Who protects and sustains the White Church?
If you ask who, anyone would answer Paladins.
Under the name of the Goddess, Paladins protect the Church and judge the beings that disturb the continent.
In this process, they took risks and performed their duties with their lives as collateral.
Therefore, Paladins could be seen as the beings that protect and sustain the Church.
Sir Gerard, the Captain of the Knights of the Church who leads such Paladins.
He was currently receiving a report in his office.
“Contact with Berter has been lost?”
At the Captain’s words, Liana, who was giving the report, nodded.
She was a Paladin and concurrently served as a subordinate officer assisting the Captain.
“Ha.”
Captain Gerard’s expression seemed bright despite the news that Berter, the Vice Captain of the Knights of the Church, had disappeared.
“Finally, the trash has been dealt with.”
Berter Leobain was not a member of the Church from the start.
He was of noble blood from a ducal family of the Kalrn Empire, and the Church was merely an option for him.
For an outsider like him to hold the position of Vice Captain of the Knights of the Church, which sustains the Church?
It made no sense from the beginning.
However, even if it was the Church, they felt the need to curry favor with the Empire’s ducal family to some extent, so they bestowed the position of Vice Captain of the Knights of the Church as a token.
Of course, Berter also had some ability.
But Gerard hated it.
What is a Paladin?
Many people were still enduring hardships to purify their bodies and minds for the sake of the Church and the Goddess.
Yet, this Vice Captain only knew a little about training and showed no genuine devotion to serving the Goddess.
His bearing was also not upright.
Gerard disliked every aspect of Berter.
That’s why he was so happy with the current situation.
“What about the casualties?”
“Excluding Vice Captain Berter, contact has been lost with a total of nineteen Paladins as well.”
At Liana’s words, Gerard flicked his fingers on the desk.
*Tuk-tuk*
“Well, that doesn’t seem too bad.”
In the first place, Gerard’s objective was to refresh the Knights of the Church, including the Vice Captain.
No matter how pure water is, it will rot if it becomes stagnant.
As the Captain, Gerard saw the current Paladins as becoming stagnant.
There were those who had lost the will to move forward, and there were also those who had entered through improper means without sufficient ability.
The emergence of corrupt elements in a place that should be the most upright could lead to fatal consequences.
Therefore, he decided to utilize the monster subjugation operation that the Church was conducting.
It was also convenient for cutting ties since the Vice Captain was not a member of the Church from the beginning.
Furthermore, it was an opportunity to properly sift out Paladins with poor performance or those whose growth had plateaued.
Of course, it was possible he hadn’t discovered any raw talent, but he believed he had given them sufficient time.
And it proved successful.
Berter, who had been an eyesore, was gone, and those who lacked ability but only sought power within the Church were reduced simultaneously.
“Still, Captain. The scale of this incident has become quite large. A hearing will be held by the Church, and if they discover that any equipment was tampered with during this process-”
Gerard raised his hand and cut off Liana’s words.
The Church announced that only the elite Paladins were dispatched for this operation.
Of course, that was true. Half of them, at least.
Half of the dispatched Paladins were indeed composed of elites.
However, those assigned to Vice Captain Berter were, as mentioned earlier, those who had served their purpose.
Naturally, Berter, who had no interest in the Church, would have had no interest in the Knights of the Church.
Although he held the position of Vice Captain, he had no way of knowing who had been assigned to him.
He also didn’t bother trying to find out.
And, as Liana said a little while ago, Gerard had devised a way to make things more certain.
It was the equipment.
The equipment provided to the Paladins was all of the highest quality.
However, equipment is also the result of human touch.
Some defective equipment, not of the highest quality, was produced.
Gerard tampered with and obtained such defective equipment.
And it was a simple matter to hand it over to Berter and the Paladins assigned to him.
How much like trash were they that none of them noticed the problems with the equipment assigned to them?
‘They really were trash.’
Gerard felt relieved, having cut out the rotten parts.
“That should be no problem, so let me hear the next report.”
After all, even if a hearing were to be held, the responsibility would likely end with Berter.
Ultimately, he was the highest responsible person on site.
And through this incident, he gained a lot.
First, his superiors would be shocked by the disappearance of the Paladins.
While they were missing, they had essentially died on the operation.
In response, his superiors would strengthen their vigilance and empower the Paladins further.
This meant an increase in his own authority as the Captain of the Knights of the Church.
‘My era will soon come.’
Gerard’s lips curled upwards.
* * *
Berter Leobain held a Demonic Sword in his hand.
It was the Demonic Sword he had desired for so long.
He had struggled for days to obtain it, but finally, it was in his grasp.
Even if the Paladins he led were annihilated, what did that matter?
Now, all he had to do was draw the Demonic Sword to gain immense power.
If he gained power, no being could stand in his way.
Berter slowly drew the Demonic Sword with eyes full of desire.
*Zzzzt*
He felt pain in the hand holding the Demonic Sword.
It was agonizing, but Berter continued to draw the Demonic Sword.
Finally, when the Demonic Sword was fully drawn.
“Kk…”
The pain he felt in his hand spread through his arm and then his entire body.
A groan naturally escaped his lips.
‘I didn’t think I’d get it so easily…!’
