## Chapter 837 – The Black Knight

Afterward, I meditated and did some simple training, properly digesting and experiencing the newly absorbed power to get a real feel for it.

“Damn, I feel incredibly healthy.”

I could clearly feel the increased mana capacity.
Truly an amazing elixir.

Actually, for women like Karin, Liz, and Risha, drinking a bit of this probably wouldn’t even show, but still, the fact that it increased is the best thing.

Not just me, but everyone quietly used their own methods to properly digest the newly acquired mana. Even Winia immediately lay down to meditate, which says it all.

Unfortunately, the effects of taking more were significantly reduced, so we decided to just drink a few more and keep the rest at home like emergency medicine. Risha said that even if they had made it with a higher concentration, there would still be a limit to the absorption rate.

Sharing it like this was probably the most efficient way.

More than anything, as the increased mana melted into my body, power overflowed from my flesh. Maybe that’s why, but I felt like my stamina had also improved. No, it really did. With just my dick alone, I could have surpassed the world’s strongest long ago.

That’s how we spent our time.

* * *

“Let’s think about the holy water later. Right now, we just drank the elixir, so who knows what might happen if we consume something else? Besides, Hilde can’t drink it anyway.”
“You’re right.”

We drank the elixir, but there was still one more good thing left at home. The highest-grade holy water we received from the martial arts tournament. But consuming it now was premature. As Risha said, we didn’t know what might happen, and we couldn’t know the effects on Hilde if any of us drank the holy water.

So, we had to approach it carefully.

“I feel… sorry…”

Hilde said in a gloomy tone after hearing that.

“Just because I’m a succubus, I can’t drink it…”
“No, Hilde. It’s okay. Why are you sorry?”

I immediately stroked the back of Hilde’s neck.
She was subtly worried about that.

I didn’t care at all.

“Don’t think like that. Huh? You don’t have to worry about it.”
“But I can’t help but feel sorry…”
“I said it’s okay. Who cares about that kind of thing.”
“Katt…!”

Hilde hugged my neck.

“Hehehe, what’s with the ‘Katt’? Well, I’m going out for a bit.”
“Okay!”

I hugged Hilde for a moment, then immediately got dressed and went to pick up my equipment. It had been a week since I left it for repairs, so it should be ready now.

ㅡThud, thud.

Walking, I felt different than when I went to drop off the equipment. Having made the elixir’s power my own, my body was overflowing with vitality.

An increase of about 40% in mana.

The efficiency of multiple doses was reduced, so this was the maximum, but my mana capacity increased by 40% raw.

That didn’t mean my swordsmanship or leg techniques had improved, but just the fact that mana had melted into my body greatly increased my stamina, strength, and endurance to a noticeable degree.

This directly led to an increase in combat power.

Since my physical abilities had improved, the efficiency of refining my skills would also increase, and if I devoted myself to training as usual, my skills would soon improve as well. More than anything, my senses had become even sharper.

Checking my much-changed body as I walked, I soon arrived at the smithy.

As soon as I went inside, the blacksmith recognized me and raised his hand.

“Ah, you’ve come. I thought you’d be coming soon. Here, the repairs are complete.”
“Oh!!!!!”

I saw that my battle priest equipment set had been perfectly repaired. The dented and crumpled parts had been smoothed out cleanly, and the scratched parts had also been polished.

It felt like I was looking at a brand-new item…!

“Perfect!! Thank you!!”

He really took care of it!

“It’s our job, no need to thank us. Just use it to defeat the evil beings.”
“Of course, I will!!! Wow, your skills are amazing!”
“I’ve been doing it my whole life, so it’s only natural.”

If I had the chance, I wanted to wear this and fight a spirit king or something again. With my increased physical abilities, I wouldn’t get crushed like last time.

ㅡClank.

I immediately put on the equipment, greeted him, and headed to the cathedral. My combat power was currently at its peak. If there was a job, I could take care of it and come back.

* * *

“Ah, Paladin, you’ve come.”
“Did you sleep well, Holy Maiden?”
“The same as always.”

ㅡThump.

The Holy Maiden, who was organizing the documents she was holding, looked at me while resting her chin on her hand.

“It seems you’ve finished repairing your equipment. It’s very clean and nice. It gives a very strong impression of being a warrior of the Order. I like it very much.”
“Hehehe, is that so? Clothes are very important, after all.”

This is an era where the clothes and armor you wear become authority.

“Anyway, some information has come in.”
“Information?”

I immediately pulled up a chair and sat across from the Holy Maiden, and she took out a stack of documents and handed it to me.

“Last time, we discovered an underground research facility of heretics in the Misty Plains. Do you remember?”
“How could I forget that? I went with Captain Barkerel.”

We went and slaughtered the heretical group and the heretical abominations.

Speaking of which, Captain Barkerel.

Seeing his face pop into my head, I wanted to see him again. There was no one as crazy as that old man. I wonder what he’s doing there now. He’s probably hunting demons and undead, living peacefully and happily, right?

I wonder how Copson and Elise are doing.
I’m a little curious about guys like Lina, Mariel, and Lisette.

“It seems the investigation into that place is slowly coming to an end.”
“Ah.”

