Chapter 213
Chapter 213
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: Chapter 5-1. These People Here Are Gifts Prepared for You.
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At first, a light breeze blew in from somewhere. It was so gentle and refreshing that it hardly felt like a winter wind. But the gust that followed was sharp as a blade. It stung the skin so fiercely that one's brow furrowed instinctively. The wind grew stronger by the second.
Gwoooo────!
The roar shaking the air made everyone around halt their movements one by one, scanning their surroundings. Battlefields were brutal places thick with the stench of blood. Madness came easily, and few could maintain their sanity there.
Yet the sudden whirlwind and chilling aura snapped them back to their senses. Soldiers, knights, and zealots—who had been hunting elves with bare scraps of reason and instinct, dodging or blocking their arrows, trying to subdue them—all froze regardless. Naturally, their gazes lifted to the sky where the wind swirled upward.
They had no time to spare for the sky, but before the war began, it had been a clear blue without a single cloud. Now, dark clouds were gathering—not drifting in from afar, but writhing into existence from black currents.
"What... is that?"
A soldier who looked up muttered. No one could answer. At first, only a few noticed the anomaly, but soon even the elves firing arrows at him stopped and stared dumbly at the sky.
Saaah—
The massive black currents churning together made the viewers' skin crawl. Time itself seemed to stop. This phenomenon wasn't limited to the small forest atop the cliff; everyone across the elven forest who could see those black currents experienced it.
Duke Aquila Iyes, who could be called the instigator of the war and was overseeing the conquest of Roengrim.
Soldiers endlessly reloading massive arrows into the siege weapon ballista to attack Roengrim's walls.
The Spear Saint and Sword Saint fiercely clashing after scaling the cliffs from Roengrim's west.
The Thunder Lord Jeung and Combat Clan Cheriu, who had nearly subdued Lüsen Ardahan.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say every soul in the elven forest who could see those black currents had stopped moving.
Just the sight of the black currents swirling overhead, exuding an overwhelming, unknown presence of dread and terror, forced them to halt and stole their gazes.
Kuuung!
A rift tore open in space—not too slow, not too fast—and purple energy writhed like tentacles, stretching down to the ground. Purple lightning cracked within the swirling black currents. Thunder boomed as the purple energy touched earth.
In the blink of an eye, a robed figure appeared out of thin air where nothing had been.
Bell-Terza had descended. As he revealed himself, all life nearby began dying at a rapid pace.
Saaaaah…
Trees with bare, skeletal branches withered, snow melted away. The ground blackened. Ort corpses rotted swiftly, leaving only bones.
Elves bound by soldiers or sealers suffered the same. Those who saw fled for their lives. But Judah was unharmed. Whether the fragment's power shielded him or Bell-Terza showed favor as his summoner, it didn't matter—he felt nothing.
『……』
Judah stepped back at the sight of Bell-Terza before him. The robe was pulled low, but his form was visible here. It was utterly unlike the version summoned through Count Jinmu's magic circle last time. An overwhelming charisma crushed opponents, a terror that silenced words. Unbelievably, the skull forming Bell-Terza's face and body looked not gaunt but armored in solid plate, like something forged.
A lord of death indeed.
"Huu…!"
Judah exhaled deeply. Just looking at him made his legs tremble, fear dominating his body, refusing to obey. The screams—near agonized wails—from those fleeing regardless of race nearby worsened it. Darker, thicker currents than Judah's shadow crawled from the dead earth, trees, and corpses, amplifying the eerie mood. Yet amid the maddening terror, Judah stayed calm, rational, gazing up at him.
『Faster than I expected. You've called me.』
"…Yes."
He spoke first. Should Judah bow or show some courtesy? He didn't recall any such requirement. Just not ignoring him seemed enough.
『No, by human standards, perhaps not fast? In such cases, do humans say 'it's been a while'? I'm not sure.』
"Not much time has passed. By human measure, half a year. To you, a mere instant."
『Is that so? But…』
Bell-Terza raised a bony hand, hooking the robe's hem and glancing around with a flick. Anyone who met his eyes deserved pity.
『Doesn't seem like you need me much. No strong threats to you… just feeble humans everywhere.』
『Or is it that one inside those walls bearing Gabriel's aura? Is that your foe?』
The one in Roengrim with Gabriel's aura was Arhil. Judah shook his head quickly.
"No, he's my ally. I called you to offer sacrifices. All humans in this vast forest except my comrade and me."
『Sacrifices?』
Bell-Terza bent down, bringing his face close to Judah's. Death's stench wafted, but it had no effect. Judah simply saw his face clearly, stared into the faint glow from the eye sockets.
『What was your name again?』
"Judah Arshes."
『Judah Arshes… Right, that was it. You're human, surely.』
"Yes."
『Yet you offer all humans in this land, this forest, to me? Excluding just two?』
"Yes."
『No regrets offering your own kind?』
"I thank you for your consideration. No regrets. I offer these tens of thousands of humans here to you."
Bell-Terza chuckled, "Kuhuhu."
『You know what I am, don't you?』
"The sixth lord of the demon realm."
『Yes. And you summoned me just for sacrifices? I'm stronger than you think. I could protect you against dragons, even the holy king of the celestials. You earned one chance to summon me at great cost. I'll gladly, joyfully accept your offerings—but someday, you'll regret this.』
Regret it? Maybe.
He already felt the waste. But no other way. Even starting over would end the same. Storming the enemy alone to take the duke's head wouldn't change it.
"It's fine. This was the only way."
『Very well. I accept.』
Bell-Terza raised his hand. From the swirling black currents overhead, blue-glowing orbs rained down like stars. A beautiful sight. But the result was anything but.
The blue orbs swarmed humans, draining their life force. Sturdy soldiers withered instantly, desiccated like husks drained of fluid. Knights and mages recoiled in horror, slashing at the orbs.
Normal swords did nothing, but magic attacks could burn or cut them. But there were too many. Like schools of fish from all sides, no one could evade contact completely.
Only spirit sword wielders and high mages survived the deadly lights.
『A fine sturdy soul.』
Bell-Terza vanished from before Judah's eyes. As if distance meant nothing, he appeared atop Roengrim's walls before a spirit sword wielder killing an elder and nearby elves. The wielder's mana repelled the blue orbs.
But Bell-Terza was different. Manifesting on the wall, he extended a hand and tapped the wielder's forehead. The finger, head-sized, touched without resistance.
As the head snapped back, a massive blue soul stretched from the body—far larger than nearby orbs.
『Hahaha! Excellent.』
Bell-Terza gleefully moved himself to harvest the soul. Elves watched stunned. To them, it looked like a black cloth appearing and vanishing in midair, and at the sight, their legs buckled, collapsing uniformly.