Chapter 52: Explosive Situation

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༺ Explosive Situation ༻

""Screeech!!""

Countless undead are glaring at me as they let out an outcry.

Then, the dark mana of the undead and the holy power emanating from the white armor they were adorned in, blended together and began to devour me.

"Ugh… I feel sick…"

I felt quite uncomfortable when I was surrounded by a hybrid aura that should never coexist.

The reason I probably feel so terrible is because my situation is the same.

I'm a Hero destined to commit evil deeds.

'Can I win?'

As I scanned the undead for a long time with an impassive expression and muttered to myself, I began to understand their power.

Judging from their armor and structure of their physique, it seems that most of the undead were well-trained paladins.

If so, is this the cemetery where the paladins of the Sun God Church are buried when they perish?

'…The cemetery must be on the surface.'

However, now that I think about it, the cemetery of the Church that has maintained its title since a millennium is present in front of plain sight on the surface. So, why the hell does this place have so many corpses of the paladins?

– Swoosh!

As I was ruminating about the situation, some undead fired arrows at me.

"Shriiiiiiieeek!!!"

As I dodged while trying to preserve as much stamina as possible, the undead began howling at me.

'Fortunately, it seems that they don't possess much intelligence.'

There are several types of undead.

The first type is a kind that moves under direct command from the necromancer, and is characterized by being able to become stronger or weaker at the discretion of the necromancer.

Of course, seeing that these guys have been acting arbitrarily since before, it seems that there is no such thing as a necromancer here.

The second type is a kind that possesses high intelligence and makes efficient judgments on their own. In this case, it consumes a lot of materials, time, and mana to create, but one can summon quite the powerful undead.h

"Time. I have to buy time…"

Having finished assessing the opponent's strength, I slowly moved to the side and muttered to myself.

My goal right now is not to destroy them, but to buy as much time as possible.

Only then will Ferloche be able to get out of this place safely.

When I used my stellar mana earlier to decipher the way forward, I found that if one opens that door and leave this room, they will find a passage that extends all the way to the surface.

So, even if Ferloche has run out of holy power, she will still have enough to get out of this place if she recovers from the sunlight leaking out of the ornaments, and keeps proceeding forward.

Of course I don't know what's outside of here… but if she goes outside, she'll be able to get even more sunlight, so she'll be fine.

"Screeeeech!!"

Once I finished thinking as such, the undead paladins charged at me in unison.

It was similar to watching a swarm of ants trying to devour its prey. With a slightly haggard expression, I tried to use the ❰Stone of Domination❱ in my pocket just in case.

But even if I pressed my finger until it hurts, the undead were still glaring at me and approaching me. As expected, the ❰Stone of Domination❱ doesn't seem to have any effect on the undead.

"Heup!"

Eventually, after taking my hand out of the pocket, I instantly grabbed the hilt of my sword, took a deep breath, and then swung the sword with all my might.

– Sparkle!

As the beautiful stellar mana fused with the cold steel, the front line of the undead that was charging began collapsing after they were cleaved.

"Screeeeech!!"

Of course, since they were undead, most of them were still squirming around, but knowing that they would survive, I aimed precisely at their legs so their movement was futile.

– Crack! Crack!!

The undead, who collapsed on the floor with their legs cut off, were trampled upon by the undead charging at me from behind. In the aftermath of being smashed and trampled upon, they were incapacitated.

"Ugh… Damn it…"

While I watching them with a cheerful expression, I plopped down in pain as if a blade had stabbed my heart.

If I could repeat this a few more times, the numbers of the undead would have been reduced considerably. But then again, the influence of 2 penalty stacks and 1 special penalty stack seems to be too much.

"Gasp… gasp…"

I momentarily settled down and gasped for breath, then soon I staggered up and grabbed my sword.

"Should I try hand-to-hand combat?"

I recalled a certain myth of the first Sword Saint, the first Head of the Bywalker Ducal family. There was a legendary tale of him stopping armies numerous times all by himself using this method. I thought about fighting them using hand-to-hand combat against them for a while, but soon realized that it was a stupid idea.

Wouldn't the result be obvious if I fought while being surrounded by paladins who must have been elite soldiers of the Sun God Church in a state where I'm on the verge of death due to my horrible condition?

Of course, because they are undead, their speed and reflexes are rather slow, but… there's no point in taking a risk like that.

"… Whatever, I can't do it."

After giving up trying to push for hand-to-hand combat, I took a deep breath and began concentrating the mana within my body.

According to my calculations, although my body will be in more critical condition, I don't think it would be a massive problem if I dealt one more sword slash.

– Schwiiiing!

