Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 29:

As the spear turned to dust and disappeared, Gebel staggered, barely managing to stay on his feet.

To any observer, it was clear Heinkel had suffered more damage. However, while Heinkel calmly watched Gebel, the latter looked as if he might collapse at any moment.

Red mist began to rise from Heinkel’s wounds, quickly starting to knit his flesh back together.

“Hiding inside your subordinate and then launching a counterattack… Impressive reaction, Paladin. If you had been fully armored and able to perform miracles, you would have been a difficult opponent.”

Heinkel hadn’t made an open appearance. Instead, he had hidden inside the skin of his subordinate and attacked when close enough. His ability to change form at will, a trait of his vampiric nature, made this possible.

Gebel didn’t respond. Isaac remembered that Gebel had never used a miracle before. He knew Gebel had renounced his Paladin title, but it hadn’t occurred to him that the scripture of light had withdrawn its miracles from Gebel.

Heinkel’s gaze briefly rested on Isaac. His look was more curious than wary.

Instead, his wary gaze turned to Isolde.

“Summon the Abyssal Beast, Inquisitor. Otherwise, you’ll die right now.”

“And our master tamed the light from beyond the rift and showed it to us!”

At the moment Isolde’s prayer, almost like a shout, erupted, the night vanished from the valley. The Abyssal Beast revealed itself again from the ashes. Heinkel Gullmar also began to melt away like an apparition, his face full of scorn.

No matter how mighty, a vampire couldn’t withstand this brilliance.

“This will delay your deaths a bit…”

Soon, Heinkel’s presence vanished completely.

Under the bright light, Isaac quickly checked Gebel’s condition.

The wound wasn’t serious. However, Wallachia hunters, like Gebel, consider it dishonorable to cause excessive bleeding in their ‘prey’, hence they avoid inflicting deep wounds.

Gebel, though with minor external injuries, seemed to have suffered severe internal damage.

“Mr. Isaac!”

Isolde approached. The Abyssal Beast she summoned was the size of a small moth, seemingly called to last a bit longer.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think he would hide inside his subordinate and emerge by shattering the body. I thought with Mr. Gebel and you, we could hold on…”

Isaac, seeing Isolde’s expression, realized Heinkel’s intentions.

Gebel was no longer in a state to fight. Even if the Inquisitor summoned the Abyssal Beast, it would only temporarily drive away Heinkel. If Isolde couldn’t maintain it and had to send it back, Heinkel would attack again.

And this time, he would kill everyone.

“We have no choice.”

But there was one thing Heinkel hadn’t counted on.

“I’ll stay behind as a decoy. Please, take Gebel and escape from the valley.”

Isolde was shocked by Isaac’s suggestion.

“Mr. Isaac!”

“I’m not planning to sacrifice myself.”

On the contrary, it was a plan for everyone to survive.

Isaac felt a strong rage and… hunger towards Heinkel.

“I might not know about the Inquisitor, but I must ensure Mr. Gebel’s safety. Follow my instructions. Both of you, leave together.”

***

Red mist seeped through the crevices of the valley, soon taking the form of Duke Heinkel Gullmar.

The wound from the Judgment sword was still bubbling, not fully healed yet. Areas directly touched by divine power were harder to heal.

Heinkel turned his head. The glow of the Abyssal Beast didn’t reach this hidden darkness of the valley, where red eyes gleamed.

Heinkel spoke to those eyes in the darkness.

“The preparations are complete. As soon as the Abyssal Beast disappears, kill them all.”

“Yes, Duke.”

12 hunters emerged from the darkness, all Wallachia hunters.

As Heinkel gave the signal, the hunters vanished back into the shadows. There was no need for specific instructions; such ambushes were as routine to them as meals.

Heinkel also thought this mission was essentially finished. However, an uncomfortable feeling lingered, something he couldn’t shake off. Heinkel reflected on what he might have missed.

‘Gebel, was it? He was the most skilled, but now wounded, he can no longer fight. The Inquisitor without the Abyssal Beast seemed unable to take on multiple hunters. So…’

Heinkel recalled the handsome, knightly trainee.

He hadn’t seen him clearly in the light, but his face, encountered in the darkness, was more vivid. Definitely a memorable face, and his swordsmanship was above average.

But that was it.

Heinkel was confident

he could defeat him in less than 10 seconds.

After all, fair fights were perverse to Wallachia hunters; they wouldn’t hesitate to use any means necessary.

Even without Heinkel, if the hunters engaged in a battle, the trainee wouldn’t stand a chance.

‘What am I missing?’

A primal instinct.

An innate sense that something was wrong was sending him a strong warning.

The Red Chalice Club, which valued bodily pleasure and senses, also highly regarded instincts.

Heinkel didn’t dismiss this unease as unnecessary. It could be a bloody warning from the Red Chalice.

“Lieutenant.”

Two lieutenants still stood by Heinkel’s side.

“There’s a trainee named Isaac. Don’t engage him carelessly, cut off his limbs if necessary, but try to capture him alive.”

Heinkel paused briefly before continuing.

