Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Sorrow Will Come (2)
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"Does even a curse not work on the Hero?"
The princess gnashed her teeth, glaring at her sword, and asked again. Neither her sword nor the witch's curse had any effect.
"Is it the influence of the Mir..."
If not that, she wondered inwardly.
"Iven of Bnaun, a worm of a man."
Until now, aside from Bulki, he was the only man her sword had failed against once. He was the man who had incurred her wrath and left everything in ruins. In that instant, the princess's face twisted in revulsion at the thought that she was dwelling on such a lowly thing.
If she could, she would kill him every time he crossed her mind.
If she could just once, she would definitely kill him.
"My goddess Mifplas would decree it so."
She slowly rose to her feet, wiped her body with her veil, changed into her saintess robes, and left the saintess's chambers. In the early dawn, all the faithful who had gathered in the grand cathedral awaiting her mass welcomed her.
"Oh, beautiful agent of El Mifplas."
"Saintess chosen by the gods, save us!"
"Gaze upon us with those beautiful eyes."
Some shed tears, while others praised every part of her.
"Ahh, my beloved subjects."
The princess looked down upon her subjects and thought.
What story shall I tell today? Another tale of Mifplas? Or perhaps the emperor's martial feats or the Hero's adventures?
Everything in the empire was her story, all of it hers. She gazed upon those awaiting her words.
Her slaves, who would babble whatever she pleased, her own tale.
Boom!
But this was not the princess's story.
A massive crash echoed as something enormous collapsed, shaking the ground like an earthquake. At that moment, a knight burst through the cathedral doors and shouted.
"Princess! You must evacuate! Subjects, everyone out-now!"
The staggering princess tried to see what was happening.
No, she tried to check.
Boom!
In an instant, the grand cathedral before her eyes was crushed under a massive boulder and collapsed entirely. Be they subjects under the emperor's protection, knights with the power to defend themselves, or priests who believed in the gods-they all died right before her eyes.
"What in the..."
The princess hurriedly got to her feet and escaped the dust cloud. Beyond the cathedral's crumbled walls, and even farther past Sonain's ramparts, stood something she had never seen in her entire life.
Groooar.
Of truly overwhelming size-the king of the mountain giants. The princess smiled at the mountain giant king piercing the early dawn darkness and said.
"Now this is interesting."
Once more entranced in ecstasy, she raised both hands to welcome the mountain giant king warmly.
May that monster kill even more things and bring even greater amusements.
***
And back to the present. The Hero's party had already been racing from the entrance of Granblad Canyon for quite some time, ignoring even the flying Joins as they pressed on relentlessly.
"A week is too late! Faster, Cheret!"
Bulki urged even greater speed, but he held back from pulling too far ahead since he had to carry the whole group.
"Hero! What are we to do?"
"We haven't even grasped the full situation yet, Rondnel! Worry only eats at the soul!"
At that moment, Elis called out to Bulki from behind.
"Hero! At this pace, night and day without rest, it'll still take three days! A mountain giant reaching the sky? I've never heard of such a thing, but it must be stronger than any other mountain giant! Will Sonain hold out until then?"
"Trust in the empire's knights! We have no choice right now!"
"Don't worry! If it's a mountain giant that size, the sun forest fairies will surely have mobilized too!"
Shainelius, riding alongside, chimed in.
"Too late. Someone..."
But Bulki's expression darkened further.
Three days-far too long a time. Just as Elis said, Sonain's walls might have already crumbled by now.
"The captain! Right, if it's the captain, I can'trust him."
Bulki believed in the knights and Riu. If they could just hold out until the dwarves joined, or if that colossal mountain giant had lost its way and attacked Sonain alone...
As he spurred his mount onward, Bulki tried his utmost not to worry. No, he tried not to.
Boom!
Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted from the ground below Granblad Canyon. In its wake burned hellfire, and the nearby Joins all died, plummeting to the earth with a thud.
"What the..."
The Hero's party following behind could only halt before the roaring deep purple flames.
And beyond those flames stood a demon unlike any Bulki had ever seen.
Grrr.
The demon's form was so twisted it defied description, as if the world's distortions had been painted onto it.
