I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

18 – This Sect Needs a Great Warrior (1)

The name ‘Tuon’ that Orisin arbitrarily attached became the name to call the sword spirit.

The first reason.

“Kriel. It’s not good to carelessly mention the names of the Seven Demon Soldiers. Let’s call it something else for now.”

It was to hide Gratuon’s identity. It already looked somewhat similar to the Seven Demon Soldiers. A knight carrying a sword called Gratuon with an ashen blade?

‘They’ll put a bounty on me in the Holy Kingdom that very day…’

The second reason.

[Isn’t Gratuon ultimately the name of a defeated loser? Having gained a new form and a new master, it is only fitting to receive a new name.]

The sword spirit itself somehow preferred the name Tuon over Gratuon.

Thus, Kriel’s attire became quite peculiar. On his left waist hung the horned sword of Orisin. On his right waist hung Tuon’s ashen cross sword.

And his main weapon, the greatsword, was on his back. There was a reason Orisin teased him about having to fight with one sword in his mouth.

Morgina felt mixed emotions as she watched him. From her perspective, a deep abyssal monstrosity like Tuon should not cling to Kriel.

‘But then again, just by looking at his attire…’

According to her personal taste – and the secret rumors circulating in the Holy City – the appearance of being laden with weapons perfectly matched the universal taste of the Eve Kaha sect.

It was not uncommon for the followers of Eve Kaha, the goddess of warriors, to be pleased with an appearance reminiscent of a battlefield.

Kriel felt a sense of discomfort at Morgina’s strange, heated gaze.

“Your gaze is impure. Were you having suspicious thoughts?”

“Impure? What nonsense? Excuse me. I was pondering how to solve your cursed situation.”

“Is that so? I apologize.”

Kriel nodded, but inwardly he was convinced that the strange saintess must have been imagining something bizarre.

[Heehee, everyone, let’s get going. We need to hurry to the main temple of Eve Kaha, don’t we?]

At the signal from the legless horse, Kriel and Morgina began to move.

*

The grand temples of each sect built in the Holy City of Temris were the symbolic faces of the sects. Therefore, even a sect that practiced frugality would have a certain degree of splendor and refined elegance.

The grand temple of Eve Kaha was no exception. It boasted restrained beauty with subtle decorations such as statues of ravens and wing-shaped reliefs.

However, Kriel did not expect the main temple of Eve Kaha to be so ‘beautiful.’

That was the nature of temples. The Holy City of Temris was the most visited place by travelers in the Holy Kingdom.

So, to capture the attention of travelers, the grand temples were lavishly decorated, while the true birthplace of each sect, the main temple, was left unadorned.

After all, those who would come to the main temple were devout pilgrims or priests of the sect, so there was no economic benefit in spending money on decoration.

And the main temple of Eve Kaha, the birthplace of the faith in the Raven Goddess…

[Hey, is this really a temple?]

“…Well.”

To put it nicely, it was unique. To put it bluntly, it resembled a demon king’s castle.

The location, at the top of an unnamed mountain, was perfect for being inaccessible. Kriel accepted it as it was. To receive divine revelation, one had to go to very high or very low places, or at least to unique locations.

The sight of hundreds of ravens flying around and the old trees that matched the ravens were also accepted as ‘because it’s the Raven Goddess.’

The climax of the lively mountain trail, with ravens lined up on leafless old trees, was a red lake.

‘Red’ was not a metaphor for a water scene reflecting the sunset or autumn leaves. There was a river surrounding the black fortress at the top of the mountain like a moat, and the water was entirely blood-colored.

Between the circular river and the fortress, there was a real moat, intricately patterned and connected. Including the moat that connected to the castle, it looked as if a giant magic circle was drawn with the black fortress at its center.

Around the black fortress in the center of the magic circle, crows were flying. For some reason, the red mist rising from the fortress was an amazing decoration that made the temple seem like a cousin of hell.

[Wow. It looks more brutal than the Demon King’s castle. And look at Eve Kaha’s sense of aesthetics…]

Usually, Kriel would side with Morgina when Orisin said something that annoyed her. Most of the time, it was Orisin who picked a fight out of boredom.

But this time, Kriel had no choice but to agree with Orisin. Could it be that growing up in a place like this made Morgina have such a personality? It was a living testament to how important the surrounding environment is for a child’s emotional education.

Of course, Morgina did not agree quietly.