I slashed the legs of countless undead once again by launching a massive sword slash at them, and immediately after that, I grabbed my chest and started rolling on the floor because of the agonizing pain I felt in my heart.

"Arghh…"

While I was writhing in agony for a moment, dust flew in the air as I rolled on the floor. After spitting out the blood that I had accumulated in my mouth, I stabbed my sword into the ground and used it to support my battered body as I staggered up.

"They've lost quite a few, haven't they?"

Even though he only swung his sword twice, the number of undead was reduced enough to be counted with the naked eye.

I desperately wanted to swing it a few more times, but now is the time to buy as much time as possible. I decided on this course of action and sneaked towards the door that Ferloche had left through.

'…Once I go to that narrow passage and cut down the undead that follow me up, I'll have to flee outside when I reach my limit.'

Since there is a risk of being surrounded and attacked from all sides while confronting them with hand-to-hand combat in a wide space, it is, of course, right to give up on that approach.

However, if the enemy's direction of attack is limited to only one and I only need to deal with a few enemies, the story will be different.

If I take a vantage point for the passage right now, I'll be able to hold on for quite a long time just by cutting down the undead in front of me.

Of course, if so many of these guys rush into the passage, no matter how many times I cut them down, eventually the accumulated corpses will begin to pour out, but in the current situation, I have no other choice.

The exit on the other side is blocked by the relatively strong ones among the undead, and gradually more and more undead paladins are appearing out of the ground and minimizing the vacant space left inside the room.

And since I'm trying to buy time while also making sure that I don't lose my life, I have to fight with an escape route behind me.

Of course, the number of undead paladins pouring out is a problem, but… Since there are a lot of monsters infiltrating the Capital recently, the Imperial Knights are constantly guarding the Imperial Capital.

And, with the help of the elite soldiers of the Imperial family, no matter how much holy power these undead possess, they will easily subdue the undead paladins, who are going to be greatly weakened under sunlight.

"Screeeech!!!"

"…These creepy bastards."

While thinking as such, I opened the door that Ferloche had entered through, settled down at the center of the long hallway, and locked the door.

Of course, I don't think that door will hold up for long, but it's still better than having it wide open

– Crash!!

"Screech!!"

"Sigh, damn it."

Despite my attempt to buy some time, the door was destroyed by a single undead.

Thanks to that, I felt disappointed for a moment, and after cutting the head of the undead that destroyed the door, I finally assessed the full situation.

"…Eh?"

But something is a little strange.

"Keugh! Keugh!"

"Screech!"

Beyond the horde of undead charging at me while letting out creepy howls, the colossal undead guarding the opposite entrance communicated with each other and began manipulating something.

"…What are they trying to do?"

After watching their suspicious behavior for a while, I tried to get out of the passage to find out what they were doing, but before I knew it, the undead arrived right in front of me, so regretfully I was forced to enter the passage again.

"Screeeeech!"

"…Not a chance."

Standing in the previously decided spot, I stabbed my sword into the skull of the first undead who entered the exit.

""Keughhhh!!""

Then, five to six undead began to push past the undead that had the sword stuck in his skull.

"Their speed is horrible… but they're terrifyingly strong."

They were quite slow, but they were just as strong as when they were alive. Then, just as they began to exert their strength, I was forced to use the undead with a sword in his skull as a shield to try blocking their advance. However, I was being pushed to the point where my arm felt cramped.

"Heup!!"

As three more undead joined, I almost lost my center of gravity and collapsed, but I clenched my teeth and pulled out the sword from the undead's skull, which was used as a shield, and began slashing the guys in front of me.

Their individual strength was terrifying, but their speed was nonexistent, so the bodies of the undead, whose necks were blown away without being able to block my attack, gradually piled up.

"Ugh."

But it wasn't long before I started to get pushed back.

It was because too many undead were piling up in the passage, gradually minimizing the free space which I can use as a foothold.

But because I had to buy time, I stabbed, cut, and mutilated the rushing undead paladins with a solemn expression on my face, but even that became useless as the undead that were neutralized kept piling up.

Whether it was a coincidence or a sudden increase in intelligence, the undead began to climb up the passage as they used the incapacitated bodies of their comrades as stepping stones.

"Still, with this, it will be difficult for these guys to come out."

I started to take a step backwards slowly, thinking that I could leave the work to the Imperial Knights with confidence.

'Ferloche seems to have escaped safely. I'm so glad.'

As I slowed down their advance by cutting down the undead in front of me as much as possible, I arrived at a place presumed to be a door leading to the surface.

When I noticed that the door was slightly open, I realized that fortunately Ferloche seems to have escaped safely.

"Ugh!!"

"Keeeeeeek!!"

