#214
The Trials of Jeron (3)
Khoo-rrk—
Black, dead blood poured out of his nose and mouth without a moment’s rest.
He tried his best to restrain it, but the current hemorrhage was beyond his control.
‘Damn it, at this rate, I’m really going to die.’
The blood flowing outside was just a part of the phenomenon.
Due to overexerting himself, his internal magic circuits were not just tangled but had been brutally mutilated, and in the weakened chaos, the rampant curse savagely consumed his life force.
Fortunately, it was only thanks to the holy emblem Heinrich gave him that it was not worse; without it, this would not have been the end.
Yet, the price he had to pay was not just that…
‘Still, I managed to buy time, so it’s fine.’
Hesperon grinned bitterly as he felt the necklace he had hung around his neck crumble and vanish.
Churu-churu—
Right after, blood tears flowed down from his right eye.
Gradually, his vision blurred, and soon it completely went dark.
‘…My right eye.’
A dramatic rescue occurred at the very moment the heroine was in peril.
From the perspective of timing, it might seem like a cliché where the awakened protagonist shines in dire situations, but…
At least for him now, it was not such a fortunate story.
-Hannibal Strauss: Still, losing one eye isn’t so bad. The more you forcibly raise your powers, the bigger the price you pay. Looks like your efforts were worth it until the last moment.
-Harley: Kah-hah! Ugh, who cares, it’s just an eye! You can always get a new one! Just like me!
The various black magical devices Hans obtained while managing the Undying Army boasted a wide array of bizarre powers.
Ironically, most of them required a toll of life force or lifespan, rendering them unusable for the undead.
Ding ding!
The entity achieved conditions and grew. The skill “Bond of Unity” evolved into the special skill “Chain of Pact.”
The necklace Hesperon just used was one of those items.
Thanks to it compensating for some of the insufficient skill growth, he was able to summon his contract partner, Riley.
‘Additionally, not only did it provide extra adjustments, but I’ve now gained the ability to exert forced influence like just now. Moreover, the range of the skill now even includes binding with inanimate objects.’
Of course, since the skill had just evolved, he would need to think more about how to utilize it, but the fact that the possibilities had increased was certainly something to welcome.
“Hesperon…?”
At that moment, he heard Riley’s dazed voice in his ear.
Well, it was only natural for her to be flustered as she regained consciousness in the arms of a strange man after thinking she had died.
But it wasn’t the time for casual conversations.
Without even looking at her, he simply smiled and opened his mouth.
“Riley, let’s chat later. Right now, the situation is a bit urgent.”
“…Okay.”
Hesperon’s gaze was fixed on one spot from beginning to end.
To the man standing a bit further away, Stav.
He was still holding a bizarre dagger in one hand, merely turning his head to glance over here vacantly.
‘Now all that’s left is to synchronize with Riley using “Chain of Pact” and escape from this place using “Hero’s Footstep”…’
However, perhaps due to over-exerting himself while summoning Riley, the connection of “Chain of Pact” was shaky, and he needed a moment to re-establish it.
Since it was an overly strained skill operation not suited to his original abilities, this was an unavoidable problem, but it was absolutely bad news in the current situation.
“Damn it all…”
Sure enough.
Swish-swish—
Stav’s body visibly shimmered as he murmured.
‘As expected, he won’t wait for me!’
As Hesperon’s mind raced, “Nerve Sensitivity” activated and the surrounding time began to feel gradually slower.
However…
‘Is he really that fast even in this state?’
Amidst the strangely elongating world, the movement of Stav was undeniably alien.
Unlike the surrounding world slowly coming to a halt, he approached briskly, sending chills down Hesperon’s spine.
‘…I haven’t felt this way in a while since I’ve mostly been playing in the big leagues lately.’
Having been surrounded by powerful foes, both enemies and allies, he had grown somewhat numb, but the reality of extreme status levels was anything but low.
