144-138 The pride of the Knights

Three healers, three priest knights, and one holy knight.

A total of seven people appeared in an undead state.

''There's more of them than I expected. Are they conscious?

I opened my mouth, impressed that the ranks hadn't been disrupted despite being undead.

'If only you, an S-class healer, hadn't come back so suddenly, we would have been granted special promotion other than martyrdom... Luciel-sama, I'll hold a grudge.

It's totally counterproductive, isn't it?

I thought it was the holy knight speaking as the representative, but the representative was my successor as an exorcist.

But how did you manage to get here?

''Well it was an expensive purchase, but I was able to get a magic tool that avoids the state defect. And that too in this holy city.

Is he the leader of the pack, as he speaks so happily?

I began to spin a magic circle chant as I continued to talk to them as they became undead.

''I see. If you have turned into undead, is it correct to recognize that you met with the evil god?

'You knew! So you're the servant of the evil one! How dare you ... this?!

The Sanctuary Circle. I will mourn you from the undead back to your normal body.

I slowly activate the sanctuary wards as I speak.

''Cowardly. In the end, we fight with swords and win. This should have been the teaching of the Order.

My successor exorcist and the two healers were gradually recovering their vitality during the activation phase.

But the man in the holy knight's armor still had enough strength and will to resent me.

I could understand his words to fight fairly and squarely, but I wanted him to meet his end as a human being.

That was my pride and joy. And I realized that he was a Holy Knight and he was proud of his pride.

''As an S-class healer, if I didn't stop you guys from turning into undead by any means possible, your consciousness would have faded away and eventually you would have become unconscious and harmed your own people?''

What did they want from me now that I've become undead?

Did the knights of the Order want to be defeated because of the overwhelming strength of the one holding the position of S-class healer?

Did the healers want to have a magic match?

When I thought about it up to that point, my voice naturally escaped from my mouth.

'You can die as an undead or as a person. I'll let you choose.

I was handing them the choice, thinking it wasn't like me.

The healers were to disappear back to humanity as it was, and the holy knights and priest knights told me that they wanted to fight.

I decided to fight in a one-on-four battle with my whole body clothed in magic, the holy dragon spear in my left hand and the illusory sword in my right hand.

In the meantime, I had Estia as a referee as insurance, and I planned to have her intervene if it became dangerous, but I was confident that it wouldn't happen.

'Then let's begin!'

Without paying any attention to the knights who have begun to let the black mist out of their bodies, I approach with all my might, slashing with my illusionary sword and poking them with my holy dragon spear.

Without any tricks or feints, I cut through shields and armor and penetrate them.

I cut it in half from the body, since I know it's undead and has no pain, I cut it in half.

It was truly a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, one-sided development.

''Are you satisfied?''

I didn't expect it to be this one-sided...

I can understand their frustration, but no tears will flow from them as they become undead.

If you guys were alive as human beings, it would be me who would be defeated.

He's a class S healer, after all.

The holy knight gave a small nod as he agreed that his body hadn't responded.

''I ... didn't want to die.''

So you're just going to fade away as the undead, unable to take a shot at them.

"I could have been a priest-knight, but...

The other knights were crying too.

'I will have you die as a man now. We will pray that you will be born as knights defending the church in the next life.

I activate the Sanctuary Circle and they disappear into the light.

When they disappear, I will naturally collect the remaining items.

When they are turned into magical stones and their equipment is recovered, they will return. Don't ever touch the magical stones there. If you touch them, they will turn into undead.

I cautioned Esquire.

It's a good thing the demons in the last main room were weak.

At no point did Estia have any idea that they were originally people and related to the church.

''........If that was the prototype of the Dead Spirit Knight King or the Wight a few decades later, there's no guarantee we'd win. Besides, as I told them, if they were in the flesh, there was a good chance that they would have lost.

Is that how it works?

Yeah. I'm still weak, you know.

By the time we finished picking up the magic stone, a magic circle was floating in the center.

We checked it out and stepped through the labyrinth.

I found myself returning to the first level of the labyrinth.

''We've now trudged through the labyrinth. Let's head to the Pope's private quarters.

...We're finally over the border.

"...why do you want to switch at this time?

Estia had been replaced by a dark spirit.

'How did you notice that? Estia doesn't like to be in crowded places, so I've decided to switch sides.　

''That's not true. You think about that a lot.

I hypothesize while looking at the dark spirits that were impatient to see, is it because the spirits don't have enough magic power to manifest in the labyrinth?

Well, all right. Well, let's go to the Pope's private chambers.

Yeah.

I've been leaving the Forenoir with the Pope since yesterday, is it safe?

The thought crossed my mind and I immediately made my way to the Pope's private chambers.

"Pope, this is Luciel. I have trudged through the labyrinth.

"Enter.

As soon as the door opened, the maidens walked out.

As I took my vassal's thanks, I began to talk about the boss's room in the labyrinth the fiftieth level of the innermost level.

''You two have had a hard time. Ask them what's going on.

''This case was also caused by the church's officials trampling through the labyrinth. As I mentioned before, it is believed that they touched a large magical stone, which is a trap, and that the evil gods appeared and turned them into undead.

''........I didn't think the evil gods really existed......If your father had lived, he could still have dealt with it in some way......''

The Pope is sad, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Even I've felt that way.

If I was a brave man, a wise man, and a summoner, like Lord Leinster, I would be able to arrange some measures.

I also regretted that I should have discussed it more with Lord Leinster at that time.

However, I didn't feel it was right to talk about Sir Leinster here and now, so I decided to talk about my plans for the future.

'I'll go into the labyrinth for a few days and make sure that the labyrinth gradually loses its power. If it looks okay, we'll head to Meratni as planned.

'All right. I'll miss you and Forenoire, but I'm sure you'll come back to see me, so be patient.

The lonely look on his face made me wonder.

Has the Pope ever left this room before?

It was too much to ask such a question.

But I knew there was nothing I could do about it yet.

'Besides, this time I was able to confirm with my own eyes that Luciel has the spirit's blessing. And now that we can check the situation, it's possible to contact him with the magic ball.

Ha!

I pray that the Pope will not be stalked.

'That's all I have to report. Spirit of Darkness, do you have anything to tell me?

"Furuna, you can't save me or your sister yet, but I will save you. But I will save you.

I'm sorry, but you're up for it.

Sealed? Spell? Or are there other factors at play?

What exactly is the Pope's salvation?

I didn't ask him about it.

Forenoire had heard the report this time beside the Pope, and once he licked the Pope, he asked me to open the hermit's stables.

He entered the hermit's stables, which he used to hate so much, without any resistance.

''Well excuse me Pope then Pope, I have one request to make........''

What is it?

'I would like to tell the Adventurer's Guild tomorrow to cure you for a single silver coin?

'Ah. Was it that whimsical day that Luciel was having?

'Yes. It's been a little over a year, but I want to go back to the beginning.

I'll make a special exception. Nevertheless, since we have established guidelines, they must serve as a demonstration of healing.

Yes, sir. I will serve to the best of my ability.

Hmm. I hope you continue to do your part for the church.

Ha!

When we left the Pope's room, several knights were waiting for me to come out.

'What's going on?'

We have a lot of people that need immediate attention. Please come to the main training area immediately.

There are other healers out there!

I suppressed the urge to scream and ran to the big training ground.