LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 50
“Huff, huff…! The floor is… blood…!”
“What the heck is this!”
“Magic? Is it magic?!”
The Adventurers still fighting were horrified, dodging the bubbling blood.
A sudden anomaly.
Corpses lying in the sea of blood began to melt away like butter, and the now thicker blood surged towards the old man’s eyes, crashing like waves.
It was a chillingly grotesque sight. But this was just the prelude.
Grrrrr…!
The stench of rotten blood was enough to twist one’s nose. The vast magical power bubbling forth condensed in front of the old man’s palm, gradually shrinking.
After being compressed again and again to the extreme…
Kwuaaaa!
Finally, bursting forth as if reaching a limit. Like lava erupting from a volcano, the fountain of blood shot up fiercely for several meters. A horrifying sense of danger trickled down the spine.
Ghuk…!
I dashed towards the creature, glaring with my wide eyes at the middle of the blood puddle.
The site of an anomaly that was too late to stop.
“Hahahaha! It’s a success! Finally, I have succeeded! It seems the deaths of the priests were necessary!”
The Abyss Priest, Hugh Casval, laughed joyfully as he gazed at the fountain of blood. Within the joy-filled laughter lay the reason for his transgressions.
Leading countless priests to death and using their corpses as sacrifices to manifest a higher form of magic. It was a motivation befitting a madman obsessed with magic.
With that sole intention, he had established a base in this ruin, preparing an army of undead gathered from various places to use as bait.
To lure the city’s priests into a trap and slaughter them.
A perfectly executed plan.
The fruit he had reaped was…
◆◆
Where the endlessly surging fountain of blood had settled.
“Rooooaar!”
A roar like thunder echoed through the night sky.
“Hahaha! Look! Isn’t it overwhelming?!”
Before the jubilant Abyss Priest, the results of his magic began to rise slowly, dripping blood.
“Uh, uhh… Ah, AAAAAH!”
Adventurers who turned their heads screamed and ran. Upon seeing it, they were convinced. Death was right before their eyes.
“Roooooar!”
With glowing red eyes. Skin rotting away, exposing ribs and a chest. Teeth and claws sharp as blades.
The overall form resembled that of a rotten corpse buried in the ground… but no one in the world would dare call such a thing a human.
Even in this undead resurrection, no one would have called it a person when it was still alive.
Kaboom!
With every step it took, the ground trembled and groaned.
Limbs reminiscent of a majestic tree covered in decay.
Height, thickness, weight. Every part of its being was far beyond human standards.
It had the form of a human but was overwhelmingly gigantic. Such a race existed in this world.
“A giant, a Corpse Giant!”
Giant Race.
One of the eight races known as Demons.
Jotun.
Turning its back to the gradually brightening dawn sky, the 6-meter tall corpse rose, casting a long shadow.
◆◆
“…Let’s retreat.”
As the 6-meter tall Corpse Giant rose, I spoke without hesitation.
The forces enlisted for the ruin’s defense were either dead or had fled. There was no reason for the four of us to stick around to battle such a monster.
Although it fell on the smaller side for a giant and was likely significantly weakened as an apparently mindless undead… still, it was a giant.
“That’s… too dangerous.”
Just waving those arms would undoubtedly kill any normal human like a fly.
“I think so too. If the Paladins were still here, it would be another story, but this doesn’t seem like something we can handle on our own.”
“Yes. Finding the Paladins and joining forces would be best.”
Amy and Gerda also nodded in agreement without delay.
“Uh, um, are we really retreating…? Ah, it’s not that I’m against it! If Hilde thinks so, then that must be right!”
Friede tilted her head slightly, momentarily puzzled, but she didn’t express any opposition and immediately turned towards the forest.
Throwing away the oversized Revenant’s head she held in her left hand like trash.
With everyone in agreement, we immediately turned and dashed into the woods.
“Hahaha!”
“Roooooar!”
Hoping the attention of the raving Abyss Priest and the Corpse Giant would be directed somewhere other than us.
◆◆
Thus began the escape.
I carried the tired Amy on my back, while Gerda took the lead, tracing the trail left by the Paladins to decide our escape route.
Friede was running among us, keeping an eye out in all directions.
“Huff…! Huff…!”
My breath was getting heavier as I carried someone, but I couldn’t afford to stop running.
