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The problem was that the desire that this power brought was not something that could be easily overcome. Demon hunters, in particular, were mostly those who had chosen this path because they had shortcomings unlike ordinary people.
That was why many of them were unable to resist the temptation of the desire that came with power and were led astray, and many of them fell to corruption as a result.
【Are you hesitating? In that case, let me help you make that decision.】
The moment he finished speaking, the demon of Chaos cut Alicia’s wrist. A large amount of blood gushed out, and Alicia’s body trembled as she writhed.
“You crazy son of a. . .”
In the end, Oswald chose to absorb the demon’s essence. Even if demonization progressed. . . If he was given enough time, he would be able to purify himself through prayer.
If that didn’t work, there was also the method of using connections. Fortunately, there was Saintess Estell at the academy, so if he received her help, he could even purify it within a day.
Oswald, who had made up his mind, absorbed the essence.
Ting!
[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥-𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.]
[𝐓𝐡𝐞 ‘𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫’ 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝.]
[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟒𝟎. 𝐈𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟒𝟎.]
[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟏𝟎.]
[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟓.]
[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭 ‘𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡’ 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝.]
[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝟑.]
Ting!
[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥.]
At that moment, his outward appearance began to change drastically. First, Oswald’s short silver hair turned into long white hair, and short horns grew on both sides of his forehead. In addition, his skin became so pale that it was almost white.
Ting!
[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 ‘𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫’.]
“Whew. . . That was close.”
In virtual reality games, such violent impulses were given out like daily quests, and the player’s actions were possible depending on whether they achieved the quest or not. However. . . this was not a game, but the real world.
Since it was a real situation and not a quest, he had been worried that his mind would be tainted by the impulsive and violent tendencies, but fortunately, the system protected his mind, and Oswald was relieved. He then checked on the demon of Chaos and the masked individuals who had really disappeared and approached Alicia. He then took out holy water from his magic pouch and poured it on her injured wrist before untying the rope that had been binding her.
“O. . . Oswald?”
Alicia removed her blindfold and looked at Oswald. She had also heard the conversation between Oswald and the demon, and she knew that he had chosen to be corrupted in order to save her.
She shed tears as she looked at Oswald’s demonized appearance.
“I’m sorry. . . Because of me. . .”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You can go back. So don’t blame yourself too much. Don’t worry, I didn’t do this without having any countermeasures.”
At that moment, footsteps could be heard entering the space.
“Who’s there?”
He thought it would be the members of Peacemaker, but those who entered were wearing completely different outfits.
“Paladin Oswald Winchester of the Order of the Holy Knights, we shall judge your heretical actions from now on.”
Those wearing black priestly robes with Roman collars. . . They had golden crosses hanging around their necks.
━[𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐮𝐬]
[𝐀𝐠𝐞: 𝟑𝟐]
[𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟐]
[𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟓]
[𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟓]
[𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐋𝐯. 𝟑𝟎]
[𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐯. 𝟒]
[𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐋𝐯. 𝟗]
[𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐯. 𝟏]
[𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐯. 𝟕]
[𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐋𝐯. 𝟐]
[𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐋𝐯. 𝟏]
[𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐬’ 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐯. 𝟏]
‘𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘺 𝘐𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶. . .’
“According to the Doctrine for Inquisition of Heretics, Paladin Oswald shall be excommunicated and the corrupted demon, Oswald, shall be purged.”
“Purged.”
“Purged.”
The judges echoed the words of the judge named Decius, who stood at the forefront. . .
“Ha, look at these guys. . . It wasn’t just my corruption that you were after, was it?”
Conspiracy to commit murder. They had set this trap with the hands of the Inquisition to dispose of Oswald.
The problem was that his opponent was a Crusader-class powerhouse. Since resisting here would be heresy itself, Oswald couldn’t act rashly.
“Wait a minute! Oswald only made an unavoidable choice to save me!”
“Are you also a heretic for defending a heretic?”
“I am Alicia Valian, the eldest daughter and successor of the Valian marquis family. Can you take responsibility for your words?”
“The missing person Alicia? Indeed. . . It’s clear that she’s been possessed by a demon and has lost her mind. The actions of the fallen Oswald are clear.”
“No. . . This is crazy!”
Alicia glared at them with an absurd expression and cursed. At that, Oswald stood up from his seat, pushed Alicia behind him, and stepped forward.
“Must you really stoop to such levels?”
Oswald was also well aware of the internal affairs of the Inquisition. As the world developed and the empire grew stronger, the Inquisition’s heresy interrogation and heresy judgment were gradually being recognized as immoral acts. The fact that there was no law regarding heresy in imperial law was also a major factor.
Moreover, as the empire unified most of the west, it even legalized religious freedom in order to absorb different cultures and religions. Of course, on the surface, it was regulated to say that the state religion was Chronos or that people were not forced to believe in Chronos.
Because of that, the Heresy Inquisition Bureau’s influence within the Doctrine had weakened. The only tool that allowed them to suppress and regain influence within the Doctrine, even if only for a moment, was the Order of the Holy Knights.
The Order of the Holy Knights had often produced paladins who had absorbed the demon’s essence, became corrupted, and progressed into demonization. Such Order of the Holy Knights was a delicacy to the Heresy Inquisition Bureau.
Moreover, not long ago, Oswald had heard from Oleg, the Master of the Order of the Holy Knights, that there could be resistance from the Heresy Inquisition Bureau.
“Demon Oswald, I will give you a chance. If you repent now and take your own life, I will forgive your heretical actions and the disgrace of excommunication. . .”
Ta-ang!
“Yeah, screw you. Let’s see how far you’ll go.”