Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 114

The eyes hidden under the mask were filled with awe.Blake, who always maintained his composure and never lost his senses, couldn’t help but be amazed at the gigantic being before him.

“…How beautiful.”

A voice full of wonder echoed.

Huge claws, wings that could cover the world, everything about the being seemed noble.

Blake, who had been looking up at the being with longing eyes for a long time, slowly knelt down.

Time was running out.

The Imperial Knights came in pursuit at high speed, much sooner than expected.

‘No. It’s not a pursuit…’

It would be safe to say that they began to move almost at the same time Blake received his orders and began to act.

It was definitely him. Arendt von Eckhart.

There was no evidence, but he had a strong gut feeling.

He remembered the young boy’s pale face and clenched his teeth.

“Please lend me and Iris your strength so that we can re-inscribe the legend of Chernion on this land.”

The voice that was slowly muttering was gradually becoming more and more angry.

“So, bring down the hammer on those damned ones!”

There was still no answer from that giant being.

Blake, who had been kneeling for a while, suddenly raised his head. He felt someone approaching him.

“The time for vengeance has come.”

Today was the day to put them to death and tear that hated apprentice knight and Laius de Winfried to pieces.

A strong magical power was concentrated at his fingertips.

Because of the excessive operation, he soon started to sweat profusely. His stomach turned and blood eventually gushed out of his mouth, but he didn’t stop.

When the time was right, he poured all his magical power into the pillar’s magic stone.

An ominous, bright red magical power glowed.

Kuuuung!

The ground shook violently.

The knights who were approaching the temple had to stop in a hurry to regain their balance.

“What, what is it?”

“Look over there!”

As Arthur looked around in confusion, Richt pointed towards the temple and, unlike usual, shouted loudly…

A pillar of crimson magic energy exploded through the ruined roof.

Arthur, who was dazed for a moment, turned his head at the sound of someone quickly rushing by. Before he knew it, Arendt was quickly running towards the temple.

Laius also started running, kicking off the ground.

“Damn, these impatient people!”

In the end, Arthur and Richt had no choice but to draw their swords and advance.

When the tremors had somewhat subsided, a group of people came into view moving about at the entrance of the temple.

It was a bunch of ghouls.

Ghouls spewing black blood from their mouths poured out as they smelled the scent of the living.

Laius stepped forward, followed by Arendt. Richt and Arthur dispersed to the left and right.

“We can’t afford to miss a single one! There are civilians right around the corner!”

“Yes!”

Arthur and Richt responded loudly to the captain’s command.

Laius planted one foot on the ground and swung his sword widely, using it as an axis of rotation.

The ghouls that were touched by the black energy screamed and were torn apart and burst. In the midst of this, Arendt stepped forward and activated the Frosty Touch.

Wherever his sword touched, pure white ice settled. In an instant, Arthur and Richt cleanly cut down several frozen ghouls.

There were many more of them than the ones they encountered in the cave.

Arendt, who was blindly slashing at the enemy while looking straight ahead, suddenly felt something rushing towards him from the side and quickly bent down.

Puck!

A sharp dagger was stuck in the head of the ghoul that was rushing towards him.

Arendt, who had just stabbed the staggering ghoul in the heart, raised his head to check the direction from which the dagger had come.

Something was seen shining inside the temple.

“It’s the right pillar!”

“All right!”

Arthur rushed into the ghouls at Richt’s shout. The ghouls tried to catch up with Arthur, who was running to the temple, but were stopped by Richt and soon died.

Arthur, who had approached the temple alone, soon discovered the enemy who had been hiding.

Arthur, who had quickly cut down the enemy who was taken aback by the sudden attack, soon discovered other enemies lying in ambush.

Aside from their resemblance to humans, their appearance was not much different from that of ghouls. They had rotten flesh, patchy skin, and a strong stench, but the moment their eyes met, he knew that those guys were different from the moving corpses outside.

“Huh, is this what they mean by having intelligence?”

“Shit.”

One of the guys he thought was completely dead was spitting out blood and mumbling curses.

“Are you kidding me?”

Sigh.

Arthur, who had just thrust his sword into the fallen man’s head, turned immediately towards the remaining enemies.

The men, who had already prepared for battle, were rushing towards Arthur.

Arthur easily dodged the sword swung towards him, then parried the dagger that flew at him. Then, he raised his sword aura and cut off their heads in one blow.

Bam.

The bodies of those who had lost their heads fell to the floor. However, they were not completely dead, as they soon tried to get up again.

Arthur clicked his tongue in annoyance and only after he stabbed the chest did the body stop moving completely.

Meanwhile, the cleaning up on Laius’ side was also nearing completion.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Krrrrr.”

When he turned around at the sound of an attack coming from inside the temple, he saw another group of ghouls rushing in.

“I’m going crazy, damn it!”

“Just go straight!”

At that moment, a cold chill blew over him, and Arendt, who had come running, charged towards the newly appeared enemies.

“You crazy bastard, don’t go alone!”

