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Chapter 314 - The Great Expedition (16)

“Sir Logger!”

There was a sense of urgency to her shout, and her voice was filled with anger, melancholy... Or rather, it was a deep mournfulness that encompassed a multitude of emotions.

Still choking up, the Saint blurted, “You must hold back...!”

“But...!”

“Sir Ananda’s...!”

“...!”

“Sir Ananda’s sacrifice...! Do you intend to let it go to waste?”

“Ugh...!”

Logger felt like his heart was being torn apart. His duty was to escape with Saint Irenae and not compromise the expedition, but his loyalty for Ananda urged him to avenge his dear comrade. It was excruciating to have to choose between those two things.

Looking at the enraged Logger, Palo chuckled and said, “Haha, that’s the spirit! I enjoyed watching the monk sacrifice himself. It’s a rare sight to see after all. So in return, I’ll give you his remains.”

With that, Palo made a hand gesture to the blind believers, who were swarming like ants. Then, a bloody skeleton surfaced from the crowd.

Ananda’s shredded clothes and weapons still clung to his corpse, but they eventually fell to the ground due to being too heavy.

Thud!

Palo tossed Ananda’s remains into the barrier. They passed through just fine because Palo hadn’t tossed them with the intent to harm the casters.

The Saint still had her eyes tightly shut, tears streaming down her face. The heavy bones and bloody pieces of flesh landed right in front of her.

She could feel Ananda’s weight on the ground, but she couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes.

“Sniff, sniff...!”

It was the same for Logger, having closed his eyes again. All he could do was somehow hold on and protect the Saint until a Sage came to pick them up.

Seeing this, Palo said, “Wow, the members of the Church of Peace can’t even be bothered to look at the remains of their fellow believer who has sacrificed himself for them. I’m quite disappointed. I didn’t expect you guys to be so cruel and inhumane.”

Palo was still sneering, causing Logger’s clasped hands to tremble.

“I gave you his remains out of the kindness of my heart, but I can’t believe you’re ignoring such a gesture of good will... I’ll take it that you don’t need his remains, so I’ll dispose of them myself. He’ll make for decent fertilizer if I grind him up and spread him somewhere.”

That was the last straw.

Logger finally snapped, unable to suppress his fury anymore, so he unclasped his hands and opened his eyes. However, as he did so, he found himself face-to-face with Palo, who was smiling at him.

“Hey there.”

“Aaahh!”

Logger had assumed that Palo was standing far away from them, but he was right in his face, flashing him a despicable smile.

Swoosh!

Having been pushed to the limit, Logger grabbed his sword and desperately swung it at Palo as hard as he could.

Clang!

However, Palo effortlessly blocked Logger’s sword with one hand. The holy knight had swung his sword with all his might, rage fueling him, but Palo had blocked it as though a child had swung a twig at him.

Palo then pushed his face even closer to Logger and spoke in a soft voice, “Humans are weak, after all. I didn\'t think that you’d fall for a lie like this... There were no remains because Sir Arthus’ believers ate the monk alive. All of him.”

“What...?!”

“By the way, this is quite strange. Hanging in there won’t make any difference... Is there something you’re relying on?”

“Shut up!”

Logger used his sword, which Palo was still holding with his hand, to stand up and immediately armed himself with his paladin equipment.

“Sir Logger!”

“Don’t open your eyes, Saint!”

In the midst of the commotion, the Saint urgently tried to persuade Logger to hold on, but he could no longer listen to her.

He realized that their prayer was meaningless the moment he saw Palo right in front of him, having passed through their Protection Holy Code effortlessly. He was done being played for a fool.

Boom!

Logger slammed his sword and shield together, releasing a burst of divine power. Then, a pure white light swirled around him, igniting what was left of his divine power.

“Die, you heretic!”

With a burst of divine power, Logger swung his sword without hesitation at Palo.

Clankkk!

The impact caused a loud, reverberating clank, which couldn’t have come from striking a human being.

Logger had managed to throw Palo out of the barrier. He then turned to the Saint, who was still praying, and said, “Saint, please forgive me for violating the goddess’ teachings.”

“Sir Logger!”

“It has been an honor to serve you. The future of the Church of Peace is in your hands.”

“No!”

That was his farewell.

The look in Logger’s eyes changed.

His eyes were no longer the warm eyes of someone who protected the faithful and the weak, but rather the eyes of his past paladin self—the one who had taken down the heretics and subordinates of the Demon King during the religious war.

Whoosh!

Having been thrown out of the barrier, Palo got up and slowly rose in the air. He then cupped his face in one hand and chuckled.

“You truly are stupid. It was just a joke, and yet you get so worked up. In any case, I think Sir Arthus will like my show better than the ones the other apostles will come up with.”

“Show...?”

“Did you forget that this whole thing started to entertain the great and mighty Sir Arthus? Therefore, I’m obligated to make good use of the tools, that being you guys, and entertain Sir Arthus as much as possible.”

Logger’s eyes grew wide, and he had goosebumps all over his body. How could this monstrosity utter such nonsense with a straight face, not even blinking an eye...?

Logger thought that Palo was the Devil in human form.

“...Goddess, please give me the courage to face death and the strength to annihilate evil.”

Logger couldn’t even curse anymore. Instead, he prayed one last time.

It was his final prayer as a paladin.

The moment his prayer reached the goddess, Logger was able to unleash the bright light he had unleashed in the Demonic Beast Forest countless times.

“Goddess, I shall take responsibility and accept punishment for this.”

Logger finally made up his mind.

