Chapter 31: Helmut’s Knight

Ugh!

When the tip of Silverna’s spear shaft struck Jonathan with a resounding thud! he collapsed onto the ground with a Thumb! and, covering his mouth, lifted his head.

“Whatever your reason is, I don’t think I can tolerate this behavior right now.”

There was a menacing aura. It was as if Silverna was desperately suppressing the instinct to swing her spear at once, gripping the shaft tightly.

“Hey! Cut it out!”

When Sharen shouted in anger, Jonathan clamped both hands over his mouth.

Still, his gaze remained fixed on the piles of corpses.

An instinctual desire to take in as much of that gruesome sight as possible.

Eventually—

“You bastard—!”

Unable to hold back, Silverna hurled the spear shaft, striking Jonathan’s temple.

Thud!

Jonathan was knocked out cold, but the unpleasant smile on his lips lingered as if frozen by the cold.

“What the hell is going on?!”

Just dealing with the massacre of the Andes villagers was more than enough, and now Jonathan was causing a scene on top of it. It all gave Silverna a headache. She grasped her head and let out a long sigh before looking at Sharen.

“He’s affiliated with Helmut, so keep an eye on him, Sharen. The rest of us will head inside and assess the situation.”

“Ah, got it!”

With Jonathan pinned under one foot, Sharen stood guard.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party moved toward the piles of corpses, with Isaac and Silverna at the forefront.

“Who on earth did something this insane…?”

“Just like Anna mentioned, there are traces of specific body parts having been carved out.”

Due to the swarms of maggots, parasites, and flies, it wasn’t entirely clear, but there were signs that particular parts like eyeballs or thumbs had been removed.

“Ugh.”

Feeling queasy, Anna took a step back and began scouting the area around the village, while Melodic also kept some distance, remaining on guard.

They did so because of what Isaac mentioned earlier: that these people hadn’t been dead for very long.

“What could have motivated this? Organ trafficking?”

“Then they would’ve kidnapped them instead. It doesn’t make sense to take just eyes and fingers.”

“You’re right… Then what is it? Some kind of looting while torturing them for fun?”

“It’s possible.”

Isaac gave the surroundings a quick once-over.

“But I doubt it.”

Silverna, catching on immediately, bit her lip.

“The valuables are still here. So it wasn’t looting.”

Normally, if bandits had raided, they’d strip the place of anything valuable until it looked like a fish carcass. But a glance around Andes Village revealed that while there were no people left, most belongings remained intact.

“Then it makes even less sense. What on earth happened?”

Frustrated, Silverna pounded the ground with her spear shaft. She seemed unsettled by the mystery surrounding their deaths.

“Damn it, if we’d only arrived a bit sooner, maybe we could’ve saved them.”

While listening to her dejected words, Isaac was silently piecing things together.

He had his suspicions.

‘It’s a form of ritual.’

The fact that they weren’t bandits or organ smugglers, yet targeted specific body parts like that—

They weren’t after the victims’ wealth. They were using the people themselves as sacrifices.

‘Seeing how they’re stacked like this, it looks like they haven’t even started yet. If someone’s using human bodies for ritual, this isn’t going to be ordinary.’

Whatever it was, it had to be something more horrific than the spell that once afflicted Pollu.

‘Wait a moment…’

Suddenly, Isaac had a thought.

‘Did Pollu die in my past life?’

He only learned about the Blackthorn family secret from Beombaek, the Transcendent, thanks to his own efforts. That led to Pollu joining Recon Team, and later to the incident where he was turned into a vessel by the ritual after being attacked by a yeti.

‘In my past life, Pollu didn’t die.’

He was certain of that. If he assumed the massacre of Andes Village also hadn’t happened in his past life—

‘The connecting factor between the two events is ritual.’

Could the Transcendent who cast the spell on Pollu have come here?

Did his death bring about some unforeseen change in events?

A chill crawled up Isaac’s spine. He placed his hand on the hilt of his blade.

“Silverna—!”

He turned urgently to call out to her when he spotted someone approaching from the foot of the mountain connected to the village.

The air grew heavy.

The crisp, innocent wind of the North suddenly felt vile and grimy, leaving an unpleasant stickiness in the throat.

The person’s long hair reached down to their ankles, and their clothing resembled that of a priest’s. The book in their hand was so thick it looked difficult to hold with just one hand.

His pale skin and the pair of horns growing from his head made it clear he wasn’t human.

“That must be him, right?”

Silverna was already looking in his direction. The others also seemed overwhelmed by his mere presence, swallowing hard in silence.

“Oooh.”

If Beombaek was blatantly tiger-like for a Transcendent, this man resembled a devil from ancient myths.

His teeth protruded beyond his lips, giving him a fierce look, yet his demeanor and speech seemed courteous, like a gentleman.

“Reconnaissance  Team 5! I’ve been so eager to meet you!”

He even appeared to know quite a bit about Reconnaissance Team 5.

“You… know us?”

When Anna asked, the man smiled brightly.

“But of course. You put up quite a fight against my servant, didn’t you? I poured quite a bit of effort into engraving those spells, you see.”

Pressing the thick tome to his chest as though honoring Pollu, the man closed his eyes momentarily.

“It caught me by surprise when the spell on him activated at such an unplanned time. That’s why I’ve come all the way here.”

“You’re the one who—?”

“Oh, dear, forgive my tardy introduction! I am Nortemus! You could call me Pollu’s master.”

In his past life, Pollu had never died—

And that seemingly trivial change had summoned yet another catastrophe.

‘This is bad.’

Though his hand rested on his blade, Isaac hesitated whether drawing it would even help.

