The Hero Becomes the Duke’s Eldest Son

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter 45

Aden, hiding his reluctance, spoke with a hint of hope.

“I need to ring that bell. Could you perhaps step aside?”

“I refuse. One of my duties is to guard the bell. If you want to strike it, you’ll have to go through me. Hahaha!”

The highest-ranking monk, Bali, raised a ridiculously large mace with a triumphant expression.

“Intruder! Thanks to you, I can finally have some fun after a long time!”

Hundreds of iron spikes embedded in the mace gleamed in the sunlight.

The mace, as thick as a beam, came swiftly down towards Aden.

**Boom!**

Aden narrowly avoided the mace and clicked his tongue.

The ground where Aden had dodged was now a hole large enough to bury him.

Aden instinctively made a disgusted face.

‘Crazy. Not only his appearance, but his strength is also monstrous. What kind of guy is this?’

His pure physical ability alone was close to that of a high-level sword aura user.

It was astonishing that he could do this without the help of mana.

“Hahaha! This is fun. So much fun!”

The highest-ranking monk, named Bali, swung the absurdly large mace like a toy, as if he never got tired.

Aden dodged his attacks while thinking.

‘Fun, my foot. I can’t believe a madman like this is in a high position in the order.’

‘Well, maybe not, considering the Border Count, Tiried Sedus.’

Surprisingly, there were quite a few strong yet crazy people.

He was stronger than expected.

‘Was there such a strong person even in the future?’

Aden didn’t know much about the Sacred Fire Order in his past life.

But someone this strong should have been somewhat famous, which was strange.

Despite these questions, he quickly erased them from his mind.

Even a slight touch could be fatal.

Bali’s divine power was negligible, almost laughable.

But his physical specs, which seemed to surpass human limits, were pressuring Aden.

If he hadn’t been part of the order and had trained in mana martial arts, he might have become a sword master.

Aden tried to exploit the simple movements of Bali, aiming to cut the tendons behind his knees.

It was a strategy he often used against ogres.

Aden’s sword aura glinted.

He accurately pierced the back of the knee… but.

“I am the noble shield of the Lord, no spear can pierce me!”

Bali’s divine power momentarily hardened him like steel.

‘Too shallow.’

Though the skin was cut, it didn’t reach the tendon inside.

“You can’t defeat me with such a puny skewer! Hahaha!”

Calling the 72 Swords a skewer, what kind of monster is he?

Bali spun his body halfway around, swinging the mace.

At this rate, Aden would be struck.

**Whoosh!**

The mace was coming down on Aden’s head again.

– Summon the Banshee’s Spirit Shield.

The shield tattoo on Aden’s palm glowed, and a translucent silver shield was summoned.

**Bang!**

The shield and the mace clashed, causing sparks and both to be repelled backward.

“Ugh.”

“Hahaha! A very strong intruder! I like you!”

Bali laughed heartily.

This crazy ogre monk seemed to have a strange mental state.

**Bang! Boom! Crash!**

Aden repeatedly blocked the swinging mace with the Banshee’s shield and deflected it to the side.

Maces usually relied on their own weight, swinging in a circular motion to utilize the recoil.

**Swish, whoosh!**

But Bali used his absurd physical abilities to easily change the direction of the mace at right angles.

It was a reckless move that would ruin a normal person’s arms.

But it made his movements unpredictable and hard to counter.

Aden’s eyes deepened.

‘This can’t go on for long.’

If this continued, priests and monks would gather, and he would fail.

Aden thought of the best move he could make now.

– The effect of ‘Berserk’ increases overall stats.

Thanks to the berserk power attached to the Banshee’s Spirit Shield, Aden’s body momentarily filled with immense strength and vitality, and his fighting spirit soared.

If he let himself be swept away by this feeling, he would just rampage madly, so Aden reined it in and controlled it.

**Whoosh!**

Bali swung the mace horizontally again.

As the shield and the mace clashed, Aden deliberately used the impact to jump high.

In combat, jumping into the air was foolish.

