Raising Paladins

Episode 150. red lake (1)

Langfleet, a lake city west of the imperial capital.

It is famous for its quality grapes and the hometown of the ‘Fish Knight’, one of the followers of the Paladin of Dawn.

As well as the splendid cityscape, there was a legend that love would come true if lovers held hands and circled around the huge Lake Langfleur in the center of the city.

Thanks to this, it was a popular tourist destination for young people who were newly married and promised a future.

Of course, that was only a story a few years ago.

It has long since become a land of the dead, stained with blood.

“Look, lieutenant. Don’t you have something to say to me?”

The lake, which should have been emerald, was dyed red.

The flowing blood soaked the ankles of the Cretan old man sitting on top of the monster’s corpse.

When he looked up, he could see blood and corpses filling the entire lake shore.

“Approximately 100 soldiers died, and more than 200 were injured, rendering them incapable of combat. A soldier who needs to be evacuated urgently… … .”

“Okay, I understand that enough.”

The adjutant, covered in blood at Crete’s words, fell silent.

It was such a terrible look, but the fact that its limbs were intact was of great value on the battlefield of Lake Langfleur.

He is a veteran priest who has already survived 15 battles.

As the direct aide of the old man of Crete, he had been participating in the crusade for several years.

“How is the situation on the other battlefields?”

“Sorry, the situation here is too urgent to gather information yet. I’ll let you know when the regular messenger arrives later.”

“Hmm… … .”

The war began in the cold regions of the north.

It was the point when Carl and his party hadn’t even been a year since they returned to Meirium and prepared for war.

The northern part of the barbarian zone, not yet under the influence of the Empire.

The Lich King knew the Paladins were alive, so he didn’t make the mistake of creating soldiers from within the Empire.

He quickly raised tens of thousands of skeletal troops from the massive burial grounds of northern barbarian warriors.

Soon after, they moved south one after another and invaded villages and cities outside the empire, and there were no survivors.

The fact that there are no survivors means that everyone has become the Lich King’s soldiers.

A year after the outbreak of the war, the Lich King’s army numbered approximately one million.

The core Skeleton Corps, the army of monsters, the army that spreads fear and disease such as zombies and ghouls, etc… … .

However, because Carlos was already preparing for war, the empire was not invaded in an instant.

Swords and priests systematically spread the law of accepting divine power, and accordingly, the number of priests chosen by the sun god gradually increased.

Based on those combat and healing priests, an army was formed to oppose the Lich King.

The problem was the old high priests who didn’t believe that the Lich King had returned.

But they also had eyes and ears.

The high-ranking priests and cardinals of the Temple of the Sun, who hadn’t even heard of the war when they first talked about it, approved the war only after seeing with their own eyes the terrible things that had happened in the north.

The Holy Sun Knights, composed of Carlos, who can handle divine power, and the four priests who follow him.

Now, those four priests were in the process of carrying out their orders by leading their respective corps.

Crete, famous as the ‘blind knight’, took charge of the battlefield right here, the lake city of Langfleur.

“To think of raising monsters under the lake… … Indeed, the Lich King is terrible.”

At Crete’s words, the adjutant drooled.

While the Lich King formed a vast front in the north of the empire, he also infiltrated the interior of the empire with human spies who had sworn obedience to him.

They spread the seeds of monsters created by the Lich King throughout the empire.

The same is true of Langfleet here.

The monsters released under the huge and deep lake multiplied in an instant.

A terrible monster with gills in the shape of a snake.

They climbed endlessly from the bottom of the lake.

There was no way to go down to the depths of the lake and annihilate them by human power, so they had to fight the serpent army that surged every few days while guarding the outer edge of the huge lake.

It was fortunate that Crete moved water and rain with the power of divine power substitution.

He was intensively trained by Carlos along with his niece Meisa for several months before the start of the war.

Meisa learned how to replace divine power with lightning that suits her constitution, while Crete observed the divine power existing in the world in more detail and honed how to replace divine power with the power of water.

Now, Crete can’t see the front like other people, but she can clearly distinguish between beings with divine power and those without.

Everything in the world, except for monsters and the dead, has divine power, albeit weakly.

Crete was able to distinguish objects in detail even if they could not see the beautiful world.

“Incinerate the body, adjutant.”

“Yes, Corps Commander!”

Commander of the 4th Corps of the Holy Knights of the Dawning Church, Crete.

He wiped the blood from his sword.

Soon after, the waiting soldiers poured oil on the corpses of monsters and allies scattered along the lakeside.

At the same time, oil flowed toward a large lake.

After the evacuation of the wounded, the soldiers immediately set the oil on fire.

The disgusting smell of burning corpses quickly enveloped the surroundings, and the oil spilled on the cold water of the lake began to burn.

Thanks to the generously poured oil, Lake Langfleur instantly turned into a huge pit of fire.

“How many days will you be going this time?”

