Chapter 31: Crazy Saintess Strategy (2)

“Wizard… were you here..?”

Sylvia, who was looking for Karen to return to the palace as promised with Yooseong, stopped talking and tried to back away when she found Yooseong standing with Karen near the shantytown.

Since he had promised never to go near Yooseong again after his defeat in the duel, she had no choice but to react that way.

“What, where have you been SylviaSylvester!?

I’ve been looking for you for a long time!

Come here quickly!”

“Yes!

Huh?”

However, Karen, who saw Sylvia, hurriedly grabbed the flustered Sylvia’s hand and pulled her towards Yooseong.

“World Teleportation-! (Teleportation)”

She immediately activated her magic and cast a continental teleportation spell.

Swoosh-

A scene like mixing paints unfolded and her vision became dizzyingly mixed.

What soon appeared before her eyes was the entrance to the Griffin Palace, where a Griffin statue made of ivory marble and gold lacquer stood.

“Ugh.”

When using teleportation magic, the cochlea shakes and you feel dizzy, and then you gradually recover.

Sylvia, who first regained her balance by turning the aura inside her body and regained consciousness, immediately looked towards Yooseong.

“Huh.”

Yooseong took a deep breath and roughly shook his head to regain consciousness.

Immediately after that, he quickly walked towards the gate of the palace without explaining the situation or doing anything else.

He couldn’t figure out what was going on, but he could see some kind of urgency in his frozen face.

While Sylvia was wondering whether she should chase after him,

“Yooseong, let’s go together!”

KarenRedleaf followed him, holding the hand of a certain water child.

He couldn’t figure out why Yooseong was like that, and why KarenRedleaf brought him back to the palace with her.

“For now.”

Sylvia had no idea, but she concluded that there must be a reason why he brought him, so she should chase after him, and Sylvia followed him.

Knock knock.

That Seyeon guy… is dangerous.

Yooseong, who was walking quickly, thought of Seyeon in his head.

-I’m JinSeyeon… Huh?

Is that where your house is?

Oh, it’s right next door!

Seyeon, whom he had known since he was young, was a very strange guy.

Although they were clearly the same person, he felt like a completely different species?

He was perfect in appearance, grades, and athletic ability, and his personality was bright and cheerful.

He treated everyone without any arrogance.

Naturally, there were guys around him who were attracted to Seyeon, and Seyeon was always standing in the gap between the kids’ baskets.

He was a guy who fit the description of “popular kid” very well.

I still don’t know how I became close with that guy.

It was a coincidence, but he went to the same elementary school, middle school, and high school, and when he came to his senses, Seyeon was always by his side, and every time his class was decided and his new friends took an interest in Seyeon and asked him how they became so close, Yooseong could only answer that he didn’t know.

I really didn’t know.

-Yooseong-ah, you’re a palm tree and a bloody stray dog?

Anyway, it was a well-known fact that Seyeon was Yooseong’s best friend and best friend.

Although he sometimes felt tired of Seyeon’s overflowing energy, Yooseong couldn’t deny that she was a fun person to be with.

Sometimes, he wanted to be like that bright personality, and he was actually influenced by her.

Although Yooseong always said that Seyeon was a funny person, he thought of her as a great and proud friend.

That’s why I thought Seyeon and the warrior went together.

He didn’t really disagree with the fact that Seyeon, who was summoned together, was the warrior and he was the hanger-on.

He was just dissatisfied with the situation itself where he couldn’t go home because he was caught up in the summoning.

He truly thought that Seyeon was a good match for him to become the warrior.

He had no reason to be jealous of his friend Seyeon just because he couldn’t become the warrior.

However, even if he thought that way when he was first summoned, he wasn’t sure that Seyeon would treat him as a friend just like before he was summoned.

It was a time when the people of the kingdom were dispirited as they were gossiping behind the backs of the warriors, calling them “burdens” with incompetent jobs and followers.

Seyeon, who became a warrior, also felt a bit of anxiety that she might not be thought of in the same way.

Like before, he felt awkward approaching Seyeon and talking to her without hesitation.

-Hey, Yooseong, there’s something delicious today.

Should I go right away?

But that was a needless worry.

Even after becoming a warrior, JinSeyeon was still the same.

Seeing the guy talking about a royal banquet as if it were a delicious meal, he realized that he had been thinking useless thoughts and laughed in vain.

-Why on earth are you doing this to Yooseong! You guys?!

