Chapter 747: Eerie Grin
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 747: Eerie Grin
The air grew colder and colder, and a thin layer of frost had clearly formed on the ground.
Even in the depths of an underground cavern of unknown scale, such a temperature was unnaturally low.
"Is it the mist?"
Ariel’s perception spread out quickly. The freezing cold seemed to emanate from the thickening mist, but aside from that, she found nothing else unusual about it for the time being.
However, it wasn't just the bone-deep cold that chilled her at this moment; it was a certain shudder brought on by the "creepy" appearance of the monster before her.
This damn thing looked absolutely terrifying. Compared to the illustrations of ghouls Ariel had seen in storybooks, the difference was like a pink doll versus a chainsaw-wielding maniac.
Most importantly, from the moment this "Ghoul" appeared, it hadn't shown any other emotion.
He... no, it had been smiling the whole time.
A pair of lidless, bloodshot eyes stared straight at Ariel, bulging wide. Its mouth was split almost to its ears, revealing two rows of large white teeth that were far too straight for a monster.
It kept smiling.
An eerie, sinister grin.
"He-he."
"He-he your head!"
Ariel wasn't about to just sit there and wait for death.
She had only been observing, though unfortunately, she still couldn't tell exactly what this thing was.
A distorted Low Demon?
An indigenous inhabitant of these underground caves?
Or perhaps... some kind of humanoid Magical Beast?
She didn't know. It was clearly impossible to figure it out just by looking.
Therefore, after determining that neither communication nor observation would yield results, Ariel launched an attack without hesitation.
So what if it was a Ghoul? A freakish thing like this was nowhere near enough to stop her and Miss Muse from their intimate time together!
"Heavenly Fire—Draw!!"
Blazing light slashed through the mist. Ariel pounced like a leopard that had been coiled for a long time. Although she was still heavily injured and far from recovered, her explosive speed was still staggering.
In the blink of an eye, she was in front of the Ghoul.
Her greatsword swung down from above while flames swirled in from both sides, instantly sealing off the Ghoul’s paths of retreat.
The Ghoul didn't retreat.
Its unnaturally strong, thick forearms snapped upward, claws crossing to meet Ariel’s Heavenly Fire Greatsword head-on.
Clang—!
The collision of sword and claw produced a piercing, screeching sound.
"So hard."
Ariel instinctively gritted her teeth. Her sudden, explosive strike hadn't managed to break through the Ghoul’s defense.
This thing’s strength, not just its speed, exceeded her expectations.
"But—how about this?"
A cold smirk suddenly played across Ariel’s lips.
Her body twisted violently, the broad blade prying open the Ghoul’s locked claws. Crimson-gold runes flowed across the Heavenly Fire Greatsword as an even more terrifying power brewed within the blade at high speed.
The Ghoul clearly sensed the danger instinctively and tried to flee, but the flames surrounding Ariel burned even more fiercely, forming a wall of searing heat that completely blocked its escape.
If it was fast, she would use Divine Blessing Power to forcibly lock it down.
If it was strong, she would use even greater strength to break through head-on.
The moment she identified what her enemy excelled at, Ariel had already formulated the perfect strategy to crush it.
"I really am a genius."
The corners of Ariel’s mouth curled higher as the greatsword in her hands erupted with unimaginable heat and light!
"Heavenly Fire—Judgment!"
Boom!
Under the flames and sword light, all shadows and filth ceased to exist. When the light and fire finally dissipated, only drifting black embers remained before Ariel’s eyes.
It was over.
Ariel stood firm once more.
Her body swayed slightly, but she quickly stabilized herself through sheer force of will and control.
While forcing such a powerful burst of strength from her heavily injured body was indeed a strain, she had at least successfully dealt with the target.
"You thought you could stop me with just that? A bit too optimistic, don't you think, Miss Muse?"
Ariel gently nuzzled the cheek of Miss Muse, who was resting against her shoulder. Feeling the warmth, her heart skipped a beat with joy. Even this small act of intimacy was enough to give her a fresh surge of strength.
"Let’s keep moving. Following Miss Muse’s guidance, it doesn't look like we should stay here for long."
Ariel didn't hesitate. After tightening the rope connecting her to Miss Muse on her back, she dragged her gradually weakening body forward at a quick pace.
The mist still hadn't dispersed.
The Divine Fire she had just ignited had only briefly driven back the freezing fog. After all, the mist covered too vast an area; it was unrealistic to expect to clear it entirely.
The darkness remained deep and profound.
"According to the usual tropes, there shouldn't be just one of these monsters."
Ariel observed her surroundings warily.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, she keenly sensed shadows flickering rapidly through the mist not far away.
At the same time...
"Uuuh..."
A low, haunting, eerie sound of sobbing began to echo through the mist.
The crying sounded like a little girl who couldn't find her mother, or a middle-aged man coming home late from overtime only to see a pair of strange men's leather shoes in the entryway, or perhaps a lonely old man staring at the sea with nothing left to his name.
