Chapter 22: The Forest of No Return (2)

Ethan snapped his shield up in a blur. Thanks to years of drilling, it was a defense made instinctively without thought.

Thanks to that, he did manage to block the axe.

CRASH—CLANG!!

"Urgh!"

But it sure as hell didn't feel like he'd actually blocked anything.

The crushing impact slammed through his entire body. His skull rang like a goddamn bell, and his arm—the one gripping the shield—felt like someone had hammered a chisel straight into the bone.

And that wasn't even the worst part. The shield was wrecked in one hit. The blue-tinted axe blade had punched through the thick iron plating like it was paper. Considering this was a Blessed Armament that had received a priest's consecration, this made absolutely no sense.

‘Holy Elga... this thing held off an enraged troll without a scratch.’

He instinctively tried to make a holy sign, but there was no time for that. The barbarian was already charging at him with a sword drawn. Ethan scrambled himself to his feet using only the strength of his legs.

Whoosh—!

The blade shot viciously toward the gaps in his armor.

Ethan hunched his shoulders and raised his shield again.

Metal crashed against metal with a sharp clang that echoed through the forest. It’s a good thing that the shield still works, even if it was broken.

But it was the last thing it was good for.

The barbarian grabbed the axe handle with his free hand and brutally kicked the shield away.

THUD—!

The axe tore free from the shield, and the Paladin went stumbling backward from the recoil.

"Ugh! Huff..."

Before he could even get his bearings, he collapsed again. The massive shield covered his body, trapping him like a steel coffin. He barely managed to crane his neck to look up and saw the barbarian leaping toward him with his axe raised for a killing blow.

Ethan frantically yanked his arms free from the shield and rolled across the ground like a worm.

CRASH—CLANG!

The axe smashed into the shield, tearing through the metal like it was nothing. His blood ran cold thinking about what would've happened to his body if he'd stayed behind that shield.

The barbarian cast a dry gaze at the horrified Paladin.

His deep voice rumbled heavily in Ethan's ears.

"This isn't exactly a path a Paladin would just stumble across. Did you come alone?"

"..."

“Good. That’ll make silencing you easier.”

His blood turned to ice.

Through the chaos swirling in his mind, thick fear seeped in.

Ethan scrambled up on all fours like a dog. He didn’t know if this thing was an Archdemon or what, but one thing was for sure: its weapons and its strength were out of this world. There was no way he could win a straight fight.

He raised his sword to the sky and yelled as loud as he could.

“O Elga, guide of the holy light! Give me the power to fight this wicked Demon…!”

CRACK—!

What came first wasn't Elga's divine blessing; it was the barbarian's axe.

CRASH-CRACKLE!

"Urk!"

The axe missed by a hair's breadth and pulverized an innocent tree trunk instead.

The barbarian knew exactly how Paladins fought. There was no reason to let him receive divine power. He charged in with his sword, giving no room to breathe. Ethan had no choice but to fight without the blessing.

A sweeping blade came at him with terrifying momentum.

CLANG—!

Though it left a large opening, the strike was devastatingly powerful. Ethan barely managed to parry it and nearly lost his grip on his sword from the impact alone. Without a moment's rest, an irregular barrage of attacks followed.

The moment their blades met, the barbarian would twist his sword violently to aim for the throat or completely knock aside Ethan's guard to thrust at a vital point. Sometimes he'd hold his sword horizontally to deflect an attack, then close in and slam the pommel into Ethan's faceplate.

Clang, CLANG—! THUD!

He couldn't keep his head straight at all. Kadim was too strong, too fast, too unpredictable. It was like fighting a monster in human skin.

Ethan relied entirely on instinct to respond to the onslaught. The only things keeping him from taking a fatal hit were his reflexes and his expensive armor.

But that wouldn't last long.

Clang, CLANG—!

"Ugh, gah..."

By the time they'd exchanged about ten blows, cold sweat was pouring down Ethan's forehead. Now, every time their blades clashed, bone-deep pain shot through his arm joints.

‘Damn it, how can someone be this stupidly strong...?’

The barbarian didn't miss the moment his opponent's focus wavered. He spun his blade to knock Ethan's sword aside, then stepped in like a gust of wind and thrust the pommel into the tiny gap in the armor's joint.

Crunch—!

"Gah!"

Cartilage tore and blood gushed from his elbow. Ethan clutched his mangled right arm and scrambled backward.

"Urgh, haah, haah..."

“Judging by your skill, you’re certainly no Archpaladin. No, if anything you’re not even as good as that pup I ran into on day one.”

The Demon muttered as he approached. Ethan didn't even the luxury of being angry. He'd made his decision.

Run.

He had to run.

