Chapter 33

Chapter 33
## Chapter: 33

### Chapter Title: Twin Canyons (6)

—

Helia Munel held the distinction of being the most youthful Arch Paladin within the borders of the empire.

Throughout her career, she had successfully hunted twenty separate demons. Every single one was a creature of nightmare, possessing dark arts that required profound cleverness to overcome. With every monster she sent back to the abyss, she gained a painful bit of wisdom, steadily climbing the ranks of the holy knighthood.

Yet, no creature of darkness had ever provided a lesson quite as agonizing as the one she was currently receiving.

“GYaaaaAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Searing heat flowed down her brow. One eye felt mangled and out of place, while the other was flooded with a crimson veil, turning her world into a blur of red. The suffering was so intense it felt as though her soul was being forcibly detached from her body. When her shaking fingers reached up to touch her forehead, she felt a sickening, dry snap that sent a wave of nausea through her entire being.

“GyaAAAAHHH!! Hic, ugh, ugh, uuuugh…”

She was a high-ranking Arch Paladin who had pledged her existence to wielding the blade of the righteous, carrying the buckler of renown, donning the mail of the faithful, and wearing the crown of certainty. In this moment, however, she realized that a simple, sturdy iron cap would have served her far better than any abstract truth.

The heavy edge of the axe had sliced into her brow and splintered her cranium, yet Helia remained among the living. Her innate divine protection, her iron-hard physical conditioning, and a split-second attempt to move had combined to stop the steel just before it reached the center of her mind. It was a stroke of divine fortune.

Helia found herself unable to offer any prayers to Elga. This was a brand of torment she had never imagined. Her deep-seated faith and convictions were currently drowning under a sea of pure physical agony, leaving no room for anything else.

“Hnnn, hnnn, hnnnghhhh…”

Nevertheless, the spirit of an Arch Paladin endured. Even with her skull breached, her fingers remained locked around her sword’s grip. She was on the verge of death, but the monster was surely in the same state. She had run her blade through its midsection and incinerated its vitals—she was certain it was finished.

Now, if I can just find the strength for one final strike… Wait.

Her expectations were shattered instantly.

The injury should have been fatal. A massive, scorched cavity occupied the demon’s torso. Yet, it was knitting back together before her eyes. Muscle and sinew pulsed as they reformed, and the blackened, dead skin fell away to the dirt in charred flakes.

Helia’s jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. Kadim met her gaze with a cruel, mocking smile.

“What’s the matter? Were you waiting for me to wail like a dying animal?”

A massive fist slammed into Helia’s face.

Crack—thud!

Her already broken vision spiraled, and the horizon flipped upside down. A wave of dizziness and sickness took hold, her internal compass spinning out of control. Helia coughed out a mouthful of gore and shattered molars, struggling with all her might to simply sit upright.

“Ugh, you monster… you filthy demon…!!”

Her next movements weren’t driven by a holy quest to purge darkness. They were fueled by a raw, desperate need for revenge and a clouded mind. Her unsteady footing and clumsy swings stripped away her dignity; she no longer looked like a legendary knight, but a drowning woman grasping at air.

Her vitality drained away with every heartbeat. The unnatural strength born from years of training was vanishing. The crimson holy light that had pushed her body beyond human limits flickered like a dying candle. The emerald eyes that once held the fire of conviction grew dull and murky.

Against a warrior who had completely mended his wounds, she was helpless.

Thud—smack!

Kadim drove his boot into her chest plate, sending her sprawling. A final, precise punch to her face ended her resistance. He kicked her scarlet blade out of reach and looked down at the panting, broken Arch Paladin.

She had been powerful. There was no denying that. If he hadn’t gambled his own life by taking that hit to her stomach, he likely would have been the one dying in the dirt.

However…

“…Why are you so pathetic?”

Strength was a matter of perspective—it depended on who you were being compared to.

For someone carrying the title of Arch Paladin, she was shockingly weak.

The warriors of that rank he had known in the past were of a different breed. They were capable of turning a canyon into a sea of fire, reshaping the very mountains with a single swing, and treating an axe wound to the head as a minor annoyance. Kadim hadn’t expected the first real blow to her skull to be the end of the fight.