“Roooooar!”
“Oh crap! It’s coming! It’s coming this way!”
The Abyss Priest, Hugh Casval, immediately came after us, having demolished the dungeon entrance upon seeing our escape.
“What are you running away so eagerly for, miss? Whatever happened to that confident demeanor of yours?”
…It seemed my hometown-style provocation had struck a nerve with him.
To the extent he resolved to kill me first as soon as he obtained his power.
“How could he be so fixated on pursuing us? What the hell did I say?!”
“…….”
I had nothing to say.
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have made that jab at him.
At the time, it felt amusing, but now I was regretting the aftermath.
Ghuk…! I can’t create distance…!
Gerda bit her lip, glancing back in despair.
Each time the Corpse Giant let out a roar, nearby trees were uprooted like straws amidst the shocking noise.
A tenacious and destructive pursuit.
We were running for our lives, but the distance between us kept closing.
Its strides were several times larger than ours. It bulldozed through all obstacles in its path with brute force. It was like a chariot with limbs.
“At this rate, we’ll get caught!”
“I know!”
Without even needing Gerda’s warning, it was clear we wouldn’t be able to outrun it for long.
“……Damn.”
Unfortunately, the only plan that popped into my head was a reckless one.
“Gerda! Catch Amy!”
“What…? Wait, what are you saying—”
I suddenly lifted Amy and threw her towards Gerda, who was surprised.
“Kyaaaaah!?”
Flailing her limbs, Amy flew through the air. Gerda caught her like a sack, quickly flipping her over to carry her on her back while looking back at me.
“Hilde! What are you trying to do…!”
What was there to do in this situation?
There was only one option left.
“We’ll hold out until the Paladins arrive!”
The Corpse Giant’s roars were loud enough to echo through the forest, so the Paladins should hear it too.
They’d likely be hurriedly turning to run this way.
So… if we can just hold out against it in battle, surely they’ll show up at some point.
That’s why I entrusted Amy to Gerda.
A wizard who couldn’t dodge enemy attacks and a patrol whose combat effectiveness was halved by arrows. It was a perfect combination for this scenario.
Gerda could evade attacks meant for Amy, and Amy could fire spells while being carried, making for a solid team.
“Are we… really going to fight, Hilde?”
“We have to. There’s no other way, right?”
“Y-Yeah…?”
Friede nodded and readied her great sword on her shoulder.
“I-I’ll handle the Abyss Priest somehow! I can deflect a spell or two!”
Taking it upon herself to face the Abyss Priest, she asked me to deal with the Corpse Giant.
“Uh, really…?”
Honestly, it was surprising to hear that from her, as I felt she’d have been better suited to fight the giant with her speed and great sword.
However, if Friede had a plan for countering the Abyss Priest’s attacks, then that changed everything.
If she could fend off the Abyss Priest while approaching, taking down that old geezer wouldn’t be too difficult.
“Understood, I’m counting on you.”
“Iih! Just leave it to me!”
Friede nodded with a childlike grin. Even in such a desperate situation, her ability to smile so brightly amazed me.
Anyway, just as I finished relaying all the orders and turned to check behind us…
“Have you given up on your futile escape?”
Crazzzzzz!
The Corpse Giant, chasing after us, emerged, uprooting trees as it pushed them aside like bars of a prison.
“Then now, embrace death and receive the blessing known as eternity.”
With the Abyss Priest, who had slid down smoothly from its shoulder and landed on the ground, standing beside it.
“…Nonsense.”
I took a deep breath, steadying my ragged breathing as I looked up at the 6-meter tall giant corpse.
Damn, it’s just filthy huge.
“If you think of death as a blessing, you should practice that first yourself. Go ahead and hang yourself right now.”
It was easy to see the irony of him preaching about death when he was still clinging to life at his age.
“Why, is it because you’re too scared to do so?”
It was crystal clear he was the one afraid of death.
“…Kill her. Preferably in a form that leaves her intact.”
Seemingly without a counterargument, the Abyss Priest raised his right hand, pointing at me, commanding the Corpse Giant.
“How about you die? Preferably in a form that doesn’t leave you intact.”
I shot back at him, gripping the hilt of my sword with trembling hands.
Roooooar!
With glowing red eyes, the rotten giant charged at me like a disaster.