to overcome the disadvantage of his equipment by avoiding sword clashes and looking for openings. However, Isaac didn’t easily move according to his opponent’s intentions.

As soon as Isaac realized his opponent was avoiding a direct confrontation, he switched to an offensive, forcing a power struggle. Even Al Duard, who knew little about swordsmanship, could tell Isaac’s skill was above average.

Crack, clash!

At the moment the Dullahan’s sword broke, Isaac felt a chilling cold from hell. This wasn’t a metaphor; it was literally a cold summoned from hell by Al Duard. The surrounding meadows and woods that were once in spring became deadly cold and frosted over.

Caught in a curse that felt as if someone was clinging to him, pulling him down, Isaac found it difficult to move properly. Without the warmth of the Luadin key, enduring would have been even more challenging.

“Still not using miracles?”

Al Duard felt doubtful, watching Isaac refrain from using miracles to the end. Summoning hell’s cold was a high-level miracle, but a paladin or priest of the Codex of Light, wielding heat and light, could counter it. Yet, Isaac continued to endure with sheer tenacity.

Creaking, Isaac shattered the frost encasing his body and glared at Al Duard, who felt a chill upon meeting his gaze.

“It’s as if I’m fighting against a seasoned commander of the Holy Knights.”

Al Duard, feeling a sense of urgency, pressured the Dullahan to finish Isaac. However, even as the Dullahan drew his second weapon, a halberd, he didn’t attack Isaac.

“What’s going on?”

“Lich.”

Suddenly, Al Duard felt a strange will from the Dullahan.

“Do not interfere. I can handle this on my own.”

For the first time since becoming undead, Al Duard sensed the Dullahan’s self-awareness and will. The soul of the Elil warrior he had intended to awaken as a Death Knight was now inhabiting the Dullahan. With a strong sense of rivalry, the Dullahan raised his halberd against Isaac.

Isaac, responding in kind, struggled to lift the Luadin key.

Neither Isaac, ensnared by the cold, nor the Dullahan, in a body not at its prime, was at their full capability.

Regardless, the two clashed weapons once more.

***

The Dullahan couldn’t remember his name. He didn’t think it was important.

When Al Duard “drafted” him from his grave, he could have evaded it as a mighty warrior of Elil. However, the Dullahan accepted this drafting quietly.

Not out of fear of death, but because he had died of “old age.”

In the Elil Order, where honor, struggle, and courage are upheld, death from aging was both a measure of one’s strength and a mark of shame.

Had he become an angel, his skills would have been proven, but he wasn’t quite there. He disliked this ambiguous end, so he willingly allowed his body to be conscripted by the Immortal Order, even if it meant being dug up from his grave.

All for the sake of eternal combat.

Having lived cutting down plenty of the Immortal Order and the Red Chalice foes, he thought it wouldn’t be bad to show his prowess by cutting down the followers of the Codex of Light in death.

However, contrary to his expectations, his days were filled with cutting down merely swidden farmers and Barbarians. The Dullahan grew bored with this monotonous existence, slowly sinking into a puppet-like state under Al Duard’s control.

But today, the Dullahan felt as if his petrified heart was beating once again.

Bang, crack!

Their weapons clashed fiercely, sparks flying. But it was the Dullahan’s halberd that was being worn down. He felt regret; had his weapon been the one he wielded in life, or even something of a similar level, it would have been better.

Meanwhile, Isaac was intoxicated by a distant feeling.

For a while, he hadn’t had the opportunity to face a high-level swordsman.

His last encounter of note was just before leaving the monastery, witnessing the skill of the leader of the Rottenhammer. There had been Blood Knights, but that encounter ended too quickly with the Caller from the Abyss.

But the skill of the Dullahan before him, this headless knight, was quite impressive. His skills might not differ much from those of the Codex of Light paladins, but his movements were of a completely different form.

Intentionally focusing on blocking the opponent’s attacks, Isaac absorbed his swordsmanship like a dry sponge. It didn’t seem like typical Death Knight swordsmanship but rather resembled that of the Elil Order. Isaac wondered at this recognition.

‘How can I distinguish this? Is this also a memory from Kalsen Miller?’

Whatever the case, Isaac felt his own swordsmanship, which had been stagnant for some time, rapidly improving in real-time.

Between the initial surprise attack on Al Duard and now, amidst the fight with the Dullahan, only minutes had passed, yet Isaac was quickly learning from his opponent’s swordsmanship.

During this time, the color of the light emitted by the Luadin key Isaac wielded began to change subtly.

However, lost in the movements of his sword, Isaac didn’t immediately notice this change.

In an instant, Isaac realized his sword was slightly faster than the Dullahan’s.

Isaac recognized that he had somehow transcended a certain realm in swordsmanship.

“I think I understand a bit now.”

“Hm?”

As Isaac murmured, Al Duard tilted his head in confusion. For a moment, the Luadin key, which should have been burning with a crimson light, seemed to emit a different color.

‘No, could it be… That’s impossible. A paladin of the Codex of Light doing such a thing?’

Suddenly, Isaac’s sword coiled like a serpent, swiftly entwining the Dullahan’s halberd.

Crack.

Surprised yet intrigued by the unrealistic movement, the Dullahan attempted to shake off Isaac’s sword. But the moment Isaac’s sword bit into his wrist, preventing any escape, it seemed to devour everything in its path.

Biting through the wrist, breaking the arm, Isaac’s sword pierced the Dullahan’s chest in a swift motion.

Crack. Right at the core.

The hidden, cold heart within the armor was instantly engulfed in flames.

The headless Dullahan uttered no scream.

Isaac, still lost in that distant feeling, sliced horizontally. The Dullahan’s chest was split open as if it were mere paper, Isaac’s sword spinning through.

At that moment, Isaac’s swordsmanship clearly transcended physical limits.

His sword didn’t just cut but seemed to devour flesh and metal alike.

The Dullahan felt not as if he was being cut but swallowed.

“Remarkable skill.”

Facing his second death, the Dullahan sincerely admired it, marking a proper end to his unfulfilling life.

***

“How…?”

Al Duard couldn’t comprehend how the Dullahan had been defeated.

He thought the Dullahan was pushing Isaac until a moment ago, but after Isaac muttered something, the Dullahan was suddenly downed. It seemed like a miracle, but it didn’t look like any Codex of Light miracle.

For a moment, the color emitted by Isaac’s sword had changed.

‘Sword energy? Isn’t that an Elil miracle? Wasn’t he a paladin of the Codex of Light?’