Chapter 17
After witnessing Jubi's gruesomely mutilated corpse at the hands of the necromancer, Regina gathered the little girl's body.
...It was too heartbreaking to leave her atop this tower. At the very least, she wanted to escape this place and give her a proper burial somewhere peaceful.
Regina carefully wrapped Jubi's remains, reattached her severed head, and hoisted her onto her back. Before fleeing the castle, she headed first to the room where the count had been.
For now... she needed to know how the count had died. Only then could she avenge Jubi.
She was searching for clues.
Arriving at the count's chamber, Regina pushed open the door. Gone was the opulent, decadent interior drowned in luxury and frivolity—what greeted her instead was a blood-soaked nightmare, littered with corpses everywhere.
"Uuuu...?!"
What the hell had happened here?
Stunned, Regina cautiously scanned her surroundings as she stepped inside. At the far end of the room, by the window, lay the count's headless corpse.
"...Uu."
Regina knelt before it for a moment, inspecting it closely from every angle. She could sense mana. But unfortunately, with her senses, she couldn't discern whose mana it was or what kind of ability it belonged to.
"Au, a...."
Were there no other clues?
As she poked around, Regina's eyes caught something: the count's hand clenched tightly into a fist.
Why'd he die gripping his fist like that?
Puzzled, she spotted something else.
"Ua?"
It was a dull golden lock of hair, familiar even to Regina. Just as she pried open the dead count's fist to retrieve it—
Kurrrguugu...!!
A massive earthquake hit, and the lord's castle began to crumble.
Even as chaos erupted around her—people screaming from the undead onslaught, dying or maimed, the ground quaking, tombstones erupting everywhere as the castle transformed into a Necropolis—Cheong-ah sat unfazed in one spot, focused solely on her task.
Or rather, what she wanted to do.
Protecting her beloved husband, who still hadn't regained consciousness.
To her, that was her only duty—the most important thing in the world.
Cheong-ah gently stroked Ian's hair.
"Darling, please wake up soon."
It tore her up seeing the man she'd finally reunited with like this. She wanted to hear his voice right in front of her... at this rate, she'd forget what it even sounded like.
Of course, that was just Cheong-ah overreacting. They'd talked face-to-face plenty through the communication orb even while he was kidnapped, so forgetting was just her little pout.
Aware of her feelings or not, her beloved husband lay there with a serene expression, eyes peacefully closed, utterly still.
His faint breathing, the subtle rise and fall of his chest—that was the only proof he was alive.
While Cheong-ah tended only to Ian, a soldier fell to an undead—whatever. A mercenary got wounded by one—not her problem.
They had nothing to do with her anyway. Who cared if people around her were dying or getting hurt? As long as Ian was safe—as long as she could keep him safe—it didn't matter to her.
...Of course, that was just self-consolation. In this unavoidable hell, she had to pretend she didn't care.
In truth, it gnawed at Cheong-ah too. She couldn't see, but she could hear—the injured cries, the dying gasps. It was impossible not to care.
'Sorry, everyone.'
But she had to protect Ian. He was more precious to her than anyone else.
If she even glanced away for a second and something happened to him...
'I'm really sorry.'
Cheong-ah sat there, senses razor-sharp for any approaching undead, fixated solely on Ian's safety—when she sensed someone drawing near.
"How's Ian?"
Bella's voice came.
Cheong-ah turned her head toward the sound.
"Bella? How'd it go? Can we get out?"
Bella scratched her head irritably.
"Situation's shit. We're totally fucked."
"...Why? How bad?"
"Fuck, well..."
Bella sighed in frustration and explained the current mess to Cheong-ah: the earthquake's cause, the sudden tombstones, the Necropolis necromancy spawning endlessly reviving undead.
And...
"They say we can't escape unless we completely destroy this fucking necromancy."
At Bella's words, Cheong-ah's wide eyes flickered, her unfocused pupils darting side to side rapidly.
Not destroying the Necropolis meant Ian—still unconscious—would stay in constant danger.
"...I see."
Bella eyed her cautiously.
"So, Ju Cheong-ah."
"Yes?"
"Think you should step up too."
"Me? What about darling?"
"Leave him with Karlson... just while we handle this."
"..."
"We gotta do this. The others can't cut it. Me and Dina alone? Too many of 'em. We need your help."
No choice. Bella worried about Ian too. But to secure his safety sooner, to get her subordinates and everyone else out—they needed Cheong-ah.
She knew it, so she bit her lip, unable to refuse outright, and pondered.
A moment later, she sighed.
"Haa, fine. No helping it."
"...Let's go. Karlson's got Ian."
"Yeah."
They handed Ian to Karlson, then headed to Dina, who was carving through undead hordes in a frenzy.
"Hey, brat!"
"Dina!"
"Who're you calling brat, you mangy bitch?!"
Dina smashed the head of an undead she'd grabbed by the collar and roared back.
Then a zombie lunged at her back.
"Oi, brat, behind you!"
Before Bella finished yelling, Dina—without turning—thrust her fist upward with a crack!, sending the ghoul flying.
"Hmph, this body knows full well. Think this body is some dimwit who can't sense a pathetic rear attack?!"
"Well, aren't you hot shit."
Listening to their banter, Cheong-ah's expression twisted oddly.
"Dina. You didn't just call my darling a dimwit, did you?"
"Wha—?! Dina, you! Insulting my husband?!"
Bella chimed in too. Dina frantically shook her head.
"Ah, ahh...! N-no, not at all! How could this body ever insult Yeonja?!"
"Really?"
"R-really, swear it...!"
"Okay. I believe you."
After the brief commotion.
"I'll take this side," Bella said, pointing behind her.
Cheong-ah tilted her head.
"Where's 'this side'?"
"My back. Brat, you take that way."
Dina nodded.
"Understood."
"What's 'that way'?"
"Your front."
"Then me?"
Bella pointed behind Cheong-ah.
"Your back. There's a path."
"Got it. But Bella, one problem."
Bella looked puzzled.
Problem...?
"Huh? Problem? What?"
"I can hear the undead with sound, but not the tombstones. What do I do?"
"...Ah. Right..."
Bella's face fell as she remembered Cheong-ah's blindness. She hemmed and hawed awkwardly until Cheong-ah covered her mouth, chuckling softly.
"Heehee, kidding."
"Goddammit, Ju Cheong-ah."
While Cheong-ah, Bella, and Dina split off to smash tombstones, one person watched from atop the ramparts: Carol, naturally.
"Hng, splitting up, huh..."
She pondered briefly.
What to do? Those three peeling off from the main group meant the core was weaker than expected. Take out the main force first?
But they'd cleared all tombstones around Ian beforehand to minimize threats. Sending other undead meant clearing paths through their routes...
...Impossible.
And that wasn't all. Those women pulverized every tombstone in sight as they went. Leave them be, and the Necropolis would collapse soon.
"No choice..."
Guess not.
"Ugh, didn't wanna use this."
It guzzles mana. And it's a fresh gift from the captain...
"But gotta, right?"
Skip it, Necropolis falls, and she'd get punished for the count's death too. Better salvage the Necropolis to lighten the sentence.
Carol pulled three orbs from her bosom. Each sealed a high-rank undead—special orbs.
Had to use them...
No helping it. Nothing else could handle those monster bitches.
"Such a waste..."
Muttering, she infused them with mana and hurled them.
The orbs shot off in three directions under her power—straight toward Cheong-ah, Bella, and Dina's paths, to the endpoints.