Chapter 59:
Chapter 59. The Scent of Blood (3)
“It has been tamed… so to speak.”
Bexter muttered the words, pondering over them.
“Honestly, it’s a hard story to believe.”
Isaac shrugged his shoulders. He knew it would sound that way.
But what can be done? It’s true that Hesabel has become his servant. Of course, she hasn’t stopped being a vampire, but at least she has become a well-behaved dog.
“Did you seek me out to question this?”
“Yes. In the current situation, it’s impossible not to verify.”
Bexter said, looking at Isaac with gloomy eyes.
“I trust the noble character of the Grail Knight, but given the circumstances. The internal affairs of the sanctuary…”
Bexter stopped himself from saying more. True to his character as a knight moving to protect the empire’s welfare, he wasn’t one to easily blabber. However, he revealed a rare look of anxiety as he whispered to Isaac.
“It’s a hard story to believe, but there’s no way to verify it right now. So, I’ll trust you, Isaac, and tell you this. Please understand just one thing. We are also looking for a way to avoid conflict.”
It was a story he had also told Reinhardt.
‘Is Hesabel related to the method of avoiding conflict?’
Isaac looked at Bexter curiously, but he seemed unlikely to explain any further.
Isaac tried using the Eye of Chaos surreptitiously.
‘Is it because they’re from the Imperial Knights… used to hiding their inner thoughts.’
Unfortunately, Bexter’s inner thoughts were almost invisible.
Using more power might make it visible. But then, his eyes might burst open and tentacles would start protruding. There was absolutely no way he intended to show such a sight in front of an Imperial Knight.
Bexter bowed and left with his soldiers, heading back to Hendrake Castle.
Isaac watched them leave, then called for Hesabel. Hesabel, who had been hiding behind a second-floor window, immediately poked her head out.
“Did you call me, Master Isaac?”
“Have you been staying in the room next to mine?”
“No. I have a room, but I spent all night watching you sleep from above your room’s ceiling.”
‘…Might give someone a heart attack if discovered at night.’
Isaac swallowed what he was about to say and instructed her.
“Stop the creepy behavior and sleep in your room tonight.”
***
Night fell again over the Hendrake domain.
The villagers were perplexed that a neighboring lord was staying in an inn rather than a castle, but no one was in a position to inquire. Even if they wanted to ask the Lord of Hendrake, the castle gates were firmly closed and silent.
In this strange standoff, the villagers secretly whispered about the war.
Hesabel was well aware of such stories. Because she could hear the conversations people had in other taverns at night or the stories shared with families in bed. Even if she didn’t want to listen, wandering around at night meant her sensitive ears would inevitably catch such secret conversations.
However, tonight, instead of wandering around the village, Hesabel stayed in her room.
As the night deepened, her mind became clearer. Thus, Hesabel could dive into deep thought about the stories she had heard so far without anything else to do.
‘War and conspiracies, betrayal, seduction.’
As a member of the Red Chalice Club, these were fascinating topics for her. All of these were happening in the Hendrake domain.
Here, Hesabel looked forward to what kind of deception Isaac would deploy next.
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock was heard. Hesabel was about to turn towards the door but realized it wasn’t from that direction. It was from the window.
Outside the window, a bat hung upside down, staring at Hesabel with red eyes.
“Hesabel Gulmar.”
Hesabel felt chills running down her spine. This eerie, low-frequency hum was a sound that only Hesabel could hear.
“Heed the whispers that come in the night.”
It was a messenger from the Red Chalice Club.
Hesabel knelt on the bed as if enchanted, waiting for the message. The teachings, almost akin to brainwashing developed over decades, seemed to control her body.
“I am all ears to the whisper.”
“Hesabel Gulmar, I sense that your faith is misplaced. Can you explain yourself before you are placed upon the banquet table?”
The Red Chalice Club, when on the same side, flatters with all manner of sweet words, but the moment one is deemed an enemy, they immediately treat them as mere ingredients.
It means they do not hide their appetite for blood and killing.
Hesabel felt the teeth of the Red Chalice nearing her throat, ready with all preparations to ‘cook’ her.
“I do not understand what you mean. I still serve the master of deception and conspiracy.”
“Speak plainly. Is your master the Red Chalice or the Grail Knight?”
It was a direct question that cut off any chance of retreat or roundabout answers.
After a moment of silence, Hesabel spoke.
“I do not see the difference. Is not Master Isaac the greatest conspiracy orchestrated by the Red Chalice? That is how I felt. The ‘deceiver of the world’ mentioned in prophecies. Actually, I would like to ask.”
“A question? From you?”
“It seems to me that you do not know Master Isaac well. Who are you? I would have thought the Red Chalice would have already noticed this grand deception.”
“What do you want to say?”
“I would think you are one of the angels, but perhaps, are you blaming me for not noticing the grand plan prepared by the Red Chalice?”
“Ha ha ha.”
The bat laughed low.
Hesabel laughed along.
Before the laughter could stop, the window shattered into pieces.
A black knight, shrouded in dark mist, jumped in. Immediately upon entering, he thrust his lance towards the bed. Hesabel dodged swiftly, but the powerful whirlwind created by the lance swept across the bed, powerful enough to crush even the floor beneath it.
Even Hesabel, adept at dodging, could not escape the attack and fell. She tried to use the Red Petition to escape, but it was in vain.
All the miracles she possessed were sealed.
“Kill the apostate.”
The black knight, following the bat’s command, lifted his lance to finish Hesabel. However, then he saw Hesabel smiling.
