LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 21
Chapter 21
The farm owner didn’t even know what he was cultivating.
Pretending to check the fruits, I started moving away from the farm, weaving through the Monster Berry trees.
“Huff, huff…”
Despite my quick pace, my younger siblings were keeping up without falling behind.
As soon as we escaped the farm, someone’s voice rang out.
“Found them! They’re here!”
I turned my gaze toward the voice.
Armed men were chasing us, and among them was the farm owner who had welcomed me earlier.
“You keep running. I’ll catch up soon.”
“H-Hyung…”
“Go, now!”
At my raised voice, Rian, his expression tense, pulled on Croa’s arm and urged her forward.
“Hey! Those kids are running! You two…!”
The man who shouted first, likely the leader.
As I kicked off the ground and charged at the man pointing at my siblings, he stopped mid-sentence and hurriedly raised his sword.
―Clang!
The clash of swords sent orange sparks flying.
“Ugh! What are you standing there for?! Stop him!”
The man staggered back, overwhelmed by the force.
I slid my sword along his, thrusting it towards him.
―Thud!
My sword grazed the back of his hand and pierced through his stomach.
“Ack… Ugh…”
The man, looking down at his impaled stomach, collapsed as someone shouted.
“Don’t fight him! Just tie him up! We chase the saintess!”
The men ran past me, pursuing my siblings.
I tried to move my legs in a hurry, but other men blocked my way, extending their swords toward me.
“Keep him in check like this. This bastard’s at least Level 3. No, he might be Level 4 or higher.”
The man I killed wasn’t the leader.
No, there was no leader here.
All the men present were capable of making tactical decisions, potential commanders.
“…”
They were experienced.
They were thoroughly keeping me in check, holding me off with just the tips of their swords.
At a glance, it was hard to see a way through.
I lowered my raised sword and steadied my breath, calmly analyzing the men.
‘They’re not skilled swordsmen.’
Their stances were unstable, and they held their swords poorly.
They had the tactical knowledge of nobles trained in military science, but their swordsmanship was rudimentary.
‘At this level…’
The way to break a tactic is to do something beyond the commander’s expectations.
I pointed the tip of my sword like a spear and kicked off the ground.
“He’s coming! Block him!”
The sharp tip of my sword grazed over a man’s shoulder.
Pathetic.
It didn’t even pierce the flesh, instead bouncing off and pointing skyward.
If this had been a battlefield, they would already have been corpses.
“Ugh… W-Wait…”
My sword slashed through the man’s side, spraying blood.
He clutched the wound like a noble on his first battlefield, too busy trying to cover his injury.
“C-Catch him!”
Seeing him awkwardly raise his sword and call for backup, I turned and ran.
‘Was it just physical strength?’
In the previous life, when I saw Blan’s body impaled through the chest with a single strike, I had assumed they were professionals.
But it was merely their physical strength and ambush tactics that were impressive.
At this level, I could see a way out.
‘If I can’t escape, I’ll have to finish them all here.’
I didn’t need to worry about my siblings.
The men were peering around nervously in the overgrown bushes.
As long as my siblings had hidden themselves well, my task was no longer to run but to take out all the men here…
“Damn it, this bastard’s making us run in circles.”
A voice from behind made my body freeze.
When I turned, I saw a Palace Warrior slipping on a pair of brass knuckles, his face full of irritation.
“You’re dead.”
In the blink of an eye, the Palace Warrior’s figure vanished from my sight.
I recognized it—the same preemptive strike from the warrior that I had seen in my past life.
‘Now!’
Without hesitation, I threw myself to the side, just as the Palace Warrior’s fist sliced through the air.
“…What?”
He furrowed his brow in confusion, as if surprised that his lightning-fast ambush had missed.
I steadied my grip on my sword, assessing the situation.
‘…What should I do?’
The Palace Warrior’s expression changed as he pressed both fists against his cheeks.
―Whoosh!
A blow from the left.
―Whoosh!
And now from the right.
He feigned an attack aimed at my stomach but then threw a punch at my chin.
