The Paladin of the Sacred Kingdom Part I

Jaldabaoth set off walking, paying no attention to Remedios. She was forced aside by his hulking form.

“H-hey! Sh-shit!”

She attacked from behind, along with newly summoned angels, but her sword couldn’t penetrate the skin that possessed a strange metallic gleam.

Attack spells flew at him but were all deflected.

He’s not even slowing down. Where is he head—?

When Remedios figured out his destination, the blood drained from her face. He was aiming for Calca and Kelart.

“What are you guys doing? Attack! Cut him down!”

She gave orders to the paladins behind them. She didn’t think they could accomplish anything, but she couldn’t let Jaldabaoth waltz right over to Calca and Kelart.

“Get Calca and Kelart out of here! He’s aiming for those two!”

The paladins and priests formed a wall in front of the pair. What a fragile barrier it was.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!!” she screamed, swinging her sword over and over.

But none of her attacks could break the demon’s skin.

The paladins slashed with their swords, and the priests cast their spells. But they couldn’t stop Jaldabaoth. He continued striding forward as if nothing were happening.

Anyone brushed by the flames coming off his body fell shrieking to the ground, but Jaldabaoth didn’t even seem to be conscious of attacking.

“Run, you two! We can’t stop him!” Remedios shouted, her brain in a muddle.

Didn’t an adventurer drive him off in the Kingdom? She should have been equal or superior to an adamantite adventurer. So why couldn’t she contain this demon?

There must be something! I have to figure it out! There has to be a way to deal damage!

There had to be some trick to his invincibility. Just as some monsters were strong against all materials besides silver, he had to be protecting himself with some specialized defensive ability.

What is it?!

The instincts she relied on told her nothing.

At times like this in the past, one of her deputies, or Kelart, or Calca would swoop in with a tip, and all she would have to do was act on it. But this time they had nothing for her.

If those two escaped, they could at least prevent Jaldabaoth from doing as he wished.

They seemed to understand that and ran away without even looking back.

That was fine. On a real battlefield, there was no time to dither like an idiot. Even if Remedios died, as long as they could ensure the survival of the head of the country, the Holy Lady, things would work out. And in the worst case, even if the Holy Lady died, as long as Kelart survived and they could recover the body, she could be revived.

A few priests—who could probably use up to tier-three magic—stayed near Calca, protecting her. That shield was probably enough to buy them time to escape.

“Hmph. Greater Teleportation.”

Suddenly, Jaldabaoth disappeared, and Remedios’s sword sliced through thin air.

“Wha—?!”

Whirling around in a panic, she heard a terrible wail. Her heart pounded sickeningly. The scream came from the direction the other two had run in.

But there were paladins in the way, so Remedios couldn’t see what had happened.

Her terror was automatically soothed by a magic item she wore, but impatience blossomed in its place. If Kelart and the priests protecting Calca had been killed, that meant the Holy Lady was facing Jaldabaoth on her own. The leader of the country. The kingdom would be doomed without her.

“Out of my wayyyy!”

With that scream, Remedios set off running. The paladins jumped out of her path.

Calca was so far away.

How sluggish Remedios thought her body was.

Remedios considered herself to be at the peak of human performance when it came to physical strength and running, and she had always been quietly proud of that. But at this moment, she learned what a sham that all was.

If she can just survive one hit… Even if she gets horribly injured, there are plenty of priests around. As long as she doesn’t die, things will work out somehow.

Telling herself that as she ran, Remedios spotted Calca trapped by Jaldabaoth. There was no time to look for Kelart.

Jaldabaoth had grabbed Calca’s legs with his huge hands. Both of his limbs were enveloped in flames. The sound of flesh roasting was audible from beneath her heated armor. Her face in her helmet was nearly mad with agony, her neat rows of teeth clenched.

The coward! He’s taken her hostage!

What does he want?

Remedios braced herself and then couldn’t believe her ears when she heard what Jaldabaoth said next.

“This is a good weapon.”

“—Huh?”

For a moment, she looked down at her Holy Sword.

Does he want my sword?

“I thought she would make a good weapon the moment I saw her.”

Jaldabaoth lifted his arm, dangling Calca at eye level before bringing her down again—as if he were swinging a sword.

