Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 433

A heavy rumble was heard not far away, followed by explosions from all directions.Arendt, Arthur, and Richt were quietly hiding in the darkness.

Arendt, who had been quietly watching the flickering flames, the flying flesh, and the screaming ghouls, spoke.

“It’s chaos.”

That characteristically indifferent voice flowed out.

“Isn’t it perfectly fitting as a funeral march? Even those hanging over there wouldn’t feel wronged.”

“…Don’t say things that make me wonder if you’re joking or serious.”

As Richt responded reluctantly, Arendt shrugged in the darkness.

“I’m not joking. As the saying goes, the more extravagant the revenge, the better.”

“Can you please be a little more serious at times like this?”

“Like I always say, if you get too serious, you’re bound to lose.”

Despite Richt’s criticism, Arendt remained indifferent.

“It is far better to laugh and trample than to risk one’s life in a desperate manner.”

“Respect for the deceased…”

“That’s none of my business.”

Although his senior cautioned him again, Arendt cut him off completely.

“Don’t you think a noisy, comical revenge play would be more enjoyable for them than a grand, gloomy funeral? Even for those folks hanging there.”

“…”

Richt simply stayed silent. Their necks, hanging from the wall, occasionally swayed limply in the storm.

The flames burning the enemies flickered over the twisted heads.

Perhaps because of the oddly shaped shadows, the shaking heads seemed to be smiling.

‘Maybe I’m crazy too.’

Richt rubbed his eyes. Arthur, who had been quietly observing the situation, gasped, disregarding his senior and apprentice knight’s bickering.

“It has begun!”

Finally, Laius’ sword shattered the first ghoul.

The other knights also rode their horses and charged into the battlefield without hesitation.

A melee broke out between the ghouls, the priests leading them, and the invading knights.

Eric, the leader of the battle priests, shouted.

“Don’t leave a single one alive!”

“Suppress the evil enemies!”

In response, Laius’s shout echoed throughout the battlefield.

Arendt glanced at Luna, the spirit sitting on his shoulder.

“You should start moving soon.”

The spirit with the ornate tail turned its head sharply away from Arendt.

But Arendt was merciless.

“Stop playing dumb. If you don’t cooperate, your master will have a hard time later. You really don’t care about that?”

“…”

“Think carefully while I’m still being nice, you idiot.”

For some reason, it seemed like the spirit broke out in a cold sweat for a moment.

After a moment of hesitation, Luna suddenly pushed off Arendt’s shoulder and took flight.

“You even threaten the spirits?”

“Even if it’s a spirit, it’s still a bird’s brain.”

When Arthur spoke in bewilderment, Arendt responded indifferently.

Another explosion was heard from the gate.

Llewellyn’s arrows pierced deeply into the castle gate in rapid succession, and then Shekhinah detonated the magic placed on the arrows.

The flames roared even fiercer. And shortly after…

“Stop them from destroying the gate!”

The enemy shouted loudly. Before long, the darkness had almost completely receded, and the sky began to brighten with a bluish hue.

Now it was time for them to move too.

Luna, who had just finished looking around, returned and settled down on the branch of the tree where they had been hiding.

“The spirit has returned. Let’s move too.”

At Arendt’s words, Richt and Arthur said nothing more and immediately began to move.

Arendt followed Luna’s lead, walking quietly but quickly. Arthur and Richt followed, keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

Luna, who had been leading for some time, brought them to a spot where there were few signs of life.

Because most of the troops were concentrated towards the castle gate, the other side was relatively undefended.

As if to signal they had reached their destination, Luna made a wide circle in the air and then landed atop the high castle wall.

It meant that there were no troops guarding the area.

Richt, who had been briefly looking around the castle walls, frowned slightly.

“…I don’t see any holes that we can crawl through.”

“. It’s a bit dangerous, but I guess we have no choice but to climb over the wall.”

Arendt, who clicked his tongue, was the first to take the lead.

Turning their backs to the area where the fighting was raging, the three lightly pushed off the ground and leapt into the air.

As soon as they landed next to it, Luna took off and flew without a moment’s hesitation.

Without even a moment to catch his breath, Arendt jumped down from the castle wall and grumbled.

“That idiot seems to be deliberately choosing to guide us to places that are difficult to get to.”

“Isn’t it because you called it an idiot?”

Arthur, who was running alongside him, added, and Arendt responded irritably.

“You call an idiot an idiot. Then what else should I call it?”

“Who in their right mind calls a spirit that?”

“Why should I take orders from someone I can’t even see? If you’re so unhappy, senior, why don’t you try seeing the spirit yourself.”

“Please don’t fight unnecessarily, it’s annoying.”

When the argument seemed to be getting longer, Richt cut them off in irritation.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no time for a prolonged argument. Shortly after entering the empty house, they encountered enemy soldiers hurrying off somewhere.

“…”

They exchanged quick glances and immediately hid in the darkness.

“Have you gathered all the ingredients?”

“The living were kept together. The dead were preserved and stored separately.”

“Damn, everything was going well… and then suddenly the hero barges in.”

“The captain’s orders are to kill the materials immediately if they show any signs of resistance. Even if they die, they’ll still be useful, so it’s better to kill them than have them taken away. After all, they’ll try to recapture them alive.”

The voices of the battle priests conversing could be heard. Luna, who had been wandering around, returned and landed on Arendt’s head.

As the enemies completely left, Arendt spoke in an irritated voice.

“You little punk, where are you sitting now?”

Regardless of his feelings, Luna kicked his head hard and flew back up.

“Oh, come on!”

