Hero's Coffin Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Harenir relaxed his eyes as if he couldn't help Mela's nonchalant response. But soon, as if he had sensed something, he turned abruptly to look in his direction.

"Wait. Don't tell me..."

Flustered by the blue eyes turning towards him, he quickly held up Mela's necklace. He had acted reflexively, guessing that some message must be contained in it since Mela had told him to keep it well, but belatedly realized its meaning.

Ah, this not only meant that Mela had asked him for a favor... but also that he had agreed to deal with Mela, right? He was holding a kind of life waiver. Was it absurd to boldly show such a thing?

"Hmm..."

He lowered the necklace slightly, then raised it again due to an uneasy feeling. His image was already at rock bottom anyway, so shouldn't he secure this kind of consent right? As he repeatedly raised and lowered his hand following his thoughts, a "Ha" sound was heard from the other side. It was unclear whether it was a sigh or a dry laugh.

But this respite didn't last long.

"C-Commander. The sky over there...!"

Kalterik shouted, pointing behind. Crack— A black fissure spread across the brightly moonlit night sky as if it had cracked. It was a shocking sight. It looked as if black lightning had struck.

Thud, thud, black smoke billowed around a Dium walking out from the crevice of the canyon. It was the priest that the knights had first tried to capture. But after disappearing among the Dium horde, it couldn't be found, and now it had appeared.

Suddenly, he recalled what the tri-horned Dium had said earlier.

[We need time...]

Ah, just when he thought the raid's second phase was over, the final_final123.exe was about to proceed like this. He had sensed that a flag had been raised since hearing about this phenomenon from the thieves a few days ago, but there was no need to show everything like this. He stared at the scene in astonishment.

It had been over two hours since they entered the Encroachment Zone. Contamination was imminent.

"If we just deal with you, it's over...!"

Kalterik rushed at the priest, swinging his greatsword. But as soon as the priest lightly waved its staff once, Kalterik flew back and fell. Thud! He was violently buried in the debris of the canyon and groaned in pain.

The priest, whose face was half-hidden by its robe's hood, muttered ominously.

[Your struggles end here...]

Swish! Mela shot towards the priest. She rushed in incredibly fast, still in her demonized state, and having defeated even the tri-horned Dium, he hoped she could handle the priest too, but...

Just before getting close to the priest, Mela stopped.

[What is this...]

A translucent prison had suddenly appeared around Mela. The black fog emitted by the Dium had taken on a solid form. It was unbelievable that two people had been subdued in an instant.

The priest laughed lowly and pushed back its hood with its staff.

[Kuk, kukuk, foolish ones...]

What was revealed under the hood were two horns curled back like a goat's. At first, seeing their number, he wondered, 'Just two horns and it’s this strong?', but then he was surprised by the fellow's face. All the Dium he had encountered so far had two eyes, but...

A third eye was situated on the priest's forehead.

[I am the body in which Dedium dwelled.]

While the two eyes below the eyebrows were cloudy, only the eye on the forehead was clear. That alien appearance gave an unsettling sense of distance. The fellow rolled the eye on its forehead and looked around.

[I served Dedium closely since that day. Although He is now captured by vicious humans... if I rescue Him from the seal, I shall be bestowed glorious horns by Him.]

"..."

[Pay homage to me. Show reverence to our god, Dedium. Then I shall at least spare your lives.]

The Dium's voice sounded very strange. The voice, lower than that of other individuals, echoed in his ears several times as if resonating in a cave. If even he, who was quite far from it, felt tension, he couldn't imagine how the knights closer to it felt.

But Harenir just stared blankly at the priest and then...

"I waited to see what you would say, but it was a waste of time."

He leaped lightly and rushed in. The priest clicked its tongue and raised its staff. The staff that had subdued two knights in an instant had a rounded end and billowed black fog. Swish! As soon as the priest raised its staff in the direction Harenir was flying, another prison was created.

But Harenir gracefully avoided it and continued advancing. Boom, bang, crash! Black energy and golden energy collided several times. Harenir's holy power was too great to be blown away like Kalterik.

The priest twisted its lips in a smile.

