Chapter 47: Knights of Chaos

Evan was studying Yurdan’s status window that appeared before his eyes.

[Tendency: Evil]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Male]

[Affinity: 0%]

[Chaos Value: 40]

[Potential Ability: None]

[Skills: Sword Art Lv.60, Counter Lv.20, Aura Amplification Lv.40……..]

[Due to the Chaos Value, it is impossible to view the soul’s memories.]

It felt like looking at a very unique status window.

There were several things that stood out.

First, the potential ability.

‘There’s no potential ability. But all of his skill levels are high.’

It was something he couldn’t understand.

The development of skills was usually based on one’s potential ability.

But this guy had high skill levels without any potential ability.

It was an unnatural, artificial state.

‘Is this guy abnormal because of his Chaos Value?’

The only factor he could point to was the Chaos Value.

He needed to think about what that actually meant.

‘He doesn’t look like it at all, though.’

His tendency was listed as evil, and there was a Chaos Value he hadn’t seen before.

And at 40, it was a pretty high number.

That alone was enough reason to be wary of him.

‘What on earth did he do?’

When Evan quietly stared at him, Yurdan kept smiling and asked, “Is there something you’re curious about?”

“No, I just really like what I see.”

Evan answered without revealing anything.

Then he turned his head to look at Andre.

‘What about this guy?’

This time, he used Eye of the Spirit to check Andre’s status window.

But his tendency was good, and there was nothing special.

In fact, out of all the people he’d seen so far, Andre might be the most ordinary.

‘So this guy is just the knight commander, and only Yurdan is especially dangerous?’

After some thought, Evan spoke up.

“I’d like to meet the other knights soon.”

He needed to assess the entire knight order, not just Yurdan.

How strong were they, how much control did they have over the order?

And what were their motives for joining, and what were they doing here?

He had to see the bigger picture.

‘If I’m going to settle here, I’ll have to clean up the inside first.’

His first time truly living the life of a knight.

Evan had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy.

***

When Evan returned to his room, he called for Alan and Reynold.

While Evan was speaking with the knight commander, they had been checking out the training grounds and facilities.

A kind of environmental survey.

“What did you think after looking around?”

“Well……”

“There’s really nothing here! There’s only the training grounds, and the only kind of training possible is sparring.”

Alan’s expression was dark.

Reynold didn’t look particularly happy either.

Alan added, “Instead of any magical facilities, it seems like real combat is their training here. Life-and-death battles, I mean. And the power hierarchy among the knights seems pretty clear.”

This place, where you never knew what threat might be lurking.

It seemed that a culture of strength had naturally taken root in such an environment.

Evan thought for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Strength, huh… If that’s all, I have nothing to worry about.”

“Huh?”

“It’s nothing. More importantly, I plan to completely overhaul the knight order.”

“Overhaul it?”

Alan and Reynold looked at him, as if asking what he meant.

“There’s a lot to clean up inside the knight order. You two will have plenty to do. From this moment on, trust no one but us.”

Evan wiped the smile from his face and spoke seriously.

Alan and Reynold exchanged glances and nodded.

“Is there some reason for this?”

“Even if I told you now, you wouldn’t understand. I’ll explain later. Remember—trust no one here. And if you see anything suspicious, report it immediately.”

“Understood!”

Reynold answered energetically, as if to say ‘you can count on me.’

Alan began to ponder Evan’s words deeply.

‘Is something going on?’

He had a bad feeling about it.

***

The next morning, the knights had gathered at the training grounds.

On the platform, Andre was giving the knights a few announcements, and then proceeded to introduce Evan.

‘……Evan Kerthen, the new Apprentice Commander personally sent by the Count, will be joining you from now on. He’s just starting out, so I ask for your help and understanding. If anyone ignores the commander or causes any trouble because of him, I will not forgive it.’

After a few words of advice and a formal greeting, Andre gestured to Evan.

Andre stepped back, and Evan stepped forward.

From the platform, he could see all the knights in the training grounds at a glance.

Most of them were looking at Evan with clear dislike.

Having a new superior was probably not something they welcomed.

Especially if that superior was the notorious troublemaker.

Evan smirked and greeted them.

“My name is Evan, newly assigned here. I hope to work with you all as a member of the knight order. I look forward to it.”

Then, he began to activate Eye of the Spirit and bring up status windows.

‘As many as possible.’

He focused on those closest to the platform, checking their status windows.

He sorted out the ones with an evil tendency, and among them, those with a Chaos Value.

He was just trying to get a rough idea of how many there were.

He quickly swept his gaze across the training grounds with Eye of the Spirit.

It consumed an extreme amount of mental energy, as well as life force and mana.

In the past, he would’ve fainted from the drain.

But after the gate incident, suppressing monsters, and the knight order exam—

Evan had grown much stronger through all those trials and hardships.

‘Just a little longer……’

Evan’s eyes darted rapidly.

Nearby, Andre watched Evan with folded arms, wearing a ‘so that’s how it is’ expression.

