Apostate Judas (1)

Swiish──

Cardinal Sicarii. No, the man who called himself Judas drew his sword.

Wooong!!

With a roar like floodgates opening, the tent’s support beams went flying.

The blue sky spread out above them as summer’s oppressive heat scorched the earth.

Judas gazed up at the heavens—up toward the sky beyond, where they say the gods had departed.

Were the gods still watching?

Had they gathered, one by one, to witness the final moments of this foolish apostate?

Perhaps they were pointing their fingers, urging the apostle to kill this filthy apostate and praying for his victory.

“Even so, I love you. Beautiful gods.”

Despite being rejected by them, despite having his holy power revoked, Judas was still a believer.

He was just a believer—neither a priest nor a paladin. If his betrayal was predestined, then he would offer even his death to them.

“Behold! All gathered here, witness this gruesome aura! I have lost my divinity! All that remains is strength honed for killing people! And before me stands the proxy of the gods!”

His aura, darkened like his heart.

That light representing his individuality melts his sword and dissolves into it.

“Those who wish to partake in this achievement, draw your swords against me! All others, stand back!”

This was the true power of the strongest paladin of the Pantheon Temple, who stood as Cotinus’s equal.

Though his holy power had been revoked, all he had built up over the years hadn’t disappeared.

Yet his black aura shone as if it had melted the night itself.

There was no ugliness, it simply burned as if remembering Judas’s purity.

“I have waited for this moment! I have continued walking toward my destination, waiting for someone who might come to punish me! Then who are you?”

“……”

“No, it doesn’t matter how you answer. I’ll end up thinking of you as the judge who came to punish me anyway.”

“Must you go this far?”

“Of course! This is why I’ve endured until this moment.”

Whoosh!

Judas raised his sword above his head and spun it in a wide arc.

The sword, imbued with pitch-black aura, created a gale that pushed back the crowd that had gathered as if to spectate.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t expect this. I’ll be disappointed.”

“I expected it. I was just surprised by your answer being far more shameless than I anticipated.”

Lost was simply dumbfounded by Judas’s extreme claims.

It was an incomprehensible mindset.

Like giving someone who already dislikes you more reasons to hate you.

“I am their proxy, but I believe we should rely on faith, not cling to it.”

“That’s a good attitude. But some people can’t help it. Some have faith as their entire life. I just happened to be one of them.”

“This is driving me crazy, really.”

“Well, if you expected this, you would have taken appropriate measures, right? Apostle. Why aren’t you calling your companions?”

“……They’re already here.”

Boooom!

As if a meteor had fallen from the sky, it crashed down toward Judas.

Titan’s strike with his hammer, enhanced by his own massive weight and strength.

“Hehe.”

“I thought you’d gone senile, but you’re still spry, aren’t you?”

Judas laughed as he pushed away Titan’s hammer that had been pressing down on his sword.

A figure of skill equal to Cotinus.

But far from his prime.

‘That’s with his holy power revoked? Then originally, just how…?’

Nevertheless, he was a monster capable of withstanding Titan’s strike.

And that was a prepared attack.

It should have been a fatal blow if he hadn’t been detected, yet he not only blocked it despite noticing late, but even pushed it back.

Even without holy power enhancement, he exceeded human strength.

With just the realm achieved through aura alone, he was already a monster.

“There’s really never an easy task.”

Lost clenched his fist tightly, then swung it as if dispersing something within his palm.

As he did, sacred blood splattered from his torn palm into the air, and chains emerged from empty space.

Clang!

Chains adorned with heavy weights, arrow tips, and blades rushed forward.

“Nice weapon. There aren’t many metals that can withstand even an aura blade.”

Having failed to cut Titan’s hammer by twisting his sword, Judas glanced at the chains surging toward him and then pushed Titan away.

It was an attack that had struck downward from midair.

Once blocked, there was no strength left to continue the attack.

Skak!

Judas’s sword, having pushed away Titan’s hammer, briefly slashed at his waist.

Titan’s waist was cut, spewing blood. The wound was shallow.

He couldn’t inflict a deep wound since he aimed for a quick, short slash.

But Judas hadn’t been aiming for a fatal blow in the first place.

“I don’t underestimate those with many means. They have more variables than those devoted to just one thing—I can see that just by looking at heresy inquisitors.”

Judas hadn’t aimed for exposed skin.

What he targeted was the waist—specifically Titan’s belt, laden with daggers and short swords.

Now the visible weapons were two.

Spear and hammer.

‘And considering the strength coming from that large body, the body itself is probably a weapon too.’

Clang!

