Chapter 268: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (61)
Chapter 268: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (61)
The village was already a scene of carnage.
Residents screamed as flesh chunks rained down from the sky without warning. Several people were already bleeding profusely, having lost an arm or a leg.
It was a relief that I had arrived as early as I did.
Even in its central district, the population density of the Percus Territory was not high. Thanks to that, only a few had been struck by the flesh chunks falling from above.
Yes, at least for now.
I had to grit my teeth as I watched the people reaching out with expressions of agony.
Did I truly have to abandon them?
The people living in the center were manageable.
I was more worried about the residents living in the outskirts. There was no significant military force there, nor were there any figures capable of leading an evacuation.
Seria had agreed to gradually lead the evacuation from the rear.
The only problem was that there was no telling how long that would take.
The delay caused by the rampaging test subjects had been fatal.
It was also partly because I hadn't expected a subordinate of the Evil God to descend so suddenly, without even a hint of a precursor.
Woooooo—
The atmosphere vibrated and the earth shook.
Thump. Thump.
Vast power resided in the footsteps of the giant that walked, shedding shadows with every stride.
The ground was crushed, and trees fell like stalks of straw.
Before long, the dawn twilight illuminated the monster’s hideous form.
A giant made of corpses.
There was no other way to describe such an existence.
Hundreds, no, thousands—perhaps even tens of thousands—of corpses were huddled together in a mass.
The corpses forming the soles of its feet, unable to withstand the weight, vomited forth blood. With every blood-red footprint it left, a mournful death rattle echoed out.
The head of the Corpse Giant was composed of the faces of an uncountable number of people.
Their eyeballs rolled around, scattering its gaze in every direction. It would take time for all those pupils to align and focus on a single point.
The giant looked down at me.
Or perhaps it was looking at the entire village where I stood.
Its field of vision was that wide. There were likely countless faces on the back of its head as well, meaning it had no blind spots.
Hundreds of mouths shrieked all at once.
Woooooooooooooo!
At that thunderous roar, the flesh chunks shuddered, adding their own noise to the cacophony. It was a scene that defied belief, a landscape that did not belong in the human world.
The villagers' faces turned pale instinctively.
"Hea... Heavenly God..."
The words escaped someone's lips.
Only after hearing that voice, which spoke for everyone’s heart, did I snap back to my senses.
The atmosphere was instantly dyed with terror at the appearance of such a transcendent foe.
One had to tilt their head back until their neck ached just to see its head.
How pathetic and small a human looked before it.
The despair of a mantis trying to stop a carriage was projected onto everyone present.
I understood instinctively.
Why I had been told to run.
And why I had been told I must abandon them.
The difference in scale was obvious at a glance.
Celine had been foolish.
How could anyone fight that monster, let alone find its core?
This was a creature of myth, where a single punch or kick was equivalent to a natural disaster.
I couldn't even picture a scenario where one could face it alone.
That was a role suited only for the heroes of legend.
I bit my lip and tightened my grip on the weapon at my waist.
Just then, a flesh chunk caught my eye as it approached a middle-aged woman.
"H-Help...!"
The woman was so choked with fear she couldn't even scream properly.
So, I decided to remove the cause of her terror.
A silver trajectory cleaved through the air.
The axe blade flew, tearing through the atmosphere, and crushed the front of the flesh chunk. The creature flailed and stumbled back, but that was its end.
I poured strength into the thrown hand axe once more.
Crunch.
With the sound of shattering bone, the flesh chunk sprayed blood.
My hand, propelled as I lunged off the ground, snatched the hand axe back as if catching it mid-air.
Next came a kick.
Thwack!
The moment my foot buried itself into the plump meat, the flesh chunk let out a mournful shriek and was sent flying into the distance.
Trembling eyes turned toward me.
I let out a sigh and reached out a hand.
"...Aunt Yona, please take refuge at the mansion."
"Y-Young Master... B-but what about those monsters...?"
"I will handle them."
It was an answer without a hint of hesitation.
Despite that, Aunt Yona still looked uneasy.
Even to her, the Corpse Giant did not look like a monster a human could face.
However, since she had no choice but to trust me, she took my hand and pulled herself up unsteadily. Then, she turned and began to run away in a hurry.
A faint glimmer of hope appeared in the eyes of the residents who noticed my presence.
I needed to live up to that expectation.
I hurled the hand axe, and another flesh chunk burst into a spray of blood. It fumbled, trying to pull the axe out, but the blade had sunk deep enough to crush one of its faces entirely.
Kieeeeeek!
One enraged flesh chunk, sensing the danger, lunged at me.
It might have been a threat before, but not to the current me.
My sword swept horizontally.
Following that silver line, blood erupted in succession. Within that blood-red vision, I dropped my sword toward the lower left.
Then, three claw marks were carved.
No matter how strong its regenerative powers were, it couldn't come back if it was hacked into eight pieces.
The remains of the flesh chunk, now nothing more than simple scraps of meat, fell to the ground in a heap.
By now, everyone was staring at me blankly.
Though we had grown up together since childhood, this was the first time they had seen me fight.
There was bound to be a disconnect between this and my usual kind, gentle image.
My hair was already sticky and soaked with blood.
Without even bothering to wipe away the dripping blood, I spoke.
