Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 081: Rebellion (11)

Crash. Crash. Crash.

Crash──!!

“Ugh….”

Suddenly enveloped by tremors, Court Minister Lebron rolled on the floor. Was there an earthquake somewhere? Could it be that the madmen of Al-Rasdel had dug into the earth and touched something they shouldn’t have….

As various thoughts flitted through his mind, he hurried out of his room, barely cloaked in a thick robe over his nightwear.

‘What the…!’

Bodies, bodies, bodies.

The already narrow corridor of the monastery was completely filled with bodies, leaving no space to even step.

Screech! Slash. Boom─!

Moreover, with every step he took, human screams, the cutting sound of flesh being torn apart, and the booming noise as if gigantic monsters were fighting entered his ears all at once.

What in the world was happening? While he was noble in name, the thought alone made his heart shrink, as he had only ever watched killings by knights from afar, never having been close to war himself.

‘An attack? Could it be the marquis has assaulted the monastery?’

He was certain it couldn’t be, yet, in the current situation, the most likely target of the monsters seemed to be the mayor of Al-Ranzas. If not, then perhaps the entire city had been attacked….

Even in this perilous situation, Viscount Lebron strived to maintain his composure.

Taking over the city at a young age as a minor noble, there was only one reason he had been able to survive thus far.

‘Calm down. Think.’

First, Viscount Lebron examined the dead bodies in the corridor, barely suppressing his gag reflex.

The traces on most of the corpses looked as though they had been torn apart by the claws of a monstrously strong beast.

At a glance, it seemed like the work of monsters, but if it truly was monsters, they would likely have eaten the bodies. However, it seemed the beast had only focused on inflicting fatal wounds and moving on to kill more.

And that meant…

‘The beast is one person?!’

No, that wasn’t certain.

The one fighting outside and the one who had carried out the slaughter in the hallway might be different entities.

But it was clear that these people had been massacred by a single individual. Leaders of the militaristic factions and bandit bands proliferating in the north along with the duke, all taken down by one person-.

“Ergh.”

“You, you’re alive?”

“Urgh… Ugh!”

Though Viscount Lebron desperately tried to speak to him, the soldier who had barely clung to life had no capacity left for conversation. Instead, with all his remaining willpower, he fulfilled his final mission.

Slice….

“Rear gate… Prepare the… carriage…”

With those words, the soldier passed away. Without a moment to close the soldier’s eyes, Viscount Lebron forced his frail body to move.

He had prepared to escape from the opposite side of where the fight was happening, and upon hearing that, Viscount Lebron had long ago pieced together a rough understanding of the situation in his mind.

‘It’s me. I was the target.’

It wasn’t by chance that he had survived; from the beginning, the beast had no intention of killing him.

The mayhem unfolding before him was the result of attempts to save him, and the knights had moved to prevent his capture, resulting in the fight outside.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

He had never regretted neglecting his physical training as much as he did today. Who would have thought that relying solely on his wits to survive would come back to haunt him this way!

‘Damn it. Damn the Duke!’

This was all because the Duke had placed him in the position of the court minister. No… the problem started when the unnecessary rebellion was initiated. If not for that, he would have lived a moderately satisfying life as the lord of a small city…!

Crash! Bang!

He trips over a body.

Slipping in blood, gasping for air, and stumbling, but Viscount Lebron forced his body to move and finally reached the rear gate of the monastery.

“V-Viscount Lebron!”

“Quickly, get on! Hurry…!”

“Thank you…!”

Indeed, outside the rear gate, the Duke’s soldiers had completed all preparations and were waiting for Viscount Lebron. He was about to board the carriage, when he seemed to recall something and hesitated.

“Gentlemen, please remove your helmets for a moment…….”

The situation was urgent, but they were under attack by an unidentified beast. It wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

That’s when it happened.

Bang─! Bang─! Bang──!!

“Court minister!”

“He is coming…!”

The aftermath of the collision was so intense that it transmitted tremors. It was known that the battle between the beast and the knights was fierce, but the recent collision was somewhat different.

“Block it! Erect a shield with aura!”

“Don’t collide head-on! It’ll crush everything…!”

“Aaaargh─!”

The knights’ shouts and screams were so loud, one might mistake them for being right next to them.

It was proof that the beast was approaching. Realizing that there was no time to check the faces of his soldiers, Court minister quickly boarded the carriage.

And then, Court minister, who had only slightly poked his head out to check the outside, his eyes shook wildly with disbelief and astonishment.

“Why, why is that person…?!”

Before being attacked, it seemed the knights had not disarmed; they were clad in armor, spreading the light of aura in all directions as they fought.

In contrast, the beast wore not even plate armor but was clad in fluttering clothing alone.

No, to be precise, it was engulfed in pure white flames like armor all over its body. Court minister immediately recognized it as the ‘Holy Armor,’ the equivalent of a paladin’s symbol.

And he recognized her identity as well.

“Sister Berta, the abbess! Why are you…?!”

Her white-singed hair and eyes that seemed half-blind were in stark contrast to her face, which had fewer wrinkles, making it hard to guess her age.

Why had he only realized it now, as she charged towards the carriage Court minister was in with a brilliant light?

Kukukukung─!

Despite the aura hurled by the knights continuously pounding her sacred armor, it failed to slow her charge down even slightly. At this, Court minister felt goosebumps all over his body.

‘The Crusher of Capenta!’

The reputation of Berta, who had crushed many heresies in accordance with the will of the Goddess of Justice, was so notorious that even a noble from a land with little church influence like Lebron paid attention to it.

