Chapter 99
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: The Ancient Stone Soldier
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Those who hadn't yet detected my presence scrambled to flee in haste.
That was when it happened.
Boom...BOOM!!!
A massive roar shook the earth, and from within the fog, something enormous revealed itself.
"What is...?"
"Ugh... ughhh. What the hell is that thing?"
"We're dead... We're all gonna die!!"
What emerged from the fog was a colossal stone statue.
It was easily over twenty meters tall.
The kind of stone statue you'd see in a temple.
This thing, with its texture that made you wonder how it could even move, trudged forward silently, as if oblivious to the humans before it.
With such overwhelming mass, nothing else was needed.
No such creature had ever been sighted on this continent before.
But I had encountered this one before—and fought it.
[Entity confirmed: Marga's Stone Soldier.]
"Like with the Void Gluttony before, this isn't some Red Moon phenomenon, is it?"
[No Red Moon phenomenon detected. Additionally, unlike the Void Gluttony, Marga's Stone Soldier is a monster that existed in the past.]
Out of all the monsters in this fog, how many could possibly be ordinary anyway...
"So why is this ancient monster rampaging here right now?"
[It is speculated that remnants of past monsters, now extinct, were trapped within this fog.]
Monsters from the past...
[Based on the current situation, it is presumed that some phenomenon occurred, trapping most monsters from the past in this space.]
"And that phenomenon vanished, only to reemerge now, bringing these things back out?"
It could be possible if time itself had been frozen.
Or if an ecosystem had formed somehow, it wouldn't be strange for some to have survived.
[This is the most likely hypothesis. Whether intentionally reactivated or not, this space is essentially an ancient ecosystem.]
Whatever the case, the stone soldier's steady march came to a halt.
It slowly turned its head, capturing the people in its view.
The moment its red eyes locked onto them...
The stone soldier's massive body lurched toward the prince and the others.
"R... Run!!"
No matter how fast humans ran, they couldn't match even a single step of the stone soldier.
The people it caught up to in an instant fell into complete panic, screaming their heads off.
As if the prince had any way to deal with it...
I stopped thinking and kicked off the ground.
Its flesh was so tough that even an Aura Blade barely worked on it.
But even a beast like that had to have a weakness.
I gradually accelerated.
My swordsmanship mainly relied on postemptive strikes.
Counter-based techniques were my mainstay.
But if I only countered, I couldn't execute proactive tactics.
So I had developed a specific form for attacks as well. I couldn't accelerate as explosively as in counters.
Short bursts of instant acceleration were beyond what the body could normally endure.
So all I had to do was dial back that maximum output just a bit.
Reduce the immense strain to a mere burden, and it changed everything.
I accelerated in a flash.
Slower than the speed of my counter technique, One-Horned Flash Slash, but far faster than my normal pace—it fused into my body.
In a streak like lightning, my sword sliced through its Achilles tendon in an instant, then raced up its leg.
Climbing like a spiral staircase, I carved into its flesh everywhere before reaching its head. Only then did it stagger massively in reaction, but it was too late.
Crunch!!
Havng scaled to the crown of its head in a blink, I drove my Aura Blade-wreathed ghost sword down, piercing its skull.
Something shattered with a crack!.
Thud!!!
At the same time, it collapsed to its knees as if losing the power holding its colossal frame together.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its legs, more from the strain on its massive body under gravity than from lost leg strength.
Hmm, defenses neutralized.
Legs sealed, now just lop off the arms.
It swung its enormous arms wildly to snatch me, but being humanoid meant blind spots were inevitable.
Sliding down from its collarbone to the nape, I slashed its armpit once.
Then, weaving black threads from death spirit mana, I wrapped them around its arm like a tightrope and sprang back up.
As a result, its left arm went limp.
I'd destroyed the core in its head and armpit that maintained its form.
-Grooooar...
Its head rotated 180 degrees, fixing on me.
As if determined not to miss me floating in the air, it thrust out its remaining right arm.
The attack range was so vast that escape seemed impossible.
But I didn't stop there.
[Air Fang]
[Sky Breaker]
Crunch!!
With a sound like the air shattering, my body kicked off the unsupported void, zigzagging like twisted lightning to evade every attack.