It wasn’t a smile of resignation or madness.
“It seems the deception is stronger on this side.”
Only then did the black knight realize how unnaturally dark the room was.
And that there was someone else in the room.
Suddenly, someone attacked from the darkness.
***
Boom!
The black knight was flung out of the window with a loud noise, his body wrapped in black mist creating a long trail. Isaac, having hidden his presence, emerged from the darkness after successfully ambushing.
“Amazing, Master Isaac! Just as you said, an assassin has come!”
Hesabel exclaimed joyfully, but Isaac looked unsatisfied.
‘To block that?’
Isaac, who doesn’t hold back in life-threatening battles, didn’t use his weakest attacks. He refrained from showing his hand, not wanting to reveal his tentacles, instead using his strongest swordsmanship, the Eight Branches. Consequently, Hesabel’s room was a mess.
The bat used as the messenger was dead, but the black knight on the floor was staggering to his feet. Isaac leaped down, striking with his sword before the knight could recover from the shock.
Bang! Sparks flew with a sharp sound. The knight was much calmer in his response than before. This confirmed for Isaac that the knight’s skill in swordsmanship was superior to his own.
‘Could he be on the level of Bexter or Gebel? Quite a skilled opponent.’
The dark aura enveloping the armor made it impossible to discern what kind of armor it was.
“Wow, just wow!”
The swords clashed once again. Isaac’s Sword of Judgment ignited fierce flames upon touching the black mist of the Black Knight’s sword, burning the surroundings. As the black mist cleared around the sword, the Black Knight hastily repelled Isaac. The Black Knight was also superior in strength.
‘Even though it’s wrapped in tentacles inside the armor…’
Isaac was wearing Kalson Miller’s armor. The inside of the armor was tightly wrapped with tentacles, reducing the impact while also enhancing his physical strength.
However, the Black Knight’s strength was tremendous.
Soon, the Black Knight seemed to recover from the surprise attack and started to press Isaac with fierce attacks. Bang, bang, bang! Isaac quickly found himself on the defensive.
‘If it weren’t for Kalson Miller’s armor, I would have bled a bit…’
The armor was steadily getting damaged. It was repairing itself almost instantly, resembling the healing of a clam’s shell, but it was only a matter of time before the sword would pierce through. However, there wasn’t enough time to prepare for advanced swordsmanship.
Instead, the Black Knight calmly performed a series of actions.
For a moment, Isaac experienced an illusion as if the Black Knight’s body split into two. The Black Knight struck down with his sword while simultaneously slashing upwards.
Crash!
The attack Isaac chose to defend against was the downward strike.
Bang! Fortunately, it was the right choice.
The problem was that there were two correct answers.
The sword slashing upwards hit Isaac’s waist hard. Even wearing Kalsen Miller’s armor, it felt as if his ribs were broken.
Isaac barely managed to suppress the excruciating pain that almost made him vomit and quickly corrected his stance.
‘I did well to block the downward strike.’
The reason Isaac blocked the downward strike was because a direct hit could have been fatal.
He had expected the upward slash to be less severe, but it wasn’t.
‘If it weren’t for the armor, my body would have been cut in half…’
No, before that, tentacles would have burst out of my body, devouring the Black Knight and the entire village, turning “Hendrake Village” into “what used to be Hendrake Village.”
Then, all the hardships Isaac had gone through would have been in vain.
After a long time, Isaac glared at his opponent irritably and grabbed his sword again. However, annoyingly, the Black Knight unfolded his swordsmanship once more, giving Isaac no chance.
This time, three actions simultaneously overwhelmed Isaac.
That’s when Isaac felt Hesabel’s will.
The moment he turned his head, a crossbow bolt pierced the side of his helmet and the Black Knight’s face. The Black Knight staggered with a bizarre scream.
“Well done!”
If one is skilled, they can sense killing intent and dodge. However, Hesabel, true to an assassin’s nature, disrupted the killing intent while hiding somewhere behind Isaac. This feat would have been impossible without shared will between Isaac and Hesabel.
Isaac did not miss the opportunity and immediately pressed the Black Knight. The Black Knight, bleeding profusely from his face, defended skillfully. But Isaac’s aim was not in the attack itself but in what followed.
“What’s happening? What’s going on?”
As the battle dragged on, villagers with torches appeared, alerted by the commotion, or Reinhardt’s soldiers began to show up. They had thought it unlikely that a real war was happening, but in the streets, there were only two knights fighting fiercely.
As more people started to gather, the Black Knight’s movements noticeably began to falter. The Black Knight had not intended to attract so much attention from the start. His plan was probably to quickly deal with Hesabel and escape.
Having many onlookers was disadvantageous for Isaac, but it was also disadvantageous for the foe.
‘Moreover, this is the territory of the Gerthonia Empire, you evil creature.’
Eventually, someone activated a low-level relic containing the miracle of Chalice. Just like when Isaac received it as a gift in his childhood, it was the most common miracle within the White Empire. The blinding flash enveloped the Black Knight, momentarily paralyzing him.
Isaac didn’t miss the opening.
He stepped forward in an instant and activated Isaac Swordsmanship: Eight Branches.
Crash!
All eight attacks hit the Black Knight’s body, instantly burning away the black mist that surrounded him. Among them, Isaac carefully targeted the helmet on the head, which shattered.
As the broken helmet fell off, a bleeding face was revealed.
Someone among the villagers murmured upon seeing the face.
“Owen?”
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