Chapter 62
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 62
“Rosalina.”
It was something he had wanted to say for a long time.
Yet, it was also something he could never bring himself to say, fearing it would hurt her. He had always held back, wondering if he truly had the right to interfere when the poor girl could find even a sliver of happiness in her faith.
“If you’re going to believe in something, at least pick something worth believing in.”
Her only response was a blank stare.
Toth let out a cynical smirk, having expected as much.
“Toth… why are you suddenly…?”
The flustered Rosalina began to stand, her voice trembling with distress, when the ground suddenly shook.
To be precise, the entire building was shaking.
There was no need to search for the cause. It was the sound of the undead smashing through the walls of a nearby house.
Unable to stay on her feet, the girl slumped back down. Her fleeting moment of peace shattered, Rosalina’s voice was once again thick with terror.
“Toth… what do we do?”
“What do you think?”
It took him only three seconds to decide.
Leaving his sentence unfinished, Toth opened the warehouse door. The red light of the sky filtered in through a single small window on the second floor.
“What are you doing—?”
He slammed the door shut, the sound of the heavy wood drowning out Rosalina’s voice.
Immediately, Toth tore off his outer coat. He spread the filth-covered sleeves and used them to tie the door handles together.
Now, the door couldn’t be easily opened from the inside. There were probably tools in the warehouse she could use to break it down, but considering Rosalina’s exhausted state, it would take her a long time.
Still not satisfied, he smeared the grime from his clothes around the door frame.
He had heard that zombies, among all the undead, relied entirely on their sense of smell. This would keep Rosalina relatively safe.
“……”
It wasn’t that he didn’t have regrets.
If they hid together, maybe they could both survive. Perhaps that was the wiser choice. Perhaps he was simply walking into a meaningless death.
But it’s better than both of us dying because I got greedy.
This was the best way to increase her chances of survival.
“Toth? Toth? What are you doing…? Please, answer me…”
Her voice drifted from behind the sealed door.
“Where are you going alone? Don’t abandon me. Please don’t leave. What am I supposed to do if you leave me, too? I’m scared. Toth? Toth!”
She must be terrified. Things were going to be difficult for her for a long time.
“Rosalina,” Toth finally replied.
“You… you’re truly hopeless. A burden right to the very end.”
The sound of a door being smashed open echoed from the floor below. He ignored it and continued.
“How long are you going to live relying on others? How long do I have to nag you before you finally become someone people can depend on?”
The sound of a door being completely pulverized reached his ears.
“Then again, you’ll probably just think I’m nagging you.”
“Toth, don’t do this… Please, open the door. Come inside, quickly! I’m going to go crazy. I’m really going to lose my mind!”
“Just do me a favor and listen to me for once. This is the last time.”
Tears streamed down Rosalina’s face, blurring her vision. Toth’s voice, coming from beyond the door, was impossibly gentle.
“Close your eyes and cover your ears.”
The sound of countless feet thundered up the stairs.
“Listen carefully. No matter what you hear, don’t react. Don’t make a sound, and don’t do anything rash.”
Rosalina nodded. Even though he couldn’t see her, Toth smiled.
“Good.”
He raised his quarterstaff. He slipped the rosary he had taken from Rosalina onto his wrist.
And with one final word:
“I’m sorry I was always so mean to you.”
Toth, no. You can’t go.
Rosalina reached out. He was right there, just beyond the door. Toth was there, separated only by that thin plank of wood.
But she couldn’t reach him.
「Just do me a favor and listen to me for once. This is the last time.」
「No matter what you hear, don’t react.」
She couldn’t even make a sound.
Rosalina could do nothing but close her eyes and cover her ears, just as he had told her.
Then, she heard a battle cry.
The sound of tearing flesh, of being torn apart.
As Toth’s final act of kindness, not a single scream reached her ears.
* * *
The noise stopped.
She heard the heavy footsteps of the horde moving on, their objective complete.
“……Ah.”
Only then did a sound escape her lips. Only now was she allowed to speak.
Rosalina had once envisioned two possible futures.
One was a world where she lived with the people who cherished her, people she had only met after hitting rock bottom.
The other was a world where everyone was saved by ‘Him’ and lived happily ever after.
And now…
“Help me…”
Anyone.
Please.
“Please help me…”
There was no world left for Rosalina.
*
One of the undead swarming through the houses approached the Bishop, Simon Magus.
The mouths of his followers were smeared with fresh blood. In their hands, they held the rosaries that had led them to the fleeing humans.
—All troops, advance.
Devour everything.
The Lich’s rotting arm pointed toward the Lord’s Castle.
Phase. 8
The residents of Hastin grabbed whatever weapons they could find and rushed into the streets.
The catalyst that drove them from the relative safety of their homes was the red sky. Since ancient times, a red sky was seen as an omen of misfortune, and the crimson light filtering through their windows had driven the people of Hastin into a panic.
At first, no one wanted to go outside. Some believed they would die just by touching the red light. It was only after two or three households gathered the courage to step out that others began to open their doors.
One person, then two. Then dozens. Soon, driven by mob mentality, every waking resident of Hastin poured into the streets.
Instinctively, they all sought the safest place they knew. In Hastin, that was undoubtedly the Lord’s Castle.
As if by unspoken agreement, everyone headed toward the castle walls in silence.
As they drew closer, the crowd swelled, and their pace slowed to a crawl. As their movement slowed, the paralyzing fear began to recede, replaced by another emotion.
Dissatisfaction.
This wasn’t what they had expected. As that realization spread, complaints began to erupt from the crowd. Their shallow relief quickly curdled into suspicion, and the target of that suspicion became the Lord.
