19
With the branches no longer shielding us, the rain poured down, instantly drenching Cooper, who was kneeling over me. He bent forward deeply, his gray hair soaked and covering his eyes, revealing only his twisted, upturned lips. His right hand, wrapped in white flames, gripped my throat, while his left hand was desperately pushing his right hand upward, seemingly trying to stop himself from strangling me.
I was forced to tilt my head back due to the struggle between his two hands, which allowed me to see his eyes hidden behind his wet hair. His heterochromatic eyes were tightly shut, with his eyeballs twitching rapidly beneath the lids. As he gritted his teeth and exerted more force, he squeezed out broken words through clenched teeth: “Do… you… have… any last words…?”
Me: “…Get off.”
The veins on his forehead pulsed, and suddenly, he let out a roar and bit down on my shoulder.
Cooper had always liked to threaten to bite me since we were kids, but this was the first time he had actually followed through as an adult. His sharp fangs easily pierced my skin, and the damage continued to stack. Soon, I felt a warm liquid different from the rain flowing down my shoulder. I reached out to push his head away, but it wouldn’t budge. Then I grabbed the little ponytail at the back of his head, trying to pull him off, but it wouldn’t move. I could only give up and let him bite me—if this wasn’t a story-driven event, no matter how much he bit me, he couldn’t kill me. And if it was a story-driven event, there was no point in resisting.
I spread out my limbs, staring up at the rain falling from the sky.
The last time I spent a rainy night in Greenleaf Forest, my teacher almost killed me. And now, on this rainy night, my disciple also wanted to kill me…
I hadn’t even had time to feel sad when a golden-haired head suddenly appeared in my field of vision.
“…”
Luke had returned and was now looking down at me, his pale blue eyes unblinking.
I felt an inexplicable sense of guilt and embarrassment.
Luke didn’t seem to find anything wrong with the current situation. He casually took a light sword out of his pack and stuck it into the ground next to me, explaining, “The Pope gave me two tasks: one was to rescue you, and the other was to give you this sword.”
I glanced at the sword out of the corner of my eye and froze.
—This sword was called [Dawn], the one I used to wield.
The title of Paladin was not actually a profession but an honorific. The members of the Paladin Order were mainly swordsmen and berserkers—the former used light swords and two-handed greatswords, while the latter used long spears and lances. I used to wield a light sword, but on that rainy night, I gave my light sword to Hilier, who at the time was still specializing in healing magic, for self-defense. I then picked up [Dusk]’, the greatsword that Selena had discarded, and had been using it ever since.
[Dusk]’ and [Dawn] were a set. They had followed three Knight Commanders and were truly blessed swords from the God of Light, originally both belonging to Selena. When I first went on a mission with her, I had used my sword to prop up a collapsing wall to save a civilian, and Selena had casually tossed [Dawn] to me. She never asked for it back after that…
“Do you need help?” Luke asked.
I tried one last time, but I really couldn’t push the suddenly crazed Cooper off me and could only squeeze out a sound: “…Uh.”
Luke raised his hand and, with a loud smack, hit the back of Cooper’s neck.
Cooper’s health dropped by 3.
He went limp and collapsed on top of me, motionless.
Me: “…”
I had hit him at least five, if not ten times earlier, and it had no effect. How…?
—Maybe the ability to stun enemies 100% of the time with a weak point attack is a special player skill.
It took some effort to pry the unconscious Cooper off me. The bite wound he left wasn’t too large, and the bleeding effect didn’t last long, so it didn’t affect my movement. I decided to ignore it and thanked Luke.
He responded with a simple “Mm” before shifting his attention back to his camera.
I was utterly exasperated. “Why are you so obsessed with taking pictures…?”
“The person who gave me the camera said that photos can preserve memories. If I take pictures of everything that happens, I won’t be afraid of losing my memories next time.” Luke replied earnestly.
“…”
“I want to—”
“No, please forget about this particular event.” I didn’t want anyone, not even a player, to have a record of Cooper attacking me.
“…Alright.” Luke didn’t insist but also didn’t move. He suddenly said, “You need help.”
“The camp needs help more than I do,” I said firmly, refusing to let the Savior trigger any more side quests. I just wanted him to get back to the main story as quickly as possible.
Luke ignored my urging, his tone still slow and deliberate: “I’ve seen the Dark Church attack you, the Free Alliance attack you, and now the Church of Light attack you… Which faction do you actually belong to?”