Judas’s swordsmanship wasn’t flashy.

Basic slashing and thrusting. Orthodox swordsmanship that emphasized fundamentals.

It was because he had trained this swordsmanship to the extreme that he could be called the strongest paladin within the Pantheon Temple.

Even with age making his body deteriorate, the effort and experience he had accumulated only deepened.

He neutralized the chains flying at him from all directions with just a single strike.

The first chain he struck wobbled and bent, entangling with the other chains.

“Hmm!”

Then he immediately retrieved his sword, grasped it with both hands, and placed it at his center.

A neat and dignified middle stance.

It exuded such intimidating pressure that it evoked the image of an iron wall.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Confirming this, Lost immediately fired his revolver.

While it might not have worked against Judas during his paladin days, it was an attack that could certainly be effective against Judas now that he had lost his holy power.

Of course, that’s assuming the shots hit. Fortunately, having become a cardinal, Judas was now wearing priestly robes instead of armor.

And Judas himself knew that even such simple gunfire could be dangerous in his current state.

Lost moved immediately.

He wielded his sword, which had begun to gain some power now that he too could manipulate aura.

While not strong enough to clash with an aura blade, with a good sword, he could at least block it.

That was his judgment.

And the premise for this judgment was his faith in Titan, who was still airborne after Judas’s counterattack.

Titan is a born warrior.

Strong in body and excellent in technique.

But what Lost valued above all was his appropriate situational assessment.

“Heuup!”

By the time Lost fired his revolver, Titan had already drawn out the spear strapped to his back.

Floating in midair and being pushed back, with his body tilted backward—in such a state, swinging a spear would hardly generate proper power.

He couldn’t even maintain a proper stance or find the right angle to thrust the spear.

‘Haha! Splendid!’

So Titan threw the spear.

But since it wasn’t thrown from a proper stance, it was only roughly aimed in the right direction without much power behind it.

Nevertheless, Judas could understand the intent behind this attack.

In slowed time, where even bullets fired at him seemed almost visible, Judas saw.

Titan’s foot stomping on the spear tip.

‘Appropriate situational assessment. And impressive technique that makes it possible.’

Judas’s sword was in a middle stance that could move in any direction.

Bullets fired at him, a spear plunging down from above.

And Lost rushing in immediately after firing his revolver.

Truly a move without openings.

Could he block all three attacks coming at once?

Impossible.

Judas too was a veteran who had been through countless battles. Rather than clinging to impossible tasks, it was far better to find a way out amid mortal danger.

So Judas ignored the gunfire. Without the slightest disturbance, he raised his sword to face the spear plunging down at him.

No defense, not even minimal evasion—a move almost like gambling.

“People have habits they simply can’t fix. For me, it’s a habit from my paladin days. Would someone prepared to die be afraid of injury?”

“This crazy……”

A cylinder’s worth of bullets embedded into Judas’s body and passed through.

Whether he was lucky, or if he had such intuition.

None of the gunshot wounds that penetrated Judas hit vital spots.

But there was still pain.

Arms, legs, shoulder, abdomen. He merely avoided instant death—none of the wounds could be considered light.

Yet without faltering, Judas deflected the spear plunging down at his head. Then he immediately flowed his sword toward Lost, who had approached within reach.

Slash!!

The moment Lost received that sword, he felt as if he was catching a massive boulder falling from a cliff.

This couldn’t be withstood. His body, which had been leaning forward, was engulfed by the shock just from receiving that sword.

The advantage gained through surprise and combination—all collapsed and reversed with one gamble from Judas.

“Hmm.”

Judas regained his stance as he looked at Lost, whose posture had been disrupted.

Titan, who was floating in the air, couldn’t interfere.

Even if he wanted to, Judas had already taken his weapons away in advance.

Only the hammer remained. Even that was still flying backward, having not yet absorbed the impact of Judas’s aura blade. And Titan was merely hanging there.

The sword was swung. A starry light that seemed to devour the midday sun rushed toward where Lost stood.

“Keuuuuuueueueup!!”

And Claire intercepted it, receiving it with her bare body.

Vitege’s Armor. The defense and weight gained through it perfectly blocked the sword energy made of aura blade without retreating an inch.

Still, unable to completely absorb the impact, Claire had to bite her lip to endure an unfamiliar pain she had never felt before.

“To be able to move that well already—Apostle, you’ve found good companions.”

Judas didn’t consider this an unexpected situation. He had intended to face Lost’s entire party from the beginning.

While Claire’s participation at this point was questionable, considering the disadvantages of Vitege’s Armor, it wasn’t surprising. After all, it’s difficult to move while enduring its weight.

