How a Barbarian Paladin Deals with Unholy Forces
—Kahaaak! Kahak!
Sharp cries scattered in every direction. The torches carried by the villagers and the bats darting across the night sky formed a strange contrast, as if light had claimed the ground while darkness ruled the heavens. And the darkness held no kindness toward those lights.
—Kahaaak!
“Aaaagh!”
The bats lunged at the torch-bearing villagers. Their gaping mouths made their intent to attack unmistakable. A man swinging a dagger gaped in astonishment at a bat’s acrobatic flight as it dodged his blade. A scream tore from his open mouth.
—Chak—!
The bat’s teeth snapped shut mere centimeters from the man’s face.
‘……?’
The bat gnashed its razor-sharp fangs, desperate to tear into the man’s flesh, yet it could not advance. Panicked, it flapped its wings furiously, but remained suspended in midair, thrashing helplessly.
“Where did you—!”
A deep, low, rough voice rumbled beside the bat’s ear. The creature growled and twisted to look behind it. In that instant, its breath caught.
Through a curtain of night-black hair hanging loose, a pair of dark, piercing eyes stared straight at it. The owner of those eyes roared in a low voice.
“How dare you commit such atrocities in the sacred land of the Lord!”
—Krrrk… Krr…! Kahak!
For a moment the bat’s body froze at that low cry, but it managed to let out a defiant screech. Even if this man had seized its leg, it still had allies.
—Kahaaaak!
Dozens of them.
Dozens of bats that had been wheeling wildly through the air all dove toward Harnok at once.
“S-Sir Knight!”
“Harnok!”
The startled villagers and Celine cried out in unison, yet Harnok did not so much as twitch. Instead, he glared at the swarm of bats hurtling toward him. The flickering torchlight revealed their bizarre forms—massive bodies gliding smoothly through the air like dark serpents.
The bat clutched in Harnok’s hand let out a shrill, gleeful cry at its comrades’ charge and beat its wings wildly.
“This…!”
In the next instant, the captured bat had no reason left to rejoice. Nor, for that matter, did any of its fellows. Anything hurled at such blinding speed that the very air blurred would have felt the same.
—Kirrk!?
The dark serpents could not even feel joy at their comrade’s return. They could only stare in stunned horror at the ragged remains of their fellow—nothing left but a vague shape, the rest shredded by wind pressure.
At that moment, “comrade” became “former comrade.” The chilling confusion paralyzed the flock’s ability to think.
“Impudent wretches—!”
The dark serpents should have fled long ago.
—Boom—!
Otherwise their upper and lower jaws would never have been torn cleanly in two. Shredded bats rained down through the gaping holes in their bodies.
—Keheeeek—!
Having lost half their number in an instant, the remaining bats shrieked and scattered into the sky. Harnok growled as he watched them flee.
“How dare you! The Lord’s solemn words were delivered as both warning and chance for redemption—yet you openly disregard that mercy! Such insolence cannot be overlooked!”
—Kyaaaak—!
It was a scream-like cry. The bisected bats surged toward the villagers once more. The villagers fought bravely with their weapons, but facing creatures far stronger than humans—especially bats nearly a meter long—was no easy task.
“Ghhk!”
“Kyaaah!”
One by one, the villagers began to suffer injuries.
“These blasphemous things!”
Harnok bellowed and swung his holy scripture, personally driving the Lord’s words deep into the bats that refused to listen. Yet the creatures were too widely scattered. Even Harnok could not deliver the Lord’s message to all of them at once with only one body.
“Nngh…!”
Celine rushed to a woman who had collapsed nearby, moaning in pain. It was Madam Maybon, whom she had seen that afternoon.
“Madam Maybon! Are you all right?!”
“S-Sister…”
Her words were brave, but the situation was grim. Blood poured from a bite on her arm. Bats drawn by the scent of blood were already gathering, licking their chops.
Celine bit her lip, tension coiling in her chest, and began pouring holy power into the wound. As the golden light soothed the injury, Madam Maybon’s groans gradually eased.
A male villager shouted to Celine.
“Sister! We’ll hold the bats off with Sir Knight somehow! Please focus on healing!”
Celine nodded firmly. She bounced on her small frame and waved her arms wide.
“Everyone who’s injured, move over here!”
At her gentle cry, those who could still walk and the uninjured nearby began carrying the wounded toward her. The injuries were severe—deep punctures from fangs and claws bled heavily. Though the nun healed them with holy power, bandages were still needed afterward. The longer she worked, the more sweat beaded on her pale forehead.
Then something strange caught her eye.
‘……?’
The villagers were bravely defending against the bats diving for the wounded. What Celine saw was a middle-aged man swinging an arming sword. He clearly struck a black bat’s wing—yet no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, a murky darkness writhed like smoke. The people around him seemed not to notice.
The smoke instantly reconstructed the bat’s body.
‘Wait, back then too…!’
The memory of the crow’s head exploding flashed through Celine’s mind. No blood had flowed from that wound either. She had assumed it was because Harnok had destroyed it so thoroughly, but now she had to reconsider. A single possibility began to form in her thoughts.
“Sister!”
A rough shout brushed past her ear. The village chief was yelling urgently. A bat with bared fangs was flying straight at her—too close to dodge.
Celine clenched her teeth and thrust out her arm, trusting the possibility she had just conceived. It was a gamble, but she had no other choice.
—Kirrk……!
Seeing its prey willingly offer its arm, the bat opened its jaws wider in delight. Just as its fangs were about to sink into Celine’s delicate hand—
—Flash—!
—Kyaaaak—!
A brilliant golden holy power engulfed the bat. It shrieked and flapped away, the sound of sizzling flesh echoing. Its form was melting in an unnatural way. The smoke tried to rebuild its shape, but the unstable dissolution was faster. Eventually the bat collapsed to the ground and melted into a grotesque puddle.
Celine cried out at the sight.
“A familiar?!”
Her light, almost cheerful shout made the villagers turn toward her.
“These aren’t ordinary monsters! They’re familiars created by some being using unholy power! Everyone, gather around me!”
As the villagers scrambled to her side, Celine extended her arms and formed a hemispherical golden barrier. The bats that had been excitedly diving at clustered prey began to melt upon touching the shield. The villagers gasped in admiration.
“Oh, Sister! You recognized them as familiars right away!”
“So that’s why our blades didn’t work!”
“Then Sir Knight was able to face them alone because—?!”
“Exactly! He must be using holy power as a paladin! Even if he looks a bit unusual, a paladin is still a paladin! To unleash holy power so quickly it’s invisible to the eye! Isn’t that right, Sister?!”
“Uh, y-yes…! Th-that’s right…!”
“As expected of Sir Knight!”
Under their earnest, sparkling gazes, Celine could only nod. As a servant of the Lord, she had no choice but to agree. She could not possibly give a proper answer.
With the barrier raised, the bats could no longer attack and flew about in confusion. Meanwhile, Harnok, finally granted a clear opportunity to “deliver” the Lord’s words, did so with great joy. Watching the bats lie on the ground, overwhelmed by the message they had received, he nodded in satisfaction.
And in that moment, the golden light that should have accompanied the use of holy power never appeared.
Sister Celine could not bring herself to voice the single truth that fact implied.
‘How am I supposed to explain that he’s just hitting them so hard with raw strength that the familiars can’t even maintain their forms—!!!’