Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Divine energy erupted from Gargantua, igniting throughout the chapel with such intensity that even demon corpses were incinerated.
The remnants of holiness illuminated the interior brightly.
Aiden stepped toward the main entrance. Fighting inside came with too many limitations.
With each step Aiden took, the blood-soaked floor made wet, squelching sounds.
Siron quickly followed, passing through the chapel doors.
They entered a corridor teeming with grotesque fiends.
The creatures glared at Aiden with flickering eyes from the outdoor gardens lining the hallway, yet none dared approach recklessly. They had witnessed how swiftly he had cleared the interior.
This time, Aiden moved first.
He detonated his halo, melting the eyes of the hybrids, then swung his sword like a madman.
Under the night sky, the chilling sounds of cleaving and demonic screams continued endlessly.
Black blood drenched his golden hair. Foul flesh clung thickly to his holy armor and sword.
The more he fought, the faster and stronger he became. Clinging to his thinning rationality amidst the excitement, he tore through the demonic horde.
He folded a three-headed dog in half, shattering its spine. He cleaved a winged bull into pieces. He crushed a giant toad until it burst.
He snatched a bat attempting to flee into the sky and ripped it apart limb by limb.
And so, Aiden moved relentlessly until every demon before him had vanished.
Siron found this side of Aiden unfamiliar.
He resembled a killing machine driven solely by the desire to slaughter demons.
Siron felt a sudden relief that she wasn't one of them.
Before long, the corridor was also drenched in black blood. The greenish glow that had filled the outdoor gardens was nowhere to be seen.
The sky was pitch black, the ground dull and lifeless.
Only the moon and Aiden's halo emitted light.
Aiden kicked the church door open, shattering it, and stepped outside.
Insects swarmed everywhere in sight. There was no telling where so many demons had been hiding.
Regardless, Aiden was satisfied. The trip to the southeast had been worth it.
Just as he prepared to move, a powerful presence pushed through the dense crowd of demons and emerged at the forefront.
A demonic knight astride a spectral steed.
Dullahan. At a glance, it resembled a human, but where its head should have been, blue flames flickered instead.
Its black, bead-like eyes rolled grotesquely as it grinned with a torn slit of a mouth.
Even within the seams of its dark armor, sporadic blue flames flickered.
The demon let out a low, mournful wail—a voice urging death upon humans.
Behind it, several cultists collapsed to their knees, paralyzed by terror. Likely newcomers.
Aiden didn't let his guard down either. This wasn't an opponent he could confidently declare victory over.
Still, he was pleased.
A demon under the command of High Priest Benzegma. Killing this one would be far more efficient than slaughtering hundreds of lesser fiends.
Keeping his gaze fixed on Dullahan, Aiden spoke to Siron.
"I'll handle him. Deal with the rest."
She tightened her grip on her halberd.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing gets past me."
She was reliable. Even Aiden acknowledged Siron's combat prowess.
Given time, she could even aspire to the highest ranks of the Holy Order.
Aiden nodded and infused his holy sword with divine energy.
The blade erupted in a blinding white radiance.
Dullahan drew a long tachi from its back. The blade was crimson, as if steeped in human blood.
The spectral steed's rider fixed its black eyes on Aiden.
Within those hollow pupils lurked twisted desire—an instinct to steal the lives of the living.
The moment Aiden gripped his sword with both hands, the spectral steed lunged.
No sound of hooves, no rush of wind, not even a trace of presence.
The steed closed the distance to Aiden's face as if gliding across water.
It reared up, exhaling a chilling breath, then brought its hooves down.
CRASH!
Metal clashed as holy sword met hoof. Aiden blocked horizontally and pushed back.
His strength was superior.
The steed staggered back several steps from the recoil.
Aiden didn't waste the opening.
Twisting his waist, he drove his shin into the steed's front legs with full force.
THUD!
A dull impact echoed as the steed's body tilted to the right.
Dullahan chuckled darkly. Planting a foot on the saddle, it leaped up and raised its tachi.
The crimson blade flashed through the air, descending vertically toward Aiden.
Aiden rolled left to evade.
BOOM!
The tachi shattered the ground, sending mud and stone fragments flying.
Dullahan immediately turned its head—just in time to see the holy sword streaking toward its neck, aimed at the blue flames.
The demon yanked its tachi from the ground and parried the holy sword before swiftly retreating.
Against an ordinary paladin, it wouldn't have mattered if it took a hit.
Common steel and crude divine energy couldn't harm Dullahan.
But Aiden's holiness was too pure.
That light could easily cleave through the blue flames.
Dullahan's black eyes rolled excitedly. Its competitive spirit flared.
It had gauged the paladin's strength—this wasn't an opponent it needed to hold back against.
Dullahan tossed its tachi aside and whistled.
The fallen steed jerked upright and galloped to its side.
With a sinister grin, Dullahan seized the steed's neck.
Aiden drew Gargantua and channeled divine energy into it.
Just as the holy spear was about to pierce through, the steed transformed into a massive scythe.
The Deathscythe, forged from azure-blue flames, was a weapon tempered with human souls.
Gargantua clashed against the scythe's surface.
There was no sound, and the sensation was eerie—like piercing through empty air, yet with faint resistance.
