Chapter 227
Episode 73: Murakan’s Benefactor (3)
“That’s quite a joke you’re making.”
“Hurry, get inside here!”
Lani pointed with her finger to a narrow gap deeper in the alley—the same path she and the other paladins had used to chase after the group.
The party passed her and headed straight for the gap. The moment Kuzan’s toes slipped into the narrow opening, about twenty paladins swarmed the alley.
“Lani Salome!? Where are those bastards hiding?”
The captain paladin’s eyes blazed as he looked at the fallen paladins beside Lani.
Lani still hadn’t drawn her sword, and the captain’s displeasure was clear. The other paladins sighed or clicked their tongues, all aware of Lani’s ironclad rule: never attack anyone who isn’t a heretic.
By her standards, heretics were only those who had been officially condemned as such by the final trial overseen by Saint King Miklan, or those who openly embraced heresy and wielded dark magic.
“Sorry, we lost them. We confirmed they headed toward District 1. We should pursue them quickly—”
“Hmph! Those rats are trapped like mice in a cage. They’ll be caught soon enough. But Lani Salome, you still haven’t drawn your sword even as your comrades fall. Do you really think you deserve to be called a paladin of the Doctrine’s Dawn?”
Grinding teeth.
Though her eyes were lowered, Lani ground her teeth hard enough for the captain to hear.
“If it’s punishment you want, I’ll accept it later. For now, you should focus on chasing the intruders.”
“You’re always disappointing. How long do you think the Lord will keep shielding you? Even with heretics right in front of you—tsk!”
“Just go after them! And Captain, how can you be so sure they’re heretics? They’re just intruders for now, aren’t they?”
Lani snapped back.
The captain glared at her for a moment, then shook his head in frustration.
“Third squad, send Lani’s team to the saints and regroup at District 1. And Lani Salome, second-class paladin, you’re hereby placed under house arrest. Return to the barracks, surrender your weapons and armor, and await further orders. If you disobey, I won’t be responsible for what happens next. Understood?”
The paladins passed by Lani and exited the alley. Those who gathered the fallen comrades grumbled harshly at her.
“I wish I had a father like you. Disobeying orders and talking back to the captain, and all you get is house arrest?”
“Do you know? You’re more heretical than any heretic. When you get back, please request a transfer and disappear somewhere. Stop tarnishing the Dawn.”
Once they left, Lani was alone in the alley.
Meanwhile, Jin’s group had been quietly listening to the entire exchange from the side.
‘Lani Salome… I feel like I’ve heard that name before. Wait, yes—I remember. She’s the adopted daughter of Saint King Miklan.’
In a past life, Jin had read a few articles about her in newsletters.
Despite being the king’s daughter, she was known for her drunken, reckless lifestyle, even scorned by the kingdom’s citizens. The articles were brief and tucked away in the corners of the papers, but her royal status made her memorable.
Soon, Lani glanced around and slipped into the gap where Jin’s group waited.
“Well, the immediate danger has passed. Let’s move somewhere safe and talk.”
“Wait a moment, Lani Salome. You seem to want to help us, but why? And how do you know we’re connected to the Black Dragon?”
Jin met her gaze and asked.
Lani was silent for a few seconds, as if countless thoughts raced through her mind.
“…I am a paladin of the Doctrine’s Dawn.”
“You already said that.”
“But before being a paladin, I am a citizen of the Vankela Kingdom, a human being, and a daughter who carries the words of our infinitely merciful Lord Ayula.”
Her sudden, almost out-of-place introduction carried a powerful resolve and dignity that made it impossible to dismiss as nonsense.
“What I must do is not blind people’s eyes, spread lies, disguise evil as good, or collude with power to become corrupt. The true evil we must pursue is the Fire Dragon Kadun. The Black Dragon was actually trying to stop him from burning the city.”
Lani’s tightly clenched fists trembled.
“Does that explain why I’m helping you?”
“The Black Dragon was trying to stop the city from burning? Tell me more, paladin. Where is he now?”
Quikantel grabbed Lani’s shoulder.
“…Follow me. We don’t have much time.”
They moved to the city’s commercial district.
But more than half the buildings were melted ruins, still smoldering with Kadun’s embers. Toxic smoke rose endlessly, making reconstruction impossible.
Even the saints and mages had given up trying to extinguish the fires here, and the area wasn’t even designated as a controlled zone due to the extreme toxicity.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll cast a holy protective barrier—”
“My friend and I are fine. Just for this person.”
“The toxicity is severe.”
“It doesn’t matter. Hurry up.”
“Understood.”
Lani cast protective barriers over herself and Quikantel.
“No one will come looking for us here for at least thirty minutes.”
“Where is the Black Dragon?”
“He’s here.”
“That creature can’t withstand this level of poison.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve applied a protective measure with my holy power. But before you see him, I need to ask—are you Jin Runkandel?”
At the sudden mention of Jin’s name, Kuzan and Quikantel’s eyes widened.