A city of the dead, turned so because of a dark mage, was said to have been crushed in a single charge.

Thus, the nickname ‘The Crusher of Capenta’ had become a symbol of terror for all heretics.

‘Why is she targeting me…!’

Why is she opposing the duke?

For what reason would a retired paladin, who devoted her life to the Goddess of Justice, once again take up her sword to massacre the duke’s knights and soldiers?

“We’re setting off!”

“Hold on tight!”

Before he could find an answer to his thoughts, the carriage hastily set off. As if to stop it, Berta’s charge began to push the knights away with even more ferocious power.

Boom! Bang! Crash!

However, it was just a brute physical charge.

Neither the symbol of a superhuman, the aura, nor the heavyweight of knights in a physical charge, nor the shield formation of soldiers piled up in layers, could stop the enraged paladin’s charge.

Instead, the knights and soldiers were thrown far away each time they collided with Berta.

‘The vice-commander of the paladins, indeed…!’

The weight of that name was far more than what Lebron had imagined.

Among the paladins of the order that wielded tremendous influence all over Midland, was being the second-highest rank of paladin this powerful?

Could the Royal Guards, who went missing while chasing barbarian, have stopped her?

He unconsciously shook his head. And at the same time, he harbored another doubt.

‘Indeed, there must be something about the duke that I am not aware of!’

A paladin displaying such destructive divinity would not be opposing the duke out of senility.

That means, the duke must have committed deeds that displeased the pantheon. Maybe… all the rumors related to the duke could be true…!

Bang──!

“Aaah!”

Then, finally, Berta broke through the human barricades and leaped high. Fortunately, the carriage had picked up speed and wasn’t immediately caught, but it seemed it was only a matter of time.”Halt!”

And yet again, the situation took another turn.

The knights’ aura, initially just bright, now adopted a crimson hue and completely engulfed Berta.

Far from being satisfied, the knights who had unleashed the blood-red aura started hurling crimson masses towards where Berta stood, relentlessly. Boom and roar!

The once peaceful convent transformed into ruins in an instant.

However, the knights, seemingly devoid of any emotion, poured out the blood-red aura with the sole purpose of ensuring Berta’s death.

This terrifying spectacle filled Court Minister Lebron’s with both terror and relief – the fear of the marquis’s knights who wielded something beyond aura, and the relief of surviving the current moment.

“Handling such malevolent power.”

“…!”

“There’s no excuse for this.”

The blood-red flow vanished in an instant, revealing Berta, who looked barely different from before.

No, the light emanating from the sword she held was now even brighter, as if it could dispel the night in Al-Ranzas in a flash.

“The punishment that justice shall deliver to you, the fallen.”

Berta closed her eyes quietly.

Retired paladins lose all divine power housed in their bodies and live on as ordinary humans.

Berta was no exception.

Her body, once a vessel of divine power, was vigorous beyond its years, but without the sacred power, she was no more than an unusually strong elder.

The Goddess of Justice understood this all too well, so it returned a fraction of the sacred power it had once retracted from Berta.

Naturally, the amount was embarrassingly small compared to her prime.

Her body, unable to entirely evade the passage of time, could not even demonstrate half its original capability, and all her equipment from her deputy commander days, save for the sword, had been passed down to her juniors and were gone.

Yet.

Clash!

Despite everything.

No one present could threaten Berta’s life. Being the second in command of the continent’s largest religious order, the chosen vessels of the gods, meant just that.

“Immediate execution.”

The light bifurcated the crimson darkness, and even the knights and soldiers beyond could not escape being enveloped by Berta’s radiance. It was as if she had split the space with a single stroke of her sword.

And the light traced right up to the back of the carriage that Lebron was in.

“Gasp!”

The Court Minister, having hastily prostrated himself, cautiously lifted his head when he felt no pain. By some fortune, or perhaps miscalculation on Berta’s part, her light had not touched the carriage.

Thud! Thud!

However, those directly struck by the light were not so fortunate. The beautiful strike of light that left one momentarily breathless completely severed the upper and lower halves of those caught in its path.

It looked as though they had been viciously torn apart by a gigantic beast.

“Ugh!”

Even as he retched, Court Minister Lebron couldn’t take his eyes off Berta, watching the wagon move away.

He quietly assured himself that he would never forget this scene…for as long as he lived.

*

*

*

“…You’ve made quite the spectacle. To possess such power and yet, have lived so quietly, did it bother you, paladin?”

“How could that be? It was merely fulfilling the duty commanded by the god, Count Perran.”

“Well…let’s assume so. But those men, from a distance, they seemed to be wielding something bizarre. Can aura truly transform in such manner?”

“It was never aura to begin with. I am not entirely sure, but it was definitely something entirely different.”

Berta spoke no further, giving a response that suggested she knew more, yet Count Perran tactfully changed the subject.

“Hmm. Nevertheless, our objective has been achieved. After such a tumultuous battle, and with the grand duke’s carriage hastily leaving the city, rumors will spread as if they had wings.”

“The rumor that the grand duchy’s court minister was ambushed by the former deputy commander of the Paladins.”

“Well then, I shall proceed with my duties. Hand it over.”

Berta handed her sword to the count and obediently received the chains he offered. As if willingly becoming a captive.

“For attempting to assassinate the grand duchy’s court minister, you will be detained. We’ll make your stay comfortable in the depths of the sanctuary.”

With an awkward act, the count loosely tied Berta’s wrists and smiled.

“I look forward to the next news. How exactly those people plan to use the court minister after kidnapping him.”