Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 389



Only Noblemtl

Episode 389. The Masked Monster (1)

“Suicide march?”

Isaac asked, recalling the speculation that the Dawn Army was part of the lighthouse keeper’s conspiracy. It wouldn’t have been strange for Paleback, a famous angel of the Undying Church, to know something.

Pale said, glaring at Isaac with his arms crossed loosely.

“The Code of Light had never recaptured the Holy Land of Lua, except for the 1st and 3rd. Even Bishop Villar of the Dawn Army, who led the 1st Dawn Army, became the Archangel ‘Dead December’, and King Sarka Nua, who succeeded in the 3rd Dawn Army, became the Archangel ‘Graveyard Lord’.”

Isaac was a little disappointed, thinking it was just a history lesson.

Those two were so famous that Isaac already knew them well. Rather, the identity of Pale, who came from a poor artist background, was more secretive.

“Yes. You came in as the youngest. It is true that the Code of Light greatly contributed to the strengthening of the power of the Undead Church. So? Are you certain that it will be the same this time?”

Isaac pretended not to know and acted angry in order to extract more secrets. Pale smiled at that and snapped his fingers, and a chair naturally appeared in the dark world of imagination. Isaac was speechless at the absurd sight of someone using his world of imagination as their own home.

“How did you do that?”

“Why? Don’t you know what a chair is?”

Pale asked with a puzzled look and then narrowed his eyes.

“What, isn’t this poor and shabby space Urbansus? Where did I expect it to be, the Forest of Forgetfulness?”

‘Is this the afterlife?’

Of course, this space is a place that can only be inhabited by those inside Isaac’s stomach, so it’s not much different from the afterlife. Rather, Pale seemed to think that he was devoured by a nameless chaos and came to the afterlife of another religion.

Isaac thought that it would be more advantageous for the interrogation if this misconception was not corrected.

“It is the Forest of Oblivion, yes. But it’s the first time I’ve seen something summoned like that.”

“Then study. Well, if you have a pretty face, it’s better to be a little stupid.”

Isaac briefly considered asking who got eaten by that stupid trash can, but then stopped himself.

As he focused his consciousness a little and visualized the shape of the chair, a familiar wooden chair soon appeared behind him.

‘Would something like this be possible in Urbansus too?’

It wasn’t clear whether anyone could do it, but at least Isaac could. Isaac was glad he had met Pale, who had unexpected knowledge.

Pale continued speaking to Isaac while crossing his legs.

“Let’s keep talking. You don’t know the cause of the Immortal Emperor. No matter what grand scheme the Lighthouse Keeper is plotting, what sinister plot the Red Grail is plotting, or what seeds the Furnace of the World is hiding, they are all insignificant in the grand scheme of things. They are all worthless and useless.”

Pale said coldly.

“Through this dawn army, the path of the Immortal Church towards its cause has only been accelerated.”

“Well, isn’t that lighthouse keeper doing too well? I heard that the current Dawn Army’s main force is not as strong as before. And there’s also talk that this Dawn Army will be the last.”

The pale expression hardened slightly.

She would know even more that the Yeomyeong Army’s momentum was unusual. Right now, the Yeomyeong Army was literally ‘100% sincere’, pouring out all of the Empire’s power.

In order to block this power, the Undead Order had to mobilize all of their angels and all of their corpses to block it. However, with Isaac attacking from the rear, their power was dispersed. Although it may not be known, it would have been much more difficult to defend than before Isaac intervened.

“I’m not sure, but isn’t it possible that the Immortal Emperor is being deceived by the lighthouse keeper?”

Isaac let slip some of the guesses he had. Even Linde had guesses, so it wouldn’t have been strange for Isaac to know.

“under.”

But Pale’s return reaction was nothing but laughter.

“The lighthouse keeper is a great angel. To the extent that a single angel can go against God. But his pride! Pride is always the enemy of angels. You have no idea how many angels have fallen because of that pride.”

It is natural for those with power to become arrogant. And the angels are all those whose powers are acknowledged even by God. Isaac had difficulty estimating how many angels there were in history that he did not know about.

“But the Immortal Emperor has a plan that even the lighthouse keeper has. His plans, unlike those of the less fortunate, are not complicated or difficult. They are simply carried out naturally.”

As expected, in Urbansus, where deception and being deceived are a daily occurrence, there is no one who is easy to fool.

In the first place, it may be natural, since Urbanus and the determined history itself are the result of manipulation, lies, deception, fraud, and collusion by gods and angels.

“What is the cause?”

“immortality.”

Pale smiled as if to say, “What’s the big deal?”

“The Immortal Church is not defeated. He is working to save all people and give them eternal life. Even monsters like you.”

Pale said as if he was displeased.

Isaac pondered the meaning of Pale’s words. Her words were in line with the goals of the Immortal Order, and also the direction in which the Immortal Emperor was moving. The idea that the Immortal Emperor, who was a clear deity despite his short history, was being deceived and used by the lighthouse keeper, who was a famous angel, seemed a bit excessive, even to Isaac.

‘So, is this the other way around, the lighthouse keeper being used by the Immortal Emperor?’

Or maybe it was both, or maybe they were both ultimately headed in the right direction. Either way, it was clear that countless lives were being lost in the battle between the gods in real time.

“So the Immortal Emperor is planning to stop the Dawn Army this time anyway?”

“Of course. They will all become new powers for the Immortal Church. Someone like Dera Heman might even become a great angel.”

“Then what would happen if the Dawn Army were to occupy the Holy Land, Lua?”

