Paladin of the Dead God-Chapter 443: The World After the Ending (1)

"There’s someone here!"

At the shout that erupted from deep inside the abandoned building, Eidan rushed in.

A Salt Council sailor was gesturing toward a corner of the room, where a Holy Grail Knight was curled up. The knight did not seem disturbed by the commotion, merely nodding his head slightly while continuously reciting prayers without pause.

Eidan recognized the knight and was visibly shocked. Carefully, he placed a hand on the knight’s shoulder and whispered,

"Rottenhammer? Sir Rottenhammer, can you hear me?"

But Rottenhammer remained fixated on his prayers.

Eidan immediately understood the knight’s condition. To wake a paladin in this state, a stronger stimulus was needed.

He took out a luminous stone and brought it close to Rottenhammer’s face, causing a flash of light to explode in front of his eyes.

The sudden burst of light stabbed into Rottenhammer’s vision, and only then did he flinch violently, his head snapping up.

"…Eidan?"

"You’ve come to your senses, Sir Rottenhammer. Thank goodness."

Rottenhammer, his face gaunt and pale, looked around in confusion.

"Where… is this place? No, how many days have passed?"

"Excuse me? This is the Holy Land Lua. As for time… well, it’s hard to say. It’s been about three days since we occupied Lua. But I’m not sure if my sense of time is even accurate anymore."

Rottenhammer staggered toward the window and pushed it open.

Outside, there was no trace of spring—just the yawning void where the fortress walls once stood, completely obliterated.

And it was still there.

The sky above Holy Land Lua was fractured into thousands of pieces, with massive cracks spreading out like a vast spiderweb, stretching across the world. Light seeped through the fissures.

"The sun is gone, and that light flows along the cracks like a clock hand, moving from east to west. The cycle roughly matches a day, so we’re using it in place of a sunrise to keep track of time. If the Millennium Kingdom truly descended… then why was the sun shattered?"

Eidan muttered in frustration.

The sun was the holiest symbol in the Codex of Light.

Yet here it was—absent. Instead, a stream of bleeding light oozed through the sky, casting an eerie glow. Even to a Salt Council sailor like him, it was an unsettling sight.

But Rottenhammer didn’t seem concerned about the sun.

"That… thing."

"That thing?"

"The thing that burst through the sky! Those black-red appendages—like the fingers of a monstrous hand!"

Rottenhammer’s voice trembled with suppressed fury.

But Eidan remained unfazed. Compared to the reactions he had seen from other knights, Rottenhammer was remarkably composed.

"I was outside the walls when Lua was occupied, so I didn’t witness it firsthand. But if you’re talking about the tentacles that tore through the sky—yes, I saw them. But they disappeared in less than an hour."

"Disappeared?"

"Just what the hell happened here?"

Eidan gestured toward the streets of Holy Land Lua. There, Salt Council sailors and those who had retained or regained their sanity were working to clean up the aftermath.

Among them were members of the Dawn Army, Elil’s followers, and even World’s Forge—a chaotic mix of believers from different sects.

"The death toll is low, but most people were either driven mad or severely traumatized. Even knights like you were trapped in severance."

Severance was a state in which all external senses were blocked, and the mind shut itself away—a desperate measure to preserve one’s sanity in captivity or isolation.

Eidan focused on this.

"What happened here?"

What had occurred that left the Holy Grail Knights in a state of severance, even after successfully occupying Lua?

Had the Millennium Kingdom truly descended?

If so, why was the sky in such a state?

Where had all the angels gone?

Eidan had too many questions.

Rottenhammer could sense that.

But the number of answers he could give was painfully few.

In the end, he could only say one thing.

"The Millennium Kingdom has descended."

"So it’s true…!"

Eidan recalled the Scorched Ones and the fanatics of Nameless Chaos, who had returned singing hymns, proclaiming the arrival of the Millennium Kingdom.

Not just hymns—there were wild rumors, too.

That the Lighthouse Keeper had successfully brought down the Millennium Kingdom…

That a terrible monster had tried to stop it…

That after a hard-fought battle, the Lighthouse Keeper had triumphed, driving the monster back into the shadows—but at the cost of ascending into the sky as light itself.

The kind of mythic tale that wouldn’t even convince children.

"But even after seeing all this, how am I supposed to believe it?"

Eidan shook his head in disbelief.

Even if the Millennium Kingdom had descended, shouldn’t the Knights of Issacrea, the very elite of the Codex of Light, be treated with honor?

