Chapter 369: 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part Two)
Roy’s eyes shot wide open. His foot reaching out landed on the ground made out of flesh and blood. The boy was instantly frightened nearly out of his wits and he hurriedly looked around himself.
The land he found himself on was comprised entirely out of flowing blood and flesh. In the distance was an ocean of blood, while the sky above was in an ash-grey hue.
“Hiieeek?!”
For a moment there, Roy thought he could no longer breathe. Even then, his eyes continued to shift around. He noticed the roaming zombies while the skeletal dead beings were digging into the fleshy ground.
This place… was Purgatory!
‘I… I came to the wrong place!’
He was supposed to follow the energy flow of holy water, but ended up depending on his hearing too much and stepped into the wrong path.
Just as he stood there soaked in cold sweat, the dead beings turned their heads and stared at Roy.
-It’s a living person.-
-The soul of a living person!-
All those zombies and skeletons staggered around and began shuffling towards him.
-Give me your flesh!-
-I’m so hungry! Hungry!-
-Your body, I want it!-
They broke into a maddened sprint.
Roy stumbled back before he began urgently running away from there. His fleeing steps eventually took him into a forest full of bizarre trees that used flesh as fertiliser and blood as nourishment.
He breathlessly ran through this forest with not a single leaf present, only for him to fall into a lake of blood.
Right at that moment, countless hands of bones belonging to the dead broke through the surface of the crimson liquid to grab at him.
-Give me your flesh!-
-Your body…!-
-A new life…!-
Roy flailed about. ‘N-no! At this rate, I…!’
He’d end up losing his body; once he woke back up from his sleep, his body would be taken over by the dead!
‘I, I gotta wake up!’
Roy gritted his teeth. Although he felt bad about Lady Saintess, it was not possible to locate the Holy Emperor anymore. This place was Purgatory, after all; no way the soul of someone like the Holy Emperor would be stuck in such a place.
But it was right at that moment.
-Hurry, grab this!-
A rope was tossed towards the helplessly flailing Roy. He flinched in shock and looked at the one who threw that rope.
It was a skeleton hiding itself under a hooded robe riding on a boat of bones.
-Hurry, child!- the skeleton spoke urgently.
Roy grabbed the rope, and the dead being pulled at the rope to drag the boy closer, then helped the latter to climb aboard.
The hands of all those dead extending from the lake’s surface gradually sank back below.
Just as Roy sighed in relief, the skeleton gently wrapped its arms around the boy.
-What a relief it is, child. Thank the gods…-
Roy was getting this strange feeling all of a sudden. The skeleton spoke with an unfamiliar woman’s voice, yet it also sounded inexplicably nostalgic at the same time. He couldn’t understand it at all.
“Who are you?”
The skeleton froze up when Roy asked it.
The dead being hurriedly let go of the boy, then wordlessly stared at the child for a long while. The skeleton then demurely brought its hands together, looking somewhat hesitant.
-…Child. How did you arrive in this place? This is no place for a living like you.-
“…” Roy could only smile bitterly at that. Was he really a living person, though?
The refugees looked at him with those eyes, then began pelting him with stones while calling him a vampire. It was true that he did drink the vampires’ blood, too.
When he thought about those points, then without a doubt, he couldn’t have been a normal child at all.
Roy took his time while staring at the skeleton.
For some reason, this dead being before his eyes was very cautious around him. It was as if ‘she’ didn’t want to scare him and was speaking and acting in an alert, careful manner.
Wasn’t it alright to believe in someone like her?
Roy soon decided to ask for her help. “I… I was searching for His Majesty the Holy Emperor.”
-His Majesty the Holy Emperor, you say?-
“Yes, his name is Allen Olfolse. I think he’s somewhere in the Heavenly World and not here, though. Do you perhaps know how to get there?”
Those words caused the glowing eyeballs of the skeleton to widen in surprise.
**
“Set up a defensive cordon, now!” Harman roared out and yanked his sword out. The Paladins quickly got into formation while raising their sturdy shields up.
“Priests, prepare to fire your magic!”
The Priests on standby held up their staves and began offering prayers.
The Mud Snake Hjorth glared at all these humans, before pouncing on them with its wide-open maw. It was none other than Charlotte who stood before the snake monster.
“Fuu-heuph!”
She sucked in a deep breath and held her shield up. Divinity permeated her eyes and she accurately analysed Hjorth’s movements. Mana was vibrating and undulating. She observed the vivid flow of the magical energy that occurred with every movement of the gigantic monster.
