Ch.174Chapter 174. Spirit World Escape No.1 (4)

Chapter 174. Spirit World Escape No.1 (4)

Early lunch, paladins gathered at the plaza of Symphonia Castle. This time, they weren’t meeting for a conference.

“Brave paladins. Thank you for your efforts in securing our victory.”

The slightly haggard-looking Saint bowed her head before the paladins. She had been suffering for two days due to Ishtania’s calls, who was in crisis because of Charon.

Every time she tried to sleep, the Saint would appear in her dreams, persistently delivering prophecies to “convince the paladins and tribal alliance to go to the capital.” How tenacious and persistent it was.

Still, perhaps because she had become Malak’s subordinate, she was eventually able to resist.

“Whew.”

The Saint shook her head once as if trying to shake off bad thoughts and continued speaking.

“Though late, I wanted to express my gratitude separately. After all, I am nominally the highest authority in the Goddess Church.”

The possessors felt drawn to her polite demeanor, beautiful appearance, and speech that gave the impression of being as soft as cotton candy.

In fact, until now, the Saint and the paladins had never met separately like this. From the beginning, natives and possessors did not live mixed together.

The tribal alliance leadership had separated a district just for paladins, fearing conflicts that might arise due to differences in values or other factors.

Among the possessors, only MeleeSpy and Dina, who participated in the leadership meetings, and Noah, Siwoo, and Chosun, who had been with the tribal alliance from before, had met the Saint directly and knew her abilities.

“These are cookies I baked with the children. A small gesture from the residents living here.”

The guard behind the Saint brought several bundles. The Saint personally moved to distribute the cookies piled in the bundles.

“It’s because of you paladins that we were able to win.”

She didn’t forget to firmly grasp the paladins’ hands while expressing her gratitude.

“I don’t really like cookies.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just accept your sentiment.”

The Saint approached even those who refused, insisting on shaking hands. All the paladins had ended up shaking hands with the Saint before they knew it.

“…!”

MeleeSpy and Dina, who had been cautiously exchanging glances for a while, glanced at the Saint. The Saint pointed to five paladins with her index finger.

Among them was Bella, who had been looking around with anxious eyes.

“It’s them.”

As soon as the Saint finished speaking, MeleeSpy, Dina, Noah, and Siwoo drew their swords.

“Don’t move!”

“Put your hands above your head.”

“Stay still!”

“Just try to grab a weapon.”

They moved quickly, each taking responsibility for one person.

“Tch!”

Just as Bella was slowly backing away and about to draw her sword.

Clang!

Hannah’s sword knocked Bella’s sword away.

“Don’t try anything and stay still.”

Hannah stared expressionlessly at Bella, who was glaring at her. She had been half-convinced that Bella would be a traitor, so she had stayed close to Bella from the beginning.

“Those bastards were working with the Necrolord to destroy the totems!”

MeleeSpy explained the situation to the possessors who were watching with puzzled expressions.

“What?”

“Crazy.”

“Insane bastards!”

Eventually, the traitors, including Bella, were restrained.

“You, what did that corpse-stuffing bastard tell you?”

Hannah asked Bella.

“Did he say he’d save your sister? That he’d resurrect her as a zombie?”

Hannah clicked her tongue.

“Or did you want to go back to Earth? Did he say he’d send you to Earth if he destroyed all the totems? You believe that? What a crazy…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

“My sister is gone. There’s no point in going back.”

Bella’s eyes gleamed ominously. Hannah recalled that Bella had grown up with her sister in an orphanage.

“It’s unfair. I lost everything…”

Her gaze turned toward the citizens quietly watching from a distance.

“Why are they fine? How can they walk around with their heads held high when they were hiding in the castle when my sister died?”

“What is this…”

Bullshit. It was bullshit.

Among the families of those who had taken refuge, there must have been combatants too. Even if not, they were certainly people who had lost a lot.

In this apocalypse, how could there be anyone who hadn’t lost anything?

“Ha… fuck…”

Hannah shook her head.

Bella hadn’t actually made a deal with Charon. It was more like the desperate act of someone suffering from paranoia after losing someone precious.

“Stupid bitch.”

It was painful because she had been a comrade Hannah had fought alongside. Hannah left, as if she had nothing more to say.

