Episode 297
—Can... you hear me...? Messenger...
"Huh?"
Mir's ears twitched and she looked around. Of course, there was no one nearby.
"Umm?"
She narrowed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. However, there was no way to see something that wasn't there.
"What's wrong?" Araxad asked.
Mir asked, "Did someone call out to me just now?"
Araxad looked at Mir's face and shook his head. "I didn't hear anything."
"Is that so? Did I hear it wrong?"
"You never know. Perhaps you were the only one to notice a trick of the church's."
"I don't think that is it. It didn't feel evil."
"Really?" Araxad thought for a moment before looking around. Then he said, "For now, let's start cleaning up the surroundings. I don't have enough hands, so please help me."
"I understand."
Mir moved swiftly and released the captured prisoners.
"T-thank you."
"Honestly, I thought it was all over."
Most of the prisoners here were unharmed. Their physical state and mental state were normal, in sharp contrast to the people in the dueling ground who showed great anxiety.
So they must be the ones who haven't gone through the process yet.
Of course, Araxad didn't know exactly what that process was. However, there was a clear difference from the prisoners they had seen earlier. That meant it was correct to say that the church had done something to the latter, whether it was threats, torture, or mental reprogramming.
"Hiik!"
At that moment, a child shrank back at the sight of Araxad. He had been about to release the restraints that bound the child's body, so it was a very unfortunate reaction. He felt embarrassed at times like this.
Mature warriors would remain composed when seeing Araxad's unique appearance, but it was different for young humans.
"Are you okay?" a soft voice interjected, and the child's vigilant expression changed rapidly.
The one who appeared was a nun with a smile comparable to a saint, freeing the prisoners and soothing their minds and bodies. She was covered in blood, but to the child, she looked better than the white-scaled lizardman.
"I'll take care of this place, Brother," she said.
"Please do so," Araxad replied.
Bloody Mace Razbet was a celebrity in many ways. She was known for her striking beauty and her eccentric actions that contrasted with it, but what stood out the most was her strength. There was a rumor that she was the strongest among the inquisitors of the Seventy-Two Churches, but Araxad didn't believe rumors.
Inquisitors were those who fought the Dark Church on the front lines. They were specialists who were more proficient in demon hunting than heroes. Their organization had a history as long as the Hero Society, or perhaps even longer.
What did it mean to be the strongest of such a group of monsters? It would mean being on par with an S-class hero of the Hero Society. For someone as cautious as Araxad, such a claim wasn't easy to believe.
However, the combat power Razbet had shown in battle changed that thought instantly. There were occasionally beings who could change the situation alone. In Araxad's view, Razbet was that type.
Originally, Araxad would have had to risk his life to subdue this camp. Even with luck on his side, he'd expected to come out with serious injuries or maybe even lose a limb.
Then everything had changed with the arrival and actions of this inquisitor. He was still injured, but the wounds were barely more than scratches. It was only natural since Razbet had slaughtered nearly half of the church members on her own.
"F-Father?"
"Mir!"
During the release of the prisoners, there was an unexpected reunion. There were giants among the captives held in this camp, and one of them was Mir Giant's father.
They really don't look alike, Araxad thought when he watched the reunion between father and daughter. Then he approached the male giant and asked, "Are you the representative of the Frostwolf Tribe?"
"That's right. Who are you?" the giant replied.
"I'm Araxad. I am a hero of the Hero Society."
Mir's father, Dormon, looked curiously at the lizardman in front of him for a moment.
Lizardmen were a rare race in the north, but this one had white scales. On top of that, dark patterns were engraved on his body, giving him a stronger sense of strangeness. Judging by how their eyes were level even while Dormon was sitting, the lizardman was massive. He also carried a huge number of weapons.
If not for the current situation, Dormon's first instinct would've been suspicion.
"Father! This person is my senior!" Mir exclaimed.
"Mm. I see," Dormon replied.
He had never expected to reunite with his daughter in a place like this, and she had even become a hero. He hadn't expected her to return home immediately after the Badniker training camp; still, he'd thought she would be active in the capital, the east, or elsewhere in the north.
In any case, it seemed clear that the mysterious lizardman was a hero.
Dormon bowed and said, "Thank you for saving me."
"Don't mention it. It was for our own sake that we rescued you," Araxad replied.
"Does that mean you need help?"
"That's right. I'm also curious about what happened. According to the last report I heard, most of the people of the Frostwolf Village went missing. How did that happen?"
"I don't know. I think I heard the sound of a bell, but everything was hazy after that. I feel like I walked for quite a long time, as if I was in a dream." Dormon's expression became serious and he continued, "I don't know about anything else, but the sound of that bell is dangerous. My will to fight disappeared in an instant and my mind was lost. At that moment, my life was in the hands of the church. They could've kidnapped us, modified our bodies, or even just taken our lives as easily as crushing an ant—"
"It must've been the power of a demon," Sister Razbet interjected. She seemed to have released all the captives.
Dormon stared blankly at her before asking, "An inquisitor?"
"That's right."
"You are covered in blood."
"Yes."
"Why don't you wipe it off?"
"I will just end up covered in it again anyway."
"Ah."
It was a rather stupid conversation. Araxad slammed his tail slightly against the ground and redirected their attention.
Razbet continued speaking. "To resist a demon's power, you must have a blessing, possess divine powers, or have a divine relic. These are the three best known methods. Without one of them, you will still fall under a demon's control no matter how strong your body."
"Mm. But some of our tribe's warriors have blessings," Dormon said.
"Indeed. That might be why the church separated you."
"What does that mean?"
"To put it simply, they wanted more advanced sacrifices."
Silence fell again after the others heard Razbet's words.