In the vampire society of the third strongest Brokoslac Clan, where one could easily live for centuries, there were only three Truebloods, including the Lord. Likewise, even among the Holy Church Order, boasting the most influence on the continent, nearly all top figures were at the level of Paladins and Archbishops.
Now such an opponent was charging towards him with deadly intent in his eyes.
Hesperon gritted his teeth and forced his body to move.
However, just as he managed to take one step back with all his might, Stav had already crossed several steps toward him.
While he barely recognized his opponent thanks to abnormal status and skills, even his now enhanced body was utterly insufficient to cope with the movements of an elite knight at the peak of skill.
‘Damn it, just a little more!’
In the slow-flowing time, the synchronization task was also progressing at a snail’s pace.
No matter how much magic is energy that is largely unaffected by physical laws, the paths it traveled were still the realm of the physical body, so it was inevitable.
‘There’s no hope for close combat. I need to keep him from closing the distance.’
Ultimately, to buy time, Hesperon began pouring all the means he possessed.
The crimson orbs, which were packed with Heinz II’s “Refined Blood Essence,” were dropped in heaps, and the blood magic engraved on them spewed out in all directions.
Heinrich’s holy power formed a barrier to block the opponent’s advance.
Additionally, there was no doubt that various magical tools, including cursed items, were all mobilized.
“Damn it, what an annoying mess! Where the hell did I get these things?”
Swack—
Whoosh!
Unfortunately, the opponent did not seem very impressed by his surprise gift shower.
-Heinrich: It’s not just mere pleasure. He’s accurately targeting the weaknesses of the incomplete magic manifested through the medium. It’s clear he’s on another level compared to Geos.
Stav gritted his teeth in irritation, yet fiercely advanced, cleaving through all the obstacles with his blazing sword.
Now he was within striking distance.
A prickling sensation coursed through Hesperon’s entire body, particularly in his right hand, perhaps due to excessively deploying cursed items.
But he had no choice but to press on now.
He pulled Riley closer and stepped back a few more paces.
Crack!—
In the slowed world, his muscles screamed from the strain, but he did not have the luxury to focus on such trivial matters.
“Stav, you filthy traitor, how dare you target the princess!”
“Ugh! Do you think I’m just going to sit here and die?”
While he fell back, a few surviving knights who had been left behind bravely interposed themselves, risking their lives and desperately grabbing onto Stav’s ankles.
Though they were badly injured and significantly outnumbered to defy the tide, they were all, needless to say, elite warriors.
At the very least, they were enough to buy a brief moment of time in this urgent situation.
“Damn you, foolish ones! Can’t you even block this scoundrel?”
“I-I’m sorry, Captain!”
And so, as the gallant knights met their demise, the moment they bought with their lives was precisely what Hesperon desperately desired.
‘I got it.’
He took a deep breath, observing the last knight collapsing before Stav’s blade with his one remaining eye.
“Phew— All of you.”
And with one last glance at the faces of the approaching traitors, he softly uttered a single phrase.
“Try your best to struggle.”
Flipping his palm downward, he dropped the final gift onto the ground as he activated “Hero’s Footstep.”
Immediately, the space warped, blurring his vision as chaotic figures charged toward him, while Stav frantically shouted something and threw his body back, passing by in slow motion…
The scenery abruptly changed, as if the screen had shifted.
‘Told you he has great senses. Well, this is just the beginning. From the moment Riley escapes unscathed, those scumbags are already doomed.’
Not just them, but also anyone connected to this ordeal.
When they failed to eliminate the princess through a terror strike on the capital, they would certainly reap the consequences.
Ah, just for reference, the gift was really nothing special.
It was merely Hans’s special Abyss Bomb, packed tight until it reached its limit because he wasn’t pleased with what he had pulled out until now, and he just wanted to make sure it left an impression.
*
A large-scale invasion of the Undying Army unfolded across the continent.
It inflicted unprecedented damage, incomparable to previous attacks around the world.
[Kikikihik!]
Creak—crack! Crack—!
[Join us!]
“Prepare to die! If this place breaches, the entire city is in danger!”
