Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 512

Was there any other battlefield where the phrase “simple ignorance” fit so well?There was no need for further thought or strategy. Driven solely by the determination to destroy this horrific place, Warren and Stellar surrendered themselves entirely to their wild nature.

“Kyaoooooo!”

A giant wolf slaughtered the newborn ghouls. Stellar, too, inflated his body and began to rampage.

The two men spat out the enemy fragments that filled their mouths and bit them again, repeating the process.

The ghouls’ main body continued to regenerate no matter how much it was torn and ripped apart. The ghouls, implanted with the instinct to protect their main body, also continued to interfere.

The ghouls, feeling threatened for their survival, began to rampage even more violently.

But as if such things didn’t matter at all, the two focused solely on destroying and killing everything in sight.

As Stellar fired his magic bullets indiscriminately and tore at the ghouls’ flesh, Warren dug his claws into the ghoul bodies that filled the area.

The ghouls’ cradle, which had been maintained quietly, began to be trampled by two beasts.

“Queeeeek!”

The ghoul suddenly screamed and convulsed. Arthur, who had been focused on engaging his enemies, took a step back in confusion.

“What, what is it?”

But Arthur’s reaction seemed completely unnoticed, as the ghouls suddenly lost their focus and began to run wild in all directions. The priests who had led them seemed equally bewildered.

“What’s wrong with them?”

“Wait, no way…!”

The priests’ urgent gazes fell on Nikephoros. Only then did Arthur realize something, and his mouth widened.

“Could it be…!”

Stellar and Warren, whom Arendt had sent in advance, had finally found the location of the ghouls’ main body.

The one who was originally guarding it, Nikephoros, was in that state, and Roger was dead…

There would be no one who could stop these two.

“Hahahaha! You’re earning your keep, Warren!”

Arthur, suddenly exhilarated, began slaughtering the ghouls who were running around in confusion. The panicked priests cried out.

“Stop that guy somehow!”

The situation outside the Great Temple was the same.

Suddenly, the ghouls fell into confusion and began attacking each other or the nearby Chernion priests.

“How did this happen?”

“Warren and Stellar succeeded.”

Laius answered Diana’s urgent question.

“Keeeeek!”

“Keeeeek! Keeeeeek!”

“These bastards suddenly went crazy, ugh!”

The priests who tried to control the ghouls in any way they could found themselves attacked. Richt, quickly realizing the situation, shouted.

“Fall back! Keep your distance! The enemy is in disarray!”

“Damn it, don’t let them escape! Don’t let them break through!”

A melee broke out between those who wanted to distance themselves and those who wanted to hold them back somehow.

The ghouls, running wild and out of control, began attacking everything in sight without even being able to identify their enemies.

Rider tore through enemies and vented his frustration.

“Damn it, why are these crazy bastards going wild?”

“Calm down! Now’s our chance! Aim for the weak points!”

But Richt was merciless. Fire attacks struck again from the rear, where the troops had been reorganized.

“It’s a fire attack! Be careful!”

The enemy priest shouted, but he could not repel the already uncontrollable ghouls. Eventually, the ghouls’ bodies caught fire, and the flames began to spread even more fiercely.

Flames were a great weakness even for the priests who could constantly regenerate.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

The priests cried out in desperation, but they too found it difficult to escape. Those targeted by the ghouls were unable to escape easily, and were engulfed in the flames, losing their lives.

There were dragons in the sky.

On the ground, there were ghouls, humans, and elves.

Now that all beings were running wild equally, the area in front of the Great Temple was a scene of chaos.

Richt roared loudly.

“Don’t let your guard down just because we’ve seized the opportunity! Focus on minimizing damage as much as possible!”

“Yes!”

The knights, who had responded with vigor, steadily pushed back the enemies. The homunculi, under concentrated fire, were also losing their strength.

As Richt said, victory began to appear before their eyes.

A room shrouded in deep darkness. Just a few hours ago, it had been a tranquil space, but not anymore.

The commotion, once heard only from outside the Great Temple, had now grown closer. Furthermore, with Nikephoros now half-destroyed, there was no longer any reason to view the situation optimistically.

“Hah…”

Iris gently pressed her temples. The gamble she had placed on the possibility of victory was in jeopardy.

The homunculi were also losing most of their power. Unfortunately, however, their enemies still had some strength left.

The fact that they were unable to stop Arendt von Eckhart, who had stormed the Great Temple alone, proved that the Chernion Cult had almost exhausted its strength.

‘Where on earth did it go wrong?’

No, there was no point in dwelling on it now. The question was how to deal with it going forward.

“Are you outside?”

“Yes, Saintess.”

A calm voice returned from outside.

“Come in.”

The door opened, the priest entered, and immediately prostrated himself. Perhaps thanks to Chernion’s divine power, he seemed unfazed by the situation.

So Iris could be confident that any future orders she gave would be carried out without a hitch.

“I’m sure everyone knows where Arendt von Eckhart is.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then tell the other children too.”

