[Branch Quest Judgment of the Wicked has been completed!]
[Supply Box Level 3 has been added to your inventory.]
[Merit Points 8,000,000 have been awarded as a reward.]
[Holy Power increased by 14.]
[Level has increased.]
Evan was receiving his rewards from the Mediator after completing the quest.
However, the item that came out of the supply box was unusual.
“What is this?”
Evan carefully picked up the item.
A key shining with golden light.
It was palm-sized and large, and the key’s handle was engraved with the image of a bird blazing with fire.
[Grade: A]
[Category: Miscellaneous]
[Durability: 1/1]
[Effect: Usable once; can unlock any door or seal.]
[Notes: A master key that can open anything.]
‘A Seal Breaker item?’
He had obtained a more valuable item than expected.
Being able to break seals was important.
It would come in handy later in hidden places or dungeons.
Evan looked satisfied and turned his gaze back to the Mediator.
“What’s the next quest now?”
Instead of answering, the Mediator lightly gestured with his hand.
Then, a new quest appeared before Evan’s eyes.
[Description: While dealing with the wicked, you discovered their forces. They are attempting to achieve a goal through a certain evil power. Protect the Order of Tallin from them and eliminate the wicked.]
[Category: Branch Quest]
[Difficulty: A]
[Objectives: Talk to Andre, thwart the wicked’s conspiracy, annihilate the wicked’s souls.]
[Recommended Level: 90]
[Recommended Participants: 2]
[Rewards: ??]
‘This won’t be easy.’
***
After checking the quest details, Evan closed the window.
At that moment, a message window popped up repeatedly in front of Evan.
[Sacred Sword of Akkrat (Quest) has been added to your inventory.]
“The Sacred Sword of Akkrat?”
Evan immediately opened his inventory and took out the Sacred Sword of Akkrat.
A large double-edged sword, its blade inscribed with runes.
He could feel holy energy radiating from the sword.
It was as if he was looking at one of the S-rank legendary swords from the previous world.
“No way…”
Evan opened the sword’s info window.
[Grade: ??]
[Category: Two-Handed Sword (Quest Exclusive)]
[Effect: Grants the use of three blessings. However, this sword cannot be stained with blood. It will disappear upon quest completion.]
[Holy Blessing: Emits divine power within a 50-meter radius, granting allies within range a buff equal to 80% of the wielder’s total Holy Power for 30 minutes.]
[Judicator’s Blessing: Activatable against wicked enemies with Chaos Value 100 or above. Deals damage proportional to Holy Power when attacking.]
[Goddess’s Protection: Reduces damage received from wicked enemies with Chaos Value 100 or above by 70%.]
[Notes: A legendary holy sword imbued with divine power; cannot be wielded by the wicked.]
Evan’s expression became complicated.
Granting allies a Holy Power buff was certainly a strong advantage.
But the other effects were a bit ambiguous.
‘It’s definitely effective against targets with Chaos Value, but the conditions are restrictive.’
Moreover, the fact that the sword cannot be stained with blood meant it wasn’t for simple killing purposes.
While it was undoubtedly a powerful weapon against wicked enemies with Chaos Value above 100, the damage scaled with his Holy Power.
Since Evan’s Holy Power was still low, it would be difficult to use the sword’s powerfully.
At least the Goddess’s Protection was notable.
‘Damage reduction, huh? That makes it excellent for defense.’
Though a weapon, he might use it more for defense.
‘Giving me something like this means…’
Evan pondered this while reviewing the quest.
“Is the next step going straight into the decisive battle?”
He muttered to himself and subtly asked the Mediator, but received no answer.
Of course, he knew the Mediator wouldn’t say anything.
Evan turned away and moved to return to his original world.
As the light swirled around his body, the Mediator slowly spoke.
“Do not make a mistake. Someone is watching you.”
“W-What?”
Evan turned his head back at the cryptic words,
but by then he was already moving back to his original world.
***
Evan took Alan and Reynold and headed straight to the Sanctuary where Andre was.
They didn’t know how the enemy would move next.
They needed to prepare quickly, ahead of them.
“My lord? Is something wrong?”
“Uh, the traitors might attack this place soon.”
“Huh?”
Alan and Reynold both showed surprised expressions.
Evan warned them firmly.
“You all need to prepare thoroughly. This time, the opponents are truly dangerous.”
They were different from any enemies faced so far.
Based on the information gained from Garhan, the knights possessed by the wicked souls would eventually lose their bodies.
The vengeful spirits who once spread fear would roam again.
‘Not knowing what kind of monsters will appear is the scariest part. Whatever the form, it won’t be good.’
If that happened, the entire Order could be in danger, or even the whole Order of Tallin could fall into their hands.
No, it might not stop at Tallin—it could endanger the entire Kerthen County.
Their true goal was unknown, but it seemed unlikely it would end with Tallin alone.
‘To distinguish the souls inside the bodies, the Eye of the Spirit is necessary. Only I can do it.’
If they captured Tallin and acted silently, no one would notice.
Identifying allies would be nearly impossible.
