Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 445

As the morning sun slowly rose, the Chernion priests witnessed the allied forces of God Luce approaching with the sunlight.Without a trace of surprise, the new battle priest captain spoke briefly.

“It’s good practice.”

The vanguard was, of course, Laius de Winfried.

There were also some of the Third Knights, elf warriors, and troops from the Everan Kingdom.

The priests’ expressions hardened as they saw the hero.

No one forgot the prowess he had displayed in the battle the day before.

Laius’ strength even overwhelmed Chernion’s protection that made them forget their fear.

His existence, like a disaster that surged in with the light, represented the strength of Luce, who had ruled this world for so long.

“…”

But the captain’s eyes moved, not to the hero, but to another being.

Originally, it was a form of clothing designed to signal to allies that they were apprentice knights who needed to be protected first, but now its meaning has changed somewhat.

‘If the hero is their nemesis…’

Arendt von Eckhart was a stumbling block that had to be removed.

He was a being who ruined the fight that should have been holy, and was perhaps even more harmful than the great Hero who followed God Luce.

“Report to Lady Jiklin. This is exactly what Lady Jiklin expected.”

The enemy adopted the same tactics as when they recaptured the prisoners.

Laius was moving to attack the castle head-on, and Arendt was moving to eliminate Jiklin.

But he didn’t intend to fall for the same trick twice.

“Don’t forget the orders of Lady Jiklin. Don’t fear death. Even if our last breath is taken, we can still fight for Lord Chernion alongside our comrades.”

As the captain quietly muttered, the priests gradually regained their composure.

The eyes that had once held fear gradually became clouded. Preserving humanity before a humiliated god was a mere luxury.

Black divine power surged and paralyzed their reason.

Only the murderous intent towards the enemies of their god remained in the minds of the priests.

“We will deal with that apprentice knight even if it means all our deaths.”

Beneath the brightening sun, the voice of the battle priest captain lingered faintly, dark and foreboding.

“Prepare for the summoning. Let us grandly welcome the seeds of the filthy light.”

There were plenty of other methods, such as launching a surprise attack while they were off guard or conducting a night raid.

And what Arendt preferred were also quite lethal and vulgar methods, so to speak, quite far from the will of God in terms of chivalry and justice.

It was also Arendt who scolded the knights who were terrified of him for not being upright but ultimately steered matters according to his wishes.

But what Arendt proposed this time was a truly classic head-on confrontation.

‘That’s why I’m more anxious…’

Arthur looked at Arendt, who was walking ahead, with troubled eyes.

Despite having upset Prince Ludwin to the core, Arendt chose an unexpectedly straightforward approach.

Thanks to this, the subsequent operational meeting went more smoothly than expected.

Ludwin, who had been badly beaten, still looked puzzled, but he could only nod silently at the unexpectedly sensible strategy.

‘Besides, the captain didn’t say anything either.’

Arthur’s expression became strange as he stared at Arendt, who was walking ahead.

Behind them stood a considerable force. Despite Arendt’s vehement annoyance, Laius insisted on forcing them to join him, insisting that he could not act alone.

Other than that, Laius didn’t have any objections.

‘In the end, it’s almost as if we didn’t hear anything about how to kill Jiklin…’

The meeting ended somewhat, but it was still unclear how the problems Ludwin had raised would be resolved.

‘Other than saying he would kill her himself, he didn’t really tell us what he would do or how.’

Arendt was not the type of person to jump in blindly just because his judgment was distorted.

The more heated things got, the more obsessively meticulous that guy became, driven by nothing but a relentless determination to screw someone over.

Even if other people were like that, there’s no way Laius would miss that point…

It would be more correct to assume that Laius also deliberately condoned it.

As his thoughts reached that point, he suddenly heard Richt’s voice from beside him.

“What are you thinking about?”

“…I don’t know about anything else, but I know one thing.”

Looking straight ahead, Arthur answered bluntly.

“As Arendt said, you’re definitely dull, senior, seeing that you’re asking me that question in this situation.”

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly picking a fight.”

When Richt frowned, Arthur answered without even looking at him.

“That’s why you’re dull.”

“You should stop hanging out with Arendt. It seems like you’re becoming more and more like him by the day.”

“Isn’t that a bit too harsh? No matter what, saying I’m like that rude bastard crosses the line.”

“You seem to have traded away all respect for your seniors, yet you’re going on about crossing the line.”

Arendt glanced at the two men arguing a few steps behind him.

“You’re knights, so why are you arguing so pettily? If you’re going to fight, you should at least draw your swords.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“What are you talking about, you bastards!”

Immediately, both men responded with annoyed retorts. But, as always, Arendt pretended not to hear.

They looked completely devoid of any tension despite facing a fierce battle ahead.

As the soldiers of the Everan Kingdom who were following behind looked at them with bewilderment, an elf warrior calmly answered.

“Don’t worry about them, they are just like that.”

“…Yes.”

The soldiers nodded hesitantly. Just then, an elf warrior who had been scanning the area, shouted.

“Enemies ahead!”

As if anticipating their flanking maneuver, the enemies who had been stationed in advance began pouring out en masse from the back door.