After confirming that Ferloche was safe, I stopped right in front of the exit to slow down the speed of the undead. I smiled in relief, realizing that it was almost time for me to leave, and began slicing them again.

If I pile up as many of the neutralized bodies of the undead as possible at the entrance, no matter how strong the undead are, only one will be able to get out.

I would like to take care of the situation completely by killing them all, but if I try to do so, I might die.

– Screech…

After hacking for a long time and creating a low wall made of undead, I carefully opened the door, grabbed my still burning heart and pulled out a black robe from my side bag.

"Sigh…"

And as soon as I opened the door, I stared blankly at the scene unfolding in front of me for a moment, then carefully closed the door and swallowed my saliva.

"…Fuck."

I just understood everything that was happening down here.

.

.

.

.

.

A few minutes before, Frey opened the door to the surface and realized something.

"Is he going that way?"

Irina Philliard, who was hiding behind the door under the place where the sacrificial magic circle was inscribed using a stealth magic scroll, stuck her head out and watched Frey as he battled his way through the horde of undead.

"Strange… so strange…"

Eventually, as Frey disappeared completely into the passage, Irina began to mutter with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Why does Frey only do good after he has committed an evil deed?"

It wasn't until two months ago that she became convinced of Frey's good deeds.

After the 'Raid on Commoner's Dormitory,' no matter how much she investigated, she didn't gather much information due to the gap in her status and lack of funds, so Irina Philliard eventually headed to the 'Ashen Forest'.

It was possible because after the Dark Golem was destroyed that day, the demons and dangerous monsters dwelling inside of the 'Ashen Forest' all migrated somewhere else.

Nevertheless, the Ashen Forest was still not a good place. This is because of the harsh natural environment and wild beasts that nestled there in place of those demons and monsters were lurking everywhere.

Even so, Irina collected all her money, bought the magic scrolls and took a leave of absence from the academy. She even went as far as living in the Ashen Forest in order to immerse herself in the investigation.

If any problem arises, the solution must be found. This always has been Irina's principle.

"Hey, here…!"

After a month of searching through the Ashen forest, Irina was able to find decisive information.

While she was diligently researching as usual, she particularly prominent cavern to avoid the torrential downpour, and the moment she stepped inside she realize what that place was.

"There are bloodstains and traces of someone being dragged on the ground, and I can feel the sparkling mana that Liana used… So this is…?"

The unidentified man with an eyepatch who threatened Irina as she kept struggling and tried to escape somehow.

Her memories of that incident were so vivid that they still appear in her dreams to this day, and she was easily able to identify the traces of her struggles.

Furthermore, instead of having mana exhaustion, thanks to her increased mana sensitivity, she could feel the similarity between the mana Liana used and the one Frey used. Irina gulped and began to rummage through her backpack.

'Obviously there was a woman's scream at that time. So, if this was indeed a place where sex slaves were raised…'

Irina, in exchange for giving up a month's worth of her meals, took out an attack spell scroll she had bought and quietly entered the cave, where she took a deep breath in anticipation of the terrible scene that would soon unfold before her eyes.…

"…Huh?"

However, as soon as she saw the situation unfolding before her eyes, she had no choice but to let out a gasp.

Instead of sex slaves or torture devices, there were rotting corpses of monsters.

– Sparkle…

And, amidst the bodies of those monsters, the sparkling mana was still shining.

"…..!"

Irina, who was watching the scene, was stunned when her feet bumped into something and looked down involuntarily.

"Is it a corpse…?"

Because there was the body of a woman who had her head cut off.

She was the most revered Archmage in the continent's history, so she proceeded with a slightly disturbed expression and began examining the woman's head next to her corpse.

"…She's smiling."

Whether it was because of the glistening mana, or the icy cavern, Irina, who had a calm expression on her face, said that the woman was smiling too happily for a person who had been decapitated.

It was a look that she should never have if she had really been Frey's sex slave who was had been killed for trying to run away.

In addition to the trail of dried bloodstains at the entrance of the cavern continued all the way till here, there were numerous bloodstains next to the corpse.

Seeing that, Irina came to the conclusion that the one who brought her here and the one who took the life of this woman must be Liana..in other words, Frey, who tends to cough up blood after every attack.

"Student! You must not enter that forest!!"

"It's fine. I'm fully prepared."

"Last time, an entire village was burned down by monsters residing in that forest! Seeing that only the corpses were left in the village, all the living people would have been taken to a cave… Do you still want to go?"

Irina recalled the unfortunate incident she had heard from a local native who tried to stop her with all his might and became certain of one fact.

'Frey didn't kill a sex slave … he was avenging her.'