"Go to the mansion right now... Immediately!"
"I-I haven't finished packing my things yet..."
The response to my urgent shout was a hesitant question.
I slowly turned my gaze toward the man who had spoken.
Meeting my blood-soaked eyes, the man’s body flinched.
A faint smile touched my lips.
"If you don't leave this instant, you will die."
In times like these, the status of a noble was helpful.
Everyone began to flee without further question or argument.
Only then did I let out a long breath and press a hand to my forehead.
I was still half-drunk, and on top of that, I was injured.
My abdomen throbbed, and my mind was hazy. My fatigue-laden brain was screaming for rest.
My condition was the absolute worst.
I felt as if I might collapse and fall into a deep sleep at any moment.
Staggering forward, I thrust my sword into a flesh chunk that had crept up beside me.
Kieeeeeeeeeek!
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you sneaking up like that?"
Naturally, there was no reply.
It was because I had tilted the blade I'd thrust in and applied pressure.
The bisected body of the flesh chunk wavered. I didn't miss the opening and slammed my foot into its lower half.
The physical ability of a swordsman who had reached the level of Expert was beyond imagination.
No matter how heavy the flesh chunk was, it was sent flying instantly by that single strike.
I finished off the remaining half by plunging my sword directly into it.
The corpse of the flesh chunk convulsed once and then went limp.
I continued to move, repeating the process of cutting and striking.
As I headed toward the outskirts of the village, the number of fallen people and flesh chunks increased.
Perhaps something had gone wrong when the flesh chunks fell, but the village was now engulfed in flames.
The flesh chunks seemed to find the fire difficult to handle as well.
They were doing nothing but screaming as they watched their own bodies sizzle and cook.
Plunging my blade into a rampaging flesh chunk whose body was on fire, I looked down at my tattered clothes with sad eyes.
Mana could only reinforce the body.
My uniform was already torn, burnt, and frayed in places. It was so soaked in blood that it would clearly have to be thrown away once the battle was over.
Still, my appearance was in better shape than most.
Many were fleeing with screams, unable to even pack their basic necessities. And those were the ones I had managed to save.
There were also corpses lying on the ground, their eyes still open.
Every time I saw one, I closed my eyes tight.
Even if we weren't deeply connected, they were people I had seen in passing.
Moreover, were they not my own people?
I muttered to myself over and over.
Abandon what must be abandoned.
Yes, I had to abandon what must be abandoned.
Though I couldn't quite accept the fact that lives which were the only chance and existence for those people could be thrown away so carelessly by someone else.
I told myself I had to force myself to accept it and move on.
I closed my eyes amidst the burning scenery.
My consciousness grew hazy.
The boundary between the unconscious and reality blurred.
Suddenly, the thought occurred to me that this wasn't the first time I had stood in the middle of a raging fire.
Staggering, I moved my feet.
With sword and axe, drenching myself in flesh and blood, I walked.
The acrid smoke made me thirsty.
Perhaps due to the lack of oxygen, my breathing grew ragged easily. My mind was drifting further and further away from reality.
Even though there were no enemies present capable of actually wounding me.
What snapped me out of my clouded state was someone's voice, grabbing me and shouting.
"The—the children are still inside!"
My eyes slowly turned toward the person speaking to me.
It was a woman who still looked quite young.
Suddenly, my vision wavered, and I experienced the scenery around me shifting entirely.
An unfamiliar title slipped from my lips unconsciously.
"...Junior Sister?"
But in the next moment, looking at the face of the woman who was weeping and pleading with me.
I realized I had seen a hallucination.
She was a woman with cute freckles.
Had she just reached adulthood?
"Pardon? Y-Young Master... what are you saying? T-the children are still in there..."
With blurred vision, I scanned the area the girl was pointing to.
It was a familiar path.
My mind, which had been wandering in a daze, began to freeze over.
I had realized whose house the woman was pointing at.
"...Oh, fuck."
I immediately lunged forward, bolting across the ground.
Flesh chunks lunged at me along the way, but each time, I crushed their skulls with my hand axe and kept moving.
I didn't even have the luxury of finishing them off.
After running and running, a short while later.
I spotted someone and came to a dead halt.
It was a boy.
He was coughing up blood, his abdomen pierced through.
Blankly, I shook my head and whispered.
"Ned..."
Stumbling, I walked over to Ned.
Beside him, a flesh chunk that had been hacked apart by a blade was twitching.
Ned had been fighting this single monster.
I gritted my teeth and hurled my hand axe.
Splat. Blood sprayed upward.
Kieeeeeek!
With that final cry, the flesh chunk Ned had been battling lost its life.
To think he could fight such a terrifying monster.
Ned's words about never neglecting his daily training had not been a lie.
Even if he couldn't become a knight, he could have become a magnificent soldier.
If only he had survived.
I collapsed to my knees.
My hollow eyes scanned Ned's wound.
I fumbled through my pockets. If I used a healing potion now, I might still be able to save him.
But before I could, a firm hand gripped my wrist.
The boy was smiling, blood trickling down his chin.
"Master."
Seeing that smile, I was struck with utter despair.
Someone's memories came rushing in like a tidal wave.
My grip on the sword in my hand began to tighten.