Pale didn’t answer. He just smiled coldly and stared at Isaac.

Isaac smiled back at her, knowing that she had no intention of answering, and urged her on.

“You were abandoned by the Immortal Emperor anyway. Since you’re already abandoned, a pretty and stupid trash can is better than a weird shit can. Why don’t you just come clean about it?”

“The ending is long… … .”

Pale smiled coldly and slowly tilted his head.

“There’s no way what you said would happen. But if it did… … .”

Pale answered calmly.

“Unfortunately, we will see the Immortal Emperor’s cause being fulfilled a thousand years early.”

***

Isaac tried to talk to Palebaek a little more. However, Palebaek became quiet after talking about ‘what if the Dawn Army succeeds in occupying the Holy Land, Lua’, so he was unable to obtain any useful information.

Isaac decided to end the conversation here, thinking that it was pointless to continue.

‘I was just trying to check if the paleness was digested or not, so this wasn’t a waste of time.’

Isaac was about to end his meditation when something suddenly occurred to him and he asked Pale.

“Have you seen any paladins here?”

Pale frowned and tilted his head.

“Is there any reason why I should answer?”

“Just in case. Wouldn’t it be better for you to have at least one neighbor? His name is Carlsen Milter, and he’s a friend you should know.”

Carlsen had already apostatized his knights to the Immortal Order. He had intended to do the same if things went wrong. Paleback, the Angel of Light, might know. Paleback opened his eyes wide, as expected.

“Karlsen Milter? That apostate, you suddenly disappeared, but you ate him? Wait a minute. Aren’t you about twenty years old? It’s been over ten years since Karlsen disappeared, so how old were you when you ate him?”

“Did you see it or not? Just tell me that.”

“… … I’ve seen all sorts of little things, but I haven’t seen everything. I’ll check slowly.”

Pale was uncooperative, but she seemed curious about the situation. It didn’t matter whether Carlsen was alive or dead, but there was still a lingering sense of unease that hadn’t been resolved. She just wanted to resolve that uneasiness before it disappeared.

When Isaac finished his meditation and headed to the camp, it was already morning. When he returned to the camp, Tukhalin and Ethelred, who were walking with him, looked surprised when they saw Isaac.

Ethelred approached with a momentary look of confusion.

“Grail Knight? Didn’t you talk to us at the inn earlier? When did you leave and come back?”

Isaac realized what was happening and answered calmly.

“I went to take another look at the Pale Remnants. I thought I might need it.”

“but…….”

“Aha, I see you were concerned that His Majesty Aethelred said earlier that he couldn’t believe that the Archangel was destroyed so easily. You wanted to make sure of it, didn’t you?”

Isaac nodded quickly at Tukhalin’s words.

“Yes. Pale will never show himself before us again.”

“I see. Then what’s left is the dead December and the Graveyard Lord? If those two come here, there won’t be any power to stop the main force of the Dawn Army, so there won’t be much to worry about until we reach the Holy Land, Lua.”

“The angels and the elite Lunar Eclipse Army, there are many forces to be wary of. Please continue to be cautious.”

Aethelred was quickly taken in by the fluid conversation between Tukhalin and Isaac. If he had been more experienced, he might have found the conversation jarring, but he was still a young king.

Before Isaac passed, Tukhalin grabbed his sleeve and whispered.

“I don’t know what that toy in your barracks is, but I think you’d better not use it too often. If you’re not careful, rumors of the Grail Knights doing strange things might start spreading. I know you like to wander around alone, but shouldn’t you at least let us know?”

Isaac smiled bitterly at the thought that he couldn’t fool Tukhalin.

“I will be careful. Tukhalin.”

***

Isaac returned to his barracks. As soon as he entered the barracks, he saw another Isaac with the same face as him. Another Isaac approached him without being surprised or shaken and calmly grabbed his hand.

At the same time, as the ‘call’ was activated, it disappeared in an instant as if it was sucked in.

This was the ability Isaac gained after preying on Pale, the ‘Shaped Form’.

[Type of division (S+)]

[Through the asceticism of splitting yourself into small pieces, you have finally gained a sixth finger. You can split parts of your strength and flesh to create elaborate ‘duplicates’ of yourself. Duplicates can be called back to the soul through a call, absorbing both knowledge and power. The ‘original’ is determined by the location of the soul.]

Basically, it was the same way as Pale Body. There was a main body with a soul, and that main body had all the initiative. But if you lost the duplicate, you lost that much power.

It was a test clone made to avoid appearing as if he had vacated the garrison before going to meet Pale. As the ability description says, as soon as Isaac retrieved it, the conversation between Tukhalin and Ethelred seeped into him.

The conversation was about a normal operational meeting.

During the process of speculating about the direction of the journey ahead, how to conquer the Labyrinth Valley, and whether or not other angels would come, there was a brief mention of Pale. Tukhalin didn’t seem to feel any discomfort during that conversation.

‘Maybe he found me outside the barracks and realized I was out of place.’

This clone is a perfect clone of Isaac. Although its powers are split, its reasoning, emotions, and all its behaviors are identical to Isaac’s.

But Tukhalin, the master of the furnace, seemed to see something different.

Isaac didn’t really have any identity crisis or anxiety.

The clone Isaac was nothing more than an extra finger to him. Or maybe it was the pale experience seeping into him.

Isaac treated the clones with familiarity, as if having a sixth finger didn’t cause the other fingers to suffer from an identity crisis.

‘It might be because it was made by splitting the tentacles in the first place.’