Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 137
Chapter Title: Before He Comes
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This place was the Centaunt Hotel.
The tallest building in Robern and one of the top five hotels in the kingdom, it offered exceptional service, diverse amenities, and a high-quality buffet laid out every day.
Iluania always felt apologetic, wondering if a woman like her—who had wandered the northern red-light districts, working her body to the bone—deserved to stay here.
Her belly swollen, she stroked the child inside and closed her eyes.
It was a life she couldn’t have imagined just a year ago.
She believed she wasn’t worthy of such treatment, but with pure parental love, Iluania resolved to be shameless for the sake of her child.
And so, with that one thought—for the child—she had stopped her medication and only put good things in her mouth.
She only hoped that the harsh life she had lived until now wouldn’t have too great an impact on the baby.
“It’ll be okay, right.”
Even so, her worries turned to Deus Verdi, who had become her master.
He had gone off to some battlefield this time, and she hoped above all that he would return safe and soon.
He hadn’t been in Northsweden during that time, so he couldn’t be the child’s father, but she hoped he would stay by her side if possible and that he would name the child as well.
Stroking her bulging belly, Iluania smiled happily.
For this child, she was prepared to do anything.
Knock knock.
A knock came from outside the room.
“Room service.”
Room service?
She hadn’t ordered anything, so Iluania wondered what it could be as she headed to the door.
“Huh?”
In that instant, a scorching heat enveloped the entire room. It wasn’t awkward or frightening.
She knew who was by her side.
“Is something wrong?”
Iluania turned her gaze to the empty air where nothing had been visible before. The figure of a woman steeped in deep resentment slowly materialized.
[Danger.]
Deus Verdi had told her once. The deeper the grudge one held, the more strongly the evil spirits manifested.
She couldn’t even imagine the extent of this woman’s resentment, with burns scarring her face—visible even to an ordinary human like her.
Iluania clutched her belly tightly and nodded.
Now she understood.
If anything happened to this child, she too would plunge into despair, her eyes turning to rage.
Iluania hurriedly tried to contact the front desk.
Crash!
The door handle shattered completely, and the door flew open. Rough-looking thugs poured inside.
She recalled the staff member saying yesterday that new guests had arrived next door and they might move her room if needed.
It was them.
The thugs, disguised as guests to ambush her, grinned as they drew their hidden daggers.
“Let’s go quietly.”
“We don’t want to harm a pregnant woman either.”
“But if we have to, we will.”
Iluania tried to ask why they were doing this.
[Kiiiiiaaaaaak!]
The guardian spirit, whose form had only flickered until now, let out a scream and fully revealed itself.
A blazing half-body.
The fire alarm triggered, and mana-infused water poured from the ceiling to suppress the blaze, soaking the floor.
It was a device to make it easier for water mages to cast spells.
But a searing heat evaporated it all.
“Gaaahhh!”
“What the hell!”
“It’s a monster! A monster!”
The guardian spirit’s flames, filled with hatred, began incinerating the thugs’ bodies.
Flames imbued with obsessive determination to prevent anyone from touching the child.
Watching the guardian spirit burn away the crisis in an instant, Iluania thought it might be a bit much, but when she considered the child in danger, she felt it wasn’t excessive at all—barely enough, if anything.
Footsteps of hotel staff echoed from the corridor. Amid the sudden crisis, she had tried her best to stay calm to avoid stressing the child.
[…….]
The guardian spirit didn’t vanish and clenched its fist tight, as if preparing to rampage at any moment.
And in response, a heavy thud shook the building.
Being on the top floor, she realized something had landed on the roof.
“Are you alright!”
“W-what is this!”
“Secure your safety first!”
As a VIP personally designated by the Necromancer, the hotel staff prioritized Iluania’s protection above all.
Boom!
The ceiling collapsed, crushing the staff below as they screamed.
The guardian spirit immediately ignited flames to burn the new threat to Iluania.
Unfortunately.
Her flames were absorbed by the guardian god’s wings and dissipated.
[Run away!]
The woman tried desperately to make Iluania escape, but instead.
Crash!
A spear thrust through the rising smoke pierced the woman precisely.
A normal spear would have done no damage, but this one carried the power of the guardian god Horua.
