Chapter 773: Floating Corpses
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 773: Floating Corpses
"Are you kidding me..."
Staring at the bloody spectacle in the distance, even a man as stout-hearted as Donnik stood frozen in shock. "Are the demons... slaughtering their own?"
Was this some new method of enforcing discipline?
Even considering the inherent madness and ferocity of the demon race, this seemed far too extreme.
"Donnik." Lorne, who had been watching the scene with cold eyes, suddenly glanced over, his brow furrowed.
"Ah—yes! Sir!" Donnik snapped to attention, awaiting the Duke’s orders.
"Pass down my command: every soldier on rest is to enter combat status immediately. Empty the armory. Bring everything—alchemy bombs, magic scrolls, healing supplies, anything that can assist in the defense—up to the city walls. Every soldier capable of fighting is to take up arms."
The bloody scene was reflected in Lorne’s eyes. His expression remained unchanged, but only he knew that his body was beginning to tense instinctively.
"The final tidal wave is coming."
"Tidal... wave?"
Donnik hesitated for a moment before realizing what the Duke meant.
Those low demons, slaughtered for no reason and driven like cattle, would be spurred by some primal instinct. Even if they did not fear death, they would hurl themselves at the city walls with a renewed, frantic desperation.
For this wall, which had been held with such difficulty and was already on the verge of collapse, that would be a wave... a monstrous, overwhelming wave.
"Go, now!"
"Yes, sir!"
His military discipline took over, and Donnik regained his composure. He turned and sprinted away, leading his personal guards to issue orders and steady the troops' morale with practiced efficiency.
Once Donnik had left, Lorne turned sharply toward Verner.
"How are you? Can you still hold on?"
"Duke... I..."
With no one else around, Verner suddenly collapsed to his knees, his entire body curling inward in agony.
His frame began to convulse, his limbs twisting at grotesque angles as if something were wrestling him for control of his own body. In his eyes, a crimson light flickered in and out, accompanied by a madness that seemed ready to erupt.
That scarlet hue and frantic energy were identical to those seen in the high-class demons riding the behemoths.
"As I thought. You’re being affected too?"
With Lorne’s keen perception, he had naturally noticed the abnormality in the demons. Though he didn't know the cause, he had guessed that Verner would inevitably be influenced.
As for why Verner would be affected by the demon race...
"It seems the demon high command has made a major move, and the effect is rippling through their entire race."
Lorne placed a hand on Verner’s shoulder. His powerful fighting spirit surged, finally granting Verner some relief. The crimson light in the depths of his eyes receded once more.
"My apologies, Duke..."
Verner panted heavily, a bitter smile touching his lips. "I still cannot escape this curse."
"There is nothing to apologize for. This isn't your fault."
"No, it is mine... or rather, ours. A mistake committed a thousand years ago."
"What do you mean?"
Lorne frowned, staring intently at the man who had been his right hand for years—his strategist, his close friend, and a man whose true identity was that of a high-class demon.
From the moment Verner had joined his service, Lorne had trusted him unconditionally. He had never doubted him, even knowing that Verner harbored secrets he couldn't speak of, even knowing he was a demon.
And Verner had lived up to those expectations. As a deputy, as the most brilliant subordinate of the Lion King Lorne Campbell, Verner had performed every duty flawlessly.
But at this moment, Lorne felt a strange sensation—as if something happening to Verner had suddenly spiraled out of his control.
"The ones at fault are the demons, and Grand Duke Divine Will. Not you, Verner. You severed your ties with them long ago!" Lorne emphasized. "Wasn’t it because you believed that to be true that you came to find me in the first place?"
Lorne remembered years ago, when this reckless demon had sought him out. Using perfect human etiquette and elegant movements, he had introduced himself:
“Greetings, most esteemed Lion King Lorne Campbell. I am the demon Verner. I know you loathe my kind and wish to kill me, but I hope you will hear my request before you do...”
"Have you forgotten, Verner? Have you forgotten why you took such a massive risk to stay by my side?"
"No, Duke, you misunderstand. What I’m talking about has nothing to do with that. I simply remembered something just now... things that happened a thousand years ago."
Verner recalled the blurred images that had flashed through his mind the moment the demons began charging their own. He smiled, yet he began to cry in a bizarre fashion—and his tears seemed red, stained with blood.
"I understand. I finally understand. The entire demon race consists of sinners. Myself included."
"Verner!"
Lorne’s aura erupted. The power of a Crown Bearer instantly locked down Verner’s body, temporarily isolating him from whatever was influencing him.
But he was a step too late. Verner had directly shattered his own heart meridians. This absolute, decisive act of suicide was something even a Crown Bearer was powerless to stop. Lorne could only use his strength to forcibly sustain Verner’s final spark of life.
Clink.
