Paladin of a Ruined Order - Chapter 154

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Order

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Chapter 154: The First King

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"Rombel!"

No one besides Rombel sensed any sign of the attack.

It was as if Rombel had twisted his body for no reason, and blood had begun flowing from his neck at that exact moment.

Still, they could infer one thing from the situation.

At some point, they had become trapped in an illusion created by the demon, and the demon was targeting their lives from outside it.

They couldn't see anything. Yet Elbridge and the others hesitated as they prepared for the next attack.

But it never came.

Elbridge frowned.

'It's not rushing. It's waiting for a sure opportunity, like a spider wrapping prey caught in its web while slowly taking deeper control of our minds...'

Rombel pressed the base of his left palm against the wound on his neck. Even so, a great deal of blood continued flowing down Rombel's wrist. Sonia panicked.

"W-What do we do?"

Yet Rombel, the one who had been injured, calmly asked Elbridge, "Elbridge. Do you need help?"

Sonia and Marcus often forgot, but Rombel was as skilled a warrior as Elbridge. In terms of experience, he surpassed Elbridge.

That was why Rombel knew he had two options.

He could fight for as long as possible before dying, introducing a variable into the battle, or he could suppress the bleeding as much as he could and wait for Elbridge to solve the problem.

Elbridge thought.

'There isn't any blood gurgling in Rombel's voice.'

That meant Rombel's airway hadn't been injured. Elbridge checked the bleeding again.

He had no medical knowledge, but he had experience accumulated over the years. With that much blood loss, there was still time before Rombel stopped breathing. Not much time, but some.

They also didn't know the demon's exact location or condition, so it wasn't as though they were short-handed.

Having made his decision, Elbridge said, "...No. Rest."

Rombel nodded and sat down. Elbridge then turned to Sonia.

"Sonia. Please stop Rombel's bleeding."

"Stop it? How?"

"It doesn't matter how. It doesn't have to be perfect. We just need to buy time. As quickly as possible."

Elbridge and Rombel had seen countless people on the verge of death.

They had both suffered severe wounds and survived several times. A wound to the neck was simply more dangerous, not certain death.

Even with a neck wound, someone could survive if they found a priest or Paladin with Healing Authority before they stopped breathing.

The fact that they were in the royal palace was another positive factor.

The residences of high-ranking nobles usually had priests or Paladins from healing churches stationed within them. This wasn't even a noble's residence. It was the royal palace. There had to be priests here.

'What matters is how quickly we can end this.'

Unlike Elbridge, who continued making rapid judgments, Marcus couldn't take his eyes off Rombel.

"Sir Elbridge. Can't we ask the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss for divine power? In a situation like this..."

Rombel answered instead of Elbridge.

"If it's the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss, she'll refuse."

For the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss to heal a third party through Elbridge, someone outside her church, was an extremely inefficient method. If she healed Rombel now, many patients elsewhere would have to die in exchange.

That was why, from ancient times until now, the Goddess of Spring Rain and Moss's favor had never extended beyond the Paladins of the Order of the Rusted Shield.

With those words, Rombel vanished.

Elbridge looked around. Rombel, Sonia, and even the king had disappeared. Marcus was the only person Elbridge could see now.

"What? What's happening?"

Marcus looked at Elbridge in panic, clearly asking for an explanation. But Elbridge had no time to explain the situation.

Instead, he assessed it.

'The demon trapped everyone in this space within one large hallucination. The situation was urgent, so it must've done it that way. And now... it's dividing that one large hallucination into several smaller ones. Like moving prisoners in an ordinary prison into solitary confinement.'

The fact that it couldn't handle everything at once and had to take another step meant the demon needed time to use its power. Elbridge's thoughts went a step further.

'If it could take control of someone's mind the moment it met them, it wouldn't have needed to use the servant as a host. It would've used the king directly.'

The demon had taken over the servant's body because anyone visiting the king had to spend time with the servant first. That too was proof that the demon needed time to use its power.

'Then why did it attack Rombel first instead of me?'

Only one thing came to mind.

Rombel had dragged the demon into the closet. Rombel had also subdued it by choking its neck.

'...So it holds grudges.'

In the end, that was fortunate.

Once trapped in an illusion, they couldn't see or hear the demon's attacks. Detecting them was nearly impossible.

In a situation like this, Rombel was the only one who could survive a demon's attack.

Because the demon had targeted Rombel's neck, Rombel had been able to react to the sensation against his beard and deflect an invisible attack. His beard had saved his life.

After reaching that conclusion, Elbridge looked around once more. Marcus had vanished as well.

'It's taking control of our minds pretty quickly.'

The bigger problem was that even his memory of Marcus being with him just moments ago felt slightly hazy.

A distorted memory began creeping up from a corner of his mind, one in which he had arrived at the royal palace alone, without companions. A chill ran down his spine.

'The demon's physical ability isn't much to fear. But its illusions and mental control are powerful. It's far more troublesome than an ordinary demon.'

No matter how skilled someone was, they couldn't survive a dagger piercing their heart while they slept.

As his certainty began to fade, Elbridge had only one person to rely on.

"Goddess."

The moment Elbridge prayed, an oracle came to him.

- I was waiting for your prayer, Elbridge. Your goddess will solve every problem, so do not worry and wait for a moment.

It wasn't a long oracle. At first, it didn't sound strange.

