ALL NOVEL
Chapter 62
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]
Chapter 62: Crusade (3)
***
Gamal’s accepting Damien in the crusade was surprisingly swift.
However, not all of the ‘Mixed Blizzards’ acknowledged Damien.
“I will never forget today’s humiliation.”
Dionysius spat out words mixed with hatred and anger and left.
“If you lose, you should acknowledge defeat obediently. Anyway, those guys from this sect are narrow-minded.”
Margata didn’t like Dionysius’s attitude.
“Sir Damien, well done.”
Agnes handed over a glass of water and said. Damien, who didn’t even break a sweat, took the glass out of courtesy.
“By the way, weren’t you really amazing? Dionysius is a guy who’s repeatedly attacking. I didn’t know you’d handle it so easily.”
Damien seemed pleased with the acknowledgment. Agnes said in an excited voice.
“Now all that’s left is to kill those filthy dark mages.”
Margata said with cold expression.
“Congratulations on joining the crusade.”
***
After joining, the biggest surprise for Damien was the size of the crusade, which was surprisingly large.
There were 80 elite soldiers and 10 third-grade paladins.
‘This much power is just to protect the rear.’
What’s more surprising is that this force is not the core.
The core of this crusade was the paladins of the different sects.
The only forces that could face high-level dark mages were them.
‘The number of paladins from the sects are small, but… they’re several times stronger.’
The Mixed Blizzard consisted of one 2nd-grade paladin and four 3rd-grade paladins.
Blinding Pain dispatched a 2nd-grade paladin and five 3rd-grade paladins.
With Damien, Agnes, and Margata here.
‘This much force should be able to take down any of the mid nobles in an instant.’
People said the Church was the only force on the continent that could stand up to the Empire.
Looking at the size of a crusade, that assessment didn’t seem like a mere rumor.
‘A force of this caliber was annihilated in the past.’
The more I learn about the crusade’s strength, the less I understand how they were annihilated.
It was true that Cropseplay was a dangerous dangerous dark mage, but it wasn’t enough to kill three 2nd-grade paladins at once.
‘Surely, there must have been a traitor among the three.’
Mid-class can only stop mid-class.
The same goes for 2nd-grade paladins. There was no one who could kill a 2nd-grade paladin other than a 2nd-grade paladin.
‘Currently, Gamal is the most suspicious.’
The Mixed Blizzard was at odds with the Incinerator.
Didn’t Gamal start an argument as soon as he saw Margata?
‘I should keep an eye on the Mixed Blizzard.’
***
As the Church prepared for the raid, they also searched the Mountains, investigating the dungeon.
“The scouts have been searching, and there seems to be only one entrance to the dungeon.”
At dinner, Margata shared her findings with Damien and Agnes.
“The entrance to the dungeon is close to the peak of the mountain. It’s a bit of a climb to get there. I went and took a look, and the entrance is very wide and large.”
Margata spread her arms wide. If she could describe it like that, it was big.
“I don’t know what’s inside the dungeon. There are reports that the Flesh Golems keep popping up, and the scouts can’t scout the interior.”
In other words, the only way to find out what was inside the dungeon was to go in.
“When do you plan to head into the dungeon?”
Margata grinned so wide that she showed her fangs at the question.
“Tomorrow.”
***
When the sun reached its highest point in the sky, the crusade gathered at the entrance of the dungeon.
One hundred elite soldiers.
Ten paladins.
And even the paladins of the sects.
The Crusaders gathered in one place, emitting tremendous pressure.
“Finally, the day has come.”
Agnes, standing next to Damien, spoke with a fierce voice.
Agnes had an emotionless face as usual. But there was a strange fire in her pupils.
Damien felt like he could understand what Agnes was feeling.
The opportunity for revenge was right in front of her. She must have been filled with joy.
“I hope corpseplay will be inside.”
Agnes looked at the cave entrance with darkened eyes.
Suddenly, Damien felt a sharp gaze and turned his gaze.
The Mixed Blizzard.
Dionysius turned his gaze away after staring at Damien.
‘It seems like he’s holding a strong grudge against me.’
Damien smirked. In his experience, those who begged like that always caused trouble.
“Forward!”
The captain who commanded the soldiers raised his voice. The soldiers marched forward into the dungeon.
The paladins stood behind the soldiers, ready to step forward at any moment.
-Krrrr.
-Krrrrrr.
At that moment, creatures jumped out of the cave.
They were not ordinary creatures. They were undead created by the Corpseplay.
The body was a horse, the legs were a wolf, and the head was a tiger.
Each body part still bore the marks of the stitches that connected them together.
Their appearance was creepy.
“Shield soldiers, forward!”
The soldiers with round shields blocked the path of the beasts at the command of the captain.
The shields collided with the creatures. The soldiers gritted their teeth and resisted.
Then the soldiers behind them cut the bodies of the creatures with swords and spears.
-Keng!
-Keung!
The creatures were killed easily.
‘The coordination is excellent.’
They were elite soldiers, indeed. They were skilled.
If they turned to mercenaries, all the soldiers could receive a gold plate symbolizing a first-class mercenary.
“Charge again!”
The captain shouted. The soldiers put away their weapons and moved forward into the dungeon again.
-Who… Who’s there?
-Here… There’s someone here! Help me!
At that moment, a voice was heard from inside the cave. The captain raised his hand and stopped the soldiers.
“Stop!”
The captain and the soldiers looked into the cave with tense faces.
Something walked out of the darkness that was thickly spread inside the cave.
First, a large and round body was seen. The body was made by sticking together the bodies of animals and monsters.
More than five legs supported the body, and on both sides of the body were giant hands.