Arendt spoke to the soldiers behind him.

“You’ve probably already learned the tactics when fighting with them. Avoid direct contact with them as much as possible, and only approach them when you need to sever their airway, then plant the gunpowder.”

It was the method the explorers used to deal with ghouls in Duke Middleton’s territory.

“When the gunpowder runs out, retreat. If you die here, you won’t get a funeral; you’ll just become a ghoul or become food for them.”

“Ha, but… if we retreat too, our troops will…”

“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. Or is it your lack of comprehension?”

The soldier, who was about to cautiously object, fell silent at the sharp tone.

“Do you think I’m some kind of merciful person ordering you to retreat? I’m just telling you not to increase the enemy’s numbers.”

If he died here, he would not only not receive a funeral, but would also fall into the hands of the enemy and be reborn as a ghoul.

The soldiers who had thought that far became contemplative.

“I’ll break through those bastards and move ahead first, so only those who can keep up should follow.”

Arendt drew his sword and quickened his pace.

“If anyone clumsily joins and ends up holding us back, they’ll be the first to die by my hand. Consider yourselves warned.”

The voice that added this carried an eerie chill. The moment the soldiers hesitated, Arendt charged straight ahead without warning.

“Hey! Don’t go alone, you bastard!”

“Please take care of the rest.”

Arthur and Richt followed him, picking up speed, while the elf warriors skillfully sprang forward after them.

“No, wait, wait a minute…!”

The soldiers, too, had no choice but to quickly close the distance with the enemy.

As everyone prepared for battle and approached the battlefield, the three leading knights were already deep into enemy territory.

The sight of him slashing at the enemies with an expressionless face amidst the beautifully fluttering silver frost was enough to send shivers down their spines.

For that reason, he could make faster judgments.

“…Don’t approach recklessly! Only deal with what you can!”

The apprentice knight’s words were spot on. They had a gut feeling that following them clumsily would only lead to a pitiful death.

“It’s a good thing that there are no fools.”

Arendt, hearing the shouts from behind, spoke indifferently. Then Arthur let out a dry laugh.

“You warned them so fiercely, so how could they not listen?”

“Still, I have to admire your determination to prevent any damage.”

Richt, with a brief reply, shattered the frozen enemy with a single stroke. Instead of responding, Arendt diligently dispatched the enemies blocking his path.

Arthur, who had cut off the ghoul’s head in one go, cut the body in half as it charged at him again.

Arthur asked as the enemy fell to the ground and there was a moment of respite.

“By the way, can we really leave this to them? If a homunculus shows up, those people won’t be able to handle it alone.”

“I guess it’ll be okay. I don’t think they’ll use homunculi to wipe out those sloppy guys…”

Next to Arendt, who replied indifferently, an arrow flew from a barely visible spot and pierced an enemy.

It was fired by an elven archer commanded by Shekhinah.

“If the situation warrants it, Lady Shekhinah will do something about it. She’ll buy them enough time to escape.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the arrow that had pierced the priest’s head exploded.

Even after the head exploded, sending pieces of flesh flying everywhere, the priest continued to swing his sword.

But that was only for a moment, as the priest who was struggling was torn to pieces by Richt’s sword and fell in vain.

Arendt shrugged, shaking away the flesh clinging to his sword.

“If you’re really worried, you can just stay here.”

“I refuse, you bastard. I don’t want to die by the captain’s hand.”

After Arthur’s exasperated response, Richt also spoke out in displeasure.

“Same.”

“Then do whatever you want.”

A few elf warriors were also nearby. But Arendt charged forward with even greater boldness like they were completely invisible.

“Tsk. Did he really eat something wrong?”

Arthur had no choice but to diligently follow behind, muttering to himself so as not to reach Arendt.

As expected, his expression was somewhat different from usual.

The usually flawless tip of the sword was somewhat rougher than usual, and unlike his usual way of treating his enemies as objects, he even felt a subtle murderous intent.

It was a change that was difficult to notice just by looking at it, but Arthur, who had always watched him closely, could clearly feel it.

‘At least give me some hints on how to move.’

The most frustrating thing was that he couldn’t tell whether Arendt was doing it intentionally or if he was genuinely angry.

“Keeeeeek!”

As a giant ghoul in the shape of an insect charged at him, Arthur clicked his tongue inwardly and swung his sword in a broad arc.

“Keeek! Keeeeeeek!”

A ghoul with its torso neatly cut off flailed its legs and let out a horrible scream.

The severed parts writhed and moved toward each other, attempting to repair the wound. But barely seconds passed and a silvery frost swept over, enveloping the massive ghoul.

The body, unable to overcome the cold, turned to frost and shattered.

Arendt focused on moving forward without even checking what had happened to the enemies he had dealt with.

“What a real pain in the ass!”

Even though he was chewing on the curse, Arthur decided to just give up on the idea.

There’s no way that guy, who was the epitome of perfectionism, would plan a plan so clumsily…

He had no right to question something even the captain let slide.

‘The captain must know something.’

Laius was not the kind of person to shove them into the battlefield without any plan.

Then, the only ‘role’ they had to play now was, as Arendt said, to desperately catch up from behind.