I’m a Holy Knight, but I Contracted with an Evil God - Chapter 5

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

Episode 5.
“People?”
【Yes. Three in total……, or rather, four.】

The moment Ecridge pinpointed the number, he sensed something familiar emanating from one of those five presences.
Leon’s teeth worked against his lip.

“……Father…….”

Raphatio Servalin.
The man who would become Archbishop of Arcerial twenty years hence—and Leon’s adoptive father.
Why on earth was Raphatio here now?

‘The timing is wrong. Father should have come to Elderith only after the Contamination began!’

Had he misunderstood something?
No. Think clearly.
The fact that Raphatio would come seeking Leon hadn’t changed.
Raphatio’s decision would be grounded in Oracle.

But why here, of all places, and now?

Before the Regression, Leon’s first meeting with Raphatio had occurred after the Contamination broke out, after Elderith had fallen entirely to ruin.
Not in this Abandoned Sanctuary. Had Leon altered the thread of events leading to the Tragedy of Elderith by his actions?
Yet even so, something felt off—a nagging doubt he couldn’t shake.

Before the Regression, Raphatio had been reluctant to broach any subject touching on Elderith.
Outwardly, the reason was that he didn’t wish to stir painful memories in a child who’d lost his homeland. But what if there had been another reason lurking beneath?

‘……Can’t I trust even Father?’

Having discovered evidence of artificially induced Contamination in this underground shrine, and traces of the Chief Deity’s power at work, Leon could no longer afford blind faith in the Church of Light to which he belonged.
After all, Leon had died by the hands of a Holy Knight devoted to the Chief Deity—and so he already knew firsthand that those who served the Chief Deity were not necessarily righteous.

【Your opponent has sensed your presence as well.】

Holy Power beyond a certain threshold functioned like a sixth sense.
Moreover, Raphatio had been renowned since his days as a priest for his exceptional Holy Power.
It was no surprise that such a man possessed a perceptual range comparable to Leon’s own.

‘Even without consulting the Oracle, his senses were already superior to mine.’

Raphatio’s ability was prophecy.
Furthermore, he was the custodian of the current Oracle.
Great power often came with great cost, and Raphatio’s ability followed that pattern exactly.
Each time Raphatio received an Oracle, his Holy Power was drained in an instant.
Recovery time varied wildly depending on the Oracle’s content—but the crucial question was when Raphatio had last received one.

Was Raphatio currently in a state where that formidable Holy Power had been expended, or was it intact?
If by any chance Raphatio’s Holy Power remained at full strength?
A chill ran down Leon’s spine as he turned to Ecridge with an urgent question.

‘You’re certain it won’t recognize me?’
【How many times must I repeat myself? Yes. Certain.】

Now that Leon had resolved to return to the Church of Light, his greatest hurdle was Raphatio himself.
While Leon lacked Holy Power, he had confidence in his perceptual acuity—but against Raphatio, that confidence crumbled.
His opponent was the Oracle’s steward and arbiter.
Leon’s eyes darted across his surroundings as his mind raced frantically for a solution.

‘No body, but the blood… and the Holy Stigma won’t hide. So….’

Within the constraints of time and the cramped space around him, Leon had only so much he could fabricate.
Weighing his circumstances, Leon concocted a plausible story and sank to the ground where he stood.
Then he curled around Ecridge’s Sword, clutching it to his chest.
Making himself appear frightened and helpless—a child undone by terror.

“Hm?”

Barely had Leon settled into position when shadows appeared at the entrance.
Four silhouettes in total: Raphatio and three Paladins.
The composition suggested they had come knowing precisely what lay underground.
The fact that Raphatio—no combatant himself—had descended with them was proof enough.
As unfamiliar voices drew nearer, Leon curled himself even tighter.

“Priest!”
“What child is this…?”

Multiple voices closed in, and a warm robe settled across his shoulders.
Leon lifted his head cautiously, and a familiar face turned to meet his gaze.

“Are you alright?”

Younger than Leon remembered him.
Those calm, penetrating eyes studied the small boy huddled in fear, clutching to himself a blade that looked as old and useless as his own small frame.
Leon hesitated, then spoke.

“Who… are you?”

Leon’s greatest immediate concern was that Raphatio might recognize Ecridge’s presence.
Because of this, Leon instinctively pulled the Sword closer, and his trembling voice—born of genuine tension—only reinforced the convincing façade of a child discovered alone in a terrible place.

“I am a priest who serves Arcerial.”

A gaze both gentle and penetrating.
Leon had always found that look from Raphatio unsettling.
Those calm eyes that had never abandoned him, even when he failed to live up to their expectations.

“Can you tell me what happened here?”

Raphatio smiled softly as he asked.
His tone was gentle, but there was something cool in the way he met Leon’s eyes with his question.
Behind him, the three Paladins moved busily through the space.
Yet Raphatio showed no hurry, waiting patiently for the child to speak.
Leon bit his tongue, choosing his words carefully.
Now, he had to answer well.

“… I was looking for food nearby… when I met a stranger.”
“A stranger?”
“Yes. Someone I’d never seen before… and suddenly he grabbed me….”
“He dragged you down here?”
“Yes… I couldn’t escape….”

Born and raised in Elderith, Leon had learned from earliest childhood to fend for himself, often scavenging the nearby forest for food.
Particularly from late summer through autumn, the forest yielded far better prospects than anything in the village itself—so Leon’s account of being seized by a strange man while foraging and dragged to this place would sound quite credible.

“Yet I see no other person here… What happened in this place?”