“Hah, what’s this? Do you have physical resistance?”
The Palace Warrior laughed incredulously, staring at my arm, which had blocked his punch.
“You’re the saintess’s brother? What the hell, this is ridiculous.”
His tone, his expression, his body language—all of it exuded confidence.
He must have realized that my dodging his first strike was just luck.
“Well, I’ll figure out what kind of shit show this is after I kill you.”
He took up his signature combat stance, pressing his fists against his cheeks, but despite his determined posture, his body wasn’t moving right.
A deep bruise and a grotesquely bent arm.
Even without medical knowledge, it was clear that his arm was broken.
‘…Can’t heal it all at once?’
A golden dagger on my chest was healing me in real-time, but the process was slow.
At best, it was gradually mending the broken bone.
But then, someone’s voice changed everything.
“O-Oppa!”
A golden light enveloped me.
The broken bone snapped back into place, and the blue bruise disappeared instantly.
The familiar yet strange sensation, the same one I had felt when fighting the necromancer with Eris.
“What the…?”
I dodged the Palace Warrior’s fist and swung my sword diagonally.
―Clang!
The sword clashed with the Palace Warrior’s brass knuckles.
He hopped back, frowning, and shouted.
“You damn idiots! Catch the saintess already!”
At his words, the men who had just noticed Croa raised their weapons and charged toward her.
“C-Croa! Hurry!”
Rian quickly grabbed Croa’s wrist and ran.
But the distance between them and the enemies was shrinking fast.
‘I have to stop them.’
I wanted to turn and rush toward my siblings right away, but…
“Urgh…!”
A wave of unbearable nausea surged through me.
“Fool. You don’t even know about type matchups.”
The Palace Warrior sneered, raising his fist again.
“L-Let go!”
“O-Oppa!”
My siblings were grabbed by the back of their necks by the men.
In that desperate moment, it was a third party that turned the tide.
“May the sacred golden light…”
““…Guide our path forward!””
A booming voice echoed through the air.
A priest of Freya pointed at the armed men and declared,
“Punish the heretics!”
Several priests knelt in prayer, and the bodies of the priests at the front began to glow with a golden light.
Their billowing robes turned into shining golden armor.
In their scarred hands, gleaming white swords appeared.
“W-Wait, we…”
“S-Stop!”
The paladins of Freya’s Church.
They mercilessly slaughtered the men charging at Croa.
“In the name of Freya, surrender immediately and await judgment.”
The paladins threatened, as though ready to strike me down at any moment.
“…”
As I stood still, the paladins slowly closed in, one step at a time.
Just then, someone rushed forward, long hair flying behind them.
“This man is the saintess’s family! Treat him with respect!”
It was Eris, panting heavily as she blocked the paladins’ path.
The paladins bowed their heads, fists to their chests.
“We apologize! We will protect you, please follow us.”
Under their guard, I moved toward where the priests were gathered.
Eris, watching me closely, spoke apologetically.
“…It looked urgent, so I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t conceal the divine power left at the inn in time…”
With her explanation, I quickly understood the situation.
I had lied, saying that heretics at the inn were targeting Croa.
After that lie, when we had disappeared from the inn, they must have called for reinforcements in a hurry.
With a complicated heart, I glanced over at Croa.
“Oh! Such pure divine power! Saintess, you’ve endured so much!”
“I-I’m not the saintess…”
“No, you are the one and only saintess chosen by Lady Freya!”
It was a contradictory sight.
Croa, terrified by the fanatical elder, and the elder, fiercely protecting her.
“Protect the saintess thoroughly.”
“Yes!”
The elder, after entrusting Croa to the paladins, glared at the mastermind behind this incident.
“Even if you are Warrior Jang Jin-woo, you cannot escape the punishment for colluding with heretics to attack the saintess.”
At the elder’s words, the paladins pointed their swords at Jang Jin-woo without hesitation.
Surrounded by blades, the Palace Warrior Jang Jin-woo forced a grin and spoke.