After doing something bad to someone, Frey does good deeds in secret, behind everyone's back.

That was Frey's secret that she had discovered after a month long investigation.

"Just before, he threatened Ferloche to flee on purpose, so he could block the horde of undead by himself… I'm sure of that as well."

And that conviction was once again solidified by Frey showing the same behavior this time as well.

'But why is he doing this?'

Irina was completely convinced of Frey's actions, but she couldn't quite figure out why he was doing it.

Of course, if she asked Frey directly, she could know right away… But there must be some reason why he puts so much effort into hiding his good deeds.

It's too dangerous to approach him without knowing whether a variable occurred during this regression and Frey changed, or whether he was like that from the beginning.

Because he was such an evil person, there could even be some kind of malice hidden in that good deed, or there could be some other reason why the good deed should not be discovered by anyone.

So, it's still not time yet…

– Crash!!

"Huh!?"

Irina, who had been immersed in her thoughts for so long, opened her eyes wide upon hearing the sudden roar and the desperate scream.

"Stop it!"

I looked up to see what the hell was going on, and Frey, with bloodshot eyes, emerged from the passage, bleeding from his mouth, chased by a horde of undead.

He literally pushed the undead out of his way. However, in the aftermath, Frey was also stabbed and wounded by those undead, yet he still kept charging at the colossal undead without hesitation.

"Ahhhh!!!"

As he wielded his sword with all his power, one of the two colossal undead that was manipulating something lost its leg.

"Roooooooooar!!"

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

Frey, who trembled as blood dripped from his eyes, began stabbing the undead. Meanwhile, the undead started manipulating the thing even more hastily as Frey twisted the sword he stabbed in the undead with all his might.

"Wait, I think something is wrong…"

Irina, who was staring blankly at the scene, hurriedly started concentrating flames in her hands.

"DIEEEE!!"

Meanwhile, Frey, who was twisting the sword with all his might, cut off the legs of the undead and smashed the thing they were tinkering with.

"Damn it…"

With an unbelievable explosive power, he defeated a horde of undead paladins and two colossal undead. However, he seemed to have reached his limit.

Because, after pouring out all his strength, he fell to his knees and then collapsed helplessly.

"No… I can't fall here…"

Realizing that he no longer had any strength in his body, he pulled something out of his inner pocket with a desperate expression on his face, while Irina, who sensed an ominous feeling from it decided to intervene in the situation and shot flames from her hands.

– Whoosh!!

"Screeeech!!"

As Irina launched fire from her hands, the undead around Frey began to burn.

"Wh-Who is—"

Then Frey put the strange object back in his pocket and barely asked a question in a strained voice. However, when Irina held him, Frey, who intuitively realized that he was being protected in the back of his fading consciousness slowly closed his eyes.

– Whooosh!

"Screeech!"

Then Irina, who was holding Frey and shooting flames at the same time, started heading for the exit Frey had opened up as she ran out of mana that she had been accumulating for over a week.

"Screeech!!"

"Fuck off!!"

Irina, who shot her last fireball that she could use at an undead who was too close for comfort, took out the attack spell scroll she had kept in her pocket just in case something happened. As she opened the door…

"…Sigh."

Soon she was able to figure out why Frey had suddenly returned in a hurry.

"Evacuate all the children in the orphanage!! Right now!!!"

"Saint… Stop insisting. If you keep doing that…"

"If you don't evacuate immediately, I'll use the 『Blessing of the Sun God』 to destroy the orphanage myself!!!"

"Th-The Blessing of the Sun God…?"

Ferloche, who was lying on the floor, panted with a pale face, was screaming at the Pope and paladins who were blocking her path. Especially because of the sight that lay in front of her.

– Crackle! Crackle!!

– Toot! Toot!

It was because in front of her a massive party was being in the orphange of the Sun God Church where firecrackers were popped and trumpets were being blown.

'Maybe… the magic circle on the ceiling…'

Irina, who froze for a moment, broke out in a cold sweat when she realized the tragedy that would have transpired if it had not been for Frey. She then sensed a presence behind and hurriedly turned around.

"Screeech!!"

"F-Fuck!"

Then, seeing an undead approaching right behind her, Irina hurriedly tore the attack scroll in her hand.

– Riiiiiip!

"H-huh!?"

She was soon engulfed in light along with Frey, as they both vanished into thin air, sensing a familiar feeling she had experienced before during the performance evaluation incident.

And then there was a brief moment of silence.

"Screeeech!!"

"Wh-What the hell!?"

"Undead! An undead has appeared!!"

This was the prelude to the 『Holy Undead Knight Incident』 that would turn both the Empire and Sun God Church upside down.

You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02