Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: The Vortex to the Dark Zone
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086
“The will of Anghel has vanished from this world, and darkness has come, bringing chaos.”
Blackgreen said.
“How dare they! God’s iron fist upon the darkness that defiles the world!”
That was a summary of Blackgreen’s tale.
- He had located the material for the holy sword.
- And deliberately leaked the information.
And then.
“The unbelievers known as the Three Great Dark Houses will learn.”
Those who come seeking it.
“That the Order still stands strong.”
He vowed to slaughter them all.
Sein nearly burst into applause at such fervor.
It had been true in the past, but now in reality, the paladins’ fanatical faith and unyielding resolve were truly deserving of applause.
“If Ain lends his aid, they will learn it all the more painfully. Will you help us?”
At Blackgreen’s request.
“With pleasure.”
Sein smiled as he replied.
The Holy Iron Knights began their march.
Sein stuck close to Blackgreen, asking him all sorts of questions.
“Paladin, that’s a bit…”
Even the holy knights, now starting to believe Sein was the saint, tried to stop Blackgreen.
“What of it? What the saint knows is what Anghel knows.”
Blackgreen was undaunted.
“The Order is currently divided into five major factions. The heretics will soon face divine punishment and realize they’ve walked the wrong path.”
Blackgreen spilled the Order’s internal affairs—easily obtainable even in Otolmeo—like he was sharing a juicy story.
“You mean the saintess said to be in Demorus? I believe it’s probably true.”
Sein didn’t need to lead him; he just asked Blackgreen whatever came to mind at the moment.
“We’re planning operations for that very purpose. Whether the saintess is real or not is for the temple to judge. But if she’s false…”
Wooong!
The greatsword slung on Blackgreen’s back resonated with his holy power, glowing brightly.
“She won’t escape the iron fist.”
Impressive confidence.
“You mean the Order’s location?”
Blackgreen, who had answered everything like a robot, paused only then.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”
“Ah, if I’ve been rude.”
Ain took a step back.
“No, it’s not that. I simply don’t know.”
Blackgreen wasn’t refusing; he truly didn’t know.
“How could you not know?”
“The moment one leaves the Order, all memories of it are erased. Only when summoned back after completing a mission can they return.”
So that’s how it was.
A restriction that even bound paladins.
‘I need to look into that.’
It was only natural for his interest to be piqued.
As Sein dug into information about the Order.
“We’ve arrived.”
They reached their destination.
The edge of Zone 7, a barren wasteland with nothing in sight.
Filled only with the corpses of dead trees.
“Anghel, we offer our prayers.”
Led by Blackgreen, the Holy Iron Knights began to pray.
“…….”
Sein watched them intently.
‘It’s different.’
It was the first time.
A flow of holy power completely unlike what he knew.
He could mimic it if he tried, but this flow felt somehow twisted.
“Aaah—!”
Their holy power amplified and spread outward.
‘Indeed.’
He recalled Galliona, the Iron Cross Knights who had charged to seize the saintess.
And the other Saintelina temple forces he had seen.
He had thought they were utterly ruined, beyond recovery.
But now, before his eyes, a scene shattered that notion.
Humans who had chosen evolution to survive in a fallen world.
“It’s a vortex.”
Proof that the temple had evolved as well.
*
*
*
The vortex was a quality that hadn’t existed in the past, like a labyrinth.
If a labyrinth was a gate summoning dungeon-like places.
Whoooosh—!
A vortex was a portal leading to an entirely different location.
However.
“It may not be my place to say to the saint, but you should brace yourselves firmly.”
The destination was the problem.
“As the saint knows, the vortex connects to the dark zone.”
A portal to the dark zone beyond Zone 10.
Normally, no human could survive in the dark zone.
The moment they set foot there, they’d be corrupted and die within a day.
But the dark zone reached via vortex was different.
‘That’s why they said the holy sword was found in Zone 7.’
The vortex neutralized the mana of the safe zone and the dark zone’s mana, forming a protective barrier where humans could survive for a time.
In exchange, vortices appeared mainly in lower zones rather than upper ones, and once one appeared, the surrounding land turned to ruins.
“With Anghel by our side, what is there to fear?”
“As expected of the saint.”
Blackgreen smiled contentedly at Ain’s words.
His ever-friendly face suddenly hardened.
“Advance.”
Like a true knight.
He gave the order to charge.
Then the Holy Iron Knights, Ain, and Marsil stepped into the vortex.