“There seems to be a huge misunderstanding. I was merely following the imperial orders to protect the saintess.”
“…From whom exactly?”
“Of course, from the heretics.”
Jang Jin-woo, smiling with his eyes, stood up slowly, and the paladins lowered their swords.
“Who do you mean by heretics?”
At the elder’s question, the palace warrior cast a brief glance at me.
But I wasn’t the one he was pointing out as the heretic.
“…What?”
“W-What is this…”
It was his subordinates, surrounded by the paladins.
Jang Jin-woo sighed and shook his head.
“Hah, seriously. No matter how many I kill, these pest-like bastards keep showing up.”
As he wiggled his fingers, the faces of the men began to turn pale.
“Ugh, argh!”
“N-No…”
They couldn’t even finish their words before collapsing.
A priest tried to move to heal them, but the elder raised his right hand to stop him.
“You even laid a healing reversal curse, how meticulous.”
“Aren’t all heretics like that? Cutting off loose ends is their specialty.”
“…If you didn’t have an imperial decree, Warrior Jang Jin-woo, you’d be in the same situation.”
At those words, Jang Jin-woo shrugged and muttered something under his breath as he rummaged through his coat.
“Unfortunately for you, I do have it.”
He produced a document from seemingly nowhere and handed it over to the elder with a grin, the imperial seal stamped clearly on it.
“…Hah.”
The elder’s face twisted as he examined the document.
With a scowl, he signaled the paladins surrounding Jang Jin-woo to withdraw.
“The Church of Freya will not forget this, Warrior Jang Jin-woo.”
“Sure—just catch their tail when you can—”
As the elder turned his back, the ever-smiling Jang Jin-woo twitched his eye and glared at me.
“Nothing changes, Lee Hyun-seok.”
“…What?”
“Once you’re dead, that saintess will die too.”
Spitting on the ground, Jang Jin-woo walked away, trampling over the bodies of his subordinates who had been labeled as heretics.
I quietly mulled over his words.
‘Lee Hyun-seok…’
Lee Hyun-seok. The whisper written in pink letters had called me Lee Hyun-seok as well.
A warrior’s name I couldn’t remember.
‘Is this some kind of revenge?’
As I reflected on Jang Jin-woo’s threat to kill the saintess after I die, the elder suddenly raised his hand, halting our movement.
“…Let’s take a short break.”
As soon as the break started, I went looking for Eris.
It seemed like Eris was also searching for me because our eyes met at the perfect moment.
She immediately started heading toward me, but someone blocked her path.
“Lady Eris, there’s something we need your help with regarding the saintess.”
“Is that so? …I’ll be there right away.”
Turning away, Eris mouthed, ‘We’ll talk later,’ before following the paladin.
‘Where’s Croa?’
I scanned the area, looking for Croa.
“I want to see my brother…”
“Haha, it’s for the saintess’s safety. Once everything’s ready, we’ll send you to him, so please be patient and come this way for now.”
Ignoring her wishes, the priests were leading Croa away.
Rian, who had been standing beside Croa before being pushed aside, walked over to me.
“Hyung, what are we going to do now?”
The Church of Freya had managed to hold off the palace warrior for now, but…
“I’m still thinking about it.”
But just as Eris had mentioned earlier, Croa’s future as the saintess didn’t seem to hold any happiness.
“…What if we run away with Croa?”
Rian’s suggestion wasn’t a good one.
Whether we were being chased by the palace warrior or the Church of Freya, it would make little difference.
‘No, if we turn our backs now, we might end up being pursued by both.’
Jang Jin-woo’s words, hinting at revenge.
It seemed like he hadn’t given up on capturing Croa, the saintess.
‘The Imperial Palace guild is also a concern.’
How could I completely escape this situation?
As I pondered deeply, I heard footsteps approaching.
“We’ve met before, haven’t we? Your name was Allen, right?”
The voice belonged to the elder of Freya’s Church.
I nodded in response.
“Yes, I’m Allen.”
The elder smiled as he spoke.