“The cathedral? Of course we have to destroy it! But there’s a way! Ch-Charon said that if he gains perfect control over the evil god, he can open a dimensional gate to Earth!

It was the evil god who originally opened the dimensional gate to let demons cross over! It might take some time, but he said it’s possible!”

“Malak doesn’t have the ability to send us to Earth! Only Ishtania and Shamishur have powers related to dimensions!”

“Charon isn’t a demon or monster, right? Sure, he controlled Earth people, but that was only to fight against demons. I know it’s unacceptable behavior.

But he has his reasons, you know. He won’t try to kill all of us. Think about it. He drives out all the gods, we go home, it’s win-win, right? There’s no reason for him to kill us!”

“Yeah! I know! It’s hard to believe. But in the end, only Charon can send us back to Earth! I, I have three daughters! I need to go home!”

Not everyone was seeking indiscriminate revenge like Bella. The remaining four were possessors who had either joined after the all-out war or had been persuaded by someone who had joined.

They claimed to have fled from Charon, but in reality, they must have been convinced by Charon and come to destroy the totems.

Were they brainwashed by Charon? Or was their desire to return to Earth too strong?

To most possessors, they just looked like idiots.

“Did Charon give you his ass? Look at you defending him.”

“You should trust the right people. Is this the average Charon follower?”

Siwoo and Monkey spat simultaneously. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Did the Necrolord do something to their brains or bodies? Like implanting self-destruct devices?”

MeleeSpy examined the four possessors with concerned eyes.

“There are no such traces. I would have noticed immediately if there were.”

The Saint affirmed. Her abilities didn’t work on immortal beings with souls in spiritual dimensions (like the spirit world or heaven), meaning divine beings.

Charon was a powerful being, but not an unkillable one.

“There are collaborators besides the possessors. The parents of the children banished to Bolbano have joined hands with them.”

“Okay, arrest them all.”

At the Saint’s words, the soldiers escorting her brought the parents and tied them up next to the traitors.

“Ungrateful creatures!”

“This is why they say you shouldn’t take in blonde-haired beasts!”

The execution of the parents was confirmed amid the condemnation of the watching natives.

“So, these cookies… are they really safe to eat?”

The possessors cautiously held up the cookies given by the Saint. Having received them during the traitor identification process made them somewhat anxious.

“Ah, it’s true that I baked them with the children. The situation just happened to coincide.”

The Saint took a cookie from the bundle and put it in her mouth. The cookie crumbled with a crunch.

“…”

The paladins silently packed away their bundles.

“What should we do with these bastards?”

“Even low-level paladins are basically superhumans, so prison won’t work.”

While everyone was contemplating how to deal with the traitors, Lakye appeared.

“Is it over?”

“Ah, yes! These are the ones who joined hands with Charon!”

Noah said.

Lakye glared at the traitors. The traitors trembled under the pressure of the demigod’s aura.

“Lord Malak said not to kill them. He said he would show some respect since they came from another world to save this land.”

This was a lie, meant to maintain the morale of the possessors. Seeing fellow Earth people executed could become a seed of conflict.

Besides, Malak had methods more terrible than execution.

Lakye raised Totem #3.

“You are all banished. Live the rest of your lives on a deserted island, reflecting on your actions.”

They had been lucky with Bolbano, but this time it would be certain.

“D-deserted island?”

“No way?”

“The one with Maljukgeori?”

The traitors’ mouths fell open. Lakye used a downgraded version of the “Divine Summoning” blessing. Her hand glowed golden.

“I’ll send one person every 10 minutes. If by my mistake you end up in a strange place, or arrive missing limbs, don’t blame me. I’m still not used to this.”

Lakye grinned.

***

[PetiteNoah: The traitors have been dealt with! (ﾒ` ﾛ ´)︻デ═一]

[What’s with this yakuza-like emoticon]

[Good job]

Good. One problem solved.

I quickly closed the private message window after checking it. I needed to focus on the person in front of me.

“I am Mera, daughter of Ayl and Ter. Currently, I lead the devotee association of Lord Gabon. I have heard what you said.”

A woman adorned with elaborate ornaments greeted me.

…This person is supposedly Charon’s older sister.