Rather, considering that the entire exchange thus far had happened in almost an instant, he was impressed by her growth.

“Then one remains.”

By the time Judas once again retrieved his sword into an orthodox stance,

Titan, who had been floating in midair, crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise, raising a cloud of dust.

Drip drip drip.

Blood poured from Lost’s palm, soaking the earth with sacred blood.

Simultaneously, chains that seemed to split the earth rushed in all directions.

It was an attack similar to the first one.

“Hmm……”

But it couldn’t be just a similar attack. Judas knew Lost was a former heresy inquisitor.

Such a person wouldn’t repeat a meaningless move that had already been blocked.

But then, what could it be?

The time for such thoughts was too brief. Judas, despite knowing better, couldn’t help but fall into this trap.

Clang!

Once again, with a single strike, the chains were bent and entangled.

All the weapons flying at him from all directions lost their trajectory.

Nothing had changed up to this point.

Lost was aiming his gun at him, and Titan, who had fallen to the ground, was charging like a bull with his hammer.

Fortunately, Claire still hadn’t recovered from the impact of the aura blade and was kneeling on one knee.

‘I don’t understand.’

Even at this point, he couldn’t see the opponent’s trap.

Judas didn’t yet know the true nature of Línea’s abilities.

Nor did he know what attack methods she had equipped.

In such a situation, the most reasonable attack method he could think of was sniping from a distance.

Bang!

Lost’s gunfire continued.

He probably didn’t have time to reload the cylinder, so this time it was a bullet made of holy power.

But that was the biggest mistake.

“As expected.”

Judas discovered the shadow of a thread created by the light of holy power.

It was the shadow of a thread.

Spreading the chains from the beginning was a tactic to hide this.

If Judas hadn’t noticed and had focused only on Titan, Lost, and possible long-range sniping, he would have been caught.

It was an impressive combination.

Titan approaching from a distance, bullets fired from medium range.

And even sniping that might come from long range.

There was no leisure to look around.

It was purely good luck.

Ting!

Unlike before, Judas swung his sword as if performing a somewhat elaborate sword dance. Even though he had spotted the shadow in midair, he hadn’t identified all the threads. So he slashed all around him, though his stance was somewhat exaggerated.

The thin, sharp threads caught on Judas’s aura blade all broke with their characteristic elastic sound.

As the invisible prison that had been trapping him disappeared, Titan swung his hammer at him.

“Even countering is meaningless.”

A structure where handling one attack meant inevitably having to receive another.

Judas gave a wry smile at this second move.

Bang!

Having failed to fully prepare for Titan because he was busy cutting the threads, Judas’s solution was to receive the blow.

He tried to offset the impact by meeting Titan’s hammer with his shoulder.

It was a futile act.

“Kuk!”

He merely avoided death.

Nevertheless, Judas pushed Titan away with superhuman willpower.

No matter how well-trained an old and sick body might be, it couldn’t match a warrior like Titan in sheer strength.

The reason this was possible was because Titan was already injured.

Titan, whose waist had been slashed once by Judas’s kick, had to retreat with a grimace after being struck.

But this time it was Judas whose posture was disrupted, and the experienced hunters had no intention of missing this opportunity.

Puk!

It was only then that Judas first became aware of Línea’s existence.

“Kuk!”

The one who had laid threads to match the chains.

He knew that this person might be closer than expected, but he hadn’t realized they were right behind him.

Judas swung his sword, feeling the hot wound from his pierced back.

Broadly and widely.

Like a wounded beast rejecting everything approaching it.

The movement was large and full of openings.

But Judas was a veteran who had survived such situations.

“Kyak?!”

Línea, who had been thrusting a dagger toward what seemed like an opening, was struck by something unexpected and knocked away.

Línea belatedly discovered what had struck her waist and was shocked.

It was the scabbard.

The scabbard, which she thought had been drawn and discarded by hand, was firmly tied to Judas’s belt at his waist and had been hidden by his loose priestly robes.

This made it a 1:1 situation.

A pure white sword coated with blue mana brushed against Judas’s nape.

And Judas’s sword, which had been drawing the starry sky, stopped in front of Lost’s neck.

The world suddenly fell into silence.

With this, Lost was certain.

“As I thought, you had no intention of killing me, Cardinal Sicarii.”

Lost deliberately exposed his neck as if saying “go ahead,” and Judas ultimately stopped his sword.

Yes, he had no intention of killing Lost, no matter what.

“Then such theatrics are meaningless.”

If Lost put down his sword, Judas would be unable to swing his as well.