Betrayal Knight’s Joyful Faith - Chapter 403



Only Noblemtl

The 403rd episode of The Merry God of Betrayal

Chapter 95. The little guy is just missing.

All around became quiet.

The noise that occasionally shook the ceiling stopped completely.

Iris disappeared into the darkness, and the noisy spirits also disappeared without a trace.

The statue covered in white frost split open with a cracking sound.

The ornately decorated floor and the high, round ceiling that represented the sky were all covered in pure white ice.

It was an alien sight, as if a harsh winter had come only to this place.

Crunch, crunch.

The statues of Luce and Chernion, unable to withstand the extreme cold, began to vibrate little by little.

And after a while.

Clang!

The two statues shattered into pieces at the same time, turning into pure white shards of ice that fell to the floor.

Now the twin gods were nothing more than a handful of ice sand, radiating a faint silvery glow.

“… … .”

The apprentice knight was surrounded by everything he had created.

I didn’t even have the energy to stand anymore.

He sat down, barely able to support himself on the sword deeply embedded in the floor, and concentrated all his attention on slowly catching his breath.

How long has it been like that?

From far away came the sound of rumbling voices.

“Hey! Arendt, where are you?”

“Lord Arendt! Are you all right? Lord Arendt!”

The voices that were filled with urgency somehow felt unfamiliar.

Who was that?

The actor thought blankly.

Who are they calling? Oh, is it me?

‘Where is this place?’

The temple. The last remaining relic of antiquity. And the dilapidated stage that could collapse under your feet at any moment.

It was a stage that he had barely managed to build, where he arbitrarily changed the roles and changed the script to suit his own taste.

‘I was not wrong.’

The actor, who alone knew all the truth, repeated it to himself.

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

This is a fucking stage. This is a fucking world.

There was nothing I liked about it, but it was still a stage I couldn’t let go of.

The hand holding the sword tightened its grip.

“Hey, you little punk! Are you okay? Answer me!”

Rider and Salem, who had just found the passage, quickly ran into the temple.

“Lord Arendt! Where… … .”

Salem, who had been shouting urgently, unconsciously closed his mouth. Rider also noticed the same sight as Salem and naturally stopped walking.

“… … .”

A blindingly white world filled the two people’s field of vision.

In the middle of the cold air, the apprentice knight they had been searching for was quietly hiding.

Arendt, placed in a world covered in frost, looked whiter than ever.

I could see white breath flowing out between his lips.

Frost had settled on the hand holding the frozen sword hilt.

There was not a trace of blood in his pale, ashen face.

But his golden eyes held a distinct light.

Like moonlight that never loses its light in the darkness.

“… … .”

He knelt before the ruins he had created, like a knight reciting his own firm oath.

Rider and Salem stood frozen in place for a long time, unable to move.

I should have run to him right away, grabbed his shoulder, shook him, and asked if he was okay, but somehow my feet wouldn’t move.

It was because they had a vague intuition that they should not dare to invade that place.

The moment I was about to have the illusion that time had stopped.

Arendt slowly raised her head.

The rider who met his eyes flinched.

“Arendt?”

“What the… … oh my… … .”

Arendt opened her lips with difficulty and got up unsteadily.

He glared at the rider with venomous eyes and barely managed to continue speaking.

“You seem like a useless senior… … . I won’t let you off easy, really… … .”

With those last words, Arendt collapsed on the spot.

Ryder and Salem were left stunned.

It was because I was dumbfounded by the sight of Arendt gritting her teeth even while fainting.

But after a while.

“Eww! Hey, you little shit! Come to your senses!”

The rider suddenly came to his senses and ran towards him with a cheer.

* * *

The noise that seemed to tear the sky apart suddenly stopped. The priests and ghouls who were desperately trying to attack the castle walls suddenly stopped moving and stared at the sky with blank eyes.

The same was true for those who tried to block the knights’ path in any way.

As if they were puppets that had lost their master, all enemies stopped moving in an instant.

It was an incredibly bizarre sight.

“… … What’s going on?”

Glenn muttered, lost in thought.

Lexion, who was blocking Nikepor, was also confused.

Nikephor, who had been charging at us like a mad dog, suddenly stopped attacking and gained some distance.

“… … .”

Lexion glared at Nikephor with full vigilance.

Nikepor also stared at Lexion with eyes filled with hatred that were quite different from those of a human or elf.

But that was only for a moment.

Nikepor slowly closed his eyes.

“… … Our saint has made a deal.”

Unlike when he had lost his mind and attacked, a calm voice flowed out.

In Nikephor’s eyes, revealed once again under the black sky, the anger that had consumed him had disappeared as if washed away.

Lexion crumpled his face.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I didn’t know he would be this close.”

Regardless, Nikephor only muttered irritably and ran his hands through his disheveled hair.

“I showed you a bad side of myself. I asked you to refrain from coming forward because it was dangerous.”

It was a voice that was so calm that it was almost like a sigh.

Lexion noticed that the situation on the ground was similar.

The ghouls and priests who had just been fighting with the intent to annihilate each other were now retreating like a swarm of pitch-black ants.

The knights and elves, who suddenly lost their enemies to fight, were bewildered and just stared blankly at the sight.

“Since you say that our purpose has already been achieved, we have no choice but to retreat.”

Nikepor glanced at Lexion as he spoke without any particular regret.

“And this may be an unnecessary interference, but… … .”

Lexion also raised his head again and faced Nikephor.

Nikepor met his gaze and spat out briefly.

“That kid is really pitiful. Even though he’s our enemy, I can’t help but feel sorry for him.”

“what?”

When Lexion asked with a frown, Nikepor added calmly.