Araxad looked at those who had just been rescued. Most of them were warriors with combat ability, but would they truly be a help in a fight? They were all unarmed, had little resistance to Dark Qi, and didn't seem to have fully come back to their senses. What they needed were heroes who had experience fighting against the church.
He looked at Dormon and said, "Our clan leader has headed to your village."
"Hm?"
"He should've returned by now, but he hasn't. Did you notice anything strange in the village before you were captured?"
"Something strange?" Dormon thought deeply about it but eventually shook his head, seemingly unable to recall anything specific. "As far as I know, there wasn't anything—"
At that moment, a strong wind blew from somewhere and the entire cave trembled. The vibration was strong enough to send shards of ice falling down from the ceiling.
Araxad and Razbet, along with the freed warriors, all tensed and looked up at the ceiling. A cold wind blew past them.
"What is that?"
"I think something happened."
The cold wind passed in an instant, but the vibration didn't disappear. Araxad felt as if he was witnessing the precursor to a massive earthquake. Naturally, earthquakes also occurred in the north.
He suddenly had a strange thought. What if this ice cave collapsed from the sudden earthquake, crushing all those inside to death? The absurd thing was that from the perspective of maintaining peace in the empire, that wouldn't necessarily be the worst outcome.
Even without fully grasping the church's plan, Araxad's instincts told him that something was dangerous and deeply wrong.
As most of the group stared at the ceiling, unable to understand the source of this sudden anomaly, Razbet stared forward and briefly said in a calm voice, "They're coming."
Not even a breath passed. Her words seemed to be the trigger. The entrance to the cave trembled and frozen corpses started to appear.
Kieeeeeek!
What made them different from ordinary corpses was that they could move. Terrifying howls came from their mouths as if they were alive.
"Protect the children in the back!" Dormon shouted as he jumped up and rushed forward.
A giant even among giants, his charge made the cave shake wildly. He was unarmed and bare-chested, but he rushed headlong into the advancing corpses like a living siege weapon.
"Help the tribe chief!"
The surrounding warriors let out a battle cry and also rushed forward to join the front line. Araxad also swung his weapon at the front.
A swarm of corpses with tattered bodies attacked. Their number was surprising, but they weren't that threatening. The one who controlled the corpses had to know that; if so, there was a high probability that this wouldn't be the end.
At that moment, Razbet sensed an evil aura that was incomparable to the moving corpses and cried out, "Look at the sky!"
Araxad kicked away a charging corpse and looked up at the sky. There, he saw bats hanging upside down from the icicles of the cave.
No, they weren't bats. They had black fur, slitted eyes, and wings reminiscent of bats, but they were much more evil than that.
It was a horde of demons.
Aren't there too much?
Their number easily exceeded one hundred just at a glance. The creatures' eyes gleamed fiercely as they released their claws and plunged downward, indiscriminately attacking everyone.
"Aaaaack! My arm!"
"You sons of bitches! Get lost!"
They could respond bare-handed to mere corpses, but fighting demons without weapons had its limits. That wasn't all, either. The corpses surrounding them were more like obstacles than enemies, hindering movement. Perhaps that was the purpose of sending them in the first place.
Araxad could sense the front line gradually being pushed back. This wasn't good. This place was a dead end, which meant there was a limit to how much they could retreat.
At that moment, the back of his right hand was bitten by a corpse. He had been guarding against the demons attacking from above, so his caution toward the corpses had dulled.
The jaw joints of the corpse were nearly dislocated, so its biting strength was weak. However, just touching its rotten teeth was dangerous. In particular, the fact that it was infused with Dark Qi meant it was even more threatening.
Araxad struck a corpse with his shield.
"Waaaaah!"
Then with a mighty roar, a massive figure charged across the battlefield. It was Dormon, who had just been freed. He wasn't wearing proper equipment, but his performance was remarkable.
From Araxad's perspective, along with Razbet, Dormon was the one performing the best on this battlefield.
However, such a large body didn't always work to the giant's advantage. In a chaotic fight like this, his size had significant drawbacks. Being huge meant being exposed in many places.
Bang!
"Father!" Mir shouted in shock as a demon fell from the sky and bit off Dormon's left ear.
The demon burst out laughing and chewed on the torn-off ear. However, Dormon stretched out his large hand and grabbed the demon's head.
The demon wasn't small, but it was nothing compared to the giant. Dormon wrapped its head in his hand and crushed it like a fruit.
"Don't back down!" Dormon shouted in a voice that wasn't weakened at all. His war cry reached all the way to the edge of the battlefield.
The warriors responded with their own shouts, their morale rising. Araxad was the only one who saw through the display and realized it was bravado.
This wouldn't last long, which meant they needed to change their tactics. They couldn't just keep fighting the corpses and demons who kept swarming; they had to drive out the one controlling the enemy horde from behind.
But was that possible? If Araxad left the battlefield now, the others would be swept away in an instant. He knew that because he was blocking one of the largest waves of undead.
At that moment, he was faced with a choice. He could continue like this, or accept a certain amount of sacrifices and move forward.
Snap.
Just as he was about to make his decision, an audible crack came from the right wall.
Araxad's heart sank. Even more?
It was the third move prepared by the church. The word "annihilation" flashed through Araxad's mind.
Baaaaaaang!
Then a powerful storm swept forth in all directions, tearing apart the corpses and demons.
Araxad's gaze shifted to the collapsed wall. A young man with a striking, heroic appearance emerged from it, his wings fluttering. Like an angel from the legends, he was surrounded by a soft glow.
"Heavenly Wind Knight!"
The Hero Society's S-class hero, Feed, smiled. He remarked, "Fortunately, I'm not late."
