CH 274.

“Where did he go, and why is the Holy Sword in your hands, Grand Duke?”

While the archbishop feigned innocence, he couldn’t hide the greed shining in his eyes.

“So you knew.”

With that, Kim Seon-Hyeok was certain that the old archbishop in front of him had something to do with Park Joon-Min’s disappearance.

“Thank goodness.”

The archbishop looked confused by Seon-Hyeok’s words that seemed abrupt and without much meaning. 

“If you really didn’t have anything to do with Joon-Min’s disappearance, then things would’ve gotten complicated.”

“For God’s sake, I have no idea what you mean…”

“What do you think I’m saying?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s voice was impassive enough to be uncomfortable to hear.

“Any doubts I had about taking action against you are now gone.” 

He was like an executor talking right before an execution.

“Since you won’t answer no matter how much I ask you…”

The archbishop’s mouth opened and closed several times, but in the end, he didn’t talk. 

“I thought so.”

With that short sentence, Kim Seon-Hyeok got up and patted the seat of his pants. He was still staggering, but everyone still knew what he was planning on doing.

“G...Grand Duke! Stop!”

The paladin shouted hastily when he saw Kim Seon-Hyeok tightly grip the sword and raise it up high.

Twack.

The Holy Sword pierced the archbishop’s body too easily. 

“G, guh.”

With that short death rattle, the archbishop’s body trembled once, then stopped moving.

“In, Indomitable Grand Duke!”

The people shrieked. They had thought there was a complicated issue to be dealt with, so they had been quietly listening but they never thought the Indomitable Grand Duke would take the archbishop’s life.

Clack.

With the sharp metallic sounds, the Templar Knights drew their swords. 

“I trusted you!”

Furious, the paladin shouted as he wrapped his blade with Holy Light.

“Why have you harmed the archbishop of my country!?”

Kim Seon-Hyeok didn’t answer. He merely sat on the floor as he panted harshly. It seemed like he had exhausted all his strength with that small movement of raising and lowering his sword.

“Answer me! Why?!”

The paladin made a fuss. It was only natural that he felt a sense of betrayal when his country’s archbishop had been murdered by the man he had saved, the Indomitable Grand Duke. 

But it wasn’t Kim Seon-Hyeok who answered. He was completely exhausted. Instead, it was Marek, the Sword Star who stepped forward. 

“The archbishop colluded with the Demon King and dropped the Indomitable Grand Duke into a trap. As a result, the Grand Duke was at the brink of death and he only took a reasonable price for it.”

The noisy paladin shut his mouth and froze.

But that was only for a moment.

“What the hell are you talking about?! The archbishop of my country colluded with the evil Demon King?!”

As if the Holy Kingdom had been gravely insulted, the paladin shouted even more fiercely than before at Marek.

“I cannot condone this any longer! Not only did you murder the archbishop of my country, but you also insulted the Holy Kingdom and tried to undermine the Alliance’s unity! This is all because you have been corrupted by the demonic energy in the West! The evidence lies in the drake who was originally golden, but now, has turned black!”

It was unknown whether the paladin really thought that Kim Seon-Hyeok had been tainted by the demonic energy as the drake had been corrupted by it. But the thing was, his words sounded quite plausible to the others.

“Templar Knights, bring those who have conspired with evil to their knees! If that’s not possible, I will not hold you responsible even if you deal with them summarily.”

Marek snorted when the paladin began talking as if he was casting judgement upon them on the spot.

“Try it if you can.”

At Marek’s blatant ridicule, the paladin and the Templar Knights narrowed the distance as they brought forth Holy Light onto their swords. The crusaders, who had retreated into the distance, also surrounded the two superhumans from the Empire as they prepared to use their spears and swords at any moment.

“If.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok began speaking again at that moment. 

“If I didn’t still have the memories I have of the Panthea base, I wouldn’t have listened to your words calmly. So, don’t test my patience any more.”

He still looked weak, but his voice was more dignified than ever. 

“Grand Duke, this is my last mark of respect to you and you should not take it lightly.”

The paladin, who had lived his entire life trusting his faith, wasn’t someone who would listen to Seon-Hyeok. However, Kim Seon-Hyeok still squeezed out the last bit of patience he had left as he tried to persuade him. 

