## Chapter 1160 – Confrontation

“Kyaaaaaaaak!!!!”

A scream burst forth.

In a rare display of complete disarray, Kadia screamed, clutching her head with both hands. Her face paled instantly as she stared at me.

“…”

She spoke as if unable to believe it.

“That’s… not a very funny joke, Paladin. You shouldn’t tease the Holy Maiden with such words.”

ㅡSwish.

Kadia’s eyes closed, and her body crumpled. I had expected it, but she even fainted. This is seriously complicated. I caught her collapsing body, supporting her.

“…”

A faint.

A faint in a different sense than Claudia.

She had lost consciousness from the overwhelming shock.

Supporting Kadia’s body, I took off my top, spread it on the floor, and laid her down on it. Lying there, Kadia looked like a princess who had fallen asleep after eating a poisoned apple.

“Shit.”

Verde, you bastard.

Why did you have to be fragmented and make things so difficult for Kadia? I sat beside Kadia, checking her breathing and health, and gently touched her face.

She had simply fainted; her breathing was normal.

“…”

As I quietly touched her face,

She slowly opened her eyes.
As expected of a Holy Maiden, her recovery is fast.

“Kadia.”
“…Is it true that Lord Verde…”

Kadia looked at my face and asked in a heavy voice.

“…was fragmented?”

There was only one answer.

“Yes.”
“…”

I nodded, and immediately tears began to well up in Kadia’s eyes… She’s grieving so intensely…! I can’t stand it!

I was about to hug her, but

ㅡWrap.

Kadia, as if propelled by a spring, lunged forward and embraced me tightly.

“Kadia.”
“…Quiet. Don’t say anything. I just need some time.”

I omitted a response and simply hugged Kadia, gently patting her back. Kadia trembled slightly, burying her face in my neck, and spent some time like that.

I could feel her quietly crying.

Kadia reacted this way as soon as she heard from me that Lord Verde was fragmented. That meant she trusted me that much. She didn’t harbor any other suspicions and accepted the phenomenon itself.

All that remained was for her to overcome it.

How long had passed?

“…”

Kadia took her face from my neck, wiped her eyes for a moment, and then

“…Ah.”

She got up.

“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”

Kadia replied in a voice filled with strength.

Yes.
She’s a strong woman.

“Lord Verde is fragmented… Paladin wouldn’t use some clumsy metaphor when telling such a story. He must have described it exactly as he witnessed it.”
“Yes.”

Having regained her usual confident spirit, she straightened her clothes, returned to her seat, lit a cigarette, and sat down.

She was back to her usual self.

As expected of a Holy Maiden.
She regained her composure with just a brief cry.

“I spoke with the World Tree. I saw the Celestial Realm. I witnessed the fragmented Lord Verde there. All of these are astonishing stories, but if Paladin said so, it must be true.”
“You have a lot of faith in me.”
“I believe everything Paladin says.”

As she replied, I approached Kadia, reached out, and gently touched her ear. She seemed to have regained her energy, but she must still be in shock.

“…I’m fine. I’ve already calmed down.”

Kadia said, closing her eyes.

“I’m still a little worried.”
“Who do you think this Holy Maiden is? Even if I was shocked by that story, I won’t fall apart. I’m just fulfilling my duty. That’s what the Holy Maiden of the Brass Celestial Order is.”
“Hehehe, as expected. You’re strong.”
“Well, this Holy Maiden is a strong woman. Anyway. I need an accurate explanation. After the shock, curiosity seems to overwhelm my mind.”

Then I should give her an explanation.

“The Celestial Realm was a scene the World Tree showed me directly. It was able to show it to me because of the divine power dwelling within me. That’s where I saw it.”

The Celestial Realm.

“Not only Lord Verde, but also Ijzermart, Ejatz… Those gods were also fragmented. According to the World Tree, all the gods are already in that state.”

I added that Ejatz was an evil god, but distinctions were meaningless to the gods now.

“The gods… are they all dead?”

Kadia, having finished one cigarette, asked in a serious tone.