Simultaneously, accompanied by the faint, ghostly sound of rattling chains, Lorne felt something being violently wrenched out of Verner’s body.
"Damn it!"
The Brilliant Crown descended. Lorne instantly expanded his Domain. Amidst the roar of a blood-red lion, he finally saw it: a chain reaching deep into Verner’s soul.
In a fit of rage, he grabbed the chain, intending to snap it. But the moment he applied pressure, Verner let out a muffled groan of agony. It was as if what was being torn wasn't just the chain, but his already fractured soul.
"It’s no use, Duke. The entire demon race has been bound by it for a thousand years. But it is not just a shackle; it is also our support and protection..."
Verner’s breath grew increasingly faint, to the point where Lorne didn't dare use too much force. He could only remain in a stalemate, preventing the chain from dragging the soul away.
Verner gave Lorne a weak smile.
"The thing I feared most has begun. I couldn't escape it after all..."
"Look! Over there!"
A soldier running along the wall pointed into the distance, his voice trembling with terror.
More and more people turned to look.
Lorne stood up, his face grim as he looked out over the battlefield.
There, the corpse of a demon that had just died suddenly drifted upward.
First one.
Then two, three... ten... a hundred...
Eventually, there were too many to count.
The world grew dark. What little light remained was blocked by the corpses that were gradually filling the sky. As more demons died, the number of bodies in the air continued to climb.
Those broken, blood-stained corpses, which had only just stopped breathing, were suspended in mid-air as if by invisible hooks, swaying back and forth in the wind.
The sight was enough to make even the Lion King’s skin crawl.
But Lorne knew these corpses weren't floating on their own. They were being hoisted by chains—chains connected to their souls. As the chains rose, the souls were gradually stripped from the flesh, and the bodies began to plummet back to the earth.
Thousands of corpses rose; thousands of corpses fell. And on the ground, the slaughter continued.
It wasn't just the high-class demons massacring the low demons anymore. The low demons who had been charging the wall suddenly turned on one another for some unknown reason, attacking their companions with feral madness.
Surrounded by the high walls, the battlefield had transformed into a pure slaughterhouse in a matter of minutes.
"What is the meaning of this... What is the demons' goal?" Lorne murmured instinctively. His intuition told him that something horrific was happening in this Abyss, something that might even be beyond his understanding.
"Rest easy, Duke. At least for now, it seems the demons... or rather, Grand Duke Divine Will... their target isn't the Empire. It never was."
Verner struggled to open his eyes, silently watching the scene. The Lion King’s power gave him just enough strength to speak, but he knew it wouldn't last. Mere brute force could not oppose that Ancient Artifact, nor could it stand against the sins the demon race had carried for a millennium.
"It’s a pity... Duke, those punches you gave me earlier... you should have hit me harder."
Lorne looked down sharply, looking like an enraged lion, yet he had no idea how to vent his fury.
"You... did that on purpose?"
"Cough... you could say that."
"Why? Muen didn't do anything to you, did he?"
Lorne grabbed Verner by the collar, just as he had during the meeting when he learned Muen had gone to the Abyss.
His love for his child ultimately outweighed his grief for his friend.
But he didn't punch the man again.
You cannot kill a man who is already dying.
"Perhaps it was... a hunch?" Verner said after a moment’s thought.
"A hunch? Because of something like that?"
"Yes. Strange, isn't it?"
Verner used the last of his strength to turn his head, looking toward the horizon, far beyond the vast plains.
His expression was nostalgic, yet lost. Through countless cycles of reincarnation, most of his ancient memories had been washed away, leaving him unable to explain the source of that intuition.
Yet, because of that inexplicable feeling, he had made a despicable decision. Using high-sounding reasons and excuses, he had pushed the only son of the Campbell family—the family to whom he owed everything—into the massive fire pit that was Gutons Fortress.
"A hunch I can't even put into words made me feel that if it were Young Master Muen, he could solve the problem there... But when I saw the old him at the Duke’s estate, I never felt that way. Why is that?"
Verner murmured, asking a question that no one could answer.
*
"Move, move, move! Don't just stand there, get to the wall!"
Inside the fortress, Donnik was still boisterously urging the soldiers on, having not yet noticed the even more bizarre mutations occurring on the battlefield.
Suddenly, he whipped his head around, his eyes fixed on the wall behind him.
The wall was empty. Donnik didn't even know why he was staring at it.
"Damn it, that's weird. What's wrong with me today? Have I gone too long without sleep?"
Donnik scratched his head and returned his attention to the task at hand.
"I’d better hurry, or that bastard Verner will start nagging again. Calling me stupid... I think you’re the stupid one, Verner. You even got thrashed by the Duke last time."
Donnik shook his head with a smug grin. "I have to perform well this time. I'll show the Duke how useless you are, and then he'll punch you again. Hehe..."