Chapter 440: Night of the Living Dead (3)
Lacus City.
It was a famous tourist destination in Frontier, and its name ‘Lacus’ meant ‘the source of water’.
"Earth’s City of Water is Venice while Frontier’s City of Water is Lacus."
The Frost Queen swept her gaze across the surroundings and nodded.
"Mmhm, of course, it is beautiful. Still, what are you trying to do by coming to a place like this during a war?!" She stomped and said, "The people of Merhen are suffering as we speak. Let's hurry up and go. I am feeling impatient."
"Calm down and look at the map." Seo Jun-Ho tapped on his Vita, projecting the map of Frontier before saying, "Where are we right now?"
"Lacus. It’s a city close to that large body of water there on the map."
"That's right. The water here divides into dozens of branches, but in the end...” Seo Jun-Ho's finger tapped on a huge stream of water. "Here. They all merge together at the Henness River, which runs through the continent. I intend to use this stream of water."
"You’re going to use the water? How? Are you going to bury the corpses all at once using water?"
“How long will it take me to deal with a hundred thousand corpses?”
Seo Jun-Ho could imagine how long it would take. After all, he had the luxury of dealing with hundreds of thousands of cockroaches in Another World.
'They’re weak, yes, but their numbers are overwhelming.’
The knights and soldiers of the empire could easily deal with those corpses, but their stamina wasn’t infinite. Seo Jun-Ho judged that the key to this battle was speed.
“Above all, tonight's opponent is Nazad Hallow. Despite being such a powerful man, he hasn’t really been moving around in the last decade. I can't even imagine what kind of power he has been developing in the interim."
"Hoh.” The Frost Queen nodded in understanding. Her prideful eyes landed on Seo Jun-Ho. "Since you do not know your opponent's strategy, you are planning on using an unconventional way to fight to catch your opponent off guard, is that right?"
"It's not a bad plan, is it?"
"If I must say, it is a great plan. But there is a big loophole." Looking up at the map, The Frost Queen pointed at something. "The stream of the Henness River is several kilometers away from Merhen Castle. You did not miss this, did you?"
"There’s no way I could have missed that…"
"Does that mean you have a way to divert all that water in that huge river?"
"There's a way.”
"Oh! Our contractor has a plan!"
Seo Jun-Ho stared at the excited Frost Queen.
“Yes, but I need your help?”
"Hmm? My help?” The Frost Queen blinked her round eyes.
***
"I see,” said Hart in a low voice. The howling of the corpses that filled the plains of Merhen made his ears ring.
"I thought perhaps he lost all his strength because he hasn’t been active for quite a while now, but it turns out to be the opposite.”
Outland.
In that barren and dry land, he had been waiting eagerly.
Perhaps for today—for this opportunity.
"Don’t they say that patience is bitter while negligence is sweet?" Nazad Hallow nodded. "Indeed, it's quite sweet."
“…”
The archbishop and inquisitors gathered around Hart, who was biting his lips.
They had already given up on surrounding Nazad Hallow.
"Hart-nim, we are completely surrounded."
"There are probably tens of thousands of corpses surrounding us."
"And in addition, some of the corpses next to him look pretty strong."
It turned out that they didn’t manage to surround Nazad Hallow at all. Instead, Nazad Hallow lured them using his own life for the sweetest bait possible.
"I have a proposal to make." Nazad Hallow lifted his staff lightly, and the noisy corpses came to a halt. While staring straight at Hart, Nazad Hallow continued. "Take your own life, and I will give up on Merhen and withdraw."
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"How far are you going to make a fool of us?"
"Hart-nim, do not listen to his cursed words."
The inquisitors glared angrily at Nazad. They were a religious bunch with the spirit of a knight. Their respect for Hart, a living legend of knights, was beyond description.
"Why, is it because you also want me to be a part of your unsightly army?"
"Of course. A body as rare as yours is extremely rare to come by."
If he could turn Hart into a corpse, the power of his army would rise significantly. Nazad Hallow would definitely give up on Merhen if it meant acquiring Hart.
Hart swept his gaze and snorted. "I refuse. I don't want to go around with an army with such a foul stench."
"Then, the negotiations have broken down.” Nazad Hallow nodded as if he had expected it. He struck the ground with his staff. "Kill everyone and bring their corpses to me."
"Guaah."
"Guuoh!"
The corpses rushed as if their leash had come undone.
Slice!
Hart's sword turned into a blur as he cut down dozens of rushing corpses with a single stroke. He scanned the surroundings.
"Create a path! The destination is Merhen Castle!"
Right now, the best thing they could do was retreat into the castle and wait for additional support.
"Inquisitors, stick behind me! Awl formation!"
The inquisitors followed behind Hart's back, reminiscent of a sharp awl. They pointed their sharp swords and spears forward as their weapons glistened coldly beneath the moonlight.
"We are awls! Match our pace!"
The awl formation was the most effective in breaking through multiple lines of enemy forces.
Thud!?
The corpses were either torn apart by the swords or skewered by the spears.
‘What? Why is it so easy?’
'I see. There are a lot of them, but they're actually weak.’
‘If they’re only at this level, we can break through. We can do it!’
In the proverbial blink of an eye, they got through a third of the army of corpses, and their morale rose as they gained confidence. The same was true for Hart.
‘It's been a long time since I felt this way.’
