Chapter 90
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Vatican Paladin (3)
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Clang!
The ambush struck at an opening, but even amid his surprise, Kang Sa-hu—who had been keeping an eye on Adalberto—twisted his body sideways to block the attack.
The massive scythe blade clashed against the equally enormous hammer, sending sparks scattering in every direction like bursting droplets.
"An utterly obvious choice. No matter how strong it may be, corrupt power is meaningless before the holy radiance of God. Your strength is cut from a different cloth, after all."
Adelaide, who had joined him in the meantime, thrust her rapier at Kang Sa-hu.
A swift, razor-sharp strike—like a bolt of lightning in its speed and ferocity.
Moreover, with Kang Sa-hu occupied blocking Adalberto's hammer, he couldn't move at all.
Imagining the pathetic end of the one bearing the grandiose title of the strongest Necromancer in history, a bitter smile crept across Adelaide's lips.
But the rapier aimed at Kang Sa-hu's body sliced only empty air.
"......!"
"......?!"
In the instant their shocked eyes met—
Kang Sa-hu's voice echoed from a spot far removed between them.
"I understand the situation. But your arrogance remains boundless, repeating the same mistakes."
As the two whipped their heads toward the voice, their gazes crossed with Kang Sa-hu's, who stood tall atop the monster corpse where Adelaide had been perched, looking down at them imperiously.
"To think just the two of you could kill me."
The scythe whipped from Kang Sa-hu's hand.
"That arrogance will be your undoing."
Scythe Thorn
The ground churned as the skill activated.
"Kuh?!"
"Hmph!"
In an instant, a gigantic scythe blade erupted from the earth, engulfing Adelaide and Adalberto.
It was an unexpected evasion and counterattack, but as Paladins selected for their skill—and holding the positions of Captain and Vice-Captain among them—their response was sharper and more composed than Kang Sa-hu had anticipated.
Scraaaape!
Adalberto swung his hammer to smash the scythe blade he judged he couldn't dodge.
The scythe thorn shattered into pieces upon impact with the hammer—sized like a four-person cafe table—and scattered.
On the contrary, Adelaide, with her light footwork, stepped onto the flat side of the scythe blade instead of its edge and closed in on Kang Sa-hu in a flash, thrusting her rapier with blinding speed.
Clang, clink, clang!
Kang Sa-hu's mana-infused scythe was struck three times in rapid succession.
Right after barely blocking the assault, Kang Sa-hu spun his body and swung the scythe wide for a counterattack.
But the long blade didn't even graze Adelaide's armor, merely cutting through empty air.
Adelaide leaped back two steps to easily evade, then immediately lunged forward again, stabbing with her rapier the moment her feet hit the ground.
Claaang!
Spotting the rapier aimed at his abdomen, Kang Sa-hu twisted the scythe's handle with all his strength to barely deflect it, then used the skill Blink Step to evade the follow-up strike.
As they briefly separated into a standoff, Adelaide opened her mouth with a mocking smile.
"Awakened and all, has your fighting style changed? You had some skill in magic, even without your original power."
It was a taunt to stop this uncharacteristic close-quarters brawl and use magic instead, but Kang Sa-hu didn't respond.
The only reason he could clash head-on with Paladins like this was by avoiding his Necromancer magic, which they countered perfectly—so he had no intention of using it against them.
Frustrated by his impassive reaction to her provocation, she huffed through her nose.
"Your swings are so exaggerated every time, optimized for hunting monsters. To think you'd try using such clumsy skills in real combat..."
Before her words finished, she darted like lightning once more, closing in tight and aiming her rapier's tip at his chest.
"Isn't that a bit too complacent?"
"......!"
With the rapier trained on Kang Sa-hu's chest, Adelaide drove it forward like a stinger.
No armor, just his usual activewear—a dire situation where a hole would pierce straight through his body.
But her sure-kill thrust was nullified by a small hole that suddenly appeared in midair.
"......!?"
The rapier, bathed in dazzling light, plunged toward the black circle that materialized without warning.
Yet the skill Interdimensional Space remained utterly unaffected by the holy power-clad rapier, simply swallowing it as she stabbed.
"This—!"
Sensing danger instinctively, she hurriedly tried to withdraw her rapier.
But before she could, at Kang Sa-hu's will, the Interdimensional Space snapped shut with more than half the blade engulfed.
"...Hah."
Gazing at the rapier with barely an inch of blade left, Adelaide let out a hollow sigh.
"EX-rank Hunter, huh? The reputation's well-earned. Just how many skills do you have?"
Before her deflated voice faded, Adalberto burst from the scythe thorns, white sparks crackling across his body as he charged like a rhinoceros toward Kang Sa-hu.
Finishing the prayer he'd chanted since breaking through the thorns, he swung his hammer and intoned the completed spell in Hebrew.
"Jehoshaphat!"
At Adalberto's shout, pristine white lightning coiled around his hammer, crackling fiercely.
Kang Sa-hu, witnessing the holy power manifesting as lightning, prepared to use Blink Step again.