Once this process was complete, he would gain power on a different level.
The pain grew increasingly intense.
And then.
“Kuaaaa!”
His entire body felt like it was burning.
The pain was so intense that he wanted to faint.
He had surpassed his limit for enduring pain.
Something was wrong.
For a moment, regret washed over him.
It wasn’t for nothing that the world called it a Demonic Sword.
“Please…”
Kill me.
The pain was so unbearable that he couldn’t even speak properly.
All Berter could do was shed tears.
“Oh my, how are you feeling right now?”
Someone spoke to Berter.
Even though he was in pain, Berter struggled to twist his body and look to the side.
There stood a woman with silver hair.
The woman had an incredibly captivating appearance.
‘A, a Monster…’
The large horns on her head indicated she was not human.
“Humans are truly simple. To draw a Demonic Sword without any hesitation just because of a little Charm.”
The Monster in front of him spoke.
However, Berter could not pay attention to her words.
The intensity of the pain he was feeling continued to increase.
“……!”
Another intense pain struck him.
“Kuaaak!”
Perhaps his heart would stop from the shock.
Yes, perhaps that would be better.
He wanted to be freed from this continuous suffering quickly.
So he begged.
Though he couldn’t speak, his lips formed a plea for death.
Should I consider it fortunate?
The woman before him responded to Berter’s unspoken words.
“Now, instead, think of those who made you this way.”
Even in his terrible pain, Berter listened intently to her words.
She was the only one who could save him, or rather, the only Monster, so he thought desperately.
Those who made him this way?
It was obvious.
The family that cast him out.
If they had only allowed him to compete fairly for the succession, he wouldn’t have resented them.
If he hadn’t been cast out, he wouldn’t have had contact with the Church, and he wouldn’t have met this end.
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
Berter nodded madly.
He had thought of everything, so he begged her to kill him now.
“Alright. I will save you now.”
Berter closed his eyes.
He didn’t care as long as he could be freed from this pain.
Celia looked at Berter, who had closed his eyes.
A foolish human.
That was Celia’s assessment of him.
Then, she summoned another being.
“Death Knight, please.”
At Celia’s command, the Death Knight slowly drew his sword.
Then, he swung it towards Berter’s neck.
Amidst the terrifying rush of wind and scattered blood, Berter Leobain’s head fell to the ground.
Simultaneously, Celia quickly sheathed the Demonic Sword that Berter had been holding.
This was possible because he had exhausted most of the Demonic Sword’s power with his entire being.
“This is for Master.”
Celia headed towards the altar with the Demonic Sword.
At the same time, two Paladins guarding the entrance of the Dungeon entered and followed Celia towards the altar.
* * *
*Ding-*
The smartphone alarm rang.
As soon as the alarm sounded, I checked its contents.
– You have acquired the Unique Monster, Berter Leobain (★★★★).
“Oh.”
An unexpectedly acquired Monster.
Moreover, the Monster’s rank was 4 stars.
Shall I take a look at who it is?
I touched the smartphone and navigated to the screen where the Monster was displayed.
There was a Monster that looked extraordinary at first glance.
It was immediately noticeable because it had no head.
It only had up to the neck, and no head above that.
The whereabouts of the head were found in an unexpected place.
He was holding his own head in his hand, and his expression showed immense pain.
“Isn’t this a Dullahan?”
Dullahan is famously known as a headless Monster.
Therefore, the Monster I acquired now seemed no different from a Dullahan.
“Well, 4 stars is not bad, though.”
I didn’t spend any Jewels to draw it, after all.
The smartphone alarm wasn’t finished yet.
– Celia offers the Demonic Sword to Master as a sacrifice.
“Demonic Sword?”
There was a sacrifice with a dangerous-sounding name.
But the problem was elsewhere.
– Warning! This sacrifice carries the risk of severely distorting causality. Emergency measures are being activated.
– The abilities of the sacrifice ‘Demonic Sword’ will be limited. Restrictions will be gradually lifted based on the user’s condition later.
The word causality appeared again.
Also, with the Demonic Sword’s abilities being limited, it piqued my curiosity about how powerful an item it could be.
– Receiving the sacrifice ‘Demonic Sword’. (Remaining time: 14 days 6 hours)
“What? It will take two weeks?”
It would take a considerable amount of time, 14 days, to receive the Demonic Sword offered as a sacrifice.
“Ha…”
It was unfortunate for me, who wanted to gain confirmation quickly.
“Are there any other sacrifices? Two weeks is too long…”
As I pondered for a moment, the alarms continued to ring, fortunately.
– Celia offers a Paladin of the White Church to Master as a sacrifice.
– Absorbing the Paladin’s abilities. (Remaining time: 6 hours)
– Celia offers a Paladin of the White Church to Master as a sacrifice.
– Absorbing the Paladin’s abilities. (Remaining time: 6 hours)
Two Paladins were consecutively offered as sacrifices.
And it takes 6 hours to absorb their abilities.
After checking these alarms, I was faced with the same situation as before.
“……”
Suddenly, I felt drowsy.
“It seems I get sleepy every time this happens…”
It seems I need to address this point.
Thinking that I would discuss this matter with Celia next time, I surrendered myself to the drowsiness.