Raphatio tilted his head back slightly as he spoke.
The meaning behind the gesture was unmistakable.
What he was asking was why this pool of blood existed.
Leon hesitated for a moment.
Should he deny knowing anything about the blood, or should he fabricate something plausible?
As Leon wrestled with the choice, it struck him that his failure to flee despite the kidnapper disappearing would seem unnatural.
So then.

“……There was a corpse……, I saw one…….”
“A corpse?”
“It was horrible……. There was so much blood……, and then suddenly……, it just crumbled to dust…….”

Leon deliberately lowered his head, jaw trembling.
As if recoiling from a terrible memory.

【Did he work in theater before becoming a Holy Knight? His acting is remarkably natural.】
‘Don’t slip up. Be quiet.’
【Oh my. Such economical language, too.】

Raphatio was no easy man to fool.
He likely wouldn’t suspect Leon of causing such a disaster, but the moment doubt crept in, Leon’s plan to enter the Church of Light would crumble to nothing.
No one would accept a tainted child as a follower.

‘The Holy Stigma is still intact, so nothing too dire has happened…….’

Still, one could never be certain.
And so Leon threw himself into portraying a terrified child with even greater desperation.

“I see……. So you stayed here the whole time because of that?”
“……Yes……, I was so frightened…….”

Though the corpse had vanished, the blood spilled across the floor told a clear enough story of what had transpired.
For a child, it would have been a brutal thing to endure.
Raphatio shook his head with that understanding written across his face.

“……Wait.”

Raphatio, who had been clicking his tongue, reached toward Leon as if he had just discovered something.
Precisely toward Leon’s left hand, where the Holy Stigma was inscribed.
Raphatio’s eyes flooded with astonishment.

“It was you.”

In that murmur tinged with wonder, Leon understood.
That Raphatio had already received an Oracle.
Because at this point, Leon already knew what Oracle Raphatio must have received.
The astonishment that had pooled in Raphatio’s eyes deepened into something far more tender.

“I came searching for you.”

The very words Leon had heard in his previous life spilled from Raphatio’s lips identically.
The circumstances of their reunion were different, yet Raphatio spoke as if reading from the past—word for word, syllable for syllable.
What had changed was the mind behind Leon’s eyes.

‘Before the Regression, I took those words at face value. But what if it wasn’t that simple?’

The adoptive father who had taken him in, who believed in him even through mockery and contempt.
And so Leon had lived his entire life bearing a debt of gratitude to Archbishop Raphatio, a weight like original sin.
Because in the otherwise flawless career of Archbishop Raphatio, Leon’s existence had been the sole blemish.
But what if that wasn’t true?
What if Raphatio’s discovery of this Abandoned Sanctuary was connected to the Tragedy of Elderith?

‘If all that faith you showed me was meant to deceive me….’

Since the context felt natural, Leon let his guard show plainly toward Raphatio.
Despite the wariness gleaming in the child’s eyes, Raphatio smiled with gentle kindness, as if soothing him.

“Won’t you come with me?”
“…Where to, sir?”

Though Leon already knew the destination, he asked as expected.
It was the sort of natural question any child in such circumstances would ask.
Raphatio’s smile grew warmer still as he spoke.

“Do you remember me saying I’m a priest who follows Arcerial?”
“…Yes.”
“The Light bestows countless graces upon us, but you have received a far more special blessing.”

With those words, Raphatio grasped Leon’s left hand.
Leon’s gaze naturally followed, settling on his own palm.

“This is what we call a Holy Stigma. One of Arcerial’s marks, specifically.”
Raphatio’s words stirred new feelings in Leon.
Before his regression, Leon had been swollen with vague hope, ignorant of his own wretched future; now was different.
Now Leon knew precisely what future awaited him, and he also knew with certainty that a way to forge a better one had come into being.

“If I follow you, Father, what will I do?”
“You will learn to become someone worthy of the grace the Divine has granted.”

Yes, of course.
As a bearer of the Holy Stigma, one must live out the Divine’s will more faithfully and dutifully than anyone.
It was the fate and obligation of every stigma-bearer.
‘This time, I won’t care about any of that.’
【So you’re becoming a Holy Knight again?】
‘What does becoming a Holy Knight have to do with being someone worthy of a Holy Stigma?’
What did he care for a god who had abandoned him?
Leon considered what his past self might have said, setting aside all pretense of devotion.
What would a fourteen-year-old street orphan Leon have asked Raphatio then?
That wild, reckless Leon who had barely listened to the village chief, let alone harbored any faith in divinity—
He would have cared nothing for what a Holy Stigma was or how much it mattered.
For fourteen-year-old Leon, the most important thing was…survival.
Tomorrow’s food.
Though the shock of witnessing such devastation might have left him cowering, his natural question was predetermined.

“I won’t go hungry, will I?”
【That’s all you ask? About food?】
Ecridge’s biting remark struck again, but Leon concentrated entirely on keeping his eyes bright.
And it seemed to work—Raphatio nodded with a composed expression.
“No, you won’t go hungry.”
“Then I’ll come.”
“Good. Now, can you stand?”

The moment Leon’s affirmation fell, Raphatio lifted the boy to his feet and examined his condition.
Finding him unharmed despite his blood-soaked appearance, Raphatio took the child by the hand and led him toward the surface.
To be continued ▶
Holy Knight, Yet Bound by Contract to a Demon
Author
Ram Dat
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Published
March 27, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227066
※ This e-book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and copying are prohibited. Violations may result in criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

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