Chapter 5: Me? Im Just a Passing Knight of Justice

Chapter 5: Me? I’m Just a Passing Knight of Justice

Lotai—a name renowned throughout the empire’s borderlands, famed as a bustling nexus of trade.

Ancient stone walls and weathered rooftops traced the river’s winding course, forming a natural fortress city. Even deep into the night, Lotai’s streets thrummed with life: adventurers darted through lamplit alleys, merchants hawked their wares beneath glowing lanterns, and laughter echoed from every corner. From above, the city’s brilliance rivaled the stars themselves.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Lotai at night,” Lin Wei mused aloud.

He had to admit, the city was far more beautiful beneath the cloak of darkness than it ever was in daylight.

Resting his chin thoughtfully in his hand, he swept his powerful spiritual sense across the avenues ahead. Nothing seemed amiss—at least, nothing he could detect.

Veya had warned him that the Holy Church was plotting something significant, but she hadn’t provided any details. That left him to piece things together himself.

“The Holy Church only really has three kinds of enemies: demons, heretics, and the Cult of the evil gods,” he recited in his mind.

Demons were out of the question. If they were involved, he would have sensed them long ago.

Which left… the Cult of the evil gods.

In this world, the Cult of the evil gods was the ultimate taboo.

They worshipped the deities who had fallen in the Age of Gods, countless years ago.

Divine beings were notoriously hard to truly destroy; even after their downfall, their vitality was overwhelming, refusing to fade. Though their power might be sealed deep within hell, their flesh and blood could shatter into fragments, scattered across the world.

If someone gathered enough sacrificial offerings and dared to open the gates to hell, they could channel that power—awakening those fragments and reviving the divine remnants once more.

That’s right—it could only be Belia, the warrior of love and justice!

For thousands of years, these entities had been the Holy Church’s main foes.

Of course, to make things easier for the masses, these fragments of evil gods had another, far more familiar name… demons.

“In the past, demons themselves were the most enthusiastic at summoning evil gods,” Lin Wei reflected.

“But in recent centuries, they’ve realized that meddling with the forbidden powers of hell brings unpredictable consequences, so they’ve stopped.”

“But if it’s the Cult of the evil gods at work, that’s much easier to handle. After all, as a Demon Lord, I know the stench of an evil god better than anyone… So, this is the only way, huh?”

It was true—what he was about to do would burn through a lot of stamina.

But if he wanted to save time, there wasn’t a better option.

“Can’t be helped, then…”

Lin Wei slowly closed his eyes.

In the next instant—

His eyes snapped open, burning scarlet. A torrent of demonic power erupted from him, surging outward in every direction with wild, reckless abandon.

There was no technique to it—just raw, overwhelming might unleashed without restraint.

His energy flooded the air, a vast, shadowy tide ready to smother the world, stretching his senses to touch everything within reach.

The forest, the earth, the river… even the drifting elements in the air—nothing escaped his notice.

Demonic energy poured from him like a dam burst, a wild, extravagant squandering of power simply to perceive the world around him. Anyone else would have thought he’d gone mad.

And yet, Lin Wei felt no exhaustion. On the contrary, he handled the surge with effortless ease, pushing his power even further.

Then, at a certain moment, Lin Wei lowered his gaze to the ground beneath his feet.

Somewhere deep below, the earth trembled—something stubborn and alive was beating, slow and relentless, like a heart refusing to die.

Tendrils of the evil god’s aura drifted upward, unmistakable even through layers of earth and stone.

“Found it.”

A faint smile curled Lin Wei’s lips as he watched the evil god’s heart pulsing in the depths below. His scarlet eyes darkened to black, the crimson fading into impenetrable shadow. Without hesitation, he descended straight toward his target.

Underground Hideout

Corpses in black robes littered the floor in grotesque, twisted postures—their faces frozen in terror.

The air throbbed with obscure, guttural syllables—words no sane mind could comprehend, each crackling with unimaginable power.

The sound gnawed at the mind and soul, making both shudder and recoil.

The coppery stench of blood hung thick in the air; just stepping into this place was enough to make one’s skin crawl.

At the center of the carnage, before a bizarre sculpture nearly three meters tall, the scene grew even more disturbing. The statue seemed to soak in blood as it pulsed and throbbed, its glow intensifying with every beat. Its form was a grotesque heap of flesh, its visage twisted beyond recognition—no one could tell what creature it was meant to be.

“At last… at last, it’s enough!”

Beside the statue stood an old man, his body little more than bone and parchment-thin skin, as if all flesh had been drained away.

His eyes were pitch black, devoid of white—eyes that radiated pure taboo.

And now, those eyes blazed with a terrifying, manic fervor.

“Priest, sir…”

“Is it… really worth it, what we’re doing?”

The question came from one of the other followers, his voice trembling as he glanced at the bodies of his fellow cultists strewn across the floor. Even if those sacrificed were only the lowest-ranking initiates, being offered up by the very priest they trusted made everyone’s blood run cold.