Coincidentally, the newly appointed Lord had not shown his face for weeks, making him a perfect scapegoat.
“I knew something was wrong.”
With everyone already on edge, public opinion quickly decided that the Lord of Hastin must be responsible for the sky turning red. The weapons they had grabbed to protect their homes, families, and property from invaders instantly became spears and blades aimed at the Lord’s Castle.
The crowd of Hastin residents was about halfway to the inner castle when it happened.
Two terrified residents came sprinting from the rear of the procession. They were among the few who, out of their own conviction, had chosen to flee in the opposite direction of the castle. Running like madmen, the two men screamed, their bodies drenched in sweat.
Even more striking than the sweat was the blood smeared all over them.
Neither man had any wounds. It wasn’t their blood.
When they had headed for the West Gate, there had been two more with them.
The gazes of hundreds of people at the back of the crowd fixed on the pair. The men stared back, their eyes wild with dread.
They hesitated, gasping for breath.
Only after regaining some semblance of composure did one of them finally scream.
“The undead… The undead are swarming in!”
The curtain had risen on the disaster.
The scene that followed was a chaotic hell, utterly devoid of order.
The one who managed to quell the pandemonium was a retired mercenary, a man who had once earned fame and even an epithet from a noble. His commanding roar instantly silenced the commotion.
As the noise subsided, the Captain of the Guard arrived with his men, drawn by the disturbance.
If you are bitten by a zombie, you become a zombie. When dealing with the undead, the greatest enemy was internal chaos. The line must not break. The moment it did, they would all be annihilated.
The Captain of the Guard and the retired mercenary exchanged a look, and the Captain shouted.
“Everyone, calm down! If you don’t make a choice right now, we all die!”
Most were exhausted. More than half were at their physical limits from a lack of proper food. The best-case scenario was to reach the castle and hold it, but at their current speed, it was uncertain if they could make it in time.
“If the undead chase us from behind, we’ll be slaughtered like sheep! So, choose! Do you run, or do you stand and fight here?”
It was the seasoned decision of those capable of rational thought.
“The undead aren’t as strong as you think. If we do this right, we can hold them off without taking any losses!”
No one answered, but the murmuring told him the choice had been made.
Immediately, the guards who had followed the Captain formed a line. With leadership established, the panicked residents followed their orders with discipline. Those strong enough to hold a weapon stood at the front, while the others helped build a defensive line. Soon after, three men and women who identified themselves as magic trainees stepped forward.
They were trainees of ‘Wing’ who had survived only because they were away from the Magic Tower on the day of the Black Disaster.
Looks of relief appeared on the faces of the retired mercenary and the Captain of the Guard. Judging by the size and type of the mana stones on their staffs, they were skilled enough to cast intermediate magic. In a melee, there was nothing more reassuring than support from capable mages in the rear.
By the time the crude but best-possible battle line was formed, hundreds of undead swarmed in from the distance, letting out horrific shrieks.
As the signal for war, two mages, who had just finished casting their spells after long seconds of precise calculation, swung their staffs.
As beads of sweat dripped from their bodies onto the parched ground, a storm of fire and wind erupted.
Intermediate Magic: 〈Lunatic Wind Blade〉.
Intermediate Magic: 〈Flame from Burning Roots〉.
The shouts of humans and the shrieks of the undead collided.
*
He couldn’t see them. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find them.
The Captain bit his lip.
“Toth, Rosalina… where did you two go?”
Breaking away from the front lines, the Captain was scouring every corner of the streets.
They definitely said the undead were swarming in.
When a person lies, their eyes shift. But the man who had warned them showed no such signs. It was nearly impossible to fake that kind of pure panic.
In other words, the man wasn't lying.
“Dammit…” he clicked his tongue as he navigated the alleys.
With each empty alley, his composure frayed and his anxiety mounted.
Toth had been with them in the back alley right up until the meeting ended. He had left his post right after they had decided to leave Hastin.
He probably went to wait for Rosalina.
He knew, deep down, that Toth worried about and looked after her. But Toth, who always reported when he left his post, had disappeared without a word this time. In his experience, Toth wasn't careless enough to make such a mistake.
It meant he had either left because of an emergency or for a reason he couldn't tell anyone. Either way, he couldn't think of where he might have gone.
By the time he turned into the sixth alley, the Captain’s stamina was hitting its limit. He had comrades on the battlefield risking their lives against the undead. He couldn't keep searching for Toth and Rosalina forever. He had to go back.
It was just as he hesitated, about to turn back, that he heard the first sound of breathing.
The Captain froze, listening. Following the faint but distinct sound, he moved silently.
Rosalina was slumped against a wall.
“Rosalina!”
She was alone.
“What happened…!” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
The girl was a wreck. Her body had reached its limit, and she was trembling violently. Only after he took a waterskin from his coat and gave her a drink did she finally regain enough strength to speak.
“……Captain?”
Her pupils were unfocused. It was obvious she was not in her right mind.
“Captain, Toth… Toth, because of me…”
Just then, the marks all over her body caught his eye. Dark bruises on her wrists. Eyes bloodshot from crying for hours. Elbows and knees bleeding, as if she had fallen multiple times.
“What happened?”
“Captain, I made it here. Ha… haha. Toth told me to stay still, but I made it.”
“Rosalina.”
“I was so scared. But Captain, Toth… Toth… Toth…”
“……”
“Toth, because of me…”
The Captain fell silent. He didn't need to ask if she had encountered the undead, or what had become of Toth. He couldn't bring himself to.