The paths of the boy and girl who awakened divine power are different.
Most girls become Healers or Priests, but boys rarely become Priests or Healers; instead, they mostly become Holy Knights.
As Holy Knights, they train against the heavenly adversaries represented by the undead, and upon completing their training, they are dispatched to serve in a brigade based on their grades.
Among them, those particularly outstanding in grades, martial arts, character, and faith are assigned to the Holy Knight Brigade.
This brigade, directly under the Infura Church Region, is an official order that doesn’t exist in other cathedrals — it is the Holy Knight Brigade.
Though the Infura Church Region might just be a city, it is recognized as a significant military force in the vast empire of Kapatia, thanks to the existence of this Holy Knight Brigade.
– Guuuu…
With a peculiar sound, celestial symbols began to flicker wildly around Scarlet.
This is the divine blessing unique to the Holy Knight Brigade, where divine power materializes to draw sacred symbols.
Each symbol is infused with heavenly protection.
With each flicker, physical abilities surge dramatically, regeneration is enhanced, physical defense is boosted, continuous strikes against nearby hostile entities, psychological defense is fortified, agility is increased, and skills are sharpened…
It is something that can’t be shared with others, only usable by oneself.
And it was flashing like crazy, dazzling around Scarlet.
“I beseech you, O Heavenly King, is there an enemy here?”
Scarlet stepped forward.
With a thud, the swung morning star turned into a golden flash, smashing down the corpses, while the shield became another battering ram, striking the enemy lines.
“As the Heavenly King gazes upon the earth, He commands to eradicate the wicked.”
With a crunch, the sound of bones breaking echoed as skeletons and zombies were swept away.
– Buooooo…
A giant corpse approached with loud footfalls, making an unearthly roar.
As it lifted its massive flesh club high, it seemed to blot out the sky, before it came crashing down, slicing through the air.
“I am not afraid, for the Heavenly King protects me.”
As Scarlet’s prayer resonated, the club came crashing down with a thud.
However, it did not achieve its intended effect and bounced off the shield surrounding Scarlet instead.
“The Heavenly King deems it ugly; it shall surely rot away.”
With each swing of the morning star, chunks of the flesh giant burst apart like a joke.
The undead rushing in were brushed aside by the shield, while Scarlet’s morning star kept bursting the flesh of the giant.
Scarlet’s morning star bursts flesh apart.
Within that power, the corpse giant finally wobbled and lost its balance.
“To those who defy the divine, may you find hellish slumber.”
Scarlet’s morning star smashed the giant’s head in a single blow.
Scattering brains, chunks of flesh, and blood clots couldn’t even splatter near Scarlet’s armor.
And Ludvik watched quietly, a smirk creeping onto his face as he laughed.
“Good, I don’t know who you are, but you’re definitely not the enemy!”
With the saint’s blessing shining down, the spear glowed brilliantly once more.
Gripping the spearhead with both hands, Ludvik leaped again.
*
“Why are there so many?!”
“There were always this many!”
Growling, Alex swung his hammer, clearing the encroaching undead away with his shield.
If it were swords, he might have lost some teeth by now. There were just too many of them.
“But at least it has decreased a lot!”
Even as Yona yelled, Alex couldn’t hear her properly.
“Kaiyak! Are you okay?!”
Yona turned at James’s shout.
One zombie had latched onto Kaiyak’s shoulder, sinking its teeth in, while another was trying to bite into his side.
Kaiyak, pushing back the incoming corpses, raised his axe but staggered for a moment.
“Kaiyak!”
As James threw his dagger and pried the zombies off, Kaiyak groaned deeply, kneeling down.
He supported the spear against the ground so he wouldn’t fall, but his stamina was utterly depleted; he couldn’t continue fighting.
“Alex, help me!”
They couldn’t leave things like this.
Corpses were swarming around, and Priest Vigrind had been continuously maintaining a protective barrier, so direct attacks couldn’t reach, but it was limited to just Yona.
“Yona, Yona… are you hurt?”
Kaiyak’s eyes, which always glimmered, turned towards Yona. His reptilian-slit pupils had often led to him being teased as a lizard, but he felt affection when looking at her. Yet now, that light had dimmed greatly.
“I’ll heal you, I promise!”
Yona strained as she tried to pull Kaiyak closer. But with her strength lacking, it was truly an impossible task, and James was too focused on fending off the charging undead to help Yona.
“Alex, Alex…! Help me…!”
