Chapter 276

In a nameless forest on the outskirts of the Holy City,

A hidden elevator stood in the middle of the woods, within a secluded area owned by the Church, off-limits to ordinary citizens.

While its existence was unknown to most, someone was well aware of it, guarding it with an ironclad security detail.

To ensure that no one could ever escape.

But today, the security was even tighter than usual.

Not only was the elevator heavily guarded, but a human barricade had been formed, encircling the entire forest.

They were dressed like mercenaries, their attire concealing their true affiliation with the Church.

But they were the Church’s hidden blades.

Dirty blades, used to handle the Church’s shady business by any means necessary.

Officially, they were just ordinary believers.

But the moment they received an order from above, they transformed into attack dogs, ready to carry out any dirty deed.

And today was no exception.

“When the hell are these bastards coming out? This is getting annoying.”

A tall, lanky man with a mantis-like physique spat on the ground and grumbled.

This man was a true blade of the Church.

The Church’s Sixth Blade.

Kador, the 6th ranked Guardian Knight.

A Guardian Knight, present alongside the attack dogs?

It was a clear sign that something unusual was happening.

And there was more than one Guardian Knight.

A monstrous figure, clad in black armor from head to toe, his massive frame towering over everyone else.

He wielded a giant greatsword that seemed to radiate an aura of power.

The identity of this behemoth was also a Guardian Knight.

The 4th ranked Guardian Knight, the Armored Man.

His name, age, and origins were all unknown.

Almost everything about him was a mystery.

But one thing was certain.

He was incredibly strong.

For the residents who desperately tried to escape the underground through the elevator, the Armored Man was a demon of death.

He had already beheaded countless residents with his greatsword, the number of his victims easily reaching triple digits.

Kador glanced at the Armored Man with a bored expression.

“Hey, when are they coming out?”

– I don’t know.

The Armored Man replied in sign language.

“What do you mean you don’t know? This is your area of responsibility.”

– I don’t know. Focus on your task and be quiet.

“Ha, what a big deal. ‘Focus on your task,’ he says.”

Kador was nonchalant.

The higher-ups were making a fuss, but in the end, it was just a matter of killing a few rats who emerged from below.

The opposing faction?

That wasn’t a problem either.

He had brought over a hundred of the Church’s attack dogs.

The opposing faction didn’t have that kind of manpower.

And even if they did, they couldn’t use it.

This was an underground operation.

They couldn’t openly deploy their forces.

In the end, there was nothing to worry about.

That was why Kador was so relaxed.

It was then.

He felt a shift in the air, a change in its flow.

The Armored Man also seemed to have sensed it, as he stood up abruptly, his massive frame towering over Kador.

“Oh, they’re finally here. Good. I was getting bored.”

Kador grinned, his teeth glinting in the dim light.

“Is it over there?”

*Thud.*

Kador leaped forward, his body moving with surprising agility.

It was an open space in the middle of the overgrown forest.

The records from a thousand years ago, stating that the entire forest was a teleportation gateway, were accurate.

The only problem was that the area was so vast that it required a lot of manpower.

But it didn’t matter now that they had caught them.

“They’re here!”

Kador informed the attack dogs of their location.

They would arrive soon.

But he wasn’t telling them to attack.

They were just there for cleanup and to prevent any escapees.

He would be the one to savor the main course, of course.

He could spare a few scraps for the Armored Man, but that was it.

“Now then, let’s see.”

Kador chuckled menacingly and drew his sword.

It was a scimitar, a curved blade commonly used in the desert regions of the south.

Kador was from there.

*Thump.*

The Armored Man stood beside him, like a walking wall.

“Hey, wait your turn.”

Just as Kador was about to step forward,

Figures materialized out of thin air.

No, not a figure.

Figures.

Not one, not two.

Not three.

Not ten.

Not a hundred.

Kador froze, his body jerking to a halt like a malfunctioning machine.

His eyes widened in shock.

Because there were so many of them.

Too many.

“H-Holy…?! H-How many are there?!”

* * *

“How many did you mobilize?”

The Pope asked casually, sipping his warm tea.

“Exactly one hundred and twelve.”

Cardinal Laurencio replied.

“Haha, it seems like you were well-prepared. You mobilized quite a few.”

“I simply made the necessary arrangements, Your Holiness.”

“You’re too modest, Cardinal.”

The Pope took another sip of his tea.

Then he continued, “Anyway, that should be enough. Don’t you think?”

“Of course, Your Holiness. Their skills are unquestionable. We’ve mobilized over a hundred of them. And we’ve also assigned two Guardian Knights to the task. There won’t be any problems.”

The Cardinal’s assurance.

It was a formidable force.

The Pope knew that.

“Haha, that’s reassuring. With that kind of force, even if the ghost of the past interferes, it won’t be an issue.”

The ghost of the past.

He was referring to the current Archbishop Arifer, the former Saint Lepheria.

A hero of the world and the Church.

But now, she was nothing more than a thorn in his side.

A ghost of the past who had failed to disappear gracefully and had shamelessly reappeared.

The Pope was determined to finally teach her a lesson.

To show her that this wasn’t the past anymore.

That the Church was no longer under her control.

The current Church belonged to those who lived in the present.

And it belonged to him.

“Of course, Your Holiness.”

The Cardinal smiled.

The Pope smiled back.

* * *

The Church’s attack dogs.

They didn’t panic in any situation.

They weren’t intimidated.

Because they were fanatics, driven by their unwavering faith.

No one had a stronger mentality than a fanatic.

So instead of being intimidated, the attack dogs glared at their opponents menacingly.

Their fierce gazes belied their numerical disadvantage, outnumbered at least three to one.

Their aura was impressive.

It was an aura that could intimidate even a seasoned warrior.

But their opponents were no ordinary people.

