Chapter 22 - The Holy Spear Couldn’t Scratch Him

Chapter 22 : The Holy Spear Couldn’t Scratch Him

===A Certain Female Holy Knight===

I received a report from my subordinate about the sighting of an extremely suspicious individual around the site of the burned mansion.

I, who was in the middle of lookout in another place, heading toward said location at once.

「Where is that suspicious person?」

「The man wearing a hat over there.」

「… That man, huh.」

For some reason, the young man was looking at the remains of the mansion along with other onlookers.

But I couldn’t see his face under the brim of his hat.

「All he has done is look at the remains of that mansion. Could it be that he…」

「Nope, his presence is clearly not that of a human. He might be an undead.」

「Then shall we capture him immediately?」

「Not yet. Let’s wait until he has left this crowded place to prevent him from using a human hostage, then surround him with all members of our squad.」

Although I had no idea why he had returned to the scene of the crime, all he really did was look at the ruined mansion without doing anything in particular.

A while later, he turned around to leave.

After I made an arrangement with my squad, I went after him.

「… That guy over there, stop right there.」

I called out to him after I got a little bit closer.

Thereupon, that young man stopped his gait.

「Turn around slowly, and take off your hat.」

With this command, I readied my Holy Spear. The young man turned around to face us, taking off his hat.

「… As I thought.」

His white hair and red eyes were exposed after he took off his hat.

His features were in accordance with the report we received from Coastal’s branch.

「My name is Limule, a member of Saint Melt Religion’s most-prided Holy Knight Order, Albert’s Holy Knight Order. You’re an undead, right?」

「…」

He nodded when I asked for a confirmation.

He was unbelieveably obedient to the point of replying to me.

It was as if we were nothing but mere humble ants in front of a giant.

He had powerful magical power, more than I could discern at a glance.

But as undead specialists, we knew he was still hiding his true power behind such carefree looks.

The undead in front of us definitely did that.

Although my body was stunned for a moment upon seeing such a carefree attitude, I regained my confidence upon recalling the powerful weapon in my hand.

THAT WAS RIGHT!

We had these Holy Spears.

Then, I declared with a loud voice.

「As a Holy Knight who serves God, we cannot forgive the existence of undeads, which go against our faith. That’s why we will purify you!」

For some reason, that undead spread both his arms.

He didn’t show any intention of running away or resisting.

On the contrary, his gesture felt like telling us “Bring it on, cretins!”

Were you that confident in your defense?

「How… dare… you… LOOK DOWN ON US!」

I was enraged since his act was akin to insulting the God of our faith.

Then feast your eyes!

The God’s Majesty that dwelled in this Holy Spear!

「ALL UNITS, PREPARE YOUR SPEARS!」

「「「「HAH!」」」」

「SIMULTANEOUS PURIFICATION, START!」

Responding to my command, the Holy Knights who surrounded that white-haired undead then unleashed the power of their Holy Spears.

That light was an extremely powerful holy light that could annihilate high-ranking undeads in an instant.

And the white-haired undead received more than fifteen of those powerful holy light jabs from all sides.

It should be enough to purify every kind of undead―or so it was supposed to be.

And then, after the holy light receded…

We simply couldn’t believe the scenery before us.

「I-Impossible… He’s… unscathed?」

That undead was standing quietly in place—as if nothing happened to him.

「GUH… Don’t get flustered by this! We still have that! Believe in the power of the Holy Spear that was developed by our faith!」

I shouted at my subordinates to lift their spirits.

THAT WAS RIGHT!

We could exhibit the purification power of the holy spear when its tip hit the undead’s body.

Although we could fire the purification ability from a distance, doing so dramatically reduced the effect of its purification power.

It was something akin to a shockwave created by the aftermath of a slash.

The one we were about to use against this undead was the slash itself, not the shockwave of the slash.

Naturally, I was aware that we couldn’t use such a direct attack unless we got closer to the undead.

