Chapter 63. Orthodox-Demonic War (2)
Chapter 63. Orthodox-Demonic War (2)
The pharmacist's face went pale.
Just as she was trembling and about to scream.
"Ee—"
"Hwooooork!"
A scream erupted that could easily swallow the pharmacist's scream whole. It was Medicine King.
This gentleman, old enough to have been friends with Sword Saint, seemed capable of out-screaming most young people when it came to shrieking.
"Run! Run away! I've never seen anything like that even in Silicon Valley! Hwoooork, we're doomed! The world is doomed!"
"This world is already doomed!"
I quickly drew the Holy Sword of Protection and cut down the nearest zombie first. Unlike wuxia stories, I'd had plenty of exposure to zombie stories through movies and dramas, and I'd even fought them directly on the 13th floor. Thanks to that, my blade instinctively sent a zombie's head flying.
-Kieeeek!
The zombie's head snarled even as it soared through the air. The headless body flailed its limbs and came at me. Damn it. So this was the type that only stopped moving if the brain itself was destroyed. The worst possible case.
"Let's get out of here first!"
"Y-yes, who the hell are you people!"
The two murim fighters finally noticed our presence. The old man of the orthodox faction and the woman of the Demonic Cult looked our way, and just as we had been startled by the zombies, they were shocked by our group.
"...Old relic, I think my eyes have finally gone crooked. I see living, moving humans—and not just one, but four. Could the King of the Underworld be summoning me?"
"M-my eyes see the same. It seems I truly have become a fool, perhaps from mocking you as a half-wit for so long."
"You two should run as well!"
I hurriedly hoisted the pharmacist onto my back.
"And while you're at it, maybe tell us where we should run to!"
The two murim fighters looked at each other.
"Good heavens. They truly do seem to be living people, old relic."
"Could it be that we have already died and are gazing upon the scenery of the afterlife...?"
"Then either you and I died and went to the Peach Blossom Spring together, or we fell into hell together. One or the other."
"Having served righteousness and chivalry as the Murim Alliance Master, I am unlikely to go to hell, so this must be the Peach Blossom Spring. Yet there are no peach trees here, no heavenly maidens, and the place is crawling with jiangshi. Above all, you are here, are you not? It is far too strange to be the Peach Blossom Spring."
"Then it must not be a dream, but waking reality."
"And these are living people?"
"Their bodies are warm, so at the very least they do not appear to be jiangshi."
You might have guessed from how the two murim fighters were leisurely exchanging banter, but we were already fleeing through the zombie forest. Viper took charge of the orthodox old man, and I scooped up the Demonic Cult woman.
"Where in the world did you people come from?"
The Demonic Cult woman looked up at my face as if fascinated.
"You've learned a remarkable movement art. Are you perhaps children from beyond the frontier? Are there still barbarians surviving at the borders?"
"We are..."
I didn't precisely understand what "beyond the frontier" meant, but I got the gist. She was asking if we came from outside the murim world. While I was pondering how to answer, a sound from behind saved me the trouble.
-Kigik, kiiiiik!
-Woooooo!
It was the zombies. They had apparently warmed up and were now sprinting after us.
No, could I even call that "sprinting"?
What kind of zombies were so spry that they leaped ten meters with each step? It wasn't "sprinting"—it was "flying." The sight of hundreds of zombies swooping in like a flock of seagulls delivered pure shock and horror.
"Wh-what the hell!"
Viper was aghast.
"Since when do zombies fly through the air!"
"It is a lightness art (輕功) I created myself. I borrowed a bit from the riffraff of Kunlun and refined it."
The woman from the Demonic Cult said smugly.
"Behold. It surpasses Treading Snow Without a Trace—it is the Path of Soaring Through the Void! Truly, these are the elites of the Demonic Cult who received my teachings. They did not forget their martial arts even in death—these are true demonic practitioners."
"W-wait a moment."
I spoke. Even if I could only grasp the rough nuance amid the barrage of bizarre terms, there was one thing I absolutely could not let pass.
"They didn't forget their martial arts even in death?"
"Oh? You must be ignorant of the ways of the world, being children from beyond the frontier."
The Demonic Cult woman tilted her head in my arms.
"Those of the jianghu continue to use martial arts even after becoming jiangshi. Is that not common knowledge?"
"I've never heard of such common knowledge!"
Good lord. Zombies that use martial arts!
If this were a comedy, I'd laugh it off and move on, but this place was not a comedy—it was a genuine wuxia world. This was no joke.