Me: “…”
I was enemies with Asa from the Dark Church, and the Free Alliance, led by Selena, was no better… Now that my reputation with the Church of Light had plummeted due to the [Curse] debuff, after the Day of Divine Grace, Light Church believers had started marking me as a red name, and even though the Paladin Order still saw me as green, I couldn’t stay in the Church of Light anymore…
I had to admit: “…I belong nowhere.”
—The developers gave me a background that was flawless, leading to nothing but an inevitable exit by story death.
Luke looked at me with those pale blue eyes and asked again, “Where do you want to belong?”
“…” I tried to remind him once more about the main quest: “The number of monsters keeps increasing…”
Luke didn’t move, as if he wouldn’t go do the quest unless I answered him.
Resigned to the Savior’s stubbornness, I finally replied, “The Church of Light.”
—In truth, I still quite liked the title of Knight Commander.
“Mm, I like the Church of Light too.” Luke nodded, his tuft of hair swaying along with his movement. He even turned to ask the Dark Pope balloon he was holding, “What about you?”
The Dark Pope replied emotionlessly, “Sure, fine, whatever.”
Luke: “He likes it too.”
Me: “…”
With a blank expression, I urged him for the third time, “The situation at the camp is dangerous. If you’re able, please help defend against the monsters.”
—I could already hear the elves’ cries blending together!
“Alright.” Luke finally gave up on triggering new dialogue. He turned and left, his figure leading the Saint disappearing into the rain.
I breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down at the unconscious Cooper. The headache that had just eased came back with full force—Cooper’s self-imposed rules had been broken. When he woke up, he would still try to kill me unless I became stronger than him. I no longer had any hope in those 5 stat points of 1. My only chance was to find gear that could boost my health so that I wouldn’t accumulate damage just from the slightest bump. Too much of it still hindered my movement.
Oh, right, gear.
I looked over at the [Dawn] sword Luke had left behind, and the first thing I saw was the level requirement—level 10.
Me: “…”
[Dawn] had been bound to me when I was twelve, and back then, I wasn’t that strong. This sword had grown with me, gradually unlocking its power… But now, I was only level 1.
I sighed and picked up the sword.
The moment my fingers wrapped around the hilt, I suddenly felt a strange lightness in my body. It was an odd sensation, like I had suddenly realized I had been wearing some kind of heavy shackles all this time. I instinctively checked my stats and found that my 5 stat points of 1 had somehow become 5 points of 10—not a huge increase in base stats, but I now had four-digit attribute bonuses!
I stared in shock at the [Dawn] sword in my hand, wondering how I could equip such a high-level orange weapon… I was only level 1! How could I use a level 10 weapon?!
With the four-digit bonuses, all my damage-over-time (DOT) effects started to diminish rapidly. I stared blankly at my suddenly lengthening health bar as it refilled at an impressive speed. Then, I noticed a new buff icon beneath my health bar.
—[Divine Favor], raising my level by an additional 10.
20
The ‘[Divine Favor]’ buff originally belonged to Asa, the Dark Son. He was already the highest-damage archer in the game, and with the additional 10 levels, he was the pinnacle of combat power. This was why he could storm the Church of Light, even while enduring a 30% debuff.
But when that same buff was applied to me, it only boosted all my stats from 1 to 10…
Fortunately, Dawn’s bonus effects were impressive. As long as I had this sword equipped, by dodging attacks and targeting weak points, I was confident I could defeat Cooper, who was at level 80.
That was very reassuring.
—Because as long as I was stronger than Cooper, he would be able to control his desire to kill me.
—If I hadn’t seen the codex storyline, I wouldn’t have known that he had set such a strange rule for himself.
…
The codex storyline for [Alvin + Hilier + Cooper] began on a night much like this one.
The interior of the Grand Cathedral was always quiet at night due to its curfew. A team of patrolling paladins rounded a corner, only to see two figures walking toward them. The lantern light illuminated the two undisguised faces, and the leading paladin respectfully lowered his head in a silent bow.
The Pope nodded in acknowledgment as they passed. The paladins couldn’t help but glance back at the Pope’s figure draped in a knight’s uniform coat, unable to suppress the faintly odd expressions on their faces. However, when the Pope glanced back as if sensing something, he saw only the patrol team continuing their rounds with their backs turned to him.
After passing through two more corridors, the Pope quietly asked, “Is that the new Captain you promoted?”
The Knight Commander beside him, who had been lost in thought, absentmindedly replied, “…What?”
Hilier looked at him helplessly and repeated his question.
“Do you mean Miller?” Alvin thought for a moment and nodded. “He’s a very steady person, quite the opposite of…”
He hesitated for a moment before finishing, “…the opposite of Cooper.”
“You promoted him to Captain. Does that mean you’re not planning on letting Cooper return?”