Yona’s voice was mixed with a sob. She couldn’t do it alone. No matter how much she struggled to pull Kaiyak to a safer place, he wouldn’t budge an inch.
I couldn’t do it alone. No matter how hard Yona struggled and tried to pull Kaiyak to a safer place, he didn’t budge an inch.
“What are you crying about now?”
“Move, you lizard jerk… just a little… backwards…”
Still, Yona continued to pour healing magic into Kaiyak’s wounds.
They weren’t fatal injuries, but the effect of the corpse poison was too great, leaving Kaiyak so weak.
Every time a wound opened, the corpse poison seeping in had a significant negative impact on the living, but Kaiyak with his natural robust physique as a Lizardman had endured until now.
“Alex, help… help me…!”
Kaiyak might die.
Just thinking about it made Yona feel like she was choking.
Adventurers always dance with death.
Yona wasn’t oblivious to that. It was the same when Aleph had died, and when Carlson had died, and the world was such that even a companion who had been camping next to her just yesterday could have their head blown off today.
So it shouldn’t be strange for Kaiyak to die. Yet, Yona didn’t feel that way. The thought of Kaiyak dying just didn’t sit right. Her heart wouldn’t settle, and she felt a suffocating pressure in her throat.
“Yona! Are you okay!?”
Alex finally rushed over. His shield was covered in bits of flesh and bone from the dead.
“Help me move Kaiyak…!”
Yona struggled to pull Kaiyak. He lay limp, breathing, but his consciousness seemed to be fading away. The corpse poison was spreading, and if he succumbed any more, it would be truly dangerous.
“Yona, calm down. Calm down.”
Within Alex’s reassuring pats, Yona gasped for breath.
Holding onto Kaiyak’s arm with Alex, they managed to pull him back with James’ support.
After they got him behind a fairly large rock, at least out of range of attacks from behind, Yona finally had a good look at Kaiyak.
He had a large wound on his shoulder and one on his side. There were many small injuries too. Red blood oozing out, then stopping, and traces where the blood had become purple, tainted by the corpse poison.
“Kaiyak, Kaiyak…! You can’t die…!”
Yona completely released the Sacred Barrier.
Sure, the efficiency would have been much better with the barrier on, but now wasn’t the time to consider efficiency.
Taking a deep breath, Yona focused her energy on her lower abdomen.
There wasn’t much divine power left, but it would be okay.
Once she got this far, she just needed to call James for retreat.
Yeah, that should work.
Yona grasped the wound on Kaiyak’s shoulder with her bare hands.
Kaiyak clutched the wound on his shoulder.
It was so deep that a finger could slide right in.
And despite such an injury, Kaiyak still fought.
If I were in his shoes, I would undoubtedly be sobbing in a corner.
Yona thought this as she continued to purify the wound on Kaiyak’s shoulder.
“This guy!”
In the meantime, the undead were getting smashed on the head by Alex’s shield while also being pounded with a hammer.
With a comrade at his back, Alex couldn’t dare to retreat.
Kaiyak, a companion they had journeyed with for quite some time.
And Yona, who had spent even longer with him.
There was no way they could let those two be interrupted.
Finally, James got pushed back until the four of them were huddled together against the rock.
Kaiyak lay down, barely breathing, receiving treatment, while Yona used every last bit of her divinity.
The shield was bent and twisted, yet Alex firmly held onto it, tightly gripping his hammer.
James clutched a half-broken arrow shaft, his eyes wild as he scanned the surroundings.
But the number of undead surrounding them was more than tenfold.
‘…Hah.’
Yona looked up at the sky.
It seemed it was all over.
After all, taking on such a request was a mistake from the start.
Life was indeed more precious than money, it seemed.
Then Yona noticed something strange.
Above her, partially obscured by the rock, something was flying around wildly.
“For those who oppose the divine, let them never know peaceful rest—!”
With a thunderous shout, sounds of explosions and crunching echoed everywhere.
Upon closer inspection, the flying debris turned out to be zombie limbs, skeleton bones, ghoul claws, and even decapitated giant heads.
“For those who disgrace the divine, may they face a hellish eternal slumber—!”
The booming voice grew closer and closer.
Just when it seemed like it was almost right next to them, someone leaped down from the rock and stood before them.
Gleaming silver armor and shield, and in his right hand, a morning star.
Even from behind, the faint divine mist that flowed out from his face into the air was clear.
“May the path of the divine be one of glory—!”
The morning star burst into light.
With every swing, the undead were swept away as if struck by massive metal.
Yona could only stand there, gaping, watching the scene unfold.
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