After briefly reeling from the shock, Arendt had no choice but to vent his frustration and chase after the spirit.

Luna guided the knights in the opposite direction from where the priests were heading.

As soon as they passed through the alley and entered the main road, they encountered a group of priests.

“What, what is it?”

“Intruders!”

Someone, having quickly assessed the situation behind the absentminded remark, shouted. But by then, the three had already prepared for battle.

Before the priests could even raise their weapons, Arendt, who had activated his artifact, entered their midst.

Silver frost scattered under the morning sun.

The priest who was about to give the order to attack froze in an instant, his mouth wide open.

The enemies who could not withstand the extreme cold eventually turned into pure white ice powder and scattered into the air.

“What the hell!”

The enemies, moving quickly, rushed towards Arendt.

But before they could even take a few steps, swords flashed from behind them and sliced ​​their necks apart.

It was Arthur and Richt.

“…!”

The heads, which had lost its owners, fell to the floor in an instant.

At the same time, the cursed bodies of the ghouls who had not yet died were covered in pure white frost.

Arendt kicked the frozen enemies to the ground, leaving them decapitated.

The enemies were instantly reduced to pieces of shattered ice, rolling on the ground.

Richt said, sheathing his sword:

“If things continue like this, it won’t be easy to escape with the people.”

“That’s right. There seems to be quite a bit more trash inside the castle than I thought.”

Arendt looked at Luna, responding calmly.

The spirit, who had been sitting on a nearby tree waiting for them to clear out the enemies, flew up as soon as it realized the situation was over.

“For now, there must be another spirit searching for an escape route, so we have no choice but to trust them.”

Luna was flying towards the castle, guiding the knights to where the prisoners were.

Arendt’s eyes gradually grew cold as he followed the spirit.

‘As expected, Jiklin is coming.’

All the prisoners had to be rescued before she got here.

Their top priority was to move quickly and without being detected as much as possible until they could save the people.

Ludwin’s troops, who had been waiting around the castle walls, watched dazedly as Laius fought.

One of the soldiers muttered.

“That’s the Hero of the Holy Sword…”

They were completely overwhelmed by the battle taking place at a distance.

Laius was a truly heroic man.

The sight of him riding a white horse and cutting down his enemies without hesitation was a sight that could not help but capture the hearts of those who saw it.

The knights who followed the hero were also bravely marching through the battlefield.

They had no hesitation whatsoever in the face of hideous monsters and enemies that would not die no matter how much they were killed.

“…It is literally a blessing bestowed by Lord Luce.”

Ludwin’s lips twitched involuntarily. The prince, too, was completely captivated by Laius.

“Well…”

At that moment, a cautious voice pierced Ludwin’s thoughts. He turned his head and saw Salem waiting right beside him.

“Lord Salem?”

“Captain Laius is undoubtedly so remarkable that even Lord Luce is captivated by him.”

Swallowing dryly, Salem slowly continued speaking.

“They would probably have been strong enough even without the Holy Sword.”

It was a strange statement. Ludwin blinked briefly and then asked again.

“That…what does that mean?”

“No, just…”

Salem was looking at the battlefield with troubled eyes.

Truly befitting an elf, the flames of the battlefield flickered in his eyes, revealing a maturity that didn’t quite match his youthful face.

“Even if Captain Laius had been holding a branch instead of the Holy Sword, he would have been the one to lead the fight.”

“I agree with that point.”

Ludwin nodded seriously.

“So, isn’t that why he was chosen by Lord Luce?”

“…”

But Salem did not answer easily.

He stared blankly at the battlefield with a face that seemed to want to say something more.

But instead of adding anything, Salem chose to stay silent.

It was because the soldiers’ devout voices praying toward Luce were heard.

Ludwin was somewhat puzzled by the unnatural silence. But that was only for a moment.

The sound of the explosion, so different from anything he had heard before, forced him to hurriedly turn his gaze back to the battlefield.

“The gate…!”

Ludwin gapsed.

The joints of the gate had become considerably loose, unable to withstand the successive attacks.

Just then, another arrow was fired, cutting through the air and flying quickly.

Llewellyn launched an attack targeting the city gate again.

But the arrow did not reach the gate.

A huge ghoul flew forward and blocked the arrow.

The steel arrow dug into the ghoul’s flesh.

At that moment, the explosion magic was activated, and the ghoul blocking the gate was shattered into pieces.

“Keeeek!”

The ghoul’s body was shattered in an instant, dyeing the area in front of the castle gate red.

But that wasn’t the end. Another giant ghoul blocked the gates.

“What the heck is that…”

As Ludwin muttered in the distance, Salem, who had been standing by his side, answered in a somewhat firm voice.

“That’s the way of the Chernion Cult.”

Salem clenched his fists and glared over the wall.

He clearly felt the presence of the spirits moving to do their part.

Through the resonance they sent, he could also roughly grasp the situation inside the castle.

“…Your Highness, please send part of the troops to the rear of the castle wall. Once Sir Arendt has completed his mission, he will escape through there.”

At the sudden words, Ludwin turned back to him.

“What?”

“We must be ready to join Sir Arendt at any moment. If we’re even slightly late, irreversible consequences will follow.”

The young elf’s voice was full of confidence.

“Your Highness, please stay here. If you could spare some troops, I will lead them.”

“…All right.”

Ludwin nodded without thinking for long.

As he gestured, the adjutant quickly understood his meaning and began to divide the troops.

Everyone in this place had a gut feeling.

If even one person made a mistake, not only would the lives of the captured prisoners be in jeopardy, but the future of the battle would also be at risk.