I’m a Holy Knight, but I Contracted with an Evil God - Chapter 23

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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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Episode 23.
“Is it nearby?”
“We’re almost there.”

Berchelo, who knew the way, took the lead.
The Silvaren Forest was a vast woodland that sprawled across the Belota Region, Berchelo’s home territory, and the Ilseran Region.
Though the terrain was extensive and the geography complex, the main path cutting through the forest was well-maintained, so travelers passed through regularly.
Yet at the forest’s threshold, soldiers from the Ilseran Family had cordoned off the entrance.
“I’ve come from the Order of Light. I’m Leon, commanding the additional search party.”
The moment Leon identified himself, the soldiers’ expressions brightened noticeably.
No—their reaction was closer to desperation than relief.
Leon addressed what appeared to be the commanding officer.
“Where is Cepian?”
The soldier’s face darkened instantly at the question.
Leon didn’t press, allowing the man to speak when he was ready.
“We’ve had no word for four days now.”
“Four days?”
Leon had only learned of Cepian’s situation yesterday at the Order.
Since they’d assembled the additional search party the moment word arrived, the Order must have received news the same day.
That meant the Ilseran Count had reported the second disappearance four days after Cepian went missing.
“According to the original schedule, when was the detachment supposed to return?”
“Two days ago, sir.”
“Two days? Why didn’t you alert us the moment they were overdue?”
“Given the composition of the unit, we never imagined a second disappearance could occur.”
Berchelo pressed him harshly, but the soldier’s excuse held merit.
The search party whose contact had been lost was led by the Order’s vaunted Elite Knight.
It was nearly impossible to imagine something going wrong with personnel of such caliber.
“Four days is already critical. Have you noticed anything else unusual?”
“Well… that is…”
The soldier hesitated again.
Leon waited without pressing, allowing the man to find his own words.
Perhaps emboldened by Leon’s patience, the soldier finally spoke carefully after a long pause.
“Around noon yesterday, we heard what sounded like a scream from deep within the forest. It was clearly not a beast’s cry.”
“A scream? Are you certain?”
Under Berchelo’s scrutiny, the soldier couldn’t affirm it with certainty.
He seemed doubtful himself.
That was likely why he hadn’t brought it up first—yet dismissing it entirely felt wrong.
‘Ecrilize, what do you make of this?’
【Is the forest dangerous?】
‘Well, my senses aren’t picking up anything unusual within my range for now.’

Since experiencing Sensory Sharing with Ecrilize in Ackalon, Leon’s perceptual range had expanded dramatically.
Over the past year, he’d trained to wield that sense freely, and now his range rivaled that of a true Elite Knight rather than a mere candidate.

If Leon couldn’t sense anything, then Cepian likely hadn’t detected it either.
That left two possibilities.
Either the forest held nothing at all, or something lay hidden with enough subtlety to elude his senses.
Given that Cepian’s detachment had vanished, the latter seemed far more likely.
And as expected, Ecrilize’s response followed.

