Chapter 163: Zahard Territory (5)
TL: Potato-tan
Lahart, clad in armor, stepped out of the inner gate and spoke.
“How is the situation?”
“It’s not good. Monsters are rampaging all over the territory. I’ll show you the situation first. Reflect.”
The wizard Simos quickly replied to Lahart’s question and formed a hand seal. As Simos crossed his hands and then opened them, moisture gathered above them, forming a mirror.
The mirror soon reflected the monsters rampaging in the territory. The monsters with black skin were destroying buildings and floors, and eating people.
“Their forms are inconsistent. They’re constantly changing.”
Even though the situation was urgent, Lahart first grasped the monster’s appearance, movements, and what they were rushing to do.
“They’re not ordinary demon beasts or demons. Their skin is black, and they’re attacking humans first. Like the mountain demon beasts, they might be a species that can prolong their lives or gain strength through human hearts or brains.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Lahart’s expression hardened as he watched the monsters in the mirror stretch out their arms to grab people and swallow them whole with their large mouths. However, he did not get caught up in his emotions and stared at the monsters. Ten seconds passed.
In the meantime, all the knights and soldiers of the Zahard family gathered in the training ground and waited for orders. There were fifty knights and five hundred soldiers.
Then Lahart raised his head.
“What is the current number and location of monsters?”
Simos replied quickly.
“. . . . . .The number has increased to fifteen. They are located in three places in the inn district, four in the artisan district, and eight in the restaurant district and residential area. If we leave them alone, they will continue to increase. . . Oh.”
Simos exclaimed. It was because he saw Russell killing three monsters at once in the mirror he had just projected.
It was the moment when the black-skinned monsters, standing two meters tall with muscles about to burst and covered in a layer of black skin, were swiftly wielding their fists and stretching out their long fingers with sharp claws, trying to surround Russell’s space.
Russell’s left hand swung out a fist, and the large, dark-colored greatsword in his right hand cut off six fingers and then vertically sliced the forearm.
The monsters that had attacked were blinded by the dazzling sword light. One had its neck cut off, another had its waist split in two, and smoke poured out of its empty torso.
Russell, who had killed three monsters in an instant, immediately looked somewhere and flew off. Even the magic mirror could not capture his movements.
“The three monsters in the inn district have just been killed.”
“. . . . . .I can see that.”
It was understandable. Russell’s current level and the amount of powerful magic power he had accumulated. Even Lahart himself, who had trained his body and magic power for over forty years, had missed Russell’s sword tip for a moment.
‘How many times had he cut through space at that moment?’ Lahart could not help but wonder. The moment when the tip of the sword that cut through the monster would be directed at him.
He thought of him as his son, but he had not seen him grow up. Russell had grown up on his own. The Russell he had seen as a baby or a boy was all too mature and adult-like for his age.
He could not help but compare him to Irrucil and his other children. And those purple eyes. Eyes like jewels that made him feel strange and distant when he looked at them for a long time.
“Where is he going now?”
Simos immediately raised the mirror’s field of vision. The mirror showed Russell disappearing into an alleyway after freezing another monster with a large axe and then shattering it.
The magic eye created by the wizard’s spell tried to follow Russell, but he was already far away. Simos felt the magic string connected to the eye gradually thinning and called the eye back.
“The young master’s running speed is too fast for magic to keep up. The direction he is heading is the north of the territory.”
Lahart nodded and said.
“Leave the north alone. Take charge of the remaining east, west, and south. And Simos, save your magic power now.”
“Should we not check on the young lady?”
“That child will be fine.”
Lahart looked around the training ground. The knights and soldiers lined up right in front of him were waiting for orders. His voice, amplified by magic power, echoed through the training ground.
“The estate is under attack. The culprit is currently being pursued by my son, Russell. We’ll go to the areas excluding the north and deal with the monsters attacking the estate. Prepare for battle as if you were fighting the mountain demon beasts, but be flexible. Prioritize the evacuation of people, but don’t take unnecessary risks. The key is to eliminate them before they grow larger or increase in number. Defend the estate! You are the proud soldiers of Zahard!”
Thud!
A loud thud echoed as the fifty knights struck their chests with their fists. There were no cheers or shouts. The knights, who had fought monsters for decades, immediately formed a trio and exited the inner gate. The superhuman bodies that had surpassed the ordinary jumped out of the castle at a terrifying speed and scattered in all directions.
The soldiers, wearing armor and holding long halberds, split into five groups and headed for the districts.
Black smoke and dull noises erupted incessantly. Muffled screams echoed everywhere.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Ugh, ugh.
