Paladin of a Ruined Order - Chapter 134

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

Chapter 134: Parent of the Elves (11)

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Rumble-

The earth shook, and ancient trees in Thornbush Forest toppled helplessly.

Running slightly ahead of Starwave, Elbridge caught glimpses of it beneath the surface.

Its skin was as beautiful as a star-filled night sky brought down to earth. It was larger than any demon Elbridge had ever seen.

When people encountered demons, they usually felt a distinct sense of revulsion and fear. Starwave was different. Those who had seen it described it as alien and majestic.

Its appearance, combined with its uniquely gentle nature, had led people to name the enormous serpent-like demon Starwave. As far as Elbridge knew, no other demon had a name as strangely poetic as Starwave.

"Elbridge!"

A familiar voice called out to him. Glancing to the side, he saw Sonia riding on Rombel's back.

The fingers of Sonia's left hand were broken and badly swollen. Sonia's right hand was in relatively good condition, aside from its missing index finger.

When the Owner of the Index Finger had appeared, Jin had been the only person near Sonia who had not been caught up in it. Jin must have cut off Sonia's right index finger.

In that urgent moment, Jin had chosen Sonia over countless Pre-Sentinels.

It had been the right decision. Sonia was the only mage currently staying in Thornbush Forest. No one else could take Sonia's place.

Unlike Sonia's first encounter with Starwave in Dickens Viscounty, Sonia looked thoroughly excited.

"I'm not going to seal Starwave and get chosen by the Chief God, am I?"

Sealing a single demon was not enough to achieve Ascension.

Countless mages had worked on battlefields and sealed countless demons, yet very few had risen to heaven. Even those mages who had ascended had not done so simply because they handled seals.

Still, Elbridge couldn't say Sonia's imagination was entirely baseless. Starwave was that unusual a demon.

Perhaps taking Elbridge's silence as an answer, Sonia made an even bigger fuss.

"I can't ascend before I avenge my father... What am I supposed to do if the Chief God chooses me? How do I refuse?"

"You don't need to worry about that. We're not trying to subdue Starwave. We're only trying to shift its direction a little."

Elbridge answered calmly, but Rombel grumbled.

"That's a big dream. Looks like every fool thinks they can become a god. Anyway, Elbridge."

"What?"

"What do you think happened to Jin and Bella?"

"I don't know either!"

Jin and Bella's decision to enter Starwave's body had been reckless in every way.

The plan itself, jumping into a gap between violently shaking slabs of rock to reach Starwave, was insane.

But there was an even greater problem. No one knew what Starwave's insides were like.

It looked like a giant snake, but there was no guarantee its body resembled that of an ordinary snake. Demons were masses of twisted divinity. Jin and Bella surely knew that too.

Yet they had put their plan into action without hesitation.

It wasn't something they could do simply because they trusted their own skills, nor was it an act born of heroism. It was an act of devotion, something they could do not because they were heroes of the elves, but because they were parents who wished to protect their child and Sentinels.

"All we can do is believe they succeeded!"

Elbridge looked back briefly.

Marcus was following behind unsteadily. He kept muttering without pause. He was probably praying to the God of Fox Rain.

The elves' village came into view. That meant they had crossed Thornbush Forest's outskirts and were nearing its center. The normally quiet elves fled in utter panic.

'Just a little farther, and we'll reach the sacred tree.'

Yet Starwave still showed no particular response.

Had Jin and Bella failed? Would the sacred tree be destroyed, the Goddess of Thornbush cast out of heaven, and everything end there? Would their devotion become a sacrifice with no reward?

As that thought crossed his mind,

- ...!

The elves clutched their ears in pain. Rombel did the same.

Sonia nearly fell from Rombel's back and shouted, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Unlike the confused Sonia, Elbridge understood what was happening.

Elves and dwarves could hear sounds humans could not. Starwave must have made a sound beyond human hearing, perhaps a scream.

Elbridge stopped for a moment and focused every nerve on the sensation beneath his feet.

The vibrations, which had never been too far away, were drawing closer.

Starwave was rising toward the surface.

At last, Starwave burst out of the ground.

Crack-

Starwave was a serpent with no limbs.

But it didn't dig through the earth with its head as it moved. The ground, yielding to the chaos of "movement" contained within Starwave, twisted and shook on its own to open a path.

That was what happened now. The earth opened first, and Starwave rose through the gap.

Starwave writhed wildly.

'It's in pain.'

Jin and Bella had clearly accomplished something.

Once Starwave reached the surface, everything that had been still began moving on its own.

Elbridge's sword and shield trembled by themselves. Great trees in Thornbush Forest swayed and fell over without anything touching them.

'I'm reminded all over again, it's damn huge.'

The problem was that the sacred tree was some distance from Elbridge, and he had to stop the writhing Starwave.

He was like an ant standing before a giant snake.

Still, Elbridge stopped and faced Starwave.

It wasn't because he was unafraid that he could stand against Starwave. He did so only because he knew it was his role.

'It's always been like this.'

Elbridge had always lived that way.

When he could do something, he did it because he could.

When he had no certainty he could do it, he did it because he had to.

'It's a miracle I've survived this long.'

May a miracle be with him this time as well.

Elbridge shouted, "My Goddess, grant me the divine power of No Retreat!"

Elbridge's shield shone more brilliantly than usual.

He instinctively understood. The Goddess of the Rusted Shield had not distributed the divine power equivalent to four seats. She had poured all of it into him at once.

An exhilaration close to omnipotence filled Elbridge's entire body.

The instant he came into contact with Starwave's writhing body, that exhilaration vanished.

"...Ghk."