And when he stopped the three former warrior party members from harassing him.

Come visit anytime, honey.

I can afford to buy my friend a drink.

Aren’t you the king?

Even after becoming the king and being too busy to open his eyes, Seyeon was always a grateful person and Yooseong’s best friend.

That guy is in danger right now…

Even though he was walking with a blank expression, Yooseong was furious.

Yooseong, who had a personality that would cool down the more he got angry, was currently in a state that he had never been angrier.

Jerk-

“Who the…!”

As they headed toward the queen’s palace, the valet and knights who had blocked their path stepped aside when they saw Yooseong’s face and Sylvia and Karen following them.

The queen’s palace was originally a forbidden area where men other than the king could not enter.

Even though Karen and Sylvia were former members of the warrior party and could travel around most of the kingdom, it was not possible for a male Yooseong to enter the queen’s palace.

However, as if there had been some kind of promise, no servant or knight stopped Yooseong from passing by as they headed toward the queen’s palace.

Squeak-

And when the maids waiting in front of the queen’s room saw Yooseong and opened the door.

“Ah! Yooseong.

You’re here!”

Yooseong could see Queen Elena sitting in a chair in front of a round table, welcoming him.

She had the same gentle smile as before, but her face looked much more gaunt.

Of course…

How could she be okay when her husband was kidnapped and she even saw his severed arm?

“Your Majesty…

Have you checked the arm that was said to have arrived?”

Yooseong threw away greetings and superficial words of comfort and got straight to the point.

At first glance, he seemed inconsiderate towards the other person, but Elena, who knew that his icy attitude itself was in a hurry to solve the case, opened her mouth with a slightly relieved face.

“The wizards checked and found that…

it really was my husband’s arm.

The warrior’s sword is also genuine.”

“I see.

Then who brought the box?”

“It was Orhara, the deputy head of the Women’s Church’s Inquisition.

He is currently being held captive in the palace under the pretext of being responsible for treatment.

I have asked the head maid to tell you the details.”

“Thank you.”

After exchanging all the necessary questions, Yooseong bowed his head to Elena and turned around.

“Excuse me… Yooseong-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“Your Majesty… Seyeon will be able to return, right?”

To Elena, who asked with trembling eyes and voice.

“I will definitely bring you back, whether alive or dead.”

Yooseong left the queen’s room with only one word.

“I will guide you, Yooseong.”

After that, he headed to the room where the Inquisitor Orhara, who had brought the box containing Seyeon’s arm, was, guided by the chief maid.

“Please state your business.”

Two knights were standing in front of the door.

The knight who seemed to be the senior one approached and asked.

“Queen Elena has sent HanYooseong, a former member of the warrior party.”

The knight nodded at Yooseong and opened his mouth at the chief maid’s words.

“Then… Only HanYooseong can enter.”

“Huh? Why!?”

The knight furrowed his brow at Karen’s pointed question, which seemed to contain the intention of asking why only Yooseong was entering.

He knew that she was a former member of the warrior party, but it was unpleasant that Karen, who was a brat, was speaking informally to him from the beginning.

“Sir Alton.”

At that moment, Sylvia, who was next to him, spoke to the knight.

“Ah!

Commander of the Knights, Sylvester.”

A knight named Alton greets Sylvia briefly.

Even though Karen didn’t know, she knew Sylvia, who was also a knight.

“Is there a reason why only Yooseong… must enter?

Of course, if it’s difficult to say, you don’t have to.”

Sylvia glanced at Yooseong and asked politely.

“Hmm…”

Royal Knight Alton, who seemed to be pondering for a moment, drooled.

“There was something the priest inside said that the Goddess Church wanted to hide.

So, the high-ranking priests of the Goddess Church are currently using tricks to get the priest out, so the Queen has ordered that only permitted personnel enter.”

“I see.”

If it was an order from Queen Elena, the King’s representative, then it was an order that the Royal Knight had to carry out even if he died.

In the end, it was decided that only Yooseong would enter, and Yooseong opened the door and went in after saying to Hoyeon, “I’ll wait.”

Squeak…

‘A rotten smell…?’

As soon as he entered, he smelled a strong smell like rotting meat.

The first thing he saw was a person lying on a bed with bandages wrapped all over his body.

“Since the King’s Palace said they would treat him, they would have treated him properly, right…?”

