#226 The Immortal King vs. The Hero Party (1)
Corrupted warriors—Mine with dark blue veins bulging all over their bodies—rushed in from all directions.
“Kkweh-ehk!”
“Kkeog-eogok! Keok!”
Everyone’s faces hardened stiffly at the sight of their miserable state.
The Mine had not only completely lost their reason, but their bodies were already halfway close to undead; however, in exchange, their martial prowess had been strengthened to a degree incomparable to before.
“···We can delay no longer. Let us go at full strength.”
Immediately after Heinrich, who stood at the forefront, finished speaking, [Blessing: Holy Sword] activated, and a beautiful holy sword soaring forth from his hand emitted a brilliant light.
At the same time, an unprecedented power dwelled in his body, and in an instant all his abilities reached their extremes.
Hwa-aak—
—The divine majesty forcibly elevating him, who in terms of realm alone had yet to reach Transcendence, to the pinnacle of humanity.
It influenced numerous other skills as well, including [Great Blessing: Knight of Light] and [Blessing: Steel Body].
The aura that had enveloped his body and rippled gently now blazed fiercely, spreading to those following behind.
“Ooh··· what is this?”
“Uwoot—! Follow the Hero!”
“Grant peaceful rest to our poor brothers!”
Though he hadn’t used any large-scale holy spell, having grown accustomed to wielding the Holy Sword, he radiated a wide-area buff that covered the entire battlefield simply by existing there.
Eliminating fear and boosting morale through mental support, as well as increasing actual combat power including physical abilities.
This, too, was one of the reasons the existence known as the Hero was revered.
One chosen by the gods.
The hope and guiding light of humanity.
The suicide squad pushed back the charging Mine and followed behind Heinrich, plunging in orderly formation into the city center engulfed in darkness.
“Lady Misty. Are you truly alright?”
“···I can’t be the only one sitting out while I’ve pushed others into this deathtrap. I won’t be a hindrance, so please don’t worry.”
At the center of the formation, Misty answered the Saint’s question with difficulty, then grasped a ritual implement woven from bones and feathers once more and cast her sorcery.
She was already exhausted to the point of depletion, her lifespan being shaved away in real time, but she could still sufficiently manage to assist in activating the engravings carved into the warriors.
Riesta let out a small sigh at the sight of her overexerting herself.
But this was not a situation where she could stop her.
Rather than wasting time worrying, doing her own best would be for the good of all.
“O Lord. Grant your young lambs, your creations, the strength to rise again when weary, and to stand against injustice.”
And so, the holy spell activated alongside the Saint’s prayer enveloped everyone.
Empowered by several layers of overlapping buffs, they advanced forward at high speed.
Their objective was the massive building at the city center that even now was billowing out dense abyssal energy in streams.
It was Balteon’s stronghold and the base where the Immortal King had made his nest.
***If the Hero Party went all out, reaching the target destination itself was not very difficult.
Even though Mine and undead that seemed summoned from the Immortal Castle rushed at them without rest.
Even if the wicked energy spreading throughout the city was constantly infusing them with power.
This level of opposition couldn’t halt their advance.
However, they conserved their strength as much as possible and advanced step by step.
Of course, even that alone was overwhelming compared to others.
“Horia, Equistin.”
Along with High Elf Lydia Granwood’s quiet whisper, an arrow imbued with spirits of fire and wind shot forth, turning the front lines into a sea of flames.
“Thunder Buster!”
As Isea completed her incantation, spears of lightning pierced through the darkness covering the sky and impaled the earth.
“Hup!”
With a shout, the spear Gios hurled simultaneously burst the heads of the charging enemies.
“Kwahahaha!”
Those who collided with Halli charging like a bulldozer were flung in all directions like bowling pins struck by a ball.
When the Hero Party broke through the front lines, it was the southern warriors’ role to push into that space, block enemy reinforcements, and open the path.
So that the protagonists of this battle, who would soon face the Immortal King, could reach their destination with their strength preserved as much as possible.
“Push them back! The high ground is near!”
“Kweh-ehk!”
“We may be unable to help, but we cannot become hindrances. This is our land, so open the path with your lives!”
The warriors’ weapons struck simultaneously at the bodies of the Mine, which had hardened beyond those of monsters.
