War was madness.
Death for another death.
Mountains of bodies.
A lake made of blood.
And the fear of people and some turning into murderers.
“Apostle. You shouldn’t be in such a place.”
An old priest looked at Ricky with a concerned expression.
The old priest, who had been a priest for a long time, stood on the battlefield to serve his God.
However, from his point of view, the young Apostle couldn’t die here.
The death of an Apostle meant defeat in the war, and without an Apostle, the Pyro Church would crumble right away.
His life couldn’t be put on the line.
“Move right now. We will do anything to block this place.”
“Itra.”
“Yes.”
The old priest named Itra bowed his head.
Ricky drew his sword from his waist.
“This is my destiny.”
“But…”
“Thank you for the concern.”
Ricky chuckled and smiled at Itra.
Itra felt a dazzling glow from that sight, and he began to cry forgetting about his age.
It wasn’t just him.
The Holy Knights who were lined up behind Ricky shed tears along with the old priest.
Why were they crying?
Was it because of the idea of what the Apostle was feeling?
They didn’t know it exactly, but they could feel some emotion filling them.
“Apostle. Please command us.”
Ricky’s escort and swordmaster, Killian, the head of the Holy Executioners, requested.
He was a middle-aged man with a long cut on his eye, but in reality, he was over seventy. However, his strong energy indicated that he wasn’t weak.
Ricky nodded.
“It is impossible for me to lead you because I am clumsy in most aspects. Please take over as captain, Killian.”
“Leave it to me.”
“From now on, I…”
He pulled out the Holy Sword bestowed by the Goddess.
Although the calmly flowing golden holy power appeared to be weak, it was concentrated holy power because he was an Apostle.
And he lifted it up.
“I will subdue the sinner.”
Woong!!
The holy light emitted from the sword shone dazzlingly high into the sky, catching the attention of the men fighting fiercely on the field.
As soon as the holy light shone in the sky, the fight stopped for a moment.
And Ricky’s voice rang out.
[I, Pyro Goddess’s Apostle Ricky, have come here. I’m much more ready to put my life than anyone else here. To the warriors who gathered here to save the world, I will ask you without hesitation—fight with me!]
The soldiers of Pyro fell silent for a moment throughout this lengthy speech.
However, it quickly flared up like a flame and quickly spread across the battlefield.
“The Apostle is with us!”
“Protect the Apostle!”
“Dedicate your life!!!”
Whether they belonged to the Pyro Church or not, the captains of the allied troops all stepped forward in this unfavorable situation.
At that moment, their low morale rose to the sky at once.
On the other side,
“Ap-Apostle?”
“Why is the Apostle suddenly here?”
“This is… calm down, everyone! We were already going to move for the last blow! Do not lose your spirit!”
The morale of the enemy side began to drop fast.
The captains tried to encourage the soldiers, but the appearance of the Apostle changed the atmosphere.
This was expected.
Most of the opponents were made up of people who believed in or followed the Goddess Pyro.
To them, an Apostle meant help from the Goddess. It was on a whole different level than a general or king appearing on the battlefield.
So the allies being happy about this wasn’t so odd.
And to go against this meant that a God had to come down.
“Kill all of them!!”
“Stop them! We cannot let the Apostle die!!”
Despite the lack of numbers, the soldiers of Pyro gritted their teeth and fought the enemies.
War was madness.
Ricky used this to fuel their rage to fight.
He thought it was impossible, but this war could not be won by acting all high and mighty.
“Killian, please”
“Stopping you won’t make you stop.”
“You know it.”
Bringing out all his holy power, Ricky grinned at Killian.
“You taught me. Do not worry so much.”
“… please, come back alive.”
“Yes.”
Ricky moved forward as he slowly stopped smiling.
He kicked the ground as he ran ahead, and his figure soon vanished.
As Ricky arrived on the battlefield, he already had a strategy on what to do.
The first target.
‘Chimera Paladin.’
A terrible monster created by sacrificing children.
No.
Not a monster.
Just pitiful beings. They were innocent lambs that Zenith had sacrificed.
And he was going to free them from their shackles.
Bang!
He increased his speed.
Ricky sensed the holy power within the Chimera Paladin and pierced the core at once.
It was a speed that was impossible to follow with the naked eye.
“Damn it, everyone retrea—”
The captain, seeing the Chimera Paladin die, was about to order a retreat, but Ricky had already cut his neck.
Every time a golden light flashed, the person’s head flew off.
‘Maximum effect…!’
He had to take advantage of this moment when the battlefield was nothing but chaos.
In addition, an Apostle had half the strength of a God.
He was a strategic weapon that couldn’t be compared to a swordmaster. Since he was stirring havoc in the middle of the enemy camp, who could stop him?
