Chapter 209: The Undead Hordes (4)
Two horses exhaled roughly. A guy dressed in armor and a woman in a religious gown disembarked from their fatigued horses.
“The slope is right ahead. It would be best to walk down.”
“I agree.”
The man in white armor was youthful, with brown hair and eyes. The sun insignia carved on his armor and shoulder guards identified him as a paladin of the sun deity, Lutheon.
The woman was wearing a religious robe with a smaller version of the same insignia. However, the dirt-stained armor and clothing, which were covered in bloodstains that had faded in the rain, revealed that the two had undergone a difficult journey.
They walked their fatigued horses up the hill, avoiding the woodland on their left. A well-kept, paved road suggested that a metropolis was nearby.
The young man, Jess, looked at the map and pointed to the hill.
“We will see Brasil once we cross this hill.”
“We arrived one day sooner than scheduled. That’s fortunate.”
“That is because Lady Saint has been walking without rest…”
“Are you tired?”
“Not at all. I think the Lady Saint should rest instead.”
Elenora, a blonde woman with lovely blue eyes, shook her head and continued to walk.
“I’m fine. Let’s keep going.
Jess nodded.
After escaping the jungle, the two bought horses from a nearby village and rode them at full gallop.
They arrived in the next village, sold their tired horses, bought new ones, and rode again.
They repeated this process three or four times, reducing a journey that would normally take more than a week to five days. Of all, this was only possible because Jess and Elenora were paladins with holy powers. For most people, it would have been a difficult march that could have resulted in fainting or bone exhaustion.
Horseback riding requires a lot of stamina. It’s acceptable if the horse is just strolling and the rider is sitting on it, but galloping is another.
Stabilizing the bottom body and organically adjusting the upper body to the rebound of the horse’s movement needs a great deal of endurance. Furthermore, the lowering temperature and strong wind quickly deplete body heat.
Fortunately, they could elevate the temperature around their bodies through prayer and divine magic, although doing so consistently was difficult because the manifestation of holy power burns stamina.
Nonetheless, Elenora was a saintess who wielded great supernatural power that regular priests and believers could not comprehend. Jess and Elenora were able to shorten the long journey.
“Jess?”
“Yes, speak.”
“You don’t have to call me Lady Saint. Even the Grand Church no longer recognizes me as a saint.”
An execution order must have been issued. There was no other way to think about it, given that they had killed everyone of the pursuers, including the Paladins. Jess cocked his head at Elenora’s words.
“Surely they won’t try to kill you? You are a saint and well-liked by the people of the Empire.”
“They may make me into something that is better off dead.”
“Excuse me?”
Elenora paused for a while at Jess’s inquisitive tone. She glanced up at the darkening sky and remarked,
“Jess, I wasn’t just imprisoned in the church. There must have been priests like me who believed that the church was wrong, at least in its current state. I was able to escape with their assistance. In the process, I discovered what happened to those who crossed them.
“What do you……”
“Long ago, there was a ritual in which people offered sacrifices to the gods they believed in. The rarer the animal or monster, the greater its value. But the most valuable of all was a human.”
Jess looked stunned.
“Are you saying they performed human sacrifices?”
“I didn’t see it myself, but I’m certain they didn’t return. In addition, I noticed a surge in evil energy throughout the church. Along with the putrid odor that only comes from the prohibited practice of human life-sacrificing.”
“But how could those who claim to follow God commit such an act? Isn’t it said in the scriptures that mankind was formed with the assistance of Lord Lutheon and the other gods?
Elenora replied,
“They didn’t offer it to Lutheon. They offered it to the devil. It is most likely a contract or ritual for borrowing power.”
Jess exhaled.
“Ha… things have really gone to hell in such a short time.”
“They’re crafty. To the point where they could have ruined everything from the ground up in such a short period.”
As they climbed the slope, they instinctively looked up to the sky. The sky was dismal and packed with black clouds. However, it did not appear that it would rain. Jess told a joke.
“We might have to light a torch.”
They had reached the top of the hill and could see down by the time Jess’ joke had stopped being funny. They observed a terrain with scant woods, sharp cliffs, narrow canyons, and streams.
The sky was packed with murky, heavy clouds, so everything was in shadow. The grass, which had lost its energy as winter neared, had withered and turned yellow, and the stream’s fractured bottom had long been revealed.
Below them was Brasilt. And the city appeared odd.
Jess, who had been staring blankly at the city with his brow furrowed, finally opened his mouth.
“Please tell me that what I’m seeing isn’t a giant.”
Elenora shook her head slightly.
“It’s a giant. I thought they were all extinct, but how……?”
Just then, a golden light flickered in front of Elenora’s face as she attempted to get a better look at the giant, making her wobble. Jess approached her with surprise and support.
“Oh my! Are you okay?
Elenora nodded and narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t look at the giant’s eyes. It’s infused with a powerful curse and alien energy. It’s so toxic that ordinary people would go mad or kill themselves. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a devil in the body of a giant.”
At that moment, a little flash of light appeared in the distance. The two of them flinched simultaneously. This was due to the huge wave of magical energy sent out by the flash.
“Hey, I’ve seen this somewhere before……”
Something large appeared from within the light. Jess, recognizing it, widened his eyes.
“Oh, Aellasis?”
“Excuse me?”