Elbridge's body didn't move, as though nailed in place. Starwave pushed against him indifferently.

'I'm going to be crushed.'

A pressure that felt as if he would be ground to pieces bore down on him.

Elbridge struggled to hold back something rising in his throat. Something salty ran from his ears and eyes, his nose and mouth.

Elbridge knew it too. Even if the Goddess poured all her divine power into him, he couldn't withstand Starwave's strength head-on.

Scrape.

Elbridge's foot slid slightly backward.

"H-help..."

Elbridge looked toward Rombel as he spoke. He didn't know how much help it would be, but he desperately wanted Rombel to brace him from behind.

Rombel was nowhere to be seen.

"...?"

Elbridge turned and saw Rombel leaping onto Starwave.

He nearly cursed aloud.

'That little shit?'

At the same time, Elbridge understood Rombel's intention.

Rombel knew that struggling behind Elbridge wouldn't draw the Chief God's attention.

So he had decided to place himself where he could attract the Chief God's attention and do something worthy of it.

Standing atop Starwave's head, Rombel brought his axe down with all his strength.

"Die!"

Bang, bang!

Each time Rombel swung his huge axe, a wound appeared on Starwave's skin.

The problem was that, compared to Starwave's massive body, the wounds were too small.

While Rombel hacked away with all his might, Elbridge had to endure Starwave's pressure.

His consciousness repeatedly faded and returned. Before long, Elbridge reached his limit.

Instinctively, he searched for someone to rely on.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield.

"M-my Goddess..."

An oracle came immediately in reply.

- Elbridge. Do not forget that your goddess has staked everything on you.

He remembered a story told by a merchant.

If someone lent another person a small sum, the lender held the upper hand. But if they lent their entire fortune, the borrower held the upper hand.

That was the relationship between Elbridge and the Goddess of the Rusted Shield. She had staked too much on Elbridge to let him die.

- Trust me, Elbridge. If you're gone, I'm ruined too...!

After those final words, a clear presence could be felt high in the sky.

Elbridge painfully raised his head.

Rombel, Marcus, Sonia, and even the fleeing elves looked up as well.

The clouds parted, revealing a figure.

It was the Goddess of the Rusted Shield. She appeared in armor covered with scratches.

"...!"

Elbridge remembered the day he had first received an oracle from the Goddess of the Rusted Shield.

Resolve was clear in her eyes and the line of her mouth. Her presence was even stronger than it had been then.

Elbridge sensed it.

'My Goddess intends to do something greater than she did back then.'

This time, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield might truly become a demon.

No, she surely would. It was no longer speculation. He was certain.

Elbridge forced his mouth open.

"My Goddess, you can't..."

Before he could finish, Starwave writhed violently.

"...!"

Elbridge was flung away and rolled across the ground.

Rombel, who had been atop Starwave, tumbled down as well.

Then, in the very next moment, something pure white burst through Starwave's head.

It was Jin's arrow.

Crack-

Dark fluid surged from Starwave's head after it.

Along with that fluid, two figures emerged.

Jin and Bella.

But the two Sentinels were in terrible condition.

No one could know exactly what had happened inside Starwave's body.

Their clothes had melted into rags, and much of their skin had melted away, exposing red muscle in places. In more than one spot, broken bones had pierced through their skin.

Their wounds were deep. They weren't dead yet, but their deaths were certain.

Jin and Bella collapsed atop Starwave's head. They had clearly used up all their strength escaping Starwave's body.

Yet their expressions were full of satisfaction.

Starwave's violent movements were slowly subsiding.

The light in Starwave's eyes was fading.

Elbridge was stunned.

'My god. Did they really subdue Starwave?'

The two Sentinels had put their lives on the gambling table.

They had not won the gamble. But Starwave had not defeated Jin and Bella either.

That was enough for them. They had not sat at that table to take their opponent's wager. What they wanted was not victory, but mutual destruction.

Then a thought flashed through Elbridge's mind.

'Wait, then what about my Goddess?'

Elbridge looked to the sky.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield was quietly slipping away beyond the clouds.

Elbridge prayed quietly.

"My Goddess?"

- ...

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield did not answer.

There were times when silence was better.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield quietly vanished.

But the voice of another god echoed through the air.

- Anyone, please. Help them somehow. Somehow...!

It was a public oracle from the Goddess of Thornbush.

She couldn't even explain how she wanted them helped. The oracle revealed nothing but her panic.

Still, her meaning was easy enough to understand. The Goddess of Thornbush desperately wanted someone to save Jin and Bella.

Marcus looked at Elbridge.

"Could you?"

He was asking whether Elbridge could use the Goddess of the Rusted Shield's "hidden divine power," her connection to the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss, to heal Jin and Bella.

Elbridge shook his head.

If there had been a Paladin or priest of the Order of Spring Rain and Moss, it might have been possible. But healing a third party through Elbridge, an outsider to the Order, was nearly impossible.

The divine power's efficiency would plummet after passing through two people outside the Order.

- Does no one know a way? Anyone will do. If you can save the two Sentinels, I will surely repay you.

The Goddess of Thornbush's oracle sounded beyond desperate, almost hysterical.

But no one could offer a solution.

No one except one person.

"Goddess of Thornbush!"

Rombel shouted toward the sky. The Goddess of Thornbush answered immediately.

- Speak!

"I have a way. But the chance of success is low, and whether it succeeds or fails, you will have to pay the price."

It was an absurd proposal.

The chance of success was low, but the price was certain. Rationally, it was an offer that had to be refused.

But there were moments when the atmosphere made even an unreasonable proposal impossible to refuse.