I Became a Dark Knight in the Game

5 – Encounter with the Witch (1)

Just as the borders of the Holy Kingdom were freely open to pilgrims, no special qualifications were needed to enter the capital, Temris. Passing through the blessed gate was all that was required.

There were two reasons for this simplicity.

Practically, there was no time to scrutinize each pilgrim coming from all over the world. The church had to always devote itself to opposing the Abyss.

Doctrinally, the gods looked after even the lowest of beings and did not favor the most powerful ones more, so how could they discriminate against visitors?

There was only one reason the Holy City would block visitors. If they belonged to the powers of the Abyss.

Almost every day, Kriel’s preference for the Dark Knight profession declined, but today the drop was particularly steep.

‘To be blocked at the main gate.’

As Kriel was about to step beyond the gate, the golden radiance that softly enveloped the Holy Gate vanished.

As the gate’s glow faded, the soldiers pointed their spears at Kriel. Showing them the Western Army’s orders was to no avail, which was frustrating.

[Uh… Is it because of me?]

Orisin whispered while floating around. Kriel thought about blaming it all on that guy, but it wouldn’t mean much anyway.

‘It’s because of this cursed horse head!’ If he said that, the response would be, ‘Then leave it behind.’ Since Kriel’s profession was a Dark Knight, the Holy Gate’s radiance did not shine upon him.

The sincerity of the Holy Kingdom’s priests was well known, but it was doubtful whether their mercy and love extended to the Abyssal beings.

“Stop.”

In a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat, a familiar but unwelcome voice was heard.

Kriel turned around. The attire was entirely black. Even the deeply pressed hat was black, naturally reminding one of a witch.

Under the hat, long hair flowed down. The hair, black as shadows, had a reddish tint at the ends, reminiscent of blood drops on a sword tip.

“Morgina…”

Kriel muttered the name of the ‘witch’ he did not want to see again.

[What? Do you know her?]

“She is the Saint of Eve Kaha.”

[Huh? The goddess of necrophilia?]

Morgina’s gaze turned to Orisin. At her fierce look, Orisin involuntarily let out a ‘Hii’ and hid his head behind Kriel’s back.

While Orisin trembled behind Kriel, Morgina strode forward. In one hand, she held a raven-shaped pendant, the symbol of the Eve Kaha Order, and with the other, she molded a raven from divine power to resemble the pendant.

“I vouch for this person’s identity. He is a penitent seeking to cleanse his curse by working for our order.”

“A curse… you say?”

Those called saints or holy ones were special beings outside the common hierarchical structure of the order. However, being outside the hierarchy did not mean they lacked authority. Devoting themselves to the lowest strata of the world, they were respected regardless of rank.

The gatekeepers, the most honorable knights of the Holy Kingdom, naturally held such respect. Hearing that they could trust the saint’s guarantee, they gradually lowered their spears.

“Enter. Please stay close to the saint.”

Before Kriel could say anything, Morgina linked arms with him.

“Come on, let’s go, Sir Knight!”

A cheerful shout. But as soon as they passed through the holy gate, her demeanor changed. With a hardened expression, Morgina whispered to Kriel.

“Hey. What did you kill this time to attract such a wretched spirit?”

[A wretched spirit!]

Orisin, who had just hidden from Morgina’s gaze, now flew around her, protesting vehemently.

To be precise, he tried to protest.

The raven Morgina had created from divine power suddenly split into dozens and pecked at Orisin. Though Orisin resisted by swinging his horns, he couldn’t withstand the violence of numbers.

‘Kieek!’ Orisin let out a somewhat undignified scream for a spirit and hurriedly hid inside his horn.

“This rascal…”

“Shut up. It’s so inefficient to deal with each wretched spirit one by one.”

Kriel wanted to sigh. He had never been comfortable dealing with that woman. He had headed to the Holy Kingdom to avoid giving her any more excuses to meet. Why on earth had she come here?

“By the way, it’s surprising. Did that old man really send you?”

“Old man?”

