Waterfall of Corpses
Waterfall of Corpses
The group gathered before the snow-covered Yergina, buzzing with chatter.
"She looks terrifying. Ian, do you know her?"
"That's the second princess, Yergina Pierce. She's the one we were briefed about on the train. We saw her at the ball, too."
"Then she really is scary!"
"Well, yeah."
"Guys, I think she's frozen solid."
"We should probably thaw her out, meow."
"Alright, I'll hit her with a Fireball. Ifrit—eek!"
Yergina's eyes snapped open.
"You're a noisy bunch."
She blinked a few times. The flakes of snow resting on her long lashes scattered down.
Rina and Danya, convinced she was frozen solid, recoiled in alarm.
"Y-you weren't dead?"
"I thought you were completely iced over!"
"Just what do you people take me for... Never mind."
Tap. Tap.
After brushing the rest of the snow off her head and shoulders, Yergina flashed a grin.
"Thank you. I'll warmly accept the sentiment—even the part about trying to roast me with a Fireball."
Seeing that smile, Rina whispered to Ian.
"I thought she was super scary. Guess not."
"No, she is scary. She can turn a person into powder with one punch."
"Eep!"
"...Hey, you."
Ian, who was busy spreading facts, found himself singled out by Yergina.
"I'm trying to lighten the mood in a crisis. Stop spreading unnecessary rumors."
Having been hauled to the front by his own doing, Ian asked, "Why were you standing here like this?"
"I intended to keep my body functioning and wait until someone came along."
"...Someone?"
"Since so many people were swallowed up, there had to be at least one survivor. I judged that I needed comrades."
"Comrades... does that mean you trust us?"
At Ian's question, Yergina looked mildly puzzled and asked back, "Didn't you say it yourself?"
"?"
"That you had an interest in me."
"Ah. Yes."
Ian just went with it for now.
But still.
'If someone confesses to her, she just trusts them?'
...This person seemed like the type who'd fall for a scam easily.
And Ian quickly realized he had nothing to worry about on that front.
'Right, because even if she gets scammed, she can just smash the problem into pieces.'
His eyes landed on the chain flail she wore against her thigh—her primary weapon.
Noticing his gaze, Yergina smirked.
"Don't worry. I watched your matches in the Grand Martial Tournament. I understand your sincerity."
"Thank you."
"So, will you join me?"
In any case, even by the standards of the North where monsters roamed freely, Yergina was an absolute powerhouse. She had something of a violent streak, but she was a reliable figure.
And given the characteristic efficiency she'd developed from long years with soldiers, persuading her would be simple. There was no reason to refuse.
"Of course."
"A wise choice. I happened to need people to watch my back."
"Did you also discover the corpses, Lady Yergina?"
"You've seen them as well?"
"Yes."
"Hoh. You must have a better guide than I thought."
Flinch.
Under Yergina's gaze, Danya's tail drooped low.
"Haha. It happens. The scent of blood must be confusing you. I'll take the lead for now."
After studying Danya for a moment, Yergina strode forward with a hearty smile.
She was the very picture of a commander.
◆
Whenever the wind blew, fine particles of snow from the ground scattered into the air.
The surroundings were hazy, as if shrouded in fog.
Crunch. Crunch.
Walking behind Yergina and watching her back, Ian gradually slowed his pace.
He fell into step with Danya. Her tail was still drooping.
Her mental state was obvious.
"Scared?"
Nod. Nod.
Danya spoke. "The scent of blood is strong."
"Scent of blood?"
"Yeah. It smells like a whole lot of different kinds of blood mixed together, meow..."
Certainly, the number of enemies Yergina had crushed so far had to be at least three digits. He could understand why Danya felt overwhelmed.
But.
This was no longer the academy grounds. This was real combat, where opponents died and you could die. That was likely Yergina's reality, too. If she hadn't cut them down, she would have been the one cut down.
Ian opened his mouth to say as much.
But.
"......."
Looking at Danya's expression, he quietly shut it again.
Her eyes were already filled with resolve.
Come to think of it, this was a truth Danya—a native of this world far longer than Ian himself—knew all too well.
She just needed a little time to overcome her instincts.
Without a word, Ian placed a hand on top of Danya's head.
And gave it a gentle stroke.
"Aren't you cold...?!"
Rina glanced back this way, then hastily turned her head away.
Danya's tail gradually began to lift again.
Only when her tail stood fully upright did Ian stop his hand.
—Whoooosh.
A biting wind swept over them.
Danya's nose twitched again.
Clench.
She tightened her fist and shouted toward Yergina. "That way, meow!"
At the verbal slip in such a serious moment, Ian had to muster every ounce of his strength not to laugh.
"Th-that way."
Danya opened her mouth again, more cautiously.
As she indicated, beyond the hazy visibility, zombie-like corpses came into view.
"Well done, cat girl!"
Danya flinched, then nodded.
