Crimson Servant

At first, it was just a handful of weak light particles, crumbling, as if they would go out at any moment. Like a fleeting meteor, he flew towards the paladin standing on the scorched earth. His power increased suddenly, and the storm rolled up by the sacred energy opened the sea of ​​fire.

The light was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes. Carl could only feel the infinite light and heat covering the pain on his body. A burst of joy, like old friends reunited and dead trees blooming, emerged from the bottom of his heart, from the inside out, infiltrating every inch of his skin.

He is bathed in light and in the presence of God.

The constraints of the material plane did not imprison Karl's soul at this moment. His consciousness transcended the physical world and received enlightenment in the astral realm.

He saw a solemn old man with a long beard, holding a sword in one hand and parchment in the other. The words on the long paper glowed with golden light. They were oaths, oaths made by the Paladins to their beloved sun. On the parchment, new content is being imprinted, which is exactly the same as what Karl once said.

A bird was standing on the back of the old man's hand holding the parchment. Its feathers were as bright as gold, emitting light as if burning. He tilted his head and looked at Karl in the void. That gaze sent Carl's inspiration plummeting back to his reborn body.

With the power of the oath and the blessing of the alien sun added to him, the almost exhausted Paladin stood up again in the light.

Mithras, the sun god, did not give up on him, but waited for a while, seizing the best opportunity like a patient warrior. The power of the two suns blended perfectly in Carl's body, and Carl Demiras became the favored one of the sun.

Karl thrust the long sword into the ground, and the burning flames were extinguished. Divine energy overflowed from the cracked gaps, and the scorched earth became the domain of the sun.

The holy light rolled up the sand and gathered in front of Karl. Feeling something in his heart, he stretched his hand into the light.

A medium-sized stone shield in the shape of a flying wing was held in Karl's hand. The surface was full of light, and the simple lines outlined a sun emblem on the shield.

"Lotti." Karl whispered the name of the Crow God. This feeling was completely different from Mithra's attention. His light is very weak, not as grand and vast as the gods that Karl is familiar with. He does not give you a distant feeling of being watched like other holy spirits, but a feeling that can be noticed and touched. Loti is in your presence. In the palm of your hand, Loti is on your shoulder, Loti is in front of you.

The halo on the shield circulated in a circle, as if in response.

Karl raised his head and looked at the dragon, his arrogance of victory so strong that it became substantial.

He raised his sword and shouted angrily at the red dragon Azames:

"Sun! This evil is worth fighting!"

The red dragon Azames looked at the glowing little man in front of it. The dazzling light made it look squarely at the Paladin in front of it. It opened its mouth and roared angrily:

"Follower of the Sun, you will pay with death for being an enemy of Azames!"

The red dragon accumulated breath again, its wings raised strong winds, and the magic power it released heated the fire field, constantly creating conditions for greater destruction. The flames that had not yet dissipated were stirred by the wind and turned into sharp fangs and rushed towards Karl. The red dragon flying into the air was still gathering momentum, and the flames on the ground had already attacked Karl.

With the blessing of magic, these flames become even hotter and take on a vague form. Perhaps if they go one step further, they will give birth to intelligence and become elemental creatures.

Kal faced the firestorm rushing towards him and raised the Shield of Loti.

The sun emblem on the shield glowed, and the bombing flames were split into two in the area one foot in front of the shield, as if an invisible sword blade split the flames, forcing these wild fires to split in front of the shield. Splashing flames exploded on both sides of Karl, unable to harm him at all, leaving bird-wing-like scorch marks in front of the paladin.

Breaking through the flames, the barrier between the red dragon and the paladin was cleared, and they stared each other down at their foes.

The long sword in Karl's hand gathered light, and the entire sword was wrapped in light.

The red dragon Azames chuckled. It kept an absolutely safe distance. Although the power of the paladin was dangerous, it was useless if it couldn't cut it. And its breath will burn everything.

Karl maintained the power of Holy Slash, stood in the holy storm, and said softly:

"Ten minutes, we're here."

【Veltis' Chain of Sin】

Behind the holy light, in the accumulated red mist, the roar of crimson power overwhelmed everything, and countless blood-red chains burst out from it. Each chain with the thickness of a cable tore open the ground, shattering the air, like bullets bombarding, stabbing. Red dragon pointing towards the sky.