He was injured, so fleeing wouldn't be shameful. He had to get out of here and bring back that damn Archpaladin...

Ethan stumbled around and bolted into the trees. His helmet was already getting hot and stuffy from his ragged breathing, but fear for his life made him surprisingly fast.

But it’s certainly not fast enough to shake off the Demon pursuing him.

The barbarian, wearing only leather, was much faster than the heavily armored Paladin. The hunter had become the hunted in moments.

The gap between them closed rapidly.

Ethan's eyes trembled dangerously as he glanced back.

At this rate, getting caught was just a matter of time. His mind raced desperately for a way out.

"Haah, haah..."

"..."

He racked his brain, and only one idea came to him: ditch the armor and run faster.

He couldn't think of anything better. The heat inside his helm was cooking his brain. Ethan acted immediately. He threw off his helmet first, then fumbled with the straps and frantically shed his breastplate and shoulder guards. Discarded pieces of armor littered the bushes like a trail of molted skin.

By the time he realized this was a fatal mistake, it was already a beat too late.

‘...Oh.’

His enemy didn't have to catch him to kill him.

CRACK—THUNK—!

The axe flew like a vicious claw and tore viciously through his now-unarmored flesh.

***

"Urgh, ghhh, gahhh..."

The Paladin was on the ground, moaning, arms dangling uselessly.

“Th-This… so it really was a Paladin of Elga on our trail…”

The merchant muttered with a look of dismay. The barbarian narrowed his eyes and glared at the Paladin.

The axe had hit him square in the left shoulder, and the flesh was ripped away like old cloth. His collarbone was shattered, and his shoulder blade was twisted out of place. He was only alive because Kadim had pulled his punch just enough not to kill him.

The reason Kadim had not killed the Paladin outright was simple. He needed to confirm if he had truly come alone.

And finding that out wouldn't be hard.

It started with shoving his hand into the wounded shoulder.

His rough fingers pushed between the tattered leather and flesh.

SQUELCH—

“Hey. I have one question for you.”

Ethan’s face went corpse-pale. They say that when the pain gets bad enough, you can’t even scream. That was Ethan right now.

"Are there other Paladins with you?"

"Ah, ah... uh, uhhh..."

"Answer me."

"Uh, urgh, urgh..."

"..."

When he didn’t get a real answer, a simple clench of his fist was enough. A scream that had been caught in the Paladin’s throat finally ripped out.

"AHHHHHHH!! GAHHHHHHHH!! GAHHHHHHH!"

"Urp, urgh..."

Duncan felt sick to his stomach and had to look away. Kadim continued the interrogation with cold detachment.

"If you don't talk, I'll dig into that wound again. If you want the pain to end, speak quickly."

"GHHHHH! I... I can't tell you. Just k-kill me, you wicked demon!"

"Kill you? Why would I do that?"

"..."

“Trust me, being alive is going to be worse.”

To prove it wasn't an empty threat, Kadim slowly lifted his axe.

Goosebumps erupted along Ethan's spine. He started shaking uncontrollably, convulsing as a hot stream of urine ran down his leg. All his training, all his battles—none of it could help him fight off this kind of fear.

"Ghhh!"

The Paladin summoned his last shred of willpower and bit down hard on his tongue.

It wasn’t to kill himself.

You don't die just from biting off your tongue. He just wanted to seal his own mouth before fear made him spill everything.

But it was a pointless struggle. A powerful hand grabbed Ethan’s face in a brutal grip.

“That’s a waste of effort, Paladin. I can interrogate you as long as you can still blink.”

"...Gh, ghh."

“Blink your left eye for yes, your right for no. If you don't answer, my axe hits your shoulder. Simple as that.”

"...Gh, ghhh, guhh..."

And so, through a twisted game of twenty questions, Ethan spilled everything.

He revealed that the Paladin Kadim had killed was related to an Archbishop. That he'd been tracking with an Archpaladin all this time. That the Archpaladin had left him behind and gone ahead.

The moment the interrogation ended, so did the Paladin's life.

Crunch—!

The axe buried itself deep in his forehead, but his face held no real regret. At least now he was free from shame and pain and could go to Elga's side.

Kadim pushed the Paladin's corpse into the bushes. No point wasting time with a half-assed burial. The Archpaladin he’d been worried about was real, and that meant every second counted.

Kadim pushed through the undergrowth without a second's delay. Duncan scrambled after him. He’d looked away from the gruesome interrogation, so he was completely in the dark.

"U-um... my lord? Why are you in such a hurry? Are there more Paladins left?"

"..."

