I’m a Holy Knight, but I Contracted with an Evil God - Chapter 50

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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 50.
‘What?’
【If you must drink it, wet only your tongue. After that, be careful not to drop the glass.】
This was the first time Ecrisé had issued such an explicit warning, and Leon tensed.
He considered setting the glass down right then, but Tristan—standing before him with an eager, expectant face—held him fast.
Refusing the wine abruptly in front of Tristan, who knew he was a drinker, would look desperately unnatural.
So judging it best to follow Ecrisé’s advice, Leon brought the red wine to his lips and wet only the tip of his tongue.
“…….”
Had he not heeded Ecrisé’s warning, he nearly would have dropped the glass on the spot.
Where the wine touched his tongue burned as though aflame, and along with the reek of blood came a wave of indescribable revulsion that surged up into his sinuses.
“How is it? Not bad, is it?”
“……Is it acceptable?”
“Of course it’s acceptable. I don’t drink wine often, but I can tell this is quite a premium vintage. They call it Lisabeta’s Cuvée, don’t they? I heard the Crown Princess herself patronizes this wine?”
Tristan rattled on with a rather giddy expression, swirling his empty glass for emphasis.
Leon turned to Ecrisé, bewildered.
‘……Am I the only one sensing this stench and taste?’
【Most likely. Clearly he doesn’t know.】
‘Is it a matter of sensory acuity, or just me?’
【Closer to the latter. Though with him, the former couldn’t be ruled out either.】
Ecrisé’s jibe had the ring of truth to it.
Suppressing his revulsion, Leon schooled his features and swept the hall with his gaze—but found not a single soul showing any sign of what he was experiencing.
Even Sion, whose senses were second only to Leon’s among the elite knights, stood at some distance with a thoroughly relaxed expression, savoring his wine.
‘What is this, exactly? The way he warned me before I drank hints at something specific.’
【Indeed. Can’t you guess what that foul reek brings to mind?】
‘……Surely not…….’
As Leon conversed with Ecrisé, Tristan—having smacked his lips—had already moved toward a serving attendant bearing a fresh tray.
Left alone, Leon surveyed the hall once more.
Ensconced as they were in a shadowed corner of the Banquet Hall, no one took notice of what Leon did.
Confirming that no eyes watched him, Leon swiftly emptied the glass into the vase positioned behind him.
What happened next was extraordinary.
“…….”
Though the amount of wine he had poured into the vase was minuscule, the moment it touched the flowers adorning it, they withered and crumbled to dust in an instant.
As though their very life force were being drained away.
This was no mere poison.
Leon stared at the flowers, twisted and shattered before him, with eyes gone cold, then slowly raised his gaze.
At the center of the Banquet Hall stood Crown Princess Lisabeta, radiant with an angelic, benevolent smile, surrounded by a throng of nobility.
The withered husks of flower petals, corrupted and blackened—and the dazzling beauty of the Crown Princess’s smile.
The grotesque collision of these extremes twisted through Leon’s mind.
The moment his gaze threatened to meet the Crown Princess’s blue eyes, Leon instinctively ducked his head and looked away.
Then he whispered to Ecrisé.
‘This is a Contamination Reaction.’
【That would appear to be the case.】
‘The contents don’t seem to be Chaos. Could it be what I’m thinking?’
【Likely so. If what you’re suspecting is those vile things I made fragments into.】
At Ecrisé’s confirmation, Leon dredged up an unpleasant memory.
The belongings those fleeing figures had grabbed in the Red Corridor—the vials that had gone missing from the crib.
‘……So the wine contains the Divine Essence from back then.’
【That appears to be the case. The amount is minimal, but the same revolting reek I sensed there is emanating from this.】
Leon slowly scanned the entire Banquet Hall, wondering if anyone else besides himself had detected the foreign substance mixed into the wine—but found no one showing any notable reaction.
Despite Raftio and Sion, along with Leon himself, possessing keenly attuned senses.
‘That such a thing is circulating in a Banquet Hall hosted by the Imperial Family.’
【Didn’t he say it’s wine patronized by the Crown Princess?】
‘Which makes it all the more absurd.’
Leon gazed at the empty glass with a wan smile.
The glass, drained into the vase, still held the metallic reek that would not dissipate.
A revolting trace that only Leon could perceive.
‘What’s in it doesn’t seem to be the Divine Essence itself, undiluted.’
【It couldn’t be. If it were pure Divine Essence, an ordinary human couldn’t be savoring it like that. They’d show signs of mutation at once.】
‘The wine itself looks ordinary. So that means the Divine Essence has been diluted and mixed into regular wine.’
【So it would seem.】
‘Then blocking the wine itself would be pointless. If the wine changes but what’s mixed into it stays the same, the result won’t differ.’
【Right. What matters isn’t the wine—it’s the Divine Essence those bastards blended into it.】
In the end, they had to find the Divine Essence.
The amount mixed into the wine was infinitesimal; even Leon’s senses, honed to an extreme keenness, barely detected it.
With such a minute quantity, determining its precise properties proved impossible.
Because Leon remembered the traces of the Divine Essence, he could guess that something had been added—but without knowing the true nature of that terrible substance, he would never have suspected what it was at all.
‘The problem is that this wine is backed by the Imperial Princess…….’
【You’re worried she might be involved?】
‘Whether she’s simply entangled or one of the architects behind this—that’s what matters.’
It was common for nobles to patronize art as part of their cultured leisure.
Discovering and supporting unknown artworks early was a fine means of displaying one’s taste and wealth.
Wine fell into that category as well.
‘If the Imperial Princess merely found an excellent wine and chose to patronize it, that would be one thing. But…….’
