Paladin in Dark Fantasy

prologue.

The inhabitants of this world believe that night comes when the god closes his eyes.

It is because it is believed that demons or wicked people hide from the eyes of the gods in the morning and appear when the sun goes down to harm people.

But even in such darkness, there were those who shed a lofty light.

They clad in platinum armor, acted as God’s judgment, and cried out for destruction.

One eye of a god that lights up the night. This world calls them paladins.

Yoo Ji-tae became a paladin in the game.

It’s been two years already, but he’s still an atheist.

Episode 1 .

As the dusk grew thicker, Aiden’s heart grew more and more urgent.

I tried to urge the horse I was driving, but I couldn’t get any speed because I was going down the hillside with trees.

Even the 2.5m long lance that Iden was carrying obliquely across his back was only an obstacle in this terrain.

‘It’s difficult when the sun goes down completely.’

The destination was Tedrang Village.

There was a good chance that the demon they were chasing had sneaked in there.

As expected, he would have been hiding in Tedrang for more than a week, but it was already more than enough time for victims to appear one after another.

I was somewhat annoyed at the situation where I couldn’t move quickly due to my impatient mindset.

The sun was setting, and it was time for them to be active. Only then did the terraced vineyards, the entrance to the village, begin to appear.

From here, there were no trees blocking Aiden. He loosened the reins and drove the horse vigorously.

As the quiet village resounded with the untimely sound of horses’ hooves, the residents who had been hiding were also sticking out their faces through the windowsills one by one.

They, too, knew very well what this sound meant.

A paladin dispatched by the church. Or a demon hunter who wants gold in return.

It was because there were few people other than them who could be so confident at night.

Most of them wanted the former paladin.

However, the appearance of Aiden reflected in the eyes of the residents was not a being clad in platinum holy armor and emitting a halo.

It was a demon hunter wearing leather armor and a black cape.

Of course, the residents were not in a position to take a chance, so they immediately jumped out and greeted Iden.

“Ah, are you a demon hunter? I am Gambell, the chief of Tedrang.”

The village chief was a stooped old man. Aiden showed him the seal of the cult of Varanches.

“no. He is an apprentice knight belonging to the church.”

It was a novice who had just graduated from a monastery.

In fact, in the village, an apprentice knight was less reliable than a demon hunter. Because most of them lack experience.

Only a few completed the training and were qualified. The rest are killed or crippled during battles with demons.

The village chief’s expression became complex because he knew such a physiology as well as the years he had lived.

Aiden noticed the village chief’s mood, but said he didn’t care.

“The chasing devil has fled here. It must have been a week or so, but apparently it must have damaged the village.”

From the behavior of the village headman who rushed out and the expressions of the residents seen through the windows, it was possible to infer that they were suffering serious damage.

“Yeah, that’s all. Several of the village women have already died. A corpse with the whole body shrunk… uh huh. It was the first time I had ever seen such a hideous face.”

The village chief shuddered as if he didn’t even want to imagine it.

“This is the guy I was looking for.”

Incubus. It was a nightmare that sucked women’s genital organs until they died.

The time was getting closer to midnight. It was time for him to eat soon.

“Chief, gather the young women of the village here right now.”

“Speaking of a young woman…”

“As a woman who started menarche, but did not go through the coming-of-age ceremony.”

The village chief was suspicious of Aiden’s skills, but apart from that, he felt a strange trust in his appearance and calm tone.

“Ah, I see.”

He hesitated for a moment, then gestured to the residents.

“Did you hear everything I said about the article? Hurry up and bring them all together!”

Following the order of the village chief, several young men ran around the village to spread the news to each household.

Since it is a small village with around 100 households, it won’t take too long.

Taking advantage of the waiting gap, the village chief spoke to Aiden again.

“He is a formidable fellow. In fact, not only the women, but also several of the men who went out to find him have already been killed. If possible, contact the church and ask for an official paladin…”

It meant to protect the village until the paladin arrived. Don’t move hastily.

