Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 266:

The attack of the Codex of Light was closer to s*****e than anything else. And knowing what happened to those who knew that name wasn’t particularly beneficial.

“Pardon me, Archangel.”

Isaac spoke carefully, hoping not to sound contentious.

“All those who knew that name are dead. Even if we search the entire Empire, it’s doubtful we’d find anyone, and even if we did, would it be wise to inform the Olkan Code of that name?”

[Don’t speak foolishness, Holy Grail Knight.]

The Archangel scoffed as she spoke.

[The Lighthouse keeper wouldn’t have recklessly erased such valuable knowledge. Would you, of all people, simply erase a name capable of killing someone just by knowing it, and forget its existence?]

‘Why is she treating someone’s name as a murder weapon? Ridiculous.’

Isaac grumbled inwardly, though he had to admit that even he would have used it that way a few times.

[And concerning the handling of knowledge, that’s not for you to know. Olkan has said that no information or knowledge should be imprisoned by anyone, even if it’s knowledge that could summon a deadly future.]

Isaac found it hard to respect this aggressive copyright pirate who didn’t understand what copyright was. However, that same pirate might soon march upon them with an army of ten million.

No matter how hard Isaac rolled and struggled, he couldn’t kill ten million.

Unless he was buried under their corpses.

‘And in this situation, it doesn’t seem like the Empire or the Church will help either.’

Isaac’s mind went cold.

Fine. If they wouldn’t help, he would just have to find a way to survive on his own.

Isaac had no particular patriotism or faith. He was prepared to sell out both his country and his gods if it meant protecting his people.

“Very well.”

Isaac said, looking the Archangel straight in the eyes.

“I will personally go to Lichtheim and retrieve the name of the Nameless Chaos. Please delay the Great Raid until then.”

The Archangel looked down at Isaac, seemingly trying to gauge his intentions.

Eventually, she realized that Isaac was sincere and leaned closer.

[You know what you’re saying, right?]

He knew. He might turn the Codex of Light into an enemy.

But considering that he was the only one standing against the Olkan Code now, the Codex of Light wasn’t even his ally in the first place.

Even if they were helping him, he’d be crushed by the orcs before they arrived.

Even if he failed, Isaac would have done his part by buying time against the ten million troops.

“I’ll see you as soon as possible.”

[Fine. But I’ll take Seor as collateral.]

It was expected from the start.

The Olkan Code also likely needed time to recover from this pyrrhic victory. Their army was utterly defeated, and they had only managed to occupy the city through a tenuous negotiation initiated by the angel, which would inevitably break their morale.

Thus, an alliance was formed between the Holy Grail Knight and the Archangel.

***

‘Damn Emperor, not sending even a single soldier? He acted like he treasured me so much?’

Isaac grumbled inwardly as he returned to Seor.

He had no expectations from the Pope, but he had honestly expected something from the Emperor. Every relationship needed to be give-and-take.

If the Emperor had shown his sincerity by sending the Imperial Army to stop the Olkan Code, Isaac would have done his part to preserve the Empire, even if it meant committing insane acts. After all, if the Emperor helped protect his estate, it was only right for Isaac to help protect the Empire.

But no one came.

Only a handful of soldiers Isaac had gathered through personal connections.

When Isaac, boiling with anger, returned to Seor, he was met with some startling news.

“The Church commanded the continuation of the Dawn Army, and the Imperial Army has set out to defend the holy city of Lichtheim?”

“Yes. A messenger from Duke Lyon brought a letter.”

The messenger carrying Church Lyon’s letter glared at Gebel with some dissatisfaction before handing Isaac the already opened letter.

He seemed keen to emphasize that Gebel had read the letter before Isaac. However, Isaac had already delegated full authority to Gebel to do whatever was necessary to defend Seor.

Isaac had no intention of getting angry at Gebel for reading the letter first.

On the contrary, he thought it would be advantageous to quickly discuss its contents thanks to Gebel’s earlier reading.

Isaac sighed deeply, thanked the messenger who had traveled a long distance, and sent him back with appropriate compensation. Then, he surveyed the square filled with corpses, blood, and charred remains. It was impossible to know how many years it would take for Seor to recover its former appearance.

The Olkan Code had spilled much blood, but the Empire had lost the great city of Seor. It was impossible to gauge how many would starve and lose their livelihoods due to this. Without Isaac, the damage would have been exponentially worse, but in the end, it was a victory filled only with wounds for both sides.

And now they were setting out to defend the holy city?

Isaac pondered the contents of Duke Lyon’s letter.

‘Thank you for your prompt report. We are closely monitoring the movements of the Olkan Code. We planned to send reinforcements as soon as possible, but the Pope issued a command for the continuation of the Dawn Army, forcing us to revise our strategy. His Majesty the Emperor perceives the Olkan Code’s invasion as severe and has moved to defend the holy city. Once we’re confident that the Empire’s rear is secure, we will send reinforcements immediately.’

“What do you think?”

“Although it’s a letter from Duke Lyon, we should see it as representing the Emperor’s will. The Emperor is no fool. He’s a wise man. He would have immediately recognized the Olkan Code’s invasion as the Great Raid. With the nation stirred by the Dawn Army, other countries would also seize the opportunity.”

“That’s right. But sending the Imperial Army to protect Lichtheim at this point is… uncharacteristic of the Emperor.”

They needed to read the subtext hidden between the lines.

The Emperor wasn’t one to show deference to the Order. Sending the Imperial Army to the rear to protect the Pope while the Empire was under attack?

It didn’t make sense.

“If the Emperor is wise, he would have considered dispatching the Imperial Army to Seor. However, it seems there was a disagreement with the Church.”

Isaac imagined what kind of conversation might have transpired.

