Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 434

Ignoring the occasional loud noises, the three focused solely on chasing the spirit.Whenever they encountered enemies, they dealt with them as quietly and quickly as possible, steadily infiltrating deeper into the castle.

The streets that were once bustling were now covered with the scars of war.

There were hardly any bodies left as they had already been taken by the Chernion cultists for use.

However, the bloodstains that had not yet been erased, the broken furniture, and the traces of the burned remains from the corpses remained in their place, welcoming a new morning.

“I’m starting to feel a little uneasy.”

Arthur grumbled briefly, pulling back the hood he had on.

But Arendt, who was at the forefront, just spoke without changing his facial expression.

“Just hold on. Do you think getting paid is easy?”

Traces of burned Luce statues and symbols that once stood inside homes and shops remained vividly on the bloodstained streets.

They didn’t even have to imagine how those who had taken over the territory celebrated their victory, but it was vividly pictured before their eyes.

Richt, quickening his pace, suddenly felt his foot catch on something and looked down.

“…”

It was a small piece of a Luce statue that was kept in a house.

Richt’s face hardened for a moment.

Would the souls of those who were unjustly sacrificed be accepted by God Luce?

Did those who died without submitting to the God of Darkness really enjoy their death?

Surely, many of the victims must have died calling out Luce’s name.

‘Whether it was a cry of resentment or a cry for salvation…’

He wondered if that voice really reached Luce.

Would Luce have gladly taken their souls and given them rest?

These were facts that he would have believed without a doubt in the past, but now, Richt could not easily be certain of them.

‘Was there any meaning to these deaths?’

As such questions began to arise, something Arendt habitually said came to mind.

“What’s got you so deep in thought?”

At that moment, an indifferent voice pierced his dull nerves.

He was still tracking the positions of the spirit, invisible to them, with his eyes.

Richt suddenly raised his head and responded as if nothing had happened.

“It’s nothing.”

He thought he would say something more, but surprisingly, Arendt didn’t say anything.

“…They’ve changed direction. Are they heading toward the lord’s castle?”

“I guess that would be a good place to house the prisoners.”

Arthur replied.

Most castles had underground prisons to incarcerate heinous criminals awaiting trial.

If it were there, it would be difficult to escape right away, and it would be easy to force people into it.

Richt’s face hardened.

“If it’s possible to accommodate everyone there… then it’s safe to say that there aren’t many survivors.”

“The rest may have already been transferred outside. Or they may be receiving training to become instructors at the main branch.”

Arendt’s voice continued.

“There’s no guarantee the survivors won’t join the enemy. What wouldn’t they do to survive?”

“…”

Richt, who was about to say more, closed his mouth. He realized that there was no point in refuting the argument.

“Intruders!”

A group of enemies, just as they were turning down the alley, spotted the three men and shouted.

With no time to dwell on their thoughts, the three drew their swords.

The ghoul’s claws tore a long slash into the white horse’s side.

“Hehehehe!”

As the horse screamed and fell forward, Laius jumped down and landed on the ground.

The white horse, which was struggling on all fours with its internal organs exposed, was instantly bitten by a giant ghoul and died.

“Sorry.”

After a brief apology to the horse that had lost its life, Laius slew the ghoul that was charging at him with one swing of his sword.

As soon as it touched the Holy Sword, the ghoul began to melt as if it had suffered a severe burn.

After sweeping the surroundings, Laius checked the positions of his subordinates and shouted.

“Don’t go too deep into enemy territory!”

There was no answer. They were all overwhelmed by the constant stream of enemies.

But they began to retreat little by little, keeping their enemies in check.

Everyone was moving according to Laius’ orders.

‘We need to strike a balance as much as possible.’

Laius looked up at the almost bright sky and tried to gauge the time.

The key to this operation was to hit and run as quickly as possible.

However, it was somewhat uncertain whether things would actually go as planned.

“…!”

Laius, who was lost in thought for a moment, felt something rushing towards him.

The giant ghoul’s sword collided head-on with the sword he reflexively swung.

“Crrrrr…”

A scratching sound came from between its slightly misaligned jaws.

Laius clicked his tongue and deflected the enemy’s blade.

!

A loud crashing sound swept through the battlefield.

Laius didn’t miss the moment when the ghoul lost its balance and stumbled for a moment.

The Holy Sword flashed with a pure white light.

“Keeeek!”

The upper body of the screaming ghoul was completely separated from its lower body.

The upper body, which had lost its balance and was struggling, fell to the ground with a heavy, thumping sound.

The ghoul was still alive, flailing its arms while clutching its sword.

But Laius turned around without hesitation and leapt towards the next enemy.

Just as the giant ghoul was about to unleash its murderous intent toward him once again…

An arrow whistled through the air, then struck with a dull thud.

Immediately after piercing the ghoul’s head, it exploded in a bright red flame.

Its lower body, which had been floundering without a clear line of sight, was soon completely shattered by an incoming arrow.

‘About three hours from now.’

If the rescue operation was not completed before noon, they would have no choice but to give up on the prisoners.

This was something that Ludwin, Laius, and Arendt had agreed on just before the sortie.