“To give one’s life for our god is the highest honor they could hope for!” the black-robed priest rasped, fixing the speaker with a cold, unwavering gaze.

“According to our intelligence, the Holy Church’s knights have already converged on Lotai. That means our presence is known.”

“And now… now is the best moment to awaken our god. No matter what, we cannot waste this final chance.”

To awaken a evilg god, required a steady stream of sacrifices and a ritual that could last for years.

For more than a decade, the cult had worked in secret around this city, preparing for this very day. They had been waiting for the god’s descent, at which point they would unleash havoc on Lotai, devouring the souls of all who worshipped Alicia.

Once their god broke free of his shackles, he would exist in this world forever, bestowing even greater power upon his faithful.

“Tomorrow… the Holy Church will be on high alert, waiting for our god to awaken,” the priest continued, his voice hoarse but fervent. “If we don’t act tonight, we may never get another chance.”

“If we succeed, our god will rise. If we wait, the Holy Church’s holy light will smother him the moment he stirs, and he’ll be banished from this world forever.”

That, as a priest, was something he could never accept.

“But, Priest… the Holy Church has already deployed a whole host of Judgement Knights to Lotai…” another cultist protested.

“Are you sure there won’t be any problems, awakening our god with so many eyes around?”

“We’re not going to get caught at the worst possible moment, are we?”

Another cultist, face pale with unease, couldn’t help but voice his doubts. He had joined the Cult of the evil gods to chase after power, not out of any foolish urge for martyrdom.

“This stronghold is the fruit of years of careful work,” the priest replied confidently. “Even standing right above us, no one would ever suspect that, dozens of meters below, our god slumbers.”

“And besides, the awakening is only moments away.”

“If anyone truly manages to break in at this point—”

He gestured to the ritual circle, etched in intricate patterns of crimson. Blood flowed steadily toward its center, feeding the grotesque statue that was slowly, unmistakably coming to life. The priest’s voice turned hoarse as he made his declaration:

“—then it simply means our time has come to offer ourselves. For our god, I am prepared to give everything!”

“So loyal, huh? Well, I suppose I should give you a round of applause.”

Suddenly, cheerful applause rang out, shattering the silence of the chamber.

“What?!”

The priest spun around, eyes wide in shock. There, standing at the entrance to the cavern, was a stranger masked in gold.

At first glance, he didn’t radiate overwhelming power. Yet with every unhurried step he took, a suffocating pressure pressed down on the room—so heavy that even the cultists’ bodies seemed to tremble in response.

“So that’s what it is—a demon idol of the Blood Sacrifice Mother.”

Gazing at the carnage and the monstrous statue pulsing with life, Lin Wei recognized its origins instantly.

As a former Demon Lord, he was more than familiar with these fallen deities—he’d read about them countless times in the ancient demon tomes. If he had been the one conducting the resurrection, with this many sacrifices, the demon would have been fully restored long ago—not left in this half-formed state.

“All these offerings, and you still can’t revive the evil god? Even now, you’re missing that final piece.”

“Loyalty is one thing, but you’re really lacking in skill.”

“Who are you?” the cult priest snarled, voice low and dangerous. Dark, corrupt energy surged around him, his cloak billowing with power. He didn’t know who this intruder was, but in the next instant, he was already preparing to obliterate him.

Unfortunately… he would never get the chance.

“My name?” Lin Wei mused, raising his hand and aiming his palm at the priest. He closed his fingers with casual ease, as if squeezing the air.

Bang!

In the blink of an eye, a terrifying force erupted. The priest—who’d barely begun to move—was crushed into a cloud of blood mist on the spot.

It was an attack without warning, surrounded by an impossible radiance that tore everything apart. Flesh, organs, even the last shreds of memory—all were obliterated in an instant.

By the time the remaining cultists recovered from their shock, the all-powerful “Priest” they’d so revered had already been vaporized, his remains forcibly injected into the very statue he’d tried so desperately to awaken.

“Just a passing knight of justice, that’s all.”

Crack…

The demon idol, shrouded in a crimson glow, absorbed the final sacrificial offering. In the span of a heartbeat, it fully awakened, its monstrous form pulsing with a tide of pure, suffocating evil.

Lin Wei felt the wave of malice surge toward him. In response, he casually snapped his fingers.

One after another, golden vortices began to swirl into existence behind him, spinning in the empty air.

From those vortices burst forth a radiance so holy, it defied belief—blades of divine light, countless and razor-sharp, silently took shape within the swirling maelstroms. Their brilliance flooded the entire chamber, overwhelming all with their sacred might.

Even the newly awakened evil god, its hide still slick from its rebirth, jerked its head up. Its crimson eyes flashed with feral malice before it unleashed a soul-rending, ear-splitting shriek.

“And what a knight of justice does next,” Lin Wei declared, fingers poised in the air, “is destroy this evil.”

He flicked his hand—the golden vortices erupted in dazzling brilliance.

Every blade of light snapped into focus, all aimed at the monstrous creature before him, now fully revived.

“Like this!”

TL Note:

- demon idol: search in google.