Book 2: Chapter 360
[Things got a bit messed up.]
Diablo muttered softly as he looked across the clearing.
There was a trace of blood there.
This blood, which had flowed from someone’s body, had formed a small puddle in the place they had once been.
[…well, it was a hasty plan, so I couldn’t expect it to go as smoothly as with Snow.]
It hadn’t been a long time since he noticed the presence of Iris Phisfounder in the city.
Yuterdam, the city that Diablo would soon turn to ruins. Although Asilla, who was in control of this place, had a strong heart, she lacked military power.
In fact, she’d probably called Iris here because she had managed to read Diablo’s intentions to some extent.
He hadn’t known that they were acquainted with each other.
Iris Phisfounder. One of the three beings capable of interfering with Diablo’s plan.
If he had known she was here from the beginning, he would have planned it more thoroughly. Then, she would have gotten the same end as Snow.
[How unfortunate.]
Revealing Lucid now had also been a bit of a gamble on Diablo’s part.
He knew that doing so would inevitably agitate Iris’ mind, which would cause her to unintentionally reveal a fatal opening. Although he knew she would try to respond with a space leap after recovering, he could suppress that with the power of Absolute.
Despite his hasty preparations, everything had been perfect.
Except for the actions of the white haired man beside her.
[Who was that?]
He couldn’t catch a glimpse of his face because of the dust cloud. And even before it had appeared, his attention had been solely focused on Iris, but…
[Hmm.]
In any case, Diablo’s improvised plan had ended in failure.
Firstly, Lucid’s existence had been discovered, and secondly, Iris had learned that he could use the power of Absolute to interfere with her space leap. Iris would probably be many times harder to kill when they met again.
Clink-
In a slow, mechanical motion, Lucid placed his helmet onto his head, once again hiding his appearance in his armour.
[Right. Even if that failed, I can still move on to the original plan.]
As he said this, the flames in Diablo’s eyes emitted a bluish glow.
His gaze was directed to the City of Pleasure which lay beyond the forest.
[Let’s go, my army, to retrieve my lost property.]
Crunch, rattle…
Corpses slowly began climbing out of the ground beneath him.
And after freeing themselves, the army of the dead began marching towards Yuterdam at a tottering pace.
* * *
This person was probably the first one to encounter them.
Adam Luid. 31 years old. A refugee from the now destroyed Geotanbul.
After losing his home, Adam wandered aimlessly before visiting Yuterdam five years ago. At that time, he loved this city so much that he immediately got a permanent residence permit. He’d even managed to start a family with a woman, whose eye he’d managed to catch, and was currently earning a living by working as a street vendor.
The income wasn’t bad. In fact, it could even be considered quite good. After all, in the City of Festivals and Pleasure, there was a large proportion of floating population, and his skill at making food was nothing to scoff at.
‘I wish I could set up my stall closer to the centre.’
Adam’s stall was located near the outskirts of the city. Although this area was relatively quiet when compared to the rest of Yuterdam, the scenery of the forest to the west was quite romantic, making it a very popular destination for lovers to visit.
Nevertheless, as it was around 2 or 3 in the morning, there was no one around.
This was usually around the time when Adam prepared to close his stall. Today, as usual, he was packing up all his leftover ingredients when he saw a person stumbling in the distance.
At first, he thought it was just a drunkard, and while he hoped that they wouldn’t come toward him, he wasn’t very surprised.
This was because it was a common occurrence.
But this time, he decided that he wouldn’t lose his momentum.
Just as he opened his eyes wide and took a deep breath in preparation to scream ‘get lost’, he finally noticed something strange.
Tuk, tuk tuk.
Something was dripping from the person’s mouth. At first, he thought it was just vomit, but he later realised that it couldn’t be the case.
There was no way that someone would vomit bright red objects like that.
“U-, uhh…?”
Leaking from that person’s mouth was blood and bits of bloody flesh.
A moment later, the person’s face was finally revealed to him.
It was a rotten, decomposing face, like that of a corpse that just stepped out of its coffin. It didn’t even have eyes.
Adam’s heart sank when he saw those dark, empty eye sockets.
“U-, undead!”
His shout felt more like a scream. He felt cold sweat drip down his face.
Undead… in Yuterdam?
Those words didn’t match at all! It was like mixing oil and water, just putting those two words together made him feel uncomfortable.
No. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things.
Adam hastily turned his body and tried to escape, but his body soon became as stiff as a rock.
There was another undead rushing towards him from the other side of the street.
“D-, dear God…”
Adam placed his trembling hands together.
If this was a nightmare, he begged to wake up.
Crack!
And with that thought, Adam’s body became a piece of meat.
* * *
“Lady Asilla! The city!”
“I already know everything. Calm down, Merad.”
Although she spoke in a calm voice, Asilla was not as relaxed as she seemed. Her palms, which were hidden under the table, were soaked in sweat.
‘Why did it have to be a Wizard…?’
Most of the defences built around Yuterdam were magic barriers.
It was very effective when dealing with low level threats, but the entire defence structure was inevitably neutralised when a Wizard who was a higher level than the Wizard who placed the barriers interfered.
…And now, a terrifying army of undead had appeared in the city.
It was obvious.
Diablo was currently attacking Yuterdam.
‘Has Iris already been defeated?’
The reports stated that the undead first appeared in the west. In other words, there was a high possibility that they came from the forest where Asilla had just sent Iris.
Hiding her anxiety, she forcibly squeezed out a calm voice.
“Where is Marquis Mikhail?”
“I… I was unable to reach him.”
“..hmph.”
A sneer appeared on her lips subconsciously.
What a useless, disgusting old man. She was certain that he’d already run away.
“I will entrust the command of the city guards to you. First things first, secure the safety of the civilians and evacuate them to the city square.”
“Understood.”
“Angela! Are you there?”
“Yes, Master.”
“I need you to request assistance from the nearby cities. Tell them that a first class catastrophe is occurring… and inform Freeland as well.”
“I will obey your commands.”
“And…”
Asilla hesitated for a moment, but after turning it over in her mind for a while, she finally came to a decision and opened her mouth.
“Contact a man named Hector in the southwest…”
“There’s no need.”
With a calm voice, a man walked through the open steel doors.
It was a young red haired man who she would never have wanted to meet if it wasn’t for the current situation.
“Since I’m already here.” (TL: Hector’s badass entrance score: 8.5/10)
Seeing his calm, innocent expression, Asilla couldn’t help but make a snarky smile.
“Oh my. Why did your heavy ass come all the way here? In a situation like this, I would have expected you to close your store and focus on playing with your dolls even more.”
“That’s cause you don’t know anything. Peace comes from stillness. If my surroundings are a mess, I won’t be able to enjoy a cup of tea with my angels.”
It was at this moment that Merad, who was about to leave, caught himself.
“Lady Asilla, that man…”
“It’s fine. He’s… an acquaintance. More importantly, you two. Is this really the time for you to be sitting there blankly?”
“Ah. Yes!”
With a loud shout, Merad and Angela hurriedly left the room.
And as if to replace them, Peran strode in.
“I’m sorry. I am the one that called Hector. I felt that it was a necessary response given the current situation.”
“…”
In truth, Asilla really wanted to berate him for doing something wrong, but she knew that it wasn’t the time to be led by her pride. Certainly, with Hector’s knowledge and the golems he possessed, he was a reliable force in this emergency situation.
In the end, Asilla could only let out a soft sigh.
“Thank you.”