Chapter 22
Chapter 22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: The Forest of No Return (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Edan snapped his shield up like a shot from a crossbow. Years of training had made the defense purely instinctive, without a single conscious thought.
That much, at least, allowed him to block the axe.
Kwa-ang!!
"Urk!"
But it sure as hell didn't feel blocked.
A massive impact slammed into his entire body. His skull rang like a struck bell, and the arm gripping the shield throbbed with pain that felt driven straight into his bones.
And that wasn't all—the shield was utterly wrecked in a single blow. The axe blade had pierced clean through the thick iron plating like it was paper. Considering this was a "blessed shield" sanctified by a priest, it was utterly incomprehensible.
'My god, Elga... It withstood a raging troll's attack without a scratch...'
He instinctively moved to trace Elga's holy sign, but there was no time. The barbarian was already drawing the sword from his belt and charging.
Edan hastily pushed himself up using only his legs.
Hwoo-uk!
The sword tip sliced through the air, aiming for the gaps in his armor. Edan hunched his shoulders and raised the shield again. Metal clashed with a sharp kang, the sound echoing out. Even wrecked, it seemed the shield could still serve as armor.
But that was the end of it.
The barbarian grabbed the axe haft with his free hand and brutally kicked the shield aside.
Teng-!
The axe flew free of the shield, and the paladin was flung backward by the recoil.
"Uwaak! Hooer..."
He'd barely stood, only to crash down again. The massive shield pinned him like a steel tomb. He wrenched his gaze free and looked up to see the barbarian leaping low, axe raised high.
Edan yanked his arm from the shield and rolled across the ground like a worm.
Kwa-ang!
A deafening metallic crash that tore at his eardrums. The iron plate ripped like paper once more. Had he stayed behind it, his body would've been shredded too—he shuddered at the thought, chills running down his spine.
The barbarian cast a dry gaze toward the stunned paladin. A deep, bass voice rumbled heavily in Edan's ears.
"This isn't a path a paladin would just happen by. You're alone?"
"......"
"Silencing you won't be hard, then."
Edan's blood ran cold. Amid the confusion, thick dread seeped in.
He pushed himself up from the ground like a dog. Devil or whatever, this demon clearly wielded superhuman strength and a freakish weapon. There was no fighting him like this.
Edan raised his sword toward the shadowed sky and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Holy guide of light, Elga! Grant me the power to oppose this vile demon...!"
Ppareuraek-!
The barbarian's axe arrived before Elga's divine energy.
Kwajijik!
"Euk!"
It missed by a hair, pulverizing an innocent tree trunk instead.
The barbarian knew paladin combat styles well. No way he'd let him receive divine power. Sword in hand, he charged without pause. Edan was left to fight without blessings.
The blade accelerated in a wide arc, sweeping toward him.
Chae-aeng!
A devastating strike despite the opening it left. Edan barely parried with his sword, nearly losing his grip from the shock. No time to breathe—erratic blows followed relentlessly.
Twisting the blade fiercely against his the moment they met to target his throat, or batting his sword aside to thrust at vitals. Or gripping horizontally to deflect, then closing in to smash his faceguard with the pommel.
Chae-aeng, chae-aeng! Teng!
He couldn't get his bearings at all. The power was monstrous, the swordsmanship unpredictable. It felt like facing a monster in a hood.
Edan responded purely on instinct. Thankfully, his honed reflexes and plate armor kept wounds non-fatal.
But even that wouldn't last.
Chae-aeng, chae-aeng!
"Euk, kuhk..."
After ten exchanges, cold sweat poured from Edan's brow. Each clash now sent bone-deep agony into his arm joints.
'Damn it, how can anyone be that insanely strong...'
The barbarian didn't miss the moment his foe's focus slipped. He parried the sword with a spin, surged forward like a gale, and drove the blade tip into a slight gap at the armor's joint.
Seu-tsuk!
"Kuaak!"
Cartilage tore, blood gushing from his elbow. Edan clutched his mangled right arm and stumbled back.
"Kuhk, huuk, huuk..."
"Judging by your skill, you're no Arch Paladin. Hell, you're worse than a fresh recruit."
The demon murmured as he closed in. No time for outrage at the insult. Resolve hardened in the paladin's heart.
Run. He had to run. Injured, fleeing wasn't shameful. He needed to fetch that damned Arch Paladin...
Edan spun and bolted through the underbrush. His helmet grew hot with ragged breaths. Fear spurred surprising speed.
But not enough to shake his pursuer. Clad only in leather, the barbarian outpaced the heavily armored paladin. In moments, the hunter became the hunted.
The gap closed rapidly. Edan's glance back trembled with peril. Capture was inevitable. His mind raced for escape.
"Huuk, huuk..."
"......"
His conclusion: shed the armor for speed.
No better idea came. His helmet trapped heat, fogging his thoughts. Edan acted fast—first the helmet, then unbuckling straps to hurl away breastplate and pauldrons. Discarded armor littered the brush like shed skin.
Too late, he realized his fatal mistake.
'...Ah.'
His foe didn't need to catch him to attack.
Ppareuraek, jjeok-!
The axe blade raked like furious claws, shredding unprotected flesh.
"Kuhk, kuhuhuk, keuk..."
The paladin groaned, arms dangling limply.
"Th-this... A paladin of Elga, tracked us down..."
The merchant sighed in dismay. Kadim narrowed his eyes at the paladin.
His left shoulder, struck directly by the axe, hung in tatters like rags. The collarbone was crushed to pulp, the scapula twisted inward. He'd pulled the blow to avoid instant death.