Swish.
They were sucked in and vanished.
“The door has opened.”
Shadows watching from afar revealed themselves and spoke.
The emblem on their chests revealed their affiliation.
-Immortal.
One of the Three Great Dark Houses, Immortal.
And.
“A temporary alliance.”
From another side, Demorus emerged.
Zegar was there.
Immortal’s mission leader slowly removed his robe and said.
“If they become a hindrance, we discard them anytime.”
“Of course.”
Zegar replied.
“It would’ve been impossible if they weren’t real paladins.”
Tremble.
Immortal’s mission leader.
Pelfero’s arm was shaking.
To avoid detection, he had layered multiple barriers and watched from maximum distance.
It was possible because their emergence point was pinpointed.
Seeing the massive ironclad knights, he felt they were true monsters.
“But there was someone not in the reports.”
Zegar said.
“Does Immortal know who that is?”
The count was supposed to be twenty, but there were twenty-two.
A youthful-looking girl and a blond young man.
Pelfero shook his head.
“No idea. Could be a high-ranking Order member.”
Since they were dealing with paladins, they had to assume every possibility.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have joined hands with Demorus.
“Either way.”
They had opened the vortex door for them.
“Advance.”
Their mission was only just beginning.
*
*
*
Beyond the vortex.
“Erect the barrier!”
Blackgreen shouted.
“Anghel.”
Boom!
Explosive holy power spread out, enveloping the Holy Iron Knights.
A barrier from the paladin’s overwhelming holy power.
“Urk.”
“Guh!”
The Holy Iron Knights writhed in agony, vomiting pain.
Grip.
It was the same for Ain—no, Sein.
Cold sweat poured like rain, and his guts twisted in pain.
Like the trial when entering Demorus, excruciating pain.
“Are you okay?”
Then Marsil—no, Cecil—grasped his hand.
And.
“Ah.”
Marsil’s small voice rang out clearly.
Guuung.
The barrier Blackgreen had erected grew even sturdier.
At the same time, the Holy Iron Knights’ and Ain’s complexions improved visibly.
“Did the saint do that?”
Blackgreen asked in surprise.
“A power to oppose the darkness…! No one in the Order has ever manifested it. Truly…, Anghel is watching over us.”
Even the thick-skinned Sein was momentarily speechless at Blackgreen’s genuinely moved expression.
“We had planned to acclimate to the darkness here before moving.”
Blackgreen said.
“But now we can head straight in.”
He had heard research on dark zone vortices via them was ongoing.
The darkness that eroded humans the moment they set foot in the dark zone.
It gnawed at them, stripped away everything human, and transformed them into something else.
Even with the vortex barrier, adaptation to the seeping darkness was necessary for safe movement.
“…….”
Then Blackgreen’s face grew serious.
“Someone got here first.”
It was Ain who sensed it.
The aura he felt, the surrounding landscape.
An awkward sense of wrongness.
“We must hurry.”
Someone else had arrived here before them.
‘Who?’
Ain wondered.
‘Immortal and Demorus were back there, weren’t they?’
Eyes watching them from far off.
Blackgreen hadn’t noticed, but Sein, proficient in magic and darkness, sensed their presence.
Then.
‘New Empire.’
Only one remained.
They were the only ones qualified to enter this grand battlefield.
“We had planned to purge the unbelievers here, but let’s move.”
The Holy Iron Knights began to advance.
“How did you do that?”
A bit apart, Ain asked Marsil.
Swish.
Marsil pointed at Sein.
“What was I supposed to do?”
Marsil had shown a power opposing the darkness.
He hadn’t taught her anything like that, which was why he asked.
“I can do it.”
Marsil said even Sein could do it.
“I learned it.”
“Hah.”
Sein let out a hollow laugh.
Who would’ve thought.
‘It was real.’
The moment he confirmed Cecil’s talent was genuine.
The saintess and saint, connected through their linked existences.
Cecil had learned Sein’s divinity and naturally mastered it.
But this was different.
‘Application.’
Sein, who had never endured darkness, couldn’t possibly have a power to oppose it.
Cecil had, in this moment, facing darkness for the first time, created a power to resist it through holy power.
“Want anything to eat?”
Beyond admirable, he was thrilled.
Like finding out his second-place lottery ticket was actually first prize.
“Lich.”
“If we save it this time, eat as much as you want for a while.”
“Hehe.”