Chapter 1915
[The world has overcome the crisis of destruction.]
For a moment, the members of the Overgeared Guild didn"t understand the content of the world message.
It was a little while ago. The holy being, who appeared to bathe the world with light, blessed Hayate. She helped the hero’s stopped heart beat again.
However, the system misled the public the moment she left. It was as if she had brought danger to the world. It took them a moment to realize that it was an obvious distortion. It was to the point where they almost felt empathy for Baal.
“The power of the system is greater than I thought. It is unlikely that Grid’s epics will work to his advantage in the future.”
So far, Grid’s epics had mostly worked in his favor. In retrospect, this was only possible due to the system’s favor toward Grid. The epic itself was a system that used the world messages. Conversely, the system could weaken the epics.
“Grid must’ve expected it as well,” Katz casually said in the midst of the solemn atmosphere. He had witnessed Grid killing the 2nd Great Demon with one blow. Grid was Grid, even without the help of the epics.
“We don’t have to worry about Grid. We should devise a way to go forward.”
Katz made a self-deprecating remark.
There was no Grid today. Despite the cooperation of thousands of people, the members of the Overgeared Guild were unable to eliminate even one low-grade dragon. They had accomplished the goal of saving the tower members, but only with the help of Cranbel.
They were powerless.
In the end, no one could refute Katz, who was gritting his teeth.
Hunting dragons? So far, no one had done it except for Hayate.
It went without saying that they couldn’t hunt dragons. They knew it was obvious but they were resentful. They were armed with dragon weapons and armor. It was like carrying the goodwill and faith of Grid on their shoulders. They might be just a speck of dust alone, but if they all worked together, it was right to live up to his belief to a certain extent.
However, they couldn’t do so.
“There is no soul.” Someone’s voice rang out at the scene where all types of emotions were intersecting. There were many people who felt it was unfamiliar. It was because it was Knight who opened his mouth.
He was directly recruited by Lauel as an inspector. It hadn’t been long since he joined the Overgeared Guild. Due to the role he played, he had little interaction with the members.
“This person... he might never be able to open his eyes in this state.”
Knight, who was sitting beside Hayate, spoke like a doctor diagnosing the patient. n.o.body could criticize his att.i.tude.
Knight was the owner of a hidden cla.s.s called the Death G.o.d. He had the ability to carve curses on the subject’s soul and consume a special resource called ‘soul gauge.’ It meant he could identify the soul.
“It seems that the soul left his body when he died. I think he is probably wandering in h.e.l.l by now.”
“I will call the h.e.l.l branch right away to search for his soul.”
Yura pulled out a crystal ball. It was an item that could communicate with the red demon in h.e.l.l.
Knight reacted with skepticism. “The number of souls living in h.e.l.l must be in the tens of billions. I wonder if it will be easy to find him. In particular, the appearance of the soul body is different from the actual appearance. It is hard to recognize them because most of them looked like how they looked when they were the happiest or experienced great trauma.”
“Then we should just wait for Hayate to come back on his own?”
“Who knows? He must think he is dead... he might believe there is no physical body to return to. His memories won’t be intact and the chances of him coming back on his own are low.”
In the end, it meant one thing.
“I guess I will have to pick him up myself.”
Knight would go and bring Hayate back.
No one doubted him. After becoming an inspector, he thoroughly searched and punished n.o.bles in various places who were corrupted. He had a very good reputation as a person who was faithful to his role. In the first place, he was a reliable talent, which was why Lauel personally recruited him.
“Tell me whatever you need,” Lauel promised his full support to Knight. No matter whether it was items or a person, Lauel promised Knight that he would get anything he needed.
Knight scratched his head. “There is one person who could be of great help, but...”
“Who is it?”
“...It is Seuron.”
“......”
Lauel’s face stiffened while the expressions of the Overgeared members turned rotten.
Soul Predator Seuron—he was one of the Overgeared Guild’s tenacious enemies. He was less likely to accept their request for help. Even if he offered his help, it was hard to trust him. It would be a good thing if he didn’t hit them in the back of the head.
“It must be hard, right? Then please send as many soldiers in support as possible. It will take a long time, but we can push through with numbers.”
“No.” Katz interrupted Knight, who was still scratching his head. “I will make Seuron our partner.”
It was an affirmation that was more confident than necessary.
The members of the Overgeared Guild were at a loss.
“That... Is it possible?”
“It is easy.” A smile spread across Katz’ face. It was a wicked smile that reminded them of his early days as a villain. “I can make his wish come true.”
***
Knight really got in touch with Seuron and left for h.e.l.l.
The expressions on the faces of the tower members and the members of the Overgeared Guild became lighter. It was thanks to this that they could now look forward to Hayate’s resurrection.
Once things calmed down a bit, Faker spoke up, “Trauka is in the desert of Reidan.”
Faker was reticent. He only spoke when necessary. Yet even with his low voice, he caught everyone’s attention.
“He was so seriously injured that even an Old Dragon can’t recover easily. It seems that the ‘red dragon’ the apostles spoke of played a great role along with Hayate.”
