Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 233:

The priests wore masks crafted from animal skulls, sourced from who knows where. It seemed to be equipment necessary for the ritual. Thanks to this, their faces were hidden, but Isaac recognized their voices immediately.

It was Claire and his group.

Even in his dazed state, Isaac tried to grasp what kind of situation this was.

Only then did he realize his form was like a hazy mist, barely retaining a semblance of a human shape. It felt as if all his bodily sensations and abilities had been reduced to one-tenth of their usual level. It was a bizarre and unpleasant sensation.

“Ah, can’t he hear us?”

“Try reciting the incantation again. They said that followers of Chaos don’t easily submit.”

Claire began to mumble some kind of prayer again. Isaac turned his head, feeling something pulling at him. Only then did he start to understand the situation a bit.

‘Could they have been trying to summon a follower of the Nameless Chaos?’

For some reason, Isaac had been summoned instead, and they didn’t seem to recognize his misty form. When their eyes met his, the priests showed fearful expressions.

“They said it was a prayer to inflict pain. But it doesn’t seem to be causing much harm…”

A prayer to inflict pain? Now that he thought about it, he did feel a slight pinching sensation as he was being pulled. Isaac tried to approach them but felt a slight resistance and turned his gaze.

Something was drawn on the ground.

It was the ritual circle he had discovered today with Isolde. However, it was so crudely drawn that it wasn’t functioning properly. The circle should have prevented the summoned being from leaving, but because the essential incantation was drawn inside the circle, Isaac could simply erase it with his foot and step out.

Isaac erased the circle just to test it. The resistance that had been weakly pushing him back into the circle disappeared completely.

Yet, the priests continued to chatter, oblivious to the danger they were in.

“H-he’s moving! He seems to be listening to us!”

“G-good. Keep going. Follower of the Nameless Chaos, can you hear us?”

Isaac nodded for now.

The priests exchanged smiles and hushed cheers of joy.

“This, this follower seems cooperative. We might be able to manage this!”

“Quiet, it’s not over yet. Ahem, my name is Clairmont Sarea. I am your summoner, the signer of the contract! State your name!”

The ritual circle that had summoned Isaac was now completely powerless, so it had no force to compel the summoned being.

Isaac looked at them pitifully and spoke.

“Hesabel.”

He said it just to see what they would say. However, the priests screamed just from Isaac’s response.

“He spoke! He spoke!”

“It’s the first time a summoned being has intelligence! We can communicate with him!”

“Everyone, shut up! The ritual is still ongoing!”

Claire, who was still conducting the ritual calmly, repeated the name “Hesabel” as if to engrave it in his mind.

“Hesabel, by the summoner’s covenant, I command you!”

Claire, with a desperate heart, issued a command to the creature he had summoned.

“Remove or take away all the followers of the Nameless Chaos that have been unleashed in this city!”

“Haa…”

Isaac, who had vaguely guessed from their anxious exchanges, was now certain from Claire’s command.

‘They are like the foolish college students in a splatter movie.’

There are always those who crawl into restricted basements and meddle with forbidden ancient relics.

These young priests had seemingly stumbled upon documents related to the Nameless Chaos in these underground ruins and tried to utilize forbidden knowledge.

However, as could be seen from their sloppy ritual, the summoning ritual had spectacularly failed, resulting in the release of the monks Isaac had encountered. But since Isaac hadn’t felt the power of the Nameless Chaos from them, they were likely just imitations mimicking its form.

However, if they had summoned something like the Apocalypse Handler that appeared in Rougeberg instead of Isaac, it would have resulted in a catastrophe.

One that could destroy the old city.

‘…Both the claims of the White Empire and the Black Empire were correct.’

***

Isaac continued to ignore him, so Claire raised his voice again. Not stopping there, he recited the so-called “prayer to inflict pain.” Influenced by the summoner’s emotional state, the force pulling Isaac grew a little stronger.

Such attempts, typically clichés, often lead to bad outcomes.

Isaac strode out of the circle. Claire and the priests seemed frozen, not expecting this situation. In the meantime, Isaac grabbed Claire’s cheek firmly.

The mask made of a goat’s skull fell off, and a scream erupted.

Despite his severely restricted physical abilities, subduing a student priest posed no problem. Moreover, a fight is over once one loses their resolve.

The students were already terrified the moment Isaac stepped out of the circle.

A few tried tremblingly reciting prayers, but miracles had no effect on Isaac in his specter-like state.

‘What should I do?’

Isaac contemplated while looking at the struggling Claire. He could instill the same fear and lesson these fools would receive in a splatter movie. Although they meant no harm, the thought that their stupidity could further tarnish the reputation of the Nameless Chaos made him angry.

However, he decided to give them a chance since it was unclear if anyone had died because of them and they were trying to clean up their mess.

“Clairmont Sarea.”

Isaac looked at his face and spoke.

“I will give you a chance to rectify your blasphemous act. What will you pay in return?”

Claire’s eyes widened. Receiving payment for a prayer was only natural. Isaac had not received any faith from them.

Claire looked at Isaac with large, tear-filled eyes and suddenly burst into tears.

