Chapter 303: Just Try to Understand
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 303: Just Try to Understand
The events unfolding in Hollow Breeze were being broadcast to cities across the land—to any city of significant size, and to every labyrinth city, no matter how small.
Naturally, this included Calax.
"W-What... what on earth is that?!"
With the appearance of the being known as the Necro Lord, a wave of pessimism swept across the surface world in an instant. The overwhelming defeat of Hemeth Nefertiri, who was considered the greatest power available, and the sheer terror of the unknown weighed heavily on everyone.
Children who had been wandering the streets in silly ghost costumes, and explorers who had been enjoying drinks under the moon-faded sky while watching the broadcast screens—all were frozen.
From the high-ranking officials stationed in each city to the nobles presiding over their own estates.
Silence descended upon the once-boisterous festival atmosphere of the cities. Everyone held their breath, eyes glued to the screens.
Due to the nature of the transmission artifacts, which did not relay sound, the silence felt even more oppressive once the onlookers stopped their chatter.
"What's happening... why is everyone suddenly looking at the sky...?"
As the murmurs of the citizens grew louder, the broadcast screen flickered brightly for a moment, malfunctioning before returning to normal to show the aftermath.
The thick dust clouds at the center of the domed barrier settled, revealing the shattered arm of the necro-monster that had possessed such unbelievable power.
"W-What happened?!"
"Who did that...!"
After a slight adjustment in the transmission artifact's angle, a certain figure came into view.
"Is that... a h-human?"
A monster clad in a shimmering red aura stood up, swinging a long, distended arm. It was a sight that should have brought relief, yet the situation was so bizarre that no one dared to cheer prematurely for fear of being disappointed.
The silence of those few minutes, which felt like ten years, was finally broken. The moment the green monster and the red monster collided, a roar of cheers mixed with screams and cries erupted across the surface world.
* * *
Krrr-clack...
Emitting a bizarre and skin-crawling sound, the creature tilted its head to stare at its own broken arm. Hemeth Nefertiri, who had been dropped to the ground, felt the crushing grip on her throat loosen. She used every ounce of her strength to scramble away.
"Huff... huff..."
It was a power beyond words. Aside from the Emperor of Hechituk, she had never felt or even heard of anyone possessing such overwhelming strength.
And yet, this monster had just severed that creature's arm.
That... is the new Orichalcum-grade explorer?!
Even amidst the previous chaos, Hemeth had heard Skaeda Justitia’s shout. This was a bizarre existence about whom no real information had been released—only a name floating in rumors.
"Belmorak."
The Necro Lord, who had been slow and sluggish in every movement except for when it had seized Hemeth’s throat, reacted to Yoo Eon’s voice.
It remained slow, but its responsiveness had sharpened.
Krrr-clack...
:: Em... peror..? ::
The creature’s voice spilled out alongside the rattling of bone fragments. It was a voice no one present had ever heard before. It sounded like the scream of a child, yet also like the desperate shriek of a grown man.
It was a voice that felt as though it had been carved and whetted specifically to evoke a sense of the grotesque.
Emperor?
The Necro Legion Commander, Belmorak, had called Yoo Eon "Emperor." While a myriad of questions began to fill the minds of everyone present, Belmorak’s shattered bone fragments slowly began to reattach themselves to its arm.
Clack, clack...
Its movements matched the pace of the withered, skeletal horse that made up its lower half. Walking slowly over the piles of flesh from the corpses strewn across the ground, the creature vanished in an instant—as if it had never been there—and reappeared behind Yoo Eon.
Slash—!
"No...!"
Hemeth cried out, but Belmorak’s scythe swung faster than her voice could travel. A dark green energy instantly tore through space, splitting the earth in two and creating a massive shockwave.
Almost simultaneously, Belmorak’s lower half reared up like a bucking bronco, thrusting its two hooves forward to kick Yoo Eon in the back.
BOOOOOM—!!!
Yoo Eon was sent flying by the powerful impact, plowing through the ground before slamming into the edge of the domed barrier. Though a few other explorers were caught in the shockwave, Yoo Eon was the only thing burned into everyone's minds.
He possessed an aura, mana capacity, and sheer bloodlust that rivaled Belmorak’s. Regardless of his appearance, he had saved Hemeth from danger and appeared to be their most powerful ally. Seeing him rendered helpless caused everyone's fear to swell once more.
:: A... tie... ::
Belmorak rattled its head up, down, left, and right with indifference, tapping its severed arm with its skeletal fingertips.
"A tie? Don't make me laugh."
While Belmorak’s severed arm bones had flown back and snapped into place with a grating sound, Yoo Eon’s arm was regenerating, with bone and flesh knitting back together in sequence from the stump.
Crr-crack—!!!
It was a grotesque scene as veins and flesh surged between the plates of his exoskeleton armor, covering his entire body. The surrounding explorers sensed an ill omen and backed away. Soon, the mass of flesh grew in size before bursting open with a loud explosion, spewing monsters from within.
Gurgle...
"Go."
