Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Ruby
Chapter:17
Chapter Title: Where Do You Think You’re Running
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I sensed the battle unfolding in the distance through my Third Eye.
‘Damn it! Had that monster already begun rampaging?’
My heart grew restless.
It had been my doing, after all.
If casualties arose, I would not feel at ease.
So I ran even harder, giving it my all.
As I neared Siforeo, a strange fog came into sight.
Albert, who was close behind me, shouted:
“Sir Klaus appears to be facing something in combat!”
“Sir Klaus?”
“Yes! He is one of the Seven Knights. Have you not yet met him?”
While we spoke, the fog grew closer.
At this distance… I could reach it in a single leap.
I gave Albert a short reply.
“Then I would meet him now.”
Planting my left arm against the ground, I pushed off with all my might.
Fwoosh!
By now, I had begun to develop my own knack for using the colossus’s left arm.
My body shot upward.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Albert’s dumbfounded face.
“…What the—”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the air, I focused my Third Eye as much as possible.
Klaus’s fog was thicker than I expected.
Not just a step ahead—I could not even see my own hand when stretched before me.
‘Right… Klaus, that bastard, had fog abilities.’
I recalled the cinematic image of him standing alone against an army.
Blanketing the entire space with fog, claiming it as his domain, and slaughtering them at will.
‘If it was this thick, perhaps he had already finished the job…’
But that thought did not last.
Through my Third Eye, I detected a figure that seemed to be Klaus.
But… he was rolling across the ground.
Meanwhile, the beastlike creature circled him, as if ready to pounce and devour him at any moment.
I stretched my left arm, braced against a nearby building, and—
Snap!
I altered my trajectory directly toward the beast.
Just as it lunged at the fallen Klaus,
I came crashing down upon its head, driving my left arm into its skull.
Boom!
The shock reverberated up to my shoulders.
I could feel the strike land solidly.
On the other hand, my body was unharmed—the colossus’s left arm had absorbed the lethal impact entirely.
“Ghhkkk!”
The beast beneath my fist let out a grotesque cry.
And Klaus’s eyes trembled as he looked at me.
“Wh… who…”
I offered him my gratitude.
“You did well. You held out admirably.”
I spread my senses, scanning the surroundings. No bodies. No one fatally wounded.
That must have been thanks to Klaus—
enduring until his body was torn apart, protecting them.
Because of him, I bore no guilt.
Though I did feel a little sorry that he had been hurt.
“I shall finish this.”
I raised my fist again, and brought it down on the beast’s head.
Crash!
“Gahhh!”
Once more.
Boooom!
“Ghhkkk!”
Its shriek grew louder.
And again—
Wham!
This time my fist slammed into bare ground.
I had thought it was the final blow, but the beast still had enough strength to flee.
Leaping away into the distance, it glared at me warily.
“Grrrk! Rrrhhh…”
It deliberately concealed itself in the fog.
Even using the terrain to its advantage.
For a beastlike demonspawn, unlike a true demon, it showed surprising cunning.
‘Ugly as hell, and now trying to be clever?’
But it had made a mistake.
For I, too, was not particularly hindered by this fog.
Klaus, still not fully recovered, called out to me:
“N-no! Fog does not work on that thing! Be care—”
I cut him off with a single word.
“Quiet.”
“…”
This was not about seeing.
It was about hearing, smelling, and sensing.
The slightest shifts in air currents.
The tremors of moisture within the fog.
So subtle that even my Third Eye would miss them if I failed to focus completely.
But I did it.
If that beast could, then surely I could too.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the beast lunged from the fog, straight at me.
Without hesitation, I struck it across the face.
Craaaash!
The sound alone was refreshing.
‘During Rokter, it had ended too quickly to be satisfying—but this one had some fight in it!’
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Truthfully, I was already irritated.
There was the foul aura that always clung to beings tied to demons—that alone spoiled my mood.
And on top of that—
‘How the hell do I use this Black Thunder thing? It’s not working…’
The Ring of Black Thunder, which I had struggled so hard to obtain, did not respond the way I had hoped.
Unlike a barbarian, a paladin wore full armor and carried a shield.
Their concept was defense, through and through.
Naturally, their offensive power was lacking.
Perhaps that was why only paladins had been given the Ring of Black Thunder.