Alvin didn’t answer.
Hilier understood, and asked another question: “After Bishop Ash’s trial, did you go see him?”
“He refused to see me.” Alvin shook his head. “I sent someone a letter, but he burned it in front of them without even reading it…”
“Who did you send? Your new Captain?” Hilier asked.
“…” Alvin replied, “I’m not that foolish.”
Hilier sighed in relief and changed the subject: “Although the Knight Commander and the Inquisitor are of equal rank, the Inquisition doesn’t have the best reputation compared to the Paladin Order.”
“I know, but it’s where Cooper fits best.”
“No, what I mean is… You should have talked to him first, instead of exiling him to the Inquisition with a transfer order.”
Alvin looked confused: “I didn’t ‘exile’ him.”
Hilier: “…”
He rephrased his point: “What if one day your superior…?” His expression subtly changed for a moment, but Alvin didn’t notice. “What if I suddenly asked you to step down from your position as Knight Commander and take up the role of Inquisitor? How would you feel?”
“Do you need me to be the Inquisitor?”
“Just tell me your thoughts.”
“Then I would become the Inquisitor,” Alvin said, already beginning to think of the follow-up arrangements. “Miller could temporarily take over as acting Commander, but he’s not great at coordinating large-scale operations, so someone—”
Hilier raised a hand to interrupt, laughing despite himself: “It was just a hypothetical…” He sighed. “This is where you and Cooper differ. You always try to see the good in things, but he doesn’t.”
“…”
There was a long silence before Alvin spoke again: “Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen him as my successor from the start.”
Hilier looked at him in surprise: “Are you giving up on him?”
“How could I?” Alvin looked even more surprised.
Hilier: “…”
“So, what you’re saying is, you don’t regret taking him as your disciple, but you should have trained him as an Inquisitor, not as a Knight Commander?”
“Yes.”
“…” Hilier raised a hand to rub his temples, exhausted. “Forget it. I’ll talk to Cooper instead of you.”
“Yes… wait, huh?”
Alvin stared at him in confusion.
Hilier hesitated, seemingly torn about something.
Just then, both of them heard a sound. Instinctively, Alvin stepped forward to shield Hilier and looked in the direction of the sound. He froze—it was Cooper, standing in the prayer room, his silhouette outlined by the ever-burning candles.
Hilier patted Alvin’s shoulder and gestured for silence. The light of the lantern he held, fueled by divine power, flickered out. Alvin understood, lightening his footsteps as they approached the prayer room quietly.
Inside, Cooper was unaware that he wasn’t alone in his nocturnal wandering. He knelt before the white statue of the God of Light, gazing up at its featureless face. The soft glow of candlelight reflected in his heterochromatic eyes as he stared for a long moment before closing them, crossing his hands over his chest in the standard prayer posture.
Yet, the words he uttered were nearly blasphemous: “My Lord, do you even exist?”
Outside the window, Hilier suddenly stiffened. He turned his head to glance at Alvin, who had furrowed his brow at Cooper’s words, unaware of Hilier’s reaction. Then he turned back to the window, quietly watching the blank face of the statue.
“I want to kill Alvin,” Cooper’s second statement was even more shocking. His expression was conflicted. “But another voice says I don’t want to kill him; I want to return to his side, to be accepted by him again… Is that voice yours, my Lord?”
The statue stood silently in the center of the room, offering no reply.
“My Lord, I’ve done wrong. I’m willing to admit my mistakes, to correct them…” Cooper murmured, his eyelashes trembling. “I want his approval. I want to become a Knight Commander like him. I want to bring justice and hope to others. That is the meaning of the Paladin Order…”
“He brought me out of the abyss. He taught me how to restrain myself… But I can’t do it. I want to kill those people. I want to see their blood… But I did it. I didn’t kill anyone. I controlled myself… I did it, my Lord. Please look at me. I really did it… I can protect others like he does. I can become a Paladin… So he can’t abandon me. He can’t reject me…”
Soft sobs echoed from the window as Cooper’s voice became more fragmented: “I’m willing to accept punishment. I’ll work hard to change… My Lord, why won’t he accept me? He promised to teach me control… He’s the one who betrayed me… I want revenge. I want to kill him. I want him to regret it—but no, I don’t. I just want… I just want to go back… I’ll listen to him. I’ll do it. I can do it…”
“My Lord, I beg you, stop me. I don’t want to kill him…”
Outside, Alvin stood frozen, his expression unreadable.
Inside, Cooper’s fingers were white and trembling from gripping his hands so tightly. He took a deep breath, then whispered: “He’s stronger than me. I can’t kill him… So I won’t kill him, right?”