Unable to even speak properly, the guardian spirit flailed as it slid its hand down the spear impaling its chest, then went limp.
“No!”
She knew it was already a dead person, but Iluania didn’t want to see it suffer.
Thud!
A thick, massive hand clamped around her neck. A great warrior with bronze skin and red wings glared at Iluania through the smoke.
“The Necromancer’s reverse scale.”
Ah.
With those words, Iluania understood.
I’ve become that man’s weakness.
‘Sorry.’
* * *
The battle in the Marias Great Forest was progressing more easily than expected.
It was on their territory rather than the kingdom’s land, and adapting to the jungle was quite tricky.
Late at night, upon learning the great warrior had gone outside, Gloria chose to strike their nest rather than chase an unreachable star.
She had already contacted the royals for pursuit of the great warrior, so Gloria pressed the attack relentlessly.
She was definitely cornering the Marias Tribe.
But the great warrior’s unexpectedly swift return forced the kingdom army to fall back temporarily.
Knight Captain Gloria was certain they would win if they regrouped properly and re-entered.
Yet the great warrior, in full view of the kingdom army, dragged out a single pregnant woman and made his declaration.
“The moment the Necromancer appears on this battlefield, I will sever this woman’s head.”
An absurd, almost laughable proclamation.
Starting with who this pregnant woman even was, using a single hostage for blackmail amid a battlefield where hundreds of lives hung in the balance—it didn’t make sense.
Of course, a pregnant woman’s life was precious, but this was a battlefield where hundreds were dying.
Thus, the soldiers judged it as a sign of the Marias Tribe’s desperation.
“That crazy bastard.”
Those who knew Iluania reacted differently. Especially Pindenai.
She glared at the great warrior, looking ready to charge in alone with her axe raised.
Knight Captain Gloria and Saintess Lucia, unaware of Iluania, heard the explanation from Pindenai.
They showed clear disbelief.
“The Necromancer really is that fearsome.”
“Hah, oh gods.”
The situation itself was ambiguous.
If he demanded they halt the war entirely for the pregnant woman’s life, they’d scoff and ignore the nonsense.
But he limited it to the Necromancer simply not appearing on the battlefield.
After a brief moment of deliberation, the answer came quickly.
“We weren’t planning to bring the Necromancer into the battlefield any further anyway.”
He was still conducting the ritual for the war dead.
Reports came occasionally that the piano playing had stopped, but the ritual continued without pause, even after days.
“We’ll handle it ourselves.”
Gloria declared as such, and the other aides had no major objections. They were just cornered tribesmen, after all.
With several victories already in the Marias Great Forest, the upcoming battles were essentially the finishing blow to secure victory.
No matter how great a warrior he was, there wasn’t much he could do in that situation.
“…….”
Pindenai, preparing for battle, was sharpening her axe blades.
Uncharacteristically calm, she had a cigar in her mouth—one of the high-grade ones Deus had given her.
First time opening it.
The aroma was quite rich; she liked it. Saintess Lucia cautiously approached Pindenai, who was tending not only to her usual folding axe but also her spare thick ones.
Pindenai’s aura was so ferocious that even the saintess had to tread carefully.
Still, there was something she had to convey.
“Pindenai… right? Do you know the undead that travels with the Necromancer?”
“Hm?”
Of course she did.
She hadn’t seen its face directly, but she’d witnessed Deus talking to it several times.
“That one passed on a message.”
Realizing the saintess could see undead too, Pindenai exhaled smoke and nodded.
“What is it.”
“The Necromancer doesn’t know when he’ll emerge from in there, but we have to end the war before he does. Or at least rescue the pregnant hostage.”
“…….”
“Otherwise… he might cross a line he absolutely shouldn’t.”
Pindenai knew better than anyone how much care and consideration Deus had poured into Iluania.
She was the woman who had felt that favoritism on her skin.
So if Deus learned that such an Iluania had fallen into enemy hands on this blood-soaked battlefield, at the most critical moment no less.
“Hoo.”
Pindenai flicked the butt to the ground, extinguished it, and picked up her axes.
“Don’t worry, the master won’t ever find out.”
She gripped the axes in both hands, then strode forward without hesitation.