Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Monster Wave (2)
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Could you even comprehend that number? The monsters stretched as far as the eye could see.
It was just a ridiculous amount. So many that counting them was meaningless.
“This is insane. Why does it feel like no matter how many you kill, there’s no end to them? Are they respawning somewhere?”
The term “monster wave” was certainly fitting. The waves I’d experienced in Kanta Village or Lagaris looked like child’s play in comparison.
Moreover, every single one was tainted by demonic energy, causing them to mutate.
Each and every monster was a threat.
“Wow… can we really fend this off without any casualties? Seems unlikely…”
The smaller monsters were one thing, but the large ones were a definite burden. If they charged head-on, I wasn’t even sure Adma’s walls would hold.
They had been neglected for quite some time, even with the reinforcements. Given these numbers, Adma might fall faster than expected. Perhaps even Rzhev.
“The antenna. I was wondering where it was, but there it is.”
And there, in the distance, I saw the antenna tower I hadn’t been able to find around Adma and Rzhev.
Ultimately, the antenna’s role must be decisive in mobilizing such a massive number of monsters.
Their destination was probably the antenna in Libria. I had already confirmed there were no antennas between Rzhev, Adma, and the Demonic Realm on my way here.
“No choice. No choice at all. Just gotta get to grinding.”
I had to reduce their numbers here first. At the very least, I needed to thin out the large ones to give us a fighting chance.
Plus, I could do some stat farming on the side. With the auto-defense system, I wouldn’t have to worry about my back.
“Let’s see. I need to save the minimum spiritual power to get to Adma… oh, dammit!”
The antenna tower began to spew black demonic energy. The misty energy spread out like a thin fog and was absorbed by the monsters, who had been lying dormant as if asleep.
*Rumble—*
As the countless monsters, previously still as if powered down, stretched and rose to their feet all at once, the very earth began to tremble.
“Crap, why now of all times!”
Talk about bad timing!
I sprinted toward the antenna tower. Smashing that thing might at least disperse them a bit.
Another wave of fog flowed from the antenna and seeped into the monsters as if absorbed. They hesitated for a moment, then began to move their once-still feet.
It was as if they had received a command. I shattered the antenna a step too late, but the monsters’ behavior didn’t change.
“Ah, seriously.”
It was like the command had already been inputted. Slowly, then with increasing speed, they advanced toward Adma.
“Right. They wouldn’t just sit still either.”
Creating a technology from scratch might be one thing, but improving and developing what already exists would be much faster.
I purified and absorbed the demonic energy spewing from the antenna, but I didn’t hear any announcement that my stats had increased. It meant the required amount had grown that much larger.
I took out my hammer and crowbar, gripping one in each hand.
Coating my legs in spiritual power, I soared high into the air and slammed my hammer down into the middle of the nearest group of large monsters.
Spiritual power scattered like lightning, tearing the monsters apart, and the gazes of the surrounding creatures fixed on me.
Just imagine it. Dozens of pairs of monstrous eyes, shimmering with demonic energy, all locked onto you at once.
Even if it was only a handful of the countless monsters.
“Whew. It’s almost enough to make my knees tremble in fear.”
A cackle escaped my lips. I’d grown enough to not even flinch and charge right into the middle of a monster hoard of this scale.
The target was the large monsters.
I had to crack as many of their skulls as possible before they reached Adma.
***
“But… this monster wave. Is it really going to happen?”
“I know, it’s so quiet. Something feels off.”
It was the second day since they had relocated to Adma. There was still no sign of a monster wave. Only an endless silence.
“Was it a lie? It doesn’t really make sense. We’ve been holding them off just fine, and now a wave beyond comparison? All because we’re trusting some mercenary.”
“Still, it’s the Lord’s command. And is Kratos just some mercenary? Ah, were you not at the Rzhev siege?”
The soldiers’ tension, once at its peak, was slowly beginning to ease.
“Everyone, quiet. Less chatter on watch and keep your eyes peeled. The worst thing that could happen is failing to spot them because you were busy talking.”
At the senior soldier’s words, the men fell silent and gazed into the distance at the Demonic Realm, a landscape that remained unchanged every hour. But in their minds, they were all thinking the same thing.
Maintaining such a high level of tension for two days without any fighting was no easy task.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“What? What is it?”
Just as another uneventful watch was about to end, the sun had already set beyond the horizon, leaving only perfect darkness, save for the lights illuminating the fortress.
In the darkness, where even the moonlight failed to shine brightly—perhaps because they were so close to the Demonic Realm, or for some other reason—a faint light appeared and disappeared repeatedly in the distance.
“I can’t see well because of the dust…”
“Dust?! Ring the bell! The bell! Ring the damn bell!”
The urgent clang of the alarm bell echoed as they saw a massive cloud of dust being kicked up by countless somethings approaching Adma from afar.
“Monster wave! It’s the monster wave! Everyone, get up!”
The once-quiet interior of Adma burst into a flurry of activity as Rzhev, along with his knights and mages, ascended the fortress walls.
“Location?”
A soldier pointed in a direction, and a mage, as if on cue, launched a series of flares high into the sky.
Despite the many people on the wall, it was silent. Their future would be decided by what the light rising in the sky would reveal.
The light scattered high above.
“Ah…”
A deep sigh from someone seemed to speak for everyone’s heart.
A horde of monsters, incomparable to any previous wave, was marching toward them, toward Adma, its end nowhere in sight.
“All personnel, to battle stations. Rzhev is now in a state of emergency, level one.”
