Hero's Coffin Chatper 34

Chapter 34

However, as he was hesitating due to a subtle lingering uneasiness about using necromancy in a sacred place, whoosh! The demonic energy surrounding Kalterik intensified. Dark red energy spread like a heat haze from the fingertips of the succubus reaching towards Kalterik's head.

The more he inhaled it, the more Kalterik seemed to be caught in a moment of memory, sobbing while kneeling.

"Ah, Dad. Mom..."

Kalterik cried like a child, choking himself. At first, he thought Kalterik was fumbling at his throat because he was having difficulty breathing from inhaling smoke, but that wasn't it. It seemed that the more he suffered from the succubus's nightmare, the more his consciousness blurred, making him move according to the demon's will.

The succubus burst into laughter.

[Yes! That's the expression! I love faces crushed by despair like this so much!]

"Huu, huff..."

[That's why you alone survived. Come here, baby...]

As if it had read some memory from Kalterik's trauma, the succubus mimicked someone's voice and taunted him. Kalterik's face contorted even more horribly.

Hmm. Hostage taking, 1 out. Trauma stimulation, 2 out. Filial impiety, 3 out. Three strikes and you're out, I declare this invalid.

"Drop it."

As black-purple energy spread from his outstretched hand, undead were summoned simultaneously. The responsibility for using necromancy in a sacred place lies entirely with that holy knight. And with that demon over there, isn't the sacrilege greater on that side? While making meaningless internal arguments, he sent the undead flying.

Whoosh! The succubus was suddenly pushed to the side, away from Kalterik. The demon, falling on its backside, shouted irritably.

[W-what is this now?!]

"I didn't move."

Raising both hands, he answered as if he were truly innocent. He wanted to pull Kalterik out from between the flames of demonic energy if possible, but that was impossible. Still, by dropping the succubus, that is, by diverting its concentration elsewhere, Kalterik's nightmare seemed to have faded somewhat...

The regrettable part was that the succubus's diverted concentration was now directed at him. At his nonchalant answer, the succubus's red eyes glinted with murderous intent.

[I'll kill you in the most painful way possible!]

The succubus cursed in a voice so sharp it seemed it might tear, and flew at him. Whoosh! The undead came in front of him and blocked the succubus.

[You think you can stop me with this?!]

Probably not...

For the first time, he used a skill without the status window. It seemed that once you moved according to the status window's instructions, you could absorb that skill. So he was able to summon undead just by vaguely tracing past memories.

But perhaps because his skill proficiency hadn't increased, the undead were much more blurry and unstable than those he had summoned in the Encroachment Zone. Though the nauseating revulsion that came with following the status window's instructions was less, his energy was depleted instantly. It felt like the clumsy frustration of manually operating after disabling auto-hunting mode.

However, he couldn't hope for help from others now. When the succubus flew at him, it came around in a wide arc, and at that time, its wings shattered a pillar, causing the ceiling to collapse as well.

Rumble—! The falling debris created another wall. The only humans trapped in this narrow space were him and Kalterik. Noi's voice calling their names from outside could be faintly heard.

The succubus seemed to be planning to kill him and then use Kalterik as a hostage again, and outside, they couldn't readily break through the debris. Not only could they not accurately determine Kalterik's position, but the vibrations in the floor were also ominous, as if monsters were gathering from outside as well.

Though Kalterik seemed to have escaped the nightmare, he was still struggling, sobbing while kneeling. He shook his head roughly repeatedly as if trying to shake off the scene from that day.

"Huff, hah, s-save me..."

The one who really needs saving right now is me, damn it.

Whoosh! Whip! Bang, boom—! Continuous loud noises erupted in front of him. The succubus threw away the undead blocking its path and charged at him, and he was barely managing to summon undead again to stop the demon's attacks. He was reaching his limit.

In fact, he had accidentally glimpsed Kalterik's trauma earlier.