The opening that created let me jam my sword into its throat and twist it sideways in a slash.
Krunch!!!
Its skin was usually so tough even an Aura Blade struggled, but now its flesh parted like soft clay.
Neutralize defenses, neutralize limbs.
Now defenseless, its stone eyes fixed on me.
No moving pupils or irises, yet it stared fully before slowly going still.
Tap!!
I landed lightly on the ground to find multiple dazed gazes fixed on me.
"You..."
"Are you hurt? Prince Dorn Lu Pascalia."
His identity was obvious: Melissa's friend Lilia's fiancé, Prince Dorn.
My question made his eyes widen.
"You... know me?"
"Who else could the prince in this city be? I'm Leon Cascadia."
I needed to find Luna and Melissa, but saving the man who would become Melissa's friend's husband wasn't hard.
He might even know Melissa's whereabouts.
"Leon... Cascadia... Ah! You're the Count of Cascadia's big brother."
"Yes."
"Ahh. So what the Count said was true."
He offered a handshake with a gentle smile.
Infinitely warm, infinitely soft.
He looked older than me, but not aged.
Handsome, with a kind face.
From what Melissa said, even though it was a political marriage, he was the one Lilia Berner loved.
With looks that could stir any woman's heart, it made sense.
Especially with his manners and personality.
Was this what they called an alpha male?
"Have you happened to see Melissa by any chance?"
"Sadly... I haven't met the Count of Cascadia since this fog descended."
He cast his eyes down with a bitter expression.
"I'm sorry I can't give you better news."
"No need. More importantly, you look injured."
"Haha. Wounds of honor. Thanks to them, I could protect these people."
He replied as if that was enough.
He'd saved only about five people.
But in this situation, saving even that many was praiseworthy.
"Do you know anything about what's happening?"
"Sorry. I don't know the details either. These phenomena defy understanding."
"I see."
"However, before this incident, I heard through personal channels that heretics and what seemed to be members of the Lunar Surveillance Unit had infiltrated the city."
Lunar Surveillance Unit.
The unexpected mention narrowed my eyes.
"You mean the lawless group, the Lunar Surveillance Unit?"
"Yes. They're infamous as a band of murderers."
"What would they want here?"
Could they have caused this artificially?
Rituals vary, but manifesting something on this scale would be impossible even for a 7th Circle mage.
"I don't know the details. But based on precedents, they might be involved."
Ah, the heretics' usual playbook.
Heretics like the lich or the kraken always tried to awaken vast powers and claim them.
But the Lunar Surveillance Unit and heretics were enemies who fought each other, so why join forces now?
"Heretics make sense, but the Lunar Surveillance Unit..."
"They're a bizarre organization whose goals no one knows. They don't even take assassination contracts; the Empire's intelligence has little on their movements."
Normal assassin guilds take money for hits, but the Lunar Surveillance Unit was peculiar—they took no commissions.
"Head to a safe place for now."
Understanding my intent, he gave a wry smile.
"Sorry. I'd probably just hold you back. I'll search for territory folk as much as possible and guide them to safe zones."
"Safe zones..."
"There are safe areas throughout this foggy region where monsters can't enter. We're leading survivors there."
"Just hide in one."
"I can't. They're all imperial subjects. As royalty, I have a duty to protect the people."
His firm words made me glance down at the bloodied sword in his hand.
He wasn't unskilled, but against something like that stone soldier again, he'd be helpless.
If he were a Sword Master, maybe...
"You could die. Surely you know what the death of an imperial prince means?"
He wasn't stupid enough not to realize that.
"Haha. I'm just a collateral prince at best. At the very least, I can't shame Lilia, who will soon be my wife."
Husband...
"Do you love her?"
Curiosity struck me. Loving a lover still felt unfamiliar.
"Love... I'm still clumsy at it, but yeah, I suppose so."
His gentle smile left me with a strange awkwardness.
I then raised the surrounding insect corpses as undead.
"Hope these help."
"Necromancy... A fascinating power, different from ordinary undead. Thank you."
I had no intention of teaming up with him. If he saved survivors, I'd focus on crushing enemies—that was most efficient.