As if accepting that what was to come had finally arrived, Rzhev’s expression remained unchanged as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.
They had prepared enough. He didn’t know how long they could hold out, but conversely, failing to hold was not an option.
“Wake everyone! This is an emergency! I’m declaring a level one state of emergency! All hands to battle stations! Everyone to your posts!”
Rzhev’s shout was relayed by the knights, and the senior soldiers who heard the orders led their men to their respective positions.
As the distance to the monsters closed, the sound of the earth shaking grew louder, and the hands of the soldiers gripping their weapons became slick with cold sweat.
“Get a grip! Isn’t this what you’ve all been preparing for!”
Rzhev’s roar thundered across Adma.
“We will protect! We will protect Rzhev! No matter what!”
Even Krain Rzhev was unnerved by the endless procession of monsters, but he gripped the pommel of his sword and shouted.
He couldn’t afford to look weak, not as the Lord.
“Over there!”
At someone’s cry, all eyes focused. In the middle of the monster horde, monsters were flying through the air.
“What is that…?”
They weren’t aerial monsters, yet they were flying. And that wasn’t all.
A flash of gray light exploded with a sound that asserted its presence, and a corpse was sent flying forward, wiping out others in its path.
And there was only one person who could do something like that in the middle of a monster horde, emitting that gray light.
“Kratos!”
Seamus’s shout echoed long and loud.
“Kratos! A rope! Bring a rope!”
While Rzhev was urgently shouting in this absurd situation, the number of large monsters charging toward Adma was dwindling one by one.
“That, that crazy friend of ours. I was wondering why he hadn’t shown up for two days. Ready!”
Rzhev chuckled heartily and raised his hand. All the preparations they had made were for this very moment.
It was time to unleash everything.
“Be mindful of our ally in the rear! There are so many monsters, you could just fire blindly and hit something!”
Rzhev’s boisterous laughter helped ease the tension in the shoulders of the soldiers, who were filled to the brim with anxiety.
“Fire!”
As Krain Rzhev’s hand fell, all manner of magic and ballista bolts were launched from the castle walls.
From below the walls, arrows soared high into the sky.
The number of monsters was so great that special aiming wasn’t even necessary.
The monsters in the front ranks collapsed under the barrage from the fortress, naturally creating obstacles.
The hastily dug trenches caved in, impeding their advance, but there were still too many monsters.
So many, in fact, that the number killed in that one volley barely made a dent in their total numbers.
***
“Agh! Dammit!”
I was out of breath. I had killed so many monsters I felt like I was going to puke.
I must have heard the voice announcing a stat increase at least ten times, yet an uncountable number of monsters were still marching toward Adma.
“I wonder if I even took out a tenth of them. I must have gotten at least that many, right?”
Adma was now in sight. It was time to return to the fortress.
My recovery was noticeably slowing down due to the number of wounds I’d sustained, and the demonic energy filling the air was making me nauseous.
All sorts of magic and arrows flew from Adma. The monsters in the lead collapsed, but they didn’t even let out a single pained groan.
They only emitted a low growl. That, in a way, made the situation even more terrifying.
The massive army of monsters, feeling no pain and charging single-mindedly toward their target, was reminiscent of the zombie horde from World War Z.
“Good timing. That’s Krain Rzhev for you.”
With the second volley, a long rope was dropped from one side of the wall.
“Heave-ho!”
Stomping on the head of the foremost monster, I leaped up and wrapped my hand around the swinging rope.
“Got him!”
“Pull him up!”
Too lazy to climb up on my own, I let them pull me up and thought about the current situation.
There were a few things that just didn’t make sense. So many things felt strangely off, things I couldn’t understand.
Of course, a lack of information was part of it, but I had to come to a conclusion with the information I had.
“I think I’ve been looking at this the wrong way…”
Who benefits the most from this? That was the key question.
Isn’t that a common trope in dramas? You have to look at who benefits the most. I’d been so focused on the Empire and the Emperor that the pieces weren’t fitting together.
The one who stands to gain the most from this is the Raelian Church. Not the Emperor, not the Empire, but the Raelian Church.
Isn’t it funny? The Emperor is acting in a way that only serves to expand the power and interests of the Raelian Church.
Then why? Why on earth would the Emperor suddenly become so fixated on the Raelian Church and do something like this? Did the Emperor of all people suddenly fall for a cult?
But if that were the case, his actions so far have been quite secretive. As if he didn’t want to be found out.
Besides, it’s not like the Raelian Church is a denomination that radiates genuine holy power. Without the antenna towers invented by the Empire, they can’t do a single thing properly.
“What is it? The Raelian Church, the Emperor, and the Empire. It’s almost as if… the Empire itself created the religion…”
For a moment, a single possibility flashed through my mind.
“Nah, no way.”
The hypothesis was so absurd that I subconsciously shook my head and let out a chuckle.
But.
“Nah, no way! It can’t be true. You’d have to be insane.”
A part of me was strongly insisting that I shouldn’t ignore that possibility.
“Is that… even possible? No, wait, it’s not impossible.”
When I thought about it, why would it be impossible?
“The Pope. He appoints himself the Pope. That’s the most likely scenario. And what if he makes the god he believes in the sole god of this continent?”
It was such a preposterous fantasy. I mean, not just anyone can become the Pope. Being the Emperor and the Pope at the same time?
That would be following in the footsteps of the madman who created the Demonic Realm.
Though for what reason, I couldn’t imagine.