The Paladin
The priest of Pelani asked outright whether they would convert. “Does that mean you’re asking us to convert on the condition of accepting you? Are you saying you’ll abandon Lord Blatian and swear allegiance to the God of Water, Lord Rius?”
The old man did not answer the question about conversion. “To leave the god we serve… could you not show us mercy?”
“If you convert and become a follower of Lord Rius, then I can show mercy. However, without conversion, I am not in a position to accept followers of another faith.”
Harhil sensed that the priest of the Water God had no answer for him and turned to the priest of the God of Animals, Lecherot. “Unfortunately, our main temple on Mount Schtrum has burned down and the buildings have collapsed, so the Lecherot order has no room to spare. Besides, if you do not convert, there is no reason for us to accept you.”
“Could you not show mercy just to save our lives right now?”
“I do not have the authority to risk conflict for the sake of followers who serve other gods.”
When the Lecherot priest also refused, Harhil turned to Jinwoo with a face that looked ready to cry. “Even the god served by the paladin requires conversion?”
“You mean me?” Jinwoo hadn’t realized the man was referring to him when he said “paladin.”
“Yes. Could you show mercy and accept our followers?”
“But if you accept them without conversion, can those followers actually survive? That’s what I’m curious about.”
“Yes. They can survive. If you simply accept them, the Blatian order will not be able to kill them recklessly because of their relations with other orders.”
Jinwoo glanced at the priests to see if the old man’s words were true. They nodded.
“God Blatian is the God of Blood and a god of duality, so he pays attention to his relationships with other gods. He tries to avoid becoming enemies as much as possible.”
It seemed that, as a god who kept a foot in both worlds, he managed disputes to avoid being branded an evil god.
“Hmm.”
Jinwoo did not like how the Blatian order burned apostates at the stake. Moreover, they had launched a surprise attack and killed people right before his eyes, which left him with a strong sense of revulsion. But even if he accepted them, he had no idea what he could actually do for them. When he had claimed to serve the nonexistent god Sadalla before, the same problem had arisen regarding relations with other gods. He knew this wasn’t something he could solve, yet when he caught sight of the children huddled among the people behind them, his heart could not help but waver. At the very least, he had to stop them from being burned alive.
As he racked his brain for a solution, he realized that making full use of the fact that they were currently inside a dungeon might somehow make it work. But to do that, he would have to kill people, so he steeled his resolve. These were extremists who burned others at the stake simply for being apostates; he told himself it would be fine to grant them death in return. It was an extreme way of thinking, but he forced himself to rationalize it: to save lives, some people had to die.
“Sezanne. Priests. You said that inside a dungeon, one must follow the dungeon’s rules, correct? If you see a person inside a dungeon, you may treat them as a monster and kill them without being held responsible.”
“Yes, that’s right. But… you’re not seriously thinking of fighting the Blatian order’s people, are you? Are you saying you’ll kill them all according to the dungeon’s rules?”
Sezanne frowned and asked with clear worry, but Jinwoo deliberately gave no answer.
“What will you priests do? Will you join me in what I’m about to do?”
“Ahem. I shall withdraw. I will leave the party now.”
“I too cannot participate, as it would only burden our already struggling order. I will also leave the party.”
When the priests withdrew from the party, Harhil’s face brightened noticeably. The fact that the mage and mercenaries who had so easily killed Grendel were now on their side filled him with confidence.
“What about the rangers?”
“You saved us from being dragged off and killed by skeletons, so we will stand with you.”
“I will join as well.”
The rangers stayed and did not leave the party. When Jinwoo looked at Sezanne, she let out a sigh but was already rummaging through her belongings to pull out the wooden staff she had obtained in the Green Dungeon. The others were also drawing their weapons. It seemed no further questions were needed.
“The god I serve is Lord Sadalla. Since he is a god of the Arean Continent, even if Lord Sadalla offers protection, the Blatian order may still attack. Therefore, we will strike first.”
“Th-thank you. I am the summoner Harhil.”
“Then go and tell them that we will strike from behind. Saying that reinforcements have arrived will raise their morale.”
The old man Harhil ran off in a hurry. Excluding the two priests, the rest of the group moved to the side of the Blatian order’s formation.
“Sezanne, use Fireball!”
Sezanne shook her head in dismay even as she began arranging her mana according to the Fireball spell.
‘Huh?’
She was startled by the flow of mana, which was different from usual. Since Fireball itself was a mid-tier spell, the total amount of mana required wasn’t that large. Yet now, the mana array was forming with only about half the mana that should have been needed, and the spell was already manifesting.
‘Is this failing because of the new staff?’
It was uncommon, but she thought the spell might have failed. However, a sphere of flame formed properly before her eyes. The Fireball was larger than the ones she usually produced.
“Fireball!”
The Fireball flew toward the Blatian believers and exploded with a BOOM, spewing far more flames than usual.
‘Just by switching to this staff, the difference is this big?’
Sezanne found the change in mana consumption so fascinating that she wanted to meditate and examine it immediately. But Jinwoo, Meni, and Pyutel charged forward right after her Fireball, so she had no chance.
“The rangers and Pyurie need to cover those three from behind! Yanne, save your Fire Bolts! Use them only on those attacking us!”
BOOM—!
