Chapter 160
"How was it?"
"The Seventh Spear. If it weren't for Sir Dex, we would all be dead."
"He was…… he was a monster."
He doesn't die even when pierced by a spear.
Rather, his entire body, where the spearhead had pierced, turned into tentacles, slashing and tearing everything in all directions.
The tentacles that sprouted from his entire body.
They were as hard as whips and as sharp as blades.
Nearly a thousand knights, the elite of the elite, were all slaughtered.
By just a single person.
"He was definitely a Fallen."
"Even in the memoirs written by the former Saint of Ractus, who witnessed the ancient demons, his section could be found."
He was precisely.
"The Undying Fallen."
A man cursed to be unable to die even if he wants to. A devil who vents his undying rage in all directions, jealous of those who can die easily.
"In Saint Aisha's memoirs, he was described as a pitiful person. The level of knights in that era was high, and the Undying Fallen's strength was not that great. He wished to die for a long time, and the heroes also tried to kill him, but they failed."
And so time flowed.
Time is equal.
Life is born, grows, and degenerates.
Then it returns to death.
But that was not the case for the 'Undying Fallen'.
"He does not die."
He does not die.
Even if burned by fire. Even if torn to shreds, he comes back to life.
"But in that era. There was one thing they couldn't test on him."
"Oh, as expected of the Saint of Ractus!"
"Yes! What on earth is that!"
"That is……."
Saint Eily put her hand into her bosom and took something out.
* * *
"That is the Spear Holy Water."
"Do you recognize it?"
What was in Callius's hand was holy water.
It was the Spear Holy Water, said to be filled with the power of Ractus.
"Yes. Because it is such a precious item. They say they kept it inside a specially made relic-grade bottle so that not a single ounce of its energy could leak out."
It couldn't play an active role because it didn't exist in the old days, but even if demons appear in the present era, the Spear Holy Water would wipe away their corruption.
"I've also heard such things. The story that it contains the full power of the God Ractus is famous, after all."
"You know well."
"We also belonged to the Empire. We heard quite a lot through the grapevine about the roots and efficacy of the Spear Holy Water."
The beastwoman marveling at it, saying it was her first time seeing it in person.
The Saint of the Shield God. Junis.
Callius was having a private meeting with her.
Over the past three months.
Callius, along with Shield Knight Puppi, crossed the Empire and headed north, reaching their Saint who was hiding from the Empire's eyes.
He met Junis.
"Men who meet with me one-on-one are rare. Most find it hard to even keep their sanity, captivated by my beauty, but how about you? I really like your scent……."
"Save the nonsense for later. The only dog I like is Bibi. I have no interest in anyone else."
Saint Junis.
Her appearance is just a dog.
A somewhat pretty dog, at best.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"I see. What a shame. But it's fine. Seeing as you carry the Spear Holy Water despite wielding a sword, it seems you are indeed the savior bestowed with the god's revelation."
Past the Empire's border, they were living in an area where the rocky terrain was gentle.
It mostly felt like nomads living by pitching tents.
They called this place Oblepix, a bizarre place full of strange rocks soaring high into the sky.
Strange rocks soaring high into the sky as if planted by giants.
Various flowers blooming on the cliffs there.
Moreover, since it was at a quite high altitude, it was a place where it was hard to breathe, thick fog settled, and misstepping once made it difficult to even find a corpse.
That place was Oblepix.
Anyway.
The reason Callius came all the way to this rugged Oblepix is as follows.
"Since our time is precious to both of us, I'll ask straight to the point."
"Yes."
"Where is the Fairy's Tomb."
The reason he didn't refuse the long journey and ran here.
It was none other than the Fairy's Tomb.
Only that.
"Of course I will tell you. You need the power of the fairies, don't you?"
"Did the god tell you that too?"
"No. It's merely a deduction. I heard it from Paladin Puppi. The story that you show extreme interest in the Fairy's Tomb."
"Hmm……."
He wondered if she knew the fact that he wielded sorcery, but fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
Her tone suggested she thought he had made a contract with a fairy and was commanding it, like the others.
"Right?"
"It's not a wrong statement."
It wasn't a correct statement either, but he didn't feel the need to correct it.
"The Shield God will offer sufficient goodwill and compensation."
"You want me to do something."
"Yes. Otherwise, we wouldn't have gone out of our way to call for you."
"What is the business?"
