Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: Wendigo 1
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“…It’s, it’s formidable.”
Guillaume Balt watched in astonishment as Azadin faced off against the massive spider-woman without the slightest hint of fear.
‘I’ve heard that the Herald Clan even assassinates kings, and now I see why. Terrifying. To subdue a monster like that so easily.’
If he knew that Azadin—the one sending shivers down his spine—was considered a hopeless straggler among the Heralds, utterly useless, he’d be shocked all over again.
Ismail, who had been observing Guillaume Balt’s expression from the side, spoke calmly.
“Nothing to be surprised about. She’s just big, so there are plenty of places to stick arrows.”
He had noticed Guillaume Balt’s fear of the Heralds’ power.
Azadin’s feat was impressive, but to the Herald Clan, it was commonplace. Ismail was planting that impression to ensure Guillaume Balt wouldn’t dare challenge them.
“The palisade we built and loaded onto the wheelchair kept the spider-woman from closing in recklessly, and as a result, she became arrow fodder.”
Midiam supplemented the explanation. Attendants like her typically reviewed Heralds’ actions, tactics, and strategies to indirectly build experience as Heralds themselves. Her behavior was a proper recap of Azadin’s tactics and strategy, fitting for an attendant.
“Couldn’t she have circled around and attacked?”
Guillaume Balt asked.
“To circle around, she’d have to avoid the spiderwebs and buildings we laid out and come onto open ground. That would’ve been burdensome for the spider-woman too.”
Midiam smiled and dodged to the side of the palisade. Zibek swung his sword, slicing through the approaching spiderlings.
The spiders couldn’t put up much fight and were getting effortlessly cut down by Azadin’s group.
*********
The spider-woman Fran, fallen to the ground, writhed without recovering from the impact.
“Ah. No! That woman is smiling! If I die, she’ll take you!”
“No, why is this uncle such a hunk that…”
Azadin sighed.
Among commoners, many harbored vague admiration for nobles. The position of nobility, superior wealth and experience. It wouldn’t have been hard to brainwash a naive girl using that superior status.
“Fran. Unfortunately, you’re not thinking straight right now, and there’s no way to reverse the curse that mutated your body. Atra’s infection is turning you into a spider-beast. Living as a beast while retaining your humanity would be miserable for you and those around you, so I’ll end it here. Any last words?”
“Aah… Brock. I just… wanted to save you from that woman. I’m sorry.”
Even in this moment, she believed Sir Brock’s lies. Seeing that, Brock’s heart ached terribly.
“F-Fran. No. That was… just me pretending to be the victim to lust after your young body. Most of what I said was lies. I’m just a vile, greedy piece of trash!”
“Brock. Then… did you love me?”
“O-Of course.”
“…….”
Azadin, watching, shook his head.
‘If he cut her off harshly, she might let go of her obsession. Doesn’t want to be the bad guy, huh. Well, since she’s dying today anyway, maybe it’s better she believes his love was real.’
The spider-woman thrashed in spasms before barely managing to rise.
“Then end me with your own hand. So at least I’ll remain in your memory forever.”
“…….”
Whether the beastly nature dominating her had fallen dormant due to her injuries, she demanded her execution from Brock in the form of a rational human.
Sir Brock approached the spider-woman upon hearing those words. The woman named Fran calmly bled, watching him approach, and clasped her hands as if in prayer.
But her lower spider half writhed, then suddenly lashed out a foreleg toward Sir Brock.
-Thwack!
Zibek and Azadin swung their swords, severing the foreleg. Both had anticipated this and been on standby.
“Eek!”
“Careful, uncle. Fran the woman and the spider-beast coexist. If a foreleg grabs you, it drags you straight to the mouth to chew and inject venom. Lower your guard and you’re dead.”
“I’d rather die by her hand.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. What wants to kill you is that spider half—the woman has no intention of killing you. If you die, it’s not by her hand but by the massive evil devouring her. Dying here won’t atone your sins. Don’t run away—face how pathetic your actions were.”
Azadin scolded Brock, who wanted to escape this situation by dying.
“Indeed. What a mess because of half-baked lust.”
Brand agreed, batting away a flying spider leg with his short spear.
“I know I did something foolish, but Sir Brock, grant her final wish.”
Zibek didn’t like this situation either, but there was no way to revert the beast-mutated woman.
“Ah… yes.”
Sir Brock closed his eyes and approached Fran, thrusting his sword into her heart.
-Kraaaah!
The spider torso raged in fury, rising and going berserk, but Azadin’s arrows had already shredded the spider, and with several legs severed, it couldn’t even support its own weight.
As the spider thrashed and collapsed, Brock slumped backward.
“Ugh… uwaaa. What have I done!”
“You deceived an innocent young girl ignorant of the world with your status and sweet talk, making her your lover.”
Azadin said coldly.
