Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 502

“…He’s not answering.”Stellar spoke with rare impatience.

He had already tried to communicate with the Allied Forces several times through the communication port, but there was still no response.

Eventually, Stellar gave up on communication and closed the communication port.

Meanwhile, Warren, who had been looking around, said in a complicated manner.

“Why at a time like this…”

His keen gaze caught sight of a herd of fleeing deer. Several rabbits were also scurrying in the same direction.

The monsters and other beasts had already left the mountain, and they were practically the last wild animals left on the mountain.

Now they too were feeling it.

The dragon’s presence was growing stronger.

“…It doesn’t seem like he’s completely come to his senses, but it’s still dangerous.”

Stellar looked up at the sky. The sky, now fading from dusk, seemed peaceful at first glance, but the birds flying out of the forest, scurrying about, offered no such comfort.

“There’s not much time left. He’ll wake up in a few hours at the earliest.”

“This is crazy. Shouldn’t we also leave the scene?”

“That apprentice knight told us to do so…”

Stellar frowned at Warren’s question. Somehow, Warren seemed to be able to guess what he meant.

“So, what you’re saying is, we don’t have to follow the orders of a mere child.”

“…”

When Warren let out a faint smile, Stellar agreed with silence. Warren quickly wiped his smile and changed the subject.

“Fighting a dragon? I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

“No. That’s not our job.”

Stellar said bluntly.

“There’s still one more thing we need to do. Let’s focus on that.”

Surely, a homunculus, the progenitor of the ghouls, must have been hiding around the lair. Now that Nikephoros was about to emerge from his slumber, this might be their last chance to find it.

Warren said grudgingly.

“…That’s not wrong, but you’re also quite shameless. Just like a certain young apprentice knight.”

“How insulting. Take it back.”

“Now that I think about it, that might’ve been a bit harsh. I take it back.”

After a pointless argument, the two transformed into their original forms:

Warren, a giant wolf, and Stellar, an even larger old dog.

Then they began to run through a herd of wild animals who were desperately fleeing the dragon’s aura.

The priest, whose head had exploded, lay sprawled on the floor, flailing his limbs.

Everyone was caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events: the Chernion priests, the hostages, and even Arendt.

“Hey, you idiot!”

Arendt turned around sharply and shouted. Prince Llewellyn, awkwardly holding his bow among the knights, tried to make a hasty excuse.

“No, I just…”

As if in retaliation for the attack just now, a powerful explosion swept through the entire square.

“Ugh!”

As a strong light burst out, the priests unconsciously covered their eyes.

And when their vision returned a long time later, a horrific sight unfolded before their eyes.

“Keeeeek!”

“Keeeeeek!”

The ghouls, born from the seeds of Luce priests, let out ugly screams. Arendt von Eckhart, who had been attacked before he could even prepare, was already torn to pieces by the ghouls.

The explosion just now seemed to have been caused by the aftereffects of the priests mutating into ghouls all at once.

“Kueeeeek!”

The ghouls, who had lost all trace of their former appearance, immediately turned their sights and began to charge towards Laius and the knights.

The knights immediately raised their weapons and responded.

Arendt’s body, which had been carelessly discarded, was now so shattered that it was difficult to distinguish its original appearance.

The Chernion priest, who had been frozen in place and watching the scene, muttered in a distant voice.

“…So it comes to this.”

“No.”

Just then, someone blurted out a short statement. It was another priest standing right next to him.

Teeth clenched tight, the priest barked out:

“Don’t just stand there dumbly, shoot! That’s an illusion!”

“An illusion?”

The moment someone repeated the words in confusion, a pure white frost storm swept through the miserable scene.

“Shoot now, what are the archers doing…”

His frozen neck was neatly cut off. The other priests only became aware of Arendt von Eckhart’s presence after their ally, now turned into an ice statue, collapsed and turned to frosty dust.

“Idiots.”

Arendt gave a short sneer and charged towards the priests who were standing there blankly.

“What, what is it?!”

The priest shouted in shock as he blocked Arendt’s sword.

“Keeeeek!”

In the middle of the square, ghouls were still making a racket. The torn body of Arendt von Eckhart lay there still.

But before their eyes, Arendt was alive and well, fiercely attacking them.

Someone shouted from the top of the wall.

“It’s illusion magic!”

Behind the illusion magic that spread out like a curtain in the middle of the square, the priests of the Luce Church were running frantically toward the Allied forces’ side.

“Shoot now!”

Archers waiting on the walls of the Great Temple fired arrows at the illusion magic. But instead of piercing the prisoners, they were caught in a golden storm and fell helplessly to the ground. For origınal chapters go to novel·fiɾe·net

The spirit of Salem, Ray, had moved once again.

“Fuck, fuck!”

The once tranquil square instantly became a battlefield. Arendt took advantage of the chaos and without hesitation, slaughtered his enemies.

Meanwhile, strange things began to happen to the prisoners who were running towards Laius.

“Ugh… Ugh!”

The ghoul that had dug into his torso began to squirm and mutate.

“Please do something!”

“Please kill me! I don’t want to become a monster!”

At that moment, the priests screamed in fear.

“Don’t move!”