Faker’s gaze studied Hayate for a moment. He could vividly remember Hayate’s cold body. There was fierce anger and killing intent into his eyes.
“It is a chance to kill an Old Dragon.”
There was no need for further explanation.
Lauel was keeping a close eye on the situation.
An Old Dragon wounded after a series of battles—the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who fought without a break was now facing Sword G.o.d Biban in the desert. Coincidentally, it was Marie Rose’s stronghold. He was reluctant to drag the queen, who was pregnant, into the fight, but the outcome was positive.
If two Absolutes cooperated, it would be too much for a wounded Old Dragon to handle. In the first place, an Absolute wasn’t invincible. Hayate, who was lying here now, was the proof. It was a golden opportunity. If they missed this opportunity, they might never have a chance to kill Trauka.
“I’m going to deploy the entire army. Sariel, please contact the apostles who are off on business and let them know our destination.”
Today, most of the members of the Overgeared Guild suffered two deaths and were forced to log out. However, there were more than 100 survivors. Each and every one of them was the best. The Tomb of the G.o.ds of the G.o.ds carried these elite members, the tower members, and the apostles set sail.
***
The land was steeped in history.
The history that had acc.u.mulated even before the birth of humanity was far beyond the scope of an individual’s knowledge and imagination. The same was true of the desert of Reidan. From when it wasn’t a desert until now, countless creatures were born here and faced a common ending of death.
Now, the purest lineage in the world manifested the history contained in every grain of desert sand. The yellow dust that filled the sky seemed to turn red and pour out.
[Kuock...?!]
The blood pouring down extinguished the surrounding flames and pounded on Trauka’s scales. The destructive power was considerable. His internal organs were damaged due to allowing Hayate that last blow and now he felt that they were twisting.
Biban’s situation wasn’t much different. He almost collapsed.
“If you deliberately dragged me into the fight—”
A chill went down Biban’s spine as he gritted his teeth.
“I will judge you as a bad guy and not my dear husband’s friend.”
The dignity of a queen—the n.o.ble voice gave off a tremendous sense of coercion. Biban realized the ident.i.ty of the person who came to his side and told only the truth.
“I swear on my sword, I didn’t mean to.”
Trauka cras.h.i.+ng into the desert of Reidan was purely coincidental. Perhaps Trauka himself didn’t mean it. There was no way he didn’t know what was underground here.
“It is the truth.”
A woman moved forward while carefully caressing her slender belly. She was one of the few Absolutes on the surface. From the moment of her birth, she reigned as the pinnacle of the vampires. In the end, she devoured her original, the progenitor, Beriache, in reverse. It was none other than Marie Rose.
‘I’m sure that a great amount of Beriache’s was lost, but she is still strong to this extent?’
The power of the progenitor that was absorbed by Marie Rose wasn’t permanent. The power in the blood would’ve melted into Marie Rose’s blood and become one, but the magic power would have also been repeatedly dispersed with her breath.
Nevertheless, Biban shuddered. It was the same Absolute, but a different feeling...
Marie Rose had a mighty aura that was close to that of an Old Dragon.
Trauka also noticed it. He automatically thought that he had encountered an enemy that was too much to handle in his current state. He didn’t feel any pride or shame.
[Ruler of the vampires. I had no intention of disturbing your rest. I will withdraw.]
“This guy...” Biban frowned out of surprise at Trauka’s unexpected words. It would be embarra.s.sing in many ways if Marie Rose left now.
“You do this every time I see you.”
Step, step.
Contrary to Biban’s concerns, Marie Rose’s pace didn’t stop. Every time her small footprints were carved into the desert, the flames around her subsided, forming a pool of blood redder than flames.
“If you are going to apologize and run away every time, why go on a rampage?”
[......?]
Trauka doubted his ears.
Marie Rose’s tone and the context of her words were shocking to him. “If you are going to do that, don’t sin in the first place.”
[Your words and actions are quite offensive.]
He was trying to speak politely due to the circ.u.mstances. The meaning of Trauka’s words was clear.
Don’t you dare talk like that to the great Fire Dragon Trauka.
Marie Rose didn’t even blink.
“I am the same.”
The ruler of the vampires—Trauka used this t.i.tle to be polite. If he called this monster who devoured her mother by ‘Beriache’s daughter,’ she would scratch at him. He was too short-sighted. He should’ve called Marie Rose by ‘Grid’s wife.’
“I would rather die than live miserably every time.”
The pools of blood created throughout the desert overflowed into lakes, rivers, and oceans. The terrible b.l.o.o.d.y aroma made Biban feel dizzy.
[It is the state of drawing out the blood that has penetrated deep into the ground...]
Trauka grasped Marie Rose’s level and made a decision.
[...I can’t let you live.]
Duguen!
At this moment, creatures all over the continent felt the pulse of the stars.
The biggest and most ferocious dragon—it was the aftermath of Fire Dragon Trauka’s heart thumping. The sound of his heart beating spread across the continent and people mistook it for the sound of the stars.
[Today, you will turn to ashes from my Breath.]
The Dragon Words were engraved in the s.p.a.ce.
A sea of blood started to boil up.