But the Mine burned even their last drops of life force, so even if their heads were split, they did not die easily; in that process, the warriors’ damage steadily accumulated.
“Kkagagak! Kheuk!”
“Aah—
—Now rest in peace, my brother. I shall soon follow.”
[Kya-aak—!]
On top of that, the army of undead strengthened by the Abyss continued endlessly.
The southern warriors were literally opening the path to the center with their own blood.
‘···You’ve really set your mind to this, Hans. To treat humans as expendable resources. Just how far do you intend to fall?’
Heinrich, who had advanced with eyes fixed only on the front using their sacrifice as footing, finally clenched his teeth with the destination before his eyes.
Gripping the Holy Sword filled with rage, he swung it.
Great Chieftain Balteon had forcibly injected madness into warriors to make them ‘Berserkers’ for the war.
Just like when Halli first absorbed madness, their physical abilities probably skyrocketed from that alone.
The difference was that they had not only lost control of their bodies but were modified to obey Balteon’s commands thoroughly.
Had it been just to this extent, there might have been some possibility of reversal; however, the additional ‘death’ Hans injected afterward stole away even the slightest chance of recovery.
They weren’t fully undead yet thanks to the madness devouring their bodies, but those Mine were effectively no different from being already dead.
‘Furthermore, the Abyss spreading through the air is a problem too. For now the concentration is low, so the warriors blessed by Riesta are enduring without difficulty, but who knows what will happen if more time passes.’
The source of the abyssal energy and undead army spreading now was Hans.
If they could defeat him··· no, even if they couldn’t defeat him, if they could interfere, the situation would become much better than now.
Indeed, reaching him as quickly as possible was the best way to minimize casualties.
‘At this rate, straight to···!’
But.
As expected, things in this world did not go as one wished.
The central building they had targeted.
Now completely engulfed in pitch-black energy, before the main gate passage that looked like an entrance leading to another world.
“Paha! So you’ve finally crawled your way here.”
A Mine with a build slightly smaller than Halli’s, covered in patches of purple and black corruption, blocked their path.
Beside him were numerous Mine emanating aura greater than those who had attacked them until now.
“Balteon···.”
Misty, her face pale from excessive sorcery, hardened her expression and muttered low upon seeing him.
“Hehehe, Misty. I thought you’d run and hide like a rat, but I never expected you to show up on your own two feet so boldly.”
“···Is this what you wanted? To offer not only yourself but all those who followed you to the Immortal King? Ha, you spoke of glory for Kalkos. As expected, it was nothing but pretty words.”
That had been the justification of former Great Chieftain Balteon.
To gather the south’s strength into one and advance north, to leave this barren land and claim fertile soil.
In that process he oppressed tribes desiring peace and excessively pushed coercive war-focused policies, eventually getting ousted.
“Aah, this was an accident I didn’t anticipate either. Originally I planned to swallow the Empire’s southern region while the continent fell into chaos and then enter negotiations again.”
Even to her seemingly accusatory words, he shrugged nonchalantly, then turned his head to gaze at the Mine warriors devoured by the Abyss and the undead army continuously replenishing from the passage behind.
“But this isn’t so bad either.”
Thereupon, a somewhat twisted smile formed on his face.
“The Empire’s south? No, if the Immortal King and this strongest army work together, it won’t end at just the south—we can aim for the entire Empire! Destroy the Azerion Empire and usher in the era of the Kalkos Empire!”
From blood-red pupils amidst black sclera, a gaze tainted with madness blazed fiercely.
Burning twisted convictions and stubbornness as fuel, with not even a shred of humanity remaining.
“···You’re mad. Joining hands with the Immortal King who seeks to turn the world into a land of death will only leave destruction.”
“No, he is different from the previous Immortal King. Even the Saint there knows that fact. Wasn’t the very reason he proposed that absurd bet because he knew that!”
Because of that, even though he could have prepared for imprisonment and fought to the end, he ultimately chose to cooperate with the Immortal King.
That was precisely his long-cherished wish for decades, the desire he had harbored even as he entered the Oath Against Heaven and opened the Abyss.
“Keu-heu-heut—
—Once I wipe out those damned Imperial bastards. This Balteon, this very body shall become the first Emperor of the Kalkos Empire···!”
But his words, spewing fervent speech lost in self-admiration,
“Man, you talk too much.”