An unpleasant sound rang out. The sound of something tearing and eating tough meat. The source of the sound was a monster with a large, thick arm and a body with black smoke billowing from it, eating a person.
“Ah, ahhhhh. . . . . .”
In the chest and abdomen, which had been split open, dozens of green tongues, sharp as razor blades and flickering like flames, flickered like tentacles. The dozens of tongues were holding onto the woman who had only her upper body left and pulling her inward.
The girl, who was sitting down, stared blankly at the woman whose breath had already stopped and whose pupils were dilated. The girl’s mother had pushed her daughter away and was caught in the monster’s clutches herself.
The pain must not have been short. The distorted expression, the tears of blood flowing from her bloodshot eyes, and the blood dripping from her mouth proved it.
Gulp.
Eventually, the monster that had completely devoured the girl’s mother grew even larger. Thanks to the human heart and the life force contained within it, as well as a small amount of mana. Life force was life force, but mana was more necessary.
However, people who practiced mana were rare, and those who had talent for mana were even rarer. The monster’s instinct urged it to eat more humans. As if that would allow it to have this endless hunger and the endless cycle of thoughts.
The black hand, large enough to completely grasp the girl’s entire body, reached down.
Shwoosh!
It was then that white, hard iron chains rose from the ground. The chains sprang up as if to protect the girl, and then formed a chain barrier.
Gu?
The monster tilted its head at the strange phenomenon for a moment, but then dozens of chains attached themselves to its fingers, wrists, arms, and shoulders, and began to pull it taut.
Grrrrrr!
The monster’s four feet stomped hard on the ground, causing the ground to cave in and the surface to crack. However, the pulling force of the chains was stronger, and the monster’s body floated up.
Kwaang!
The monster with a large upper body on its four-legged lower body was lifted up like a toy and then slammed down on the opposite floor.
The flagstones rippled as they absorbed the shock wave, and then shattered with a clatter, scattering a huge amount of debris and raising a cloud of dust.
“Are you okay?”
A woman picked up the girl who had been protected by the chain barrier. She was a beautiful woman with black hair that reached her waist and black eyes. The girl looked up at the woman with a blank face, and then soon burst into tears.
“Sniff, sniff, waaaah. . .”
Irrucil looked down at the girl, who was shedding tears with a complicated expression.
She had not experienced the grief of seeing her family die in front of her, but she had had similar experiences. The demon beasts of the mountain range were monsters that were obsessed with eating human flesh, hearts, and brains.
She had seen countless monsters get ripped apart by knights’ swords and spears, yet still, they would grab the soldier’s head, crush it, and chew on the brain like they were possessed.
Those soldiers were the ones who greeted her with “Young Lady”, gave her snacks, trained with her, and helped her ride horses.
Irrucil looked back. Two monsters were lying dead on the street she had run from. The bodies of people who had been left with only blood and sticky pieces of meat hung from the floor, walls, building exteriors, and signboards. They were traces of people who had failed to escape in time as the monsters rampaged.
Ordinary people were too easily broken and damaged in front of overwhelming power. People could die from just falling the wrong way. And to such people, monsters were like natural disasters.
A roar pierced through the dust. In the clearing dust stood a monster with its broken shoulder and arm fitted together.
Gaaaaaaaaaaa-!
Immediately after, a monster with four spider-like legs shook the ground and roared at Irrucil.
The girl’s cries stopped at the roar. Irrucil slowly lowered the girl to the ground and asked.
“What’s your name?”
“Sniff, huh?”
“What’s your name? I’m Irrucil.”
It was a calmness that was hard to believe, considering that a monster with four spider-like legs was coming at her right in front of her. However, the girl spoke softly, sobbing and hiccuping.
“Lana. Lana Prandel.”
“Lana. That’s a pretty name.”
Irrucil, who praised her name with a smile, soon said with a hardened expression.
“Lana, stay here. Understand?”
There were still monsters that she had not killed anywhere. The street was deserted because of the people who had fled, but faint screams could still be heard from afar. Monsters that ate humans to gain strength and multiplied by dividing to create their own kind.
As Calia had said, they were beings called necrol, an anomaly that tore through dimensions.
The next moment, the monster that had been approaching with a thud flew up. Its black skin, which absorbed sunlight, was as if one side of her vision was painted black and approaching.
Its right hand, transformed into a spear-like shape, thrust directly towards Irrucil’s chest. A simple but extremely fast attack. Even Irrucil would miss it if she didn’t push herself to her absolute limit.