Prince Llewellyn shouted loudly.

The arrow he shot sank deep into the ground where the priests were struggling. The steel arrow’s tip contained a magic stone capable of creating a barrier.

Three more arrows were fired in quick succession, lodged at the prisoners’ feet. And then, in the next moment… A translucent barrier unfolded as a bright light burst out, completely enveloping the terrified Luce priests.

“…”

The priests, suddenly trapped within a barrier, were too stunned to even react. Under the influence of the magic-suppression barrier, even the ghouls, who seemed poised to erupt at any moment, had already stopped moving.

“Wait there until the situation is over.”

Llewellyn put away his bow and spoke calmly. The panicked look he had just shown, trying to make excuses to Arendt, was gone.

Everything happened in an instant.

“Shoot!”

At the command of the Chernion priest, arrows began to rain down on the prisoners and the Allied forces.

Shekhinah, seeing this, did not miss the moment and acted.

!

The arrows blocked by the magical shield she had deployed fell to the ground with a thud.

“I will protect you.”

The elf warriors who followed Shekhinah also joined in to protect the priests.

After confirming that the Luce priests were safe, Laius drew his Holy Sword.

“Everyone advance! Cover Arendt!”

Even at this very moment, Arendt was fighting frantically in the midst of enemy lines. With every step he took, pure white frost flowers bloomed across the battlefield.

“Don’t let that insolent bastard live!”

As time went by, the number of people rushing towards Arendt increased.

From the start, he was far from his allies, alone and too close to enemy lines. It was only natural that he would be surrounded by enemy forces in an instant.

But that didn’t mean Arendt would back down.

“You have to be careful about choosing the right opponent when you cheat.”

Arendt, who had let out a sneer, cut down the priests all at once.

“If you dawdle and try to gauge the situation, you end up getting smacked in the back of the head right in front of your eyes.”

He burst out laughing as if he was dying of amusement.

“Do you understand, you fucking cult fanatics!”

His cheerfulness, completely out of place on the battlefield, seemed closer to madness. He seemed no different from usual, but somehow he seemed unstable.

Arthur, growing anxious, cut down the enemies blocking his view and shouted.

“You idiot, why are you getting excited and all worked up…”

But he too had no choice but to quickly pull back.

A summoning circle had suddenly appeared under his feet.

“Shit!”

Real ghouls, not illusions, began to be summoned in front of him as he hurled insults.

“Keeeeek!”

“Keeek!”

They were humanoid ghouls, recently spotted more frequently. They rushed toward the knights, groaning like blood-soaked, screaming beings.

To get to Arendt, they had to deal with all of them first.

“Luna! Help Sir Arendt!”

Salem commanded the spirit on behalf of the bound knights. Luna flew toward Arendt, emitting a golden glow.

Llewellyn also grabbed the arrows he had briefly set aside. Ray was standing by his side, waiting to assist.

The head of a priest aiming at Arendt was blown off by an arrow.

However, the priest, who did not die and continued to flail his limbs, was soon covered in pure white frost and died.

Arendt simply cut down the enemy without even looking at the direction the arrow came from.

In stark contrast to his usual restrained movements, the tip of his sword was fierce and rough.

As if all his restraint had been thrown away…

Or like someone who had given up on something.

Richt, who was fighting the ghouls, managed to shout.

“Arendt! Calm down!”

“No! If you have time to meddle, at least keep your hands busy!”

Even his reply, laced with laughter, somehow felt different from his usual self.

“Why is that bastard like that?”

“How should I know!”

Rider snapped irritably in response to Glenn’s question.

The enemies weren’t just standing by either.

The summoning circles that had been set up in the square to welcome the Allied Forces were cast endlessly.

As expected, the enemy had no intention of letting anyone leave this battlefield alive.

Laius advanced forward, cutting down any enemies he came across.

Every time the Holy Sword gleamed, the ghouls would melt away without a trace.

But Laius paid no attention to the screaming ghouls.

His gaze was fixed on Arendt, who was weaving between the enemies.

“Keeeeek!”

Another wave of summoned ghouls rushed toward Laius. Laius raised his sword and spoke coldly.

“Do not interfere.”

But that warning meant nothing to monsters who no longer had an ounce of reason left.

Laius swung his sword lightly with one hand.

The Holy Sword emitted a pure white light and swept away all the enemies at once.

Laius strode briskly toward Arendt along the path he had forged. But that was short-lived, as the summoned ghouls surged in again.

As if he were clearing away trash, Laius swept the ghouls away indifferently and continued walking.

And finally.

Laius’ outstretched hand grabbed Arendt’s shoulder.

“Don’t run wild on your own. Please.”

A calm voice pierced Arendt’s ears.

The storm that had filled his mind, ready to erupt at any moment, instantly subsided.

Laius pushed Arendt back and took the brunt of the enemies’ swords in his place.

The swords of the priests who rushed at him all at once were easily blocked by Laius.

“…”

Arendt, who had been moving around like crazy, stopped dead in his tracks.

Arendt blinked a few times like a broken doll and then pouted.

“You should have moved sooner.”

When such a cheeky, aggravating reply came back, Laius raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

“Seriously, you’ve got a sharp tongue.”