Thankfully, it was just two people. They could use the same tactic to take them down.
Before the paladin drew his sword, Quikantel's fist already reached his face. The helmet crinkled like foil, and blood splattered everywhere. The fully armored paladin immediately fell unconscious.
Kuzan used his same dagger to paralyze the remaining paladin.
"We already took out four."
"Hope we don't get misunderstood."
Jin dragged the unconscious soldiers into a bush. They looked like corpses, but they weren't actually dead.
Further inside, they didn't see anyone else. Most of the resources were allocated to the outer perimeter to keep all of the witnesses within the area.
Without a single word, they quickly shuffled across the village. They had to confirm Murakan's status as soon as possible.
Many paladins were patrolling the area. Just as Jet reported, the Shol Kingdom hadn't dispatched any soldiers. Only the Protectors of the Doctrine roamed the streets.
They could probably get through the central courtyard while evading their suspicion, but the streets were too noisy.
In addition to the falling rubble and burning buildings, many screams and cries filled the air as well. Those who lost their families and friends wailed on the ground.
They could see numerous corpses that weren't collected. The paladins soullessly tossed the lifeless bodies onto a wagon.
All of them were burnt so completely, to the point where they were unidentifiable.
"…How horrible."
"Like Kadun, most fire dragons don't give a damn about human life. Unless the human is special, they're the same as an insect. This view is shared by most dragons, but fire dragons are a bit more belittling."
And Murakan held no blame for those deaths?
This thought shot through Jin's mind. As if she read his mind, Quikantel continued.
"That bastard isn't someone to massacre people for no reason."
Jin smiled awkwardly instead of responding.
The closer they got, the higher the number of corpses. They spotted mountains of bodies and priests singing hymns to calm the soul.
Dead bodies weren't all there was, though.
Injured survivors screamed their lungs out while 'saint'-class healers poured all their efforts into helping them get better.
But not every saint focused on healing.
This situation threw Jin off.
"Milord, isn't the situation… a little weird?"
Jin slowly nodded. Quikantel observed the saints as well. Some weren't actually healing the people, but consoling them.
"The fire dragon and monster are still battling in front of the village. O pure citizens, the workers of the gods have come, so please do not fear…"
Lies. Jin and his group had just passed by the front of the village, and there was no battle.
Only a few reporters and paladins.
The villagers fully believed the saints, though.
"Let us pray!"
"Yeah!"
At least they looked hopeful.
One side healed, and another side maintained hope. It was way too obvious what the Vankella crusaders were doing so far from their homeland.
The villagers didn't fall for the saints' words because they were idiots.
In such a dire and depressing situation, they sought for light. Like this, the saints could easily brainwash them with their words.
The saints called it 'divinity,' but most magicians knew it was just their Magic Iris.
As they were a religious-oriented kingdom, they had to use psychological tactics to grow their following.
In fact, their glowing eyes clearly showed that they were casting some spell.
"Ye who passed and ye who lived, let us all pray so they are never alone. Let us pray for their peace…!"
This kind of preaching tactic didn't always work toward those with firm beliefs, but in such a situation, they could gain everybody's complete attention.
"I'm sure the current holy king banned preaching spells, but they're just going ham with it."
Vankella holy king, 'McLan,' decreed that anyone who used preaching spells would be declared as heretic because it went against the values of purity.
"They're trying to shift the blame from Kadun to the monster. If Murakan is the monster, then Kadun won't face any consequences."
"I think so too. If Murakan got caught, then they wouldn't be doing any of this."
So the black monster already escaped, and Kadun forgot to extinguish the flames.
Jin and Quikantel simultaneously extrapolated what happened. If Murakan was caught, then Kadun would've extinguished all the flames and the village would be praising Zipfel's name.
'I need to find out why these guys are breaking rules to help Zipfel.'
By the looks of it, Vankella was no longer neutral.
Disobeying orders to help Zipfel's case. From the kingdom's standpoint, it was unacceptable.
But finding Murakan was more urgent.
"Let's try to talk to some villagers. We're sure that the monster is Murakan, but we should still confirm it."
However, getting into contact with the villagers wasn't so easy. Talking to those in shock was pointless, and they could possibly be reported to a saint.
When Jin lifted his foot to start moving, one paladin whispered into a saint's ear. The saint then made an announcement.
"…My pure and good citizens! We have just received a report. An evil group has invaded the city. If you see anyone suspicious, please let us know."
Following the announcement, the movement of the paladins became a little more aggressive and hasty. They began to closely search through the villagers, as well as the buildings.
They had to find someone to quickly converse with.
Everywhere they went, they could see a paladin or saint. Not a single villager was left alone.
And the biggest problem was that there were significantly more deployed units than what was reported.
"Shit, they're everywhere. How many are there? We probably can't do this for much longer, Jin."
"This is a pain in the ass. Well, I expected this from the start."
Creaaaaak… Thud!
They heard all of the gates lock.
The paladins shouted at each other and ran around as they escorted villagers away from the scene.
"Over here!"
A paladin shouted after seeing Jin.
As much as the bright red surroundings helped keep them under the radar, their senses were dullened as well. Even with his Mind's Eye channeled, he couldn't keep track of hundreds of people with perfect accuracy.
They weren't too late to take a detour when he detected the paladin.
Five more paladins arrived at the scene. The Judgement Division units quickly gathered at the sound of a bugle horn.
"Drop your weapons and kneel!"
Five, not fifty. If there were any general-level paladins, Jin had to fight conscientiously.
But just five couldn't do anything. Quikantel and Kuzan took on two each, and Jin drew Sigmund.
Crackle!
Before the paladins moved a single muscle, Jin shot a lightning bolt from his blade. Since their location had already been exposed by the bugle horns and signal flares, they had to relocate quickly.
Jin took down four immediately with one attack.
Jin initially planned to take down five, but the last one calmly dodged the attack.
A formidable opponent for Jin.
But that one didn't draw their sword.
When the other four shouted with their swords swinging, that one didn't budge.
Quikantel and Kuzan charged toward them.
"Wait, wait!"
The paladin raised both their hands into the air. It was an unbelievable act for a Judgement Division paladin.
"What?"
"I'm a second-class paladin of the Judgment Division's Protectors of the Doctrine. My name is Rani Salome. You don't seem like heretics."
"What?"
"Please answer me. Art thou not a heretic?"
An abrupt question.
But the eyes within the helmet looked rather calm, so Jin waved off Quikantel and Kuzan.
"I never draw my blade against those who are not heretics. You all seem to be related to the battle between the crazy fire and black dragon, correct?"
Jin's eyes widened.
The paladin referred to the black monster as a black dragon. A crazy fire dragon, at that. Hate directed toward Kadun was clear just from a few words.
Clink, clank, stomp.
They heard the marching of iron boots. Soon they'd arrive there, in the alleyway.
"Please follow me. If you're caught, you'll never make it out alive."