The Crusader

The captured elves were interrogated for unknown information.

They seemed rather strong-willed at first, but after their crown jewels were threatened by painful removal, they began to speak rather quickly, no man would want to feel such horrible pain.

The information earned was rather concerning, apparently, the Theocracy had managed to form a last-ditch alliance with the elves, the details were not known, but the Theocracy had been effectively reduced into a puppet state, one whose sole purpose would be to feed the elf king with more concubines and with monetary wealth.

It is disgusting, to think they would throw away their pride with such ease, their existence is an insult to the Six Gods, luckily, they would be killed soon enough.

The information was kept between the four highest-ranked members of the army, if the soldiers learned of this, they might demand to march through the entire night and day and burn the capital to the ground.

Indeed, this army was nothing special when it came to skill, more people were constantly arriving to join it, but not many of them were trained with the use of weapons, with the entire nation plunged into civil war, many soldiers had to remain in the cities to ensure their territories weren't simply taken over by monsters or other nations, with their former leaders now effectively dethroned, they had to protect the people.

This meant that normal people were conscripted instead, however, most of these people were more than willing to apply, with even young teens and old people coming along to join them, though the ones who were too old or young were denied and escorted by units to the closest city.

So, what they had was an army filled to the brim with the most religiously fervent, fanatic, patriotic, and outright suicidal if necessary, people.

This put the four in a rather difficult position, and they could be seen in their commanding tent once more, the camp around seemed to bustle with life as the morning sun rose, and soldiers ran around, preparing to pack the camp up and move.

"How do we convince them to rest??" Frutos spoke with confusion, not even bothering to say the meeting was initiated.

"...I don't know." Kunral, who was usually the most logical of the group, had absolutely no clue what to do.

Rushelia, now looking the same as always, didn't speak, Urala also seemed at a loss for words.

"I mean, seriously, how were we supposed to predict such an issue?" Frutos, now simply relieving his frustration, continued to speak, "This is ridiculous!"

"...Truly, to think they would consider marching for the entire day and night just to prove their faith..." Kunral nodded at his captain's frustration, the situation was ridiculous indeed.

The men, in their intense faith and their overwhelming desire to prove themselves, decided they wanted to march for the next day and night without rest, it also didn't help that the attack by the elves stoked the burning flame of rage within their hearts, causing the troops to hunger for elf blood.

"The divine will protect us from any attacks!" They shouted, ignoring the fact that the Six Gods couldn't simply be relied on all the time with their mysterious ways.

Rushelia looked at Frutos who seemed to be getting quite frustrated and fell into deep thought.

They could tell the soldiers relying on the Six Gods like this would be wasting their time, but that might result in them swinging the other way and becoming too lazy. If they simply told the soldiers to shut up and do what they were told to do who knows what might happen, In the worst-case scenario, all of them would be crucified as heathens, with such zealous people, one can never be too sure.

Everyone in the room aside from Rushelia sighed, they were probably the first in history who have had such an issue, but even if that was the case, they had to figure something out.

Just as silence settled over the tent, some shouts of surprise could be heard outside.

Frutos let out a frustrated groan, "Oh gods what is it now?"

Kunrad ignored his leader's frustration temporarily, "Let's go check on it before it gets worse whatever it is." Kunrad proposed, earning a nod from Kunrad.

With that, the four left the tent, and after a few minutes of walking, a large crowd of people could be seen in front of them.

They pushed through, and in the middle of the crowd, a large unit of a man could be seen, or rather, a very strong-looking man in heavy armor could be seen.

He has a long white cloak on his back, a helmet made out of brilliant steel could be seen, small slits could be seen in front of the eyes, allowing the crusader to see the infidels who should be sent to hell for their transgressions.

The breastplate is similar to the helmet, the same shining metal was used to create it most likely, the cloak only covered his arms and back, allowing one to witness the impenetrable steel.

His legs were too, covered in the same armor, while the boots seemed to be made out of sturdy leather.

Beneath the armor, thick leather could be seen, it prevents the steel from pinching the skin while also providing an extra layer of protection.

All of his skin was covered, with his hands hidden beneath his metal-plated gloves.