Of course, Aiden had no intention of doing that.

This is because once this work is completed, the apprentice knight’s position is over.

Two years since I fell to this world. I finally got a chance to board the main scenario, but I couldn’t give up.

Aiden looked at the translucent hologram window that appeared in front of him.

It was a character sheet borrowed from the status window or quest window in the game.

‘There’s still a long way to go.’

It was the result of running so hard that my feet sweated for two years, but considering the second half of the game, it was a long way off.

“Me, knight?”

“There is no time to wait. He’s enough for me alone.”

As the village headman, he couldn’t tell if that confidence was a guest or not, but he couldn’t go against it.

No matter how much an apprentice was, as long as the word knight was added, it was a status that commoners could not oppose.

“I see.”

Aiden, who firmly dismissed the village chief’s opinion, got off his horse after confirming that the villagers were gathering one after another.

Only the women of Myoryeong were summoned, but a considerable number of people, regardless of gender and age, gathered in front of the village chief’s house.

It was to see an article from the church.

Even the tall men in the village looked pale in front of Aiden.

There were no residents making noise or making a fuss among the fairly large crowd.

Everyone quietly waited for Aiden to open his mouth.

“Are all the women over there?”

About 30 young women stood in a row.

“Yes, I called everyone without exception. be well.”

The man who moved the fastest answered.

Iden nodded and walked towards the group of women.

Everyone lowered their heads to avoid eye contact with Iden.

The reason why women behave like this is probably because the lord’s procedure for selecting a princess is similar to this.

It was a very different case now, but it was a reflexive reaction.

“Raise your head and look me in the eyes.”

The woman standing in the lead hesitantly met Iden’s gaze.

The girl’s pupils trembled anxiously.

Aiden stared into those eyes, raised the tip of his index finger and brought it between her eyebrows.

“It doesn’t hurt you. There is no need to be anxious.”

At the same time, a pure white glow burned from the tip of Aiden’s index finger.

divine power. It was a power used by all paladins to fight against the devil.

The purity of divine power was different for each user and the training method was quite different for each individual, but Aiden’s case was a little special among them.

system.

To be precise, the authority he set when creating the character was the basic foundation.

What Aiden chose was ‘noble hypocrisy’.

After drawing the respect and envy of others through good deeds to show off, it is replaced with divine power.

If this world were a game, it would be possible to meet the conditions with rough manipulation, but unfortunately, this place was a stark reality.

I had to draw awe from real humans, not AI NPCs.

If I had known how to possess the game, I wouldn’t have chosen such an authority.

no. Maybe he never even started playing this damn game in the first place.

In any case, the brilliance that radiated from the tip of Aiden’s index finger was the fruit of his two years of hard work.

The bright light caught everyone’s attention.

Some swallowed their exclamations, and some clasped their hands together calling out the name of God.

Even in the pupils of the girl facing her, the fear had already disappeared.

‘For now, this child is not.’

Humans worked by the Incubus show a rejection reaction to the divine power.

Aiden passed them one by one, observing their reaction, and stopped in front of a girl with auburn hair who was in the 15th order.

Because her body was shaking like an aspen tree.

“Joo, Julie! what’s the matter?”

The woman’s father became contemplative and looked back and forth between Aiden and his daughter.

“She is a woman marked by the devil. Hold him from behind so he cannot move.”

Commoners who were enchanted by demons were usually burned to death.

It was because there was a high possibility of becoming a devil worshiper or a member of the devil’s household.

If the victim was a noble, it was healed with expensive holy water or purified by a saint, but that was not the case for commoners.

Julie’s father cried out in despair.

“My, my daughter is innocent. please. Knight, have mercy…, please have mercy!”

The expression of the village chief and other villagers also became gloomy.

But they were also facing reality. At the village chief’s gesture, I tied Julie from behind.

As some young men were about to move to prepare firewood and molds, Iden said.

