The battlefield was silent.
All colors had sunk into a deep, bloody hue. Occasionally, when the Corpse Giant swung its fists and stomped its feet, the ground shook.
In truth, it was not truly quiet.
The chunks of flesh still periodically opened their grotesque mouths. The Corpse Giant was also no passive entity.
The sorrowful sound of tearing flesh that usually accompanied sharp blades was absent.
It was simply that my ears had gone deaf.
Only the incessant buzzing filled my mind. It had been quite a while since I could hear my own panting breaths.
My vision was blurred.
Even after taking the potion Emma gave me, my body was failing to move properly.
I had disobeyed Emma’s repeated warnings and drank another vial, but it made no difference.
As I spat out a gulp of bl**d, another mass of flesh charged at me.
Instinctively, I leaned back to evade the arm that flew at me like a whip.
Then I seized another outstretched arm and pulled it, immediately following up with a throw.
A natural continuation of movements.
With a thud, a shockwave spread out, and I heard the sound of bones shattering.
When using swords or axes, I had to smash up everything individually, but employing the Holy Kingdom’s martial arts made it convenient.
Ordinarily, it would have been difficult to lift such a heavy monster.
Every time I gasped for breath, memories poured out like fragments.
A flood of emotions piercing my mind stoked my thoughts.
I want to k*ll.
It was a sudden surge of desire.
Everything disgusted me. I wanted to k*ll anyone who showed hostility.
The boiling instinct to k*ll testified to the path of a certain man.
I wanted to k*ll, but couldn’t.
I should have killed, but I didn’t.
Cruel regrets ravaged my heart.
For him, abandonment was not a choice but a necessity.
Otherwise, I would have to give up something even more precious and regret it.
The breath stained with a desire to k*ll grew harsher.
It was then that a shadow fell over the sky.
The Corpse Giant was preparing to stomp on me.
Since it had happened several times already, I immediately hurled myself to dodge.
I wanted to distort space, but without any magic, it was impossible.
My body, thrown to the ground, was once again lifted by a massive shockwave.
I tumbled and coughed up bl**d mixed with water.
“…I’m going to d*e.”
It was a thought that struck me suddenly.
Not a joke; it truly felt like I was going to d*e.
I had crossed many hazards until now, but this battle was unlike any other I had faced.
Gradually, my skills grew sharper, and my magic took on a strange vitality that fanned the flames within me.
Magic was drying up all over my body, yet I was still able to maintain my aura.
If I closed my eyes like this, it would feel comfortable.
What did it matter if the world ended after I died?
While I was thinking such mundane thoughts, I curiously flipped myself over.
Then, groaning, I plunged my sword into the ground.
The wind blew.
The snow mixed with bl**d conveyed a horrific sensation each time I stepped on it. So I was thankful for the blizzard.
If it weren’t for that sensation, I might not even feel alive.
With each drop in body temperature, my senses dulled one by one.
Even the smell of bl**d I had felt with every breath was now faint.
Before long, masses of flesh were converging on me.
I groped at my waist and pulled out my hatchet.
I no longer had the energy to deal with the small fry.
With a sharp sound, the hatchet shot out like a beam of light, drawing a bizarre trajectory.
The first victim was a mass of flesh charging straight at me.
The blade of the hatchet dug into its philtrum, stained in silver aura.
The hatchet cleaved the mass of flesh, crashing to the left, then to the right, taking down a total of three masses of flesh.
The subtlety of motion.
Now I could adjust the trajectory twice.
With each time, the colorings of my heart were shaded with gloomy hues.
Unbearable sadness and pain shocked my mind.
The image of a crying man replayed endlessly.
Ultimately, it was a sight of a man who had stopped shedding tears.
I staggered as I moved forward.
Again, another mass of flesh charged at me.
I gritted my teeth and swung my sword down from above with all my strength.
The bl**d burst out, and the mass of flesh crumpled.
Yet one remained, so I staggered and took another step.
Forcing my stiff muscles to awaken brought about fierce pain.
Even so, without stopping, I swung horizontally once more.
The mass of flesh fell, leaving only the Corpse Giant.
The Corpse Giant looked down at me, bending its waist as if finding me quite interesting.
It was like a child observing an ant.
Seeing its form, which I didn’t like, I spat out bl**d and laughed.
“…Keep your head down like that.”
It makes it easier to sever your neck.
I struck the ground, trying to put on a show of bravado.
The Corpse Giant began to chuckle and tried to crush me with its palm.
But I threw my body, springing up as if to bounce away from its palm.
Thud, thud, two shockwaves swept through my surroundings one after the other.
I did not resist that shockwave.
Rather, I rode the force that pushed my body, standing atop the Corpse Giant’s foot.
Climbing began.
I drove my hatchet down with a thud and, using my sword as a lever, climbed up to the Corpse Giant’s knee.
Countless legs were stomping down on me.
Each time they did, bl**d flowed out, and my arms trembled.
Yet I did not give up and continued my climb.
It remained so until the Corpse Giant swatted me away like an annoyance.
Once more, I was sent flying, tumbling helplessly to the ground.
I found myself without even the loss of consciousness.
It was because the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness had become blurred.
I repeated blurred breaths with clouded vision.
The breath I exhaled scattered in white steam.
As I vacantly gazed at that scene, a fundamental question suddenly arose in my mind.