“This woman’s death is entirely your responsibility. Didn’t you manipulate her to love you utterly? Not a one-night mistake from lust or drink, but carrying on an affair even after marriage.”
“I-I didn’t know it would end like this. If I had, I wouldn’t have! W-What should I do? Poor Fran!”
“You seem regretful at least. I hope that regret changes the rest of your life. Let’s go. Your wife is still waiting.”
At Azadin’s words, Sir Brock’s expression hardened even more.
*********
“Alright. We shook them off!”
Shati breathed a sigh of relief.
“This place is protected by magic.”
The village brothel had a door hidden by Naga magic. Shati confirmed the protective spell on the door was intact and cautiously cast an opening spell to enter the building.
Inside, there were injured Nagas, though bloodstained.
“Urk. You…”
“Traitor!?”
Surprisingly, these were the Nagas who had hired Scott Macgreen to attack Count Lantariq’s bridgehead fortress. She’d thought they might have fled nearby and come here, but she hadn’t expected to meet them like this.
“No, no. I was an infiltration agent for Salasma. I was captured by the enemy as a POW and escaped.”
“POW? Hilarious.”
“You weren’t cooperating actively? We already reported your name straight to the higher-ups, so prepare yourself.”
“Don’t do that. If I’d betrayed you, would I have come here alone? More importantly, what the hell happened? I heard a Nether monster was summoned but went out of control.”
“It’s not a matter of controllable or not.”
“It hasn’t fully manifested in our reality yet. Once it does, we’re all done for.”
“Huh?”
“Ugh… cold.”
The Nagas groaned. They too bore wounds similar to the were-rats Shati had seen on the surface earlier. The injured areas were freezing over, blood icing solid.
“This is…”
“We have to kill the liquor woman. She’s the conduit letting the Nether monster interfere in this world.”
Even as they accused Shati of being a spy, they were sharing what they knew.
“But the liquor woman has been pulled into a dimension similar to the Nether monster’s, so she doesn’t manifest easily.”
“Can’t we just take down the Nether monster?”
“Take it down? Heh…”
“With a giant bigger than Karagara’s bell tower walking around?”
Karagara had been a great Naga city in the past, said to dwarf any human architecture. A giant larger than Karagara’s bell tower? Shati swallowed hard.
“I didn’t see anything like that.”
“It appears now and then amid the cold and fog.”
“And its kin pour out every time.”
“Our magic barely plucks a single hair off it, if we’re lucky.”
The always arrogant Nagas were now shockingly self-deprecating.
“Any other survivors inside?”
“…We were going to offer the New King Scripture to the Cobra Queen.”
“There’s a mad orc who says to return the New King Scripture to the King’s Radiance to banish the Nether monster.”
“That guy killed the were-rats, grabbed the New King Scripture, and fled underground.”
“King’s Radiance… you say?”
Shati was appalled.
This was like an outpost of the Naga Empire; there would be copies of the New King Scripture collected by Nagas nearby, the hope of the Naga Empire, the Kurt Pantheon, and all who served the Kurt divine race.
Yet an orc was stepping up to use it to empower the King’s Radiance—that accursed thing—just to fend off the Nether monster?
“There was a city here long ago. It sank, becoming an underground sewer system, and the village was built on top. We chose this as a safehouse because there were plenty of usable underground spaces without needing renovations.”
“In other words, there are sewers connected here. But be careful. Inside, besides the orc who betrayed us and stole the New King Scripture…”
“The witch who summoned that Nether monster—the lord’s wife—is there too!”
“Got it. Then I’ll definitely… Ah?”
Shati noticed the Nagas’ reactions had stopped. The chill devouring them had reached their hearts and marrow.
“They’re gone.”
Just then, a voice that shouldn’t have been heard came from behind Shati. Azadin had somehow approached her side and was checking the Naga youths’ conditions.
“Eek?!”
Shati whipped around in shock, but Azadin casually propped his chin.
“Sending Shati ahead really made getting info easy. If I’d spoken to them, they’d have died before saying a word.”
“W-Wait a sec!”
Shati freaked out at Azadin appearing silently beside her, but a blade was already at her throat.
“Shh.”
Midiam made a quiet gesture.
“Underground—the sound echoes.”
Ismail whispered hushedly too.
“Huh?”
Shati realized not just them, but the human holy knights, the bronze knight Brand, and even the arrogant orc necromancer Scott Macgreen were all holding their breath.
“You guys don’t mean…?”
“Yeah. We saw the Nether monster.”
Azadin’s expression was grave too.
“Karagara’s bell tower, huh? Nagas sure are proud of Karagara.”
“Huh?”
“A mountain was walking around. Karagara’s bell tower isn’t that big, right?”
“…….”
From Azadin’s words, the Nether monster seemed like something you really didn’t want to tangle with.
“You saw it? What was it like?”
“What was it like? Hm, good timing. I’ll tell you while we rest up.”
Azadin explained to Shati what had happened when they encountered the Nether monster.