The sobbing drifted and swirled, carrying an endless sense of sorrow.
"Heh. If laughing doesn't work, you change tactics and try to play the pity card?"
Ariel didn't slow her pace, merely curling her lip in disdain.
Trying to influence her mind this way was far too low-level.
Was she really that fragile of a person?
But...
Come to think of it, she really had been quite unlucky lately.
She had originally planned to sneak into Gutons Fortress for a perfect "hero saves the beauty" moment, hoping to capture the hearts of countless young girls and fulfill her grand ambition of filling her crystal palace.
But in the end, she had been hunted the entire way.
Zagu, the Grand Duke of Bewitchment, the Skinner... and now these monsters, one after another. Even the protagonists of those boring, cliché heroic novels didn't have it this rough.
I'm so tired...
I really want to cry...
Maybe I should just give up...
After all, with my chest being this small, there's really no point...
"Wait, no!"
Ariel snapped awake.
She stopped abruptly, stabbing the Heavenly Fire Greatsword into the ground in front of her. Then... she reached out with her left hand and dragged her palm forcefully across the sharp edge of the blade.
The pain of flesh being torn by the blade and the cold sting stimulated her nerves, finally restoring some clarity to her consciousness, which had unknowingly begun to slip.
What the hell was she doing?
Was this the time to be talking like a loser?
Miss Muse was still waiting for her to lead them to safety and start a wonderful story together!
"And thinking back, something’s been off since a moment ago..." Ariel murmured under her breath.
When facing that "grinning" Ghoul, she had seemed unnaturally excited.
Even if that freak was scary, did she really need to put that much effort into killing it?
Especially in her current state where mana and Fighting Spirit were in short supply—she had plenty of more efficient moves she could have used...
"Waaaah..."
The eerie sobbing continued. Ariel spun around, took a step forward, and thrust the Heavenly Fire Greatsword toward a spot nearby.
"There you are!"
Searing flames erupted once more, driving away the cold and the mist. The blade pierced through flesh, and the wailing monster finally appeared before Ariel’s eyes.
It was another Ghoul.
Yes, a Ghoul.
In terms of size, features, and appearance, it seemed no different from the previous one. It still had wrinkled skin, overly strong forearms, and... a human face.
But this time, beneath those bulging eyes, the Ghoul’s mouth was no longer curled upward. Instead, it was pulled down as far as it could go, forming an expression of extreme sorrow.
A thick, pitch-black liquid flowed continuously from beneath its eyes. The sobbing sounds, sounding as if they were being played by some Phonograph, didn't stop even as Ariel’s blade pierced its chest.
"This thing can influence emotions?"
Looking at that bizarrely weeping face, Ariel instantly understood where her previous abnormality had come from.
The Ghoul laughed, so she became unnaturally excited.
The Ghoul cried, so she became so despondent she almost wanted to end it all.
She was being influenced by these Ghouls without even realizing it.
"Hey, hey... this ability is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Ariel’s eye twitched.
"And with one crying and one laughing, don't tell me there are versions with other expressions too!"
"ROAR!!"
As if to confirm Ariel’s suspicion, a deafening roar echoed from within the mist.
Ariel turned her head just in time to see another Ghoul emerge from the darkness.
This Ghoul was neither laughing nor crying.
Its bloodshot eyes were wide, and its lips were pressed tightly together, almost forming a straight line.
It was in a state of rage.
The moment Ariel saw this Ghoul, a terrifying fury ignited in her chest. She didn't know where this anger came from, but it immediately made her want to rush forward and tear the Ghoul to shreds.
"Dammit!"
She couldn't charge. If she wasted any more stamina recklessly, she would definitely die here, let alone get Miss Muse out!
Ariel bit the tip of her tongue again, forcing herself to stay conscious while simultaneously finishing off the crying Ghoul with a single strike.
This Ghoul also dissolved into black embers.
The sorrow in Ariel’s heart vanished, but the rage grew even more intense.
Just as Ariel was thinking about how to suppress this inexplicable anger, another emotion flooded her heart.
This emotion was not unfamiliar to her, because she recognized the sound that accompanied it.
"He-he."
The hair on her neck stood on end.
Upon hearing that eerie grin, a terrifying chill raced up Ariel’s spine, straight to her brain, where it seemed to perform a little tap dance.
That Laughing Ghost?
It was still alive?
Ariel turned her head with great difficulty. Because her movements were so stiff, she could actually hear the sound of her vertebrae grinding together.
Sure enough, as the freezing mist surged... the terrifying Ghoul crawled out of the fog on all fours.
Its size, posture, wrinkled skin, and those lidless, bulging, bloodshot eyes... this Ghoul looked no different from the others.
Except for the corners of its mouth, which were curled high, almost reaching its ears, fixed in an eerie grin.
"He-he."