Why hadn't Kadim killed him outright? Simple: confirm if he was truly alone.
Finding out was easy. Start by plunging a hand into the shoulder wound.
Rough fingers invaded the mangled flesh and leather.
Tseuk-
"Hey. Just one question."
Edan's face drained to ashen. Pain so intense, even screams failed.
"Any other paladins with you?"
"Aa, ah... Eu, eueu..."
"Answer."
"Eueu, euk, euk."
"......"
No answer? Squeeze harder. The paladin's suppressed scream erupted.
"Aaaaaak!! Kuaaaaaak!! Kuaaaaaak!"
"Urk, uuk..."
Nausea surged; Duncan averted his eyes. Kadim continued impassively.
"Don't talk, and I'll rip the wound open again. Want the pain to end? Speak fast."
"Kuaaaahuk! I... I can't say. Just kill me, you vile demon!"
"Kill you? Why should I?"
"......"
"Living will hurt far more."
To prove it, Kadim slowly raised his axe.
Chills raced up Edan's spine. He convulsed, wetting himself. Even battle-hardened will couldn't conquer this terror.
"Kuhk!"
Summoning final resolve, the paladin bit his tongue hard.
Not suicide—tongues don't kill. Just sealing his mouth before fear spilled everything.
Futile thrashing. A iron grip seized his cheeks.
"Pointless, paladin. Even a blink is enough for interrogation."
"...Thuh, guh."
"Left eye for yes, right for no. No response? Axe to the shoulder each time."
"...Guh, keuheuk..."
In the end, multiple-choice broke him. Edan spilled nearly everything.
The paladin Kadim killed was the archbishop's kin. They'd tracked with the Arch Paladin until she left him behind.
Interrogation over, death followed.
Jjeok-!
The axe sank deep into his forehead, but regret was absent. Freed from shame and agony, he could finally join Elga.
Kadim shoved the corpse into the brush. Better to move than bury poorly. With the Arch Paladin confirmed, no time could be wasted.
He swept through the underbrush without pause. Duncan scrambled after, unaware of revelations—he'd fled the gruesome scene.
"S-sir? Why the rush? Other paladins left?"
"......"
"St-still, torturing him like that was too much, sir? He wasn't chasing for hate, no great crime..."
Kadim's back stayed turned. But choppier axe swings and rigid posture screamed fury that chilled Duncan's bones.
A chilling voice reached the merchant's ear.
"Ever had your tongue ripped out, merchant?"
"......"
"Or skin peeled like snake shed from burns, limbs shattered and twisted, waiting eyes open to die?"
Shivers crept over Duncan's skin. The eerie voice ground into his feet.
"Of course not. That's why you can say such things."
"......"
"Before, we crossed a high paladin. My comrades and I suffered that. Among our pursuers now, another high paladin. No torture, no knowledge—same hell awaited."
"......"
"Listen well, merchant. I won't bind myself with pointless mercy or morals, leaving threats or sabotage. Such luxuries are for safe havens. In this cesspool of malice, for my goals, I'll commit any cruelty."
"......"
"As I have, and forever will."
Unyielding declaration, no loose ends.
Duncan endured silent fear only so long. Eyes squeezed shut, he yelled.
"B-but sir...! Doesn't that mean I could end up the same anytime?"
Kadim halted abruptly.
He turned, gaze emotionless. Blood froze, but Duncan clenched fists and pressed on.
"When I'm useless or circumstances demand, you'll discard or kill me without hesitation? I, I don't want to be abandoned among monsters or tortured to death horrifically..."
"......"
"Until now, I went home every three months at latest. Wife and eight-year-old daughter wait desperately. Food set, wondering why I'm late—that, dying without a last sight..."
"......"
"...Please, teach me, sir. How to not be treated like meat? How to earn respect like Baron Molden, blood-bound...?"
"......"
A near-prayer of desperation.
The reply was curt.
"Hate death? Prove your life's worth."
Kadim turned away indifferently.
No more needed saying. He resumed hacking the path ahead.
Duncan stared desperately at his back.
No power to demand more. He dropped his gaze weakly and followed.
Dusk painted the clear blue sky dark. Returning the way they'd come.
"Hya! Faster, can't you go faster?!"
- Whoooong...
Exhaustion from the march disordered the Radiant Steed's luminous body. Helia ignored it, spurring relentlessly with her stirrups.
At first, leaving Edan sped pursuit double. She regretted not ditching that incompetent paladin and his matching horse sooner.
That changed in under two hours.
Galloping madly along the path, Helia suddenly realized.
'What? No human tracks...?'
Faint footprints vanished at some point.
She checked the map late. Ahead lay a border outpost-adjacent road. Low chance the killer boldly passed near it toward alliance lands.
Edan would've advised this. She knew, but thought:
'If he figured they'd go this way, he should've warned me earlier. Useless fool...'
She wheeled her mount instantly. Guessing the demon's path was hard alone. Rejoin Edan for counsel, check for traces.
But Helia found only a miserable horse.
- Prurruk, prurrruk...
Sunken cheeks, crusted eyes—Edan's mount. Reins tied firm to a tree. No camp signs. All gear remained, save sword and blessed shield.
One conclusion.
Dismounted briefly, then disaster struck.
"......"
Emerald eyes scanned methodically, piercing twilight.
Gaze pierced gloom: dirt path footprints, paladin's final traces, direction...
...Crushed brush and a side path between.
Helia dismounted the Radiant Steed. Then drew her sheathed weapon.
Hwaruruk-!
The Arch Paladin's divine blade, Flames of Gehenna, bared scarlet fangs ready to devour the forest.