“How dare you insult my order?”

[Would any pilgrim come to a main temple that looks like this? They’d run away in fear!]

Morgina wrapped her hand in red divine power and struck at Orisin. It was a sight that seemed to be missing something if it wasn’t there.

The cross sword hanging on her right waist hummed.

[I don’t know, but it’s a familiar scene. I like it.]

[See! Even the Abyssal Seed likes it! Eve Kaha’s taste is really weird!]

“Shut up! It’s you who can’t understand this beauty!”

Kriel nodded once, looking at the person and the horse ghost bickering for no good reason.

‘I should just go first.’

Kriel trudged towards the black fortress, and it was a long time before the two adversaries noticed.

*

The blood-red water was not water.

“Ah, that’s real blood.”

[Damn. Great Six Providences, don’t you manage your youngest goddess?]

“…It doesn’t smell like blood for real blood.”

“That’s because it’s special blood.”

Morgina raised her right hand and showed her palm. Her hand always waved white thanks to divine power, even when cut during battles.

“The miracle our order’s priests use is roughly making weapons with blood as a medium, right? It’s an extension of that. They collect only the purest blood of the priests to make weapons. Not disposable items made with divine power and discarded, but the best ones awarded to true warriors.”

[It’s like a kind of furnace. Hey, Tuon. Do you want to swim in there?]

“What are you doing?”

Kriel stopped Orisin, who was making strange noises while looking at the cross sword. He seemed ready to bite the sword and dip it in the blood.

[Your sword said it liked it. If you listen to the gangster saint, the blood flowing there is more like the essence of divine power disguised as blood rather than biological blood. I was wondering if there was any rejection reaction to divine power.]

At first, Kriel was about to refute the words “your sword,” but listening to the following story, it was intriguing. Kriel secretly hoped for a positive answer from Tuon.

[I do not listen to those weaker than me.]

It was a firm refusal.

*

There was no other gatekeeper at the entrance of the Eve Kaha headquarters. Morgina raised the mace forged with blood and divine power high and struck the castle gate as if hitting a gong.

Boom-

A heavy vibration echoed, and the castle gate began to open without a creak.

[Oh, Six Providences. What are you going to do about your youngest….]

Ori, horrified that this barbaric scene was the official way to enter, muttered.

Morgina simply ignored the lament and dragged Kriel along.

“Let’s go. Since we’re here, we should greet the leader.”

“Shouldn’t we wait in the reception room as outsiders?”

“Outsiders, my foot.”

Morgina smiled faintly.

“You’re our sect’s great warrior now, aren’t you?”

Come to think of it, the original reason for visiting the Eve Kaha headquarters was to resign from the position of great warrior. Kriel had no choice but to follow Morgina to meet the leader.

The interior of the black fortress was more ordinary than expected. In other words, the priests were living their lives just like in any other temple.

The priests of Eve Kaha were quietly praying, feeding ravens, or sometimes seen fighting with multiple weapons or meticulously honing them.

Morgina and the priests exchanged silent bows rather than opening their mouths to greet each other. It was quite impressive to Kriel, who had mostly seen Morgina wielding a mace wildly.

‘It reminds me of when I first came to the Western Army.’

Back then, I thought she was just a quiet minor faith priest. Too timid to speak properly and too weak to be persecuted.

In fact, she couldn’t speak properly not because she was timid, but because she was contemplating whether to smash the heads of the thugs who were knights in name only.

Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking on the door snapped Kriel out of his thoughts. The door was more ordinary than expected for the leader’s room.

“Grandmother, it’s me─”

“Come in.”

Kriel was bewildered. He had heard a few times that they called their leader ‘grandmother,’ but to call her that to her face?

Seeing the leader accept it without a word, it seemed to be a common term. Since the Eve Kaha sect did not prohibit the marriage of clergy, they might really be related by blood.

Kriel revised his thoughts when he saw the old woman through the open door.

She looked too kind to be Morgina’s blood relative.

“I’m here. And this is─”

“I know. The news came from the main temple. I heard they appointed a new great warrior without any notice.”

“Stubborn, you say? Do you know how capable she is?”

“I’m not saying they put someone incapable in the position, but rather that they forced someone who didn’t want to do it.”

Morghina quietly turned her gaze. The cult leader, who had silenced Morghina, looked at Kriel.

“So, you are Morghina’s champion.”