With a swoosh, a thin, white iron chain wrapped around the elongated right arm that was flying through the air. From Irrucil’s palm, a thin thread of magic power protruded, becoming a white, thick, and hard iron chain as it extended.
As her left hand pulled on the monster’s right hand, she lowered her posture. The moment her right hand went to her waist, a brilliant white flash diagonally cut through the monster’s chest.
Graaa!
With a sizzling sound, the monster’s skin split and wrinkled. However, only two legs retreated. The upper body, which had been shocked by her sword strike, bent forward.
As it began to exert its monstrous strength, the right arm wrapped in chains moved forcibly, and the sound of tendons and muscles tearing could be heard. Dozens of black stalks extended from the cross-section of the left shoulder, which had been half-cut, and pulled on each other across the opposite cross-section.
Irrucil did not just watch it. She completely tightened the chain wrapped around the monster’s right arm, crushing it, and plunged the sword in her right hand into the monster’s head.
The head, which had no features like eyes or a nose, as if it were just hanging there because the neck was empty, shook wildly.
The large mouth on the monster’s chest opened with a snap and let out a scream. At the same time, thin tentacles sprang from the mouth, aiming for Irrucil, who was close by, and began to pull her in.
Gaaaaaaaa-!
Jagged red teeth, as if they had a mind of their own, rippled and flapped to chew and swallow Irrucil.
Immediately after, Irrucil raised the sword she had stuck in her head and cut it in half. Black blood and something like sand poured down like a waterfall from the two halves of the head.
The monster seemed to sense the death that had come to its chin and went on a rampage with Irrucil still hanging on. Countless objects, including restaurants, general stores, and things that were unrecognizable, flew around. Wooden planks and stones shattered, and dust and pieces of stone were thrown out.
Clang!
The blade that had sliced through the monster’s head then cut through the sticky tongues, freeing Irrucil. Irrucil, who was floating in the air, quickly did a backflip and landed on the ground.
Kwaang!
Irrucil didn’t rush forward. The monster was already charging at her, throwing its entire body forward. She stepped forward with her right foot.
The unsheathed sword was at her left waist. Her breath stopped, and time slowed down.
She recalled Russell’s movements that she had seen sometime before. How he moved, how he swung his legs, twisted his waist, and stretched his upper body.
She recalled the intricate flow of magic power.
She didn’t know when, but her eyelids, which had been closed, opened. A chilling and eerie sensation shot through her entire body. The sensation then traveled to the tip of the sword she held in her right hand.
The next moment, the blade of the sword swallowed the monster.
. . . . . .!
There was no scream. Something had drawn a diagonal line through the monster’s body. And the monster had not had time to think about what it was.
Maybe if it had eaten just ten more people, it would have figured it out. But that thought, closer to an unformed instinct, lingered for a moment before vanishing.
Soon, the monster’s upper and lower bodies, which had been divided in two, fell to the ground with a thud.
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“Percus, is that your name?”
“. . . . . .Yes.”
Crackle, crackle!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaak! Y, Yes!”
“If you’re late one more time, I’ll let you experience what it’s like to have your heart stop. Of course, I’ll revive you with cardiac massage.”
Percus nodded his head frantically. Russell released his left hand, which had still been holding the dark elf’s neck. And the next moment.
Crackle!
“Aaaaaaaaaak!”
Russell’s lightning-fast hand twisted and pulled out the dark elf’s limb joints. In terrible pain, the dark elf’s eyes rolled back and he soon slumped against the alley wall, powerless.
“Ugh, ugh, hehehehe. . . . . .”
A moan, whether laughter or cry, escaped his throat, which could no longer even scream. Russell crouched down in front of him.
“What’s your purpose?”
“. . . . . .To destroy the families that protect the north.”
“Why?”
“Everything is. . . . . . for a new, world. . . . . .”
“Who ordered you to do this?”
“Cough, cough. Kill me.”
The dark elf, who had raised his head with difficulty, barely twisted his lips. As if this result could not be avoided, no matter how much pain he was in or how much he was questioned.
Russell stared at the dark elf for a moment and then picked up a nearby incense burner. A purple light flashed in his eyes.
The dark elf, Percus, looked up blankly at Russell, who was emitting a mysterious aura.
“Who gave you this incense burner?”
“Em. . . . p, pire. . .”
White foam and red blood flowed out of Percus’s mouth. His mind and body were being destroyed, and the remnants were flowing out.
“Look me in the eye and answer. Who is it?”
Percus’s dirty lips slowly opened.
“Em. . . . . . pire. . . . . .”
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