I’m a Holy Knight, but I Contracted with an Evil God - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16.
Leon watched Ephricio turn away, hope rekindling in his expression, before stepping back into the restaurant’s din.
The anticipation over Ephricio’s change faded quickly enough—Leon’s mind was already tangled again with disagreements among his teammates.
Guiding them toward truth without revealing his nature as a Regressor proved far more exhausting than he’d foreseen, and he now understood that resolving the impasse required concrete evidence.
【Are we heading back now?】
“No. Since I’m out, there’s somewhere I need to stop by.”
With that, Leon turned in the opposite direction from the White Night Corridor.
As he approached his destination, a crude wooden door came into view, and he pushed through it without hesitation.
Inside, an elderly priest sat dozing over a small desk, his head nodding gently.
【This is…? It looks like a library.】
‘An archive. Close enough to a library.’
Leon carefully wrote his name in the entry log on the desk without waking the priest—or rather, the archivist—and proceeded deeper inside.
The modest interior matched the humble wooden door: just a few bookshelves, their scale closer to a personal study than any temple library.
Yet that simplicity ended before a statue of ornate grandeur.
【There’s a Barrier. Is that statue the boundary?】
‘Yeah. Everything beyond that holds sensitive materials.’
【So it’s divided into two sections?】
‘Three, actually.’
【Three? There’s another space further in?】
‘Yeah. I’ve never been past that point myself.’
【So what we’re looking for is here in this section?】
‘Right. It’s information on Akhalon.’
Leon turned his attention to the shelves, leafing through the volumes methodically until, after considerable searching, he found a single aged Parchment Scroll thick with dust.
【Is that it?】
‘It seems so, but… it’s far thinner than I expected.’
Akhalon, the town where the Mid-term Evaluation would take place, had fallen into decay centuries ago from an illness of unknown origin and was now used by the Order as a training ground.
Leon had assumed the Order, having maintained it for so long, would have accumulated extensive records; instead, what he held was far more meager than anticipated.
This discrepancy troubled him, and he realized the materials he’d reviewed were conspicuously superficial and cursory.
As though critical information had been deliberately omitted.
‘…Could there be more inside?’
【Inside? You mean that inner section you said you couldn’t enter?】
‘Right. Section One is open to anyone, so it only holds common knowledge and surface-level materials.’
Instead of answering, Leon lifted his gaze toward the arched passage that lay beyond the statue.
His hesitation was brief.
Confirming the archivist at the entrance was still asleep, Leon clutched the thin materials he’d found in Section One and approached the barrier.
‘Ekrijae. There’s no one around, right? Your range extends further than mine.’
【Why? There’s just the archivist I saw by the entrance, that much is certain.】
‘That’s good enough.’
【You mean to enter?】
‘Something’s off. I need to check.’
【What’s your method? Can you break through the Barrier?】
‘That’s where you come in.’
【You’re just assuming I’ll help, then?】
‘Aren’t you a Demon God? This much of a Barrier should be nothing.’
【…Insolent…】
Ekrijae’s grumbling about Leon’s improper attitude toward a divine being reached his ears, but Leon dismissed it entirely.
Ultimately, Ekrijae had no choice but to relent.
【Hold me in your right hand and place your left on the Barrier stone.】
Leon obeyed without question.
The moment his left hand, marked with the Divine Mark, touched the stone, he felt Ekrijae’s power flow through his body and into the Barrier stone itself.
【We should hurry. Multiple attempts will draw attention.】
‘Got it.’
As Leon crossed through the Barrier and stepped inside, a familiar landscape unfolded before him.
Section Two bore little resemblance to Section One.
【Well. This at least befits the service of a divine being.】
‘This side is the real thing, after all.’
Where Section One had resembled a humble personal study, Section Two revealed itself as a proper archive: brilliant white marble gleamed from wall to wall, and solemn statuary stood positioned throughout in reverent arrangement.
Leon walked forward with the assurance of familiarity and swiftly located the materials concerning Akhalon.
The Akhalon collection in Section Two appeared nearly three times the volume of what he’d found in Section One.
“Such a difference?”
Deepening bewilderment, Leon swept through the Akhalon materials he’d discovered in Section 2 without hesitation.
And he uncovered a truth he’d never imagined.
The Section 2 records differed from Section 1 materials as much by what was omitted as by what was present.
The most striking entry was……
【Why?】
“……External records say the decline was due to plague and natural decay? But the documents here say Akhalon fell because of contamination.”
If the recorded accounts were true, Akhalon was no naturally declining town.
It had been a clear victim of contamination—a casualty.
But why hide it?
【Different from what you knew?】
“Very different. I was never taught anything like this.”
【The records suggest the incident happened quite some time ago.】
“Yes. At least a decade or more……”
During his tenure as a formal Holy Knight, Leon had often undertaken patrol missions to Akhalon and grown familiar with its terrain, yet he’d never known the place had once been a zone of contamination.
Realizing this, Leon began to methodically recall the events he remembered.
What if Akhalon wasn’t the first?
What if there were other cases like it—where the public explanation differed from the truth?
As such thoughts consumed him, Leon’s gaze fell upon another document lying nearby.
<Western Ecology Report>
“……Ecology…… I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before.”
【The name seems unremarkable, but does something strike you about it?】
Leon’s memories held many incidents involving the Western Continent.
In fact, there were far too many.
Beginning with his hometown of Elderit, the entire Western Continent had descended into ruin across twenty years, so contamination-related records there were abundant to the point of overflow.
But the problem was that this was twenty years in the past.
What Western incident at this particular time would warrant separate classification in Section 2?
And one concerning ecology, no less?
The moment Leon’s doubt crystallized and he reached toward the <Western Ecology Report>—
“Who’s there?”
A low, stern voice cracked across the back of Leon’s head like a whip.
