Paradigm Parasite - Chapter 83: "True Identity"

Chapter 83: “True Identity”

When I entered the church grounds, Iqbal was waiting for me.

When Iqbal saw me, he made a salute in the style of a holy knight by placing his hand on his chest.

I don't need that kind of thing.

“I've been waiting for you.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I don't need to preface this. Where is it?”

“This way, sir.”

I followed Iqbal as he started walking.

The place is deserted because of the commotion in the city.

“Is there anyone else packed in here besides you?”

“Yes, sir. Everyone has gone to the city. The trouble is that Temple Knight Heretilt, who is supposed to give orders, is missing, so the chain of command is in disarray, and each person seems to be working on his or her own. Those who are hot-blooded are trying to contain the situation, while those who are relatively calm are guiding the evacuation of the residents.”

“You know a lot.”

“I'm in close contact with Mixon.”

I see.

I opened the big double doors of the big church and went inside.

“It's in pretty bad shape.”

“When I entered the church, it was already like this.”

Most of the chairs and furnishings, which were supposed to be lined up in evenly spaced rows, have been cruelly destroyed, and there are large scratches on the floor and walls.

…From the looks of it, it's not a blunt instrument. A greatsword or something?

There was a considerable amount of blood pool on the floor and some, what looked like corroded marks.

Perhaps Dzrzain and someone – well, definitely someone from Gnosis – fought here, and Darzain lost and blew up the place.

So, does that mean there are other people down there?

So, if they tried to check this place out and got blocked, then this is the right place?

Then let's go down carefully. Let's crush them together as best as possible.

Depending on the situation, the remaining ones are probably worn out and i will be able to finish them off easily.

As I was making such a calculation, I heard an impact sound from the back of the room.

Iqbal, who was walking in front of me, stopped and drew his sword.

“Is the staircase at the back?”

I pointed in the direction of the sound.

Iqbal nodded silently.

Meanwhile, the sound of impact was getting closer and closer, and something blew through the door.

We moved to the side to avoid it.

The flying object bounced a few times on the church floor, hit the wall, and stopped.

When we looked at what flew at us, we saw a Temple Knight in white armor.

He was an old man who had aged quite a bit and was grunting in pain.

No…no…what is this guy?

It's strange. The old man's face looks blurred.

Who is this guy? He looks familiar.

“I…g…nuh…oo…oo…oo…”

The Temple Knight, who got up with a wobble, stared in the direction from which he had been flown.

Oh? His face has changed.

The face that had been an old man a moment ago had become a man in his late thirties with brownish hair. The face before the change was only for a moment, so I didn't get a good look at it.

Who was he…I couldn't come up with it on the spur of the moment.

I don't want to raise my voice, so I let my thoughts fly.

–Iqbal. Do you recognize that face?

–…….

There's no reply. I look at Iqbal, and he is frozen in shock.

–Iqbal!

–What!? I beg your pardon.

I sent him a strong thought and he came back to himself.

–So? Who is that guy?

–He's Void the Cathedral Knight.

A Cathedral Knight? I didn't recognize him because he's wearing white armor.

Hmm? I thought there was no cathedral knight here? Was that what that woman, Sherifa or something, said, but was she bluffing?

The questions came one after another, but there was one in particular that bothered me, so I changed my question.

–By the way, just to confirm, did you see the old man's face right after he was blown up here?

I couldn't check, so I asked Iqbal in the hope that he had seen it.

–I have. He's Heretilt the Temple Knight.

………… Uh… you mean that?

So the point is that a cathedral knight has turned into a temple knight.

But the question is, how long have they been replaced?

If it was recently, there could be some reason, such as the need to come here secretly, but if it was a long time ago, it is a different story.

If that is the case, the real Heretilt is likely to have been killed.

Well, the possibility that he is still alive is not zero….

Now, what would Void want to do by impersonating someone of lesser status than himself?

If I had to guess, I'd say he's responsible for this whole mess.

He's not supposed to be there, so if there's a problem, it's automatically the fault of Heretilt, who is in charge.

So that's it. He wants to put all the blame for this mess on Heretilt.

So you are just going to ignore the whole thing?

No, maybe he will say that he solved the problem himself.

Maybe they could make things go away by saying they cleaned up the mismanagement below, and the wounds would be less severe.

…How very worldly of you.

You're a clergyman, aren't you? You're not allowed to match-pump like that, are you?

You're acting like you're corrupt for a man who believes in spiritual wisdom and all that.

I think that much and tilt my head back.

…Then why did this guy get blown away?

I looked in the direction where Void was blown away and saw something pitch black walking slowly toward me.

“Ha ha. That's fantastic! With this amount of magical power, you're pretty high up in the intermediate class!”

I hear a grating voice. I can't remember who it was, but I know it was unpleasant.

What have I done to the owner of this voice, no, what has the owner of this voice done to me?

Who am I?

I can't remember. Nothing comes up in my mind. I can't remember.

I just…I vaguely remember something terribly sad.

I don't know…what was I…doing?

I am too lazy to try to remember anything. I don't feel like doing anything.

I feel like there was something I really had to do.

“The rest will be summoned as soon as we are ready.”

I hear that grating voice again.

What is this guy? What is it about this guy that makes my heart ache?

I open my eyes to catch a glimpse of the voice.

I see a man. He looks familiar. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?

I make eye contact with a man.

“Hmm? Did it move? I thought it wouldn't move, since the summons is physical only…”

The man looks at me curiously.

