Dragonslayer’s Class Regression Chapter 148

Chapter 148

“Damn this valley.”

Verdi, the Cardinal of the Holy Kingdom, gritted his teeth.

Although he had entered Death Valley while tracking Zeke Draker, he lost his way as soon as he entered the canyon.

The winding narrow paths, dry sandy ground, and endless canyon walls made people who entered lose their sense of direction.

He tried to go back to the entrance thinking about regrouping, but in the lost state, moving forward only led deeper into the canyon.

“Your Eminence. The condition of the Luberns we brought is strange.”

Luis, the captain of the church’s direct Paladin unit dispatched to find the holy relic, said to the Cardinal.

The Cardinal followed Luis to the back of the unit with an irritated expression.

Several young men and women wearing chains connecting their hands, legs, and necks were crouched down, trembling in fear.

The Cardinal grabbed and shook the hair of the boy who looked oldest among them and said.

“Damn heretics. What’s the problem now?”

The platinum-haired boy groaned in pain when the Cardinal shook his head.

Then a girl behind carefully opened her mouth.

“This, this place is strange.”

At the girl’s words, the Cardinal let go of the boy’s hair and turned his head.

“If you’re trying to pull some heretical trick, stop it right now.”

The girl shook her head and pointed to one side.

“No, it’s really strange. The, the closer we get there, my, my heart pounds thump-thump-thump.”

The Cardinal’s expression changed at the girl’s words.

He got up and called for Captain Luis.

“It seems those young heretics are reacting to where the holy relic is.”

“I think the same as Your Eminence.”

The Cardinal fiddled with his ring embedded with a large jewel, contemplated, and then spoke.

“Put that girl in front and go towards where she shows reaction. If she doesn’t properly show the way, kill the youngest ones first.”

“Understood.”

Luis unlocked the girl’s chains and brought her to the front of the unit.

The girl pointed towards the direction where she felt the strange feeling while holding back her fear.

Every time they reached a fork in the road, the girl indicated the direction where her heart beat strongly.

Surprisingly, unlike before when they were just going around in circles in the maze-like canyon, new paths gradually started appearing.

Luis approached the Cardinal and said.

“We seem to have found the way thanks to Your Eminence’s insight.”

“Everything shall be accomplished under the guidance of the Sun God.”

The Cardinal, with a satisfied face, pressured the Lubern girl to find the path quickly.

After going quite far, a huge cave appeared below the canyon cliff.

Even the Paladins tensed up seeing the cave that looked like a demon’s mouth.

The Cardinal pulled the girl’s restraining chains and asked.

“Is it inside that cave?”

The girl nodded with a terrified expression.

The Cardinal lowered his voice and spoke into the girl’s ear.

“If there is no holy relic in there, I will burn not only those guys but all the Lubern bloodline in the church at the stake.”

The girl trembled and cried at the Cardinal’s words.

“It, it’s right. The, the closer we get there, my, my heart is pounding.”

The Cardinal made a displeased expression and gestured to the Paladins.

Then the whole unit entered the cave.

The temperature was unusually low for a cave in the middle of the desert of death.

White breath came from the Paladins’ mouths.

The Lubern children wearing relatively thin clothes shivered from the cold.

But the Paladins didn’t share blankets or coats with the children, only pulled the cold iron chains telling them to hurry up and follow.

The huge stalactite cave stretched endlessly.

The girl endured the cold and fear, following where her heart reacted to find the way inside.

After walking inside the cave for hours, something appeared.

“Your Eminence. It’s, it’s a door!”

There was a huge door big enough to fill the cave wall.

The Cardinal, Luis, and all the Paladins were overwhelmed by the size of the massive door and lost their words.

The Cardinal, who regained his senses first, examined the door.

“An enormously huge door. How can we open this?”

The Cardinal knocked on various parts of the door.

Like a chunk of iron, the door didn’t budge at all.

That’s when Luis approached the Cardinal.

“I think it’s time to use what we received from Draker’s side.”

“Hmm.”

The Cardinal contemplated Luis’s words for a moment.

Although it came from Abel Draker’s side, he couldn’t deny that it was something that gave him an uneasy feeling.

‘But we can’t return empty-handed from here…’

The Cardinal gestured to Luis with his eyes to proceed.

Luis approached the girl who had guided them here.

Then he grabbed the girl’s arm and dragged her in front of the door.

“Why, why are you doing this, Sir Knight?”

Luis took out a vial from his chest and held it out to the girl.

“Drink it.”

“What, what is this…?”

“If you keep talking unnecessarily, I’ll cut off the youngest one’s arm.”

The girl, terrified, took the vial Luis gave her and drank it all.

After drinking the unknown medicine, the girl felt her heart gradually getting hotter.

Then Luis grabbed the girl’s hand and sliced her wrist with a dagger.

Blood gushed like a fountain from the girl’s wrist.

“AHHHHH!”

The Lubern children behind tried to run toward the girl while screaming.

But the children bound in iron chains couldn’t move.

The girl stared blankly at the blood flowing from her wrist.

She was too shocked to properly comprehend what had happened to her.

Luis sprinkled the girl’s blood toward the door.

The Cardinal watched anxiously.

Even after sprinkling the girl’s blood, the door didn’t budge.

Luis left the bleeding girl on the ground with a cold gaze and approached the other Lubern children while holding the dagger.

Just as Luis was about to take out another vial from his chest and feed it to the oldest boy.

KUGUGUGUGUGU!

The firmly closed door slowly began to open.