“No. They’re not dead. They can still use divine power. A god doesn’t die just from being fragmented. They just live in that state, having suffered such a fatal wound.”
“Haa… I see.”

She seemed a little relieved to hear that.

“They’re not dead, but merely in a state of fatal injury and fragmentation. Well, it’s not a part I can’t understand. So that’s the state they’re in.”

I also feel a little relieved now.

“…Lord Verde is still watching over the earth even in that state. So there’s nothing to worry about. He’s been doing it all along.”
“Good.”
“So, what exactly did you talk about with the World Tree?”

I received a request.

“To be exact, I received a request.”
“What for?”
“Apparently, an unknown entity is frantically tearing through the rifts in dimensions.”
“…The Lich.”
“Yes. The gods can’t stop it, so it asked me to stop it. It directly asked me to stop it.”
“Ha. Seriously. You even received a divine revelation.”
“It’s pretty much like that.”
“Really… amazing. It’s so amazing it’s bad for my mental health.”

Kadia took out a whole stack of cigarette packs from the drawer and lit them one after another.

“A god clearly expressing its will and directly making a request… Do you know how many hundreds of years it’s been since there was a divine revelation like this?”
“No.”
“This Holy Maiden doesn’t know the details either. But, if the World Tree requested it… what’s the reward?”

I received sap.

“Well, I received some World Tree sap.”
“Just hearing the name makes it sound like a top-tier item. Anything else?”
“This.”

I immediately took out the crystal ball and showed it to her.

“This is…”
“It’s a divine artifact the World Tree gave me. It said fragments of gods, like that Valkyrie or whatever, are scattered all over the world. Everything is a result of the Idol War, so those things must be too.”
“…Fragments of gods.”
“Yes. If I find and absorb them, I can gain great power.”
“Does that crystal… tell you the location of the fragments?”
“You guessed it right away.”

At those words, Kadia closed her mouth and looked into my eyes.

“…”

A moment of silence.

But I have to say what I have to say.

“Kadia. That’s why I’m saying this.”
“Say it.”
“I, Paladin, need to take a break for a while.”
“…”
“The gods are fragmented, and the Lich, who knows where it is, is steadily doing its job. Something terrible is probably going to happen. It’ll be hard to stop it as it is now. So, to stop it, well, the only option is to gain power, right?”

Kadia listened to me quietly.

“So.”

In a very calm tone.

“I’m going to take a break from the Paladin job for a while and look for those fragments of gods.”
“…”

That was when I finished speaking.

Kadia, who had been quiet for a moment,

“Hoo… Hahaha… I see.”

She smiled gently.

“That’s the kind of man you are. Paladin.”

She doesn’t seem to be in a bad mood.
Rather, her eyes seemed to be filled with strength as she looked at me.

“The appearance you show is a bit comical in some ways. You have a strong philandering tendency, and you like clowning around.”
“Huh? Kadia?”
“You scream strangely or enjoy eccentric behavior, but.”
“…”
“What’s always inside is a firm will and steel-like justice.”

Kadia.

She was seeing right through me.

Kadia continued, looking straight into my eyes.

“It’s a little embarrassing to say this now, but this Holy Maiden greatly loves that aspect of Paladin.”
“Ah.”

Sweat.

Started to come out from my back.

Because I’m embarrassed.

“You said you’re going to take a break from being Paladin… You should. It’s not something I can’t allow. Paladin should do what Paladin thinks he should do.”
“…You’re allowing it right away.”
“Actually, I don’t want to allow it, but what can I do? I know that what Paladin is doing is right.”

Kadia seemed to have understood everything already.

I was grateful for that, and my heart felt like it was going to burst because I was sorry.

“You’re… leaving this Holy Maiden here, so be sure to return from time to time.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“No. I will. Don’t worry. It won’t take that long. Wait here.”

Seriously, how long could it take when I have a Dragon Ball radar?

“You’re really making an unreasonable request. Anyway. You’ve organized everything about this matter into documents, right?”
“Yes.”
“Submit them.”

I immediately handed over the documents.
It was a simple summary of this matter.