There was a snapping noise and a muffled cry from Calca.

The combination of Jaldabaoth’s overwhelming power and her own weight proved too much for Calca’s knees, which bent in a direction they were never intended to go.

That was when Remedios finally understood what he meant.

The demon was saying that he would use Holy Lady Calca Bessarez as his weapon.

“Wh-what are you…?”

She couldn’t comprehend it.

But she had to.

“Ready? Here I come!” A faint, sinister grin appeared on Jaldabaoth’s furious face as he approached.

What was she supposed to do?

Remedios backed up, as did the paladins who must have been behind her.

Wh-what should I do? What can I do?

Casting around for help, she saw Kelart and the priests who had been protecting Calca sprawled on the ground.

The priests didn’t so much as twitch, but her sister was twisting around. Maybe she was silently using a spell.

She’s alive! I guess I’ll have to ask Isandro who to save first.

“Isandro! What should I do?”

“Retreat!”

“Okay! All units, retreat! Fall back! Fall back!”

“What? You’re not going to fight? And right when I got my hands on this perfect weapon to crush you with…Fireball.” Jaldabaoth lifted the hand he wasn’t holding Calca with and loosed a tier-three attack spell. The flames burst and burned all the paladins in range.

The paladins had fire resistance magic cast on them, so they managed to avoid fatal damage, but that just meant they weren’t dead yet.

Calca flailed all she could, but it didn’t seem like she could escape Jaldabaoth’s clutches.

“Woman, you exasperate me. You’re my weapon right now, so act like it.” He bent down slightly and raised the hand holding Calca.

“No!” Remedios screamed, realizing what he was about to do.

But Jaldabaoth didn’t so much as glance at her as he swung his arm down.

Splat.

Calca’s attempt to defend herself didn’t make it in time, so her face slammed straight into the ground.

As Jaldabaoth lifted his hand again slowly, she hung limply, seeming to have lost interest in resisting.

The front of the helmet she was wearing was open. It was designed that way so she could raise the soldiers’ morale with her beauty. But now that once pretty face was flattened—perhaps her nose had been crushed—and covered in blood.

“You bastard!”

“Don’t! You idiot!”

One of Remedios’s subordinates had instinctively drawn his sword and charged. She tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Jaldabaoth swung his “weapon” around so quickly, it was hard to believe he was holding a whole human.

The two collided, and with a forceful metallic
clang
, the knight went flying.

His armor sported an indent like a giant had punched him, which told exactly how powerful the impact with Calca had been.

Remedios couldn’t take her eyes off the Holy Lady.

Even humans, with more vulnerable outer skin than other races, could robe themselves in chi or mana and take a slash unscathed, if they were powerful enough and conscious.

Yes,
if they were conscious
.

Her helmet must have flown off somewhere in the crash—her long hair fluttered in the wind. Hanging upside down with her bloodied face and crushed nose, missing front teeth, groaning faintly with only the whites of her eyes showing, Calca no longer had a shred of the beauty praised as the great treasure of a nation. She looked utterly miserable.

“What should we do? Isandro! How can we save Calca?”

“I—I don’t know!”

“That doesn’t help me! I thought your brain was supposed to shine at times like this!”

“I never could have imagined something like this! We have no choice but to withdraw!”

“And leave behind my sister and Calca?!”

“What else are we supposed to do?!”

When he said that, she realized she had no reply.

“Sheesh. You awful humans, how can you waste time arguing like that before an enemy? Time’s about up. Yes, I think that’s enough playing around.”

“What?”

Jaldabaoth slowly looked toward the sky.

“My army has nearly reached this city. I need to hurry, break the gate down, and cause a storm of atrocities and murder.”

“Y-you think we’d allow that?!”

“You don’t need to. Just accept it—like this celestial gift.” Jaldabaoth raised his free hand up into the sky as if reaching for something.

“No!”

Remedios shouted because she realized what he was going to do.

But everyone just stood there watching, unable to move. Jaldabaoth had the Holy Lady hostage, so no one could attack him.

No, they were afraid that if they did attack him, he would use Calca’s body to absorb the hit. What would they do if that was how she died?

Paying no mind to their indecision…the star fell.