“If I colluded with the Demon King, then how do you explain this?”

He spoke in a low voice as he held out the Holy Sword.

“If, as you say, I’m on the same side as the Demon King, then how can I hold the Holy Sword so easily?”

The Holy Sword was a sword that only granted its power to those who were faithful, and anyone who had evil in their heart would burn to ashes by the Holy Fire just by gripping the hilt. 

If Kim Seon-Hyeok really had joined hands with the Demon King, then the Holy Sword would have lit up like a Holy Torch and turned the devil’s servant into a pile of ash. 

However, Kim Seon-Hyeok was fine and the Holy Sword was also calm. 

“The Holy Sword Balmung that I know is an ornate two-meter long sword. That is not the Holy Sword.”

But, the paladin rejected Seon-Hyeok’s words. 

“That’s only when it’s in the hands of the Warrior. I’m sure you know as well as I do what shape the Holy Sword Balmung was in while it had been stored in the Temple, before the Warrior had appeared?”

The paladin closed his mouth at Seon-Hyeok’s words.

It was exactly as Kim Seon-Hyeok said. News of the Holy Sword Balmung growing with the Warrior was famous on the battlefields and the state of the old Holy Sword was equally well known.

And the iron sword in Seon-Hyeok’s hand looked exactly the same as the original Holy Sword.

“I do not believe you.”

Nevertheless, the paladin stubbornly denied Kim Seon-Hyeok’s words. 

It was only natural. Perhaps it would have been different at any other time, but he had just witnessed the death of the archbishop right in front of his eyes. It was natural that he wouldn’t believe anything that Kim Seon-Hyeok said. 

But fortunately, Seon-Hyeok had a solution for this.

Stab.

The sword left Seon-Hyeok’s hand to stab deeply into the ground. 

“Balmung, they don’t seem to believe you.”

Before Kim Seon-Hyeok even finished talking, dazzling strands of light began to shine from the Holy Sword. The light was so pure and white that it would be difficult to find anything comparable. Without a doubt, it was divine power itself. 

Of course, the light was different from when the sword was held in the Warrior's hand, but it was enough to prove that it was the Holy Sword.

“It really is the Holy Sword…”

The treasure of the Holy Kingdom had gone missing with the Warrior but now appeared in front of the paladin’s eyes, and yet he didn’t look happy at all.  

Now that the sword had truly been authenticated as the Holy Sword, it meant the Indomitable Grand Duke really wasn’t colluding with the Demon King. And if the Indomitable Grand Duke wasn’t in cahoots with the Demon King, then he had no reason to give a ridiculous excuse to kill the archbishop of the Holy Kingdom. 

“Do you need more proof?”

The paladin didn’t answer. No, he couldn’t answer. Now, no matter what he said, the Holy Kingdom was in a situation where it had no choice but to accept all criticism. 

Now, those who had once believed that the Indomitable Grand Duke was tainted by the Demon King and doubted him, had no choice but to believe his innocence.

It would be ridiculous for him to let them keep stubbornly insisting on the misunderstanding and while Kim Seon-Hyeok was reckless, he wasn’t stupid. That’s why he decided to get rid of every last suspicion. 

“Speak.”

As soon as he finished talking, a voice spoke emotionlessly.

“His words are true.”

“Who are you?!”

High-strung, the Templar Knights turned toward and pointed their swords at the voice. There, they saw a strange appearance, a man whose entire body was wrapped in a shabby cloth. 

“Why don’t you hear the details from him? He knows this better than anyone else.”

“Who on earth is he…”

When the paladin expressed strong doubts about the identity of this man, Kim Seon-Hyeok gladly answered his question.

“Maram. He is a Qeisha warrior who does not know how to lie and shares his soul with the Warrior.”

The man was Maram, the Qeisha warrior who swore an oath to the Warrior.

“He is also an eyewitness to the last moment the Warrior disappeared.”

The people let out a sigh of despair. They had finally remembered the fairy archer who followed behind the Warrior like a shadow.

“Maram was also the one who gave me the Holy Sword Balmung.”

The paladin closed his eyes and didn’t say anything more. After a long time, he finally opened his eyes, but the first words he spoke afterwards weren't anything the people were expecting.