In the air, you couldn’t change direction, so evasion was impossible.

The mace swung back towards Aden.

**Bang!**

But Aden kicked off the shield as a foothold, changing direction at a right angle and narrowly avoiding the mace.

The spikes of the mace lightly grazed Aden’s cheek.

Despite that, Aden didn’t even blink.

Using the shield as a springboard, Aden aimed for the highest-ranking monk’s neck from above.

“……!”

By the time Bali noticed…

“Haaap!”

Aden had already thrown Baalzebul towards his head with all his might.

**Swish!**

At the moment when his head was about to split like a watermelon.

However, through years of training and unconscious reflexes, Bali instinctively jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding the strike.

**Slash.**

The blade of Baalzebul grazed his forehead, leaving a shallow wound.

As he dodged the blade, Bali’s eyes flashed, and he took a stance.

“Haaat!”

Bali shouted and aimed a punch at Aden’s abdomen.

Desperately, Aden summoned the Banshee’s shield in front of him to block it…

**Crash!**

Bali’s smash, with all his strength, shattered the shield, which had been weakened by blocking the mace, and struck Aden’s stomach hard.

**Boom!**

At that moment, Aden gasped for breath, his vision spinning.

**Crunch.**

Aden’s abdominal armor dented, and his body flew far and crashed into the ground.

– Banshee’s Spirit Shield has been forcibly unsummoned.

– A penalty is imposed due to forced unsummoning. It cannot be summoned for 72 hours.

– Berserk is lifted.

The Banshee’s Spirit Shield was forcibly unsummoned, and Berserk was lifted.

Being an item partially anchored in the spirit realm, it wouldn’t be permanently damaged by breaking.

But it would take time to recover from spiritual damage.

As Berserk lifted, intense pain and lethargy overwhelmed Aden.

“Ugh! Ugh…”

He coughed and spat blood.

Aden crawled on the dirt like a worm, clutching his stomach where Bali had struck.

It seemed he had internal injuries.

Thanks to the mana of regeneration, he wouldn’t die, but it hurt like hell.

Bali seized Aden’s unguarded moment, swinging his mace down with all his might.

‘Intruder, I will end this!’

However, at that moment, Bali met Aden’s gaze…

Aden was smiling.

Ding.

A bell’s sound echoed.

Bali’s body froze, as if time had stopped.

The mace that was about to crush Aden into a pile of meat halted right in front of his nose.

‘No way…?’

Bali turned his head stiffly to look at the Wailing Bell with a disbelieving expression.

Ding.

The Wailing Bell was ringing with a clear sound, and a sword was embedded in its center.

It was Baalzebul, the sword Aden had thrown.

For a moment, Bali wore a dumbfounded expression as if he had been tricked.

‘Was this his plan from the beginning?’

Could it be that the attack aimed at his head was just a feint, and the real target was the Wailing Bell?

Bali shivered as he read Aden’s scheme.

Covered in dirt, Aden smiled.

“Now, can I see your High Priest’s face?”

His voice was relaxed.

Despite being in pain that could kill him, his expression was arrogant and carefree as if urging Bali to hurry up and show him the way.

Bali blinked his eyes…

“Pfft, hahaha! I lost!”

He burst into hearty laughter.

Now that the Wailing Bell had rung, Aden was no longer an intruder.

Therefore, he could no longer attack Aden, nor did he have any reason to.

He grinned at Aden.

“What is your name?”

“Aden Remes.”

Thud!

Bali set down his giant mace and declared to Aden with an amused expression.

“In accordance with the laws of the Sacred Fire Order, Aden Remes is no longer an intruder but a penitent seeker of the Order’s will, and I hereby accept him as a guest of the Order! This is a vow before the flames of the Sacred Fire!”

A vow before the flames of the Sacred Fire.

It was a promise that the Sacred Fire Order’s clergy had to keep, risking the honor of the god they served.

Aden, feeling relieved, let out a small laugh.

“Well then, just a moment…”

Thud.

Aden fainted and collapsed.

It seemed the impact of that punch, which was as big as a human head, had taken a heavy toll.