“And… that was… that was pretty rough, what you did to him, my lord. He probably wasn’t chasing us because he wanted to, and it’s not as if he’d committed some great sin…”

Kadim still had his back turned. But from his increasingly violent axe swings and rigid posture, Duncan could sense a chilling rage.

A cold voice reached the merchant's ears.

"Have you ever had your tongue ripped out by the roots, merchant?"

"..."

"Or had burns so bad your skin peeled off like snake scales? Or having all your limbs broken, your joints wrenched out of place, lying there wide awake just waiting to die?”

Gradually, a chill crept across Duncan's skin. The ghostly voice pressed down on him again.

"You haven't, have you? That’s why you can afford to talk like that.."

"..."

“The last time I ran into a high-ranking Paladin, that’s what happened to me and my friends. And what do you know, there’s another high-ranking Paladin in the group chasing us now. If I hadn't tortured that guy today, we'd have walked right into the same trap.”

"..."

"Listen carefully, merchant. I'm not going to leave loose ends or allow interference because of misplaced mercy and morality. That kind of luxury is for people who can sleep on the street without worrying about getting stabbed. In this land crawling with every kind of filthy malice, I'll do it take to achieve my goal."

"..."

"Just like I always have. And just like I always will."

It was an uncompromising declaration that left no room for argument.

This was the limit of how much anxiety and terror Duncan could silently endure. He squeezed his eyes shut and cried out.

"B-but my lord...! If that’s true, doesn’t that mean you could do the same thing to me anytime?!”

Kadim stopped abruptly.

He turned his head and cast a cold gaze. For a moment, Duncan felt his blood freeze, but he clenched his fists and kept going.

“When I’m no longer useful to you, or if we get into a tight spot, you’ll just… you’ll just dump me or kill me, won’t you? I… I really, really don’t want to be left for the monsters or tortured to death like that…”

"..."

"Until now, I have always make it home every three months, at least. My wife and my e-eight-year-old boy must be for me. They'll have set out my portion of food, wondering why I'm so late, and... and dying horribly without even seeing their faces one last time is..."

"..."

"...Please, please tell me, sir. What do I have to do so you don't treat me like a slab of meat? How do I earn your respect? The kind of respect you showed Baron Molden, enough to share your blood with him…?”

"..."

It was less a question, more a desperate prayer.

And the answer that came back was brief.

"If you don't want to die, prove your life has value."

Kadim withdrew his gaze indifferently.

He had no reason to answer beyond that. He just kept swinging his axe to clear the path ahead, as he always did.

Duncan stared blankly at his retreating back.

He didn't have the means to force a better answer. In the end, he let his gaze fall listlessly and began to walk once more.

***

The evening was painted in dark colors over the bright blue sky.

"Hyah! Faster, can't you run any faster?!"

—Whoooosh...

The grueling march had left the Radiant Steed's light-formed body disheveled and flickering. But Hellia didn't care and kept kicking the stirrups to urge it on.

Things had been good right after leaving. Once she'd left Ethan behind and gone alone, her tracking speed had doubled. She'd almost kicked herself for not leaving that useless Paladin and his pathetic horse in the dust sooner.

But it took less than two hours for her to change her mind.

As she tore down the path like a madwoman, Hellia suddenly realized something.

‘Wait, there aren't any signs of people passing through...?’

The faint footprints that had been there earlier had disappeared at some point.

She checked the map belatedly.

If she kept going, the path would lead near a border checkpoint. The odds of someone who'd murdered a Paladin brazenly passing by a checkpoint into Alliance territory seemed pretty low.

If Ethan had been here, he would have pointed that out. Helia knew that. But instead of admitting she needed her experienced second-in-command, she just thought,

‘Then he should've warned me when I said I was going this way. Useless bastard...’

She yanked the reins around. She had no real way of guessing where the demon had gone. She planned to rejoin with Ethan to get his advice or ask if he'd found any traces.

But all she found was one sorry-looking horse.

—Ffrrr, ffrrr…

With its sunken cheeks and crusted eyes, it was definitely the horse Ethan had been riding. Its reins were tied securely to a tree trunk. It did not seem as though he were camping nearby. Aside from a sword and his Blessed Armament, all of his baggage remained intact.

There was only one possible conclusion.

He had dismounted and gone somewhere for a short while, and something had happened.

"..."

Her emerald eyes burned quietly as they swept over the area.

Her gaze moved rapidly through the evening gloom.

The dirt road… the footprints leading away from it… the Paladin's last trail… and where it was headed was…

...Trampled bushes and a narrow trail between them.

Hellia dismounted from her Radiant Steed, then she drew the weapon hidden in her scabbard.

WHOOM!

The Archpaladin's divine weapon, Gehenna's Flame, bared its crimson fangs as if ready to burn down the entire forest.

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