With a dependable, commander-like smile, Yergina prepared to leap forward.
Ian quickly asked, "Do you have a plan in mind?"
"A plan?"
Yergina lifted the chain flail from her thigh.
"There's no need."
The moment she touched it, the head of the flail froze pure white, growing as large as a person's torso.
"We just smash it all."
Fwoooosh—!
With overwhelming force, Yergina charged.
"Just cover my back!"
Seeing her back ignited a fierce will to fight.
Yergina truly possessed the strength to command people.
—Grrrrrrk?
—Gyaaaaaaak!
The corpse zombies looked even more grotesque up close.
Yergina hurled herself among them.
—Crunch! Crack! Pop!
In a single blow, the heads of five corpses burst apart.
A shiver ran down Ian's spine.
From Yergina's overwhelming martial power. And from the state of his own mind, where fear had vanished in the wake of her momentum.
'This is a Five-Star Seat.'
The morning star Yergina raised high suddenly swelled to the size of a boulder.
Boo—BOOM!
It crushed over a dozen corpses flat.
—Ruuuuuumble!
The shockwave triggered avalanches of snow on both sides.
With a tremendous roar, the snow cascaded down the cliff.
Just as Ian had suspected, this place filled with corpses was a sort of pathway and bridge-like structure leading to the opposite landmass.
Beyond it, something loomed faintly upright.
And that huge hole torn open... was it a cave?
—Shatter!
Before he could observe further, another strike from Yergina rained down, and a few corpses managed to evade it.
Their movements were clearly abnormal.
And the biggest problem was their sheer number.
The corpses kept emerging endlessly from somewhere.
"...Just how many humans did you swallow, Richard?"
What they had assumed were dozens of corpses had now swelled into the hundreds.
Literally a tide of corpses.
"Hraaaaah!"
Yergina shifted her attack pattern to focus on wide-area skills, but the more mana she imbued, the better the corpses began to dodge her strikes.
Among them, one dagger-wielding corpse in particular stood out with exceptionally agile movements.
Ian, who had been keeping a close watch on it, dashed forward.
—Clang!
He blocked the blow aimed at Yergina's exposed back and immediately launched a counterstrike at the corpse's head.
Crunch. With a sickening sound, the corpse dissolved into dust.
"Thank you."
"Breaking through like this is impossible."
"Hmm. You felt it too?"
"Yes. Their reaction to mana is abnormally sharp. This isn't ordinary necromancy. I'm not doubting your skill, Lady Yergina, but..."
"But?"
"Anything other than physical attacks will be difficult."
Yergina's combat style centered on using the flail as a medium for various frost-type skills.
A drop in mana efficiency was a grave situation.
Even so.
Thud. Smash.
Her sheer physical force was still overwhelming.
After popping three corpses' heads with a single swing of the flail, Yergina muttered, "These things are truly grotesque."
A sudden idea flashed through Ian's mind.
"I have a method."
"Aren't you a mage?"
"Yes. Please buy me some time."
Ian immediately fell back.
"Keep providing covering fire!"
After relaying the order to Danya and Rina, he sprinted further behind them.
And once he had put a sufficient distance between himself and the front lines.
"Extract."
Ian drew soil and metals from the ground.
At the same time, he shaped them into a sphere.
Rumble.
He let it roll.
It was heavy at first, but the subtle downward slope gradually increased its speed.
"Extract."
He continued extracting without pause, even as it rolled.
The mass of soil mixed with the surrounding snow and grew larger and larger.
"Danya! Rina!"
The eyes of the two who had been supporting Yergina widened in shock.
"Uwaaah! Ian, what did you make this time?!"
"I-it's huge!"
"Don't just stare—help me roll it!"
Crunch. Crackle.
It seemed to be picking up scattered bones from the ground, but this was no time to be picky.
The lump of snow, soil, and bone quickly grew to the size of a boulder—no, a small house.
Rrrrrruuuumble—!
Yergina, who had been sweeping aside zombies, looked back at the noise, her eyes flying wide.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Get out of the way!"
Yergina swiftly threw herself to the side to dodge, then immediately fell back to join them, adding her strength to the rolling mass of soil, snow, and corpses.
—Crack! Crunch! Rumble!
It rolled out of their hands at a speed they could no longer hope to control.
They stopped in place and silently watched the mass recede into the distance.
—Grrk?... Crack!
—Grrrrrk!... Crack!
The corpses, their physical sight and senses clearly degraded, stood there blankly before being flattened or ground up into the ever-growing snowball.
Someone muttered.
"...It looks like a giant snowman made of rotten mud."
"I'm afraid I'll see it in my nightmares."
The snowball hurtled along the path between the sheer cliffs.
Thousands of corpses crushed beneath the giant snowball or cascading off the cliffs on either side.
It was, quite literally, a waterfall of corpses.
A spectacle both magnificent and grotesque.