Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 87:

Isaac was shocked that these monsters were capable of speech, even if it was in the form of pleas or curses directed at him.

‘The nameless chaos is now a faith believed only by monsters to the extent it could be called a monster religion… And I’m being opposed by those very monsters?’

The conclusion from the Night Stalker’s words and reactions was clear. The nameless chaos had abandoned not only its followers but also its divine beasts and kin. And now, it was channeling all its power into Isaac.

‘The nameless chaos killed all its followers who knew its name. That’s why it was forgotten and treated as a dead god. That’s why it’s called the nameless chaos…’

It could be considered a kind of mythological suicide.

This raised an essential question.

Why did the nameless chaos commit suicide?

Why did it decide to spread the White Death, a calamity that wiped out a third of the world’s population?

Seeing that it mercilessly killed even its own kin and followers, it was clear that the nameless chaos had no intention of connecting its past actions with its current ones.

This was both a relief and a regret for Isaac.

As a modern person, Isaac didn’t want to live in a world governed by the nameless chaos. Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to prefer the order led by the Codex of Light. However, he wondered if the tentacle monsters could be of use in a crisis. But it seemed unlikely at the moment.

‘Well, can’t be helped.’

Isaac surveyed the remnants of monsters scattered across the sanctuary. The veins and muscle fibers stretched across the sanctuary absorbed all the debris on the floor. However, there remained some debris from the monsters’ bodies.

Filled with divine power.

It was a power belonging to the nameless chaos.

Isaac pondered how to use this power. It felt wrong to absorb it immediately, but leaving it felt equally unsettling. It had to be discharged somehow.

Then, Isaac remembered the sight of the worm crawling out of the anonymous scripture.

‘Worms… Worms, huh? Worms can be useful, depending on how you use them.’

Deciding how to use the power, Isaac placed his hand on the nameless scripture again. The whispering sounds continued, but they were no longer as distinct nor did they try to dominate him. They were merely prisoners, capable of nothing but weeping.

[To initiate this ritual, you must name the scripture.]

[Please name this scripture.]

Considering the circumstances under which the anonymous scripture became a sacred text, and the origin of the ‘ritual’ it would perform as part of the nameless chaos, Isaac chose a name.

“The Book of the Nameless Worm.”

[The Incomplete Book of the Nameless Worm (EX+) has been created.]

‘Incomplete?’

That made sense, considering he had just named it and written a title. It was natural for it to be incomplete.

Around the Book of the Nameless Worm, the divine power filling the sanctuary began to gather. It started to take form and condense, then vanished like mist. Isaac felt the divine power that had filled the sanctuary diminish significantly.

Separately, through the senses of the sanctuary, Isaac could feel what was happening throughout the Issacrea domain.

The signs of a miracle went unnoticed by everyone.

It started so slowly, over such a wide area, and from beneath the ground, that nobody realized what was happening. The divine power emanating from the remnants of the Night Crawler stimulated the layer just beneath the soil. The stimulated earthworms, maggots, and ground beetles began to move. These despised and loathed creatures began to proliferate like single-celled organisms, spreading vigorously beneath the surface. They constantly consumed the soil and excreted it, making the scarce arable land of the Issacrea domain more fertile than ever before.

Pests too made their appearance, eagerly crawling up to the surface. The chickens and ducks on the farms started to fatten up significantly.

Some creatures even plunged into the rivers, making the fish in the streams thicker than ever before.

The seeds of the potatoes that Isaac had planted grew bigger, and birds and beasts gathered to feed on the bustling insects, making the forest even noisier.

Spring arrived in the Issacrea domain earlier and more bountifully than ever before.

All of this was achieved through delicate tuning to prevent the outbreak of harmful species or the collapse of the ecosystem. Adjusting even the lowest elements was enough to enrich the land.

Because these changes occurred over a long period, the people living there hardly felt the dramatic transformation, feeling only that life had become somewhat better.

However, Isolde, who returned after a week, was immediately struck by the changed atmosphere upon entering the domain.

“What is this? Even if it’s spring…”

Spring is a time of great changes, but there is a consistent atmosphere in any village. Spring is usually a time of hardship for any village. The Issacrea domain, having suffered wars and poverty, expected this spring to bring a major crisis. However, the faces of the Issacrea domain’s people that Isolde met bore no shadows.

“The roads have been paved, and the walls repaired. Did they have the leisure for that?”

“Huh, was this place always like this?”

Isolde’s companion, Jacquette, tilted her head and murmured in confusion.

“Have you been here before?”

“Well, um. We wander around here and there, so we’ve looked around this area. But I remember passing by because it seemed there was nothing to feast on. The atmosphere is quite different now.”

Isolde looked around, feeling strange that she wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

The snow that hadn’t melted until early spring due to the shaded valley had disappeared, and the valley was now flowing with plentiful water. The dry and barren trees now proudly displayed branches laden with fresh green leaves. Even though it was still the planting season, it appeared that no one was starving.

