Chapter 89
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Vatican Paladin (2)
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At her act of calling them—Necromancers—"sinners," Kang Sa-hu fixed her with an icy-cold glare.
Yet her face remained unchanged, still squinting with that blooming smile.
Kang Sa-hu, who had been silently glaring at her, shifted his gaze to the emblem engraved on the left breast of her armor.
Crossed keys symbolizing Saint Peter, the gates of heaven, centered around the papal tiara emblem of the Pope, with six outstretched wings.
Confirming the number of wings, he realized she was the Paladin Captain.
Having verified the captain-level emblem, he silently extended his qi sense to scan the surroundings.
His qi sense, spread densely like a spiderweb yet vast in reach, brushed against someone, and a burly man hiding diagonally behind Kang Sa-hu shot to his feet, his face twisted as if he might explode at any moment.
His scarred face, utterly at odds with his white armor and contorted in rage, made one question if he was truly a Paladin.
But spotting the four wings on his chest—reserved only for the Paladin Vice-Captain—Kang Sa-hu tensed his body.
"The Paladin Captain and Vice-Captain both here together. What does that mean?"
He demanded in a chilling voice, like an interrogation.
But the woman sitting atop the monsters' corpses, smiling, merely shrugged.
As she moved her shoulders in her white armor, the clear clang of metal rang out.
"What choice did we have? You're priority number one for elimination among us Paladins, and you waltz into the lair of the sinners' king. You do know that your presence alone triggered Code Gray, right?"
She let out a deep sigh.
"It might seem excessive, but considering you from seven years ago, it's only natural. You nearly annihilated a 300-strong Paladin force. We're not naive enough to just watch you roam free after that."
"Anyone hearing this would think we Necromancers invaded the Vatican."
As Kang Sa-hu's eyes darkened, the man behind him began to shift subtly.
But when the woman atop the corpses flicked her gaze toward him, the man froze mid-motion, as if paralyzed.
"Well, our former captain was awfully hardline. He wasn't planning a sneak attack—he wanted to declare a holy war. That man ended up scattered into a puddle of blood by your hand, though."
"Why show yourselves alone?"
When Kang Sa-hu glanced around and asked, the woman tilted her head.
"Because the two of us are more than enough to kill you."
In truth, bringing a large Paladin contingent risked detection by Britain's Round Table Knights, but she wasn't careless enough to reveal such internal details.
Sensing the man behind her poised to lunge at any moment, Kang Sa-hu reached for his waist.
A chilling aura emanated from the massive scythe, shrunken to keychain size via special effects and size adjustment, attached to his belt.
Preparing for battle at any instant, he fixed her with a piercing glare.
Through his sharpened gaze, he glimpsed the spirits of both her and the man eyeing him predatorily from behind—he could sense combat could erupt at any second.
The man in particular looked itching to charge, his muscles coiled tight.
In the taut tension, Kang Sa-hu assessed the situation and rapidly sorted his thoughts.
Necromancer and Paladin.
They were polar opposites.
Kang Sa-hu, who had personally experienced the depth of that clash seven years ago, knew that even he couldn't easily overcome their elemental disadvantage.
Fear Imprint, Bone Manipulation, even the most powerful spell Soul Annihilation—tricky conditions aside, composable from mana.
During that battle at the Necromancer Society, he'd seen even the King of the Dead's magic shattered, so he had no intention of relying on Necromancer spells against Paladins.
That left two options.
'Summoning my summons is the surest bet, but that's a last resort.'
Already renowned worldwide as an EX-rank Hunter beyond just Korea, he assumed the Paladins knew his abilities to some extent.
Even without EX-rank status, his powers would have leaked via the Monolith.
Beyond that, as Hunter Kang Sa-hu, his influence meant his info was being rapidly dissected by fellow Gate-hunting Hunters and governments alike.
He knew this but couldn't prevent it.
Deep down, for his dream of legitimizing Necromancers, he'd even allowed Kang Ji-ye to start a YouTube channel—it was what he wanted, no regrets.
'They were bound to find out eventually.'
From Bae Deok-ho, he'd learned governments worldwide exchanged Hunter intel, including his own and foreign Hunters', so he was aware.
'But knowing doesn't mean they can counter it. Seeing it firsthand versus reports is worlds apart.'
Kang Sa-hu had confidence in the power he'd honed and internalized through relentless combat and training.
And that pride wasn't built on "pulling some unknown trump card for a surprise ambush."
Above all, he had no intention of killing them on a whim just because they irked him.
Capturing them could open negotiations with the Vatican, so priority was securing a foothold and safety net over venting rage.
Thus, rather than going all-out, he decided to test the possibilities he'd long mulled over.
'Alright, let's see.'