"Those children in particular are the elites of the Demonic Cult who received my direct instruction. When one receives my teachings, the body learns to respond to killing intent even in sleep. Hmph. How magnificent they are, performing lightness arts even as corpses."
"Hwooooork! They're catching up! At this rate they'll catch us, you damn sect master!"
Medicine King, on Viper's back, screamed. The martial arts zombies that had soared into the air descended like fierce hawks, and Medicine King's hair was nearly ripped out.
"Run faster! Can't you run any faster! If I get bitten and turn into a zombie, I'll bite you first!"
"Fuck, who the hell recruited this old man as a comrade!"
Viper shouted.
"And why do I get stuck with old men on both sides while you, Death King, get two women!"
"We're about to get killed by zombie martial arts and that's what matters to you?!"
"If we're about to die, what else matters?!"
The guardian spirit who had been watching our rear shouted in my place.
-Zombies! Zombies!
Oh, for fuck's sake.
"Weaknesses!"
I said to the Demonic Cult woman.
"Do those jiangshi have any weaknesses?!"
"Crushing the head stops them."
"Not that—something easier!"
Honestly, I was prepared to die at that moment. Ordinary zombies would be one thing. But if the world was full of zombies that flew through the air and used martial arts, the story changed completely. It would take Sword Saint, plus the Witch, plus Heretic Questioner—an all-star lineup—just to see a path to clearing this.
"Hmm."
The Demonic Cult woman nodded.
She raised a finger and pointed over my shoulder.
"They stop when sunlight comes out."
"...!"
Right. It was simple when I thought about it.
The sight of zombies starting to move before my eyes, the sight of those zombies flying at me with lightness arts—it had all been so shocking that I simply hadn't thought of it.
"Young lady whose name I don't know! And Pharmacist!"
"Hmm."
"Yes?"
The woman from the Demonic Cult replied in a calm voice, and the pharmacist answered in a trembling one. I focused aura into my arms.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to throw you! Please land well on your own!"
"Hmm."
"...Yes?"
And then I threw the woman and the pharmacist as far as I could, one after another. Like a javelin thrower at the Olympics, with all my strength.
The woman made no sound as she flew. She simply plummeted headfirst into the snow-covered field with a thud. The pharmacist, on the other hand, fell with a magnificent scream. The snowfield where she landed was imprinted with a large spread-eagle shape.
"I'm sorry!"
I apologized one last time, then stopped.
When I turned around, hundreds of zombies were charging at me.
-Gwoooooo!
-Kik!
-Woooo! Krooooo!
Goosebumps rose all over my body.
I'd fought zombies on the 13th floor before, but martial arts zombies swooping down from the sky like a swarm of mosquitoes were on a completely different level. Honestly speaking, I was pretty damn scared.
-You're going to die!
For some reason, the guardian spirit was gleeful.
-To think I'd get to see a zombie bastard die to real zombies again! Ah, wonderful! This is a bucket list moment!
Did that old man seriously keep a bucket list even as a ghost?
"Not yet."
In the middle of the snowfield, I faced the horde of zombies.
"I'm not dying!"
I drew the Holy Sword of Protection from its sheath.
Staring at the teeth of a zombie that had reached my nose—at the frozen flesh of someone still stuck to those teeth—I spoke urgently in my mind.
'Sparkle!'
[Sparkle answers the Hero's call.]
'Sparkle!'
Flaaaaaash!
The fragment of a Constellation. The holy sword of the idol, first among the five sister swords, blazed with light. The snowfield reflected the sword-light and shone brilliantly.
And I realized I truly had a talent for naming. Naming Sparkle "Sparkle" had been the right choice.
-Woooooo!
-Gwoooooo...
They froze.
The zombies caught in the holy sword's light all stopped midair. Like mosquitoes hit point-blank by bug spray, the zombies dropped to the ground. Since the zombies didn't break their fall, the snowfield was riddled with holes like a honeycomb.
"Hwoooork!"
Medicine King, who had just had his hair grabbed by a zombie, groaned. The zombie had frozen in place, still clutching Medicine King's white hair.
"D-did I survive? Did I survive again? Ohhh, if it weren't for that bastard Marcus, I never would have come to the Tower. Oh, my fate..."
"Is everyone all right?"
I didn't let my guard down. Not yet. The dark clouds hadn't retreated from the sky, and the ground was still dark.
The light from the Holy Sword of Protection was the only illumination.
If the light went out for even a moment, those terrifying martial arts zombies would resume their activity.
