Ch.579Meeting the Specter

The Deathknight walking in a straight line toward the island was no longer called a Deathknight.

He was far too powerful to be called a Deathknight, and his behavior showed such significant differences from ordinary Deathknights that it was impossible to consider him the same species.

The monster researchers of the island classified him as a higher species of Deathknight and gave him a new name: “Knight of Ruin.”

No name could have been more appropriate for a monster that could reduce fortress walls to rubble with a single strike.

Instead of gathering private armies to stop his advance, the nobles of the Empire evacuated all subjects in his path and waited for the walking disaster to pass by peacefully.

Had this knight of death been slaughtering all life around him, they would have gathered forces to eliminate him. However, unlike typical monsters, he simply walked silently without causing harm unless someone provoked him first.

He would even draw his infamous magic sword to fight and eliminate other monsters he encountered along his path.

Because of this, despite the monster’s immense power, human casualties remained relatively low.

Of course, while human casualties were minimal, the physical damage was catastrophic. Every fortress wall that stood in his way crumbled without exception, and the Dark Mana flowing from his body contaminated all land along his path.

Since he never lingered in one place for long, the priests could somehow purify the land with their miracles.

—-

Unlike Leopold who ordered retreat rather than confrontation, Lacy immediately tried to assemble a subjugation force by gathering paladins from the Imperial Diocese when she heard the news.

It was a natural decision. A cleric’s primary duty is to destroy evil. Even if it didn’t actively attack, a monster was still a monster, and to her, the Knight of Ruin was simply evil that needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

Lacy withdrew her emergency summons for the paladins immediately after hearing about my dispatch.

“If it’s Lord Median, we can trust him with this task.”

The archbishops of the Diocese also welcomed Lacy’s decision.

Unlike the forces from the Holy State’s homeland, the Diocese’s Holy Army—which wasn’t even properly established yet—would suffer massive casualties even if they succeeded in subjugating the Knight of Ruin.

With monsters already rampant throughout the Empire and the paladins severely shorthanded, such a victory would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Monster damage in other regions would increase proportionally to the lost strength of the Holy Army.

Therefore, sending just me for the subjugation was the best solution for both the Empire and the Diocese.

—-

Since most of my acquaintances hadn’t yet returned to the island, only two people joined me on the journey toward the Knight of Ruin.

One healing priest to treat any injuries from battle, and one knight to protect the healing priest.

In other words, just Lena and Leonore.

“What about the Rose Cross Knights?”

“They need rest too. If they hunted monsters every day like you and I do, they’d all collapse from exhaustion.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

She had a point. Though they had become somewhat elite through monster subjugation, the Rose Cross Knights were essentially no different from ordinary imperial knights except that they were all women.

Without sufficient rest and reorganization, they would self-destruct from battle fatigue if pushed like machines.

Anyway, the three of us left the island and headed toward the Knight of Ruin. Since time was of the essence, we rode horses instead of taking a carriage.

Leonore procured a sturdy war horse to ride, while Lena shared Cascador’s saddle with me.

It goes without saying, but Cascador didn’t refuse Lena riding on his back.

If he had refused, I probably would have collapsed from shock, grabbing the back of my neck.

While he might reject Millia or Hush, refusing Lena… that would mean there was at least one person somewhere who deserved to be tied to a cross and burned alive.

—-

The journey toward the Knight of Ruin felt like revisiting old memories, as we were following the same path I remembered.

Of course, many things had changed since then. Though only a year had passed in terms of time, the world had undergone countless changes that were difficult to express in words.

Mountains that weren’t there before had appeared, and lakes had formed with small villages around them. Dungeons seemed to have emerged at every location where the terrain had changed dramatically, with adventurers and knights scattered everywhere.

Being attacked by various monsters, kobolds, or trolls while riding all day was commonplace, and even during our overnight camps, there were plenty of creatures launching night raids.

Thanks to Cascador taking watch, we didn’t need to stay up all night.

Though he took the form of a horse, being fundamentally a spiritual creature, his stamina was on a completely different level from ordinary war horses. He showed no signs of fatigue even after galloping all day and staying awake for several nights.