Yet most of the knights they found were hiding in abandoned houses, alleyways, and underground shelters.

Rottenhammer gave Eidan a sorrowful look before answering.

"Heaven simply wasn’t what we thought it would be."

As Rottenhammer sank into despair, Eidan decided it was best to change the subject.

He opted for something more immediate and pressing.

"…I don’t think this is the time for deeper reflection. Do you remember where you last saw the Holy Grail Knight? We’ve searched everywhere but found no trace of them."

"Isaac."

Rottenhammer murmured the name like a groan.

Like most missionary knights, Rottenhammer had been fleeing in blind terror when the Mother of All Gods descended.

No one could blame him.

Even a mere glimpse of an angel in its true form could cause a person to choke to death on their own breath.

And the Mother of All Gods had made no effort to conceal her divine magnitude.

Those who beheld her either ripped out their own eyes or went mad.

Only those who hid in dark, narrow places managed to retain their minds.

Yet somehow, Rottenhammer could vaguely remember Isaac.

"Near the top of the pyramid…"

With a trembling hand, he pointed toward the grotesquely curved pyramid looming at the heart of Lua—a structure that defied understanding.

"…I think I saw him there. But honestly, I don’t know. The Isaac I saw was a senior knight… but also a man in yellow robes… and also the Mother of All Gods… and also a woman with white feathers."

His memories were in shambles.

Eidan, suspecting that Rottenhammer was suffering from delirium, patted his shoulder.

"We already heard similar accounts, so we’re searching the pyramid. But so far, there’s been no sign of him. If we find anything, we’ll let you—"

[Eidan, I need a word with you.]

A voice interrupted from outside the window.

At the sight of the figure standing there, Rottenhammer instinctively reached for his hammer—but his weapon was nowhere to be found.

Because the one outside was an Undead Lich.

"Calm down, Rottenhammer! The undead are not our enemies right now!"

Eidan hurriedly held him back.

Only then did Rottenhammer realize that neither the Holy Grail Knights nor the Dawn Army showed any hostility toward the lich.

"…The undead aren’t our enemies?"

"The Immortal Emperor is gone. Urdantu has surrendered—except for the prison at Fortress of Gehenna. The undead are fully cooperating in search and rescue efforts, as well as resource distribution."

Eidan spoke cautiously, signaling with his eyes.

"As you know, with even the angels gone, we need all the extra hands we can get."

Even though the Immortal Emperor had disappeared, this was still deep in enemy territory.

The Millennium Kingdom’s descent hadn’t wiped out all the undead, nor were the angels actively protecting them. There was no reason to antagonize the undead, especially since they had surrendered and were cooperating.

However, Rottenhammer looked perplexed.

"But... they’re undead?"

He had spent decades fighting the undead and barbarians, risking his life countless times.

But even if that weren’t the case, to grasp the current situation, he needed to understand one crucial fact.

Eidan smiled bitterly and raised his dagger.

Before Rottenhammer could stop him, he slashed his own throat with the blade.

Before the cut could fully extend from one end of his neck to the other, tentacles erupted from the wound, stitching it back together without leaving a single scar.

Rottenhammer’s eyes bulged in horror.

"We’re no different now."

At Eidan’s words, Rottenhammer’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

Only then did Eidan realize that his actions had likely triggered Rottenhammer’s trauma.

"You found something at the pyramid?"

[Indeed. While searching near the top of the pyramid, we heard someone knocking from inside.]

Eidan left Rottenhammer in the wounded barracks and followed Lich Al Theodore to the pyramid.

If they had spoken sooner, Rottenhammer might have accompanied them—but it was too late for that now.

"Aren’t there a lot of undead buried inside the pyramid?"

[If it were an undead, it wouldn’t knock—it would have used a psychic pulse to contact us.

Most of the ones trapped inside are fanatics, but considering how many of them have shut their minds completely, this one is likely alive.]

Eidan found that statement laughable.

Did truly living people even exist anymore?

With the Millennium Kingdom’s descent, the Codex of Light had seemingly bestowed the gift of immortality upon everyone—without regard for faith.

One of the main reasons the war with the undead had ceased was because everyone realized fighting was pointless.

[And stop that reckless display like before. I understand it’s fascinating, but doesn’t it hurt?]

"Well, I thought it was the quickest way to convince him."

[Even so, it would have been better if I had simply taken the hit instead. I can’t feel pain.

