Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 402

“Captain.”Regaining his composure with effort, Richt barely managed to call out to Laius.

“The situation is not very good.”

Richt had grown used to not being surprised by most things anymore, but there was an unmistakable trace of fear in his voice.

Lexion seemed to be restraining himself, trying not to cause any harm to the forces on the ground.

However, there was clearly a limit to how much he could protect everyone from Nikephoros’ rampage.

“…”

Inside the walls, there were still knights belonging to the Lucain Kingdom, and somewhere in the palace, there were Arendt, Rider, and Salem.

And it was obvious that this place would soon be devastated by the dragons’ power.

It was a situation where one of the three had to be given up.

Laius, who had been quietly gazing at the battlefield, finally spoke.

“Richt.”

“Yes?”

“Take the knights and retreat. Can you do that?”

Richt looked dumbfounded at the sudden order. Regardless, Laius continued to speak while staring at the wall.

“Hold the line moderately and then retreat. There is no point in staying here any longer.”

“Yes? No, but Arendt and Rider are still…!”

Richt, who had raised his voice without realizing it, suddenly fell silent. He had noticed that Laius’ expression had gone cold.

“Tell Instructor Zakar the same. Take all the archers with you, and get out of the dragons’ combat range as quickly as possible.”

Laius gripped the Holy Sword, which was soaked in the blood of his enemies.

“I will stay behind and rush into the castle.”

“…”

Richt, at a loss for words, gaped. After a while, he came to his senses and spoke again.

“Right now, we can’t even figure out where those three are. I’m not sure if you can find them in time even if you rush in alone.”

“I have no intention of looking for them.”

Laius cut off his words and added:

“I’m just waiting.”

“Captain…”

Richt groaned.

After a moment, he bit his lip once and spoke again.

“If that’s the case, we will wait with you.”

“Fall back. That’s an order.”

“I refuse.”

Although Laius spoke firmly, he was immediately met with a cold response.

This time, Laius was the one who was speechless.

Richt didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly continued speaking.

“I’m sure the others feel the same way. If you, Captain, are staying behind, who would even think of retreating? Are you planning to make us look like cowardly fools who hide behind some apprentice knight and our captain?”

Richt took a deep breath and then snapped in an unusually fierce tone.

“Do you think Arendt and the captain are the only ones who are stubborn? We can be stubborn too. If you go, we’ll go with you, and if you stay here, we’ll stay with you.”

“No…”

Before Laius could even respond, Richt shouted towards the battlefield.

“The captain is going to stay here alone, and he’s telling us to retreat! Those who want to fall back can join the elves! It’s a direct order from the captain!”

“Huh? What did you say?”

The knights who had been mindlessly cutting down the ghouls began to raise their heads one by one.

“The captain is going to stay behind alone? Are you serious?”

“Did he tell us to retreat? We’re leaving the captain behind?”

Eyes filled with a fierce murderous intent turned toward Laius.

Laius was left speechless when he was faced with his subordinates who seemed ready to tear him to shreds.

It was the first time since becoming captain that he faced a situation of collective disobedience.

If he said anything different here, they looked ready to pounce on him immediately.

“I overheard you say you were going into the castle? Alone?”

“…”

Arthur, who had quietly approached them, intervened calmly.

Although his entire body was covered in wounds, he showed no intention of backing down.

Laius, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth.

“…I’m sorry. I made a slip of the tongue.”

“So, will we retreat? Or will we wait for Arendt like you said?”

Only then did Richt calm down and continue speaking.

“I can follow any other orders you give me. But I absolutely refuse to leave you here alone. Whatever punishment you give me later, it doesn’t matter.”

Not a single knight left the battlefield despite the captain’s orders.

They silently cut down the enemies where they stood, waiting patiently for further orders.

“…Hah.”

After a while, Laius let out a deep sigh. It was because he realized that he could not change their minds.

Eventually, Laius had no choice but to be troubled again.

‘It seems like Jiklin and Rita have already left, leaving only their troops behind.’

The elves were already quite a distance from the front lines, and the priests and ghouls were struggling to climb over the walls.

Some tried to break down the door by repeatedly exploding gunpowder and magic. The elves and Shekhinah were doing their best to hold them off from a distance, but even they had their limits.

Laius, who had been glaring at his enemies, finally made up his mind.

“Then let’s go together.”

“I will follow.”