“Shall we talk while we walk?”
Was this about Croa’s treatment?
I nodded and followed the elder as he began to walk.
The elder kept pace with me and asked,
“Is it true that you and the saintess are siblings?”
“Yes, Croa and I…”
“Lies.”
“…What?”
The elder stopped walking, turning to face me as he spoke.
“A filthy necromancer like you, born from the same womb as the saintess?”
He kept his smile as he continued speaking.
“Even if, by some slim chance, it were true, it’s an impossibility that cannot be allowed.”
The elder clapped his hands, which had been clasped behind his back.
―Clap.
The sound echoed, and a golden light spread, distorting my vision.
[The World of the Dead is activating.]
The world shifted into black and white.
What is this?
Looks fun!
Let’s go! Let’s go!
Spirits swarmed from all directions.
In the black-and-white world, a woman, glowing with golden light, extended her palm.
Golden light struck my shadow.
‘Ugh… aaaargh! Stop, stop!’
The necromancer’s spirit, trapped within me, screamed in agony.
“The church may have been fooled once, but not twice, necromancer.”
The elder extended his hand toward me as he spoke.
“Accept your punishment for mocking life and souls.”
His eyes hardened as he clenched his outstretched hand.
“Ugh, argh…”
It felt like a giant hand was crushing my entire body.
―Crack.
I could feel my limbs breaking, my organs being crushed.
But just then, someone charged at the elder.
“What are you doing to my brother?!”
Rian, holding a rock high, rushed at the elder.
The elder turned his head toward Rian and said,
“Be gone, servant of the necromancer.”
Through my blurred vision, I saw Rian collapse to his knees and fall unconscious.
“Stop… Rian… he’s not…”
As I managed to say those words, the elder looked down at me and spoke.
“No, necromancer or not, both you and your servant bear the same guilt.”
With the golden light burning my sight, my consciousness faded.
* * *
As my blurred vision returned, I saw something.
―You have died from Selendel’s attack. [Confirm]
―You have been restored from the last save. [Confirm]
―Hint: Maintain a friendly relationship with the Church of Freya. [Confirm]
I heard someone’s voice.
“Why’d you stop mid-sentence? You clearly said ‘save,’ didn’t you?”
In front of the church.
Lee Hyerin was looking up at me, expectantly, as if she was hoping for something.
I stood there silently, my eyes shifting side to side, then slowly lowered my gaze to my palm.
‘…Is there no way to go back further than this?’
Although I had just returned, the fact that the Imperial Palace guild was still after Croa hadn’t changed.
To suppress the Imperial Palace guild, I needed the church’s help, but…
‘The problem is that I’m a necromancer.’
If I did nothing, I wouldn’t be able to stop the Imperial Palace guild.
But if I sought the church’s help, I’d end up facing death at the hands of the elder who had already uncovered my identity.
A vicious cycle.
‘…How do I break out of this?’
As I struggled to find an answer, I heard footsteps approaching.
“…”
Lee Hyerin turned with cautious eyes, brimming with wariness.
Seeing her brown hair flutter in the wind, something clicked in my mind.
‘Teleport.’
Was it because I’d lived through this cycle so many times?
The thought, like branches sprouting from a tree, stretched out in multiple directions but all converged on a single idea.
Me and Croa.
A way for both of us to survive.
I grabbed Lee Hyerin’s arm just as she was about to turn away.
“I need to hire you for a request.”
“…What? But right now I—”
“I know what you’re thinking. The palace warrior is right behind us, isn’t he?”
Lee Hyerin reflexively glanced over my shoulder.
As if she nearly made eye contact with the palace warrior, she quickly averted her gaze, mumbling,
“You… are also a warrior, aren’t you?”
Korean. Singer Park Jae-yoon.
I could use these two facts to deceive her.
“No, I was a soldier in the Imperial Palace.”
But I shook my head firmly.
“I’ll pay you one gold coin upfront for this job.”
Me, Croa. A way for both of us to survive.
“Will you do it?”
Now, it was time to put that plan into action.
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