‘As expected, still a rookie? Must be his first time in front of a crowd.’

He thought Evan was nervous about standing in front of so many people.

First impressions were critical for a new commander.

And showing nerves like this was never a good thing.

Andre watched, then sighed heavily and slowly approached Evan.

“Sir……?”

Blood trickled from Evan’s nose.

Andre was startled by the sight.

“So it’s not nerves, you’re not feeling well! Quickly, call for the priest…!”

Evan pinched his nose and shook his head.

“I’m fine. Just a bit tired from the journey here.”

“Still……”

Evan waved off Andre’s concern and staggered away.

Andre frowned as he watched Evan’s retreating back.

‘With a body that weak… tch tch. I’m worried about how he’ll lead those men from now on… For his sake, maybe it’s better to send him away from here.’

Of course, while Andre was thinking that, Evan’s thoughts were completely different.

‘There are more than I thought—about 30%, maybe?’

Evan had glanced over the knights in the training grounds.

A significant number had an evil tendency, and all of those had a Chaos Value.

The fact that all of them had a Chaos Value meant something must have happened here.

He needed to find out what incidents had occurred in the past.

***

Back in his room, Evan took out a Soul Stone from his inventory.

He had completed the Branch Quest in the Cursed Forest before, but hadn’t claimed the reward yet.

He’d also found the Twisted Chalice and discovered various suspicious things since coming here.

Given the circumstances, there was a high chance new quests related to all this would appear.

Fwoosh!

A moment later, a band of light wrapped around his body, and Evan was instantly transported to the Celestial Realm where the Mediator resided.

He immediately approached the Mediator.

“It’s been a while.”

“I don’t have much time, so just get to the point.”

Evan handed over the Twisted Chalice from his inventory.

“I completed the quest. I got this while accomplishing it.”

The Mediator’s eyes narrowed.

“You managed to recover that abomination, I see.”

“Abomination?”

The Mediator accepted the Twisted Chalice and continued.

“I’m talking about a Chaos Item. Among them, this one is disaster-class.”

A brilliant light burst from the Mediator’s hand as he held the Twisted Chalice.

Crack!

The twisted shape of the chalice began to return to its original form.

And then—

Fwoooosh!

A dazzling light radiated from the Twisted Chalice.

“What in the world…”

The Mediator floated the transformed chalice in midair.

“This is an imitation made after His own. These fakes just cause trouble.”

“His? What do you mean?”

Evan couldn’t hide his confusion and a hint of anger.

It was a reaction to the fact that the Mediator had been hiding something all this time.

The Mediator shook his head and continued.

“You couldn’t have known. The things you saw in your previous world weren’t supposed to exist there. The information about them had nothing to do with you, but that’s not the case in this world. For example, should I say all the disasters you saw in the previous world?”

As the Mediator finished speaking, memories flashed before Evan’s eyes like a revolving lantern.

The world where he had lived as Lee Han.

That world was originally peaceful.

There shouldn’t have been items, Awakened, or monsters.

But from a certain point, everything changed.

The beginning of the Great Catastrophe.

It was fundamentally unnatural.

“Then, the power of these Awakened…”

“It was unavoidable, to protect the world.”

The Mediator was tight-lipped.

Then returned to the main topic.

“In any case, the fact that there are beings who know about this item means your mission is that much heavier.”

The chalice, now restored to its original form, shone with a golden light.

Evan’s mind spun rapidly.

Abomination.

The chalice returned to its original form.

And even the Mediator hesitated to name ‘Him.’

Evan stared at the large castle visible behind the Mediator.

‘Is the being inside that castle?’

Not once had the Mediator explained anything about that place.

Crackle!

At that moment, the chalice floating in midair cracked and shattered.

The Mediator spoke.

“They can imitate, but they can never make the real thing. How laughable.”

Evan looked back at the Mediator.

“You say my mission is heavy. And who are the ones making these things?”

“That, I don’t know either. Only He knows. And these are problems you have to resolve yourself.”

At last, the Mediator raised one hand.

With a light gesture, a small orb of light was absorbed into Evan’s body.

[Branch Quest: Cursed Forest has been completed!]

[Hidden Supply Box: Stage 2 has been delivered to your inventory.]

[You have received 5,000,000 Contribution Points as a reward.]

[Your level has increased!]

[Your level has increased!]

As the quest was completed, a flood of messages appeared before his eyes.

Along with the rewards, his level shot up by seven.

As expected of a Branch Quest, the rewards were generous.

The Mediator continued.

“If you want to know more, just fulfill your mission.”

As soon as he finished speaking—

[Searching for quests.]

[There is currently 1 available quest.]

Without pause, a new quest was assigned to Evan.

‘Persistent bastard. In short, he’s telling me to just keep working.’

Evan checked the new quest that appeared before him.

But the more he read, the more interested he looked.

‘This quest… I really like it.’

A smile spread across Evan’s lips.