He had just used the undead to try to separate the succubus from Kalterik, but at that time, the vision of the undead that had wedged between the two was shared with him. As the undead brushed against the dark red energy that the succubus was sending into Kalterik's head, a certain scene flashed before his eyes.

A house being devoured and destroyed by a massive fire, and the sound of a child sobbing as if about to lose breath in front of it. It was probably a memory from Kalterik's childhood. Given the huge footprints near the house, it was likely an attack by monsters.

It seemed Kalterik had lost his family before his eyes as his house burned down from a monster attack. The flames created by the succubus's demonic energy had evoked that memory and broken him.

Yes, he could understand. Originally, righteous hot-blooded characters are often given such sad backstories. Now that the game has progressed to some extent, it's revealing character side stories.

What should a player say in this situation? Should he pat his shoulder and offer a warm word of comfort? Death isn't a big deal. I know because I've died, your family has probably been reincarnated in another world? No, aside from the content being lame...

To begin with, Isaph wasn't the type to offer such empathy and comfort. If he spoke like that, wouldn't he look like he was possessed by an evil spirit?

So, for him, who needed to somehow wake Kalterik up right now.

"Sigh, Kalterik."

As he called his name while exhaling a long breath, the guy turned to look at him with a start. The shock therapy worked since he had never called him by name before. Perhaps he was angry that a death row inmate like Isaph dared to casually call the name of the vice-commander of the Holy Knight Order.

So he looked straight at him and said,

"If you die, I'm going to absorb your soul."

"W-what did you say?"

"I said I'll subjugate you as an undead and use you like a slave."

He deliberately chose his words and delivered them in the calmest declarative form possible. He didn't forget to glance at him as if to say, if you want to become my undead, just stay there.

At first, Kalterik just blinked blankly as if he didn't understand, but then gradually his face contorted with anger and.

"What nonsensical bullshit are you spouting, you gloomy bastard!"

Whoosh! Holy power erupted like an explosion at the end of his increasingly loud voice. Golden energy surged brilliantly like waves around Kalterik, engulfing the flames of demonic energy.

The memory that had dragged him into despair for the past few minutes, no, perhaps for many years, dissipated before his eyes.

It was quite a cool and dazzling scene, and he couldn't help but admire it, but the phenomenon didn't stop there. Whoosh! As if to completely stamp out even the embers, the holy power spread fiercely like waves, and... something rose between them.

His gaze was drawn to a pure white sphere floating in the air.

Not only him, but even the succubus who had discovered it stopped its actions. It had been charging at him so frighteningly until now, but it suddenly stopped and muttered while looking at the pure white sphere.

[Arux...]

The holy relic that his companions had been searching for so desperately, the small sun, had now risen.

A dazzling sun rising in a cramped space blocked on all sides by debris, where not even moonlight entered. Suddenly, he remembered the inscription they had found on the first emperor's tombstone.

[If you earnestly wish, the sun will always rise for you.

It will save you from the darkest despair.]

Ah, it didn't simply mean that the holy relic was hidden in the east where the sun rises. It meant that it would come when the one trapped in the darkest despair wished to rise, when they held that will.

Behind the holy relic, he could faintly see a soul. The old man wearing ordinary and even somewhat worn clothes had no ornaments, but an undeniable dignity could be felt.

It was the soul of the first emperor.

It seemed that until now, the emperor had been buried in the deepest part of this temple along with the small sun to protect it. As the soul's purpose was to hide the sun from unrighteous beings, it was quickly dissipating as soon as it rose now.

Nevertheless, as if happy to finally be able to give the sun to the right being, the emperor smiled without any lingering attachment and handed the holy relic to Kalterik.

"Your Majesty..."

Kalterik knelt on one knee with an overwhelmed face and received it with both hands outstretched. This scene was sacred enough to be preserved as a holy painting, but unfortunately, there was one fucking unrighteous being in this space.

[That, I will take it!]