“Wait a minute! This isn’t like the ones we’ve dealt with before!”
“Support! Where’s the support? This is really getting to be too much!”
The underlying cause was the leadership’s lax response.
The danger from this attack had been emphasized multiple times by Heinrich Saint Landgard, but—.
The issue arose from people who had grown accustomed to ‘Hans’s’ gentle invasions thinking that a slight elevation in their previous response levels would suffice.
[Ah—! How marvelous! What an exquisite feast this is! The sweet blood and screams excite me! Yes, yes! Scream louder!]
[On this land— endless terror— eternal death—!]
Shockingly, even high-ranking undead that had been hibernating within the Undying Castle had occasionally mixed into this recent invasion…
It only took a moment for the situation to escalate from “This should do it, right?” to utter chaos.
The long-quiet high-ranking undead led their amassed forces from the Northern Mountain Range to ruthlessly strike across the continent, causing civilian casualties to spike like a snowball effect.
The already tenuous peace had been shaken enough to cause this chaos.
Yet, amidst all of this, there were those who diligently moved, demonstrating clear results, as always…
Swish—BANG!
[Kugh—!]
Boom!
A newly reinforced hero party was indeed the prime example.
“Situation resolved. No significant enemies detected in the vicinity.”
With arrows fashioned from wind that shattered the Death Knight’s core, the green-haired elf calmly spoke up.
She was a High Elf, the leader of the combat group called the Guardians of the Elven Kingdom, and had just joined the hero party right after the second summit meeting—Lydia Greenwood.
Initially, she had come to the Ion Continent as a successor to Laforey, who was about to retire, but naturally ended up joining the party due to the crisis situation.
Of course, it wasn’t unexpected, considering her role as a combatant was precisely why she had come as an envoy to the Ion Continent, to proactively respond to the chaotic climate.
Alas, it was just unfortunate for Laforey that his retirement would be postponed yet again.
“Saint? Are you alright? You seem off and unable to focus since a while ago…”
Just as the party was starting to clean up, an earnest-seeming woman approached Heinrich, who had been engrossed in thought.
A petite girl with black hair and black eyes, the Grand Mage of the Empire, Isea Pristine.
“Ah, Isea. Just dealing with a little delay. I’m fine now; I just wrapped up resolving the matter.”
Heinrich gently smiled back at her as he checked on the situation from the Empire side.
Thankfully, unlike Hesperon, Princess Riley was unharmed, so he could speak with confidence.
It seemed the conspirators were still oblivious to the communication block they had enacted, as Isea did not seem to know about the untoward incident in Jeron, but surely, she’ll hear about it soon enough.
Perhaps by then, she wouldn’t look so calm.
“…But the number of casualties this time is far higher than usual. The undead forces are at a level we’ve never seen before. Say, there are large-scale assaults occurring continent-wide?”
“Haah— That’s right. Ah! I should head out to assist the injured. I’m afraid even the Saint alone can’t handle this many!”
“Oh, then I’d better help clean up around here.”
Isea, rushing toward the patients, left Heinrich, who was hastily trying to escape the scene, to survey the ruined surroundings, biting her lower lip.
Where they were now was Saridan, the southernmost trading city of the Tulke Kingdom, specifically in the headquarters of the Merchants’ Alliance.
Yet, the place was not bustling with people at all; instead, it looked ravaged, as if they were in the midst of a battlefield.
“…I see. Now I fully realize what we are up against.”
The Demon King’s invasion. A land filled with death. The risk of world annihilation.
Up until now, it had felt somewhat distant, but it started to become undeniably tangible.
After a moment of silence, Isea clenched her fists tightly, seeking ways she could assist as she moved from her position.
Meanwhile, Heinrich, feeling guilty for rushing to escape, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly hearing her murmur.
Haah, Hans…
In truth, his sentiments weren’t all that different from hers.
He just wanted to somehow bring an end to the ongoing crisis.
No matter what, he was a hero who defended justice and light in this world.
