Chapter 276
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 276
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 28: Bestow Mercy (2)
Peros limped through the forest, dragging his leg behind him.
He glanced at the distant walls of Egene, paused for a moment, then ducked behind a large boulder as if hiding.
"Hoo."
He looked down at his left leg.
It was pitch black and dead, with almost no sensation left in it.
This was what happened after getting caught in that light.
'Jamie Welton...!'
The guy who appeared out of nowhere had swept the entire battlefield in an instant.
It was an overwhelming firepower unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
Tens of thousands of soldiers vanished like dust, and Lance Master Draksar, hit head-on by the light, was reduced to a charred lump of coal.
If not for his 'Authority,' Peros would have ended up the same.
Peros's Authority was 'Spiritualization.'
In simple terms, he could transform his body into a ghost-type undead.
Though he'd lost one leg, his Authority had kept the rest of him intact.
And a spiritualized body was almost perfectly immune to detection magic.
An ability specialized for assassination.
With it, assassinating Katarina and Draksar in the underground prison would be a breeze.
Master-class individuals turning into undead would make them deadly enemies, obviously.
'A Black Sorcerer... I never imagined it would be a Black Sorcerer.'
Having experienced that power firsthand, it was certain he'd reached 9th class.
And wielding black magic on top of that—his strength had surely transcended reason.
How a thirteen-year-old had ascended to the pinnacle was a mystery, but that wasn't the priority now.
"If I can just report this, the justification will swing back to our side. We can more than make up for this defeat."
The current justification for the war lay with the Northern Alliance.
The circumstantial evidence that the Zenith Church had summoned demons was too blatant.
The eastern nations knew it too, but many had Zenith as their state religion, and under pressure from the hegemony of the Drakiron Empire, they'd joined the war.
But that wasn't the only reason.
Victory meant claiming Olbia's abundant resources and fertile lands in the north.
The Zenith Church had declared it would distribute the land based on contributions to the victory, making it worth the risk.
Yet they'd always been on the back foot morally, drawing condemnation from nations worldwide.
But that was over now.
Once Jamie Welton's true nature was exposed to the world, Seldam Kingdom—the core of the Northern Alliance—would be cornered.
If Seldam shook, the outcome was obvious.
'Time to get moving again.'
Maintaining 'Spiritualization' for long was more taxing than expected, so he hadn't gotten far from Egene yet.
Still, there was almost no risk of pursuit, so taking it slow was fine.
'Jamie Welton can't find me.'
Not even the wide-area detection magic he'd deployed had picked him up.
Other detection spells would be the same.
With Spiritualization, no one could track him.
That's what most people thought.
That they could escape.
Darkness descended in an instant.
Peros hurriedly crossed his arms in a defensive stance as the encroaching darkness approached.
The darkness brushed past him like smoke, enveloping the surroundings thickly.
His eyes widened in shock.
"H-How?"
Spiritualization boasted near-perfect immunity to any detection ability, making it practically impossible to find him.
With no physical form, he left no footprints or traces.
No, not even a scent or shadow—tracking by traces was out of the question.
He couldn't comprehend it.
"W-Where are you!"
He'd fled without leaving any traces—how had he been found?
What sorcery had been used?
"Show yourself, you coward! Stop hiding and face me!"
Fear was palpable.
It was seeping through even from here.
"I am Peros, Sword Master of Terrazia! Vile Black Sorcerer! I shall judge you in the name of the gods!"
Spouting nonsense out of fear.
Had all those years of training skipped mental discipline?
"Come out!"
Peros swung his sword wildly, his mind fraying.
The aura blade that erupted sliced through trees and rocks like paper, but he felt no sensation of cutting flesh.
Peros illuminated the surroundings with his aura like a lantern.
Standing alone in the thick fog of darkness.
"A-Am I scaring you? Too afraid to come out?"
No more voices came.
The inexplicable silence only fueled Peros's terror.
He lost track of time.
Even as morning broke, ever since the dark fog appeared, his sense of time was wrecked.
Sometimes he felt delusions of someone touching him.
He knew it was impossible, yet Jamie Welton seemed ready to leap out from somewhere.
The pressure made sweat pour from his entire body.
"Come out! Why won't you show! If you don't, I'll cut down this whole forest!!"
He slashed indiscriminately at trees, grass, rocks.
Yet his senses didn't dull at all.
