Chapter 27
Chapter 27
### Episode 27
The dam of reason had broken.
As the Slayer of Evil spewed forth madness, hatred, and disgust, Aiden's face twisted into something monstrous.
Lark, standing beside him, froze stiff when he saw the look in his eyes.
Sain chanted an incantation. Ripples of magic surged outward, encircling the perimeter of the hall.
A dome-shaped barrier materialized in an instant, sealing the entire chamber.
Aiden looked down at the demon who had dared lay hands on him. The creature was bowing its head toward the mutant seated on the distant podium.
When Aiden removed his fur cloak, the surrounding crowd stirred. Several nearby people caught sight of his appearance—a paladin. Desperation flashed in their eyes—hope, expectation, disbelief.
The last emotion was one left behind by Tyrun.
Aiden seized the kneeling demon by the hair.
The moment it flinched and thrashed, he drove his foot into its abdomen with brutal force.
CRACK! The vampire's body shot straight up, crashing into the ceiling before exploding into gory debris that rained back down.
Silence shattered. As the crowd screamed, the vampires unleashed a collective howl.
The mutant called Brunyu also locked his crimson eyes onto Aiden.
Aiden drew Gargantua and slammed it into the ground.
The deafening impact seized everyone's attention.
Then, he unleashed his divine radiance. A luminous halo erupted from him, fanning out like wings of light that reached the ceiling.
"I AM A PALADIN!"
His roar instantly crushed the demons' shrieks, and the blazing divinity burned away the terror in the people's hearts.
Lark found himself utterly transfixed. The sheer presence that dominated the hall was standing right beside him—it was overwhelming.
All traces of his earlier disappointment in the paladin had vanished without a trace.
Deril shouted at the stunned militia members.
"How long are you going to stand there gawking?! Help us!"
Yuron and Deril began directing the frozen crowd toward the exits.
The militia finally snapped out of it and assisted in the evacuation.
Though the crowd surged toward the main doors, they didn't descend into a stampeding frenzy.
The divine energy had steadied their minds, and Deril and Yuron moved with flawless coordination.
From the podium, Brunyu let out a piercing shriek, his voice like nails scraping against metal.
Dozens of vampires lunged toward the main entrance.
Their blood-red eyes gleamed with madness. Like predators closing in on prey, they crouched low before pouncing.
Aiden found everything about them repulsive—their movements, their breath, their voices.
He yanked Gargantua from the ground.
"Filthy vermin!"
He spun the spear overhead, divine energy wreathing it like a shredding whirlwind.
The vampires within range were pulverized as if fed into a meat grinder.
Chunks of flesh flew, and black blood rained down like a storm.
The surviving creatures reached the doors but were blocked by a translucent barrier. They raged, slashing with fangs and claws, hammering against it—but escape was impossible.
Yuron and Deril, having completed their task, immediately re-entered the hall.
They engaged the remaining vampires in brutal combat.
"Handle the small fry!"
"Understood!"
"Got it!"
Aiden gripped his holy spear and took aim at the mutant.
Gargantua devoured his divine energy greedily. The longer the battle dragged on, the more the weapon's body burned with radiance.
A weapon of mass destruction—a sacred relic designed to annihilate entire battlefields with condensed holy power.
Normally, it was most effective against dense hordes of enemies. But inside an enclosed building, the story was different.
The holy spear left Aiden's hand.
A flash of light so intense it seared the eyes. The projectile tore through the air toward the mutant.
BOOOOOOM!
The walls crumbled, the podium collapsed, and the explosion bathed everything in blinding white.
Several vampires were obliterated instantly. Others, blinded, flailed in panic.
A thick cloud of dust swallowed the mutant's throne.
Aiden drew his holy sword. He kicked off the ground, leaping into the haze.
The stench of demons lingered. Though he couldn't see, he knew the creature was still alive. Aiden detonated his divine energy, the backlash blasting away the surrounding air.
The dust scattered, revealing the mutant clinging to the ceiling, glaring down at him.
Its face was revolting.
The aristocratic features were gone, replaced by a grotesque fusion of human and bat.
Its lower abdomen was torn open, entrails spilling out. Black blood dripped onto Aiden's face.
Disgust twisted his expression.
Just as Aiden was about to leap, the creature's intestines burst first.
The sprayed blood instantly coagulated, surging toward Aiden like a storm of needles.
He raised his sword to shield his face.
Most were deflected by his armor and blade, but a few slipped through the gaps, embedding in his skin.
The mutant grinned hideously.
Sssssss!
The sensation of acid eating into his flesh. Black smoke rose from his unprotected shoulder and waist.
As he fought through the agony, the mutant kicked off the ceiling and dove at him.
Aiden reacted instantly.
He swung his sword upward, aiming to split the creature's grotesque face in half.
