C891
Raon narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the prairie enveloped in purple waves.
‘What’s going on here?’
This region, where Boardri village is located, was originally a mix of vast prairies and mountains. While not as fertile as the central continent, it had enough grass to feed livestock. Now, even weeds couldn’t be seen due to the violet waves.
‘Death energy…’
But this wasn’t ordinary death energy. Death energy is a force that concentrates the resentment of the dead. Raon had encountered powerful death energy while fighting necromancers, but the aura that now covered the meadow was far more intense than anything he knew.
The problem wasn’t just the death energy covering the ground. Grotesque monsters were constantly emerging from those horrifying purple waves.
The Blade of Requiem also sensed the malevolence in the purple death energy, vibrating with a warning hum.
-What a disgusting smell.
Wrath clicked his tongue as he looked towards the ground.
-This stench doesn’t come from one or two deaths. It seems countless lives were sacrificed.
He frowned and said that whoever was responsible must be a terrible demon.
‘Indeed.’
Raon exhaled briefly as he watched the undulating purple waves.
“It’s still growing even now.”
The purple sea seemed to ripple in the same place, but upon closer inspection, it was slowly expanding little by little.
“Why are you just standing there instead of going down? Are you tired… huh?”
Martha was about to tease Raon when she looked towards the mountain and her eyes widened.
“W-What is that?!”
She trembled as she saw the purple waves coloring the entire land.
“Purple smoke? No, energy? What the hell…”
Burren also swallowed hard, unable to process the scene before his eyes.
“It smells horrible…”
Runaan frowned and covered her nose as if she had already perceived the stench of the death energy.
“Ugh…”
Dorian gasped, clearly unprepared for such a situation.
“W-What is that?”
His eyes trembled as he looked at the dark and shimmering purple waves.
“It’s death energy, created by concentrating the resentment of the dead.”
Raon snapped his fingers, attracting the attention of the Light Wind Division swordsmen.
“Exposure to death energy causes the body to rot and the mind to become corrupted. Surround yourselves with mana as a precaution.”
After giving the Light Wind Division time to recover, he looked down from the mountain. He could see numerous people gathered at the base of the mountain he had climbed.
‘Are those the people of Boardri village?’
There were more than he expected. Boardri village wasn’t originally very large, but it seemed to have grown into a small town full of people, probably people fleeing the tyranny of lords or cities.
‘The Warring Steel Division is at the front.’
The swordsmen of the Warring Steel Division were fighting monsters at the front of the purple waves to protect the villagers of Boardri.
“Trevin…”
He saw a middle-aged man with golden hair at the head of the Warring Steel Division, delivering powerful sword strikes. Trevin was pushing back the monsters, looking unfazed.
“He’s not in good shape.”
Although Trevin had become a Grand Master after the war with the South-North Union, the hand holding his sword was trembling, probably from fighting while exposed to the death energy. He looked very tired. But even in his state of exhaustion, he didn’t take a single step back to protect the Warring Steel Division and the villagers of Boardri.
“We should go down quickly.”
Mark Goetun bit his lip, suggesting it would be better to go help the people.
“Light Wind Division. Use all your strength to face the Warring Steel Division.”
Raon nodded and gave the order for the Light Wind Division to charge.
“Yes!”
The Light Wind Division took a deep breath and set off on the cold, hardened ground. They descended the mountain faster than when they had begun their journey.
“I don’t feel anything special.”
While it wouldn’t be strange to assume that there were no necromancers if his senses didn’t register them, Raon remained alert and focused his mind as he followed his footwork, given what they had experienced so far.
-Sigh…
Wrath shook his head as he looked at the rippling purple waves.
-I guess there will be Nadine’s bread for dinner after all.
‘Only for dinner?’
Raon shook his head as he looked at the purple sea filling the prairie.
-Huh?
“It will probably be Nadine’s bread not only tomorrow, but also the day after tomorrow.”
-Damn everything!
Wrath abruptly wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
-Tell the bastard who caused this mess to come out into the light! This king will catch him!
He shook his fist and said he would defeat even a demon king if necessary.