“I’m sorry! I-I didn’t know it would turn out like this!”

Though he was still young, seeing a grown man cry like a child made Isaac feel awkward.

‘What am I doing with a kid right now?’

But he was of age to be considered an adult in this world. Moreover, since they had already accessed the knowledge of the Nameless Chaos, he couldn’t just leave them alone. If he wasn’t going to kill them, he had to keep them under his control.

Isaac suddenly thought of the Licht Treaty.

‘Land for humans, heaven for gods, was it?’

In that case, Isaac had to receive something appropriate. An old legend came to mind, and Isaac whispered to Claire like a devil.

“Can you offer your soul in exchange?”

Of course, he didn’t really intend to take his soul. He didn’t know how to take it or what to do with it even if he did. He just wanted to start negotiating from there, assuming Claire wouldn’t accept the terms since he would rise as a priest of the Codex of Light in the future.

However, Claire hesitated briefly and then nodded.

“Y-yes! I’ll give it! If that will resolve this…”

Isaac was slightly surprised.

He realized that this pathetic student priest had an unusual resolve.

Even though he had touched forbidden knowledge, he was at least prepared to suffer in both the mortal and divine realms to rectify it.

Feeling a sense of futility, Isaac released his grip on Claire.

“Alright. Then… I’ll tell you what you need to do.”

***

These fledgling priests had already used forbidden knowledge to summon a follower of the Nameless Chaos. No matter the reason, they would have no excuse if dragged to the stake. Even though the Codex of Light values knowledge, this had crossed the line.

However, their intent to resolve the situation was genuine. And they were the only ones who could properly handle the followers that had been released.

Isaac instructed them on how to resolve the situation. But that didn’t mean his task was completely over.

The next day, Isaac headed to the cemetery as soon as he woke up. Though he felt stiff from the summoning’s aftermath, there were no other abnormalities.

‘Now I understand why deities and monsters dislike being summoned by unauthorized individuals…’

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Isaac had never expected to be in the position of the summoned. He thought he needed to create countermeasures for such incidents. He was lucky to be summoned just before rest; if he had been in the middle of a battle, his body would have been defenseless. He also needed to find out why he, of all beings, was summoned.

“Shh.”

As Isolde, who accompanied Isaac to the underground tomb, descended into the hole, she placed a finger on her lips. She immediately extinguished the torch and rubbed her bracelet slightly to create a faint light. The light from the bracelet illuminated traces left on the floor.

“Someone infiltrated last night. The tracks lead towards the altar where the ritual took place.”

“…Let’s go.”

Although Isaac already knew who it was, he pretended not to.

The two moved quietly towards the ritual site. Even before they arrived, the torches and the hushed prayers indicated someone’s presence.

“That’s…”

Isolde hid behind a wall corner and peeked at the scene. Several priests stood outside a strange red circle and inscribed symbols, reciting prayers without pause. The sobs and sighs interspersed with the prayers made it even more eerie.

Isolde, recognizing the cult-like appearance, grabbed her dagger without hesitation, but Isaac stopped her.

“Wait, Isolde.”

Isaac pointed to the center of the ritual.

In the center sat the monk who had attacked them in the old city, in a meditative pose. However, despite his calm posture, something was happening within him, as black smoke continuously billowed and settled, rising and falling erratically. Black smoke from outside seeped in and was absorbed by the monk’s body.

“Are they summoning him? Or strengthening him?”

“It seems they are containing him.”

Isaac answered Isolde’s question.

Though Isolde had her doubts, she followed Isaac’s instructions for now. He knew more about handling these creatures than she did.

Isaac hadn’t told the priests how to resolve the situation. Instead, he had taught them the proper way to complete the ritual. Claire and his group failed to properly contain or bind the followers of the Nameless Chaos. However, they were undeniably summoner and summoned.

Isaac taught them how to properly complete the summoning ritual.

And the resolution started from there.

As the scattered followers of Chaos began to gather and take shape, strange noises started to emerge. Screams, groans, wails—every unpleasant sound imaginable. The sobs of the priests were mixed in with the cacophony.

As the ritual reached its climax and the monk’s body began to swell as if about to explode, one of the priests screamed and stumbled back.

“Don’t run!”

Tears streamed down Claire’s face from beneath the mask as he shouted. But at the same time, with a loud thud, the monk’s body burst, spraying in all directions. Claire and the priests were thrown back, rolling on the floor.

What was revealed beneath the monk’s robes was a grotesquely twisted being. It wielded a butcher’s axe, had the head of a pig, and constantly gnawed on its own hands with large, clacking teeth.

“A horror…”

Isolde recognized what they were. Urban legends from the old city had taken shape and gathered. They were monsters that spread fear and fed on it.

The so-called “Whispering Night” monster let out a rough roar and charged violently. At that moment, Claire, who hadn’t let go of the ritual, recited the final prayer.

Bang! The Whispering Night hit an invisible barrier at the edge of the circle, collapsing in a heap. Claire, having completed his task, slumped and fainted.

Only then did Isaac rush out.

Now it was time to clean up.

_____________

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