"Ugh. Yes, my face hurts a little but I'm fine... Thank you for saving me, Death King..."
"Fuck, first Sword Saint, now this old man! I want to live a life keeping my distance from old people, damn it!"
The pharmacist and Viper each reported their safety in their own way.
I nodded.
"Heavenly Martial Sect Master. While I take care of the zombies, please look after the others."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to finish these things off while they can't move."
I aimed the holy sword at a zombie.
"I'll have to grind up each brain one by one, so it'll take some time, but it shouldn't be hard..."
"Wait a moment, child from beyond the frontier."
The Demonic Cult woman rose from the snowfield.
She slowly brushed the snowflakes from her robes.
"First, I must express my gratitude for saving me, a complete stranger. However, if you intend to slay these jiangshi, I have no choice but to stop you."
"...Why?"
All sorts of imaginings ran through my head.
Could it be that the zombies carried some strange curse, and killing them would transfer the curse to me? In truth, few monsters have as much variation as zombies. Depending on how the world-building sets them up, they can be trash mobs or terrifying calamities.
But what the Demonic Cult woman said to us was completely unexpected.
"Those are all talented members of my Demonic Cult."
"Excuse me?"
"They are my disciples and my subordinates."
The woman was serious.
"A great war to sever the roots of the white faction is upon us. Every single master is desperately needed. We are already short on numbers—I cannot afford to lose more elites here."
What kind of nonsense was this?
Our group couldn't understand her words. A great war? The world of the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon was already on the brink of annihilation. There was no way any faction or humans remained capable of waging war.
The librarian had said when guiding us into the Apocalypse:
「When you open your eyes, it will be a world ten days before the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon met its unfortunate Serialization Cancellation.」
「I look forward to seeing you deliver a splendid ending.」
Only ten days until complete annihilation.
I didn't know how many survivors remained in this world... but in ten days, they would all die anyway. Neither the Demonic Cult woman nor the orthodox old man could be exceptions to that fate.
Whether they knew of that future or not, the two murim fighters were unruffled.
"I have been waging war against that old man..."
"I am the Murim Alliance Master, Bu Wol-seon."
"...against that old man for three years now. Today marks exactly 989 days since the Orthodox-Demonic War was declared. The old man and I swore on our names that neither of us may leave this place until one admits defeat."
The woman from the Demonic Cult spoke gravely.
"Though they have fallen to become jiangshi, if they use the martial arts of the Demonic Cult, they are demonic practitioners. They are my subordinates, and I must look after them. Do not kill them carelessly. If you must kill, pick only those wearing monk's robes over there..."
"Preposterous! Those are the elite forces of the prestigious orthodox sects, gathered with great effort!"
The orthodox old man jumped up.
"Did we not make a pact, you Heavenly Demon wench! To leave the jiangshi untouched and let you and I alone see the Orthodox-Demonic War to its end!"
"Pacts exist to be broken."
"You wicked wench! Then I shall smash the heads of those demonic-practitioner jiangshi one by one as well!"
"You scoundrel! The leader of the orthodox faction intends to break a pact! You've revealed your true colors as a hypocrite!"
Just as they had been before the zombies moved, the two looked ready to fight to the death at any moment.
I was dumbfounded.
"...The world has been destroyed, and you're still continuing this Orthodox-Demonic War or whatever?"
"You have the order wrong."
The Demonic Cult woman called Heavenly Demon shook her head.
"The world merely destroyed itself on its own while we were fighting our war."
"..."
In other words.
The orthodox old man, the Murim Alliance Master, and the Demonic Cult woman, the Heavenly Demon, had fought with their fates on the line. Up to that point, there was no problem. It was just that a virus suddenly ran rampant, and all their subordinates turned into zombies.
Ordinary people would have stopped the war there and either fled or hidden...
"But a match once begun cannot be postponed!"
Murim fighters were not ordinary people.
The Murim Alliance Master and the Heavenly Demon... did not stop the war even after all their subordinates fell to become zombies.
Not only did they not stop—the two still treated their jiangshi subordinates as their subordinates.
And so, in a world struck by a zombie apocalypse, they had continued the Orthodox-Demonic War for three years.
"I will not stop until I defeat that old man. I still have five hundred jiangshi soldiers remaining. I shall lead them and crush the white faction."
"Those are my words, demon! The pillars of the murim who fight against you even as vengeful spirits stand with me! I shall put an end to this tiresome war that has dragged on for 989 days!"
Indeed.
It wasn't just our expedition that was devoid of dreams and hope.
This world itself had no dreams or hope.