That strange underground facility.
It’s an investigation into that.

“It seems to have taken about a year.”
“It’s not easy. Take a look.”

I immediately grabbed the document and quickly scanned the text.

The underground facility was quite unique.

Not only was it hidden in a remote location, but its scale was enormous.

Building something like that would have required a huge amount of cost, labor, and materials, but no one except the heretics knew about such a facility.

In addition, the heretics were brainwashed and committing human trafficking and human experimentation. Several abominations that seemed to have jumped out of a nightmare were also imprisoned.

“Apparently, the style of the underground facility itself is that of the old dwarves, but this Holy Maiden is ignorant of this part, so I can only accept it as it is in the report.”
“Dwarves?”

Just like the elves are active, dwarves are also seen from time to time. I’ve actually seen them a few times. But the dwarves’ kingdom is quite far away, requiring you to pass through several countries to get there.

“Dwarves, huh.”

Listening to the story, the underground facility was built in the style of the old dwarves, and the year is unknown. It seems to be from the pre-Idol War era.

Naturally, it is presumed that it was abandoned and forgotten due to the war, and the Order’s investigation team’s research results show that the heretics occupied the place and used it as they pleased. The heretics didn’t build it themselves, but used the empty one as they pleased.

A dwarven scholar in the investigation team returned to his kingdom to find out more detailed information, and when he returns, proper information will be conveyed.

“An ancient structure of the dwarves… Why would these bastards come all the way here to make something like this?”
“That’s hard to say. There’s even a saying that elves and dwarves lived mixed with humans in the pre-Idol War era, so it wouldn’t be strange for their ancient structures to remain in human lands.”
“Is that so?”

By the way, how did those heretics know that there was such a facility there and use it?

Rather than discovering it by chance… Did they use something they already knew?

If so, their leader may have been living from before the Idol War era until now.

Only questions deepen.

“The possibility that the dwarves are related to the heretics… I don’t know about that. It’s a strange thing. This kind of thing exists.”

Anyway, I knew very well that it was a recycled ancient facility.

“We’ll know more when that dwarven scholar returns. Dwarves are obsessed with leaving records due to their characteristics, so we may even know what era it was built in and for what purpose.”
“But I don’t have much expectation. We’ve lost all our records, so would they have any?”
“That’s true, but there’s always hope, isn’t there?”

That’s right.
The Holy Maiden, who had cleared away the documents, took out something new.

“And this is about the Black Knight. It seems like the Paladin will have to go once.”
“Am I going again?”

The suddenly appearing mysterious Black Knight had the ability to subdue the paladins in an instant, and serial murders and disappearances were occurring around him.

“The undead case was suppressed by the troops on the scene, but this is a report that he is stirring up the area as he pleases beyond solving the case. An evacuation order has been issued to the villagers.”
“Well, is there a combat record?”
“There are reports that the army witnessed him during the chase, but they immediately fled because they were not confident in winning. But it is written that he runs so fast that he can’t catch him at all.”

A strong knight can run faster than a horse, and those who can track such guys are virtually only knights of the same number.

Usually, their endurance is also incredibly strong.

Even if you spread a net to surround them, they are too fast, and their breakthrough power is so strong that it is very difficult to catch them.

“It seems that his purpose is literally chaos and slaughter. He is called the Black Knight because he is wearing black armor, but there is a high probability that he is not human.”
“He may be a guy who borrowed power from a demon.”
“I’m also thinking about that possibility. It can be said to be the highest possibility.”

The border may have become weak, and new demons may have crossed over, or the demons that had already crossed over may have survived until now, growing their power excessively and making humans like that.

Like the Vugal case, a magic sword may have popped out. Ah, but a magic sword? That would be nice too. I could give it to Vugal as food.

“Then I’ll go and come back.”
“…”

Saying that, I grabbed the document, and the Holy Maiden turned her body towards the window in the back and said.

“…I won’t be able to see you for a while.”
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? How long will it take? I’ll be back soon.”

If he gets caught by our couple demolition team, he’ll be destroyed in an instant.

“As I always say, you must always be careful. If you don’t know the enemy’s strength…”
“Hehehe, Holy Maiden. That’s my specialty. You don’t have to worry.”

You seem a little too worried today, but there’s no need to be. I have the experience, so don’t I know the gap with the other party?

Saying that, the Holy Maiden turned her body back to me.

“Hmph, this Holy Maiden said something presumptuous to the warrior. Well, the Paladin is a professional when it comes to field work. I’ll be looking forward to good news.”
“Yes. Ah, but don’t expect too much. I can kill him, but it will be difficult to find out his identity.”
“I understand.”

After saying goodbye, I put the document I received in my arms and returned home.

“Black Knight, you son of a bitch.”

It’s definitely a suspicious thing.

From experience, guys who deliberately do such things have some kind of purpose. On top of that, he’s wearing black armor and causing major incidents all over the place?

This means that unless a demon is collecting souls or human pain, the heretics are probably harvesting people’s lives to perform some kind of sacrifice or ritual.

There is also the possibility that he is simply a pleasure killer, but is a guy that strong simply a pleasure killer? The possibility is low. He must be a guy exposed to evil power.

You fucking bastard.

I have to kill him right away.