Hundreds of flesh-mass monsters, imbued with the same green mana as the necro-species, poured out and began to devour the trembling necro-monsters. One by one, they slaughtered the necro-monsters of Hollow Breeze—creatures that were normally incredibly powerful—as if they were merely dispersing smoke.
"We have to fight too! Move out—!"
Lykes O'Connor’s thunderous shout echoed across the wide plains. There was a small opening at the top center of the domed barrier that imprisoned the necro-species, but any necro-monster that tried to escape through it was immediately torn apart by flying monstrosities wreathed in green flames.
This was because the Synthetic Horus Yoo Eon had created specifically to counter the necro-species was already standing guard to prevent a massacre.
* * *
"Just look at the tail."
"The tail? That thing has a tail?"
This was something he had heard from Iris—information regarding the characteristics of the Necro Legion Commander, Belmorak.
"If the tail is burning with fire, it will reap your soul. Don't get hit."
"And if it's not on fire?"
"Then it'll just cut your body."
The creature’s lower half took the form of a gaunt horse. Its tail would sometimes be engulfed in green flames, and at other times, it would hang limp, its parched hair drooping down.
"Have you ever seen the Emperor of Sinew fight that thing?"
"They never fought."
"Huh? Why? Aren't they enemies?"
"Because a different Hero fought it."
The Emperor of Sinew and Belmorak had no record of clashing in the Demon Realm. A battle between the Monarch who ruled over flesh and the Monarch who ruled over spirits was unpredictable, but if one were to think optimistically...
* * *
On one side of the vast barrier, Yoo Eon and Belmorak were locked in combat. Belmorak, who had previously moved only sluggishly, began to move at a speed that even Hemeth’s eyes struggled to follow, and Yoo Eon was gradually increasing his own speed to match.
To be precise, because he had allowed multiple attacks to land, his blood was flowing out, and the output of Bleeding Berserk was rising.
Thump—!
As Belmorak’s foreleg kicked hard against Yoo Eon’s chest, the exoskeleton armor covering his torso opened up first, revealing a set of massive teeth.
Crunch, crunch—!!!
Dozens of teeth, imbued with Aura Blades of transcendent strength, chewed and swallowed Belmorak’s foreleg as if grinding it down. Undeterred, Belmorak instantly swung its scythe and severed Yoo Eon’s head.
"H-Eek...!!"
The sight of Yoo Eon’s head rolling away due to the impact, only for arms and legs to sprout from it as it returned to its original body to fight headless, was nothing short of traumatic.
The Orichalcum-grade explorers and 8-star explorers, who were the only ones capable of withstanding the shockwaves of their battle, took turns repositioning themselves. They surrounded the engagement zone, which now spanned the entire southern side of the domed barrier.
"We hold this line! You lot... work with those monsters to take down the necro-species!!"
The explorers nodded at Lykes O'Connor’s command. Though Belmorak’s arrows had caused many casualties, the even more powerful synthetic monsters, wreathed in green flames, were busy devouring the necro-monsters.
"Good grief...! Is such an ability even possible?!"
The marionettist Marilli, perched atop a giant golem while pulling her red strings, wore a look of horror as she watched the synthetic monsters Yoo Eon had created.
She was someone who normally commanded dozens of stone golems as her own limbs, but creating summons that possessed such high combat intelligence and firepower while acting autonomously was impossible for her.
He is a complete upgrade of my own abilities, Marilli thought to herself.
Others were also left speechless by the devastating battle. The 8-star explorers of Hechituk broke into a cold sweat as they watched the synthetic monsters that took the form of knights.
And for good reason—there were now dozens of synthetic monsters modeled after the swordsmanship of the Knight Lord, a Grand Swordmaster. Even if their combat power didn't reach the original's level, they knew that if two or more gathered, they could easily turn an 8-star explorer into a bloody pulp.
Furthermore, Hemeth, who had been caught in Belmorak’s grasp, watched the fight between Yoo Eon and Belmorak in the gaps of her own combat, letting out a silent gasp of admiration.
It really is a battle of monsters!
Boom—!
At some point, Synthetic Horuses began flying through the sky inside the domed barrier, shredding spirit-type necro-monsters like Wraiths with their talons.
Outside the barrier, a synthetic monster based on Eldyokul, measuring a full kilometer in length, held its massive maw wide open toward the hole, incinerating every necro-monster that tried to escape.
What was even more shocking was that after a certain amount of time, the synthetic monsters that had devoured the necro-monsters of Hollow Breeze stopped fighting.
Gurgle, bleeegh...
They began to mix the necro-monsters they had swallowed to create entirely new monsters.
"Are... are those things really on our side?!"
"I don't know...! Just try to understand...!!"
Melis Superiora and Raya Delbaheim stood back-to-back, watching the creatures' bizarre behavior while fighting back the urge to vomit.
Amazingly, the synthetic necro-lifeforms they spat out immediately began running around on two legs (plus extras) to hunt down and devour the remaining necro-monsters of Hollow Breeze.