Elenora, who had been using her holy power to improve her vision, shifted her gaze in the same direction as Jess. In truth, there was no reason to turn. The dragon, which had suddenly materialized, was beating its wings and heading towards the giant.
“Oh my…….”
“Jess, do you know that dragon?”
Jess explained with a countenance full of enthusiasm and admiration,
“The dragon hatched from Russell-nim’s egg! The name is Aellasis. It assisted us in defeating the Ice Realm devil that came up from Niflheim with Sir Hailyn, and a few months ago, it fought alongside Geliotos in Latham territory.”
Elenora nodded.
“So it’s the dragon that has sparked so many rumors. I heard the Grand Church was also looking for that dragon.
“The Grand Church as well?”
“After all, it is the reemergence of a legend in the modern world. They intended to ascertain its identification and capture it if it was genuine. If not, they would have circulated misinformation claiming to have defeated a devil disguised as a dragon.”
Her gaze was drawn to the dragon hovering above the city, its wings outstretched. Despite the relatively considerable distance between the hill and the city, the dragon and giant were easily visible.
This was due to not only their magnitude but also their presence and the massive wave of magical energy. Elenora, who received supernatural power from God and could employ it via prayer, felt the waves more intensely.
“If Aellasis is in Brasilt, Russell-nim must be there as well. I should have realized that if Russell-nim was present, Aellasis would also be. I’ve never felt so dumb.
The sky, which had become exceptionally gloomy, weighed down heavily, giving the impression that the city would soon be swallowed up by the heavy clouds.
At that point, the clouds started to roar. The dark clouds, which had been flaming red from within, eventually began to glow blue.
In that blue, the will and emotions of life could be sensed. What was being fired down to the ground from that massive natural thing that one could never have imagined feeling from clouds was anger.
The clouds, which had been writhing like a big serpent in the sky, met over Brasilt, resulting in a roar.
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
Jess and Elenora covered their ears. Thunder devoured thunder, as lightning followed lightning. The end result was a bright beam of light emitted by the white-scaled dragon toward the giant.
When the light dissipated, Jess and Elenora opened their eyes to discover that the giant and dragon had vanished.
Let’s go down. As soon as possible.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Elenora remounted her horse at the top of the hill. The fatigued horse whinnied, then settled down when she stroked its head with a golden glow in her fingers.
“Yah!”
“Hey, let’s go together!”
Following Elenora, who had gone first, Jess mounted his horse and held the reins.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The fires that had torched the city had already been subdued. All that remained was white smoke billowing from the smoldering ashes and crumbling ruins.
The castle of Brasilt and the urban area within a kilometer of it, as well as the territory, were destroyed, but there were few casualties.
Of course, over 600 deaths was not a tiny figure, but given the scope of the destruction and the number of monsters that had appeared, it could be deemed insignificant. The whole city could have been wiped out.
When the ash giant rose, the shattered castle wasn’t the only spot where dead bodies were found. There were secret passages in the old castle for the lord and his family, but few people knew about them, where they were, or how to unlock them.
Roscell was one of those few individuals. Roscell retreated through the secret passage after evacuating the servants gathering about in front of the wrecked castle’s fallen main entrance.
When they emerged from the castle with white dust and cobwebs on their heads, everything had quieted down after a loud roar.
Roscell passed by the servants, who were panting from weariness, and looked back. And he felt his common sense, which he had firmly assumed would remain intact for the next four decades, break into bits.
He witnessed the entirely demolished castle, the lowered hill, the burnt metropolitan area, and the crumbled structures.
The air felt foreboding, and the sky was dark with clouds. It was so dark that torches or candles would have been required, but Roscell was able to see the panorama of the wrecked city.
“Father…….”
Roscell realized his father had died after seeing the castle ruins. No, Jayvir was not in his right mind, based on the last time he saw him rampage around.
Was the temptation of Livenbus’ twist so alluring? Was it so enticing to reclaim his youth and prime and no longer fear death?
Roscell, having spent his entire life in his father’s shadow, struggled to understand or relate. All he saw in his vision were innumerable corpses.
The corpses of residents littered the streets. Young couples with children, as well as young and elderly folks, were lying everywhere. Their limbs were spread out randomly.
“My Lord.”
At that point, one of his knights approached him and spoke. Roscell, who had been standing there staring blankly, turned his attention.
“……Are you speaking to me?”
“Yes. My Lord, with your father’s death, you have succeeded to the title of Count Roscell. Kindly give us your orders.”
Roscell gazed at the knight and the servants behind him before speaking carefully.
“…… Let’s clean up the castle and city. Send orders to the soldiers who have fled to regroup and clean up the debris. Gather the bodies of the deceased citizens separately so that we can plan for their funerals. Gather the injured in separate groups so that physicians and priests can treat them. And…….”
Roscell’s gaze was drawn to a man approaching him from the opposite side of the street. He was taller than others by a head, and a man of sturdy build, wearing sturdy boots and a coat.
The knight readied his sword, but Roscell halted and approached Russell.
“You’re alive. That’s fortunate. I was terrified you could be dead.”
“As you can see. Your father has died. I’m sorry.”
“Wasn’t that your goal anyway?”
“That does not mean it is right to tell his son that he died well.”
Roscell shakes his head.
“It’s fine. I was also taken aback by my father’s appearance. Say anything you want. I’ll help in any way I can.”
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