They would be the best spies imaginable.
If they stirred up the entire county and gathered their comrades, ‘It would be the worst possible outcome. The scariest thing is that we wouldn’t even realize we’ve been taken over because everything would look fine on the surface.’
Evan clicked his tongue, curious about the mastermind behind all this.
He recalled Yurdan’s cryptic words.
‘Velled… something about glory?’
Velled seemed to be their leader.
He was likely the puppet master behind the whole scheme.
“My lord, you’ve arrived.”
Alan called out to Evan, who was lost in thought.
They had just reached the room where Andre was.
“All right. Come in and listen to the briefing.”
Evan opened the door and entered.
Inside were Andre and the key commanders of the Order.
They seemed to be in the middle of an emergency meeting.
“Your Highness! I was about to urgently seek you out.”
Andre stood to greet Evan.
Evan took an available seat and asked, “You’ve uncovered something, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Your Highness, we found extremely important information!”
Andre approached and handed over an unsealed Scroll.
It was the suspicious scroll Evan had received from Yurdan and passed on to Andre.
“…Is this the List of the Knights Order?”
Evan unfolded the Scroll and frowned at the many X marks above the names.
‘More than half have been compromised? The ringleaders have all switched sides.’
The situation was worse than expected.
The Order was practically in their grasp.
This was no longer a matter of action or inaction—they had to get out of here.
‘But it’s probably too late.’
Andre noticed Evan’s gaze on the Scroll and spoke.
“I’m not sure what the list means exactly, but please look at the last part.”
“The last part?”
Evan lowered his eyes and read the text under the list.
Ritual of Sacrifice.
It mentioned that they were preparing to welcome someone.
It also stated that Andre would be offered as a sacrifice.
“So the dais will serve as the Altar. Let’s go there first.”
Evan stood up.
Andre nodded as if he had anticipated this.
“Let’s go together. We were planning to move out for investigation anyway.”
“But… are the people who know this limited to just those here?”
Evan looked around at the commanding officers.
On the surface, there appeared to be no problem.
However…
‘It’s gone this far. I made a mistake…’
Evan’s expression darkened.
Using the Eye of the Spirit, he checked the status windows of everyone in the room and saw a devastating result.
Except for Andre, Alan, and Reynold, everyone had Chaos Value.
The leadership was essentially wiped out.
‘And all their Chaos Values are over 100. This is serious.’
They had been compromised a long time ago.
This was a disaster.
All information had leaked out.
‘Damn, there’s no helping it.’
Evan kept his composure and whispered to Andre.
“I’ll take the escort knights and leave first. Leave them and follow quietly on your own.”
“Huh?”
Andre was confused by Evan’s tone.
“There’s no time to explain.”
Evan spoke firmly.
“Understood.”
As the conversation ended, Evan took Alan and Reynold and left the Sanctuary.
“You two, wait here. I’ll be back shortly.”
Andre tilted his head, confused, but followed Evan outside.
Once outside, Evan explained to Andre.
“Those guys earlier—they’re on the same side as Yurdan.”
“…What?”
Andre couldn’t believe his ears.
“There’s no time to explain again, just listen. I sensed the same wicked aura from them as from Yurdan.”
“Wicked aura…?”
Andre’s eyes widened.
Evan nodded slightly.
“Well, just understand that I identified it through Holy Power. More importantly, the information is already leaked. It’s too late for us to act now. Right now, we need to…”
He tried to convey the urgency of the situation.
Evan was about to tell him to hand over command of the Order.
At that moment—
KRAAAANG!
A sudden explosion echoed.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the source of the blast.
Black smoke was rising near the Prison Camp.
‘They’ve already started moving?’
Then, several knights rushed toward the location.
“Commander!”
“There’s trouble, Commander!”
Andre asked those rushing in.
“What’s going on? That’s the Prison Camp. Why did it explode?”
“We don’t know. Suddenly, knights guarding the western border came running in, saying they were attacked.”
“What? The west?”
Another knight added as he overheard.
“It’s not just the Prison Camp! Major Order facilities are under attack! And since we can’t distinguish friend from foe, everyone is in chaos.”
“W-What?”
Andre was speechless.
A knight rebellion.
The entire Order was in danger.
Everything was unfolding just as Evan had predicted.
“W-Why all of a sudden…?”
‘Why were they attacking their own allies?’
‘No, more importantly, all the high-ranking commanders are enemies.’
One or two spies could be understood.
‘How could over half the Order become spies?’
Even the loyal subordinates had turned traitor—it made no sense.
They had never faced such an enemy before.
‘Who was friend? Who was foe?’
His head spun.
Andre started to panic.
Watching him, Evan shouted.
“Snap out of it! There’s no time for this!”
But Andre couldn’t pull himself together.
Evan shook his head.
“Enough. From now on, I’m in charge. Someone take care of Andre. The rest don’t move without my orders!”
Taking the lead, Evan began gathering other knights.
He needed to gather as many uncorrupted knights as possible.
Even a single knight was precious to fight against them.
Evan hurriedly moved to assemble the knights.