I assumed it would take at least ten more strikes to finally break her…

Her equipment was of the highest quality, but her actual combat ability was closer to a common “high paladin” of old. Perhaps she was merely an unproven officer? Even so, the decline over the last three centuries was staggering.

Kadim stared at the defeated woman, his voice laced with disappointment.

“Are you truly an Arch Paladin? Or are you just a sacrificial lamb meant to distract me from a real threat?”

“Hngh, keep your filth to yourself, demon! Do not dare to mock the voice of Elga! You only survived through the luck of a cockroach… You have no right to call yourself a lord of darkness!”

“…Lord of darkness? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t lie to me! I see through your mask! Ngh, you disgusting thing…”

“…”

Kadim narrowed his eyes. He realized her spirit was broken, but her mind seemed even worse. If she was this delusional and blinded by her own dogma, there was no point in a civilized conversation.

He didn’t bother raising his voice. Instead, he pressed his thumb into the open wound on her forehead.

“GYaaaaAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

“Stop the rambling. Give me answers.”

“GyaAAAAHHH!! GyaAAAAHHH!!”

“The Arch Paladins I fought in the past were nothing like you. You call me a monster, but those people were the true terrors of the battlefield. You aren’t worthy of standing in their shadow. Crying out like a child because of a single head wound—is this really the state of modern holy warriors?”

“Kyak, ugh, sob, hngh, ngh…”

“Tell me. Is there a genuine master out there controlling you? Or has your entire order simply rotted away? If you keep silent, I’ll open your head and look for the truth myself.”

Helia began to shake uncontrollably. The cold, emotionless void in his eyes terrified her more than the pain. Her spirit snapped, and she began to whisper as if in a trance.

“Ngh, please… the ‘Decagram’…”

“…?”

“An elite circle… the strongest ten among the Arch Paladins… You must have encountered one of them… If I had only overcome you, I would have earned my place among them…”

“…”

“Now that I am defeated, they will hunt you… The ten stars will find you… Their will is the will of Elga, their power is his physical form… When their light fills the sky, the shadows will vanish, and even the most ancient evil will be burned away like straw…”

Her explanation dissolved into a desperate prayer, a final attempt to salvage her pride. Kadim let out a dry, mirthless laugh. Finally, the pieces fit together.

So the real powerhouses are gathered in a separate, elite unit. That makes more sense—it would be strange if the Church had weakened while demons still roamed. This girl is just a trainee by comparison…

He looked at Helia again. The red light of her aura was now a mere spark. He recalled that the strength of that light often reflected the depth of one’s belief. As death approached, her faith was clearly wavering.

“J-Just end it, monster… I am not afraid… Elga has a throne waiting for me in the light…”

Is that so?

He was tempted to see if she was right, but there was one more thing he needed. Kadim grabbed her by the hair, forcing her head up.

“One final thing. Do you know the name Gordon? Not someone from today—he was a priest of Elga from the ancient records.”

“…Gordon? You ask of a Gordon?”

“Indeed, Gordon Elgarok. The clergyman who stood beside the hero three centuries ago to challenge the Great Demon King.”

“…I have never heard it. The name means nothing. Ngh, killing a Great Demon? If such a feat had occurred, every temple in the world would be a monument to his name…”

“…”

“H-Hah, and even if I did know him, why would I share the secrets of the clergy with a beast like you…?”

She was genuinely ignorant. Kadim clenched his jaw. He had suspected this, but it was frustrating to confirm that even a high-ranking knight was kept in the dark. Had the Church purposefully buried its own history?

There was nothing left to learn from her. He decided to ask one final question before finishing the job.

It was a question he had often asked the zealots during his first life. Under normal circumstances, they ignored it, but at the moment of death, it tended to strike a chord.

“Your own holy books say that the mind of God is a mystery that no mortal can truly grasp.”

“…Yes. How do you know our scripture…?”

“Then how can you be so certain of your place in heaven? Those books were written by men who could only guess at what God wants. What if Elga’s true desire is for your faith to be tested by fire, burning forever in the dark?”

Just as he expected, the words hit her like a physical blow, and her expression twisted in horror.

“Wh…?”

The last flicker of her red aura vanished instantly.

“W-Wait, stop! P-Please, let me think for just a second…”

“Time is up. I hope your interpretation of God was the right one, Arch Paladin.”

“N-No…!”

Squelch—crunch!

The axe fell with cold finality on her skull.