“My Lord, bear witness…”
“As long as he’s stronger than me, I won’t kill him…”
Outside the prayer room, Hilier placed a hand on Alvin’s shoulder, stopping him from moving forward. Alvin looked at him in confusion, but Hilier shook his head, grabbing Alvin’s wrist and dragging him away. Only when the prayer room’s light was hidden behind layers of walls did Hilier let go. His brow furrowed deeply. “Cooper’s mental state is more unstable than you told me. He’s on the verge of losing control.”
“He won’t. He can control himself.” Alvin immediately refuted.
Hilier raised an eyebrow at him.
Alvin coughed: “I’ll talk to him…”
“Alvin.” Hilier interrupted him.
The usual softness and compassion in those lake-green eyes faded, replaced by the authority of his high position. He looked Alvin directly in the eyes, enunciating each word: “He wants to kill you.”
“…”
Alvin was silent for a long time.
No one knew what he was thinking when he suddenly said something seemingly unrelated: “The oracle.”
Hilier blinked.
“The [Day of Divine Grace] is approaching, but there’s no one who can replenish the power of [Light’s Judgement].” Alvin looked at him intently. “The Dark God issued an oracle during the last ‘Day of Ritual’. If our Lord could also issue an oracle during the [Day of Divine Grace]…”
“No!” Hilier immediately shouted, understanding his implication. “There are still three months until the [Day of Divine Grace]. We still have time—”
“You’ve already sifted through the entire Church five times, but there’s still one person missing—because Bishop Ash hasn’t broken any commandments. He’s innocent.” Alvin smiled faintly. “Hilier, you promised me, no harm would come to the innocent.”
“…”
“Cooper is my disciple. I’m willing to vouch for him. The oracle can replace divine grace…” he said softly. “Let me go.”
Hilier lowered his head, saying nothing.
Alvin saw through his silence and spoke again: “Hilier, don’t force yourself to do something you don’t want to do.”
“…So you’ll do it for me, is that it?”
Hilier’s fingers gripped the corner of his cloak tightly, yanking it off and shoving it into Alvin’s arms with such force that he stumbled back a step. Alvin quickly reached out to steady him, only to have his hand slapped away.
“I’ve had enough!” Hilier shouted, furious. “Alvin! What do you expect me to do?! Am I supposed to take your sacrifice for granted?! Am I supposed to sit on this throne while standing on your corpse?! Should I thank you for it?!”
Alvin stared, wide-eyed, clutching the cloak: “I…”
“He wants to kill you! You heard it yourself! No matter how much you tame a wolf, it’ll still eat people!” Hilier grabbed a lantern and hurled it at him. Pointing at Alvin’s face, he yelled, “How can you vouch for him?! Will he ask for your permission before killing?! Or will you atone for his sins after he’s committed them, like you did for Selena?!”
“Alvin, tell me! What do you have left to atone for his sins?!”
“…”
In the quiet night, the Pope and the Knight Commander stood on opposite sides of the corridor. The lantern lay shattered between them, the spilled divine light casting their faces in an eerie pallor.
After a long while, Alvin took a deep breath and spoke calmly: “I have nothing left to offer for him. But he’s my disciple, and I trust him.”
Hilier’s rage suddenly vanished. He slumped back against a pillar, covering his face with his hands: “I’m sorry…”
Alvin smiled at him, his expression betraying nothing, but his sky-blue eyes were empty. He turned his head to look toward the prayer room, and after a moment, he said, “You said I always try to see the good in things, but I believe he’s worth it.”
“Give him another chance, Hilier.”
“…Do you have anything else to say?”
“I promise you, I’ll come back alive.” Alvin turned back, solemnly making his vow.
“Hah…” Hilier closed his eyes and laughed bitterly. “Alright, come back alive. If you can’t do that, I’ll sacrifice myself to [Light’s Judgement]”.
Alvin was so shocked he stopped breathing for a few seconds before nervously saying, “Don’t joke about that…”
“I’m not joking.” Hilier’s voice was hollow. “I said I wouldn’t sacrifice the innocent. If you promise me that Cooper is innocent, then the only person in the Church who deserves to be sacrificed is me, for letting you go to your death.”
Alvin was left speechless. He stood there for a long time, then suddenly unfurled the cloak and, almost ingratiatingly, wrapped it around Hilier again. His movements were clumsy as he stammered, “Things haven’t gotten that bad yet. I’ll find a solution…”
“Shut up,” Hilier said. “Before you make me feel any more despicable.”
“…”
The last bit of divine light flickered out. Their figures were swallowed by the darkness, falling into silence.
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