“He’s prettier than a girl, so he should be easy to spot. Perhaps offering him in exchange for the others’ escape might work. Go and convey my orders.”

***

The Wallachia hunters had no trouble tracking Isaac and his group in the darkness. The Abyssal Beast, like a lantern, marked their location.

Direct exposure to its radiance would surely blind them, so the hunters couldn’t observe Isaac’s group directly. But they meticulously tracked them within the range of the dimming light, ensuring no one escaped.

The hunt was nearing its end.

The Abyssal Beast, forcibly held from disappearing, was gradually fading.

The hunters signaled each other with hand signals.

In the darkness, the hunters were like vague silhouettes, but they could see each other clearly as in broad daylight.

‘The Inquisitor must be exhausted by now, so full resistance will be difficult.’

‘Capture the trainee named Isaac alive if possible.’

With only one capable fighter, the hunt would be easier.

As the light began to fade, the Wallachia hunters loaded their crossbows.

Finally, the brilliance of the Abyssal Beast completely faded. The only sound in the dark valley was the quiet rustling of leaves in the wind.

The hunters simultaneously emerged into the valley.

The Wallachia hunters intended to turn everyone but Isaac into pincushions with their arrows, but they struggled to find their targets.

“What the…”

The only one standing in the darkness was Isaac.

Without explanation, Isaac drew his sword, watching the Wallachia hunters approaching him rapidly.

“Is this simplicity what makes you hunters?”

“We were tricked! He used the Abyssal Beast as bait!”

Without the Abyssal Beast, there was no way to confront the Wallachia hunters in the middle of the night. Naturally, they thought Isaac would move with the Beast, but he had used it as a distraction.

Meanwhile, Gebel and Isolde had escaped the valley using the teachings of the Moth.

Urgent glances passed between the hunters. In an instant, six split off to pursue Gebel and Isolde, while the other six advanced to capture Isaac.

“At least he’s surrendered himself for capture. How convenient.”

One of the hunters mockingly jeered, a break from their usual silence when hunting, but they were angry for being deceived.

They believed Isaac had stayed behind as bait and a hostage.

But Isaac tilted his head, sneering.

“Surrender?”

“If you resist, we’ll cut off your fingers one by…”

“Aaaaagh!”

Before the sentence finished, a scream erupted from the direction where six hunters had chased Gebel and Isolde.

Wallachia hunters consider screaming disgraceful. They were flustered yet glared at Isaac, saying:

“The knight seems to be alive, but soon…”

The screams didn’t stop with one; multiple followed in succession.

The Wallachia hunters gritted their teeth, more ashamed by the fact that their comrades were screaming than being attacked.

Screaming, even if from a victim, was vulgar in the silent night. Only the quiet flow of blood and the swallowing of throats were the permitted etiquette.

Isaac, standing askew, asked.

“Don’t need to see the situation to guess, right?”

Finally, two more hunters were sent to assess the situation, leaving four to subdue Isaac.

“We don’t know your tricks, but we…”

“That you don’t know my tricks is exactly why you’ll die here.”

Isaac’s interruptions agitated the hunter, who wore a fierce expression.

But Isaac continued leisurely.

“I’ve been watching you all the way, not straying anywhere, foolishly trailing along. You’ve been in my grasp all along.”

Nonsense.

The Wallachia hunter, scoffing, lunged at Isaac.

Like a pack of hyenas attacking prey, each hunter targeted different limbs. However, they saw Isaac’s arms move in completely unexpected directions.

Isaac’s arms twisted unimaginably, stretching incredibly long.

Before they realized what was happening, a tentacle pierced one hunter’s head. His body flailed like a broken doll.

Isaac lashed out with his tentacle like a whip. A hunter tried to block it with his sword, but the tentacle wrapped around him, its suckers filled with teeth tearing into his flesh.

“Aaaagh!”

The vulgar scream they detested so much burst out.

Isaac spun the hunter around like a top.

Blood splattered in all directions as flesh was torn, soaking the faces of the remaining Wallachia hunters.

Isaac, holding one hunter with his tentacle, swung him like a club at another. The hunter raised his arms in a futile attempt to block; when enough weight and speed combine, defense is meaningless.

Bang. The two hunters merged into one mass.

[‘Vampire’ devoured.]

[‘Dead God’s Intestines’ perk increases absorption efficiency.]

[‘Vampirism’ perk acquired.]

[‘Blurry Shadow (temporary)’ perk acquired.]

[Temporary perks remain as blessings until digested.]

Using his newly acquired ‘Vampirism’ perk, Isaac absorbed the fluids of the combined Wallachia hunters through his skin.

Their torsos deflated like punctured balloons.

“So this is what drinking blood feels like.”

Isaac murmured coolly in the darkness.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The lone remaining Wallachia hunter realized his mistake.

‘This is a trainee from the Codex of light ?!’

He didn’t know what Isaac was, but he was sure Isaac wasn’t from the Codex of Light.

Isaac was from a darker, more savage realm, a primordial, chaotic origin.

In the darkness, Isaac gazed with purple flickering eyes, stating:

“This is my sanctuary. You must pay the price for your trespass.”