“All Crusaders and Templar Knights will detain everyone gathered here. Do not miss a single person.”

As soon as he finished talking, the Crusaders’ spears turned towards the commanders of the Allied Forces.

“What the hell is going on?!”

“What on earth are you doing?!”

Surprised, the people loudly shouted and protested, but the paladin didn’t budge.

“The day his justice lights up the truth, and not a single shadow could be seen, you will be free.”

Apparently, the paladin didn’t want to let this issue spread prematurely when this could put the Holy Kingdom’s honor in the gutter.

“The Indomitable Grand Duke should also come with us.”

Ten Templar Knights surrounded Kim Seon-Hyeok. Even though they were surrounding a patient who wasn’t in a good condition and couldn’t even stand properly, the Templar Knights were being very wary.

It wasn’t very odd either. 

Kim Seon-Hyeok had made the impossible possible and caused countless powerful enemies to kneel in front of him. His reputation as someone indomitable was truly great. 

However, they weren’t aware that there was one more monster in this place that was as good as the Indomitable Grand Duke.

The Sword Star had been surrounded by ninety Templar Knights, but soon, he was standing next to Kim Seon-Hyeok.

“Maram.”

Seon-Hyeok didn’t seem to care about the bloodthirsty Templar Knights as he called over Maram.

“I will remain here and look for him.”

“If it’s Joon-Min, then as long as the Holy Sword is in my hand, the Holy Kingdom can’t do anything about it. However, don’t believe it’ll be the same for you.”

“I know it’ll be dangerous, but I cannot stand still and do nothing.”

Kim Seon-Hyeok sighed at Maram’s unwavering voice.

“Well, since as a group, Qeishas are really stubborn people, I’ll respect what you say.”

“Thank you. In many ways.”

Maram bowed his head slightly as he expressed his gratitude.

“Listening to you, it seems like we don’t matter to you at all.”

The paladin frowned when they spoke as if they had no intentions of hiding.

“I will never allow you to leave this place.”

At the paladin’s beckoning, the Templar Knights approached closer as they raised their fighting spirit. However, no matter how tightly they encircled the two, they couldn’t block the sky.  

Screech!

With a ringing cry, the griffin flew and grabbed Kim Seon-Hyeok.

Swish.

At the same time, the Templar Knights threw their swords, aiming for the griffin’s wings and body.

Marek didn’t let any of those swords hit the griffin. The sword Marek summoned hovered around Devon, slashing all the swords that flew at him.

“Hap!”

While that was going on, like a lightning bolt, the paladin jumped up and swung a sword full of Holy Light. But Marek blocked even that so easily.

Bang!

The paladin had jumped up with all his might, but he was hit by the sword Marek wielded and fell to the ground. He quickly got up and prepared to jump again, but the griffin was already flying high into the sky where his sword wouldn’t reach him.

“Grand Duke! If you return like this, it will only increase our misunderstandings! Go directly to the Temple and explain the situation and clear up the misunderstanding yourself! I promise you, if everything you said is true, then you will receive an apology from the Holy Kingdom!”

The paladin shouted as he tried to persuade Kim Seon-Hyeok, but from the start, it wasn’t going to work. 

“I’m sorry, but I cannot trust the Holy Kingdom anymore. More so if it's the top leaders of the Temple who are corrupt to their core.”

At Kim Seon-Hyeok’s outright hostility, the paladin made a commotion as he tried to shoot down the griffin again. The arrows prepared by the Crusaders peppered the sky countless times, but it was impossible for them to break through Marek’s defense when it had blocked even the powerful Templar Knights.

“Indomitable Grand Duke!”

The paladin screamed out his name, but once the griffin flew up, it didn’t fly back down.

“Inform the Temple!”

Kim Seon-Hyeok’s voice wasn’t loud. But strangely, it penetrated into the people’s ears.

“The day my body fully recovers, I will enter the Temple myself! And on that day, I will hold the Holy Kingdom responsible!”

Throughout the Holy Kingdom’s history, numerous heretics and enemies had uttered the same words against the kingdom, but no one had fulfilled their words.

However, the paladin and the Templar Knights unintentionally trembled at the threat that wasn’t truly a threat.