“Brother Bali!”

The monks who had been chasing Aden arrived around that time.

They each looked at Aden with changing expressions.

“Ah, you already captured the intruder!”

“And this time, you managed to capture him without dismembering him…!”

They were more surprised at the relatively intact state of Aden’s body caught by Bali.

“But the bell sound we heard earlier, could it be…?”

“Wait a moment! The Wailing Bell…!”

Then they saw Aden’s sword embedded in the bell and were astonished.

Bali yelled at the monks who were chattering.

“He’s the noble who rang the Wailing Bell! What are you doing? Quickly, carry him to the infirmary!”

—

After receiving treatment for internal injuries and fatigue at the Sacred Fire Order’s infirmary, Aden regained consciousness about four hours later.

His body felt lighter than expected.

Normally, due to the side effects of the Banshee’s Spirit Shield and the internal injuries from the ogre monk, his body should have been in terrible condition.

However, thanks to the medical skills of the Sacred Fire Order’s priests and Aden’s regenerative mana, his condition had improved significantly.

It felt like he had rested well for several days.

‘As expected, the headquarters of the Order is different.’

Thanks to this, Aden was able to get up quickly.

A group of people in the Sacred Fire Order’s priestly robes came to him.

Among them, a man in his 60s with a benevolent smile greeted him.

“I am Hakel Korten, the Deputy High Priest of the Sacred Fire Order. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The Deputy High Priest himself had come to greet him.

Aden responded to his kind demeanor with a greeting.

“I am Aden Remes, the son of Duke Remes. I apologize for intruding upon the Order.”

“Haha! No need for apologies. Since you have rung the Wailing Bell, you are our guest according to the law. So, please do not worry about anything.”

The Deputy High Priest, who seemed like a kind old man, left a good impression on those who saw him.

Aden smiled at him but thought to himself.

‘This damned old man.’

Aden cursed him in his mind because he knew what he would do in the future.

Aden recalled the information about the future of the Sacred Fire Order and the Deputy High Priest.

‘Hakel, the Deputy High Priest of the Sacred Fire Order. The one who will become the next High Priest.’

The current High Priest of the Sacred Fire Order would die of illness in three years, and the Deputy High Priest, Hakel, would succeed him.

Hakel would then lead the Order to corruption and ruin, becoming the worst and last High Priest.

After Hakel took over, the Sacred Fire Order demanded high fees for treatments and committed all kinds of corruption using their power.

Naturally, the number of believers dwindled, their power base shook, and the Order’s honor was tarnished.

Ultimately, the Sacred Fire Order, which had been a deeply rooted faith group for hundreds of years, was destroyed along with the city during Talos’ invasion, unable to put up a proper resistance.

It was a futile end for a long-standing religious group.

‘If the Sacred Fire Order had been intact, the number of casualties from injuries during the great war would have been halved.’

The Inquisitors of the Sacred Fire Order fought at the front lines, and the priests of the Sacred Fire Order blessed and supported them from behind.

However, there were not enough personnel to treat the wounded at the rearmost.

Considering the medical capabilities of the Sacred Fire Order, their downfall was a significant loss.

It was all the work of that damned old man, Hakel.

‘The person who will cause such a mess in the future is now making such a benevolent face.’

It was really nauseatingly hypocritical.

But Aden hid his true feelings for now.

As he followed his guide, he observed the scenes inside the temple.

Not only from the outside but also from the inside, there was a tense, strange anxiety that filled the temple.

Something was definitely wrong within the Order.

Aden and the priest arrived in front of a large bronze door.

The door was engraved with the emblem of the Sacred Fire Order.

Deputy High Priest Hakel spoke to Aden.

“According to the law, you should meet the High Priest, but unfortunately, it is not possible to see him right now. Therefore, the highest authority of our Order will act on his behalf.”

Despite ringing the bell, he couldn’t meet the High Priest…

Knowing how single-minded religious people could be, Aden could tell the priest wasn’t lying.

‘Has something happened to High Priest Kertel?’