I shouted to my subordinates who were starting to lose their fighting spirit.

「TO ALL UNITS, ARE YOU PREPARED TO SACRIFICE YOUR LIFE TO GOD?!」

「「「「HAH!」」」」

「SPLENDID! FORTUNATELY, THIS GUY DOESN’T EVEN MOVE FROM HIS SPOT SINCE HE’S LOOKING DOWN ON US! LET’S SHOW HIM THE POWER OF OUR FAITH!」

「「「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!」」」

The white-haired undead’s cheeks loosened, as if mocking our resolution to sacrifice our lives.

It was an act of complete mockery.

「GASP! FINE, LET ME TO SEE WHETHER YOU CAN STILL SMILE LIKE THAT AFTER THIS ATTACK! ALL UNITS―ATTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!」

Everyone kicked the ground at the same time, thrusting their spears with resolution.

I rushed alongside them, stabbing the tip of my spear toward that undead’s body.

There was a refined significance hidden in the shape of our spear.

We could release purification light into the target body once it penetrated into an undead body.

But… the feedback I received was strange.

There was no feeling of resistance at all.

It was as if… I was hitting an invisible wall.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the expression on that undead’s face due to the blinding light from my spear. However, when I looked around, I saw that my subordinates also had puzzled looks on their faces.

Could it be that… we still failed, even with this?

As I had such an unpleasant premonition…

「HAHA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!」

A laugh resounded from the other side of the light.

He was… laughing?

That was… a lie, right?

Upon seeing his unscathed figure after the light had receded, we completely lost our fighting spirit.

It began with someone dropping their Holy Spear, quickly followed by everyone else doing the same.

I really couldn’t blame my subordinates for doing that.

Because I was overwhelmed by fear too, to the point that I had no idea whether I gripped my spear properly or not.

Nevertheless, I just barely held onto my Holy Spear.

Yes, I was not a mere Holy Knight.

My father was the Pope, and my big sister was the leader of the Order of Holy Knights. Following in their footsteps, I received extremely harsh training since childhood.

Therefore, I strived to become the textbook example of a Holy Knight, no matter the situation!

「R-RETREAT! EVERYONE, RETREAT FROM THIS PLACE NOW!」

「「「―Y-YES!」」」

「C-CAPTAIN?!」

「I’LL HOLD HIM BACK! YOU LOT RETREAT AT ONCE!」

The sound of the footsteps of my subordinates became distant.

On the other hand, that white-haired undead… didn’t move at all.

Maybe I looked like a fool for betting my life in an attempt to stop him.

Maybe he wasn’t interested in us from the very beginning, nothing more than buzzing mosquitoes to him.

He only looked at me in silence, despite my glare.

There was no sign of him trying to attack me.

After the tension in me had reached its limit, I broached the question weighing on my mind—even if it meant dying by his hand.

「A-Are you an enemy of humanity?」

「Ch-…」

… Tch?

Da*mmit, he was not the type that you could just talk with!

「You… Do you understand my words?」

Some undead understood human language while the other didn’t.

It seemed this guy was the latter.

By appearance, I was sure that he was a high-ranking undead with high intelligence. That was why it wouldn’t be strange if he understood human language, but…

Seeing his condition, he might be a unique undead.

「…」

Eh? What did he just say?

His face told me that he just received the greatest shock ever, but what did he just say?

After looking at me for a while, the white-haired undead suddenly turned around and ran off.

「EH! W… WAIT! I STILL HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU―」

I ran after him, but he was too fast.

By the time I realized it, he had left me far behind, disappearing out of sight.

「HUUFF, HUFF, He… ran away, huh…」

I had no choice but to give up chasing after him.

However, I understood one thing from this.

That white-haired undead didn’t feel like he wanted to harm humans.

I remembered the story of the people who were rescued by him from the burning mansion.

「If that story is true… Does that mean he’s trying to save humans?」

I needed to make a report about him to the Knight Order’s HQ.