This time, the blade split her head entirely. The messy, bloody reality of her shattered fanaticism spilled out onto the ground. Her feverish body began to go cold, the internal fire that had sustained her finally going out. Her eyes, wide with a final terror, rolled away from each other.

The jade eyes of the Arch Paladin would never see her god.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A thick, dark mist hung over the area, and the earth was torn apart as if by a natural disaster.

The state of the canyon told the whole story: the intensity of the struggle, the terrifying power of the knight, and the impossible strength of the barbarian who had defeated her.

“By the stars, Remillion protect us…”

Enrico felt his world spinning.

Defeating a troll on one’s own was a feat for the bards. But a senior holy knight could wipe out a dozen trolls without breaking a sweat. The fact that Kadim had killed her meant his power was far beyond anything Enrico could comprehend.

Simultaneously, a sense of dread filled him.

An Arch Paladin crossing into their lands was a political nightmare. Her dying here, at the hands of an ally? When the news broke, the entire world—every kingdom from coast to coast—would be in an uproar. Enrico had no idea how he would explain this.

Kadim didn’t care about the official’s panic. He had projected strength during the interrogation, but the hole in his stomach was still screaming. His blood felt like it was boiling, and his head throbbed. As he sank to one knee, Duncan rushed toward him.

“M-Master, are you hurt?! The knight, how… U-Ugh! E-Eurgh… A h-holy knight…”

The soldiers following the commissioner were in a similar state of shock. They looked back and forth between the resting barbarian and the split remains of the woman, frozen in place. The canyon was filled with a heavy, stunned silence.

Duncan, finally finding his voice, saw that Kadim’s clothes were soaked in blood where the blade had passed through.

“M-Master… Are you alright? Did she get you that badly…?”

“I’ll live. The wound is closed—don’t make a scene.”

Kadim forced the pain into the back of his mind. Ignoring the terrified looks from the guards, he walked toward Enrico.

“The sun is going down. We need to reach Ecklo before nightfall, Commissioner.”

“N-No… That’s not the point… Good god, Remillion, how are we supposed to fix this…”

“…Who is this Remillion you keep shouting about?”

“You don’t know? Lord Remillion was the one who united the Eastern territories two and a half centuries ago… N-No! That doesn’t matter right now! What do we do? A s-senior knight has been killed on our watch…”

“If I hadn’t ended her, we’d all be corpses. Were you planning to just stand there and let her burn you to ash, Commissioner?”

The weight of his voice was undeniable. The official’s eyes darted around before he finally looked at the ground, his shoulders slumping.

“Forgive me—the shock was too much, and I haven’t thanked you. You’ve saved our lives once again. But…”

“…”

“…Sigh, you’re right. You’ve been fighting for your life—you must be drained. Let’s get back to Ecklo, find a bed, and we can discuss the consequences then.”

Kadim watched Enrico closely, looking for any sign of betrayal. He saw none. And even if the man tried something, Kadim knew he could handle it…

The commissioner gave the order to gather what was left of the paladin. Her heavy armor was too much to carry while still on her body. They stripped the plates off and packed them separately, preparing the horses for the journey.

However, there was one item that no one could even get near.

Fwoosh!

“Ahh!”

“Gah! My hands!”

It was the Arch Paladin’s holy sword, Gehenna’s Flame.

Much like legendary blades of light, these divine tools refused to be touched by anyone other than their master. A violent, searing heat pushed back any soldier who tried to pick it up. Even those wearing thick leather and metal gauntlets found the heat unbearable.

Kadim watched the sword with interest.

The power within that red blade was significant. Based on what he had seen, it was easily an epic-tier weapon. In the hands of one of those “Decagram” knights, it would be a nightmare. Leaving a weapon like that behind was a sin for any warrior.

The issue was the weapon’s hostility.

Even getting close to it felt like standing in a furnace. He might be able to hold it if he used the Hydra’s blood, but he couldn’t stay in that state forever—and his stock of the stuff was running low.

Kadim thought for a moment. How could he claim the prize? If he had a handle that resisted heat, or a way to trick the sword’s spirit…

A potential solution crossed his mind.

The lingering effects of the Hydra blood… is there enough left in my system?

If it failed, he would just be back where he started. He stepped toward the panicked soldiers.

“Get out of the way. I’ll take the sword.”