That had been the common belief among players.
But I already had offensive means at my disposal.
Still, more was better.
Why wouldn’t I want to add a stronger attack? That was why I had come this far.
‘Damn it. I thought this thing would be amazing if it worked… Nothing ever goes how you want.’
But the ring showed no reaction at all.
Frustration grew. I could tell no one, so I could only vent through my fists.
Crash!
‘Wait… could it be…’
As I pummeled it, a dreadful thought crossed my mind.
‘Don’t tell me… this only works if you’re a paladin?’
What a disaster that would be.
After all the strain I endured to acquire it—
if it was useless without being a paladin…
‘Yeah… that must be it.’
The problem was, I had no way to become a paladin.
The Seven Knights and the paladins were allies, but clearly separate groups.
Why else would the paladin order have been given the authority to choose one of the Seven Knights?
Human politics—it was to keep any one power from growing too dominant.
That was also why the other five kingdoms each took a seat.
Otherwise, they could have simply chosen the strongest seven across all the kingdoms.
Of course, that detail had never mattered to players.
Nor to me—until now.
But at this moment, that unnecessary detail bound me.
‘A knight of the Seven who is also a paladin? …That’s impossible…’
Which meant there was no way for me to use the Black Thunder.
Realizing this only stoked my anger further.
“Raaaghhh!”
I let out a roar, unleashing my fury.
Smash! Crash! Bam!
With relentless blows from my left arm, the beast’s face turned into a tattered rag.
A few times, it tried to flee by leaping away—but I seized its leg, and slammed it down.
Boom!
“Where do you think you’re running!”
My rage was far from spent.
Wham! Thud! Wham! Wham!
I added punishment for the crime of trying to escape, doubling the strikes.
“Ghhkkk!”
The beast’s once-sharp cries now sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
And yet, I felt no pity.
“A demon! Talking back?”
Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
Its defiance only earned it more blows.
From afar, Albert’s voice reached me.
“I have never seen anyone hate demons this much before…”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, inside the grand council chamber of the Siforeo Archdiocese, a meeting of all bishops and higher clergy was underway.
“…Then I take it there are no objections to this proposal.”
Archbishop Tebenon, confirming unanimous consent, lifted his gavel to strike three times in approval—
Bang, bang…
“Your Grace, Bishop of the Knights!”
A priest burst through the doors, urgently calling for the Bishop of the Knights.
Normally, such an interruption during a high council of bishops would be insolence warranting discipline.
But Archbishop Tebenon did not scold him.
He sensed something had happened.
“What is it?”
“It’s terrible! A monster has appeared in the very heart of Siforeo!”
“A monster?”
“Yes! We believe it is the same beast that caused the underground noises!”
Archbishop Tebenon’s expression grew grim.
“Have you identified its species?”
“That is difficult. Injured paladins just returned, but they said it was a form they had never seen before.”
“They returned? Then who is at the scene now?”
“Fortunately, Sir Klaus of the Seven Knights is holding it off. But he has been wounded, and they requested immediate reinforcements!”
Archbishop Tebenon turned to the Bishop of the Knights.
“Bishop! Lead the forces at once!”
“Yes, understood!”
Clad in armor, the Bishop of the Knights rushed from the chamber, leaving all remaining business in disarray.
No trivial matters could take precedence now.
If even Klaus of the Seven requested reinforcements…
“Could it be an ancient beast?”
At his murmur, the other bishops wavered.
“S-surely not. An ancient beast would not have been lurking beneath Siforeo all this time.”
“You cannot be certain. It may have wandered here.”
“If it is an ancient beast, Your Grace… should we not request aid from the royal family at once?”
Archbishop Tebenon rose from his seat.
“I thought the same. I shall go to the royal family myself. Ready a messenger immediately! We must inform them first of all!”
“Yes, I will send one at once.”
“And tell the Bishop of the Knights as well—that it may be an ancient beast.”
“Yes, I will go.”
Seeing no way to continue the meeting, Archbishop Tebenon raised his gavel and declared it closed.
“This council of bishops is adjourned. The initial matter, the appointment of Sir Rohan as inquisitor, is hereby passed. All other matters will be revisited later!”
Bang, bang, bang!
At that moment, on Rohan’s finger—
Ssshhhk!
The Black Thunder stirred.
“…Huh?”