The Cardinal saw this and raised his hand.

“Light comes under the care of the Sun God!”

BANG!

The door opened completely with a loud noise.

The Cardinal shouted at the Paladins.

“Come quickly! Find the holy relic and get out before others come!”

The Paladins dragged the Lubern bloodline inside the door.

Before entering through the door, Luis looked for the girl whose wrist he had cut.

But the dying girl was nowhere to be found.

‘Where did she go?’

Just as Luis was wondering this.

KUGUGUGUGUGU!

A strange sound echoed when one of the Paladins tried to step inside the door.

“What is that!”

Two huge warrior statues standing on the inner wall of the door suddenly started moving.

STEP! STEP! STEP!

The Paladins raised their shields and drew their swords as they watched the warrior statues walk out the door.

“Wh-what is that…?!”

They had faced golems controlled by mages before, but those huge warrior statues felt somehow different.

When facing an incomprehensible unknown being, one instinctively feels fear.

The warrior statues moving naturally like humans were such unknown beings that inspired fear.

They tried to shake off their fear by reciting prayers.

KUBANG!

But at that moment, the warrior statues over 4 meters tall threatened the Paladins by aiming their weapons.

The Cardinal shouted at the Paladins.

“They are heretical demons! Execute them immediately in the name of the Sun God!”

At the same time, the Cardinal chanted the Sun Church’s spell.

The magic circles engraved on his ceremonial robes emitted light.

HWARARRRRK!

Huge fireballs formed as if two suns had risen.

The Cardinal shot the fireballs at the statues.

KWAKWAKWAKWABANG!

The two huge fireballs each hit the bodies of the statues.

In that gap, Luis gave the attack order to the Paladins.

“Attack those heretical demons!”

The Paladins raised their shields and split into two groups to charge at the statues.

The charge of the Paladins wrapped in aura had terrifying destructive power.

They struck the flame-engulfed warrior statues with the wall made of their shields.

KWABANG!

That’s when it happened.

The flames enveloping the statues disappeared.

Surprisingly, the statues were completely unharmed by the Cardinal’s magic.

The Cardinal stepped back in shock.

“Th-this can’t be.”

KUGUGUGUGU!

The statues raised their shields and weapons again, taking stance.

Then they immediately charged at the Paladins who had formed shield walls.

The shields of the statues collided with the Paladins’ shield wall.

KWAKWAKWAKWABANG!

With a thunderous sound, the Paladins’ shield wall completely collapsed.

“Kuuuk!”

The faces of the Cardinal and Luis hardened as they watched this.

Luis shouted at the Paladins.

“Form the wall again! Stop the statues’ movements and attack from behind! If they’re golems, they must have a core!”

At Luis’s words, the Paladins regained their stance and raised their shields.

At the same time, the statues swung huge axes at the Paladins.

WHOOOONG!

The axe that cut through the air completely knocked away a Paladin holding a shield.

“KUAAAK!”

Although they didn’t die thanks to their aura-reinforced bodies, that single blow completely shattered the Paladins’ solid shield formation.

“Damn it! Hold on! Can you call yourselves knights of the Sun God acting like this!”

Luis roared as he drew his sword and unleashed an aura blade at the statues.

Luis, a strong candidate for Arch Paladin, was an excellent knight with Red Knight-level skills.

He jumped into the air and swung his sword at the warrior statue.

Kwakwabang!

The warrior statue raised its shield to block Luis’s aura blade.

KWADUDUK!

The warrior statue’s shield cracked from Luis’s aura blade.

Luis stepped back and caught his breath.

‘The aura blade works.’

Luis shouted at the Paladins.

“Blue Knight-level knights step forward and unleash aura blades!”

Soon aura blades surged from the swords of the Blue Knight-level Paladins.

They blocked the statues’ attacks with solid shield walls and attacked with aura blades.

KWADUDUK!

Although the aura blades were effective, it wasn’t easy to land decisive hits that could take down the statues.

The statues changed their stance unlike before, holding their shields and pressing their shoulders together to focus on defense.

When the statues went into a full defensive stance, even attacks with aura blades couldn’t easily create openings.

Seeing this, the Cardinal shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Damn it! What are you doing! Quickly dispose of those demons!”

He grew anxious as they were blocked by unidentified golems before even entering to find the holy relic.

But then Luis noticed something strange and looked at the Cardinal in confusion.

“Your, Your Eminence. The, the Luberns are not visible!”

The Lubern children bound in iron chains had vanished without a trace.

The Cardinal turned around in surprise.

Then he shouted at the Paladins.

“Damn it! What are you all doing?! Quickly find those Luberns!”

At the Cardinal’s shout, some of the Paladins broke away from the solid shield wall formation.

KUBANG!

When the Paladins’ formation was disrupted, one of the warrior statues didn’t miss the opening and swung its spear at Luis, the strongest.

KWAKWABANG!

“HAAAAT!”

Luis barely managed to deflect the flying spear by jumping into the air.

The warrior statues stood firmly guarding the door as if they wouldn’t allow a single person to pass through.

The Cardinal gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Damn it! The Sun God is watching! Get rid of those heretical demons immediately!”

Luis momentarily felt murderous impulse at the Cardinal’s irritated voice, but held it in.

‘If I could just become Arch Paladin…’

Since he was the political connection that would help him become Arch Paladin, he needed to succeed in this mission somehow.

Luis shouted at the Paladins with a voice full of greed.

“Form ranks again! We’re breaking through!”