Even if the priests were not allowed to approach, there was no reason not to treat him since the royal palace was overflowing with high-end medicines such as healers and elixirs.

However, Yooseong, who felt suspicious when seeing the other person who was only completely wrapped in bandages, approached the bed to examine him closely.

“Who… are you?”

Then, the man on the bed opened his mouth after sensing Yooseong’s presence.

“I am HanYooseong, a supporter of the warrior party.

I came to hear about what happened in Makinia.”

“Ah…”

The man let out a weak sigh and flailed his arms as if trying to get up from his seat.

However, Yooseong immediately supported the man and helped him lean his back against the wall, seeing that he was having trouble getting up.

“Whew… Thank you.

However, there was one thing I was curious about.”

Then, the priest immediately opened his mouth.

“Are you by any chance a ghost knight?”

“__!”

Yooseong’s eyes shook slightly at the words of the heretic inquisitor, Orha.

“You are right.

When the Griffin King said that he did not capture the Demon King, the people within the church thought it was nonsense…

His Majesty the King may be right.”

“Are you the only one who knows?”

Upon hearing that, Yooseong asked Orha back.

It was a question that seemed to have been casually left out, but there was definitely a ‘sword’ hidden in those words.

Two years ago, after defeating the Demon King, when he was trying to destroy the world and doing all sorts of things, he had equipped himself with all the parts of the Titan Armor, a human-enhanced suit, and terrorized the center of each country in order to steal the magical knowledge of each country.

At that time, his outfit was completely covered in black metal, just like the Black Knight.

The Titan Armor’s basic state is silver, but it becomes black when in full armor mode.

That’s why Yooseong already knew that people who saw him called him the ‘Ghost Knight.’

The problem was that he thought his identity had never been discovered, but he met someone he knew in a place like this.

“The heretic interrogator who was under my command was performing a secret mission and happened to see someone wearing black armor.

When that person took off his armor, he saw that he was a former member of the warrior party.

Someone who appeared to be HanYooseong reported.”

“Is that so?”

“That subordinate reported only to me and died in the mission that followed.

So I’m the only one who knows about this…

As you can see, my condition is so bad that it wouldn’t be strange if I died at any moment.”

“__”

Yooseong looked at the face at Orha’s words.

Green, sizzling skin visible between the gaps between the bandages.

Even though the poison was severely increased, no treatment was used.

No, it wasn’t that they didn’t use it, it was that they couldn’t use it.

As far as Yooseong knew, there was only one type of poison that turned skin green.

“Is it the necromancer’s poison?”

“Yes.

It’s the poison spread by the leader of the necromancers.

They said that it had already spread throughout his body by the time they arrived at the palace and that there was nothing they could do about it.”

Even Yooseong, who had knowledge about treatment, thought so.

This person didn’t have much time left to live and that soon his whole body would be covered in poison and he would die.

The death poison extracted from the corpse by the necromancer is so vicious that even the highest priests cannot do anything about it.

“Don’t worry about the Ghost Knight.

I have been in a profession where I have kept secrets my whole life according to the will of the Goddess.

I will take one more secret with me.”

There is no guarantee that what he says is true.

In order to avoid any trouble later, he should have ended his life before this man started talking about the Ghost Knight.

However, Yooseong did not do so.

Because Orha’s eyes already seemed to reflect his own gaze from two years ago, when he had no lingering desire for life.

“On the other hand, I am glad that Yooseong is a Ghost Knight..”

“Why?”

“The fallen former saint LeaForte, a heretic, could not be stopped even by the warrior who inherited the power of the Goddess and by two of her apostles.”

Orha opened his mouth, saying that he would tell the story of that day.

“Then let’s aim for a time when LeaForte is alone…”

“Then our necromancers will join forces…”

While the necromancer Lissandra and the King of the Griffins and warrior Seyeon were talking about ‘conquering the saint!”

Crunch-crunch-

Demon King Claire continued to eat snacks.

The fact that half of the chocolate chip cookies on her plate had disappeared was proof that Claire had been eating only snacks without saying a word.

“Hey, hey.. stop eating.

I didn’t come here to taste any snacks.”

Eventually, Seyeon poked Claire and made a warning.

“Hehe- is it okay?

There are plenty of snacks, right?”

Lissandra, who was watching from the side, smiled and said.

“Anyway… these cookies are delicious, right?”

“Eww… yeah.

