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Chapter 62:

‘Has the combat experience I’ve unknowingly accumulated enhanced its power?’

Of course, the strain on his body was unavoidable. Fortunately, the tentacles wrapping around his body inside the armor acted as a cushion, mitigating the impact.

Despite feeling his body creaking and screaming, Isaac smiled.

Because all the surrounding knights were looking at him.

“I’m out of breath, so come at me.”

Isaac raised his sword, targeting the knights. The knights started to stagger towards him, trying to recover from the shock of the explosion.

The closest one charged at Isaac, swinging a flail.

“My lord! Paladin!”

Then, amidst loud hoofbeats, Reinhardt’s knights charged in. The Hendrake knight about to swing his flail was instantly trampled into mush by the hooves. Knights from the back joined in, and those initially stunned by the surprise attack regrouped their soldiers for a counterattack.

An inept army would have crumbled under the initial shock of the surprise attack alone. However, proving that Reinhardt hadn’t raised his knights in vain, they regrouped and launched a counteroffensive. Thanks to Isaac breaking their momentum, they were able to counterattack. Without him, they would have been unable to recover from the initial shock and would have disintegrated.

As Reinhardt’s troops began to respond systematically, the Hendrake knights, despite their strength and ferocity, started to be pushed back gradually.

“Is the count unharmed!”

The knight who had trampled the flail-wielding knight and pushed back the Hendrake knights with a shield wall and long spears approached and asked.

He was the captain of Reinhardt’s knights, if memory served.

“I’m out of it, but I’m alright.”

Isaac saw that Reinhardt, still in shock, was mounted on the black horse. It seemed it would take some time for him to regain his senses.

“For now, take the count and withdraw. We need to clean up here.”

Isaac surveyed the melee unfolding around him. The Hendrake knights possessed abnormal zeal and strength but were few in number and lacked proper organization.

Their suppression was only a matter of time.

‘Why?’

Isaac found it strange that the Hendrake castle had not ordered a retreat.

If things continued this way, the precious Hendrake knights would be annihilated. Was it planned to dispose of the knights along with Bexter’s execution?

‘Were they used as expendable? Just causing this much turmoil was enough?’

In the end, no order for retreat came from Hendrake castle. Most of the Hendrake knights, including their leader Sir Bexter, were killed, with some taken prisoner.

Meanwhile, within Hendrake castle, a presence planted by Isaac was on the move.

***

After the assassination attempt on Hesabel, Isaac had not just sat by idly.

Though it appeared to be an ambush by a knight of the Hendrake knighthood on the surface, it was clear that the Red Chalice was behind it.

At Reinhardt’s request, Isaac pretended to wait while collecting information by sneaking Zihilrat into the castle. Isaac’s war had already begun by then.

Zihilrat climbed the castle walls, appearing to melt into them.

Hidden within Hendrake castle, Zihilrat witnessed the farce between Bexter and Kyle, including the scene where Bexter was ultimately beheaded by Owen’s sword.

After the rebellion was quelled, Kyle regained control of the castle, but no one truly believed he held any real power.

‘Raela.’

Zihilrat kept an eye on her.

Armed with knowledge from Isaac, Zihilrat knew there were followers of the Red Chalice Club within Hendrake castle. While Owen had quelled Bexter’s rebellion, it was clear Raela was behind it.

After quelling the rebellion, Owen had the knights arrested and brought to the castle. Soon after, knights, half-mad, charged at Reinhardt’s soldiers.

At that moment, Isaac, using his ‘mouse in the wall’ ability, had already been observing everything.

He had left them to their devices to let Raela reveal her true nature more fully, intervening just in time to prevent Reinhardt’s assassination.

Had he intervened earlier, he might have prevented the soldiers from suffering. However, it would have made dealing with Raela more difficult.

‘What’s happening inside the castle…’

Isaac observed the silent scene within Hendrake Castle through Zihilrat’s eyes and ears.

After sending out the knights, Raela continued her activities inside the castle. However, Zihilrat’s body wasn’t suitable for detailed reconnaissance inside.

While it was adept at hiding anywhere, a more specific form was needed to listen or see more closely.

Specifically, a human form was required.

Conveniently, Zihilrat found a suitable body.

It was Bexter’s body, discarded in a pit below the walls.

Besides Bexter, the pit contained a few other bodies, seemingly knights or soldiers who had resisted to the end.

But Zihilrat specifically chose Bexter’s corpse.

[Under the Skin: Consume the interior of a target and use their skin as your exterior.]

It was one of the three special options once offered to Isaac but was forsaken. Now, this ability was bestowed upon Zihilrat, who had been promoted to an Apostle.

After being reborn by Isaac, Zihilrat did not have a clear form. Its default appearance was somewhat rodent-like, though much sleeker than in its previous life.

Its body, however, was a tangle of numerous tentacles, hiding countless teeth and eyes. If desired, it could form a thin membrane to mimic skin.

This meant Zihilrat could inflate its body to the size of a giant bear or condense it to the size of a human.

Zihilrat burrowed into Bexter’s body. Anyone seeing this grotesque scene would have been horrified, but no one was looking into the pit where the body had been discarded.

Soon after, Zihilrat, having taken over Bexter’s body, stood up from the pit.

The severed head was not an issue. The body was just a shell; Zihilrat was the real entity.

Zihilrat connected the head and torso with its tentacles. Although the expression might be somewhat awkward, it had no problem moving the body.