“Well, it doesn't matter. We will remove the 'heart' as planned! Let's get to work!”

A number of people come down from above.

One of them almost tripped over something while trying to walk away.

Apparently, he was too focused on me.

The guy clicked his tongue and kicked it.

It rolled over and hit my leg.

I slowly lower my gaze and my eyes meet it.

–Rick. Good morning, Rick.

It was the first face I saw in the day. Her smile, like the sun, was charming.

I was secretly convinced that she would become a beautiful woman in the future.

But she doesn't smile anymore. She only smiles in my memory.

Sania.

I turn my gaze back to look at the man. I look. I look. I look. Look. Look. Watch. Watch. Watch.

Watch. Watch. Watch. Watch. Watch. Watch. See. Look …… reminded me.

At that moment, a tremendous rage erupts.

The next thing I know, I'm bellowing and punching the guy – Heretilt.

Heretilt, perhaps not expecting me to move, reacts slightly late, and instead of ducking my fist, he catches it, but is unable to escape the impact and is blown away.

“Ga..ha. That's stupid. How can you move? His ego doesn't exist…don't tell me he still has the ego of the catalyst?”

I picked up a fallen greatsword and slashed at them.

Heretilt ducked, but the black-robed men around him did not, and they were cut in two.

Oh, yes, I remembered. I remember now. I'm Rick.

I don't know what's going on with my body, Heretilt, but I don't care as long as I can kill you.

I glare at Heretilt with murderous intent in my gaze.

Heretilt looks shocked and jumps to the side to get away from my gaze.

The black robe that was nearby somehow gets knocked against the wall and turns into a stain on the wall.

What the hell? Did I just do that?

It doesn't matter. It's Heretilt now. I'm going to kill him. Kill. Kill.

“Damn! It's a magic eye! I didn't expect this, but I'm going to take it out! Come on!”

Multiple black robes attack me, but they are no match for me now.

I cut them down with my greatsword from the edge as they come at me. While I'm doing so, I'm hit in the back by multiple magic shots, but I don't care.

I'm not interested in that, I'm interested in Heretilt, where did he run off to?

I stare at the people who are shooting magic at me as the magic keeps coming at me, and I think to myself, “…crush them.”

…to be crushed.

The next moment, those who were chanting magic became stains on the ground as if they had been crushed by an invisible hammer.

I gradually understood how to use this strange power.

“Damn! Magic is not very effective, is it? Stop it somehow!”

…There you are, Heretilt!

I slammed my greatsword in the direction of the voice I heard.

Heretilt ducks and throws something at me. I swat it away with my hand, annoyed.

It looked like a bottle. The bottle shatters in my hand and sprays the liquid inside.

My hand hurt and smoke rose from it.

“The holy water seems to be working…gah!?”

He said something, but I ignored him and slammed my great sword into his side.

Heretilt took it with his sword, but he couldn't kill the power and was blown away and slammed into the wall.

I mercilessly follow up. A swing from the top.

Before, I could barely swing it, but now I can easily swing it with one hand.

He rolls away. The great sword hit the wall and shattered.

I inwardly clicked my tongue and threw the broken sword at him, but it was repelled by the sword.

Now I try to crush him with my gaze.

[False Eyes: Blind Perspectives.]

Herretild crushed the ball-like object he pulled out of his pocket, and my vision was tinged with darkness.

I activated the magic as if I didn't care. I shot [fireball III] in a roughly defined direction.

Before, I could only use about I, but now I can fire III in rapid succession with plenty of leeway.

Although I questioned my change, I didn't care deeply because anything that could kill Heretilt was fine with me.

[Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball]. [Fireball].

I lost my bearings along the way, so I continued to strike in the direction of the voices and signs I heard at random.

When my vision returned, I saw the remnants of black robes that had been obliterated and Heretilt running down the passageway.

Once again, a sense of rage rose up in my heart.

He had spoken so highly of himself, and now he ran away when the situation became inconvenient?

I'm going to kill him. I didn't like his every move.

I will kill him. The fact that he was still breathing in this world made me uncomfortable.

I will kill him. I couldn't stand the fact that he existed.

I chased after him with all my might. It must have been quite a distance, but I soon caught up with him.

When I was close enough, I tried to strike him with my fist, but he ducked and drew his sword from his waist and struck me in the arm.

The sword bit into my arm, but I felt nothing.

“Sword! Show me your power!”

My arm melted as the blade flashed and then popped off.

I ignore the pain and strike with my remaining arm.

I blow him to the wall of the not so wide corridor. I give chase.

There is no place to run away from the stones, so the kicks hit in an interesting way.

One blow, two, three…the third was rolled over and avoided.

Heretilt spits blood and runs toward the exit.

Don't let him run! Let me kill him!

I quickly chase after him. My arm is starting to regenerate in the chase, but I don't particularly care.

I catch up with Heretilt again as he is crawling up the hidden staircase.

I grabbed him by the leg just as he was climbing up and swung him around.

After slamming him against the wall several times, I threw him as hard as I could against the door.

Heretilt burst through the door and bounced across the church floor several times before coming to a stop against the wall.

“…g…noooo…oooh…oooh…”

Heretilt could be seen groaning and standing up.

That's right. Get up! You think you can get away with this stuff?

More. I'm going to hurt you more. I'm going to kill you with so much pain that you'll regret having been born.

I slowly made my way toward Heretilt.