Rotten blood splattered on his face as a corpse was split vertically in front of him. He then turned to the side and stuck a sword in the smelly mouth of a corpse.
‘I'm alive.’
The world had enjoyed peace for a long time—a very long time. It was because of the peaceful times that he was able to continue his boring daily life in the imperial palace.
‘Why am I alive?’
What was the use of a knight who might not be able to wield his sword before he died?
Why was this world fostering knights that wouldn’t even be used?
Hart’s questions were finally answered.
‘It's all for moments like this...’
Upon entering the battlefield, the monster inside of him slowly opened its eyes. Hart was convinced that the monster had already disappeared, but it turned out that it was still alive.
‘I’m alive.’
Hart’s concentration increased gradually.
Every time he cut down a corpse, and every time they failed to kill him, the senses that he had forgotten started to come back to him. He could control everything, and he could feel even his blood as it flowed through his blood vessels.
"This is a surprise…" Nazad Hallow remarked.
Hart's skills were much better than he thought.
‘According to Rock Blood, Hart shouldn’t be this strong.’
At this rate, they would truly be able to retreat and hole up in Merhen Castle despite the tens of thousands of corpses blocking them.
Nazad Hallow knew that he had to do something, so he raised his hand.
"Go."
“…”
The three corpses with their heads slightly lowered next to him had a different air floating about them. They were much taller and were even wearing pitch-black full-body armor.
A sword was also sticking out of their chests.
"Just a little more! Just hold out a little more!"
Harts shouted and encouraged his allies. He could already feel that the inquisitors were getting exhausted as they desperately tried to follow his tempo.
"Haaa… Haaa!"
“Don’t. Worry. About. Us…!"
"Carve a path! We’re retreating!"
The inquisitors gnashed their teeth.
No matter what, Hart and the archbishop had to survive.
‘Five more minutes, just five more minutes, and it’s over!’
The inquisitors estimated in their hearts as they mustered every ounce of strength they had remaining from the deepest parts of their bodies.
“…?”
All of a sudden, a pitch-black head appeared behind them.
The inquisitors were terrified at the sight.
‘T-that’s not human.’
Those eyes were far too violent and evil for them to belong to humans. The inquisitors, who made eye contact with the death knight, started suffocating in fear.
"Sir Hart! Two powerful corpses are in our rear!"
"What?" Hart bit his lips.
In a general formation, the most experienced knights should stand at the front and at the rear. However, that wasn’t the case for the awl formation. It was an aggressive formation that only moved forward without looking back. The rear was relatively weak because the bravest and best knights had to be in the front.
"Don't fight! Keep running!"
"…What?"
Was that why?
Craack!
The necks of the two knights at the rear were twisted like breadsticks, and they crashed to the ground. The two knights were running so fast that common sense dictated that there was no way they could stand back up again.
However, the knights sprang to their feet in an instant.
“...!” Hart started to become desperate. He was biting his lips so hard that they continuously bleed, and the hand holding his sword trembled ever so slightly.
His surviving comrades were in the same state of mind as him, and Hart would have praised them for their mental fortitude if they weren’t desperately running away. He was proud of them, but...
"Guooh."
"Guaaah."
He would forever be unable to compliment those who had fallen.
Forcing back his tears, Hart stared up ahead.
"Those who fall behind—will be left behind! Keep running, no matter what!"
However, it seemed that Lady Luck wasn’t on his side.
“Guaaaahhhh!"
An undead ogre, which was slightly smaller than the goliath that shattered the castle walls, stood in his way.
"Get lost!"
Hart's sword angrily tore the ogre into pieces, but he frowned when he was done.
‘Damn it!’
Speed was important if one wanted to maintain the awl formation, but he slowed down when he dealt with the ogre. Hart was right at the very front of the awl, so when he slowed down, the rear couldn’t slow down in time.
‘...’
The awl formation’s pros and cons were obvious. If the rear was too weak, if the rear couldn’t react in time and match the pace of those at the front, and if the formation collapsed even once...
‘It becomes useless…’
"Guoooh!"
"Kuuhh, Kuoohh!"
The corpses quickly swarmed them like a deluge. The archbishop stuck next to Hart, who was doing his best to cut the corpses down.
"I shall support you."
“Thank you.”
Hart became despondent as he realized that tonight—these plains could become his grave.
‘We have to hold out at least until dawn. The Imperial Army will need that much time.’
However, the three death knights walking slowly toward them from the rear seemed like they had no intentions of prolonging this fight.
"Whoo." Hart removed his helmet and threw it away. He threw his blood and sweat-soaked hair back and looked to the north before muttering, "Hurry up. You still have to pay me tuition fees, you tardy Player."
***
While Hart was grumbling…
Boooooooom!
The overflowing river was swallowing everything as it headed downstream.
"Aaaaahhh!" The shaking Frost Queen clung to Seo Jun-Ho’s back like gum as she exclaimed, "C-contractor! I-I do not think that we can change the direction of this river! It is too fast! I’m scared!"
"No, you can do it.”
No, that was wrong.
Seo Jun-Ho thought for a moment and corrected his words.
“We can do it.”
Seo Jun-Ho looked at the map while riding his surfboard made out of ice on the furious river.
‘It’ll take about forty minutes to arrive.’
‘Please hang in there…’?They just had to hold out, and he would end everything. Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes shimmered with determination.
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