If he was going to stop this ridiculous fight, or rather, if he was going to stall for time to increase the chances of the Sage coming, he couldn’t let the blind believers get away with eating his comrade alive.

He willingly accepted the burden and the responsibility for what he was about to do.

A holy glow emanated from Logger, and when it faded, he was covered in white armor, which was embroidered in gold.

“...Please forgive my foolishness.”

Having finished with his prayer, Logger raised his sword, which had turned into a larger, two-handed sword, and swung it in a wide arc in front of him.

Swoosh!

His swing generated tremendous wind pressure, and it also released a bright light that surged forward akin to a wave.

- Kheeee!

The wave of light engulfed everything around it as though it were a living creature.

Once the wave of light swept through the blind believers, they collapsed, their eyes rolling back into their heads as they were convulsing.

This was the highest level of power Logger could display as a paladin.

As though Goddess Irene respected his will, she had blessed him with a generous amount of power so he could strike down the blind believers.

“Oh, wow...”

Palo smirked as he watched the spectacle, finding it quite interesting. There wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation in Logger’s attacks.

It looked like the paladin had decided to take up the burden of killing those people in the place of his dead comrade. Indeed, he would not be a lamb by a god’s side, but a lone warrior facing demons.

Another wave of light erupted from Logger.

“Hmm, I didn\'t think I’d have to intervene, but I guess I was wrong.”

Logger had only swung his sword a few times, but the waves of light had instantly engulfed almost all blind believers, causing them to collapse.

Seeing this, Palo was forced to acknowledge Logger’s power. So instead of just watching, Palo decided to get involved in the fight himself. That was the only way he could make this show even more interesting for Arthus.

- Khaaaa!

- Kaoooo!

The blind believers didn’t feel fear or terror, for they had been stripped of all emotions. They could only feel hunger and faith for Arthus. Thus, they kept running at Logger, not caring that those around them collapsed.

No matter how big Logger’s armor was, he was nothing more than prey in the eyes of these ravenous beasts.

With each swing of his sword, Logger felt less guilty. Each time the light washed over the blind believers, he felt the rage from his chest subside little by little as relief replaced it.

Finally, the last one fell to the ground.

Not a single beast-like human was left to threaten him and Irenae.

- Krrr...

-Kha...

The blind believers were struggling to get up, but Irene, the goddess of the Church of Peace, deemed against it.

Amidst the fallen blind believers, Logger slowly lifted his head and raised his sword, pointing it straight at Palo, who had watched his entire display of power.

After landing on the ground, Palo said, “That was impressive. Do all paladins defy the rules of their church if it means ensuring their survival?”

Logger didn’t respond to the demon’s mockery.

Instead, he swung the sacred sword the goddess had bestowed upon him once again, faster than an arrow.

Swoosh!

Another wave of light, the largest one yet, crashed into Palo. The wave opened its mouth like a starving demon and swallowed him whole.

But right after the light spread out in all directions...!

“...!”

At the center of the wave was a figure with a purple energy, standing still without the slightest bit of damage.

Palo smiled.

Seeing the remnants of the light scattered in all directions, Palo brushed off his shoulder and said, “It’s warm.”

“You...!”

“As much as I’d love to engage in a fierce fight with you, you’re far too weak for that. So...”

Palo vanished as he was talking.

Logger quickly scanned his surroundings, but no matter how hard he tried to spot Palo, he couldn’t see, or even sense him.

Just then, an ominous feeling flashed through Logger’s mind.

‘Don’t tell me he’s after the Saint!’

It wasn’t impossible.

With this in mind, Logger quickly turned to face the direction of the Saint, but the moment he did so, he felt an indescribable heat ripping his chest apart.

Gush!

A horrible sound came from Logger’s chest.

It was cold.

The source of that coldness was Palo’s outstretched forearm, protruding from the center of Logger’s chest.

“I knew you’d think of the Saint right away, but that makes it all the more disappointing. I can’t believe you were worried about the Saint, who still has her eyes closed even in a situation like this.”

“...Agh!”

Blood flowed over the pure white armor, soaking it crimson.

Palo twisted his arm and said, “That’s your mistake. I advise you to worship the right god in your next life.”

Palo moved his hand and grabbed Logger’s heart. He squeezed and popped it in an instant.

Pop!

A fountain of blood gushed from Logger’s mouth and chest.

“Oh no... My clothes got dirty.”

Given that he was unusually concerned with being tidy, Palo frowned at Logger’s blood that had splattered on him, as if dirt had ruined his clothes.

His heart having been crushed, Logger fell to his knees and collapsed. The brilliance that had enveloped his entire body also faded away in an instant.

Logger had died a futile and miserable death.

Palo turned around, shaking off Logger’s blood from his hand. He then walked over to the Saint, who was still praying with her eyes closed.

“Why don’t you open your eyes now, Saint of the fallen church?”

Palo’s mocking attitude was consistent; he had already thought of dozens of humiliating ways to use the Saint to please Arthus.

“Goddess... Sniff...!”

The Saint was trembling, sensing that the apostle was coming closer and closer.

She couldn’t open her eyes, or rather, she didn’t want to. She knew that if she opened his eyes, she would see the hellish reality in front of her.

Irenae wanted to somehow hide in the darkness she had created for herself.

Hearing the Saint’s prayer, Palo chuckled and raised his right hand, the one he had crushed Logger’s heart with.

“Here I come.”

Then, along with a short warning, he swung his hand.

Slap!

Palo’s palm made a dull but loud sound against the Saint’s cheek.