The residents.

Humans who had survived a hell unimaginable to those on the surface.

The residents simply glared back, unfazed by the attack dogs’ attempts at intimidation.

“Ha, look at those bastards.”

“What the hell are they looking at?”

“You wanna go? Bring it on! We’ll kill you all!”

The residents’ fighting spirit surged.

Their full armor made them seem even more intimidating.

It was a stark contrast to the attack dogs, who were lightly armored, like mercenaries.

But everyone present knew.

That the level of armament didn’t determine who was stronger.

The tension was palpable.

Kador frowned.

‘Damn it, where did all these bastards come from…?’

He couldn’t understand it.

According to the records, the underground was a death trap, teeming with undead and monsters.

And it was probably still true.

It was a hell for humans.

And yet, so many of them had survived?

It was inconceivable.

‘I heard there were only three of them. Could those three have caused all this?’

Impossible.

Unless something extraordinary had happened.

‘A monster must have fallen into the underground.’

Random portals to the underground appeared all over the continent.

It wasn’t impossible for a monstrous human to have fallen into one.

And if that monster had joined forces with that rich, spoiled brat on the outside…

‘I see. It’s starting to make sense.’

Kador’s eyes gleamed with understanding.

That explained their absurdly heavy armor.

They had found a sponsor and used him to their advantage, building up their strength.

And with that strength, they had finally escaped the underground.

‘That spoiled brat probably has no idea he’s being used.’

Kador scoffed.

Now that they were on the surface, there was no reason for that monster to continue playing nice with his little sponsor.

He had already gotten what he wanted.

That brat was still just a brat, oblivious to being used.

‘Anyway, the spoiled brat isn’t important right now.’

*Crack.*

Kador cracked his neck menacingly and said to the Armored Man, “I’ll handle this.”

The Armored Man was mute.

He couldn’t speak, even if he wanted to.

But Kador had said it out of courtesy.

– Stall for time.

The Armored Man replied in sign language.

It seemed like he had requested reinforcements from the Church, overwhelmed by the unexpected number of enemies.

It wasn’t a bad decision.

The problem was,

“Who the hell are you to give me orders?”

Kador retorted, his tone sharp.

Honestly, his relationship with the Armored Man was neither good nor bad.

They were like oil and water.

They were on the same side, but the Armored Man was a unique Guardian Knight, his area of responsibility limited to the forbidden zone, so they rarely interacted.

But there was one thing Kador couldn’t stand.

Orders.

The Armored Man wasn’t in a position to give him orders, not when he wasn’t the Pope or the Cardinal.

– I said stall for time.

“I said don’t give me orders.”

Kador glared at him and turned away, stepping forward.

He would make his own decisions.

The only order he had received was from the Pope: to kill everyone who emerged from the underground.

The means and methods were up to him.

‘First, I’ll break their spirit.’

That was Kador’s plan.

The stronger the central figure, the more reliant the group was on them.

In other words, if he could eliminate that central figure, the entire group would crumble.

No matter how large their numbers, a demoralized group was nothing more than a disorganized mob.

“Who’s your leader? Show yourself if you have the guts!”

Kador called out to the central figure.

The monster from the underground, the one he had deduced was leading them.

If he could capture that monster, the group would collapse in an instant.

No, even if he couldn’t capture him, all he had to do was intimidate him.

A challenge to a duel.

The monster wouldn’t accept it.

Because he was the leader.

No matter how confident he was in his skills, he wouldn’t risk his life when the fate of his group rested on his shoulders.

The risk was too great.

But even if he refused, it would still demoralize his followers.

That was human nature.

“Who is it? Come out! If you’re not a gutless coward!”

Kador’s provocative shout echoed through the forest.

His gaze swept across the enemy’s ranks, challenging them.

‘Is it you? Or you? Or maybe you?’

A beast-like man with red hair and beard.

A fierce-looking man with a glint of madness in his eyes.

A sharp, refined woman.

Kador glared at them, trying to provoke a reaction.

But,

“It’s me. What’s up?”

The one who stepped forward was a young man with an annoyingly smug face.

Kador’s face contorted in disbelief.

It was a natural reaction, considering he didn’t know that this annoying young man was Max Celtrine.

But even if he had known, his reaction would have been the same.

Because he had dismissed Max as just a foolish sponsor.

Kador frowned, his face a mask of confusion.

And then,

“Aha, so that’s how you’re playing it. As expected, your leader is a nobody. You don’t even have the guts to show yourself, so you send a subordinate as a decoy.”

He sneered, as if he had figured it all out.

A smug smile played on his lips.

This was even better.

It would demoralize them even more.

But,

“Are you stupid?”

Max clicked his tongue.

“What?”

Kador frowned.

“What decoy? I am the Savior of the Underground. The savior of these people.”

Max said, tilting his chin up.

“Nonsense…”

“And you, you’re just a lackey. Why are you even here?”

Max cut him off, turning the tables on him.

“You little brat, what the hell are you talking about…”

“Anyone can see that the Armored Man over there is the leader. Why is a scrawny, mantis-like lackey like you running your mouth? Tell your boss to come out here.”

Max’s words struck two of Kador’s sore spots.

That the Armored Man was clearly the higher-ranking individual.

And that he was a scrawny, mantis-like lackey.

‘He’ll probably hunt him down and kill him just for calling him a mantis.’

Max chuckled inwardly.

Kador, the Guardian Knight.

He knew him well.

And he knew how to push his buttons.

Insulting his appearance.

But a simple insult wasn’t enough.

He had to use the word “mantis” for it to be truly effective.

Because Kador himself knew, deep down, that he resembled a mantis.

And Max had added insult to injury by calling him a lackey and comparing him to the Armored Man.

The effect was…

“Y-You little bastard!”

Kador exploded, losing all reason.