“And… come to this Holy Maiden’s house tomorrow morning. Although it’s not Lord Verde, but another god, to the Paladin who is carrying out a divine revelation from a normal god. This Holy Maiden will give you a blessing.”

Kadia seemed sad, but at the same time, she also seemed very happy.

“No, but. It’s not like I’m leaving right away, why are you treating me like someone who’s leaving tomorrow? I still have things to do here?”
“What…!”

Instantly, Kadia’s face turned red.
She’s so cute.

“T-That’s just! That’s just what this Holy Maiden thinks…!”
“Hehehe, I understand.”
“Anyway, where are you thinking of going? I think you have some clues. Since you’re carrying out a divine revelation.”
“Well, I only heard a few things. Something about the Dwarf Kingdom and the Shurdic Great Desert. Apparently, there’s something there.”
“The Dwarf Kingdom?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm… This is.”
“Why?”
“Let’s talk about this separately tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And wait a moment.”

Kadia got up from her seat.

“Ah.”

She stole my lips as if she was attacking me. Kadia, who was hugging me like that, demanded a kiss a little violently and explored my tongue. We spent some time like that.

“…Kadia. Are you really okay? You didn’t receive a big shock, did you?”
“As you can see. I received a very big shock to the point that I just shed tears. But didn’t I say that I can overcome it? The fact that Lord Verde is fragmented. It’s a very terrible thing, but it’s not enough to break this Holy Maiden’s heart.”

Kadia was an indomitable Holy Maiden.
She’s very confident.

Even so, I’m worried.

“You’re a genuine Holy Maiden.”
“That’s who this Holy Maiden is. Rather, I’m more worried about the Lich… If it’s constantly creating rifts in dimensions, surely…”
“Something big will happen.”
“From now on, Paladin will have to work even harder. But… if you absorb all those fragments of gods. What will happen to Paladin?”

Everyone was curious about that.

“Well. Maybe I’ll really become a god or something?”
“That sounds like a somewhat far-fetched story.”
“Hehehe, it does.”

I talked with her a little more and then left the Great Temple.

* * *

“Well, Claudia fainted yesterday so we couldn’t drink, so let’s all drink together now.”

Risha said, using black magic to summon elixirs onto the table.

“Ooh.”

Exclamations immediately burst out. The elixirs were red. That was the trump card elixir made by grinding the entire heart of Coltarahen. It really looks damn good at first glance.

Apparently, they had confirmed all the safety aspects. It seems that it can be used as a consumable, similar to the Spirit King. Risha made it herself, so what would I worry about? Risha was a master of elixir manufacturing.

Anyway, if I eat it, the amount of mana in my body will increase.

Technical things like this are not something you can do unless you train yourself, but increasing mana means that you can eventually increase output. The more you eat, the more you benefit.

“If I eat this, the amount of mana will increase, right?”
“Really. Whenever I think about increasing the amount of mana using elixirs like this… it feels a little absurd. How hard have we worked to build up our mana? And you can fill it up just by eating something like that.”

Come to think of it, Karin and Liztina said something similar when they ate the elixir made from the Spirit King’s heart.

“Isn’t it okay because it’s that precious? After all, something like this is so rare that it can be said to be almost unique. So you can drink it with the feeling that you’re monopolizing it.”
“That’s true. Then shall we drink it?”

We each grabbed an elixir bottle.

“Hmm.”

I can feel a considerable energy in my grasp. It’s truly overflowing with the energy of pure mana. This definitely seems good for my body. My lifespan and strength seemed to increase significantly. Yeah. The name of the Ancient Vampire Lord is not light.

Immediately open the lid.
Put your mouth on the bottle spout.

Like a drunkard drinking straight from the bottle.

ㅡGlug glug.

I eat it all up on the spot.

“Blackie! You know you have to start absorbing it right after you eat it!”

Winia, who hadn’t eaten yet, shouted from the side. I nodded and immediately sat cross-legged on the floor.

ㅡGoooh.

The clear energy of mana spreads throughout my body.