“I don’t burn people.”

The village chief put on a somewhat puzzled expression.

“That, what…”

“I don’t need anything else, just hold on tight so he doesn’t run away.”

Julie was gradually losing her temper. He screamed in anger and showed his hostility.

“Leave this! Don’t touch my body! My body, my body belongs exclusively to Sebas-sama!”

It was the result of a collision between the magic powers planted by the devil and the divine powers of Aiden.

‘As expected, it’s caught in the fascination.’

If Iden hadn’t been there, the woman would probably have gone to the incubus on her own and sacrificed herself.

That was the way dream demons hunted humans.

Aiden immediately raised his divine power.

It was different from the healing system used by the saintess, so the fascination could not be completely canceled, but it had a temporary effect.

The pure white light began to dispel the shadows in Julie’s pupils for a moment.

Aiden didn’t miss that moment.

“Did you say your name was Julie?”

“Uh, huh…”

Julie let out a pained moan and twisted her body about to faint.

All the villagers stiffened with shocked faces.

“My sword cuts only heretics and demons. Trust me if you’re not one of them. It won’t hurt you.”

A warm light enveloped Julie. Aiden’s halo. Although he was not an official paladin, the level of divine power emitted was very high.

The village chief, who had doubts about Aiden’s skills, was already stunned and bowed his head.

“God’s eyes.”

Everyone was relieved, forgetting that it was night. Julie also opened her mouth slowly.

“… I-I’m just.”

“You are not at fault.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll replace…”

“The cause of all this misfortune is the devil, don’t beat yourself up. Just, can you tell me where Sebas is?”

There will definitely be a place we promised to meet.

“Hey, brewery. He said he would wait for me at the brewery on the outskirts of town.”

done. Knowing its location, capturing it was only a matter of time.

‘This is the end of the apprenticeship ticket.’

The church required the slaughter of 49 demons as qualifications. Sebas was the end of the paladin training.

As Iden retracted his halo, Julie collapsed.

“Julie!”

Her father ran over and supported her, looking up at Iden.

“Hey, driver, what will happen to my daughter now?”

“It is not completely cleaned up. For now, let me drink this.”

Iden took a small vial from his bosom and handed it to Julie’s father.

You might think it was holy water, but it was just a sleeping pill.

The cost of a bottle of holy water could not be raised even if all the village’s property was sold. Of course, it was something that even Iden couldn’t handle.

“I will wake up in two or three days. By that time, all the demonic energy in the body should have been purified.”

Even without the help of a holy water or a saint, it was possible to heal a human poisoned by demonic energy.

Magi’s body. In other words, it was enough to get rid of the demon that caused harm.

Burning people to death, in a way, was the worst custom in this world.

Aiden was well aware that it was bullsh*t.

“This, this precious thing… how on earth can a guy like me repay such favor?”

Aiden didn’t bother to reveal that it wasn’t holy water.

To tell the truth, the villagers won’t believe that Julie has been completely cleansed.

Even if she kills the demon, she may not be able to live in the village. The residents might burn Julie at the stake out of anxiety.

Aiden shook his head.

“It was my job.”

“I will pray to God for your well-being for the rest of your life.”

Iden scanned the messages in front of him with bitter eyes.

Nobility, sanctity, those numbers were rising like a game.

As soon as Aiden got on the horse, the village chief came running.

“Knight, in case you don’t know, wouldn’t it be better to take some young men with you? The location of the brewery…”

“I see you over there.”

There was a brewery in the direction Aiden pointed with his fingertips. It was quite a distance and it was nighttime, so it was impossible to see the shape with normal eyesight, but Iden could see it clearly.

As if he had something to say, he left the hesitant village chief behind and grabbed the reins.

“Do not doubt.”

Because I didn’t want to be disturbed by the things I liked the most in this world.

to kill the devil.

After being superimposed on the character Iden, there was no greater entertainment than hunting demons.

Aiden drove the horse.