“Damn that Apostle!”
A swordmaster from the Vento Kingdom on the Eastern Continent saw Ricky going on a rampage.
“Such a person shouldn’t be on the battlefield—”
“Sorry. I do not have time to talk.”
Ricky sliced his torso in an oblique line and went in search of the Chimera Paladin.
After Ricky went to the battlefield, whenever a golden light flashed, the soldiers of Zenith would panic and move far away.
There was nothing they could do, especially when they were all overwhelmed by the force he was displaying.
However, such power wasn’t on the side of Pyro alone.
-Destroy the Apostle of Goddess Pyro.
A voice resounded in their heads.
The soldiers with weapons on their right arms raised their heads. Their eyes were red as blood, and they appeared insane.
And when they noticed the golden light flashing and getting closer, they began to scream.
“KUAAAKKKKK!!”
“DIE!!!!”
Project: Blood Bringer.
Commonly known as ‘Sword Demon.’ And all of them began to rush toward Ricky.
Ricky did hear about them, so he knew what this meant.
‘Was it called Blood Bringer?’
A terrible test was conducted by the Zenith Church without anyone knowing
How many innocent lives had to die for this?
He couldn’t forgive Zenith.
Ricky could never forgive those who trampled on people.
“I am sorry, all of you”
The golden holy power spread from his body into large wings.
[Sword of Judgement ver. Apostle]
A sacred golden sword materialized. The Apostle of the Pyro Church was the strongest paladin and the first Holy Executioner.
The power came directly from the Goddess.
A slash of brilliant light was unleashed.
Blood Bringer was a terrifying Demon Sword, but with an Apostle against it, a lot could change.
The Sword Demon troops couldn’t stand the holy light and began to get swept away.
-Stay together.
The voice spoke once more.
Tentacles began to move from the device linked to their right arm and connect with other people’s tentacles.
They shared each other’s energy, and Zenith’s holy power was created.
“They are combining?”
Ricky sensed that his opponents were not being weakened.
Bang!
Through the golden sword, a bloody aura burst out.
Thick smoke spread around, and Ricky had to peer into it to see red eyes flashing everywhere.
-Kill!
Out of the smoke, a bizarre-looking soldier came out.
Half-human and half of something too repulsive to name.
The sword on its right arm had completely replaced the hand that used to be there.
A group of humans who have been strengthened by the creation of Chimeras.
Their number was small, but the power they had was double.
Ricky knew it too.
‘They are at least 3-4 times stronger.’
Could it be that they continued to merge?
No.
If it had been possible, the war of Zenith would have ended a long time ago.
Because the Zenith Church didn’t have such skills yet.
Should he say he was lucky? Or should he be angry at those who did such a thing?
‘Both.’
Ricky opened his eyes, and the holy power continued to rise and move violently.
Just because the opponent was stronger, it didn’t change anything here.
Kill them and save them from this hell.
-Even if you die, kill and die.
“Kuaaaack!”
“ACKKKK!!”
The Sword Demons screamed and ran with new weapons.
Blood wrapped around their lances and spread out like a red mist around them. Everyone was set on killing the opponent, even if it meant dying from his golden holy power.
Ricky could only pity them and raise the Holy Sword from left to right to cut them.
-Do not die until you kill him.
“DIE!!!!!”
Even when their bodies got split in half, they continued to attack with their hands and stab with their lances.
Their faces were stained with madness. Ricky grabbed the lance with his bare hands. The blood could do nothing to him.
-You did well.
“… thank… you”
“Uh?”
The Sword Demon expressed gratitude, making Ricky a bit confused when bubbles began to form on the lance.
He hurriedly tried to remove the hand holding the lance, but it was too late.
Kwaaaangggg!!
The Blood Bringer’s core exploded.
Ricky protected himself with holy power, but he was too close, so his body flew back and rolled on the ground several times.
“…”
Ricky shook his head and stood up.
This was a dangerous attack, but it also meant that the existence of an Apostle from the other side was something Zenith didn’t welcome.
He felt dizzy from this, but he couldn’t feel any fatal injuries.
‘Except for a little tingling around my left hand, everything is fine.’
His left hand was the closest during the attack, so it hurt a little, but he quickly circulated holy power on it a couple of times.
What was that thoughtless act of suicide?
Since he was going to die, did he intend to do something good?
It was then…
Throb.
A sharp pain in his left hand prompted him to look down.
There was a pattern on his left hand.
“This?”
“Everyone, you did a good job.”
“Who?”
Someone walked out of the massive explosion.
Ricky looked at the person with wary eyes.
A man with a black helmet and Blood Bringer on his right arm.
Grey hair fluttering under the helm, and a body with minor scars.
And with his red eyes shining he said,
“I will handle this from now on.”