Delicious… sweet and sticky…”

Claire mumbled as she answered Lissandra’s voice, who was speaking secretly with her eyes narrowed.

“When I gain knowledge and do research, sometimes my head gets hot and I crave sweets.

Maybe that’s why it’s not a field that fits well with this dreary city, but… sweet black tea and snacks are quite developed~!

If you want, I can treat you to tea too?”

“Yes, yes…

This is enough.”

“In that case…

Ah!

Your Majesty, please try it!”

Seyeon flinched at the sight of Lissandra handing her a cookie after eating one herself.

Although she definitely did not want to put a cookie in her mouth since it was from a corpse-f*cking necromancer, it was rude to refuse one when she had already eaten one and her companion was eating it like a beggar.

It was a sign of suspicion and not polite.

“Then just one.”

Claire’s hand grabbed Seyeon’s wrist as she tried to accept the cookie in Lissandra’s hand.

“?”

Seyeon turned her head and looked at her.

Gulp.

“Don’t eat this, warrior.

Commander’s poison…. there’s poison in it.”

Claire swallowed the rest and a ridiculous word came out of her mouth.

When confusion crossed the faces of the people around her, including Lissandra.

Seyeon, whose eyes were already sunken, swung the hand that Claire wasn’t holding.

Crunch-

“Huh?”

She cut off Lissandra’s neck with the magic of light.

Thud.

Lissandra’s neck fell to the floor.

Thud.

Seyeon got up from her seat and approached Lissandra’s fallen face.

“Haa.

Isn’t this too much?

Roughly separating a lady’s neck from her body like this…

At least listen to an excuse and cut her down?”

As Lissandra grumbled, Seyeon, who was wiping her hands with her sleeve as if she had gotten something dirty on them, opened her mouth with a bland expression.

“Well, to be honest, I was half in doubt.

I cut her because I felt bad about her.

Anyway, I guess you’re right.

You were going to hit me in the back of the head, right?”

“Yes-That’s right.

But how did you stay safe after eating so many cookies?

I was worried that you might collapse in the middle, but you’re still fine!”

“Yeah.

A special constitution (Demon King).”

Claire licks her thumb and answers Lissandra’s grumbling.

Shhh…

At that moment, green smoke pours out from Lissandra’s severed neck…

“Anyway, it’s getting late-Let’s start the festival: carnival-!

Gyahahaha!”

Lissandra’s madness bursts out in the smoke of the poison filling the space.

This is definitely a trap.

There must be something outside, right?”

Seyeon thought as she drew her sword.

Choaaaah-Kwak-ga-gak-!!

“Everyone, jump up!”

He immediately wrapped his sword in light magic and shattered the ceiling, and shouted at the Inquisitors.

Grab-!

Without hesitation, the Inquisitors jumped into the air, stepping on the surrounding walls and objects.

“Ugh..!!”

“Euuuu..!”

However, several of the Inquisitors had already collapsed, their ankles infected with the toxin and their lower bodies dyed green.

“Hero!”

“Throw them upwards first!”

Seyeon and Claire grabbed the Inquisitors and threw them onto the pierced ceiling.

Seyeon and Claire made sure that the Inquisitors who had taken their places, including Orha, were catching their injured comrades who were quickly rising upwards, and then also threw themselves through the smoke and climbed up onto the roof.

Geuuuuu…

Gyahahahaha—

At that moment, a harmony of groans and spine-chilling laughter was heard.

“Wow!

Oh my god!”

“We’ve been totally fooled.”

Negative words came out of Seyeon and Orha, the vice-captain of the Inquisitors, who were looking down from the roof.

Geuuuu…

Clang Clang.

A large number of ghouls, zombies, and death knights filled the once empty streets.

Gyahahaha—

Shuuuu…

A flock of whitish banshees flying across the eerie blue night sky and black magicians in gray robes flying while spewing black smoke beneath their feet.

Flutter.

Flutter.

In the middle of them all, a black nun flying with her black bat wings spread came into view.

“Ah.

I clearly said…

I’ll let it slide this time, but not next time.”

I raised my head at the continuous voices of questions.

“Have you forgotten, Mr. Fake Warrior?”

I could clearly see LeaForte tilting her head with her red eyes gleaming.

“Ik.

Traitors to this sect!”

One of the nearby Inquisitors got excited and swore at Lea.

Wedge-!

Break—!

Then, a black harpoon-like thing flew from Lea’s wing and instantly burst the head of the shouting Inquisitor like a watermelon before being retrieved.