She could definitely stop it!
She imbued divinity into her shield and kicked the ground hard to jump up. She then swung her shield with all her power into the gap of the Mana’s flow.
BOOM-!
The lower jaw of the Mud Snake, Hjorth, was enveloped in an explosion and its head was deflected away viciously. Its huge body became airborne for a moment there, but then, its lengthy tail whipped around in the direction of the Heavenly Army.
“Everyone, brace for impact!” Harman roared out.
The Paladins lowered their backs, and braced themselves against the ground. They raised their shields and drove their divinity forward in order to perform the parrying manoeuvre.
BANG-!
Dozens of Paladins were forced back as they vomited blood. As for the snake’s tail, it staggered as it was deflected away.
Hjorth screeched out and opened its maw wide again. Sand rapidly gathered within its humongous body. All that sand solidified into a huge boulder and travelled through its throat to shoot out from its mouth.
“Evade!”
The ranks of Paladins quickly split left and right to dodge the incoming boulder, only for the tail of Hjorth to slam down on the ground once more.
“Parry it…!” Harman cried out, but it was too late by then.
Paladins on the ground hurriedly lifted their shields up and tried to imbue them with divinity, but they still ended up as pounded meat paste by the snake’s tail. As for the other Paladins in the vicinity of the impact zone, they were helplessly thrown up into the air.
“Dammit! Yuria, do something already!” Gril shouted angrily
“I am doing something!” Yuria took aim with her crossbow. She fired bolts containing her divinity, and her shots were landing accurately on the huge snake monster’s hide, but none of the attacks proved to be lethal in the slightest.
“This sucks! If only we had our muskets…!” Yuria grumbled while reloading her crossbow.
When Hjorth’s tail came crashing in towards her general direction, Adolf dashed forward to grab her and evaded the incoming attack by a hair’s breadth.
The Mud Snake was only glaring at Charlotte, however. That was because this small insect was blocking and evading all of its attacks so far.
With things persisting like this, it might not get to complete the command Utgar had given it.
Hjorth’s tongue continued to flicker around as its head shifted over to the large camp of refugees beyond the forest. More specifically, at the biggest tent among them.
Paladins were protecting it.
It had to be over there, the location where the monster, the one Utgar had commanded Hjorth to kill, was sleeping.
If it aimed for that place…!
Hjorth began burrowing into the ground again. It rapidly dug out an underground passage.
Just as Charlotte, Harman and the rest of the army including Adolf’s group flinched in surprise, Hjorth’s head broke through the ground right below the refugee camp.
Powerful gusts of wind blew the tent’s flap wide open. Laurence freaked out and hurriedly shielded Roy, while the Priests all froze in their places. Alice was also taken aback and urgently embraced Allen in her arms.
Just as the Mud Snake Hjorth opened its maw wide and tried to swallow the tent…
“…Magic corps!”
Hjorth faltered at that loud shout and turned its head.
Some humans riding on horses were breaking out from the forest. They were actually magicians kitted out in robes and hoods and wielding magic staves. Not just any magicians, either, but ones from Aihrance, no less.
“Deploy the spell!”
Mana flowed according to their commands, and a magic circle began taking shape all around Hjorth next. The Mud Snake’s eyes opened wide in alarm before it glared at the one riding in front of the incoming group of magicians.
“Gravity magic, activate!”
THUD-!
The space distorted and Hjorth’s body instantly grew much, much heavier. The Mud Snake was ruthlessly pressed down to the ground.
-Kkya-aaaaahk!-
Just as Hjorth screeched out in pain, the hood obscuring the face of the man riding in front of the group flew back. At the same time, blades of light were summoned into the air above him.
The man roared out. “I’ve seen you bastard before!”
He was once upon a time, the Imperial Crown Prince of the Theocratic Empire. He was also the king of Aihrance Kingdom, now left in utter devastation.
Indeed, he was none other than White Aihrance!
“You abominable monster who wrecked my country!” He leapt up high into the air. “Oooh, dear Gaia! Grant me your strength to…!”
He grabbed one of the blades of light as he offered up a prayer.
“…impale this evil, vile snake!”
White roared out in anger, and slammed the sword of light on top of the Mud Snake Hjorth.
[ 194. The Boundary Between Life and Death -4 (Part One and Two) ] Fin.
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