“It seems we can trust the knight after all if things are this well-off. I thought we might have to hunt.”

Jacquette was the vanguard dispatched ahead of the Barbarians following behind. Though she led no more than a hundred Barbarians, it was a significant force for a small domain. If there were no concerns about food, there would be much they could do.

However, Caitlin was preparing and thus departing later. As the branch manager of Seor, she couldn’t leave Sor entirely, but it seemed she planned to grant significant authority to the Issacrea domain.

Isolde wondered what changes would occur once these two settled in the Issacrea domain.

***

The only person who felt the changes in real-time was Isaac himself.

The miraculous event was still ongoing, and the changes to come were greater than those that had already occurred. Isaac could sense the entire domain from the sanctuary, knowing that the miracle wrought by the nameless chaos would change the region’s ecosystem significantly.

However, Isaac also considered the opposite possibility.

“If a barren valley can be made fruitful, the opposite is also possible…”

What if Isaac had used this miracle with evil intent? Swarms of poisonous insects and pests would have risen from the ground, devouring everything like a plague of locusts, turning the land into a wasteland.

Of course, Isaac had no such intentions. To him, that seemed a worthless endeavor. Why increase the wasteland? Unless he was to consume it himself.

Isaac suddenly remembered that the nameless chaos was categorized as a malevolent deity.

It would be hard to excuse the sin of killing a third of the world’s population. And then there were the tentacle monsters, controlling minds, and, incidentally, consuming them…

Isaac wondered if the followers of the nameless chaos had also engaged in such deeds in the past.

“If so, why did it kill all its followers?”

The question didn’t linger long.

Isaac had too much to do to get lost in such thoughts.

To truly feel the changes that had occurred in the domain, more time was still needed.

Isaac was still distributing food to the people of the domain and had eradicated the traditional injustices that occurred within it. Whenever monsters appeared, he personally went out to hunt or devour them, and when incidents occurred, he used his Eye of Chaos to find the culprits.

Isaac’s actions as the lord not only left a deep impression on the residents but also on the priests and paladins. The priests, in particular, were amazed that Isaac, a young Grail Knight, could read and write “like a noble,” and even perform calculations with numbers adeptly.

“How can he calculate so quickly…?”

The priest dispatched to assist in managing Isaac’s domain was taken aback upon seeing Isaac calculate faster than himself. Though Isaac was only performing simple arithmetic, it was impressive considering many among the paladins struggled with reading and writing.

However, Isaac was internally grinding his teeth while handling his duties.

‘These damned barbarians…’

Because people tended to resolve difficult situations with prayer, the administrative system of this era was incredibly primitive. Everyone seemed to adapt and live well, but from the perspective of Isaac, a modern person, it was the epitome of inefficiency, irrationality, and illogicality.

Isaac felt that if he merely nudged it, the domain he had worked hard to build could crumble like a child’s sandcastle, so he couldn’t just leave it be.

Most of the reasons Isaac was busy stemmed from this. He aimed to ensure the domain could function reasonably well even in his absence. This was something he couldn’t entrust to anyone else.

Indeed, he was incredibly busy.

This was not at all what Isaac had expected, but he had no choice.

He wished he could just leave it to the priests and paladins, but he knew all too well what might happen to the domain in his absence.

A prime example was the domain’s judicial system.

“Grail Knight.”

Although Isaac had become both the lord and the abbot, the most common title used to address him was still “Grail Knight.” This title occupied a significant part of his identity, and its authority was in no way inferior to that of a lord or abbot. Especially since this Grail Knight had defeated an angel.

“Another trial?”

“It has come to that.”

Paladin Werner answered with a troubled expression.

Werner, who closely guarded and assisted Isaac with his duties, was one of the paladins who had stayed in the Issacrea domain after arriving with Bishop Juan. He was the same paladin who had been seriously injured in an ambush by a Blood Knight while pursuing a curse with Isaac.

Thanks to Juan’s direct treatment, his body healed quickly, but he wasn’t as agile as before. Even if it’s called a miracle, it could only mend bones and heal wounds, not undo the injury entirely.

“What’s the issue this time?”

“Merchants dealing in leather stopped by for trade, and during their stay at the inn, a pouch containing money disappeared. They’ve accused the innkeeper. It seems the innkeeper used to store hunters’ leather and broker deals for them.”

“They must have sworn oaths of innocence.”

“Yes. Both parties have testified to their innocence.”

This was precisely the infuriating aspect of the judicial system that frustrated Isaac.

At this time, trials were laughably conducted by swearing one’s innocence in front of a priest. Just as one wouldn’t go to heaven for minor good deeds, one wouldn’t fall to hell for minor sins.

However, an oath was different. Swearing an oath on one’s faith meant that, regardless of the oath’s content, violating it implied willingness to risk falling into hell after death.

‘There is no separate trial for the priest.’