Startled, Leon turned to see a librarian wielding a staff regarding him with sharp eyes from across the far side of the shelves.
‘You should’ve warned me you caught me!’
【I said no such thing.】
‘Of course you should’ve!’
【Really now. The fault lies with you for letting your mind fixate on what lay before your eyes.】
‘Don’t you start with me!’
As the visibly angered librarian strode toward him without hesitation, Leon barely managed to return the Akhalon-related materials to their proper place.
“Wait, you just——. How did you even get into Section 2?”
The librarian’s face was full of confusion as they alternated their gaze between Leon and the bust of Arseriel at their bedside.
It was the look of someone suspecting something amiss with the Barrier itself.
Before the librarian could voice further questions, Leon bowed his head.
“I took a wrong turn. My apologies.”
“Section 2 has a Barrier on it. You don’t look like you received special permission. You didn’t receive something like this, did you?”
“……No, I didn’t.”
With that, the librarian held up an object hanging from their neck toward Leon.
It was a crude necklace, a white translucent stone fragment bound together with leather.
Leon understood that the stone fragment hanging from the necklace’s end was a key that allowed one to move freely throughout the entire archive.
‘……I’m going to need that.’
【Are you planning to steal it?】
‘Steal? I’m going to borrow it.’
The librarian remained suspicious in expression but, rather than press further, ushered Leon outside.
Muttering about needing to inspect the Barrier.
Leon departed the archive, already scheming how to acquire the librarian’s necklace.
* * *
A few days later, the day of the Mid-term Evaluation dawned.
Eight candidates in total—Leon’s team and Ilbar’s team—stood at the entrance to Akhalon.
Beneath a bleak gray sky, the town abandoned for decades lay in desolate silence.
Aila was the proctor for this Mid-term Evaluation.
With an expressionless face, Aila recited the rules.
“This Mid-term Evaluation will proceed as a four-versus-four mock battle. Each team will establish a position around their assigned flag and aim to destroy the opposing team’s flag. Once the protective wards issued to each team member are fully depleted, that individual is eliminated; a team’s victory is achieved by destroying the opposing team’s flag. After each team establishes their position and plants their flag in the ground, a Barrier will activate. You may consider combat to commence the instant the Barrier activates.”
Aila pointed to the map of Akhalon.
“Akhalon lies in a mountain range close to the Order, which means the terrain is complex. This won’t be a simple test of strength—you’ll need to master the peculiarities of the landscape and use its advantages to your benefit. All of you, keep that in mind. Any questions?”
As she spoke, Aila’s gaze swept across each of the eight candidates’ faces.
Her eyes burned with a brilliant red, radiating an oppressive presence.
After confirming there were no questions, Aila declared again.
“Both teams, take your positions.”
The moment Aila’s voice rang out, all eight candidates moved to their starting positions.
At the signal, both teams bolted in opposite directions.
While Ilbar’s team rushed to seize the high ground in the central plaza, Leon’s team followed their pre-arranged strategy, heading toward the eastern side of the village and into the ruins of the lowlands.
Thanks to having studied the terrain beforehand, claiming the location for the flag proved straightforward.
The moment Livia planted the flag in the ground, Leon confirmed that a Barrier enveloping all of Akhalon had activated, and turned to Sirent.
“Sirent, let’s go. Livia, Olsen—I’m counting on your defense.”
“Got it. We stick to the plan.”
Before Sirent’s words had fully faded, both figures darted into the darkness.
【The terrain seems harsher than the maps we reviewed beforehand.】
‘Guess the records really were old after all.’
But it doesn’t look like it changes anything.
Beneath the collapsed clock tower in the central plaza, the two of them approached swiftly through a shortcut—and there, in the position with the best tactical advantage as expected, stood Ilbar’s team, already fortifying their position.
“The perimeter watch is… Kyle, isn’t it? Bertchelo’s guarding the flag, and Seril’s holding the rear.”
“Ilbar himself is… front line, naturally.”
“Right. Just as we predicted. Can you handle it?”
“Of course.”
At Leon’s confident reply, Sirent flashed a grin and pushed off from his spot.
Then, with deliberately loud, showy movements, he charged straight at Ilbar.
“Ilbar!”
“…Sirent?”
Ilbar seemed momentarily thrown by the bold, aggressive approach, but quickly regained his stance.
Sirent’s spear, driven by the force of his charge, clashed with Ilbar’s blade, producing a tremendous crash.
Boom!
“You didn’t come alone, did you?”
“What, doesn’t it look that way?”
As the rapid exchange continued, Leon sensed Ilbar’s eyes scanning his surroundings.
But Sirent’s relentless attacks left no time for a thorough search.
Kyle, who had been on watch, joined in as well.
【Your teammates won’t hold out much longer.】
‘Two against one—they won’t last. I need to hurry.’
While Sirent drew the attention of both fighters, Leon made for the crumbling drainage ditch behind the clock tower.
As expected, only Bertchelo stood near the flag.
Bertchelo kept his guard sharp even as his eyes darted nervously toward the clash between Sirent, Ilbar, and Kyle.
‘…The distance…’
is manageable.
As Leon made to draw his blade with that judgment, Ekrijae held him back.
【Wait. Hold on.】
‘Why?’
【Can’t you feel it? Something alien is nearby.】
‘Something alien?’
【Yes. Closer to me than to you.】
At that cryptic warning, Leon hesitated for an instant.
A blackened branch, burning intensely, suddenly whipped out from the ruins Bertchelo had been leaning against, coiling around his throat.
Continued in the next chapter ▶
A Holy Knight with a Contract to a Demon God
Author
Lam Dat
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiry Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
March 27, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227066
※ This electronic book is a work protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and copying are prohibited, and violation may result in criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram awaits your precious manuscript.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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