LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 35
– 1 –
The battle between Copgerin’s elite knights and the Abomination grew increasingly fierce.
Despite the knights pushing the zombies back, there were already significant casualties on their side.
“Die—!!”
– Murrk!
“Kyaaaak!!”
Given their smaller stature, the knights were relatively weaker in one-on-one against the Abominations. The sacrifices incurred were due to the teamwork of the subordinate knights and their defensive maneuvers.
For every arm lost, at least one knight would perish.
Considering each knight was trained to an elite or formal level, this was quite a significant loss for the city.
The bigger issue was that those giant zombies were not going down easily.
Ssss…
“It’s coming.”
And there, behind the giant zombies, a dense fog began to creep in.
The fog shone a deep crimson, as though it was made from evaporated blood.
Its identity was the vampire that spared no magical energy, expanding the ‘Magical Realm’ that should exist within the dungeon to its limits, concurrently taking shape as the vampire’s blood magic.
At the same time.
– Fertilizer…
It was the signal heralding the appearance of Dungeon Lord Serika.
“That’s…!”
“Another enemy!”
It didn’t take long for the people to notice the red fog spreading across the sky like a sunset.
In fact, it would be strange if they hadn’t noticed given its vast coverage.
– I need fertilizer.
“Is that… a mage?”
“A girl? Where did she…?”
“No! It’s the Dungeon Lord! Everyone, focus!!”
The reveal of Dungeon Lord Serika’s appearance bore some resemblance to me.
She wore a dress with an excessive amount of frills, not the more modest attire one might expect when appearing outside, and being quite petite, she gave off a girl-like impression at first glance.
And as a powerful monster that controlled the undead.
Lastly…
“The lady is prettier.”
– Snap!
“I wasn’t thinking that, but thank you, Xue. Eve. Ahem.”
Hmm.
According to Evangeline and Xue, while she was less pretty than me, she was still beautiful, and her resemblance to that human felt somehow inhuman.
If there was a difference, I was dark, and she was exceptionally flamboyant.
– Here. There are many good fertilizer candidates. There are many that could become fine bonsai too.
Golden twin tails and red eyes.
Her appearance was literally like she jumped out of a cartoon.
It was ironic that while I lurked in the dark before dawn, this radiant child was already greeting twilight.
“Mages, assemble—!!!”
“We’ll take down the Dungeon Lord!!”
The humans’ goal was to bring down that radiant star.
“What should we do, Master?”
“There’s no need to rush. Still, we can slowly start to fade from this battlefield.”
The task assigned to me was to give some possibility for another dawn while that twilight star was on the verge of falling.
Of course, I could wait for that rotting star to set and simply devour it like a piece of fruit or deliver only the corpses to the assigned family, but…
“Bitter hardships yield sweet fruits.”
I deliberately planned to choose the difficult path.
To mature more fruits and make them sweeter.
– 2 –
“Everyone. Make me part of my garden.”
As soon as the Dungeon Lord appeared and issued her whimsical command,
All monsters began to rampage more violently. No, not just rampaging but actually grew stronger.
– Kyaaaaaaah – !
Red light surged through the zombies’ bodies, their eyes bloodshot before bursting, turning the whites of their eyes crimson.
Some even wept blood, and the pressure caused by the surging blood formed shimmering heat over the zombies’ skin.
– Kiirooooyoooot – !!!
For the Green Skins that faced this wild chaos unleashed by the rampaging Lord, a greater change occurred. Their green skin transformed into a murky black in an instant.
As if all the blood within their skin had changed color.
– Kihihihit – !!
– Kurraak!!
Both the zombies and Green Skins became more agile, and their strength amplified. The already mad charge they possessed gained further momentum in fiery passion.
“Rise. Corrupted spirits.”
That wasn’t all.
– Gurrrrgh…
As magical energy was poured without restraint, beings corrupted by the blood magic emerged from the tainted nature.
The entities that had been sealed and sleeping by the vampire.
Summoned due to the affinity for land and shadows commonly held by this wicked race, the fallen spirits of earth and darkness.
– Bones… of stone… flesh… of earth… blood… of river…
A spirit of the earth governing the mountain.
If one were to describe its appearance, it resembled a wild boar with short hind legs and long forelegs that could be used to sweep. This being closely resembled one of the main hunting targets of continent hunters, its dark body now brightened with a vivid crimson hue as it opened the eyes that it had kept closed on its forehead.
Long, horizontally and vertically ripped and filled with teeth.
Kiiing – !!
“Gryaaak!!”
What erupted from there was a beam of light.
Fortunately, most managed to evade or block it, yet an unfortunate high-ranking adventurer was struck.
The effect was extremely simple.
“Save me…!”
“No, Kyle!!”
“He’s turned to stone!!”
“Is that the spirit of the mountain? That thing?”
It was petrification.
The third eye that judged those who defied the mountain’s providence began to wield the power to turn all life into stone as its master fell into depravity.
– Do you… see me…?
Along with the mountain spirit, the entity overseeing all caves and creatures at rest, presiding over night and darkness, arose.
However, if druids or seers close to nature were to witness her now, they would be utterly horrified by her appearance, the more powerful their talents.
For her current form was far more hideously distorted than the mountain spirit.
