Modern World Warlock-Chapter 319: Isidor’s Lost Memories

After Claudia inquired with Isidor about a group of people called the "arkanists," the knight stood still as old memories from his past world flooded his mind.

He was still a young holy knight, and one of his first missions was to execute innocent people living in a village for the simple "crime" of praising God Arkanos, who was the creator of their world.

During that time, Isidor knew that his actions were wrong, and he could feel his body trying to stop him from fulfilling his duty. Nonetheless, he followed the goddess's command and participated in the massacre.

For whatever reason, Isidor had completely forgotten those memories until Claudia mentioned their name, and as he lowered his guard out of pure shock, the vampire took the opportunity to attack him.

When Claudia rushed forward and stood before the knight, she charged her palm with red energy that turned into blood and slammed it against Isidor's chest, making the blood seep inside his armor before turning into spikes.

Right after the blood solidified and stabbed Isidor, Claudia released a blast of mana that pushed the knight against another tram cart, utterly destroying it with his crash.

Still, even after receiving such powerful attacks, Isidor stood up and kept looking down with apprehension.

Claudia prepared herself to attack once again, but Alice asked her to stop, noticing the lack of response from the Death Knight.

"I remember now…" Isidor muttered, his armor dripping with blood.

"The arkanists…" he continued, catching Claudia's attention, who didn't expect to receive a reply from her opponent.

"They worshipped Arkanos, the God of Creation… But they didn't reject Goddess Aelara, so why?" Isidor asked himself.

"Why were we ordered to slay them all? They were a peaceful group…" Isidor said with no regard for keeping his guard up.

"More importantly… How did I forget such a horrifying event!?" Isidor asked, his voice getting louder and more frustrated.

"I don't know what your goddess's reasoning is. We are not from your world…" Claudia said.

"But I do know why you forgot. It's called memory-deletion… Probably a little gift from your master," the vampire stated with complete confidence.

At that moment, Isidor inspected himself and glanced at his hands, which were clad in obsidian armor and extruding necrotic energy from them. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly reached for his helm and took it off, revealing his undead face to the women.

Like all the other undead, Isidor had a pale grey complexion with glowing teal eyes. His hair was fairly long and white, and he had an expression of utter disappointment.

"Wh-what have I done… Goddess Aelara?" Isidor muttered in a low volume.

Alice and Claudia noticed that their opponent had lost his will to fight as he dropped his sword on the ground without care and started struggling with his own thoughts, prompting the two of them to lower their guards.

Isidor's memories of his old life were returning to him in a violent manner. Each memory that appeared in his mind felt like a glass panel was being shattered on his head, and while he seemed to remember a few wholesome moments, most of the memories were traumatizing.

"I doubted…" Isidor said after staying silent for almost a minute.

As he regained his memories, he remembered the different crusades he had to participate in the name of Goddess Aelara, traveling to distant cities and villages and killing all of their residents.

Initially, Isidor believed that he was doing the right thing for the betterment of Terra, but after numerous crusades and massacres, he began to doubt the goddess's reasoning.

It didn't matter that Isidor kept his doubts a secret from his peers, but he couldn't hide it from the goddess herself, and when the deity noticed the knight's lack of blind loyalty, he was imprisoned in the holy capital.

"I was forsaken…" Isidor muttered, his voice trembling with rage and sadness.

Alice and Claudia felt somewhat pitiful about the knight, who dropped to his knees in defeat. Still, to become a Death Knight, one had to make a contract with a necromancer while they were alive, so there was still an important fragment of Isidor's memory that seemed to be missing.

Suddenly, the pair noticed that their breath was visible as the air got colder. A dense fog started to cover the area, prompting the women to raise their guards once again.

A few seconds later, a man came crashing down from the darkened skies, landing on top of a tram cart and utterly destroying it like a tin can.

The overwhelming pressure coming from the man's frame froze Alice and Claudia in their spots, and as he took a few steps forward, his identity was revealed.

*Tch* "The big boss is here…" Claudia commented, clicking her tongue in frustration.

Netherius had landed a few feet away from Isidor, who was still kneeling on the ground with no emotions displaying on his face.

"Hmmm, what have we here?" Netherius said, his tone deep and intimidating.

"You've done quite a number on my knight, and not physically…" he continued.

"Master…" Isidor muttered, trying to regain the remaining missing fragments of his memory.

"Isidor, these women made you remember the very thing you asked me to make you forget…" Netherius replied to his subordinate, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

Isidor widened his eyes in realization as he recalled the day he met Netherius for the first time.

After Isidor was imprisoned for months in an underground jail at the holy capital, he received a visit from a mysterious hooded man, who turned out to be Netherius.

The necromancer knew about the injustice of Isidor's imprisonment, and seeing that the knight was wholly broken from the inside after his goddess's betrayal, Netherius offered him a deal.

"Become my knight in death. I can make you forget your goddess's betrayal and give you your devotion for her back," Netherius whispered.

For a broken and desperate holy knight who wanted to serve the goddess, even after being unfairly imprisoned, the deal seemed good enough.

Once Isidor hesitantly agreed to make the contract with Netherius, the necromancer aimed his palm at the knight and released a powerful spell that killed him instantly. Thus, their contract began the very same day.