The chain penetrated the red dragon's flying wings, the scales shattered, and hot dragon blood oozed from the wound. Azames roared, and it tried its best to mobilize the flames to protect itself, but everyone could hear the despair and unwillingness in its roar. The blood-red chains were stained with flames and dragon's blood, as if the flames were ignited by blood.

With a sliding sound of metal friction, the chains binding the red dragon were tightened. The injured Azames felt that his body was getting weaker and weaker. It was gradually unable to resist the struggle of the chains. In its body, the crimson corruption was rapidly expanding.

In the red mist, the hoarse roar decided the fate of the red dragon.

"Fall, red dragon! Fall to death!"

All the blood-red chains worked together, and the red dragon Azames fell from the sky with the force of a landslide. Its body was bound by the chains and could not move, and it fell towards the position of the red mist.

Facing the red dragon falling towards him, Paladin Carl raised his sword high.

Karl looked at the pair of golden vertical eyes that stared at him, and saw the viciousness in them covered by the flames. He jumped up high, and pierced the red dragon's skull with his lightsaber amid its desperate wail.

[Heavy attack to the Holy Slash]

The holy light was injected into the red dragon's head. Karl held the sword tightly and withstood the impact of the fall together with the red dragon.

The body of the red dragon Azames smashed a huge hole in the ground. The unstable geology caused the cracks to expand continuously. Karl found the opportunity to draw his sword and jump away. Not long after he landed, the red dragon sank into the hole and fell into the ground. Deeper.

Carl gasped, standing on the edge of the cave, looking at the dragon's blood on the sword, and felt an unreal trance in his heart.

Did we slay the dragon? And John!

The paladin quickly ran towards his companion's position. The evil aura was dissipating, and the faint red mist remaining in the air was burned out by the expulsion of the holy light. Karl looked towards the center, where the figure kneeling on the ground looked haggard. John's robe was torn, bright as blood, and stuck to his skin and bones. His skin was pale, but underneath his skin was a sickly red color.

The sinister warning of danger had faded, as if someone had removed the oppressive boulder from above Carl's head.

He understood that John was weak and that the warlock had drained him of his strength.

The warlock reacted to the paladin's approach and simply rolled his eyes.

Karl dropped his sword and shield, raised his hands, and slowly approached John.

He tentatively helped the warlock up, but John didn't resist the touch of skin. The holy healing spell was slowly injected into the warlock's withered body, but there was no response. This was not good news. John was now as weak as a corpse.

"You idiot, holy healing is not omnipotent." Karl couldn't help but feel happy when he heard that annoying voice.

"The sun is up, you are still alive!"

Carl lifted John up, but the weak warlock couldn't even stand at the moment, so the paladin simply picked him up. John now had no strength to defend his dignity.

"Death is not far away," John said tiredly.

Carr's habitual naysaying made Karl more relaxed. He blinked and showed off their great achievements to his partners.

"We slayed the dragon, John, your family technique is really powerful."

John glanced at the paladin. His expression was as usual, as if he was immersed in glory.

"If there is a family that can create a magic that kills a dragon at the cost of draining one person's blood, we usually give the leader of that family a more powerful name. For example, Demon God."

John did not continue the role-playing game with Carl, he knew that the Paladin had already guessed his identity, and the unnecessary disguise seemed like a joke. John was tired of lying to fools, especially fools pretending to be fools, and the paladin's actions had proven his safety.

"...I never thought that one day I would have a friend who is a believer of the Crimson God."

"I also thought you would break your vows soon."

Hearing these words before, Karl would definitely raise his sword and strike John with the Holy Slash, but Karl, who had become the Sun's Favored One, just smiled proudly.

Obeying John's wishes, Karl took him to the cave where the red dragon fell, and John looked into the darkness deep inside.

"I want to go down. Wiltis' ritual magic can help me recover quickly next to that dragon. That is more effective than any treatment."

"Do you need me to follow?" Karl was unsure of the danger involved, and his weak companion seemed to need more care at this time.

"If you want to experience breaking the oath on the first day after the oath is made." John said cryptically, that would be an evil that the Paladin cannot tolerate.

Carl understood.

"I'm going to look for signs of the others. They should be nearby."

John thought of the dwarf and felt a little depressed.

"Don't wait for me. I will return directly to the ground after the ceremony."

With that, John fell backwards into the pit.