Where his face should be, only pure darkness could be seen, where his eyes should be, two points of pure brilliant white light could be seen, giving away the inhuman nature of the creature before them.

On the cloak, the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown could be seen drawn with a golden color, while around it the symbols of the 41 supreme beings could be seen, each one seemed to be painted with liquid gold, shining with brilliance.

On the waist, a metal sword could be seen hidden away in a

The creature looked at the people gathered around it, and then, it focused its attention on the four people who now seemed to approach it.

Rushelia immediately drew her sword, she could feel the strength this thing had just by looking at it, but she didn't feel any hostility, instead, she felt her tremble from respect.

In front of her was no doubt a holy warrior of the highest order, someone to be respected by his comrades and feared by the heathens and sinners of the world.

Her sword faltered slightly as she made eye contact with the crusader, who looked at the other three, who also seemed a bit hesitant and confused.

It raised its hands above its shoulders, causing an immediate reaction in the people around, it then spoke.

Its voice was impossibly deep with an echo and deafening effect that fit the helmet, yet they could all understand each word it spoke with ease "I wish you no harm, faithful warriors, I have come to aid you in your righteous conquest."

The soldiers immediately whispered amongst themselves. Very few believed the knight, after all, if it was a servant of the Six Gods, why didn't it have any of their symbols?

"I have been sent by the messenger to aid you, if you don't believe me, I shall do everything in my power to prove myself." It spoke with supreme confidence, its posture never wavered while it continued to signal peaceful intent with its arms raised slightly above the shoulders at all times.

Rushelia looked at the night while the others seemed stuck in thought, finally, after a few seconds, Frutos spoke up after his brain absorbed all the info he could.

"Please follow us." A simple command, which the crusader obeyed promptly, it kept its hands raised for a while until Urala told it to lower the hands.

As a healer with holy magic, she also no doubt felt the power of the creature far more than any of them.

They arrived at the tent, the two guards protecting it saluted their leaders as they walked inside. The crusader saluted the soldiers as it walked past them.

These were faithful men protecting their leaders, they deserved respect, and saluting them was the least it could do.

They all entered the tent, and the four humans turned to the crusader, who stood ready to prove himself.

"Well then~ what's your name?" Urala asked.

"My name is simply Crusader." Its voice echoed from the confines of the helmet.

"Right then, you wish to aid us in our conflict?" Frutos asked, the crusader couldn't help but feel a bit confused, didn't it say that already?

"Yes, I believe I've already made myself very clear in that regard."

"...I do apologize for us not trusting you, but as you should know, you don't look like anything we've ever seen before in our lives, therefore, we can't help but feel cautious."

"I understand perfectly, and there is no need to fear, I have been sent by the one you call 'The Messanger' to aid you."

A sigh of relief washed over everyone, but one question still hung in the air.

"If you are a servant of the Six Gods, why do you not have any of their symbols on your armor?" Kunral, with his keen logical mind, immediately asked the question everyone had forgotten about.

Crusader turned to him, "I have been informed by the messenger that your understanding of the divine pantheon is very limited, in reality, there are 41 Gods, and these are their symbols." He then turned around and pointed at the symbols on his back.

"...Welcome aboard then!" Frutos, no longer suspecting Crusader, decided to accept his aid, he was no doubt powerful, and if he truly was a helper from the messenger, then he would no doubt prove himself soon enough.

The camp then got packed up and they began their march around the forest, with Crusader's help, they managed to convince the soldiers to not recklessly charge into their likely death, and now with such an excellent fighter among them, Crusader trained the troops to become true paladins.

The soldiers did their absolute best to learn, a few even showed great potential including Rushelia, though unfortunately, Eve didn't show much potential as a paladin, which was fine, healing was her passion anyway.

Unknown to Eve however, Crusader had taken note of her along with Rushelia, the two showed immense talent for using divine power, and he would no doubt inform his master of this development.

The army traveled along the forest edge, and as they did, they couldn't help but notice the thick large columns of ash rising in the distance.

The elves had most likely claimed another settlement and the atmosphere in the camp became very hostile very quickly, the men wanted to march there and punish the infidels, but unfortunately, they were too far away to have any chance of helping the people over there.

So they continued to march, with the atmosphere a mix of righteous anger and a depressed silence.

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