“Your ignorance has become a burden on the little boy’s small shoulders… … What should I do? He is so mean.”

Nikepor took one last look at Lexion, then teleported away and suddenly disappeared.

The golden magic that had briefly swayed disappeared without a trace.

Lexion stared blankly at the spot for a moment and then slowly sighed.

“after…….”

Black magic enveloped his body for a moment and then dispersed.

The once bloated body has shrunk again.

The scales that covered his hands and feet disappeared, and the horns that had grown on his forehead also disappeared without a trace.

“… … That damn kid. What did you do again?”

Lexion sighed quietly, irritably ruffling his blood-stained hair.

The knights and elves who had been momentarily dumbfounded were seen hurriedly rushing to help the injured.

The ground was a bloody mess.

The corpses of priests and ghouls were strewn everywhere you looked.

The inside of the palace was also a mess, with the groaning wounded and corpses tangled together.

“Tsk.”

It wasn’t a completely unfamiliar sight.

Lexion clicked his tongue in displeasure at the sight that reminded him of past battlefields.

After waiting for a moment, we could see Ryder and Salem, carrying Arendt on their backs, rushing out of the palace.

‘Because of my ignorance?’

Suddenly, the last words Nikephoro said came to mind.

But Lexion couldn’t fully understand what it meant.

The air, greatly shaken by the dragon’s fight, began to hold moisture.

It looked like it was going to rain any minute.

* * *

It was an unprecedented event with enormous casualties.

The number of victims would have increased even further if we included the dead who were not yet fully identified due to the initial suppression measures that did not even leave behind bodies.

It’s been three days since the battle ended.

With the sound of rain pouring down outside the window, Laius and Victor silently listened to Commander Edgar’s grim report.

“… … and the underground space beneath the palace is believed to be an ancient relic.”

Edgar continued speaking after looking at the two people’s expressions. Even his face was still covered in scars.

“Prince Llewelyn personally went to investigate, but since the area believed to be the core was completely destroyed… … he said that the exact purpose could not be determined.”

“… … I really didn’t know anything.”

Victor, who had been keeping his mouth tightly shut, opened it.

“I didn’t even realize that there was such a space under the palace. Nor did I realize that my people quickly fell into enemy hands.”

“It is not your fault.”

Lyus answered calmly.

“It is assumed that someone intentionally hid it after the Great War. Only the old dragons of the Evil Cult would have known of the existence of the ancient temple.”

“… … .”

Despite his blunt consolation, Victor could hardly raise his head.

Edgar hesitated for a moment, then began to cry again.

“They say the ice there hasn’t melted yet.”

This time it was Laius’ turn to remain silent. Victor, who was rolling his eyes, asked cautiously.

“How are you, Lord Arendt?”

“He hasn’t woken up yet, but he’s not in a bad condition. He’s recovering well, so he’ll be fine.”

Laius answered calmly, but his face did not look very cheerful.

From some point on, the divine power of Luce became almost ineffective for Arendt.

Moreover, since Lexion was also badly injured and had disappeared, they had to rely solely on Shekinah’s magic and the healer’s medical skills.

‘Besides, Shekinah is also injured… … .’

Since you can’t pour out magic indefinitely, recovery is bound to be quite slow.

It wasn’t just Arendt.

Licht and Arthur, who tried to interfere in the cleaning work as if nothing had happened, were severely scolded by Rios and dragged to the treatment room.

They had been insisting that they were fine, but their claims were rendered meaningless when they were finally able to move after suffering for a full day.

‘They’re all a pain in the ass.’

Lyos, who had been pressing his temples, came to his senses at the sound of Victor’s voice.

“Once Lord Arendt opens his eyes… … . We can find out what happened underground. Both Salem and Lord Rider say they remember almost nothing.”

Lyos nodded.

“Yes. So for now, I’m going to focus on training and wait leisurely.”

The rider was quite dispirited at the fact that he had been so outrageously treated.

He tried to recall his memories somehow, but he couldn’t remember anything after meeting Salem.

‘Salem seemed to know something, but… … .’

For some reason, he seemed reluctant to talk, so Leo didn’t bother asking.

I figured there must be a good reason why Salem kept her mouth shut.

“In the end, we have no choice but to wait for Lord Arendt to find out the truth.”

Victor said complicatedly.

The identity of the underground space, the reason it was destroyed, and even the reason the enemy suddenly retreated.

A lot depended on a single word from the apprentice knight.

“Yes, that’s right, but… … .”

Lyos, who had been silent for a moment, added again.

“As I said earlier, I would appreciate it if you could wait patiently. He is in dire need of rest right now.”

Edgar and Victor paused, sensing the sting in his tone.

“I also know very well that it is not right to rush the injured person. And more than anything else… … . there is something else I must say first when he opens his eyes.”

Victor wiggled his hands on his knees a few times and smiled bitterly.

“First of all, I should say thank you.”

After all, each and every one of his actions was intended to reduce the number of victims.

Instead of answering, Laius silently bowed his head toward the crown prince.

After receiving the silent thanks, Victor turned his gaze outside the window where rain was pouring down.

The palace gardens, once a tranquil beauty but now in ruins, came into view.

Swish.

The endless pouring rain washed away the blood shed by so many people.

However, the scent of blood that covered the Kingdom of Lucain would not disappear for a while.

‘What should I do now… … .’

Although his chest felt tight, Victor somehow managed to suppress the sigh that was about to escape.

Now there was no way back, no place to hide.

All that’s left are his two poor younger brothers and his mother, who is imprisoned for treason.

Now is the time for him to take upon himself everything in the Kingdom of Lucain.