RD | Chapter 34

From the start, this was the guy who said he’d kill Ian if he ever saw him again. So why should Ian save him?

But seeing his HP drop to 7% right in front of him, Ian’s blood ran cold.

What if this guy actually dies?

That can’t happen.

Why? Because he’s a 5-star hero…

‘I’m going crazy!’

Ian was not the type of person to watch a rare hero like Keith die in front of him.

He clutched his head.

‘Let’s think this through.’

Going to save that guy is risking his own life. First off, that guy had already threatened to kill Ian if they met again.

Moreover, if Keith was in such a crisis that he felt his life was threatened, how dangerous could it be? Of course, Keith was cursed and betrayed by the Vatican, making him at his weakest…

‘Isn’t he just facing the greatest crisis of his life because he let his guard down?’

If that’s the case, whoever is threatening Keith might not be that big of a deal.

Maybe just the Vatican’s army…

‘Is it really nothing much?’

However, even if it was nothing, Ian couldn’t help it. He had already decided to save this precious 5-star hero.

“Lord Ian, everyone’s gathered.”

“Good.”

Ian looked over the assembled forces and thought again.

‘Is this right?’

The force wasn’t small. It was the best he could muster, and objectively, it was excellent. The problem was that the combination was bad for dealing with Keith.

Sema was one thing, but Louise and Contacca were the kind of opponents that would drive Keith crazy just by looking at them.

If Keith, instead of fighting whatever he was chasing, decided to attack them to kill Ian, that would be troublesome…

‘No, it wouldn’t go that far.’

Ian shook his head. No matter how much of a fanatic Keith was, he wouldn’t be that insane. However, there was a possibility that Keith would refuse help from Louise and Contacca even if it meant his death.

But was that Ian’s concern?

First, he decided to save Keith and think later.

Keith was a knight of God.

“Why doesn’t God answer our prayers?”

When a young choir boy asked him this in the past, Keith responded, “Because He is not a servant to grant our wishes. We are His servants. Do not doubt. We must strive to fulfill His will on this earth.”

“But it’s so painful and sad. It feels like my heart is bruised.”

The young choir boy had recently lost his family. Keith could understand his pain.

“I’ll pray to Him so your family can be happy.”

“I’ll pray too. Every day.”

As the boy, with tear-stained cheeks, watched Keith, he was impaled by a holy knight’s lance. The boy who once helped Keith escape was killed by a former comrade.

‘Oh God.’

Keith was seeking God more than ever, yearning for His help.

Even when his family was ravaged by demons and he was hiding alone, had he sought God like this?

No, he hadn’t because at that time, he didn’t believe in God.

People said he was favored by God. With hair brighter than gold, deep eyebrows, and thoughtful eyes, his firm jaw suggested he was both grave and radiantly beautiful, embodying a knight of God.

As he performed acts of kindness under the Pope’s command with this holy appearance, people began to call him the ‘Agent of God.’

A true apostle who did God’s work with his own body.

Only Keith seemed to feel aversion to such a title.

Although he told the choir boy otherwise, Keith could empathize with his sadness as much as with his resentment towards God.

No one had wandered this doomed world as long as Keith had. To his eyes, the world was hell.

Even if God wanted humans to save themselves, He wouldn’t have created such a wretched hell.

That’s not something a benevolent God would do.

But if so, does that mean God is evil…

In fact, perhaps God doesn’t exist at all. If there truly was a good God, would He allow the world to become this horrific?

This doubt was so terrifying that Keith undertook penance to cast it away, continuing acts of faith.

He shouldn’t doubt. He was a child saved by God.

A child saved by God’s army.

Keith thought he could never be an Agent of God. But neither was the Pope.

Even now, with children starving on the streets, he dined with silver utensils and wrapped himself in luxurious white cloth.

Keith could not respect such a man.

Yet, he was the Pope. God’s chosen apostle. Keith was obligated to respect and follow him.

This was the result.

The Vatican’s army was chasing him. However, what Keith found strange was that wherever he went, he was blocked by hordes of demons.

As if they were luring him to one place, the Vatican’s army was herding him, and the more he fled, the deeper Keith felt he was sinking into a mire.

A mire of demon traps.

‘But how could that be?’

The Pope colluding with demons?

The Vatican, the land of God, already in the hands of demons?

Keith’s eyes were open, yet he couldn’t see ahead. It felt like the world was crumbling before him. He couldn’t even tell where his horse was running.

All he could hear was his own panting breaths and faint heartbeats.

Only his head was throbbing with fever.

Does God exist?

If God exists, is this His will to abandon him?

He must not doubt His presence. Seeking proof is the behavior of a non-believer.

But now, more than ever, Keith wanted proof.

He desperately sought salvation.

From his God.

At that moment.

Swoosh!

An arrow flew through the air. It brought with it a breath of fresh, bright air, making Keith realize he had been crushed under the weight of dark magic, barely able to breathe. As relief washed over him, the arrow of purification struck the demon’s forehead.

Kieeek!

The demon with the lower body of a beast collapsed on the spot.

Keith looked at his savior in awe. The man with the bow had black hair and black eyes. His youthful face looked innocent, but there was strength in his eyes. His skin was pale, and his red lips and cheeks were pressed by the bowstring.

The wind gathered around the man. Like a spirit of light, he was surrounded by a halo of light, focusing it on the arrowhead.

As the arrowhead turned white, it shot out like a ray of light.

Swish-!

Thud!

The demon blocking Keith fell, the arrow piercing its chest. Regardless of whether the wound was fatal, the powerful purifying energy cleansed all the dark magic within the demon.

The man, with the light at his back, extended his hand. He looked as if he was cloaked in radiance. Keith just stared blankly.

“What are you doing! Come here!”

Impatient, the man shouted, one hand still on the reins, the other grabbing Keith’s hand.

Without hesitation, Keith jumped onto the man’s horse, his body aflame from the effort.

Keith’s chest pressed against the man’s back. He couldn’t tell if his wildly beating heart was from pain or something else.

Keith took hold of the reins instead of the man.

“Stop! This is Vatican business!”

“Cut the crap! Retreat!”

The man commanded his group.

Hiiiiiing!

The horse reared up, then changed direction. With Keith’s chest completely against his back, the man turned to shoot an arrow.

Thud!

Swish- Thud!

Even in this chaos, Keith realized the man was only targeting the demons.

‘This person.’

Keith recognized the man at first sight.

It was him from back then.

The person he had saved. The person he had almost killed.

A fallen priest.

No.

A holy man…

An Agent of God.

He appeared like a lie at the moment Keith longed for God the most.

Keith remembered the man’s first impression. The youthful-faced man was purifying the temple. When he found Keith in distress, his black eyes widened in surprise, fixed on Keith as if he was astonished and delighted to see him there.

Keith felt an inexplicable familiarity with him. The man’s almost-smiling expression made Keith reflexively feel glad.

Like meeting someone he had long awaited.