Arthur was startled and followed them. Soon, Laius and Richt, who had also finished cleaning up, caught up with them.

As they reached the temple, cutting down the ghouls, they saw that it had been trampled and left in ruins.

It seems that a long time ago, it was a place to worship the god Luce.

Richt’s face distorted as he saw the broken statue lying on the ground.

At that time.

Roar!

The ground began to shake again. At the same time, a terrifying howl, the likes of which they had never heard before, burst forth from underground.

“Keeeeeek!”

The ground shook and debris fell from the half-collapsed ceiling.

“What, what is it?”

“It’s from below!”

At Laius’ shout, the knights instinctively leapt backwards.

Immediately.

Kwaaang!

A giant head burst through the space where they had been standing just a moment ago.

Once free, the bastard smashed the floor to pieces and, as if it wasn’t satisfied, it swung its huge mouth straight at the knights.

Boom, boom!

The thing that completely destroyed the solid marble floor as if it had never existed before lifted its huge body into the air.

The knights, who had hastily distanced themselves from the enemy without even having time to examine it closely, were left speechless.

A large claw was stamped on the ground, completely destroying the remains of the temple’s interior that were left in ruins.

The outstretched wings collapsed the pillar that had been standing precariously, and the huge head, which was circling around as if looking for prey, even broke the old roof.

Finally, the giant, completely free, cried out into the open sky.

“Keeeeeek!”

The inside of the rotted eyes was empty, and flesh dripped out along with a strong stench. The body, with its ribs exposed, looked like a reptile at first glance, and its worn-out wings, with holes in them, spread out, looked like those of a bat.

“…A dragon?”

Richt muttered stupidly.

That appearance, that huge body, and that aura of intimidation that overwhelmed even the most trained knights.

There was no other explanation.

Dragons were creatures that appeared only in legends and old tales. They displayed miraculous magic and their physical strength was incomparable to anything else.

Such a mythical being appeared as a ghoul-like being that had fallen asleep beneath the Temple of Light.

“There is no time to be surprised.”

But Laius quickly regained his composure and grabbed his sword.

“Yes…?”

“Do you know?”

Arendt also brushed away the ghoul fragments stuck to his sword and shook them off.

“The bigger something is, the more places can be hit.”

At this point, it was tempting to check just how thick the nerves of that guy was, but instead of saying those words, Arthur and Richt also gathered their wits and glared at the dragon.

The creature, clutching a pillar with its claws, flailed its head around, then turned its head directly towards the knights.

The dragon, which had been glaring at its enemies with its gaping eyes, opened its mouth wide and let out a loud breath.

“Keeeeeek!”

If it were a living dragon, it would have let out a powerful breath, but from its mouth, which had already stopped breathing, only the toxic smoke that had accumulated inside its body poured out.

The knights, who had once again gained distance with light movements, rushed towards the dragon without hesitation.

The dragon, noticing Laius’ rapid approach, swung its huge forelegs.

Kuuung!

A huge claw dug into the ground.

Laius jumped to avoid the dragon’s attack, thrust his sword into the dragon’s neck, and hung on tightly with his legs.

The dragon began to rampage.

It tried to get Laius away somehow, scratching and squirming with its feet, but Laius gritted his teeth and held on.

Arthur and Richt attacked the torso area.

Richt blocked the flying kick aimed at trampling them.

“Cough!”

Richt let out an involuntary gasp at the heavy weight. However, he did not take a single step back. He supported his trembling legs firmly and imbued his sword with magical power to counter the force.

Arthur, not missing the gap, stepped forward and lunged for the torso.

Arthur pulled out the sword that had stabbed its side and slashed at the wing again. The wing, which was made of a relatively thin membrane, was torn apart.

Arendt, who joined a beat later, jumped down and ran into the already collapsed temple, contrary to Arthur’s expectations that he would attack.

Arthur groaned as he thrust his sword into the writhing dragon’s spine.

“Hey, where are you going?”

“There will be a magic stone inside that is powering it. Follow me, Arthur!”

“Huh?”

Laius, who had just broken away from the dragon, shouted.

The dragon’s head, having regained its freedom, flew fiercely towards the knight captain.

“…!”

It was so scary that he had to roll on the ground to avoid it, crunch!

The creature’s teeth dug into the spot where Laius had just been.

Laius shouted again.

“Follow Arendt! There must still be ghouls left.”

“All right!”

Arthur pulled out his sword and turned around one last time, leaving a long scar on the dragon’s side with his sword.

Crunch!

The dragon twisted its body for a moment as black blood poured out from the large wound. Thanks to this, Richt was able to safely escape the dragon’s pressure.

Richt, who saw Arthur jumping into the basement following Arendt, calmly spoke while holding his trembling arms.

“It is an honor to be fighting with you, Captain.”

“It is still too early to seek glory.”

They only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like all the strength was drained from their bodies.

It was a desperate situation, but instead of despair, their eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Laius declared.

“After cutting off the dragon’s head, let’s return to the palace.”

“Yes.”

As a knight, there was no other choice from the beginning.