Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 398



Only Noblemtl

Episode 398. Under the Lamp (2)

“Back off?”

[If this continues, you will face the elite of the Immortal Cult. Of course, I heard that you defeated the Angel Pale, but their offensive will be on a different level. It is not an army that you can handle.]

Isaac felt unfamiliar.

‘That’ Siero was giving Isaac advice with genuine concern.

It was a strange thing for Isaac, who had beaten him to death, ripped off his ear, and then pushed him into the limbs. Thinking about it, what Siero was giving Isaac now was quite dangerous.

Isaac doesn’t ignore advice from someone who genuinely cares about him.

So I thought about it for a moment and then answered.

“no.”

[No? Are you saying you won’t back down?]

“Well, I’m not backing down.”

[That’s all for nothing! The Immortal Church is truly… . . ]

“I don’t mean to be rude, I believe in lighthouse keepers.”

It may sound funny, but Isaac trusted the lighthouse keeper.

It’s not that I believe that someone will come running to rescue Isaac. It’s that I believe in the lighthouse keeper’s obsession with not caring about the means and methods to achieve his goals.

“The lighthouse keeper will always betray the Immortal Order.”

Siero seemed speechless at the remark, which was almost insulting to the highest angel of the Code of Light. But if you can’t trust the good intentions of others, shouldn’t you at least trust their goals?

The lighthouse keeper does not change his purpose and plans because of good intentions or fate, so he is trustworthy.

“Anyway, I have my own thoughts, so don’t worry. More importantly, didn’t you say that the Sword of May defeated the Graveyard Lord?”

[Yeah, yeah. I heard that Dera Heman was also badly injured during that time… … .]

Isaac could tell who would be sent to check him.

“Then the Graveyard Lord will come this way.”

The Graveyard Lord is the most powerful of the Immortal Order’s angels. He is without a doubt the most powerful opponent Isaac has ever faced.

However, if he had been defeated in the battle with the Sword of May and Dera Heman, his soul would certainly have been wounded.

The undead can instantly rise again even if their entire body is destroyed. This is because what is important to them is not the body, but the soul.

But conversely, if the soul is damaged even if the body is intact, it will be a great blow.

The reason Pale fled to the fortress after Isaac cut off his head was because he had suffered a spiritual blow. This is also why even if there were tens of thousands of ordinary people without any ability, they would not be able to touch an angel even a single speck of dust.

It may not be a situation that the Undead Order would like, but there is no point in sending only Death Knights to Isaac, who has destroyed the Archangel. The Grave Lord will definitely come.

He hadn’t even considered the possibility of the Immortal Emperor himself intervening. Isaac was convinced after speaking with him directly.

God is a being who has become the very rules he has created. Since he has said that he will persuade Isaac with his own mouth, the immortal emperor will not step forward himself unless Isaac threatens the very foundation of his faith.

‘If I do… … well, there’s no other way, so I’ll think about it then.’

Let’s start with the Graveyard Lord. The Graveyard Lord is a powerful angel, but if he’s injured, there might be a way to deal with him.

‘then…….’

Isaac stared at the leader of the Isacrea Dawn Army as they entered the Labyrinth Valley.

Originally, Isaac had planned to rejoin at this point. However, after considering his meeting with Beshek, the change in attitude of the Code of Light, and the movements of the Undead Cult, he changed his mind.

‘This guy and that guy… … Are these the types of people I can handle?’

Isaac smiled coldly.

It seems quite funny to see Beshek trying to tease her and the lighthouse keeper trying to swing her around like this.

But this time I touched the wrong spot.

Until now, Isaac has been surviving by keeping an eye on the will and plans of the gods.

He must have looked like a really insignificant person because he acted like a proper Grail Knight.

Isaac felt the need to politely inform him that he was a tentacled monster that should be horrified and scared.

He met the eyes of the divided Isaac, who was walking at the front of the line. They were too far apart to be seen with the naked eye, but he could clearly see that they were staring at each other.

‘For now, you must remain a complete and pure Grail Knight.’

Isaac’s identity is easily revealed when he has to prey or take out his tentacles. There were also many dangerous moments when he commanded his followers.

Gebel already seemed to know but remained silent.

In order to use the tentacles more actively, it would have been better to eliminate the possibility of being caught.

In that case, it would be better for one side to remain a monster in the shadows for a while.

Isaac recalled the thoughts of the Dawn Army leaders that he had heard through Siero.

‘You’re giving me a trial?’

It’s a funny thought. Isaac was born into this world’s trials.

It will not be God who imposes the ordeal, but Isaac.

‘First, I have to show this loose-knit group of Dawn what a fucking ordeal is.’

***

In the Immortal Church, the flesh is classified into three types.

The flesh inhabited by the spirit, the undead, the empty flesh.

The bodies in which the spirit resides are either slaves, those who are likely to apostatize, or the living. These cannot be supplied with a ‘new body’ because they have the potential to become new citizens.

The undead are literally ordinary citizens.

Those who have chosen an immortal life by converting to the Immortal Church. They will not die until their bodies are destroyed, and even after they die, their souls will be bound to the Immortal Church and wander the earth, neither this world nor the afterlife.

Finally, the empty body.

This is a body that can be supplied as a ‘new body’ that can be supplied to the dead of the Immortal Church. However, there are many ghosts who have lost their bodies, and the supply of empty bodies is always insufficient. Ghosts are lining up to receive a new body, but it is not easy to receive one.

And the angel who took care of this physical work was none other than the Lord of the Graveyard.

Like most undead, the Cemetery Lord, a celestial being, has no flesh.

Instead, he adorned himself with the bones of hundreds of fallen soldiers.

