Ch.472Justice Without Exception

As I plunged through the paladins’ tight formation like a needle, I expected dozens of swords to fly at me from all directions.

Charging into the center of their formation meant surrounding myself completely with enemies.

Of course, I wasn’t worried. Unless it was a strike from a high-ranking paladin, most blades wouldn’t even pierce the leather of my armor.

I just needed to be careful about attacks on my exposed areas. That’s what I thought.

However, the situation that unfolded was completely different from my expectations.

“He’s entered! Surround him!”

The paladins suddenly retreated, clearing the center as if they’d been waiting for this moment.

They distanced themselves considerably from me, forming what looked like a five-layered circular formation. Except for five of them.

“…He’s in. Just as we expected.”

The five high-ranking paladins I had seen yesterday, including Perlman.

These individuals, who appeared to be Arad branch’s greatest fighting force, were waiting for me in the now-empty center of the formation.

“Expected? More like we’ve been breached.”

“To think he’d break through our barrier meant to slow his momentum with a single strike and charge in. I’ve heard rumors, but isn’t he more of a monster than the demons themselves?”

“Can we even hold out? I wonder if the Archbishop has made a reckless decision…”

They didn’t look particularly confident.

As the saying goes, you see as much as you know—the more skilled they were, the more accurately they could sense my power.

The tension they felt must have been incomparable to that of ordinary paladins.

“Let’s not lose heart when Astraea is watching us.”

Perlman lightly reprimanded them as he pointed his sword at me.

Holy light gathered on his blade, emitting such radiance that the shape of the sword was barely visible.

It was the “Blade of Order” that I had been breaking and snapping until just now, but as expected of a high-ranking paladin, the density of power was on another level.

At that level, it might even withstand Durandal’s slash.

To think that merely believing in a god and following doctrine could strengthen an ordinary steel sword to the level of a true silver blade.

Knights who struggle with swords containing traces of true silver or black iron must truly envy this.

“Five high-ranking paladins… is this all you’ve got?”

I slightly shrugged my shoulders and lowered Durandal.

Five high-ranking paladins attacking together. In the past, I might have been tense, but it wasn’t enough to give me a sense of crisis now.

“No need to be disappointed. We haven’t even begun yet.”

As Perlman finished speaking, a golden pillar rose from the rear of the formation and descended upon the heads of the five paladins.

Sacred characters were densely inscribed on their armor, which was already radiating holy light.

Their brass armor gleamed as it absorbed the sacred light, and translucent veils of light unfurled behind their shoulders, flowing like capes.

Guardian’s Armor and Executor’s Cape.

These were the Church of Astraea’s signature blessings.

So… they’re pouring all their sacred power into the Blade of Order, and substituting the rest of the miracles with blessings from high priests?

It was efficient. This way, I wasn’t just facing five high-ranking paladins, but also several high priests who had joined forces with them.

Though it seemed unusual for paladins to be the recipients of blessings, this was a textbook approach when knights and priests combined forces against a formidable opponent.

This might be tricky… should I use Defying Fate?

I wanted to conserve my Karma power as much as possible, not knowing when Astraea’s main force might arrive.

Well, being tired is better than being injured.

“Go! Show him the severity of the scales!”

“For the Goddess of Order!”

“Astraea! Execute your justice!”

With Wilhelm’s command echoing from somewhere, the five paladins, now transformed into golden masses, charged at me.

Their speed surpassed that of master-level knights. Golden afterimages stretched behind them.

Indeed, if five such beings attacked together, most demons would be slaughtered like dogs before they could even react.

“Yes, now this is more like it!”

They were faster than I expected, having poured considerable sacred power into their attacks, but not so fast that I couldn’t respond.

I didn’t even need to use Defying Fate.

I spread Karma power throughout my body, strengthening both muscles and nerves simultaneously.

My heightened reflexes clearly detected their movements. The paths of their slashing attacks were vividly visible.

I blocked a longsword aimed at my collarbone with the base of Durandal’s blade, then twisted my elbow and wrist to deflect it while closing in.

At a distance close enough for our foreheads to touch, I naturally rotated my body and struck his helmet with the pommel of my sword.

A golden spark erupted with a crack. The paladin who took the powerful blow to his head lost balance and fell sideways.

The force would have been enough to burst his head like a watermelon if he’d been unarmored, but thanks to the blessing he wore, the actual damage was limited to a slightly dented helmet.

Like being hit with a hammer while wearing a safety helmet.

With Astraea’s healing miracle and Pillar of Faith also active, he would likely be back on his feet soon.

To subdue him, I’d need to deliberately cut off his limbs… but unfortunately, I didn’t have that luxury.

As I turned my attention away from him, I countered the blades of the other four attacking from all directions.

“You fiend!”

I blocked a slash aimed at my spine with my left arm, then grabbed the stopped longsword tightly and threw the paladin along with it.

The paladin who had been trying to stab my solar plexus stopped his attack to catch his flying comrade, and both were pushed back.

“Not done yet!”

A paladin who had crouched low to the ground thrust his longsword upward vertically.

What the hell? Is he trying to impale a woman’s groin? That’s not a target a paladin should aim for. I felt a surge of disgust.

I twisted my right foot to block his attack with my armor.

With a crunching sound, a long scratch appeared on the black iron scales, but as Asha had guaranteed, the winter armor’s scales easily withstood even a master’s strike.

“You bastard!”