The creature that first appeared seemed like it was made for practice, and there were traces of careful craftsmanship.
It was a Flesh golem, the main weapon of the Corpseplay.
When the soldiers saw the flesh golem, their faces stiffened.
It wasn’t because of its grotesque appearance.
– Aaah! It hurts! It hurts!
– Cold… painful…
It was because of the human heads attached to its round body.
There were not just one or two, but more than eight heads attached.
All the ‘heads’ were shedding tears and crying out.
– Ah, it hurts… I can’t bear the pain all over my body!
– Mom… where’s mom… mom…
Among the heads, there were even children.
The soldiers, and even the paladins, were at a loss for words at the sight of the unimaginably horrific scene.
“What on earth is that…”
“Is there still consciousness in the people…?”
The soldiers and the paladins became the church’s swords and killed countless undead and dark mages.
But it was the first time they had encountered undead with consciousness like this.
– It’s the church! They’re from the church!
– Help! Please help!
The heads that discovered the Crusaders were in panic.
Even though they were asking for help, the soldiers couldn’t take any action.
– What are you doing? Help us!
– Stay still! Turn us back to normal!
The heads vented their anger. They tried to attack the soldiers with their heavy arms.
“You fools!”
At that moment, Margata raised her voice.
“Everyone, snap out of it! That’s just an undead! What are the paladins doing? Protect the soldiers now!”
Margata’s shout snapped the paladins out of their daze.
The paladins all rushed towards the flesh golem. They swung their weapons to attack the flesh golem.
– Aaah! It hurts! It hurts! It’s too painful!
– Stop, stop! We were wrong!
Every time a wound appeared, the heads attached to the body screamed. The paladins hesitated.
– Stop touching us!
– It hurts! It hurts!
Taking advantage of the moment, the flesh golem swung its fist. One paladin was hit and flew away.
– Why are you tormenting us?
– Don’t touch us! If you do, we’ll kill you all!
Holes opened up all over the flesh golem’s body.
Green smoke spewed out of the holes. The paladins were startled and stepped back.
“It’s poison! It’s spreading poison!”
The poison was so potent that the weeds on the ground withered instantly.
The paladins protected themselves with their divine power and resisted the poison.
– Die! Die!
– Die! Die! Die!
The flesh golem attacked the paladins, spewing out hatred.
The paladins, who had spent their divine power resisting the poison, were helpless against the flesh golem.
More than ten paladins were overwhelmed by a single flesh golem.
“This isn’t working. Agnes, you have to step in.”
“Understood. Sir Damien, I need your support.”
Agnes turned to Damien and spoke. But there was no one where Damien should have been.
“Sir Damien?”
Suddenly, Damien was seen walking past the soldiers towards the flesh golem.
“Sir Damien!”
Agnes shouted in surprise. But he didn’t hear anything.
All of his senses were focused on the flesh golem.
– Die! Die!
– Don’t touch me!
Damien was the strongest Death Knight in his previous life.
He could see it. The way that flesh golem was moving.
Dark magic cannot be acquired through normal means.
It was created only in death or pain.
Many human souls were enslaved in that flesh golem.
The dark magic emitted by the souls in pain was the driving force behind the flesh golem’s movement. So the more the paladins attacked, the stronger it became.
The more pain they suffered, the more dark magic they emitted.
– It hurts! It hurts!
– Mom… where are you… mom…
They were all ordinary humans.
Such people were captured by the Corpseplay and unwillingly modified, used as ingredients for dark magic.
They must have felt a terrifying and indescribable feeling.
When Damien was turned into a death knight, he felt the same way.
The horror of being restrained.
The terrible pain felt with each procedure.
The disgust of knowing that his body was changing into something else.
– They’re coming! They’re coming again!
– Are you going to hurt us too?
The flesh golem spotted Damien. It spewed out the poison fog more fiercely.
– Die! You die too!
– I’ll tear you apart!
Ten bones emerged from the flesh golem’s body. With a loud noise, the bones were ejected.
Damien didn’t attack. He just slowly moved his steps.
The flying bones attacked Damien. But none of them pierced Damien. They just passed by and stuck into the ground.
– Huh? Huh?
– What’s going on? What’s going on?
The flesh golem fired bones again. This time, the bones just dodged by him.
It wasn’t that the flesh golem couldn’t hit him.
He was avoiding all the bone arrows by a paper-thin margin
Suddenly, Damien was in front of the flesh golem.
– Don’t come! Don’t come!
– Don’t hurt me!
The flesh golem fiercely spewed out the poison fog.
The holy sword released divine power to protect Damien. The poison fog did not affect him.
He carefully examined the Flesh Golem’s body.
His knowledge as a death knight told him where the Flesh Golem’s core was.
– Die! Die!
– I’ll crush you!
The flesh golem tried to strike with its fist.
But before that, Damien stabbed the holy sword into the flesh golem’s body.
Holy sword deeply embedded into the flesh golem’s body and cut through the core. At that moment, the flesh golem’s movement stopped abruptly.
The flesh golem knelt on the ground. Its two arms hung limp.
– Ah… Ah…
– Ah…
Even the five heads lost their strength. Slowly, their eyes began to close.
– Mo… Mom…
The last head completely closed its eyes. Only then did Damien pull out the holy sword.
Agnes came running late. Agnes looked at Damien’s face and trembled.
“Whew.”
Damien sighed and wiped his face with his palm. Only then did his facial expression relax.
That’s why he hated dark mages.
Every time he met them, he remembered the annoying memories. It was an added bonus that his mood became filthy.
“This won’t work.”
Damien muttered in a creepy voice.
“I can’t grant him a painless death.”
***
[Translator – Kie]
[Proofreader – Kawaii]