“Did you see that magical explosion?! The paladin party that took down Grendel so easily has joined our side! We can win this!”
“Waaaah!”
“And Lord Sadalla has agreed to accept us regardless of conversion! So everyone, fight with all your strength! Crush the inquisitor Ixion and his followers who brand us as apostates! We finally have a place to settle!”
“Uwaaaaaah!”
“Waaaah!”
The believers who followed Carol let out a tremendous cheer at the news that they now had a place to settle. Branded as apostates with nowhere to run, they had fled all the way to this dungeon. They had felt it was unjust that they should die at the hands of their fellow believers who had pursued them even here. But now that they had somewhere to go and live, courage they never knew they possessed surged within them!
“Damn it! Why are those bastards suddenly attacking us?! Carol is losing his strength, so Durian, you go block those mercenaries!”
Inquisitor Ixion sent the knight-turned-believer Durian, who excelled in personal combat, along with the nearby order members toward the mercenaries. He himself stepped forward to press Carol back.
Jinwoo found himself facing humans rather than monsters, so he could not put his full strength into the mace he swung. He had resolved to use the dungeon’s rules to kill all these fanatics, but actually swinging a mace to smash people’s heads in was not as easy as he had imagined. Because he was so conscious of it, he couldn’t push forward aggressively. Even with Meni and Pyutel supporting him from the sides, he couldn’t create any dramatic shift in the battle.
BOOM—!
Another of Sezanne’s Fireballs exploded and opened up space, so he leaped into the gap. He intended to widen the opening created by the magic. But a black object suddenly rushed toward his face; he barely managed to block it with his shield.
BANG!
The powerful impact sent him flying backward. His shield arm felt numb. When he quickly stood up, he saw that the shield was dented and torn.
“Accept the authority of blood!”
The large man who charged while shouting loudly wielded a morningstar—a mace covered in sharp spikes. The way he swung it was no ordinary strike. Instead of clashing with his own mace as if in a sword fight, Jinwoo blocked the morningstar with his shield and swung his mace at the man.
BANG! CRASH! CLANG! CLANG!
With the reckless intent of smashing his opponent to pieces, they swung their maces wildly at each other. In the end, Jinwoo’s left arm and shield could not endure.
CRACK!
The morningstar’s sharp spike shattered the shield and numbed the sensation in his left arm. It felt like the bone might be broken, but whether due to the healing buff, the vitality buff, or adrenaline, he felt no pain. He threw the broken shield at the man and pondered his next move.
Throwing dagger? Iron ball? Sand? The man was wearing chain mail, so daggers or other thrown weapons seemed unlikely to work. After thinking it over, he decided to try the UV flashlight whether it worked or not. He pulled it out and turned it on.
Click.
Durian, who had been charging to finish off the enemy who had thrown away even his shield, was suddenly blinded by the blue light pouring into his eyes.
“Wha—?!”
He turned his head and raised his hand to block the light, trying to see ahead, but everything was blurry and indistinct. Then came a sharp crack and intense pain from his left knee. Unable to see, the sudden agony forced him to collapse. He tried to open his blinded eyes again, but with a CRUNCH, his consciousness was cut off.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Jinwoo had, for the first time since coming to this other world, experienced being overpowered in pure physical strength. That was why he had used the UV flashlight without full confidence. When the gamble succeeded like a game cheat and he killed the blinded enemy, his heart pounded wildly. He looked at the UV flashlight in his left hand and felt reassured.
The UV flashlight was far more dangerous than a laser pointer. It emitted ultraviolet rays strong enough to damage the optic nerve on direct exposure. Especially inside a dark dungeon where human pupils were fully dilated, a powerful UV beam would inevitably cause optic nerve damage. Fighting an enemy who had gone blind and could no longer see properly was easy. He simply swung his mace with full force at the exposed left knee, then smashed the mace down on the head of the collapsed foe.
“Sir Durian is dead!”
There was no time to savor the afterglow of having killed a difficult opponent. To keep the momentum, he picked up the shield the enemy had used and charged forward. In the chaotic melee, he swung his mace wildly without technique. Whenever he encountered a skilled defender, he blasted them in the eyes with the UV flashlight to rob them of their sight. No matter how skilled, a person who could not see was no different from a scarecrow. Watching people fall with every swing, Pyutel beside him began shouting that the fight was getting fun.
“Make way! The paladin of the God of Magic, Lord Sadalla, is coming through!”
“Inquisitor Ixion! The nearby order members have been wiped out. There is no one left to hold the right flank.”
They had driven Vampire Carol into a corner and the end seemed near, but when he heard the right side had collapsed, Ixion grew furious.
“What is Durian doing?!”
“H-he was the first to die.”
“What? Durian?!”
Ixion recalled the meaning behind the report that Durian and the nearby order had been annihilated. He quickly pulled back to look and realized it wasn’t just the right formation that had collapsed. While he had been focused on the vampire Carol, they had failed to gain the upper hand against the apostates led by the summoner Harhil. The right flank where he had sent Durian had already crumbled, and the believers were fleeing.
“How could this…”
In his stunned gaze, Ixion saw Jinwoo emitting blue beams of light and smashing the believers’ heads. That man must die.
“The curse of blood shall rise like red mist!”
As he murmured in a low voice, a crimson blood-colored mist began to rise around Ixion’s body.