I followed with a kick. My right foot, extended with full force, literally carved through between his legs.

“GAAAHHHHK!”

He collapsed with foam at his mouth, his eyes nearly popping out.

Serves him right. Though it’s said to be psychological, that area doesn’t recover its function even with healing miracles.

“For order and justice!”

The last to attack was Perlman.

Instead of making wide swings with his longsword, he made short, precise cuts targeting the gaps in my armor.

Was he concerned about counterattacks if he aimed for openings? Experienced.

Indeed, though his attacks lacked power, they were quick and short, making it difficult to find an opportunity to counterattack.

– CLANG! CLAAANG!

The blue-silver longsword and golden blade collided fiercely, scattering fragments of light like fireworks.

Crossing blades. By the sixth exchange, the Blade of Order on Perlman’s sword lost its power and became unstable.

“Kuhm…!”

Perlman, having noticed this as well, let out a groan and leaped back.

I tried to pursue him, but the other paladins who had regained their posture during the opening Perlman created charged at me again, forcing me to abandon the pursuit and parry their swords.

Hmm.

After crossing blades with them, I realized it was troublesome but not dangerous.

If I was willing to accept minor injuries, I could finish them right now. Even without using Tale of Heros.

Is this all they prepared to capture me?

Is Wilhelm not just stone-faced but stone-headed as well?

Unless…

========[ Wilhelm ]========

‘Indeed, his strength is unbelievable, just as I’ve heard. To think he’s this formidable even without using the infamous Red Karma of Murder. He’s incomparable to the previous Empire’s Greatest Swordsman.’

Wilhelm silently observed Aishan-Gioro raging within the circular formation, inwardly swallowing what amounted to praise.

Before him stood the ideal warrior that anyone who wielded a sword would dream of becoming.

Transcendent physical abilities. Inexhaustible stamina. Brutal yet refined swordsmanship.

A true silver longsword presumed to be one of the Great’s Twelve Knights’ sacred artifacts, and armor of unbelievable performance.

This was truly a superhuman straight out of ancient heroic tales, a single person equivalent to an army.

‘No wonder the Radiant Emperor and Elmaine favored him. Unrivaled strength, and compassion worthy of being called noble. Aside from his rough speech, he’s nothing short of an exemplary knight.’

Haschal would have been quite surprised if she could hear his inner thoughts.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, Wilhelm held her in quite high regard.

‘Compassion…’

He had already understood.

Though her methods were rather forceful, the reason Haschal acted this way was to minimize the number of casualties in this incident.

The fact that she hadn’t harmed a single rioter despite declaring her intention to occupy the city, and that all the paladins who fell to her ended up with serious injuries at worst, proved this.

The spirit of willingly facing hardship to save the lives of the weak—what else could this be called but compassion?

If she had sincerely worshipped the gods, stigmata might have descended upon her immediately.

Compassion.

Wilhelm understood how noble such a spirit was.

It’s just that he had values more important than compassion.

The being he served was Astraea of order and justice.

The Goddess of Scales who judged the sins of evildoers without mercy.

‘There are no exceptions to order. There is no compromise in justice. The moment one takes a step back, it can no longer be called order.’

That was his belief.

—-

Wilhelm wasn’t unaware.

He knew that if he had governed more flexibly and compromised with the citizens’ demands, this situation would never have occurred.

But for Wilhelm, such compromise was impossible.

Especially in times like these, when the Holy State was in turmoil.

Why had he imposed the same punishment for all sins, knowing it would provoke extreme backlash?

To distinguish between the severity of punishments meant distinguishing between the gravity of sins.

Between grave sins deserving death, and light sins that could be overlooked with appropriate penalties.

To Wilhelm, this was akin to planting the seeds of corruption.

‘The moment the concept of hierarchy takes root, the inferior is inevitably disregarded. If sins have a hierarchy, everyone will begin to compromise with themselves.’

That compared to capital offenses, minor wrongdoings are nothing.

That one can just pay a fine or serve a short prison sentence and be done with it.

If all sins received the same punishment, people would fear committing sins at all, but if the weight of punishment varied according to the gravity of the sin, relatively minor sins would be considered insignificant.

That was the beginning of disorder.

Petty theft, assault, fraud, deception. Countless miscellaneous sins would spread like wildfire.

Therefore, Wilhelm insisted on execution by fire without any exceptions, despite anticipating people’s resistance.

To create a world of order and justice, free from even a speck of sin.

That was his religious view.

The reason why, despite recognizing and appreciating Haschal’s compassion, he had to oppose her.

“Begin!”

Ending his contemplation, Wilhelm gave the final order to the priests who had been waiting for his command.

Haschal was still unaware, but the core of the Purification Formation for Undead Slaughter had not even been activated yet.

Purification meant erasing everything without leaving a trace.

If it had been merely about surrounding with troops and sending in a few elites to attack, it wouldn’t have been called a Purification Formation.

All priests, including the high priests, raised their heads, emanating sacred light.

The paladins forming the encirclement created a sacred barrier as if embracing the inside.

Haschal should have wondered at least once.

Why the bombardment of light, which had been relentlessly pouring down until just now, had completely disappeared as soon as the formation was deployed.

Inside the layers of paladins forming the encirclement.

Above the open space where five high-ranking paladins and one hero were engaged in fierce battle—

Dozens of layers of light of judgment unfurled.

It was no longer at the level of a golden downpour, but literally a waterfall of sacred light.