Why am I going this far?
There were many reasons, but with my gradually fading mind, I couldn’t recall any.
Just as I was about to carelessly close my eyes.
“…Ian Fercurus.”
A thunderous voice struck me awake.
“Save the world.”
Gasping, I lifted my head.
A voice I didn’t recognize reverberated, shaking off my tinnitus.
A vow, like a curse, that no matter how much I wanted to fall or escape, I absolutely could not.
Ah, I see, I chuckled softly as I plunged my sword into the ground.
I had made a promise too.
I had once told my young friend that I would protect everyone, that I would defend the places where everyone must live.
That’s why I could not crumble.
A blue madness settled in my eyes.
Seeing that, the Corpse Giant burst into laughter, then let out the largest scream I had ever heard.
Uuuuuuuuuuu-!
Then the corpses began to rise.
The area was not that wide. However, it was enough to revive all the refugees who had died and fallen around me.
There were a few familiar faces.
They gazed at me with red eyes, remembering me not at all.
It was truly grotesque.
As I silently observed the newly emerged enemies while supporting myself with my sword.
“…Light, flood forth!”
It sounded like a girl’s voice, just for a moment.
Suddenly, the ground began to bubble and turn white.
The corpses that had just risen were forced to lower their gazes in confusion.
And at that next moment.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!
The electrified corpses collectively screamed.
In my daze, I couldn’t grasp the detailed situation.
I could only instinctively realize that this was an opportunity.
I ran madly, climbing up the Corpse Giant’s leg.
The body of the Corpse Giant, which had raised the corpses, remained quiet unlike before.
The Corpse Giant did not anticipate I would take advantage of the opening, panicking and shaking its body.
But I had only ever been on the receiving end until now.
Desperately, I crossed my sword and hatchet as I climbed its bulk. Finally, I came face to face with the Corpse Giant’s visage.
The head of the Corpse Giant, made up of hundreds of faces, was repulsively grotesque.
So I smashed that hideous face with my hatchet.
Kieek, kieek, kieeeeeek!
As I began to crush the heads one by one, the Corpse Giant let out its first scream.
Witnessing its stumbling back, I clung on tighter and swung my hatchet.
bl**d, flesh, and shattered skulls plummeted to the ground.
d*e.
I wished as if I were making a prayer, swinging my hatchet fiercely.
Please, just d*e already.
Haven’t I done enough?
I felt as if I could fall dead at any moment. Yet, I had somehow forced myself to endure and reached this point.
The cold had already seeped into every joint, and I felt pain as if shards of ice were stuck in my joints.
My muscles had stiffened like lead and could hardly move anymore.
bl**d was spewing out, and it had been a while since my lungs had screamed.
The memories of a strange man had rendered my mental fortitude at its limits.
Yet, I could not abandon it, swinging my hatchet.
The reason was simply one.
A good knight does not lie.
Kek, kek, kek, kieeeeeeeeeek!
By my relentless chopping, the Corpse Giant’s head was now quite damaged.
The flailing Corpse Giant had scratched its own head with its hands.
With its tremendous grip, a third of its head crushed and fell off.
I too was caught off guard by that unexpected move.
My body had no choice but to be flung away alongside the falling corpses.
Thud, my body collided with the first corpses that fell.
Then the subsequent falling corpses hit me with force.
Bang, bang, bang.
bl**d flowed down, choking me. Gradually, my vision was being obscured.
If I continued like this, it was clear I would d*e.
I swung my sword upward with all my might.
Five lines of silver light surged, and the mountain of corpses exploded.
It was somewhat reckless. I could only gaze up at the Corpse Giant with my fading vision.
Yet, I still saw it.
The face of the Corpse Giant wriggling as it was nearing recovery.
The monster seemed enraged that it had allowed me even a single blow, stomping its feet with a thud, thud.
Just that impact alone was enough to send me staggering to the ground.
Uoooooooh-!
Listening to that roar filled with rage, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Was it still not enough?
I felt like just a little more, a tiny bit more, would reveal the answer.
But I couldn’t cross that faint boundary to the very end.
As if someone had obstructed me from accessing that memory.
Dying would have been the norm.
I was merely extending my life with Emma’s potion. My body now resembled that of a corpse.
The blizzard grew fiercer.
Now the sun was barely visible.
My vision was tinted gray, making it impossible to discern objects.
Before long, snow began to accumulate on my body as I tried to rise up, propping myself on my sword.
Drops of bl**d ran down my cheeks and dripped to the ground.
I attempted to lift myself somehow but ultimately buckled my knees.
I just couldn’t muster any strength.
Is this truly the end?
No matter how hard I tried, my body wouldn’t budge, even as a blurred shadow approached me.
It didn’t appear to be a mass of flesh.
Then who else is it? Just as I had that doubt.
The swirling snowflakes came to a halt.
It was no metaphor or exaggeration.
It was a scene where time literally stopped for an instant.
Yet, footfalls continued, echoing through the silence.
My eyes slowly turned towards the source of those footsteps.
Like a ghost, a man walked through the frozen moment.
He was somehow familiar.
Black hair, golden eyes.
For a brief moment, it felt like looking into a mirror.
He knelt beside me, his expression wearied to the extreme.
He spoke.
“You’ve done something foolish.”
Like something spat out, scolding me.
It was the first conversation I was having.