But instead of the satisfying resistance of flesh, his blade met only empty air. A shadowy afterimage dispersed into smoke. Aiden's eyes darted around.
Right.
The mutant's foot was already hurtling toward his face.
"You damn church dog!"
A direct hit would be fatal. Aiden desperately twisted his torso to evade.
At the same time, he seized the creature's leg, a cruel smirk forming.
The torque from his twist sent his body spinning.
He didn't resist—instead, he harnessed the momentum.
A whirlwind of force.
Still gripping the leg, he slammed the mutant into the ground.
CRUNCH!
The floor cracked beneath the impact. He didn't let go—he lifted and smashed it down again.
Brain matter splattered.
The mutant's crimson eyes still gleamed.
So he drove it down again.
And again.
And again.
The rhythm accelerated, his strikes becoming a blur beyond human perception.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
No one in the hall—vampire or human—could tear their eyes away.
Chunks of the mutant scattered, black blood pooling across the floor.
Yupe darted out to scavenge the remains.
Aiden had no intention of stopping until the creature was reduced to paste.
Mutants couldn't be given chances. They exploited human psychology—illusions, transformations, charms—to create openings.
He had to erase any possibility of that.
He kept smashing.
The creature's form lost all coherence, becoming nothing more than a pulpy mass.
Yet Aiden didn't relent.
Only when its leg finally tore free did the noise cease.
Nothing remained of what had once been the mutant.
Aiden panted heavily, scanning the hall.
A few stragglers still lingered, but the situation was mostly under control.
While Deril had already killed four or five, Yuron was struggling with just one.
Aiden could end this in an instant—but he sheathed his sword instead.
They needed to grow.
If Yuron's skills stagnated at this level, he wouldn't survive what was coming.
The future might very well kill him.
Aiden walked toward the entrance, where Sain was still maintaining the barrier.
"Sain, drop it."
The moment he spoke, Sain collapsed. No matter how much of a prodigy he was, sustaining a barrier of this scale was exhausting—especially for a ten-year-old.
The translucent shield faded.
"Good work."
Sain gave a weak smile, looking up at him.
"You worked hard too, Paladin."
Aiden nodded, then turned his gaze back to Yuron.
CLANG! CLANG!
Yuron swung desperately, but the vampire's claws parried every strike.
His movements were slowing—his stamina draining. Meanwhile, the vampire showed no signs of fatigue.
The tide had turned. Yuron was forced purely on the defensive.
Sain shot Aiden a look.
"Leave him."
"But—"
Aiden's expression was calm, but his hands clenched and unclenched.
Sain understood why. So he stayed silent.
Then—the vampire lunged into Yuron's guard, thrusting its claws toward his gut.
If he failed to block, it would be fatal. Those talons would shred his organs.
Just as Aiden's fist tightened—
Yuron twisted at the last second.
His side was grazed, but it wasn't life-threatening.
Then, in the same motion, he brought his sword down vertically on the vampire's neck.
CRACK!
The severed head rolled to a stop at Aiden's feet.
Yuron had won.
But his expression was tinged with dissatisfaction.
He remembered Gielran's teachings:
"Kid, how's this? If your stance is perfect, the strike makes no sound. If you channel aura into it, even a twig can split stone. Try it."
He had swung countless times, yet he had never even matched Gielran's fingernail.
Aiden, however, was pleased.
This was the same Yuron who had trembled before the undead.
Now, not only had he defeated a vampire—he wasn't satisfied with the victory.
That meant he had room to grow.
Aiden swept his gaze across the hall.
No vampires remained standing. The few still alive lay groaning on the ground.
"Clean up."
These creatures were tougher than cockroaches—confirming their deaths was mandatory.
Deril and Yuron began stabbing each corpse. Aiden joined in.
One by one, they ensured nothing stirred.
As Aiden approached the last one—
The vampire, presumed dead, suddenly lit up with crimson pupils.
A strange sensation crawled over him—like a tongue licking at his mind.
Then, the vampire grinned.
"...So you have a weakness too."
Darkness swallowed Aiden's vision.
A viscous blackness dragged him down like quicksand.
Illusion.
The mutant must have possessed one of its underlings right before death. Some vampires had that ability—though it was rare. Especially among non-purebloods.
In the suffocating dark, footsteps approached.
A woman with silver hair, combing it gently, her snow-white tail swaying.
Aiden's face twisted.
The vampire had gone too far.
"Aiden, it's been a while."
Her voice was exactly as he remembered.
Aiden slowly walked toward her.
Then, without hesitation, he snapped her neck.
The sensation in his fingertips was disturbingly real.
He gritted his teeth.
The world snapped back.
The mutant's face was frozen in terror.
Because it had shared his emotions.
Aiden's icy rage bore into it.
"You should've just died."
He gestured to Yuron and Deril.
"Prepare the rack. We'll interrogate it here before delivering it to the Church."