The saint spread her fingers.
Sharp claws covered in fur.
"With the sword that slew the dragon, please cut down the fairy's barrier. The Shield God, Lumitera, said that if it's you, you can do it."
* * *
Same time.
Filo, one of the party who arrived at the beastman village of Oblepix.
He was sitting in a suitable restaurant with a face full of dissatisfaction.
They were waiting for Callius, who was having a private meeting with the saint, and the faces of the others were somewhat peaceful, except for Filo.
It was said that Filo alone was scowling and fuming.
"Hey Serena. Aren't you mad?"
"About what?"
"Those bastards hunted down and killed all the elves and dwarves. And now that they're about to die themselves, they come asking for help. Aren't you mad? Or am I the weird one?"
As he fumed and raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear, some of the beastmen in the restaurant shifted in their seats.
But they seemed to barely hold back.
He was the foremost knight of Oblepix.
Since he was a guest brought by Paladin Puppi.
"I am mad."
"Then why are you so calm?"
Serena didn't have good feelings for them either.
But she didn't care as much as Filo.
According to their words now.
First, their miserable appearance hiding and living in this rugged mountain valley to avoid the Empire, and second.
"The one they requested is not me. Nor us. It's because it's Callius-nim."
"Be, cau, se, of! If Callius received the request! Huh?! It's the same as us being requested! We're comrades! Team! Party!"
At the word 'comrades', Serena tilted her head slightly.
"Well. I'm not sure if Callius-nim thinks that way too."
Comrades refer to those who can watch each other's backs.
Those with similar skills, and those with the same will.
But were Callius and themselves really in such a relationship?
Serena was a bit skeptical.
Originally, Serena thought of him as a dragon, and thought his skills were worlds apart from theirs.
And the most important purpose.
'Just what is he trying to do…….'
Serena still couldn't accurately fathom his true intentions.
He saved the Dragonian tribe and saved the elves, and said he would save the dwarves later, but that didn't mean she could be certain he was good.
"What? Is that true? Hey old man! Calis doesn't think of us as comrades?"
"Hehe, who knows about that. However Calis thinks of us, that's the person's own heart. We haven't accepted Obana as a comrade yet either."
"I'm not your comrade? I'm just traveling with you. And my name is Ovarnada. Not Obana."
The floor master of the 61st floor and a transcendent who supports the God of the Peak.
Ovarna was also sitting in the beastman restaurant, tearing into meat.
There were pieces of meat around her mouth, and Filo frowned and handed her a rag from his bosom.
"Traveling with us, my foot. You're a vagabond who slips onto another path at every opportunity. You're following us because you don't know where to go if you're alone, right?"
"You'd better shut up. Lizard. My peak doesn't go easy on you just because you're a poor bastard who sold your own tail to survive. And I don't want to wipe my mouth with your rag or whatever."
"What!? That's from a long time ago!! And a rag?! It's my handkerchief!"
That rag piece?
Ovarna's eyebrows raised.
"Ah, it hasn't even been a year since you washed it, so it's relatively recent. Is that it?"
"You wretched bitch!"
Crash! Thud, thud thud! Smack!
"Gwack!"
"An empty cart makes the most noise."
Filo, who overturned the table and swung his spear, was subdued in an instant.
Seeing him sprawled on the floor with the back of his neck pinned down by Ovarna's iron staff, the surrounding beastmen laughed heartily.
"What... bullshit is this? The loud is loud...,"
"It seems like it's telling you not to act up without the skill to back it up. Filo."
Serena answered instead.
"Who's asking because they don't know that!? Why are you just watching! Help me!"
"Weren't you two just playing around? Help you with what? Hahaha!"
"No! Keok!"
"Filo. It's unsightly. To be trampled by a woman and begging for help."
"No...!"
Serena looked down with a disdainful expression and tended to her arrows, while Aldu just gulped down his drink as if he was having fun.
Only Filo felt like dying.
"The elf is right. You're unsightly. Why don't you cut off your tail. I've heard your tail is quite a delicacy."
"What is this crazy woman saying!?"
Urgh! Nngh!
Filo struggled with all his might to escape from Ovarna, but couldn't.
She was so strong that even Filo's massive frame couldn't do anything about it.
Just as his face turned red and he was pushing so hard he almost farted.
"Now, now, Filo. And Ovarna. You should stop here too. This isn't exactly a comfortable place to be, is it."