Yet through its long, dangling black hair peeked eyes that felt strangely familiar. Instinctively averting his gaze, the Hero asked.
"Who are you? A corpse-eater from nearby? Or can you even speak?"
But this was not the Hero's story.
The grotesque horned demon that appeared before Bulki stroked its neck with a massive werewolf arm, then stared straight at him and spoke in a rough but clear voice.
"Do you not remember me, the one who killed your friend?"
'Imperial Year 260: Third Demon Invasion Begins.'
"I am the Demon King who will kill you. Draw your sword, Hero."
It was the king of men.
The horn of impurities fallen from all myths-Iven van Ivelhac.
Recorded later as the tale of the day he felled the Hero.
***
The witch once more turned the pages of fate in the space-time dark as the cosmos itself.
"So, the left is the demons' tale, and the other side is the knights'."
How was it back then? What feelings did they hold, and what songs did they sing in death?
As if savoring a pleasant fancy or reminiscing over fond memories, the witch hummed a tune while reading on. Then she startled, peering at the lines and muttering to herself.
"Oh dear, look at me! I need to sync the story's timeline first, don't I?"
With that, she flipped the pages forward again and said.
"It was such a horribly sad scene that I wanted to skip it, but just wait a little longer."
To whom she spoke was unclear, but she wore an expression of delight that her own story was truly beginning.
***
The day before Iven would meet Bulki again.
The colossal mountain giant king that emerged from the eastern sea of the imperial capital Sonain truly had horns scraping the heavens. Like those of a giant stag, the two massive trees sprouting from the mountain giant's head had been plucked from Great Demon King Lucifer van Ivelhac's own eyes and planted there by his hand.
Boom!
The mountain giant king before the walls swung its brutish arm, smashing the ramparts to pieces. The power within its horns was simple indeed.
Strength.
Overwhelming strength.
In the early dawn, the mountain giant king hurled debris from the crumbled walls indiscriminately toward Sonain. With one swing, the grand cathedral and its surroundings were reduced to dust.
"Yerutsa Rahav!"
"Second Knight Order, load the rampart turrets! First Knight Order, unleash everything you've got!"
"Hold the line! Yerutsa Rahav!"
The knights remaining in Sonain evacuated the subjects and managed to land blows that could at least inflict some damage, but the mountain giant king ignored them entirely, merely scooping up house-sized boulders in one hand and tossing them.
Right then,
"Incantation: Mirror of the Radiant Moon."
It was Nia. For some reason, Nia was flying through the sky, reflecting the raining boulders right back at it. As its own hurled rock came flying back wreathed in blue light, the mountain giant king raised its other hand to block.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the barrage of multicolored attacks raining down in perfect timing, the enraged mountain giant king roared and raised both arms. Several knights below sensed their doom, but from behind them came a deafening roar as a possessed gale slammed into the mountain giant king like a tempest and passed.
"Fall! Please, just fall!"
Mountains do not shake before the wind, but since Saint Holden relentlessly hammered it with fists and feet, the mountain giant king could not withstand the pressure and toppled backward.
"It's only fallen! Press the attack! Ah! What is that?"
Saint, gazing beyond the walls from atop the fallen giant, could only gasp in horror. Just like during the Second Demon Invasion, mountain giants were slowly marching toward Sonain.
Saint pondered briefly. Was it better to hold the front line here with the walls, or take the knights and advance to position the front farther from Sonain?
"Damn it all!"
But standing idle achieved nothing, so he decided to act before thinking.
"Fire the rampart shells as soon as they're loaded! We'll dodge on our own!"
The sight of Saint-who had yet to even manifest his power-rushing forth to maximize the shells' use at the cost of himself reignited the spirits of knights who had lost their will to fight.
Boom!
Yet with a force that crushed all resistance, the mountain giant king rose once more on its massive frame. With those enormous feet, it trampled the knights-mere insects by comparison-like trash.
"How... are we supposed to win against that?"
One knight who witnessed it collapsed, his fighting spirit broken. The mountain giant king moved over him, and in the dust it kicked up, the knights' blood splattered and mingled filthily.
Dozens died with every step. Even with ears deafened by explosions, the knights could hear it. The horrific sound of sorrow approaching the empire.