And from what I’ve heard, this resurrection ability isn’t truly unlimited, so you should be careful.]

"Not unlimited?"

[There’s a soldier in the barracks who kept self-inflicting wounds. At first, we tried to stop him, but eventually, we gave up.

Then, we noticed that his resurrection started slowing down.]

Al Theodore’s glowing blue eyes bore into Eidan.

[Some revived but failed to regenerate and died permanently.

Others mixed with different people’s blood during resurrection and returned in twisted forms.

Some even came back possessed, developing multiple personalities.]

"They’ve already analyzed all this in just three days?"

For a moment, Eidan suspected that the undead might be intentionally keeping people captive to conduct experiments—but he kept that thought to himself.

Then again, he didn’t need to say it.

There were plenty of people engaging in self-harm without any prompting.

It made sense that the undead, of all beings, would be the most invested in studying this phenomenon.

[Some, like you, resurrect instantly. But this whole situation is unnatural, so there’s no guarantee of consistency.

And honestly, I’m not even sure if the Millennium Kingdom actually descended properly.]

Eidan touched his throat and gave a wry smile.

[If this power is granted by some entity’s will, it could be revoked just as easily—on a whim or out of inconvenience.

So be careful.]

"…I’ll keep that in mind."

By then, Eidan and Al Theodore had arrived at the pyramid.

A large crowd had already gathered—undead, survivors, and various factions were actively excavating.

The massive pyramid had a smooth, curved peak, covered in burn marks and clawed gouges.

Despite visiting the site multiple times, Eidan still couldn’t comprehend what kind of battle had devastated both this structure and an entire city.

His gaze settled on the massive bloodstains covering the pyramid.

From what he’d heard, this blood belonged to Elil’s knights.

They were among the first to be resurrected—meaning they had witnessed the events firsthand.

Yet Edelred and the rest of the knights refused to speak.

They didn’t help with the search for Isaac, either.

Instead, they were preparing to return to the Kingdom of Elil, as if the Dawn Army’s campaign had officially ended.

"What the hell happened here?"

Because of their silence, rumors were running rampant.

A tree had sprouted in the middle of Holy Land Lua.

The angels had vanished.

Holy Grail Knight had fought the Lighthouse Keeper.

Even the Burning Maiden had issued a condemnation.

None of these stories painted Isaac in a favorable light.

Eidan needed to find him quickly—before these rumors solidified into dangerous truths.

"There! There! Lift it carefully!"

Crack, crack—

As Al Theodore and Eidan approached the pyramid’s summit, a massive stone slab was being lifted away.

The rock, scorched by the heat of the Lighthouse, had been fused and melted, forcing them to dig through alternative routes to access the area.

"We have a survivor!"

Eidan rushed forward, praying that it was Isaac.

But the figure revealed within the opening was none other than Tuhalin.

Eidan wasn’t too disappointed.

This meant that most of the key commanders of the Issacrea Dawn Army had been located.

"Tuhalin, you’re alive!"

Though visibly gaunt, Tuhalin’s eyes still burned with clarity.

Compared to the other missionaries, he was far more mentally intact.

But he didn’t speak.

That’s when Eidan realized something was off.

Tuhalin could have easily broken through this rubble.

He could have melted it away with miracles.

Yet he had remained trapped.

Eidan peered into the opening where Tuhalin had been confined.

The walls were covered in intricate engravings—written in Dwarven script.

Eidan recognized the language, but the text was filled with equations and schematics, making it difficult to decipher.

Then it dawned on him.

Tuhalin wasn’t knocking for help—he had been carving these inscriptions into the walls.

Even now, with the rescue team present, he continued etching symbols into the stone with his bare fingers.

The undead shook their heads in exasperation, but Eidan felt a spark of hope.

"Tuhalin, you were here until the very end, weren’t you? Did you see what happened to the Holy Grail Knight?"

Tuhalin’s fingers finally stopped.

He lifted his head, staring directly at Eidan.

Then, he raised a trembling hand and pointed.

It was a directionless void—a pitch-black abyss within the ruined pyramid.

Yet Tuhalin pointed with absolute certainty.

Eidan hesitated.

"Tuhalin… there’s nothing there."

But Tuhalin refused to lower his arm.

Instead, he dug his fingers into the rock and carved another line of text.

Eidan followed Tuhalin’s gaze.

The direction was southeast—beyond Holy Land Lua.

A place where nothing should exist.

"The Holy Grail Knight… is in the Outer Boundary?"