Jin nodded calmly.
“So he told you.”
“Yes. Lord Murakan asked me to protect you until you came to find him. Please show me a mark that proves you are Jin Runkandel. From my position, you could be one of Kadun’s other minions.”
They had no proof of identity on hand. The only thing close was the sword Bradamante carried, but only the main family or the warriors of Hupester would recognize it.
“Nothing?”
“Hey, stop testing the nobleman. If we were Kadun’s minions, why would we have gone through all this trouble to infiltrate?”
Kuzan pressed a dagger to her neck, voice low.
“Do you think I’m afraid of threats? If I were, I wouldn’t have brought you here. And if you harm me, know that Lord Murakan will surely die as well.”
“Put the dagger away, Kuzan.”
Kuzan immediately lowered his head and stepped back.
Lani’s gaze was unyielding. If Jin couldn’t prove his identity, she had no intention of revealing Murakan.
“I have no proof. But… let me reveal that Murakan is my guardian dragon.”
Whoooosh…
Jin gathered spiritual energy in his palm and looked at Lani.
“This is the power of Solderet. Whether I am Jin Runkandel or not, I am the sole contractor of the Shadow. Do I really need to show you more proof?”
Now was not the time to hide the fact that he was the contractor.
“No, that’s enough.”
“Is he safe?”
“To be honest, no. He’s badly injured. And…”
“Let me see him. Quickly!”
Jin struggled to suppress his wildly pounding heart.
It felt like molten metal was boiling inside his chest, emotions swirling until his vision blurred.
‘Fire Dragon Kadun… you will suffer a terrible fate…’
Crack!
Lani tore away a plank beneath her feet.
Ash clouds billowed out, revealing a faint amber glow.
The same color as the light surrounding Lani’s body—holy power.
The holy power curled protectively around a black cat.
“Murakan…!”
The proxy of Solderet, his close friend, the last descendant of the first being born from the shadows, and Jin’s one and only guardian dragon.
That was him.
Lani had been hiding Murakan, transformed into a cat, inside this toxic ruin all along. Without her exceptional holy power and unwavering faith, it would have been impossible.
Jin gently cradled Murakan, and tears welled in Quikantel’s eyes. Kuzan exhaled in relief, rubbing his chest.
“I’ll explain what happened.”
Lani began recounting how she had saved Murakan.
She and the paladins had been dispatched to Santello under orders from the high priests.
Their mission was to assist the Fire Dragon Kadun in surrounding the ‘monsters’ and to ‘purify’ the city, which was on the verge of becoming a heretic stronghold.
But what Lani witnessed was neither monsters nor heretics.
She saw innocent civilians dying under Kadun’s merciless breath, and the Black Dragon somehow trying to prevent the city’s destruction.
Among the dispatched paladins, only Lani felt a disconnect with what she saw.
Under the guise of ‘purification,’ the saints incited the civilians, and the paladins sealed off the city.
“The one actually killing the civilians was Kadun, yet it took less than two hours for all that slaughter to be blamed on Lord Murakan.”
When Lani arrived, the battle between Kadun and Murakan was already nearing its end.
Kadun set the entire city ablaze, not out of malice, but simply to trap Murakan—making sure he couldn’t escape. Meanwhile, Murakan was caught in a desperate bind, struggling to protect innocent civilians while facing overwhelming odds.
In the end, Murakan did manage to flee—or at least, it seemed that way. He broke through Kadun’s fiery barrier and soared into the sky.
“But it seems he didn’t have the strength to get far,” the narrator explained. “Kadun immediately gave chase, and Murakan… well, he took a gamble. The moment Kadun’s barrier was breached and he began to fly, Murakan turned back toward the city.”
It’s darkest right under the lamp. Murakan slipped back through the wall of fire and, high above Santel, transformed into human form before plummeting to the ground.
Kadun, chasing the spirit-made ‘shadow’ Murakan left in the sky, never noticed this.
Only Lani witnessed it all clearly—a miracle in itself.
Lani could have helped him immediately, but the other paladins dispatched to Santel complicated matters.
“If we didn’t treat him right away, it would have been fatal. But we couldn’t just hand him over to the saints as a city refugee. His transformation was unstable—black scales had sprouted all over his body.”
Desperately, Lani unleashed sacred magic to save the black dragon, but it wasn’t enough.
As Murakan’s consciousness faded, for some reason he managed to pass a message to Lani—the human trying to heal him. He said Jin Runkandel would come looking for him.
“No sooner had he finished speaking than he transformed again and lost consciousness. I used holy power to hide Murakan here.”
“This isn’t a transformation by choice,” Lani said. “He was forced into it. I’ll explain everything when we’re safe, but for now, we need to get out of here.”
“I’ll guide you to the safest escape route. Follow me.”
“…Lani Salome. By the honor of Solderet and Runkandel, I will repay this debt. Once your punishment is over, I will come to the Holy Kingdom.”