If they took too long, the Sword of the Broken Heart might appear.

If Jiklin or Roger showed up before then, their first priority would be to withdraw to preserve power.

‘But…’

Although prickly and eccentric, Arendt always moved to minimize damage.

If it were Arendt, if it were them, they would find a way out of any emergency.

Laius believed so.

As Arendt had expected, Luna headed straight for the castle.

There were quite a few remaining battle priests around the lord’s castle.

They were guarding the trapped prisoners and waiting for Jiklin, who would arrive soon.

After confirming that Luna was sitting on the castle wall, they hid nearby.

“I kind of expected it, but it’s annoying.”

Arendt grumbled irritably.

Near the castle, battle priests wearing black robes were moving busily.

It was obvious that none of them were easy opponents.

Moreover, because this area was so open, there were limits to moving secretly.

If a battle broke out in a place like this, chaos would erupt in an instant.

Luna circled around and landed right in front of the three.

Arendt asked Luna.

“Are you sure there are people there? Are they locked in the dungeon?”

Luna nodded.

“Is there a way to infiltrate without being noticed by those guys?”

This time, the spirit shook its head. It seemed there was no other way than a frontal assault.

“Then…”

Arendt’s eyes moved silently and landed on Arthur and Richt.

The two who met the eyes of the apprentice knight flinched.

“…What is it?”

“Although my seniors are a bit incompetent and dull people.”

When Richt asked warily, Arendt continued calmly.

Before the two could even feel aggrieved by the sudden attack, Arendt spoke.

“Surely you’re not so useless that you can’t buy time dealing with those guys, are you?”

“What?”

Arthur and Richt both made dumbfounded noises at the same time.

Under the gaze of his seniors, Arendt gestured towards the priests who were loitering around.

“Go cause a distraction. I’ll try to sneak in.”

“…Are you serious?”

Arendt answered Arthur’s question with a brazen expression.

“I’m serious. If there’s another way, please tell me. I’ll listen.”

“No, it’s all good, but why is it always me and senior?”

Arendt tilted his head as Arthur, lowering his voice to a whisper, snapped irritably.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’m the best person for infiltration.”

“…”

“The very fact that you’re asking something like this just proves you still have a long way to go, senior.”

He was so annoyed, but he couldn’t bring himself to argue back.

Arthur was originally considered the fastest and most agile person in the Knights Templar, but recently Arendt had begun to surpass him in agility.

“What are you waiting for? Don’t just stand there. When the time’s right, make your escape or join up with me..”

The two looked at their junior with a long, irritated gaze.

But no particularly sharp idea came to mind, so in the end, Richt had no choice but to let out a big sigh.

“It’s better to not say anything.”

“That’s a wise decision.”

Arendt nodded with satisfaction.

Once a decision was made, further bickering was just a waste of time.

Arthur and Richt exchanged glances and drew their swords without hesitation.

A sharp metallic ring echoed as the sword’s surface caught the sunlight, radiating a brilliant white glow.

As the two people kicked off the ground and ran, the surroundings suddenly became noisy.

“Who are you!”

The shouting priest’s neck was cleanly sliced off by Richt’s sword.

Richt, who had crushed the fallen neck with a thud, charged straight into the enemy lines.

It was Arthur’s job to cut the body in half while it was still breathing.

“Intruders!”

“Damn it, when did they get here…!”

As they had intended, the enemy’s attention began to be completely focused on Richt and Arthur.

“When did we come? You guys were so weak that you didn’t even notice us sneaking in here.”

Arthur laughed provocatively at the enemies rushing towards them.

“They say you’re priests who don’t die, but you’re nothing special.”

Richt wore an expression of discomfort at the extremely Arendt-like lines that came out of Arthur’s mouth.

However, Richt began to vent his resentment toward his junior by cutting down the enemies before him.

As the two began to rampage in earnest, Arendt was able to get away without much effort.

“…”

“Well, this is how adults do things.”

Arendt responded calmly to the spirit who was quietly sending him a look of reproach.

Luna, who had started flying again, soon found the most vulnerable spot.

There was a priest guarding the walls, but Arendt was able to deal with him without difficulty.

“…!”

The priest froze in an instant, his eyes still wide open at the sudden attack.

Arendt kicked the ground hard, leaving the enemy to scatter into silver dust with a loud thud.

Arendt leaped once more, using the protruding brick as a stepping stone, and easily jumped over the wall.

As Arendt landed gently, the priests behind him stepped back in confusion.

“What, huh?”

“Shut up and just drop dead. I’m too damn busy for this.”

The priests were about to scream in surprise, but Arendt was faster than them.

Pure white frost swept under the sunlight.

The priests, frozen to death in the blink of an eye, turned into ice sculptures and shattered.

“Let’s go.”

Luna, who had been sitting on a nearby tree waiting for the battle to end, flew up again.

Arendt, who was running after the spirit, glanced up at the sky.

The sky, where the sun had fully risen, had already turned a bright blue.

‘There are about two hours left now.’

There wasn’t as much time left as he thought.

If he counted the time needed to get the people out, there was no time to waste.

Arendt quickened his pace.