“Your unicorn, miss. Though I find his attraction to virgins a bit unsettling, he’s useful in many ways.”

“That’s what good judgment looks like.”

In truth, I chose him because there weren’t many options… but if the results are good, that’s all that matters.

“You’re amazing, sister!”

Lena exclaimed with a bright smile as she blew on her warm stew.

…I had meant it as a joke. Her genuine admiration for such a trivial comment made me feel embarrassed instead.

—-

Since we were following the same route as before, it was inevitable that we would arrive at a village I had visited previously. I paused briefly to observe the familiar yet changed landscape of the village.

“Is there a problem, miss?”

“No, not really. I was just thinking how much this place has changed from before.”

“You know this village?”

“Rather than knowing it… I once razed this village to the ground.”

It was a village I had visited on my way to the Carmaine Forest. A den of human scum who drugged travelers, killed all the men, raped the women, and kept them captive in basements.

I remember now. Due to violent frustration and menstrual irritation overlapping, I went a bit overboard and turned the entire village into a sea of flames, only to be surprised by a sudden downpour.

“Razed…? Ah, so this is ‘that village.’ No wonder almost all the buildings look new.”

“That village?”

“You know, where you claimed to be divine punishment or something. You wrote it in blood on the wall, didn’t you?”

…Come to think of it, I did say something like that.

At the time, it was just an impulsive act, but looking back now, the expression “divine punishment” had transformed from an exaggerated self-proclamation into a plain truth. Ever since I was chosen as Astraea’s saint.

They say words become reality—is this what they call a self-fulfilling prophecy?

“I wonder if that’s still preserved?”

“…I’m not sure.”

The writing that neither burned in the flames nor washed away in the downpour.

Considering how Lacy had made a fuss about it being undoubtedly God’s will, it wouldn’t be strange if it was still preserved. Though I didn’t particularly want to see it again.

“I want to see it!”

“It’s not really worth seeing…”

I scratched the back of my head and tried to change the subject.

It’s not like it was some cultural heritage—it was just letters written in human blood on a house wall. What’s the point of seeing that?

“I want to see it!”

“…Alright, alright. Fine. Let’s take a quick look.”

With Lena looking up at me with sparkling eyes, I finally nodded and turned my horse toward the village interior. If she wants to see it that badly, why not just go and look?

—-

Since it was clear that my arrival would cause a commotion if discovered, I put on a travel cloak with a hood as we approached the village and temporarily unsummoned Cascador.

Leonore, whose face was also known as an imperial princess, covered her face with a veil.

Perhaps because the Knight of Ruin was approaching, the village was bustling with evacuation preparations when seen up close. They were too busy to pay attention to the suspicious outsiders visiting.

“There are so many priests…?”

Lena looked around curiously, tilting her head.

Indeed, from her perspective, the villagers must have seemed strange. There wasn’t a single ordinary household to be found, and the place was filled with priests, paladins, and tourists.

Come to think of it, it made sense that no original villagers remained. We had killed all the men, and the women had been sent to the island diocese for care.

Whether they had recovered or not… I didn’t know since I hadn’t asked Lacy.

Anyway, since all the village residents had disappeared, they needed new inhabitants for reconstruction. However, unless someone had absolutely nowhere else to go, no one would want to live in a village where such a terrible incident had occurred.

So it seemed they had rebuilt it as a tourist city for outsiders.

There were almost no ordinary houses among the buildings in the village; instead, churches, inns, and shops for visitors were scattered everywhere. It felt like a tourist destination for religious pilgrimages.

Even those running the inns and shops wore holy emblems around their necks, suggesting they were members of the Church of Elpinel.

I wondered what there was to see in this rural place that made it a tourist spot… but there was indeed one attraction. Inside the Church of Elpinel built in the center of the village.

They had preserved the writing I left by removing the entire wall section and placing it in a glass case. They called it a holy relic evidencing Elpinel’s will manifesting on earth, or something like that. I couldn’t help but laugh.