【There is something in the forest.】
‘Something? You’re sure?’
【It’s not particularly strong. Just subtle—so faint you wouldn’t detect it. It’s buried very deep.】
‘Faint? An entire Elite Knight detachment has gone silent for four days because of something faint?’
The math didn’t add up.
Yet Ecrilize’s senses were more accurate than anyone in this group.
If the creature’s presence was weak, then there had to be a corresponding trap or stratagem at play.
Or some other variable entirely.
‘Either way, I need to investigate directly.’
Leon weighed his options.
The main force won’t arrive until tomorrow at the earliest.
If the scream the soldier heard came from one of the survivors, there might be some sliver of hope remaining.
In the end, a decision was necessary.
‘Berchelo… it would be best to leave him behind.’
Sirent was quick on his feet and Kail excelled at analysis, but Berchelo, prone to complaint and broad in his movements, wasn’t suited for reconnaissance.
For that reason, Leon decided to entrust him with cleanup duty.
Berchelo, being of the Belota Family, would be adequate to handle the Count of Ilseran.
“Berchelo.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Wait here, and when the main force arrives, relay the situation to them. Inform the Count of Ilseran as well that the Order of Light’s main force is on its way.”
“You’re telling me to sit this out? And you three going into the forest alone right now—that’s suicide!”
“Preliminary reconnaissance is absolutely necessary if we’re to enter the forest the moment the main force arrives. Besides, waiting wasn’t part of our mission to begin with.”
Ayla had certainly warned them not to be reckless, but it fell to Leon to make that judgment call.
If there was even a small chance, it was right not to give up.
“Sirent and Kail will come with me.”
“But… Leon. Four days. Four days have passed, and can we really….”
Kail asked, his face drained of color.
The meaning behind what he wanted to say was clear enough, but he shied away from speaking the words outright.
As if, with Ilbar among the missing, merely uttering them would make it true.
Leon stared into the forest with cold eyes and spoke.
“Let’s go. Before it gets any later.”
* * *
The traces were faint.
And no wonder—what lay before them was the ever-changing interior of the forest, and four days had already passed.
In a forest, four days was time enough for wind-scattered leaves and overgrown grass to erase any sign of a stranger’s passage.
It seemed almost impossible that any real trace could remain.
Yet the three of them, Leon included, were elite candidates among the Elite Knight Candidates who had consistently maintained top-tier marks.
And Leon, who led them, had no shortage of experience in such searches.
A branch snapped unnaturally, or a stone that had shifted wrongly.
Leon identified these minute discords and pointed the way forward, while Sirent and Kail followed in his wake, widening their field of vision.
For two hours they combed through the forest with meticulous care, determined not to overlook even the smallest trace.
“…Wait, Leon! Here!”
It was Sirent who found the first sign.
At the sound of his cry, they drew closer and discovered a dark stain smeared in the crevice of a shadowed stone in the forest.
“Is that… bloodstains?”
Sirent’s voice trembled as he pointed to the marks on the rock.
It was a small mark that could easily pass for ordinary dirt staining, but it wouldn’t escape Leon’s eye.
Leon rubbed the dried stain lightly with his fingertip.
The height at which the bloodstain was found was too high for any beast to have reached it.
“Definitely human blood. And it’s been here quite a while.”
As Leon spoke with certainty, Kail and Sirent exchanged uneasy glances.
And Sirent asked again, his voice wavering once more.
“Did something go wrong? It could just be a simple injury, couldn’t it?”
Despite the question heavy with dread, Leon examined the surrounding area once more to check for additional traces.
Then, attempting to speak as matter-of-factly as possible, he added:
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Panic won’t help us.”
“Y-yes.”
“Leon, there’s bloodstains here too.”
The second sign was discovered by Kail.
This bloodstain was larger.
Large enough that four days hadn’t fully erased it.
This meant the wounds of whoever bled were not minor, and Leon too felt a bitter weight settle over him.
“This way.”
Based on the two stains, Leon determined their direction and pressed forward.
From the point where they’d first found the bloodstain, the traces grew progressively more explicit.
The scattered drops of blood that had been sparse now became frequent, accompanied by drag marks across the ground as if something had been scraped along.
Grim trails—as if someone had fled in desperation while bleeding, or been dragged away.
As they followed these traces deeper into the forest, the sharp, metallic scent that assaulted the nostrils grew thicker.
And finally.
“…What on earth….”
A clearing in the forest where trees had been torn down.
A grim scene unfolded before the eyes of the three men.
Six bodies scattered across the ground.
The one mercy was that none of them appeared to be Ilbar or Cepian.
Every corpse was in a horrific state.
Not a single body had been left intact.
All six corpses had their limbs wrenched and torn from their sockets, joints twisted grotesquely, and their abdomens were ripped open by something sharp, spilling entrails across the ground.
Even that wasn’t whole.
Half of the spilled viscera had vanished, as if something had devoured it.
Kail recoiled in considerable shock, stumbling backward and retching violently.
Sirent swallowed hard, barely maintaining his composure.
Though Leon had witnessed plenty of death, the sight was gruesome enough to make his face tighten; he suppressed his nausea and examined the severed edges of the bodies closely.
Flesh and bone torn away forcefully—the marks of something feeding ravenously.
At first glance it resembled the work of a beast, but Leon realized these traces were distinctly different from the simple bite marks of a predatory animal.
Each cut surface was far too irregular.
As if dozens of mouths had descended upon them at once.
‘……Ecrilize, this can’t be…….’
【Your suspicion is correct. These are the marks of a Predator.】
A Predator, as they were called.
Born from high-concentration contamination, yet a collective term for Corruption Entities that manifest with incomplete bodies when their foundational host falls below standard quality.
The problem was that a Predator’s body became fixed at the moment of its emergence, so their forms remained in that pitiful, tattered state until the moment of their dissolution.
Because of this, it was their nature to instinctively tear into whatever living creatures they encountered to compensate for their crude bodies.
No matter how many lives they consumed, their malformed frames never healed; thus they suffered endless hunger and madness until the moment of their annihilation.
They were correspondingly vicious.
But what on earth was one doing here?
“Sirent.”
“Yes?”
“When we departed, was there any mention of Corruption Entities in the mission briefing you reviewed?”
Sirent paused to think, then shook his head.
“No. I don’t recall anything like that. Why—do you think this was caused by a Corruption Entity?”
“No ordinary beast would leave corpses like this.”
At Leon’s assertion, Sirent examined the bodies more carefully.
Then he nodded as understanding dawned.
It seemed he had reached his own conclusion, recalling Leon’s background as a mountain hunter.
It was then that Kail’s cry pierced the air from the corner where he had been retching.
Continued in the next episode ▶
A Holy Knight Who Made a Contract with an Evil God
Author
Ramdart
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Grae Publications
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
March 27, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227066
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※ Pentagram looks forward to receiving precious manuscripts from authors.

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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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