Possessing qualities closer to the essence of a vampire, she had further corrupted, becoming an uncanny entity.
– The abyss… sees you…
The great wings that once covered the sky, bringing forth night, transformed into tendrils that touched the ground.
The eyes that gently observed the dreams and lives of eternally sleeping young beings became segmented, countless eyes that selected lives to be the offerings of nature.
– Sleep… in peace.
Swoosh…!
“Sehera? … Herr? Are you joking?”
The shade that had draped for respite turned into an eternal veil of rest that reaped lives.
If those caught in her grasp weren’t rescued in time, many would vanish pointlessly right at that spot.
“This will make for good fertilizer…”
– …
Thus hovered in the sky, casting ominous strength toward the ground, were one life typically referred to as elite-level and two spirits.
Naturally, Copgerin had prepared their next move.
“…”
“Ugh… This sucks. I should be rolling around in bed right now…”
“Shut up and move.”
A silent mature female mage, a foul-mouthed male swordsman, and a similarly rough but younger female archer made up the trio.
Jinkyung, Alexis, and Lin Xue.
These three were among the most renowned elite-level adventurers, celebrated across Copgerin.
Considering that most adventurers above elite rank operate along the border of the Magical Realm, they were the strongest adventurers currently available in the city.
Of course, this meant they were also the first to receive requests in the city, hence why they could not refuse such a call.
Fleeing from the city’s crisis would be akin to discarding all the reputation built until now.
“Ugh… What the hell. Is this for real? Those rotting pigs look way easier…”
“…”
“That’s right.”
These three were not allies.
If they had decent personalities, they would fill their party with lower-ranked members who could adapt to them, rather than pairing up with people who wouldn’t bend to each other.
To put it simply, two needed someone to match their temperament while one needed someone to assist them.
“I need to smack my pretty girls’ behinds…”
“…”
“Shut up, you filthy beast.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Regardless, they indeed had a party tailored just for them.
For now, they temporarily formed a party among themselves to face the high-ranking rampaging Dungeon Lord and to prevent the deaths of their deeply bonded comrades.
As the knights of the city charged out to confront the Abominations, they alone would stand against the Dungeon Lord and the spirits.
– I’ll go first.
“Huh…!”
The first to move wasn’t the two hotheads, but the usually quiet Jinkyung.
Without waiting for a reply, she relayed her intent to the other two through message magic and took a deep breath.
– From the land of eternal frost, a wind will freeze even darkness and a thunder will shatter everything—!!
Words poured forth in a single breath.
An onlooker ignorant of the circumstances might think it was a comedy skit, but the phenomenon that followed was far from a trivial act—it was an opera.
Nature’s phenomena and magical distortions served as the actors upon the stage of a red sky presided over by the vampire, directed by the mage.
Crackling…!!
Rumbling!!!
On that stage, the two actors, the gust of freezing wind and the tempest of thunder, elevated their voices, asserting their presence.
They struck the very audience with their roars.
– Gyaaak!!!
– Kyaak!!!
The spirits of earth and darkness, resembling boars and crows, moved with their battle cries.
The mountain wrapped the vampire in its body, and the darkness spread its tendrils that had once been wings, creating a veil that shielded them.
It was a barrier protecting themselves and even the vampire.
Swoosh…!
The darkness moved smoothly to absorb the attacks.
Yet, true to its nature, it couldn’t merely brush them off.
Crack…!!
– Kyaak…!!
Boom!!
The darkness froze and shattered, lightning tore through it.
Following this, the adventurers’ supporting fire struck the visible essence of the spirits, causing the darkness and mountain to sway.
“This is it!”
Whoosh!!
“Hah.”
Swoosh!
Alexis and Lin Xue loosed their sword strikes and arrows infused with their magic.
Towards the mildly revealed vampire in between.
“What a stupid and inferior human being…!”
The vampire’s wait until now was not out of inability to act.
It was due to her noble arrogance.
“Do you present your ugly face to my cute and lovely self?!”
Swoosh!!
With a narcissistic statement, her long claws sliced through her sleeves and arms as she self-harmed, and the blood that spurted forth quickly covered her arms in hideous gauntlets.
The translucent wings that had been faintly spread above now took on a darker shade from the blood.
Crackling!!
The slash burst open, and the shots sent it flying. It was intense movement, almost unmatching her appearance.
“Wow! Tough stuff! I can’t tell who’s uglier! Look at those red eyes!”
“Focus!”
“I’m on it!”
Alexis, Lin Xue, and Jinkyung each unleashed their powers while leaping into the air to approach the vampire.
The tide of battle was evenly matched.
The three adventurers, while weaker in output, saw the spirits receive increased strength from their corruption, yet they couldn’t fully leverage their current abilities.
It was a result of prolonged sealing.
“Don’t step back!! If you retreat here, you’ll all find yourselves homeless right away!!”
Thus on the ground, the two knights pressed the vampire’s army back along with the military.
– Kyaoo!!
– Gyaaak!!
Meanwhile, in the sky, a fierce battle unfolded between the gigantic fallen spirits, the Dungeon Lord leading them, and the three adventurers supported by mages.
“Lady Angelita…?”
Among them, no one detected it.
Swiftly.
A new black shadow of a pair whisked across the center of the battlefield.