Although it was his job to provide bodies to the phantoms according to administrative procedures, he sometimes possessed the phantoms in empty bodies that he wore like armor, using them as soldiers or handing them out as rewards.

The Grave Lord loved his duty of giving new bodies to the dead, of extending immortality to immortality.

It was also the Grave Lord who spread the aesthetics of white bones among the Immortal Church.

In the early days of the Undead Cult, when its followers had yet to adapt to life as undead and were trying to hide their decaying appearances, the Graveyard Lords discussed the beauty of ‘skeletons’.

‘Bones do not reveal skin color, fatness, or thinness. It is a fair beauty that everyone should pursue!’

Anyway, there was no other way to pursue beauty.

The Graveyard Lord was the first to shed all of his flesh and only after entering a state of ‘bones’ could he create a class structure for ‘true’ followers of the Immortal Cult. How can one respect rotten, stinking flesh?

It didn’t matter that the undead couldn’t smell anyway.

Culture follows the fashions of the nobility and celebrities. The praise for the skeletons, solemnly proclaimed by the Cemetery Lord, who is both a king and a celestial angel, quickly became established as the culture of the Immortal Church.

‘I’m going to die.’

And now, the Graveyard Lord was buried underground.

It wasn’t like he was dead and buried, it was a kind of vacation.

He had always admired the beauty of bones, but sometimes he felt the emptiness that was unique to the undead. He sometimes missed the warmth, embrace, and fullness that flesh gave him, to the point of making him shiver.

Each time, he would bury himself in the ground and feel a sense of fulfillment as he felt the dirt, bugs, and plant roots between his bones as if they were flesh.

But a voice interrupted his vacation. With a will he could not refuse, the Graveyard Lord raised himself from the ground.

As soon as I stood up, what I saw was an undead with the appearance of a shabby wanderer.

The Graveyard Lord immediately recognized his opponent and prostrated himself.

[Your Majesty, you look shabby.]

It was a strange sight to see the Grave Lord, who was dozens of meters tall, prostrating himself before the wretched undead, but it was also the courtesy that should be shown to those at the end of all life.

[How is your body?]

[It’s not a big wound.]

Although he suffered a wound that split his body in half, it was really nothing to him. The wound to his pride from being defeated by humans was greater.

[Did you say Dera Heman? The power of that bastard’s body was truly amazing. To suck up divinity. I thought I should kill him on the spot… … But the moment I showed an opening, the Sword of May was ready to strike.]

The Graveyard Lord believed that the Sword of May had played a major role in this defeat.

In fact, the Graveyard Lord couldn’t focus on Dera Heman at all because he was viciously waiting for an opening from above.

However, the Immortal Emperor knew that this result was not simply due to the Sword of May.

Because people want a story of a hero confronting and overcoming angels rather than a one-sided massacre by angels. The Grave Lord did not seem to know yet that his belief influenced the outcome of the fight.

The Code of Light was more adept at using Urbansus than the Undead Cult.

The Immortal Emperor judged that the Graveyard Lord would no longer be active on the front lines of the Dawn Army and issued new instructions.

[Go west. Go and stop the Grail Knight.]

[Yes? What about Yeomyeong-gun?]

[An agreement has been made with the Yeomyeong Army.]

The Immortal Emperor had already heard Al Villar’s report.

It doesn’t matter whether the lighthouse keeper actually keeps his promise or not. He doesn’t trust the lighthouse keeper either.

But like Isaac, he believed in the lighthouse keeper’s purpose, or obsession.

[The lighthouse keeper is plotting something using the Grail Knight. You may have to kill him and slowly convince him before things get any worse. Isaac has the key.]

[I will accept it, Your Majesty.]

Although many questions followed, the Graveyard Lord complied obediently.

He who knows the knowledge of all the dead is the Immortal Emperor. There is none wiser than he.

However, the Graveyard Lord was somewhat annoyed by Isaac’s presence.

[Your Majesty, may I ask why you care so much about that Grail Knight?]

At best, he was just a human, a mere knight. Although he had accomplished great feats, it was doubtful whether he was worthy of being directly cared for by the gods or coordinated by angels.

It’s not that I doubt the Immortal Emperor’s judgment. I just want to share my knowledge.

And the emperor was a ruler who willingly shared his knowledge with his citizens.

[Isaac is the chaos that has invaded the world.]

[chaos……?]

[There have always been such people throughout history. They shine a light into areas that others do not see, and bring order out of chaos.]

The Immortal Emperor muttered in a dark, somewhat anxious voice.

[Light comes in through the gap. Ironically, change always begins with the Code of Light. Just as Luaddin appeared and opened the Age of Light, Elil realized how to create order, and the Snowy Owl twisted Urbansus… … Isaac is a new being who came in through the gap.]

The Immortal Emperor continued speaking darkly.

[Up until now, Isaac has been moving around quietly on the stone slab prepared by the lighthouse keeper… …but Isaac is different from the changes that have appeared before.]

[What you mean by different is… … that even Your Majesty could not have predicted it?]

[No. Something… should I say the perspective is strange? I suddenly realized while talking to him. Isaac was looking down on the gods. It was as if he was seeing right through us where we were moving and what we were pursuing.]

The Immortal Emperor suddenly trembled.

The Graveyard Lord doubted his eyes, wondering if it was true that the Immortal Emperor, who did not even feel temperature, was shivering. However, the Immortal Emperor did not seem to notice it.

[That was not just a personal view. It is unknown where and what the nameless chaos brought, but what is hiding inside the body of the Grail Knight is not an ordinary tentacle monster. It is something more… … than that.]

The Immortal Emperor thought that the only things he feared were the end and death. However, the unpredictable variables and the unimaginable future were far more frightening.

[We must either allow that change to happen before it is too late… or prevent it.]