Back when they faced Beombaek, they had hoped to escape to the Malidan Barrier, where Uldiran Caldias stood guard, and take their chances.

But out here, they had no reinforcements capable of bringing down a Transcendent.

‘Can we do this…?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he reached the same conclusion: it was impossible. Even though Silverna had grown stronger, fighting a Transcendent adept in rituals was too tall an order.

“Hooh…”

The man’s gaze swept over them, still as calm as ever…

Since Nortemus was well aware of the gap in power between them, he maintained a relaxed demeanor. But then his gaze suddenly shifted toward a rather unexpected man.

“Helmut’s young lady? I’m sorry to bother you, but could you please remove your foot?”

“Huh? M-Me?”

“Yes, even a halfwit is precious to me if they’re my kin.”

Sharen glanced down at Jonathan in fluster at his request.

Yet she didn’t move her leg, perhaps unwilling to admit defeat.

“N-No way!”

“Haha, well this is quite a predicament.”

Nortemus closed his eyes momentarily, then smiled serenely and made a proposal.

“How about this? Leave that compatriot behind, and I’ll pretend I never saw you. You can also pretend you never saw me, and simply move on.”

“That’s bullshit—!”

“Watch your tongue, Caldias.”

In a flash, the killing intent emanating from Nortemus bore down on Silverna, who had been struggling to rein in her temper.

“I don’t want any interference. I’m doing you the courtesy of letting you go. I’d expect at least some gratitude instead of begging for your lives.”

He was neither bluffing nor lying. The certainty that he could kill them all with ease was unmistakable.

Once again, he turned from Silverna toward Sharen and offered a gentle smile.

“It must be you, my lady of Helmut, who complies with my request. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill all of your companions.”

“O-Okay…”

Overwhelmed by his presence, Sharen carefully lifted her foot.

Immediately, a black, viscous substance formed at Nortemus’s fingertips.

It polluted the air as it extended toward Jonathan, who was still unconscious. Then it drew him in, as if cradling him, until Jonathan came to rest by Nortemus’s side.

“Even a halfwit is my kin.”

As if he found Jonathan adorable, Nortemus stroked his cheek.

In response, Jonathan’s skin became splotchy and red, veins bulging up under the surface.

“And thus, our transaction is complete. Ah, what a wonderful day for all of us!”

Raising both arms high, Nortemus beamed as he shouted:

“I’ve regained a companion, and you’ve all kept your lives! Truly a blessed moment. Let us praise the gods!”

The thick tome in his hand fluttered in the wind.

Watching him, Silverna discreetly spoke to Isaac beside her.

“If we fight…?”

“We die. No question.”

He was more dangerous than Beombaek.

“Farewell, everyone. And especially you, my lady of Helmut—I pray you remain safe and sound.”

With a low bow, Nortemus extended his courteous farewell.

Melodic and Anna both cautiously took a few steps back.

But Silverna stood rooted in place.

“Hmm?”

Because Isaac wasn’t moving at all.

“You, whom I believed to be the wisest among them, are surprisingly stubborn?”

Nortemus gave Isaac a gentle smile.

“Weren’t you the one who just said fighting would be pointless?”

So he’d heard even the hushed conversation at this distance. Impressed once more by a Transcendent’s heightened senses, Isaac replied:

“If we turn our backs, he’ll kill us.”

“……”

Nortemus’s gaze grew icy. Gone was the gentlemanly air; he relaxed his shoulders and pressed the tome to his chest.

“How did you figure that out?”

“Transcendents never leave humans alive.”

“Hm, it seems you know a thing or two about us. But just as no two humans are exactly alike, neither are we.”

“That might be true,”

but not this one.

“A nutcase like you isn’t about to let us go gently on our merry way.”

“A ‘nutcase’? Have you ever seen one as courteous as me?”

Even as his limbs stiffened from tension and cold, Isaac kept his wits and answered:

“You don’t believe in a god at all.”

“……”

“And yet you’re dressed like a priest, carrying around that book as if it’s a holy scripture. Anyone pretending to be a divine messenger without actual faith is either a lunatic or a con artist.”

“Hehe… hehe-hehe.”

Nortemus tilted his head side to side, letting out an unsettling laugh.

“Quite.”

His piercing gaze fixed on Isaac.

“You’re quite perceptive.”

His voice, now lowered, was like the opening chords of an orchestra.

It was clear something was about to begin. The atmosphere weighed heavy.

“Guh… grugh!”

With a pained groan, Jonathan stirred.

Black lines of unknown origin spidered across his skin, and his sclera darkened, merging with the pupil until his eyes were a solid black.

“Oh, my fellow kin.”

Nortemus beamed, greeting Jonathan warmly.

“How does it feel to see the world anew? My kin, I’ve prepared a ritual for you to sever your ties with humankind!”

Placing the tome to his chest and with the other hand gesturing elegantly toward Reconnaissance Team 5, he looked like a waiter showing guests to their table.

“Indulge yourself. Take them. Prove that you are one of us!”

At his words, Jonathan lifted his greatsword. His once-normal teeth elongated with a grating crack, making him resemble a vampire straight out of a legend.

“Come! Let us defy this world together, my kin—!”

Puuuk!

His greatsword pierced through the thick tome, rising toward the sky. Dark red blood dripped from its tip. Impaled together with the book, Nortemus turned his head with a creak, glaring at Jonathan.

“M-My… kin…!”

“I am—”

Tears glistened in Jonathan’s blackened eyes.

“…not your kin.”

“My kin!”

“No—I’m not.”

Almost sobbing, Jonathan trembled violently as he muttered:

“I am a proud and noble… knight of Helmut.”

At those words, Nortemus’s face twisted into a hideous grimace.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

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