"Hmm. I understand."
This was the beastman village.
Causing a big commotion wouldn't be good.
It was also bad manners.
As the commotion died down and the fuming Filo also calmed down a little.
"Haha, the Empire bastards look pathetic."
This time, the conversation coming from another table caught their interest.
"What's that about?"
"Didn't you hear? The story that a demon appeared in the Empire."
"A demon? In the Empire?"
"Yes. Weren't you also from the Empire? Didn't you hear the story?"
"I didn't hear it, but……."
"The Empire declared it. They said the peace of the Dragon-Demon Great War has now been broken."
The peace of the Dragon-Demon Great War was broken?
Ovarna jumped up.
Crash!
"Ugh! My meat!!"
The table fell over, and Filo's meat dropped to the floor.
"No way!! The zealots of the Sahara Holy Land are holding out there, so how……!"
Half were of the opinion that it was unbelievable.
Half were those who sensed the time had come.
"Peace is originally like a puddle after rain. Just as puddles form on the ground after it rains, it reflects the sky clearly and cleanly."
However.
"If you step on it without looking at the ground, it soon turns into a mud puddle."
Peace is the same.
Something that can be broken at any time.
Because there is nothing eternal in this world.
While Ovarna was in shock.
Callius walked into the restaurant street.
Beside him was the saint wearing a veil.
"C, Callius! Did you hear!? A demon! No, the peace! No no!"
"Don't make a fuss."
Callius's gaze, after seeing the flustered Filo, turned to Serena.
It was a face asking for an explanation.
So Serena answered concisely.
"They say a demon has appeared in the Empire."
"Is that so."
Callius nodded without saying much.
"Hey! You can't just say 'Is that so'! Why are you so calm? Did you eat some legendary calm-calm fruit?"
"What nonsense, Ovarna. Don't make a fuss over a mere story of a demon appearing."
A mere story of a demon appearing!
Dragons and demons that hadn't shown themselves for a thousand years had appeared.
To tell them not to make a fuss over such a tremendous story!
"Uh…… Am I the weird one?"
"No. That Calis guy is the weird one."
Whatever the case, Callius was assessing the situation on his own.
A demon appeared, huh.
He had expected them to start moving soon.
But it was earlier than expected.
'Faster than I thought. At this rate, various things will get mixed up in the Empire's war.'
It wasn't what he wanted.
But he had expected it to some extent.
Since meeting his Titeo and receiving his recognition, the appearance of demons had been foreseen. It was the same logic as the dragons starting to intervene when he obtained the Mad Dragon Sword.
'As much as I grow stronger, must the dragons and demons also intervene faster?'
It can't be helped. Besides, it was already the time when dragons and demons would slowly start to intervene somehow.
"There is one thing that bothers me."
"What is it?"
"In the Dragon's Forest where we were…… they say a rumor is going around that the Empire's Spear and a thousand knights were killed by a dragon."
"……It's a demon."
"It's just an old woman's worry. It's not accurate……."
"No, your thought is probably right."
That guy is probably chasing Callius.
The Empire's Spear being killed must have been done by the demon chasing him.
'There's no way another dragon appeared in the meantime.'
The three Empire's Spears were killed, huh.
They probably didn't die.
A thousand elite knights must have died instead as the price for them keeping their lives.
A demon is chasing him.
What kind of demon would appear at this time?
Three Fallen came to Callius's mind as he thought about it.
'The Felled' 'The Crawling' 'The Undying'
The most likely one among the three.
A Fallen who could effortlessly slaughter the three Empire's Spears and a thousand knights.
There is only one among the three.
"The Undying Fallen."
Only him.
'The situation isn't very good.'
If the Undying Fallen is already chasing him, there isn't much time.
He will chase without even sleeping.
'If I stay here, unnecessary people will get caught up in it. It's better to depart quickly.'
"Saint Junis."
"Yes. Callius-nim."
"I will go to the tomb."
Callius glanced at the half-beastman standing behind Junis.
"Guide me to the Fairy's Tomb."
"Are you sure? The Fairy's Tomb is a place where all sorts of things are buried. A place not bound by the constraints of time and space."
"It doesn't matter."
He had been prepared for it for a long time already.
He had never once.
Sat back and accepted death.
"Then, I will guide you."
Behind the saint and her attendant stepping onto the path.
Callius and his party followed.