“What?”
were cut short by the suddenly interjected words, and to make matters worse—
Kwa-ang—!
“Keok!”
He himself, along with the impact, flew like a missile and disappeared beyond the walls and buildings he crashed through.
Koo-ung
—Kwang! Kwa-a-ang—!
Leaving behind only the loud explosions heard from afar.
At this unexpected turn of events, the bewildered gazes of not only the humans but also the Mine who had been posing beside him were drawn to one spot.
The spot where Balteon had stood delivering his long speech until moments ago.
Where Halli now stood with a deadpan expression, fist extended.
“Ah, sheesh! I don’t care about empires or whatever, so let’s just fight!”
Then he curled up a corner of his mouth as if excited and looked around.
Toward the Mine who tensed up at his abrupt action and prepared for battle simultaneously.
‘Nice, nice.’
Great Chieftain Balteon, who had embraced the Abyss and reached Transcendence, would have been satisfactory enough on his own; but to have three peak-realm great warriors who had grown even stronger than before, plus over ten Mine warriors slightly below that level as a bonus···
What kind of feast was this!
“Fuhuhu··· with this much, I might actually have some fun, huh?”
A ferocious smile formed on Halli’s lips.
After completing [Ultimate Evolved Lifeform] and reaching Transcendence, he had not had a single satisfactory fight until now.
At best, he had toyed with Hans’s weakened subordinates alongside the Hero Party and occasionally beat up white giants that appeared.
What had been Halli’s original purpose for coming here in the first place?
Hadn’t it been because he wanted a more desperate, bloody, and brutal struggle?
In that sense, the prey before his eyes now seemed quite capable of satisfying his desires, but···
as expected, there was one precondition necessary for a truly satisfying fight.
“Hey, leave this to me and hurry up and go. You need to hurry, right?”
Ppudeudeuk
—Kki-gi-ik!
Pushik
—From Halli’s heated-up body came sounds of twisting metal, and steam generated by the combustion of enormous energy burst out all at once.
He blocked the passage that Balteon had been obstructing, then turned his head slightly to look at the Hero Party with blazing eyes.
As if saying, ‘I’ll take care of here, so I’ll leave the rest to you.’
Of course, the meaning contained in that gaze was completely different.
‘These guys are mine! I’ve already licked them to claim them! I won’t yield a single one, so get lost already!’
While even Heinrich looked at him with a sour expression,
“Y-you basstaaard—! How dare you—!”
Balteon’s roar filled with rage exploded from afar.
Along with a terrible shockwave resonating with the Abyss spread around him, destroying everything.
“Ah, I told you to go already! Oh right, you too, miss, should get away from here with your friends. I can’t take responsibility for what happens next.”
However, the quick-witted Misty had already gathered the warriors and was hurriedly retreating.
Heinrich also sighed and entered the building where Hans was with the Hero Party···.
“I’ll kill you—!”
Kuwaa-ang—!
At the same time, Halli clashed fists with Balteon, who had closed in to right before his nose.
“Oh! That’s the spirit! While you’re at it, tell your friends there to join in too! Kahahaha—!”
With a face brighter than ever.
***Kkiiik
—Kkik
—“Sheesh, what is Halli going to do now. He seems like he’ll become a problem in a different way than Hans.”
Hugo complained but trained his body in the home gym as per his usual routine.
In Auterica, spectacular disturbances were occurring day after day, but in Earth time, it had only been two days since his main body fell asleep.
Naturally nothing noteworthy was happening here, so aside from checking his main body’s condition, he had nothing to do but move as usual.
‘Harris is the easy one, just sprawled out sleeping and not attending the brain conference. Halli is unpredictable—you never know what trouble he’ll cause.’
What good did sharing thoughts do?
To begin with, he moved his body first without thinking or any prior warning while doing things.
Halli was truly a man who embodied the saying, “When the body is ill-behaved, the head suffers.”
‘Ah, but the situation seems to be getting dangerous. When will the main body wake up? If only we could get through just one day safely···.’
At that moment when Hugo was letting out deep, worried sighs even while exercising.
In a bedroom boasting the most thorough security even within the mansion covered in all sorts of protective measures.
Kkumteul
—
—The fingers of the one lying dead asleep on the bed
—moved very slightly.
As if foreshadowing something that would soon occur.