Iris gave a short command, stroking her long, flowing hair.

“When he enters the garden, set fire to the Great Temple.”

“Pardon?”

When the priest asked curiously, Iris continued to explain in a whisper.

“If no one can stop Sir Arendt, then there is no hope in this fight… so we must give up the Great Temple.”

The priest, who had been listening blankly, clumsily refuted.

“But, Saintess. Lord Nikephoros is still alive and well…”

“He’s not in good health. Even if he wins this fight, it’ll be difficult for him to return to his former self.”

The always calm and intelligent Nikephoros would become a rarity. He was already in a semi-ramage state, and would become a mad dragon who destroys everything.

It would be impossible for him to worship God like before.

“So… do you understand? Light the Great Temple on fire, so that Arendt von Eckhart cannot escape from here. And so that future generations will no longer be able to praise God Luce’s Great Temple.”

The priest, who had been listening blankly, nodded.

“Yes, I understand.”

At least the High Priest and Arendt, those two people, had to be killed for Lord Chernion’s glory.

The tremendous explosion that erupted before his eyes brought Nikephoros to a blur of consciousness. His vision alternated between the horrific battlefield beneath his feet and Lexion before him.

What Nikephoros felt at the moment was a kind of liberation. In that moment, by spreading his wings and flapping them freely, he felt as if he had thrown off all restraints.

It was a feeling of freedom, as if he had become free from the gaze of God. The intense sunlight piercing his eyes, the twilight peeking out from the twilight sky, and all of nature were felt with his entire being.

‘Ah.’

He could see it better now that he was free from his constraints.

The greatness of God.

The divinity that governs such a vast and vast nature.

‘Lord Chernion.’

Just as he was about to engrave that sacred name into his heart…

.

A magic bullet flew in and struck his skull.

Nikephoros screamed and raised his head. Then, a man wrapped in black came into view.

Lexion.

Just as his mind was about to suddenly cool down, Lexion swung his sword.

A huge sword strike directly hit Nikephoros’ wing.

“Huh, ugh…”

Lexion wasn’t completely unharmed either. One shoulder was dislocated and tattered, and the right side of his head was nearly crushed.

It took some time for Nikephoros to realize that he was the one who had hurt him.

‘That’s right.’

Now, he and that guy were enemies. Archrivals bent on killing each other.

It had been the same long ago. Even during the war, he and Lexion had shown their disdain for each other.

After several serious clashes, Nikephoros completely destroyed Lexion, who had been sharing joys and sorrows with the humans, including the hero Khan.

So, by putting him into a long sleep, he disappeared into the shadows of the war.

That had been the plan. Yet now, Lexion was standing right before him, which felt inexplicable.

‘I’m sure I had killed him..’

While thinking that, Nikephoros unleashed his breath attack towards Lexion.

With a cracking sound like the sky splitting in two, Lexion’s figure disappeared.

The next moment, Lexion reappeared right in front of Nikephoros.

“…!”

A massive sword strike left a deep wound on Nikephoros’ neck. However, it was a shallow blow that was not enough to completely decapitate the giant dragon.

“Tsk.”

Nikephoros, who stumbled briefly, immediately counterattacked. However, perhaps unaware of his body’s loss of strength, his claws, thrust with all his might, were easily blocked by Lexion.

‘Killed?’

Why did it have to be like that? Confusion surged again.

As far as he could remember, he and Lexion weren’t on bad terms.

Originally, dragons did not get along well with each other, so they were not very happy with each other.

But Nikephoros often found amusement in teasing Lexion.

In recent years, it had become more difficult to find young dragons.

Lexion was a hatchling that Nikephoros had met after a long time of feeling lonely.

There was nothing more fun than teasing a young, immature one.

‘That bloody brat hated me, though.’

This was even more amusing in a long life where serving the gods was the only reward. Furthermore, Lexion was a particularly peculiar creature, regularly visiting his kin.

Nikephoros was truly unable to comprehend the situation. But the rage boiling within him screamed.

Blood poured from his severely wounded neck. A violent swipe of the claw tore a long slit in Lexion’s side.

The memory that came to mind this time was of Lexion half-dead in front of him.

Nikephoros spoke compassionately to him as he struggled to breathe.

-Lexi.

Lexion hated being called that.

-Just sleep for a while. By the time you wake up, the world will have changed… Then you’ll realize that rebelling like this was pointless.

He had been soothing the young dragon. Even as his chest heaved with heavy breaths, Lexion glared at him with hatred.

At that moment, he definitely felt like he was watching prey. He also felt a little pity.

So he let him go. When he woke up from his sleep, he would be greeted by a new world ruled by Chernion.

It was the best mercy he could offer.

In the end, Lord Chernion was defeated, and now he was fighting to reclaim the world from God Luce.

He was running wild like an ugly beast, and the young boy was covered in wounds, but his eyes were infinitely cold.

It was as if he was looking at prey.

Just like he once did.