It felt like stabbing into something slightly denser than water.
Dullahan deflected the spear and swung the scythe horizontally, aiming for Aiden's neck.
Even a graze would be fatal—this was a weapon that tore out souls.
Aiden ducked. A few strands of hair were severed.
Simultaneously, he straightened his knees, using the momentum to lunge forward.
His body shot into the demon's embrace like a flash of light.
Against long-reach weapons, closing the distance was advantageous.
Just as he thrust his sword, Dullahan raised a leg and kicked Aiden square in the chest.
CRACK!
The paladin held firm. The impact dispersed as a shockwave, splitting the ground beneath his feet.
Dullahan's eyes flickered—momentary panic. This was dangerous.
Aiden drove his sword straight in. The dark armor split effortlessly as the blade pierced the blue flames.
Dullahan let out a chilling scream. Aiden's holiness was lethally effective.
He didn't stop. With the sword still embedded, he detonated his divine energy.
BOOOOOOM!
White flames erupted, swallowing the blue fire and surging into the sky.
A radiant flash split the night. Lesser demons froze in place. Cultists and apostates trembled in terror.
Siron didn't waste the moment. Swinging her halberd wildly, black blood and flesh scattered like snowflakes.
Aiden roared like a beast, wrenching his sword upward with full force.
He intended to split Dullahan from belly to head, but the demon wasn't to be underestimated.
With the last flicker of blue flame still clinging to its neck, Dullahan twisted left.
The upward slash narrowly missed, only grazing its torso.
As long as the blue flame remained, Dullahan wouldn't die.
Though its armor was melted away and its insides grievously wounded, the flame hadn't been fully extinguished.
Stripped of its armor, Dullahan's core was a withered, flickering blue fire.
It hadn't been like this originally—this was the backlash of Aiden's purging flames.
The demon seized its scythe and leaped into the air.
It sought to harvest souls. Its beady eyes rapidly scanned the ground.
The moment Aiden kicked off the earth, the azure scythe swept through cultists and apostates alike.
Perhaps with the High Priest's permission, the demon showed no distinction between ally and foe.
Souls ripped away by the scythe flew toward Dullahan, merging into its form.
The blue flames roared back to life like logs thrown into a furnace. Aiden seized its ankle.
With all his strength, he slammed it back down.
Crashing into the seething demonic horde, filth scattered everywhere.
Aiden raised his sword vertically, detonated his halo, and descended like a falling star.
ZZZAAAAP!
Lightning tore through the darkness. Demons scrambled in panic. Even Siron hastily retreated—getting caught in this would mean death.
An instant later, the light pierced Dullahan.
BOOOOOOM!
Holy flames devoured the surroundings, incinerating darkness and melting demons.
Dullahan struggled to endure. White fire engulfed the blue flames.
The demon flailed desperately, using its scythe to reap more cultist souls, but its regeneration couldn't keep up.
Aiden shredded its body—chopping, slashing, lost in the frenzy of battle. Then, he noticed where the scythe was aimed.
An apostate stood frozen, clutching an infant to her chest.
Gritting his teeth, Aiden grabbed the scythe's shaft.
His soul screamed. It felt like his chest was being ripped out.
Gritting through the agony, he twisted the scythe's trajectory. Then, he squeezed out every last drop of divine energy and burned Dullahan into pure white ash.
Not a trace of blue flame remained.
Everyone present stood stunned. The paladin's power surpassed human limits.
The hybrids began retreating. Cultists and apostates trembled in terror.
They sensed their impending doom.
Aiden strode forward, sword dragging behind him.
Then, someone burst from the crowd and seized the apostate holding the infant by the hair.
A cultist—his priestly robes adorned with dozens of red lines, marking his rank.
Likely Benzegma's High Priest. Though it could've been a decoy.
The hooded man wrested the infant from the apostate's arms.
Brandishing a dagger, he shouted:
"Stay back! Holy Order bastard!"
He must've seen Aiden grab Dullahan's scythe. Sharp-eyed.
In short, he was threatening Aiden with the infant's life.
"I'll give you ten seconds! Get lost!"
Aiden's expression twisted.
Whether the apostate was complicit or not, the child was innocent.
The parents might've used the infant to lure travelers, but even then, the child was just a tool.
Yet he couldn't retreat now to save an innocent life.
This world wasn't so kind that he could walk a path upholding all the values modern humanity cherished.
Morality belonged to the peaceful—and most who achieved peace were far from moral.
They were slaughterers, tyrants, murderers. History simply called them heroes.
His homeland was no different.
Aiden opened his status window. He resolved to kill his weakness completely.
Emotions had no place on this thorny path.
"O-one second left, you bastard!"
At that moment, a blue afterimage dyed the night sky before landing in an instant.
Saya. She perched atop a scarecrow, watching Aiden.
In one hand, she casually held the infant.
The High Priest, not yet realizing, blinked between his empty hand and Saya's grip on the child.
The gumiho spoke.
"Aiden, I handled this kind of thing for you before too. So it's not interference, right? You get it?"
Aiden stared at her.
The embodiment of self-loathing stood before him. The thought that he was becoming more like her pained him.
That's why it was so hard to look at Saya.