* * *
“Huff…”
Trevin exhaled heavily after beheading a corrupted werewolf that had emerged from the sea of death energy.
“It’s endless.”
The purple sea rippling before his eyes was originally smaller than a stream. But after devouring the corpses of the monsters he and the Warring Steel Division had killed, and then even consuming the villagers, it had grown to this unmanageable size.
As the waves expanded, so did the number of monsters emerging from within, forcing them to retreat despite fighting nonstop.
“Division Leader D! The right flank is being pushed back!”
A swordsman of the Warring Steel Division gritted his teeth as he blocked the fist of a corrupted ogre.
“The left side can’t hold on much longer either!”
Another swordsman on the left exhaled sharply, his pale lips trembling.
“Hold on! Hold on even if it kills you!”
Trevin took a deep breath and plunged his sword into the purple waves. An astral ring bloomed above his extended sword, spinning diagonally and causing a powerful explosion. The astral ring, although incomplete, shattered the monsters and caused the purple waves to sway violently.
But as if it had never been impacted, the purple sea quickly filled the empty space and headed towards him and the Warring Steel Division.
“The support will arrive soon! We just have to hold on a little longer!”
Trevin clenched the hand holding his sword as he urged them to resist.
“It must be difficult.”
These waves of death energy were affecting even him, a Grand Master. With the toxic fumes released by the corrupted monsters as they died, the less experienced swordsmen were bound to struggle. But they couldn’t abandon this line and flee, as not all the villagers of Boardri were prepared yet.
“If we retreat here, all the villagers will die! Resist until the end!”
Trevin shot consecutive astral rings to support his exhausted swordsmen, even as he inhaled air laden with death energy.
“S-Swordsman, we’re fine, so…”
An elderly man with white hair approached, covering his mouth with a damp cloth. It was the head of Boardri village, who had first requested help.
“Please, leave now. I’m sorry for calling you here…”
The head bowed, his chin trembling as he apologized profusely. His cheeks and ears were rotting from exposure to the death energy, but he still expressed his regret.
“Don’t say such things!”
Trevin shook his head vigorously.
“As a Zieghart swordsman, I can’t stand idly by. If I ran and abandoned you, that friend who will soon arrive would surely scold me harshly.”
He ordered the head to stay behind as he turned his gaze.
-That’s right. I can’t show him a shameful side.
He had accepted Karoon’s offer to join the Light Wind Palace, believing Raon was a vessel that could contain him. To be worthy of serving under Raon, who truly embodied righteousness and chivalry, he couldn’t retreat there.
Thinking of Raon seemed to give him a bit of strength. He raised an astral ring above his sword technique to push back the approaching purple waves.
The repelled purple waves increased significantly. Based on what had happened so far, this was a sign that a fairly strong monster was about to emerge.
“Huh…?”
Trevin gasped when he saw the being that emerged from the waves of death energy.
‘A person?’
What came out this time was a person wielding a sword. However, his skin was pale like a zombie’s and he didn’t emit any signs of life.
“What is this…”
As Trevin frowned, the swordsman suddenly lunged at him and thrust his sword. Trevin managed to block it, but this zombie swordsman was wielding a kind of death energy aura as he swung his sword. While not particularly strong, the intense death energy he emitted made it difficult for other swordsmen to fight.
“I need to deal with this quickly.”
To prevent other swordsmen from getting hurt, he completely shattered the zombie swordsman’s head. But as if this was only the beginning, the purple sea ceaselessly spat out corrupted monsters and zombie swordsmen.
“Urgh…”
A young swordsman of the Warring Steel Division fighting on the right flank collapsed, and his complexion turned completely black.
“I can’t breathe…”
“Damn it!”
“Division Leader…”
Other swordsmen, unable to withstand the death energy and toxic fumes, dropped their swords and fell to their knees one by one.
“D-Damn everything!”
“Argh!”
Even the swordsmen who could still fight were injured as they tried to protect those who had fallen, forcing them to retreat. The front line that the Warring Steel Division had barely managed to maintain collapsed in an instant.
“Division Leader! We can’t hold this line! We have to retreat!”
Caman, the deputy leader of the Warring Steel Division, shouted almost like a scream as he beheaded a zombie swordsman.