It was entirely possible to provide already-finished wine and blend the Divine Essence into it afterward.
So if the Princess had been duped into lending her name—”wine backed by the Imperial Princess”—to some scheme, the problem became manageable.
All it would take was redirecting the capricious interests of a royal.
Turning aside the attention of noble royalty was tedious, but not truly dangerous.
But what if the Imperial Princess herself was deeply involved in the wine’s creation from the start?
【If the Princess is one of the architects, things become considerably more troublesome.】
‘Troublesome and perilous. Because then my opponent might not be just the Princess, but the entire Imperial Family.’
Leon swept his gaze across the room with cool calculation, then wetted his lips.
He added further explanation for Ecrisé’s benefit.
‘If these bastards are just a faction of some size, or if the people connected to them are merely common nobles, it doesn’t pose much problem. Whoever’s involved, what they’re doing is unmistakably Heresy, and simultaneously Blasphemy against the Divinity.’
Heresy was so sensitive a matter that summary execution was possible upon discovery.
No matter how powerful one’s position, stepping into that morass meant swift annihilation.
But there was one.
One exception.
‘But if these bastards are under the protection of the Loscarda Imperial Family, the situation changes entirely.’
The Loscarda Empire ruled half the continent—a vast dominion.
The Imperial Family of such an empire stood at the apex of all decisions, capable of adjusting any situation to their whim, no matter what transpired.
Even if it involved Heresy.
【Is the Imperial Family’s power truly so absolute? Capable of forcing their way through even situations that defy all logic?】
‘Absolutely. More than that, the current Emperor—Kazimar—is not a man to be dismissed lightly.’
Kazimar Rotar de Sancta Luce Loscarda.
The man known as Emperor Kazimar, though advanced in years, had been in his youth a Tyrant King who vastly expanded the Loscarda Empire’s territories, and a seasoned political operator besides.
An Emperor who was ferociously aggressive yet possessed the precision of a master strategist was never an easy opponent.
‘If the Imperial Princess is genuinely involved in this, the odds are high the Emperor himself is tangled in it too. There’s no other way.’
Should the Loscarda Imperial Family commit itself openly to interference, this would become a fight of considerable difficulty.
The Imperial Family were those capable of orchestrating even the very currents of the world to ensure all things flowed according to their design.
Like this very moment—as if the peaceful air of the Banquet Hall itself were part of their grand theatrical production.
【We’ll need intelligence.】
‘Right. And the location is perfect for it.’
Having answered Ecrisé that way, Leon recalibrated his senses once more.
Then, cutting through the artificial laughter of nobles scattered across a thousand corners, whispered conversations pierced sharply into his ears.
“Count Laurent. When, pray tell, will the Guild’s supply lines finally stabilize? The critical routes leading to the Eastern Territory have been blocked these past weeks, and shipments meant for my holdings remain stalled. We’ve not just one or two rare goods to stockpile before the ice melts, you understand. If this continues, our losses this quarter will be severe!”
“……It’s likely not merely that the roads are blocked. I’ve heard rumors that one of the procurement sources in the Eastern Territory collapsed entirely. Whether it was a natural disaster or some madman’s doing, I couldn’t say—but the aftermath has crippled the entire supply chain. Consequently, even the Central Merchant Guild’s bleeding themselves dry trying to secure inventory.”
Those nobles, flushed with agitation and murmuring among themselves, had no idea that the madman in question was overhearing them from a corner of the Banquet Hall.
Leon suppressed a bitter smirk and turned his attention to the next exchange.
“My goodness, how is it you two speak only of such dreary, dust-laden matters in this splendid gathering? Do put aside such gloomy talk and raise a glass. This wine has been graciously bestowed upon us by the Imperial Princess Lisabeta herself for tonight’s celebration.”
“Ah, is this the legendary premium vintage that the Imperial Princess personally patronizes? The bouquet is certainly impressive.”
“Of course. One can always trust the Imperial Princess’s eye for quality, after all.”
“Regarding that—I hear Candy has become as rare as plucking stars from heaven. Hoarders have driven black market prices up tenfold.”
“I’ve heard that in a few days’ time, something special will be released at the Shadow Market. If one could just procure an invitation…….”
Information spilled forth without order or structure.
Yet in Leon’s mind, those fragments were weaving themselves into a single, seamless thread.
The Eastern Territory’s collapse. The Imperial Princess’s wine. And Candy.
There was nothing more to hear.
Leon twisted his expression and posed a question to Ecrisé.
‘That Candy—doesn’t it strike you as suspicious?’
【Candy that lends vitality to the Imperial Princess’s wine. Certainly suspicious.】
‘I should visit the Shadow Market next.’
The moment he settled on his next objective, the light footsteps that had been circling nearby came to a halt at close range.
Leon handed the empty cup he’d been holding to a nearby attendant without turning around.
“Young Master. Is the banquet growing tedious?”
Only when the voice cut through unexpectedly did Leon turn his head.
Corbin stood at arm’s length, wearing his characteristic easy smile.
At the same moment, Corbin’s sharp gaze fixed not on Leon, but on the flower petals in the vase behind Leon’s back—charred black and withering.
“Or perhaps you’ve heard a story like that flower—one burning away from the inside?”
At Corbin’s barbed jest, Leon’s mouth twisted slightly.
He couldn’t know how much Corbin had divined, but his arrival was fortunate nonetheless—Leon had need of him.
“Your arrival is timely, Corbin.”
Leon gestured toward the blackened flower petals and continued.
“I have a request for you.”
Continued in the next episode ▶
A holy knight who contracts with a dark god
Author
Lam Dat
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication date
March 27, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260227066
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※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

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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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