“Huh… huh…”

“Goddess.”

It was a horrible sight that made all the Inquisitors nearby who were about to swear together shut their mouths.

“What the heck is this…?

Didn’t you say that the necromancers and warlocks don’t like the rule of LeaForte, who is from the goddess cult?”

“That’s definitely true and I’ve been checking it out..!”

Orha spoke, flustered by Seyeon’s questioning voice.

Shuuu…

“Hehe~!

How can that be~!?”

Lissandra rose from below in a mass of green smoke and passed by Seyeon and Orha.

“Your Guide has the Necronomicon, which records all the black magic and sorcery…!!”

Shuuuk-

“There’s no way that we could go against you!”

Lissandra, who flew up next to LeaForte and bowed her head like a loyal subject, laughed at Seyeon and Orha on the rooftop and shouted.

“Ah!

Necronomicon… a forbidden book!”

Orha, who belatedly discovered the black book tied with iron chains in one of LeaForte’s hands, shouted in shock as if she had realized it.

The Necronomicon, a forbidden book that records the forbidden magics of all the evildoers on the continent in the goddess’s church.

Just as the magic engineers and dwarves coveted the latest technology that Yooseong had, so too do the magicians endlessly desire better magics or spell circles.

The forbidden book, the Necronomicon, that LeaForte currently has contains all the black magic and cursed magics on the continent that the church has designated as forbidden.

Even just one page would make the black magicians beg to see it like dogs, but what Lea has is the volume of one book that is hundreds of pages long!

With one hand holding the powerful power to control the Demon King, and the other hand holding the sweet fruit of better knowledge, who could refuse to give orders?

If there were any wizards or even warriors in the church, they would have noticed this situation and warned that negotiations with the necromancers and warlocks were impossible.

The clergy gained strength not through research but simply through lifelong prayers, so they were unaware of the relationship between LeaForte and the necromancers and warlocks.

There, he analyzed the situation with only the preconceived notion that magicians dislike priests, and so he mistakenly thought that there was no way that warlocks and necromancers would like Lea, who was a former saint.

“Your Majesty! I perfectly lured the foolish warrior and the group trying to harm you- Did I do well?”

Lissandra was acting cute towards Leah, who was much younger than her.

“Hmm.

She’s useful.”

LeahForte complimented her with a single, indifferent word that wasn’t even a compliment.

Just by that, you could tell that the hierarchy was completely set.

“Profit..!”

Inquisitor Orha, who was watching this with his own eyes, reproached himself for his misjudgment and even thought about putting his subordinate who reported that the warlocks and necromancers were reluctant to follow Leah in the Inquisition’s punishment cell.

“No…

Maybe that subordinate was already an undead who had been affected by magic…

I’m sorry.

Your Majesty!

It was all my fault!

I will definitely pay for this sin.”

Orha apologized to Seyeon with a miserable face.

Woofwoof…

“Well, let’s do something about the current situation first.”

Seyeon answered while emitting a magical power of light that burned like flames from her sword.

“Ugh…

You’re using that disgusting and unpleasant power from the evil god again.”

LeahForte muttered while crumpling her expression while looking at Seyeon’s sword.

Clap!

“Ah-!

I have a good idea!”

She suddenly clapped her hands slightly and opened her red lips with a bright smile.

“You’re not very useful as a fake warrior.

But anyway, you’re a friend of Yooseong-ah, right?

Then if I take good care of you!

Won’t Yooseong-ah come to me and praise me?”

LeahForte, who was asking an unknown person, grabbed the forbidden book: Necronomicon that she had floating in the air.

Whirlwind–

She summoned the black flame of the Black Demon King in the hand holding the forbidden book.

Whoosh…

She floated a sphere made of the white divine power of a saint in her other hand.

“It will definitely happen!”

With eyes that lack even a shred of doubt, she answers herself.

“That crazy b*tch..!”

At the same time as Seyeon mutters upon seeing Leah’s behavior.

Geueu-!

Geueu-!!

Cheolgeureuk!!

Cheolgeureuk!!

Kkigigik-!!

The undead legions begin to charge at once!

After a while, in the middle of Hayden City….

Kwasang-!!!

-Sigh!!!

The battle between the Demon King and the Warrior + Inquisitor vs. the Saint with the power of the Demon King + the undead legions + necromancers, and black magicians has begun.