If anything, they sharpened, feeling even a speck of dust on his skin.
'Where? Where! Where the hell are you!'
Chop after chop, but nothing.
Only endless dark fog stretching like an ocean.
Then it hit him.
When had the fog spread so wide and thick?
The moment the thought crossed his mind, his breath caught.
'Damn it...'
The forest was empty.
The trees and rocks he'd slashed had vanished too, leaving him alone in the void of darkness.
His hairs stood on end.
Time felt frozen.
Terror of an attack from anywhere, anytime.
"C...ome... out."
No answer, no matter how he called.
Twitch.
Something touched his arm.
But naturally, nothing was there when he checked.
This time, his nape twitched.
He frantically rubbed his neck, but it was just his imagination.
Like an itch after seeing a bug.
Peros couldn't bear it anymore and screamed.
"Where are you! Where! Please come out!!!"
Then.
Something whooshed past his side.
Startled, Peros swung his sword hastily, but nothing was there.
As he sighed in relief, something passed behind him.
Peros held his breath and slashed back swiftly—nothing.
"Hahk, hahk, hahk."
Gasping without having done much.
A Sword Master shouldn't tire from this, but psychological strain pushed him to the brink.
If only the dark fog would lift.
He'd bolt once he felt it was gone.
Then.
Grab—
A hand shot out from the darkness and seized Peros's wrist.
"Uwaaaak!!"
Peros convulsed, thrusting his sword at whatever gripped his wrist.
Squish. He felt the impact.
No way!
Approaching so carelessly?
Doubt flickered, but terror-clouded Peros didn't register it.
Driven by survival instinct, he yanked the sword free to stab again.
A head emerged from the darkness, eyes gouged out, blood streaming.
"Keurk!"
Peros let out a guttural noise and fell on his butt.
He scrambled backward, staring in horror.
He knew who that floating head was.
That's why terror gripped him.
"G-Get away!!"
The head approached Peros with a plaintive voice.
Peros screamed at Katarina's head, which he'd personally decapitated just hours ago.
"Don't make me laugh!! You had to die for me to live—obviously I killed you!!"
"Fine. I'll shut you up for good."
Peros sprang up and approached Katarina's head as if possessed.
"Pathetic fool. Vermin. Trash. Selfish bastard. Pathetic fool. Vermin. Trash. Selfish bastard..."
"Die!!"
He cleaved Katarina's head in two.
The halves dissolved into the darkness and fog.
Peros panted heavily.
Sweat dripped from his forehead onto his hand.
He glanced sideways, eyes darting.
A charred black face stared back.
He knew who it was without asking.
"Draksar."
"Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why..."
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
His sanity was unraveling.
No, it was gone.
Peros slashed Draksar's head.
But heads weren't just one or two.
Dozens of Katarina and Draksar heads floated up, beginning a hellish chant.
"Why did you do it. Why kill us. Why did you do it..."
"Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why..."
"You die too. You die too. You die too..."
"Pathetic fool. Vermin. Trash. Selfish bastard..."
Slash, cleave, stab—the heads kept coming endlessly.
Atop the dark fog, Peros, unable to die or kill, flailed his sword in terror.
But it only tired him.
Peros knelt in despair.
The heads gathered around, cursing endlessly, truly endlessly.
"God... upon me... upon me..."
He gazed at the sky—which should have been morning—and prayed.
"Bestow mercy."
Before long, the heads completely engulfed him.
"Hahaha."
Jamie sat cross-legged on a tree branch, watching Peros like a delightful play.
In an empty forest, he danced alone, slashing trees and rocks while howling.
All nearby animals had fled as a result.
The reason was simple.
Using the curse Authority awakened two years ago, he'd driven Peros's mind to the brink of terror.
Having reached 9th class, not even a Sword Master could escape Jamie's grasp.
He could have killed him outright, but chose not to—because Peros had crossed the line.
"Betraying your comrades? You don't deserve an easy death."
He hadn't made the slightest effort to save them; instead, he'd plotted their assassination.
Jamie didn't begrudge the lack of camaraderie, but at least he should have fled alone.
Ruining others' lives for personal gain warranted punishment.
"Suffer endlessly in the abyss of darkness until you die."
Jamie stood, spreading more darkness over his head.
He'd thrash alone in an even deeper mire of darkness until death.
The future shown by 'Future Walker.'