“Retreat…”
Just as Trevin was about to order a retreat, the waves of death energy increased tremendously, engulfing the injured and fallen swordsmen of the Warring Steel Division.
‘Ah…’
Trevin tried to extend his sword to block the death energy, but he couldn’t cover everything. Instead of reaching the left side first, he saw the swordsmen on the right being swallowed by the waves. He wanted to help somehow, but there was no way. If he reached the right side now, the swordsmen on the left would die.
‘Damn it!’
As if he were watching their final moments, memories of his subordinates and everything they had built together flashed before his eyes. It felt as if his insides were being ripped out.
“Urg!”
Just as Trevin was about to let out a scream in the slowing time, the dark night split open and a red line like a comet’s tail was drawn. A sword enveloped in bright red flames cut through the purple waves that were about to swallow the Warring Steel Division.
The red flames pushed back the waves of death energy and still had enough power to incinerate the monsters trying to emerge from within.
“That sword is…”
Trevin smiled, and his wrinkled face relaxed as he saw the flaming sword pushing back the sea of death energy. He turned around and shouted the name he had been waiting for.
-Raon!
* * *
“It’s been a while, Warring Steel Division Leader.”
Raon bowed his head as he looked at Trevin.
“But I was disappointed that you couldn’t handle this death energy and had to request support from the family.”
He smiled slightly as he recalled the words Trevin had said when he came to support House Arianne.
“T-That’s not…”
Trevin stumbled over his words, seemingly nervous about the sudden attack.
“We can catch up later. Let’s deal with this first.”
As Raon moved his finger, bright lights flashed in the dark sky. The swordsmen of the Light Wind Division who had formed the Light Wind Formation. Their sword strikes, unleashed in a single breath, fell like a shower of meteors, exploding all the monsters and zombie swordsmen that had emerged from the purple sea.
But the purple sea paused only for a moment before it began to twist and advance towards them again.
“This is more cruel than I thought.”
The concentration of death energy was greater than when he had seen it from the top of the mountain. It was remarkable that the Warring Steel Division had resisted for so long.
“It seems there’s something there.”
Something terribly malevolent seemed to be hidden within the rippling purple sea.
“Aura attacks are useless. They fill up immediately, like they’re cutting water.”
Trevin shook his head and said that even shooting Astral Rings only momentarily stopped the purple sea.
“I heard it was dangerous, but I didn’t expect the death energy to explode too.”
Raon shook his head and asked why that detail hadn’t been mentioned.
“When we sent the support request to the family, the death energy wasn’t as severe.”
Trevin frowned as he looked at the undulating purple waves.
“At first, it was only the size of a small stream, from which only goblins and the like emerged. But that stream kept growing little by little, and before we knew it, it had grown to this size and surrounded us.”
He bit his lip as he looked at the blackened and dying land.
“The people here fled the tyranny of other cities to get here. I wanted to protect their home, but I couldn’t…”
Trevin trembled his clenched fist, saying it was due to his lack of skill.
“Then we’ll have to reclaim it from now on.”
Raon smiled slightly as he turned for the Heavenly Drive.
“What…?”
“There’s nothing I can’t do if my new subordinate wants it.”
He waved his finger with a smile.
“T-That was my stubbornness! You don’t need to exert yourself too much!”
Trevin shook his head and said they should retreat for now.
“There’s no point in arguing.”
Martha shook her head.
“That guy doesn’t listen well to others.”
She shook her head, telling him to give up.
“That’s right. Once he says he’s going to do something, he does it.”
Burren nodded and said it was better to leave him alone.
“Welcome…”
Runaan patted Trevin on the shoulder, welcoming him.
“No, all of you…”
Trevin let out an exasperated sigh.
“Welcome to hell, which you have entered of your own free will.”
Kerin nodded, with dark circles under his eyes.
“There’s no need to feel so burdened.”
Mark Goetun shook his head calmly.
“The Division Leader made this decision because he believed we could achieve it.”
He pointed his finger forward. The pure white blade of the Heavenly Drive extended, and its radiant light split the purple sea that had enveloped the prairie in half.
-
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