[Yes. I knew you would be rebellious. Aren't you of that tenacious human's bloodline?]

"I've already had that conversation with another Dium, so it's boring..."

[But you are also of 'his' bloodline.]

Harenir's movement stopped abruptly. A crack-like fissure appeared on his smiling face, and gradually a chilling aura spread. It was probably, no, definitely hatred.

[The wise being who recognized the true new world, who felt the changes of the world and sought to follow its providence. I can't forget the sight of him coming to us and showing reverence so intelligently.]

"..."

[Ah, yes. You were there too back then. I remember seeing you as a child...]

The priest narrowed his third eye and recited in a distant tone. His voice was nostalgic, as if tracing a memory from long ago.

[You, who came holding 'his' hand, were so small and terrified. You must have been even more scared after seeing what happened to the foolish human who came out to save you... So, taking pity on you, if you swear to follow us even now, I shall admit you as a member of the new world.]

"..."

[What do you say? Will you follow your father's will and...]

"That, you shouldn't have mentioned."

It was a first. Always wearing a perfect smile and never changing that relaxed expression in any situation, now his face was contorted with anger. Terrible emotions swirled in his blue eyes, and his voice trembled as he ground out each syllable.

Bang! As Harenir immediately rushed in, the priest clicked its tongue.

[Humans are always so foolishly stubborn. I should give you some help to make your decision.]

The priest raised its staff high.

[Behold, our world.]

Crack! A thunderous sound, hundreds of times louder than what might be heard when porcelain cracks, struck the space. It was ear-splitting, and hearing that sound immediately raised goosebumps reflexively. An uneasiness rose as if cracks were spreading across every place he stood on.

He looked up blankly and witnessed countless Dium pouring out of the broken sky. An exclamation involuntarily escaped his parted lips.

"Ah."

So this was a monster wave pattern.

He understood why his companions had been wary when they heard the description of the sky breaking, and at the same time felt overwhelmed. Though the gap wasn't wide, probably because it was hastily opened, Dium were still squeezing through, and their numbers were by no means small. Although Mela and Kalterik had rejoined, they were already exhausted.

Harenir advanced at the forefront, breaking through the Dium horde himself. Even though most were one-horned, the sight of dozens of Dium rushing in would have made anyone hesitate, but he kept swinging his sword endlessly as he advanced. Swish! He would be wounded by the Dium's attacks, but then heal smoothly. He would be injured with one step, recover with the second, and then be wounded again with the next. This cycle repeated.

He didn't stop. The chilling anger evident on his face was so intense that the priest on the other side clicked its tongue as if frightened and swung its staff. The black fog began its interference.

It was chaos. He had no desire whatsoever to approach that place, and he thought that if he ran away now, even Harenir might not notice. Moreover, he had originally entered the Encroachment Zone as a guide, so wasn't his job done? But...

"Is this, huff, really the right place? You're not lying to get revenge on me, are you?"

Right now, he was summoning undead to search for the last core of the Encroachment Zone. Since he couldn't read the center when analyzing the Encroachment Zone earlier, he thought there might be a core here, and his prediction was correct.

He attached one undead to Noi and moved with the rest. Since he had expended his energy to the limit earlier, he could summon fewer undead and couldn't share their vision, so he had to follow where the undead guided him directly.

But that location happened to be close to the battlefield. If he took a slight detour and hid well, he probably wouldn't be detected by the Dium, but the path was extremely treacherous. It was almost at the level of having to crawl between cliffs.

He moved with difficulty, cursing inwardly. He really hated this. He truly didn't want to do it. Yet the reason he was searching for the core was... well, it wasn't empathy. The companions' anger, loyalty, or bonds were all distant from him. It wasn't because of Harenir's past that he had vaguely learned about from the priest's story earlier.

The fact that Harenir had seen Dium in his childhood probably connected to the story of him having entered an Encroachment Zone before, but there were still many unclear parts, and he didn't particularly want to find out about it either. He had always wanted to stay away from such complicated stories.

The reason he was moving now was simply because he felt uneasy about not finding the last core, which was part of his role as a guide. That was all. He had been released from prison on that condition, so shouldn't he do his part?