But Elbridge felt a powerful sense of wrongness in the goddess's oracle.

There were two reasons.

First, the phrase, "I was waiting for your prayer."

Unlike other gods, the Goddess of the Rusted Shield didn't wait for Elbridge's prayers. Whenever necessary, she would send an oracle first.

Second, the goddess's words sounded too dependable and composed.

The Goddess of the Rusted Shield wasn't a god who promised to solve every problem for her believers. She also never dismissed Elbridge's abilities.

'If it were the goddess, she would've spoken with a slightly tense voice and said she'd help with all her strength.'

What that meant was clear.

'...This oracle is part of the illusion too.'

Elbridge didn't show it.

The demon had only exposed an opening because it was busy ensnaring the others in illusions. If Elbridge reacted rashly now, the demon would tighten its grip on his mind.

If the demon invaded beyond his surface consciousness and reached his deeper consciousness, Elbridge would no longer feel anything strange. Eventually, he would even forget that this situation was an illusion.

"I trust you, Goddess."

Hiding any sign of suspicion, Elbridge recalled Sonia's advice from not long ago.

'I need to find the seam between illusion and reality. I need to recognize exactly where the illusion begins, then pull my consciousness back to reality.'

He knew the method, but it wasn't easy. Elbridge had never faced a demon that dealt with the mind before.

'...It would've been easier if it were fast, strong, and sharp.'

Someone climbing a cliff needed handholds and places to set their feet.

Likewise, to escape an illusion, he needed a stimulus from reality, a clear marker.

'Anything will do. I need something real.'

He could vaguely feel the demon invading his consciousness.

Foreign memories and thoughts piled up in layers, making it harder and harder to tell reality from illusion. His sense of time gradually blurred.

'...What was happening again? Had I come to the royal palace because the king invited me?'

Before he knew it, only one marker remained connecting Elbridge to reality.

The metallic scent of blood.

Through the smell of Rombel's blood, Elbridge endlessly pulled himself together.

'Everything that tells me I'm not in battle is a lie.'

But the faint smell of blood was far too weak to pull him back to reality.

Struggling to erase the endless flood of new hallucinations, Elbridge thought.

Sonia had the highest chance of waking from this illusion. But it could be Rombel, Marcus, or even the king. It didn't matter.

He hoped that anyone, whoever it was, would give him a stronger stimulus. That someone would become a marker leading back to reality.

That someone would reach out a hand so he could escape the sea of illusion and rise above the surface of reality.

* * *

Murvach quietly infiltrated the royal palace.

Sneaking into the vast palace grounds wasn't difficult, but approaching the king's bedroom wasn't easy. Especially at night.

But today was an exception. The royal guard knights, who should have been watching over the king's residence with wide-open eyes, were all asleep against the walls. They didn't stir even when Murvach passed by.

'Something definitely happened... I hope I'm not already too late.'

Reviewing his memories, Murvach climbed to the third floor, where the king's bedroom was located.

As expected, the royal guard knight stationed outside the bedroom was asleep as well.

Murvach reached for the bedroom's doorknob.

Then an oracle sounded beside his ear.

- Murvach. Do you know that there are always shortcuts in this world?

"..."

- If you think leaving the church will let you escape my anger, you are clearly mistaken. This is your last chance. Think carefully, Murvach.

It was an oracle that carried emotions beyond warning, close to clear hostility.

To think he had incurred a god's anger. Murvach's heart dropped.

Still, he took a deep breath and prayed.

"...I'm sorry."

That was all he could say now.

Murvach reached out. The cold, hard touch of the doorknob met his palm.

At that moment, the God of Fox Rain burst into laughter. The oracle now held only amusement, not anger.

- For a long time, I have watched countless people. Among them, I asked those who showed promise whether they wanted to become a king or a Mercenary King. No one refused glory. Yet there were few enough to count on one hand who proved themselves worthy. That is why most of them could not be called kings.

Murvach asked, "What makes someone worthy of being a king?"

- Those who follow others naturally drift with the flow, seeking easy and comfortable paths. They beg for the favor of the strong. But such people are not worthy to become kings. A king must be able to go against the flow when necessary, find the best path, and walk through thorns. They must also be prepared to accomplish all of it through their own strength. Those who stand above others require virtues different from those who follow them.

Murvach tightened his grip on the doorknob. His heart felt as though it would burst.

The God of Fox Rain delivered an oracle.

- Murvach. I will expel you from my church.

Murvach thought, after all that, it came down to expulsion.

But the oracle wasn't over yet.

- I am not expelling you because you committed a sin. I am letting you go because one who serves another is not worthy to sit upon a throne. But do not worry. Before long, you will reach the throne.

The God of Fox Rain declared it, and Murvach gained certainty.

He would surely ascend to the throne.

A delayed question rose in Murvach's chest.

"God of Fox Rain. Who are you?"

The God of Fox Rain smiled faintly, as though the question had been unexpected.

Murvach thought no answer would come. But the God of Fox Rain answered him.

- The one who first united humanity in this worldly hell created by the old gods.

- The First Mercenary King.

- The one who created Leodel and first sat upon its throne.

With a clear laugh, the God of Fox Rain ended the oracle.

- This is the last oracle and the last advice I will give you. Go forward, Murvach. Trust your judgment.

With those words, the God of Fox Rain's attention withdrew. The God of Fox Rain might continue watching Murvach from now on.