But he gritted his teeth upon seeing Adelaide—still holding her severed rapier—staring straight into his eyes.
Blink Step
He'd grasped her intent, but judged using Blink Step was still best—and activated it.
His view shifted in an instant. Ahead poured a storm of white lightning onto where he'd stood.
And there—Adelaide, eyes narrowed to their usual slits, charging straight at him.
Scythe Thorn
He tried to repel her approach by raising scythe blades from the ground.
But as if she'd been waiting for him to use the skill, Adelaide hopped lightly onto the rising flat sides, bouncing like a rubber ball with elastic movements and charging undeterred.
"Checkmate."
With a grinning face, Adelaide slashed across Kang Sa-hu's chest.
Shlick!
"Kuhk—!"
Blood oozed thickly from the deep, straight gash across his chest.
Yet Adelaide—who'd swung the rapier—flinched in shock and swiftly retreated far from him.
"W-What is this? Why no armor inside?"
An odd question from the attacker herself, but Kang Sa-hu didn't answer.
Spinning Death Return
Instead, he hurled the scythe, activating the skill, and extended his hand toward Adalberto—who was eyeing another chance to strike.
Telekinesis
"Urgh?!"
Adalberto jolted at the hammer's sudden weight, straining his arms.
But the hammer, now kissing the dirt, refused to lift even as his face flushed crimson with effort.
Pinned in place, Adalberto glared at Kang Sa-hu with bloodshot eyes.
"Pointless."
His lips moved swiftly, prayers flowing like song.
As Kang Sa-hu raised his other hand to disrupt with telekinesis—
"How rude. Am I invisible?"
Adelaide lunged from his blind spot.
"Hardly. Ignoring the Captain?"
Without even glancing at her charge—
The scythe, flung far away, hurtled back under Spinning Death Return's effect, targeting Adelaide.
"Oh my."
Thinking it a hasty toss, she was startled to see it return with intent, like a living thing—and dodged.
But Kang Sa-hu's eyes flashed, seizing the moment.
Special Effect: Size Adjustment
At his will, the incoming scythe vanished in a blink.
"Wha...?"
Adelaide, braced to parry its straightforward path, stumbled awkwardly as her stance collapsed in surprise.
'What? It disappeared? Does that position-shifting ability from earlier work on weapons too?'
Tension prickled her back.
As she scanned warily, ready for it to strike from anywhere—
"Othniel—!"
Adalberto completed his prayer—Hebrew for 'God is strength'—his tree-trunk arms flushing red as he heaved the grounded hammer aloft.
"Perfect! I'll use your tricks against you!"
Gripping the rock-heavy hammer, he bellowed.
"Earthquake!"
He slammed it down with a roar, and the ground rippled like waves.
The earth heaved as if gripped and shaken by a giant's hand—Kang Sa-hu chained Blink Steps to retreat.
"Adalberto! Warn me before using an AoE skill like that!"
Despite her shrill yell, her bouncy, elastic steps carried her effortlessly through the sinking, rising chaos.
She turned to Kang Sa-hu.
Underscoring the powerful skill, neither she nor he bore a scratch or struggle.
But Kang Sa-hu's face darkened at the still-trembling, surging, sinking terrain.
'As expected. An Awakener among the Paladins.'
Confirming it was the Vice-Captain—second strongest—he clenched his jaw, muscles bulging along his cheek.
Adelaide giggled at the sight.
"Why so shocked? You're the EX-rank Hunter here."
"What about your rank?"
His eyes—unwavering since combat's start—flashed at her.
Her smile flickered briefly.
But she quickly steadied her expression and shrugged.
"Who knows? One shouldn't pry into others' privacy."
Dodging with a flimsy excuse, but instead of raging, Kang Sa-hu calmly rephrased.
"Then let me change the question. Are you an Awakener?"
"Interested in little old me?"
She teased with a playful smile.
But as he stared silently, she sighed, deflating.
"You're awful. All questions, no answers. If I tell you, what do I get? Give and take—you know how it works."
Kang Sa-hu nodded.
And answered her question.
"I'll let you live."
"...Pardon?"
Adelaide blinked in confusion, and he gazed down impassively.
"I said I'll spare you."
"Raaargh—!"
Before her stunned self could reply, Adalberto leaped off a rising mound, soaring at Kang Sa-hu.
Yet Kang Sa-hu—who'd watched him amid their talk—flung his hand toward the incoming Adalberto.
"And this Adalberto fellow too, as a bonus."
"No, what does that even—"
As Adelaide gaped in disbelief—
Adalberto froze mid-leap and plummeted.
"......?!"
She rushed toward him in shock, but—
Kang Sa-hu pinned Adalberto's chest underfoot upon his crash-landing, war scythe reverted to its form in hand, aimed at his throat.
"Not a bad deal, right? What do you say?"
"......"
In the blink of an eye—unnoticed by her—the initiative had flipped. Adelaide's eyes trembled with shaken resolve.