“About three days… … It will be, Corps Commander.”

“Soldiers can rest a little.”

“… … .”

A fire on the lake.

When that fire is extinguished after three days, the snakes that have multiplied in the depths of the lake will crawl out again.

Then there will be a bloody battle like today.

If it wasn’t for Tira’s idea to set fire to the entire lake to keep them from coming out and at the same time buy time to inspect the soldiers, Langfleur would have become a monster den long ago.

If Langfleur, which is close to the center of the empire, became a monster den, the Sun God Church, which had faced internal and external enemies, would have lost everything to the Lich King.

The idea of one outstanding priest saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

“I want to get a lot of oil and burn it forever… … .”

It was Crete’s honest heart.

However, preparing a large amount of oil takes a lot of money and time, and if the fire is kept burning, the citizens and soldiers of Langfleur cannot live in the muddy air.

So, for about 3 days, lighting a fire, reorganizing the troops, and fighting the snake army was the most ideal for now.

A battle that never ends.

If it wasn’t for Crete, the ‘blind knight’, who displayed the fighting power of a hundred other priests alone, it was clear that the soldiers here would have lost hope a long time ago.

“Brigade commander!”

A soldier came running in a hurry.

There was a little joy on his face.

“Priest Daryl and Peter are here!”

“Oh oh.”

Daryl and Peter were servants of the Temple of Dawn until a few years ago.

After successfully passing the priesthood exam, they served as quartermasters at Carlos’ order when the war broke out.

Her original mission was to travel throughout the empire to obtain supplies for use on the northern front.

However, after the Rampler incident, he was collecting oil for Rampler.

Crete ran quickly to meet them.

“Brigade commander!”

“Oh, come on. Did you get any oil?”

“… … sorry.”

“… … How much did you get?”

“About half… … .”

Daryl pointed to the wagon behind him.

A soldier swiped the drapery over the wagon and saw jars of oil.

It was only about half of what was needed.

If this were the case, after the fight after three days, there would be only a day and a half of rest.

Unlike legions of snakes who are endlessly reborn, people have to heal their wounds when they are injured and rest when they are tired.

It was a great greed to see yourself or your comrades’ limbs cut off while fighting a life-and-death battle and hope for recovery in a day and a half.

“Whoa… … .”

Crete let out a short sigh.

Peter saw it and said.

“Commander, I think we need to ask for help. It is said that the 2nd Corps withdrew to the rear from the northern front for a while to reorganize the line.”

The 2nd Corps of the Knights of Dawn was a specialized surprise attack unit under Meisa’s charge.

Crete shook her head.

“The 2nd Corps is a key unit that the General mobilizes frequently for strategies. It’s true that this place is in danger, but if the 2nd Corps comes down to Langfleur, there will definitely be a hole in the northern front. That’s not going to happen.”

“Then what about the Fifth Corps? The tour schedule of the 5th Corps coincides with the battle of Langfleur. If the 5th Corps can arrive in three days, we will be able to fight again after a day and a half!”

“Um… … .”

The 5th Corps is a healing corps led by Tyra and her disciples.

They toured the northern front as well as the war zones within the Empire, including Langfleur, treating wounded soldiers.

It seemed that the timing for the 5th Legion’s circuit healing to pass Rampler was three days later.

Crete’s face brightened a little.

“For now, that would be the best way. But if you fight like that, you will lose in the end. Even if the healing priests were treating wounded soldiers, it would be unreasonable to fight while resting for half a day. There’s also a tour schedule for the healing corps. We have to find another way.”

Daryl and Peter with heavy expressions.

At that time, a soldier shouted from the lakeside while finishing the fire prevention work.

“Yes, I live! One lived!”

Kihehehehe-!

A terrible monster that walks on two legs and has gills on its head.

He ran toward Crete with burning oil all over his body.

It seemed that he wanted to taste Crete’s blood before he died.

Daryl and Peter quickly drew their swords, but Creta stopped them.

“It’s fine.”

sooo… … .

Crete’s longsword that I picked up before I knew it.

As Crete concentrated her spirit, divine power formed at the tip of her sword.

Soon, the holy power that turned into a drop of water shot faster than the crossbow bolt.

shoot-!

A drop of water passed right through the center of the snake’s head.

Then the body, which had lost its will, collapsed to the floor.

‘indeed… … .’

Darryl, Peter, and the soldiers who witnessed the situation were inwardly amazed.

It was a substitution of Crete’s sacred power that I had seen many times before but was amazed every time I saw it.

Meisa transforms divine power into lightning, wraps it around the tip of her rapier, and attacks with terrifying speed.

In comparison, Crete had an advantage in long-range attacks.

If you put the divine power at once, you can shoot up to thousands of water droplets.

Thanks to his ability, Langfleur is still alive and well.

“Come on, let’s go to the barracks and discuss the plan.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Creta took Daryl and Peter to the corps commander’s barracks.