Decision made, he drew the scythe from his waist and restored it to full size.
Ka-ka-kang—!
With a deafening clang, the scythe returned to its original form. She pursed her lips in admiration.
"Saw that in the NewTube memorial rite too. Incredible. A weapon you can shrink and enlarge. No evil vibe, but I covet it."
Meant as praise, but Kang Sa-hu ignored her and gripped the scythe firmly.
"Necromancer, Kang Sa-hu."
As he glared at her with blazing eyes, hers finally widened for the first time, her golden irises round and fixed on him.
Frozen for a moment, she snapped to, leaping down from the corpse pile.
Landing, she swiftly straightened from head to waist, placed her right hand at her collarbone, and bowed slightly.
Back to her smiling, squinting face, she stated her name.
"Captain of the Vatican Paladins. Adelaide."
Adelaide.
Recalling the name of the Paladin Captain appointed after the incident seven years ago, Kang Sa-hu glanced back.
Their eyes met, but the man just twitched beneath his eyes, veins bulging on his forehead.
"No name to give a maggot rotting alive underground."
Unlike Adelaide, he didn't hide his murderous intent—or his contempt.
Kang Sa-hu dismissed learning his name and opened his mouth.
"Fine, no need to know the name of the fool I'm about to—"
'crush.' As he moved to finish and provoke,
Adelaide, listening a step behind, spoke up.
"My, even for a sinner, skipping formal greetings before judgment is awfully arrogant, don't you think, Adalberto?"
"……."
At her words, Adalberto clamped his mouth shut.
Listening quietly, Kang Sa-hu sensed something off.
Clearly, Adalberto was bloodthirsty for his death, yet Adelaide spoke like she was here to kill him too—but her actions suggested she wanted to talk.
Of course, with opponents like these, talk leading anywhere was unlikely, but to glean useful info and gauge the situation, he angled the scythe diagonally at his side.
"But I don't get it. How did you vermin get here? You must've passed customs."
Knowing he'd come here, encountering them precisely at Stonehenge—the Necromancer Society's entrance—no normal circumstance.
Gates opening worldwide, yet the Paladin Captain and Vice-Captain, self-proclaimed foremost servants of God, cross into foreign Britain.
Stonehenge being enemy territory made it tantamount to marching right up to the heart.
If solely to execute a sinner, ambushing him in Hunter-rich Britain or back in Korea made far more sense.
Floating the question to probe, her answer was more direct and honest than expected.
"We sneaked in, obviously."
"……."
So that's why just the two.
Kang Sa-hu inwardly reeled in disbelief, but Adelaide continued amiably.
"And we reached here because security's lax. You know—especially as an EX-rank—how the world's spinning right now."
She gave a wry smile.
"Those with power don the bloodied crown, only to get stabbed in the back, scream, and lose it. Even without that, beasts cast from God's embrace prowl worldwide, craving the blood and flesh of the innocent lambs."
Kang Sa-hu snorted at phrases like "beasts cast from God's embrace" and "innocent lambs."
Typical Paladin view, deeming nonbelievers heretics.
"If the world's in chaos, focus there. Why hunt me specifically? Why move yourself? Paladins can't be that idle."
His words dripped provocation, but Adelaide just gazed at him silently with her smiling, half-lidded eyes.
"Seven years ago, in your hidden underworld, we had to make a grave choice to stop you."
The talk suddenly circling back to that event seven years prior caught him off guard inwardly, but he didn't show it.
"Our captain then was fiercely uncompromising. Knowing where the sinners lurked, still breathing freely, he demanded of the Pope why Paladins couldn't judge them—went so far as to lead a solo raid. But that thorough man prepared a decisive blow to sever your queen's lifeline, or at least cripple her utterly."
She stared straight at Kang Sa-hu.
"Then, an utterly unforeseen variable forced us to abandon it."
His face hardened at "decisive blow to sever the King of the Dead's lifeline," his eyes flaring like horns as he glared.
But it didn't faze her.
No, she almost seemed expectant, scanning his face as she continued.
"The Holy Grail."
"……!"
"Captain?!"
At "Holy Grail," Kang Sa-hu's eyes blazed fiercer, and Adalberto yelped in shock from behind.
Yet even meeting his viscous hatred-filled gaze, her expression didn't shift a whit.
"Curious about our goal? Simple. The Holy Grail currently holds and seals your power. To safely empty it, killing its owner—you—is the surest, only way."
Whoosh—!
At her words, Kang Sa-hu eyed her puzzled.
'What?'
These people, here to definitely kill him, chatting and explaining their plan?
As he sensed the inconsistency in her actions,
Adalberto, glaring for an opening from behind, seized a split-second chance and lunged at Kang Sa-hu like lightning.