The old man Morgina referred to was undoubtedly the commander of the Western Front. However, Kriel had come to Temris not because he had heard the old man’s orders, but because he didn’t want to hear them.

“…?”

At Kriel’s reaction, Morgina tilted her head.

“Didn’t you come because you received a cooperation letter from the Eve Kaha Order?”

“I should be the one asking. Weren’t you wandering in search of traces of the abyss after leaving the Western Army? What brings you to Temris?”

Morgina muttered quietly at Kriel’s cold response. He couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying because he wasn’t paying attention, but words like ‘narrow-minded human’ and ‘this stubborn fool’ suggested it wasn’t anything nutritious.

“Haa…”

Morgina sighed openly and grabbed Kriel’s hand, pulling him along.

“Since you’re here, it must be something related to the clergy, right? I can give you access to the main temple and a private audience with the saint, so let’s go to our order first.”

“Is there any other saint in the Eve Kaha Order besides you?”

“No?”

In the end, it was a suggestion to give him a chance to be alone with himself. From Kriel’s perspective, who trusted Morigina’s abilities but distrusted her character, it was an unwelcome proposal.

Sensing Kriel’s hesitation, Morigina hastily added.

“Hey. You know I’m being this friendly because it’s me, right? You almost got kicked out at the gate.”

Morigina was right. The dark knight had been refused entry from the start. Even if he went to the main temple, it would be fortunate if he was just turned away at the door; at worst, a fight could break out.

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

In the end, Kriel followed Morigina to the temple of Eve Kaha.

[aaah, no!]

The sound of a horse’s head wailing was heard, but unfortunately, there was no one nearby to listen to the suspicious ghost’s lament.

*

The main temple of Eve Kaha was modest compared to other main temples. This was because the Eve Kaha sect itself was small.

With Morigina leading the way, no priests blocked Kriel. Seeing those who quietly bowed their heads in greeting whenever they met Morigina, Orishin grumbled.

[Wow. Is this thug really a saint? The end times are near.]

This time, the words came from within the horn. A thought wave (思念波) transmitted only to Kriel.

‘Could she send telepathy too?’

Kriel was impressed by the magical prowess Orishin displayed. The magic of speaking directly to the mind required quite advanced skills.

It was rather ridiculous that such a delicate magical tuning ability was used for badmouthing others. Orishin, who was about to continue her chatter, had to shut her mouth.

As soon as the sentence was completed, Morigina suddenly turned her head and glared at Kriel, or more precisely, at the broken horn of the bicon he was carrying.

[Eek!]

“What’s wrong?”

“No. I thought I heard someone calling me.”

Thinking she had misheard, Morigina started walking again. Watching her back, Kriel whispered.

“Her abilities are real. Her ability to sense the etheric waves is the best I’ve seen.”

[Eve Kaha always picks saints with personalities just like hers…]

Morigina shouted, calling Kriel.

“What are you doing not following? Come in.”

For a saint’s room, it was bleak. There were no particularly luxurious pieces of furniture. The curtains had exceptionally good light-blocking performance, and the bed occupying one corner of the room seemed to be the only thing money was spent on.

Instead of furniture, there were weapons. A mace made of solid iron without a single seam. A spiked shield. A club carved from ash wood. Various bladed and bladeless weapons.

It was more like a weapon display than a bedroom.

As the door creaked shut, Orishin crawled out from within the horn.

[Even if you were Eve Kaha herself, I would believe it. But there’s no need to decorate the room like a battlefield just because you’re a priestess guiding the souls of the dead, right?]

“Is a stray spirit talking back?”

A sullen Orisin closed his mouth.

“So, Kriel. What brings you here?”

“It’s because of that spirit who’s sulking because you keep calling it a stray spirit. And you?”

“It’s too deeply tainted with abyssal water to be called a spirit.”

Morgina, who had been tilting her head while looking at Orisin, soon turned her head towards Kriel.

“The Priest-King has issued a summons to all the saints of the order.”

“For what reason?”

“They say an artifact of the abyss has been discovered.”

The abyss was originally the domain of the dark knights. Kriel instinctively understood why Morgina had requested his dispatch.