‘The Church: So what if the Olkan Code attacks? Once we occupy the Holy Land, the Millennium Kingdom will arrive! When the Millennium Kingdom comes, it won’t matter how much the worldly Empire gets pillaged because eternal rewards and the gates of heaven will open. At that time, we’ll throw those barbarians into the fire and judge them!’

‘The Emperor: What the hell is this Millennium Kingdom, you damned fanatics! If the Empire falls, then our supply lines and resources will be cut off. Do you really think you can occupy the Holy Land? Do you think the morale of the soldiers will hold? If the Empire is left defenseless, Ulsten and Lichtheim will both be overrun!’

No matter how much the Emperor argued, the Church likely threw a tantrum, mumbling about the Dawn Army and the Holy Land.

It wasn’t that Isaac harbored any resentment against the Codex of Light that led him to interpret it this way. It was genuinely how the Order was behaving.

However, from a gamer’s perspective, he could understand the Church’s stance.

‘…If I were the Pope, I might be playing like the Church is now.’

After all, the victory conditions were to occupy the Holy Land and proclaim the advent of the Millennium Kingdom. Whether the Empire crumbled or not was of no concern to Isaac. The faith that met the victory conditions monopolized everything anyway.

From that point of view, the Emperor, who clung to worldly matters, might indeed appear pathetic.

But both the Emperor, Isaac, and even the Pope were all people who lived with their feet planted on the ground. They were not beings who could act like gamers, looking down from the heavens.

If there were beings capable of doing that…

Isaac let out a long sigh as he looked up at the sky.

‘The angels must have instructed them to ignore the Olkan Code.’

“The Emperor must be furious with the Church’s directive. The Church, taking away troops and resources without even defending his Empire, wouldn’t sit well with him,” said Gebel.

Isaac agreed with him.

Nevertheless, the Emperor decided to ‘defend the holy city against external invasions’ in line with the Order’s decision. Isaac thought about what was happening in Lichtheim.

The upcoming cardinal election.

There was likely an election underway in the holy city to fill the vacancy of Camille, whom Isaac had killed.

***

Isaac and Gebel moved to a more secluded part of the city wall. Since most of Seor’s walls were reduced to rubble, it felt more like walking on a hill than a wall. Still, they weren’t worried about eavesdroppers.

After confirming no one else was around, Isaac spoke.

“It’s not defense, is it?”

“No, it’s an attack.”

With bishops from all over gathered for the cardinal election, the Emperor had dispatched the Imperial Army to Lichtheim under the pretense of protecting this ‘important event’ from the threat of the Olkan Code’s Great Raid.

In other words, it was a show of force from the Emperor to elect the ‘right’ cardinal.

The term ‘protection’ was chosen for the letter in case it fell into the wrong hands.

The defense of the holy city was a kind of attempted religious coup d’état.

With the Empire teetering on the brink of destruction, the Emperor could not help but feel more tempted to make a ‘nationwide decision.’

“But the Pope is still the Pope. Considering his authority and divine retribution, no matter how loyal the Imperial Army is, it seems unlikely they would dare to draw swords against the Papacy.”

Loyalty and faith are separate things.

While they sometimes overlap, loyalty is the goal of life, whereas faith is the root, foundation, and philosophy of life. A person who has the courage to deny their foundation is extraordinary.

“Instead of attacking recklessly, they’ll opt for a show of force, hoping the priests will ‘replace’ the Pope.”

“But the Church isn’t incompetent. They won’t just take it lying down.”

Gebel spoke worriedly.

Like any organization, the Church had good and bad, competent and incompetent members. The Pope wasn’t chosen just because he was a nice guy. If he were to summon an angel to excommunicate the Emperor, people would immediately turn away from the Emperor.

Even the Emperor was wary of challenging him too carelessly.

The real question was, ‘Will the angels support the Pope?’

Isaac found it hard to be certain.

The Emperor was a saint.

He was proof of God’s miracle bestowed upon humanity.

In comparison, the Pope was merely an ordinary human being chosen by the murmurs of priests. While angels did not object to that representative, it would be different if a fair trial were requested.

‘If, for some reason, there’s a divide among the angels, or they’ve received some new agreement…’

If the Emperor’s sainthood was genuinely derived from God, then this action might be due to a divine revelation. In that case, summoning an angel would be the Pope digging his own grave. The very fact that the Emperor had come this far might indicate that he had been acknowledged by the angels.

‘In the end, is this something that must be resolved with earthly power alone?’

But that would mean a battle between the Knights of the Holy Grail and the Imperial Army.

With the Dawn Army at their doorstep and the Olkan Code attacking from the outside.

Unless one side backed down, they would all be headed toward ruin. If it went to the end…

The only rational actor in the situation would be the Emperor.

“I must go to Lichtheim.”

When Isaac declared this, Gebel looked shocked.

“To Lichtheim now? It could soon become a battlefield. And not just any battlefield. It might turn into a war zone filled with angels and miracles.”

“I had business in Lichtheim anyway. Mr. Gebel, please gather the people and soldiers of Seor with Commander Rottenhammer and return to the Issacrea estate. We’ve negotiated with the Olkan Code, so they won’t be attacking for a while.”

Isaac looked around Seor. The forces defending Seor had focused on driving away the orcs rather than killing them all. Their numbers and training levels were too high to push too hard without risking a counterattack.

If they regrouped and launched another organized attack, they would have no choice but to yield. There was also the promise he had made with the Archangel.

“I will try to persuade either the Emperor or the Pope to organize reinforcements. That’s why we bought time. For defense, Issacrea, with its rugged terrain, would be better than Seor.”

Meanwhile, Isaac had another thought.

‘If Lichtheim does turn into a battlefield… it might make sneaking into the Censorship Bureau much easier.’

_____________

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