In fact, possessing the strong and trained body of Bexter allowed Zihilrat to mimic some degree of swordsmanship beyond merely wearing the shell.

However, a person known to be dead walking around was not possible, so its identity had to be concealed.

Fortunately, due to the preparation for battle and the chaotic internal situation, various weapons were scattered all over the castle.

Zihilrat picked up a helmet rolling around and placed it on the head mount on the shoulder. The blood-stained uniform might have given it away, but the darkness and dirt made it look like just another soldier at a glance.

“Hey!”

As Zihilrat was considering how to enter the castle, someone called out. A soldier with a high rank approached Zihilrat briskly.

“What are you still doing here? Didn’t you hear the order to stop burial work and gather?”

When Zihilrat didn’t respond, the soldier grew angrier and insisted.

“Come on! The battle is imminent!”

Zihilrat obediently followed him. It seemed the soldier mistook the blood and dirt as a result of burial work. Unexpectedly, the situation had worked out easily.

Following the sergeant, Zihilrat arrived at what seemed like a banquet hall inside the castle, the only indoor space large enough to accommodate many people. Through Zihilrat, Isaac realized that most of Hendrake Castle’s soldiers were gathered there.

‘What’s this? A speech before battle?’

However, the lord, Kyle, was nowhere to be seen.

The power seemed to have shifted to someone else after Bexter’s failed coup to capture Kyle.

To the two people right in front of him, Owen and Raela.

The soldiers seemed frightened and uneasy about the situation. But with Bexter’s head gone and having witnessed the annihilation of Kyle Hendrake’s carefully nurtured knights outside the castle, no one dared express their dissatisfaction.

Then Raela stood up.

The murmuring soldiers instantly fell silent.

Raela slowly walked among the soldiers and climbed onto a table. The soldiers watched as Raela, barefoot, walked right in front of them. Standing amidst countless gazes, Raela whispered.

“Revere.”

A silence so deep that even breathing seemed to stop enveloped the room.

The only sound was that of one’s own heartbeat. No, it was so quiet one could even hear the blood flowing through their body. Then, suddenly, Zihilrat realized it wasn’t because the sounds had quieted down or its senses had become sharper.

It was actually hearing the heartbeat echoing throughout the castle.

The life force pulsating through the castle’s veins could be felt.

Then, something fell onto Zihilrat’s head. It was a dark red liquid.

‘Blood?’

Simultaneously, countless streams of blood flowed from the cracks in the walls and between the stones. Blood poured down like rain. The soldiers, engulfed in the blood-scented downpour, looked crazily at Raela, who moved languidly among them.

Raela crossed between them as if dancing.

Her figure, drenched in blood, seemed like a woman with her skin peeled off, or perhaps with nine limbs, or like a doll fashioned out of clay and flesh.

Zihilrat felt nauseous. The flow of blood within was accelerating.

‘A miracle?’

Isaac, noticing the anomaly, tightened his grip on Zihilrat’s will. Even as a being of divine stature, Zihilrat was not immune to the influence of the powerful divine presence before it.

Fortunately, as Isaac reinforced his control, Zihilrat managed to limit its excitement.

However, others were affected differently.

Even the divine being Zihilrat felt the impact of the miracle.

Raela’s lips moved again.

“Place the flesh of the enemy on the platter, and fill the cups with blood.”

The moment the blood rain stopped, the soldiers’ eyes and mouths were filled with madness and combativeness. They looked exactly like the knights who had ambushed Reinhardt’s knights, only with a deeper insanity.

Isaac sensed this battle was far from over.

***

“You’re giving up the siege?”

“Yes.”

Reinhardt answered with a nearly dead voice. The shock of that day’s battle had taken its toll, confining him to his room. But Isaac was neither surprised nor disappointed.

‘It’s a relief he’s not packing up to return to his domain right away…’

Reinhardt wasn’t the only one shocked.

Even the villagers, simple but good-hearted, were horrified to learn their lord had instigated such events, staying locked in their homes without having been evacuated. A massacre could have ensued had the soldiers taken out their frustrations on them.

Fortunately, Reinhardt issued no such orders. Overwhelmed by shock and having lost nearly half his forces, turning the villagers against him would have been foolish.

‘Considering the damage, retreating and acknowledging defeat would be appropriate…’

Even though Reinhardt lost nearly half his forces, Hendrake’s side, including Bexter, had practically been wiped out. Considering knights essentially served as officers, Hendrake’s estate was left with nothing but disorganized rabble akin to peasant militia.

Moreover, while Hendrake’s lordship had no hope for reinforcements, Reinhardt was continuously receiving additional troops.

Through prisoners, they had already gathered testimonies about nearly heretical events unfolding within Hendrake Castle. Initially, the witnesses weren’t in a condition to testify, but after Isaac intervened, they were somewhat rehabilitated.

“The Order of the Codex of Light will send paladins and priests. Then the walls will fall.”

Reinhardt muttered weakly. Relying on priests in this era of rampant miracles was indeed the most efficient method of siege.

However, Isaac didn’t anticipate an easy resolution.

‘Behind those walls is Raela.’

Isaac recalled the scene unfolded in Hendrake Castle the previous night through Zihilrat.

And he thought about the nameless chaos that had taken notice of him the moment he saw Raela.

[The Nameless Chaos watches you.]

[The Nameless Chaos desires you to devour the ‘Prophet of the Red Flesh.’]

[A reward from Chaos awaits you.]