Chapter 17
While Cheong-ah, Bella, and Dina carried the still-unconscious Ian away to join the mercenaries and escape the city, Regina was struggling toward the top of the tower where Jubi waited.
A distance she could normally cover with a few leaps had been rendered impossible by the wounds from her duel with Cheong-ah. Her body wouldn't obey her properly, forcing her to climb the stairs—a process that took time. The pain was something she could endure; she was used to it. But Cheong-ah's sword had been so sharp and precise that the areas she'd been slashed felt strangely devoid of strength. She could barely walk. Her tendons must have been severed.
...How the hell did she cut me exactly to the point where I can just barely walk?
Still, thanks to the beastkin trait of rapid recovery, a few days of rest and recuperation would heal it. A beastkin's tough, resilient body could recover from anything short of a fatal wound like a burst heart or severed neck. It might not heal perfectly, like her vocal cords never had, but it would mend eventually.
Regina reached the tower's rooftop. But something felt off.
"Uu...?"
Jubi? I don't sense Jubi's presence on the rooftop.
Had she mistaken the tower? No, impossible. This was the tower where Ian had been held. She'd come and gone every day for days; she couldn't have gotten it wrong. Where had the girl gone? She wasn't the type to wander off alone...
"Uuh?"
What if something had happened? Regina hurriedly scanned the rooftop. And then...
"...U, ua?"
There, she saw it. A coldly cooling... no, a decapitated corpse. Jubi's corpse, head severed and toppled over.
"Uh, u, uuaa. Aah?"
Why? Who? Why like this?
She couldn't know. She hadn't been there herself, and she couldn't use magic to read the memories embedded in the ambient mana. No one was around to ask. All Regina could do was collapse to her knees before the little girl's frigid corpse.
"Uaa, uh...."
Why? Who would harm this small child? For what reason? What wrong did she do?
With trembling hands, Regina picked up Jubi's severed head, eyes peacefully closed. She clutched it to her chest, cradling it close...
"U, uaaaaaaaah...!!"
And wailed.
How much time passed like that? Until her throat ached fiercely from the outburst.
Through eyes blurred with tears, Regina's gaze fell on Jubi's headless body and the clean cross-section of the neck.
"...Uuh."
It bore traces of magic. The magic that was said to activate upon the count's death.
Regina realized: The count's death had killed Jubi too. Whoever killed the count had killed Jubi.
Her pumpkin-colored eyes, vertical slit pupils contracting with murderous intent. Lips parting to bare sharp fangs, she muttered inwardly.
Catch them. Kill them.
The city hung under an eerie pall. Once bustling with life when they'd entered, it now brimmed with silence and ominous dread. Blood splattered everywhere. Entrails—animal or human, impossible to tell—littered the streets.
They'd barely broken through the undead soldiers to reach the main avenue, only to find this nightmare.
"Urk, urgh...."
Starting with Behena, whose stomach was the weakest, several soldiers vomited or dry-heaved, their sounds echoing the streets' devastation.
"Who... who could do this...?"
"Are you alright, Lady Behena?"
"Yes, Karlson... Thank you for worrying."
"Not at all."
They'd fought in prolonged civil wars, seen battlefields before, grown somewhat numb to such sights... Yet this city's grotesque horror was impossible to stomach.
No living thing stirred—not even an ant. In what had once been the lively heart of Soboro County, nothing breathed anymore.
A scene beyond words but atrocity.
The Red Evil Mercenaries, soldiers included, grew despondent, morale crumbling.
Even in this gloom, Karlson rallied them.
"Snap out of it, everyone! We need to get out of here—now!"
No time to stop. No, they couldn't stop.
-Gwuuuuu…!!
-Kraaaaaaaa!!
The undead horde wouldn't halt if they did. They'd slaughter allies to swell their ranks, reviving them as mindless corpse-monsters to turn on former comrades. No one wanted to witness that horror.
"Hold them back...!"
"Attack—take their heads!"
"Don't stop swinging!"
The soldiers fended off charging undead, pushing toward the city gates. But no matter how many they felled, the undead regenerated and rose. Their numbers didn't dwindle—they grew.
"Captain! Undead coming from the front too!"
-Grrrrrr.
-Gruuu.
The city's vanished dead—citizens, villagers—revived as undead. Ordinary humans, stray dogs, livestock. An army of death charged mercilessly.
"Damn it, form ranks! Raise spears! Don't let them close!"
Spears thrust up. But holding back the undead proved impossible.
Shaaaak…!
No pain for corpses. Pierced flesh, stabbed hearts, torn muscles—irrelevant.
-Grraaaaaa-!!!
Undead lunged relentlessly. One gaped its black-drooling maw and bit a soldier's throat.
Crunch…!
"Gaaahhh…!"
"Shit, peel off the undead! Bash 'em with shields!"
Shield-bearers shoved forward. But it wasn't enough. Soldiers were pushed back, one by one seized—
"Raaaaahhh...!!"
Boom…!!
A crimson-mana-charged sword gale swept like a storm, shredding undead in explosions.
Emerging amid the carnage: Bella, red mana flaring, greatsword slung over her shoulder.
"Fall back—all of you! I'll carve the path! Cover the rear!"
Beside her, Dina approached, wrapping her fists in bandages.
"What're you doing here, brat? I can handle this solo."
"Hmph, you beast wench... Better with two than one, no?"
Her lips pursed in a pout.
"Fine by me."
Bella grinned fiercely, utterly reliable. Undead surged toward them. A dead stray dog snarled and leaped at Dina.
"...Hmph."
Her fists flashed, smashing the dog's skull. One step—
Thud-.
A footfall shaking space. Light mana swirled from her toes.
Meteor Dance
Green mana flowed like a swift river around her body. Starlight gleamed. Dina's form streaked like a meteor through the undead ranks.
Boom-!
Boom-!
Bwoom-!
Each pass pulverized undead heads in explosions.
"That brat's really fired up."
Bella muttered from behind, hoisting her greatsword.
"Guess I can't slack off either."
One more step forward to punch through faster—get Ian treatment sooner. Not that there was much to do, but safety first.
"Hngh... She's strong, as expected."
Atop the outer city wall, right above the gate, Carol leaned bored against the rampart, murmuring sleepily as she watched Bella and Dina shred undead.
Even now, undead flew apart. In a blink, over half were rubble on the ground.
"Those hastily made mongrel undead are a bit much, huh."
Just civilians at best. Animals were decently strong... but naturally inferior to undead from trained soldiers or knights.
"Well then..."
Carol drew a small handbell from her bosom and shook it. A clear yet sinister chime rang out.
Ding-!
Dark purple mana spread. The sky's magic circle reacted.
Gwooooong-.
"Time for Act 2."
Ding-!
Ding-!
Ding-!
Rumble-!!
A massive earthquake engulfed the entire city.