Unlike earlier when he was venting his anger, Richt now gave a response without the slightest hesitation.

It was a decision so quick it was laughable.

“We will advance as far as possible to stop them from breaching the walls. Provide cover to Glenn and the others…”

Laius, who was about to quickly convey orders, suddenly stopped talking.

“Captain?”

He didn’t even hear Richt’s puzzled call.

Laius quickly looked up at the cloudy sky.

The flow of magical power that had been fluctuating violently suddenly changed.

“What do you want?”

“You’re agreeing more readily than I expected.”

Iris chuckled softly when Arendt asked her harshly.

“If I were to ask you, Sir Arendt, to come with me, would you agree?”

“Am I crazy?”

Iris smiled brightly at his resolute reply.

“I’m joking. I don’t want to take such a dangerous risk. I clearly remember what happened to the child who coveted you.”

It was a story about Rebecca. Iris tilted her head in thought.

“Perhaps now is a good opportunity to take the Frosty Touch…”

Silver eyes scanned Arendt from head to toe.

“It seems to hold little meaning now. In that case, how about this?”

As if a good idea had occurred to her, Iris closed her eyes again and smiled brightly.

“Sir Arendt will fulfill our purpose in our stead.”

Arendt frowned, not quite understanding what she was saying.

“What?”

“As I said before… our ultimate goal is to completely erase Lord Luce from this world.”

Iris walked leisurely.

Then, the two statues that had been hidden behind her were revealed again.

In the center of the temple, the twin gods were surrounded by spirits who looked like their children, and they were bathed in a mystical light.

Iris’ discordant voice was layered over the utterly peaceful scene

“So, Sir Arendt, please destroy this place yourself.”

“…”

As Arendt’s face hardened, Iris took a silent step toward him.

“All the other ancient temples have already been destroyed, and this is the last remaining temple. Because of the atrocities of the previous hero, the world before Lord Luce came to rule has disappeared without a trace. Most of the records have been destroyed, and all who knew about that time have passed away…”

Even amidst all that, the sound of the robe dragging on the floor was especially grating.

Iris stopped just two steps away from Arendt.

“Now, only I, Nikephoros, and Sir Arendt know that such a time existed.”

“…”

As a relatively young dragon, Lexion did not even know that such a temple existed, so Arendt was the one left to bear the lonely truth within Luce’s faction.

Only then did Arendt realize the real reason why Iris had brought him to this place.

“Fragments of the world that Lord Chernion pieced together.”

The line Arendt had anticipated flowed from between Iris’ lips.

“The moment you decided to abandon your homeland and stay on this battlefield, the memory of those fragments was passed on to me.”

The saintess, cradling the worn-out holy relic close to her chest, spoke quietly.

“You must be resentful of Luce for taking everything away from you. That’s why, someday, you intend to wrest the Holy Empire from Luce’s hands.”

A soft voice echoed through the abandoned temple where spirits played. At some point, Arendt noticed the subtle change in title and furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

“Although I am currently at odds with Luce, I no longer wish to watch the filthy stranger commit blasphemy.”

“…”

“Even as he is defeated at our hands, he must retreat with the dignity befitting a god. Therefore…”

Iris muttered quietly.

“You will erase their past with your own hands. And you must forever keep silent about what you witnessed today. That is my condition.”

The apprentice knight remained silent for a while.

What allowed him to endure through all the terrible torment from the gods was the fact that he was able to obtain one clue after another toward his goal.

Then he barely made it here…

Now Iris was ordering the destruction of the evidence he had just seen with his own eyes.

All the efforts to track down Luce and Chernion went down the drain in an instant.

“…Hah.”

After a long while, he burst into a hollow laugh that was not very typical of Arendt von Eckhart.

“That’s interesting.”

The moment a frighteningly cold voice followed.

.ernal darkness, Sir Arendt.”

Amidst the faint scent of blood, the chilling cold, and the confused spirits, the saintess cast a curse upon the apprentice knight.

“Please show us a great stage until you are swallowed by madness and ruin.”

“Go eat some shit. All this talk about gods and whatnot, just be prepared to be insulted and ridiculed.”

And Arendt responded by drawing out the power of the Frosty Touch to its fullest potential.

“Whether it be the God of Light or the God of Darkness, or a saintess who has lived for thousands of years…”

His sword plunged deep into the ground with a chilling sound.

“You are nothing more than cheap props in a ridiculous comedy. Remember that.”