The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 30

Whoa…!

Three silver magic swords, each appearing to be at least 10 meters long, hovered in the air, vibrating with a rough resonance as if they were ready to drop to the ground at any moment.

-Uuh?

Even the zombies seemed to momentarily forget their prey, staring dumbfounded at the sky.

“Arit.”

Once again, the Prince’s voice echoed.

“I’ll wait for 20 seconds. In the meantime, reinforce the barrier.”

“…?”

At the Prince’s command, Arit tilted her head slightly in confusion but quickly composed herself and began to pray.

“Oh, God Juten, peace deity Minits, who watches over the weak. Please envelop those weak ones who earnestly seek your help.”

Whoosh!

As Arit finished her prayer, the wall of light surrounding us began to shine even brighter.

“It seems we’re ready. Then…”

With his words hinting at something important, everyone held their breath, waiting for what was about to happen.

“Judge them!”

Whoosh-

At his short command, the three silver swords plummeted directly onto the heads of the gathered zombies.

Crash!

“Ugh…!”

“Yikes!”

A blinding silver flash engulfed our vision, illuminating everything like a bright flame.

With the shock of the swords striking the ground, the very earth seemed to tremble violently beneath our feet.

“This is the star silver of the House of Arkeisia…”

Arit murmured softly.

Not the golden light wielded by the clergy of the Radain Church, but a silver radiance that dwells only in those who bear the blood of Arkeisia.

In an instant, Prince Robertze struck down with the holy sword forged from that light, annihilating hundreds of zombies.

Those trapped behind the barrier could only stare in a daze at the silver starlight that filled beyond the barrier, swallowing even the zombies.

Thump…

How much time had passed? As the brilliant light of the royal family, which seemed it would never fade, began to wane, the scene swept away by the holy sword came into view.

It was a complete annihilation, with not a trace left behind.

Where the sword had landed, not even bricks or buildings remained; only three massive craters were left behind.

Even turning around revealed the same situation.

The large building we had been backed against had only a small portion of its outer wall barely holding its shape behind Arit’s barrier.

In simpler terms, everywhere the barrier had not protected was swept away entirely.

“Are they… gone?”

One of the sheltered servants cautiously asked.

“Hah, haha. We’re alive! We’re alive!”

One of the butlers dropped his sword and rejoiced.

As everyone celebrated their unexpected salvation,

“Tsk. How typical of that unfortunate prince…”

…the Head Maid muttered quietly, so that anyone who heard her would surely face a charge of heresy.

The Herta household’s servants had not held good feelings toward the royal family of Arkeisia, especially Prince Robertze, since Esmela’s broken engagement…

Even considering that, the Head Maid’s recent outburst seemed rather sudden. Could there be another reason?

“Look, someone is coming down from the sky!”

One of the maid apprentices shouted as she pointed at the sky, causing everyone to look up.

As she said, a man was descending from the same direction we had rushed over the rooftops.

However, unlike us, who had jumped down from a four-story building directly, he was slowly floating down from about 30 meters high with no landing pad, using levitation magic.

Thud.

After several tens of seconds of descending flight, he gently landed before us.

His short hair shimmered silver in the sunlight.

With a height slightly taller than mine and a pure white suit lavishly embroidered with golden and silver threads, signifying his royal status.

His silver eyes, like a fountain, slowly scanned the crowd, eventually locking onto Esmela’s red eyes as she sat next to Helinante and looked up at him.

“Greetings, everyone of the House of Herta. And… young lady of the House of Herta as well.”

The Prince’s voice carried both profound depth and beautiful melody.

“…”

“…”

Then, an uncomfortable silence fell.

Typically, nobles would introduce themselves and offer formal greetings upon meeting royalty… but considering their relationship, it didn’t seem like a situation to expect anything like that.

Esmela averted her gaze uncomfortably, her expression filled with a complex mix of emotions that were hard even for me to decipher.

The Prince, maintaining his smile, stared calmly at Esmela, revealing no change of emotion despite having met her.

After a few seconds of awkward tension between the two,

“…It seems I’m not too late. The city guards from the palace observed your perilous situation. After receiving the report, I hurried to lead the kingdom’s army here, but… it looks like I arrived first with my flight magic.”

The Prince diverted his gaze and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“We’ll set off to the royal palace as soon as the kingdom’s army joins us. Before that, I’d like to make a request to the Saintess of the Radain Church.”

“…Yes, please go ahead.”

Arit, who was friendly with both the Prince and Esmela, bore a likewise complex expression.

“If possible, could you bestow the strongest blessing of swiftness upon the House of Herta before the cavalry arrives?”

He inquires if she could grant an even stronger blessing than the one Arit had given us just before escaping the mansion.

“Only the blessing of swiftness? It would take some time, but it’s possible. However, why limit it to just swiftness? If possible, I’d prefer a more diverse blessing…”

“Because what you’ll need now is simply the speed to chase after steeds. We will handle ‘those’ blocking the way. Here, take a few mana potions… Ah, they’re coming this way.”

Thud, thud, thud…

The ground trembled once more.

From far down the street, soldiers clad in silver armor were rushing towards us on horseback.

As they drew closer, we could see the cavalry of the kingdom’s army in more detail.

Not just the riders mounted atop their horses but the horses themselves, clad in gleaming armor under the sunlight, galloped in formation—truly a sight to behold, excluding just the background of the royal capital’s cityscape.

-Whoa, whoa.

Hee-hee, vroom.

The lead rider began to slow down, followed by the rest of the cavalry coming to a complete stop in front of the Prince.

“Your Highness, Prince.”

The one who appeared to be the commander raised the visor of his helmet.

“All 28 cavalry members have arrived here at your command.”

“Good.”

The Prince responded briefly to his report.

“After the Saintess bestows blessings on the escorting party, we’ll break through them and return to the palace. You remember the operation, right?”

“Yes! I tested them on the way here, and they indeed demonstrated tremendous power against ‘those’. I believe we’ll be able to utilize them effectively in the escape operation from the royal capital in a few days.”

“Good. Stand by until I give the command.”

After finishing his conversation, the Prince turned back to Arit.

“Saintess? Is the blessing ready yet?”

“Oh, yes…”

As Arit blankly watched their interaction, she snapped back to reality at the Prince’s question and quickly clasped her hands together to begin praying.

“Oh, God Juten, adventure deity Arazka, who blesses travelers, please bless the steps of those who are about to embark on a journey…”

Watching Arit urgently recite her prayer, I turned my gaze towards Helinante, worried about his condition.

“Ugh…”

He seemed to be silently enduring his pain, tightly clenched lips revealing his distress without a word.

I hurriedly approached him and observed his complexion.

“Gah… gah…”

His complexion was pale, and his breathing was rough. Not a good sign at all.

My gaze naturally drifted towards his right arm.

The clean white cloth wrapping the severed stump indicated that it had been procured somewhere.

“…”

I bit my lower lip hard, trying to reassure myself that it was all for his sake, but the intense pain in my chest was inescapable.

“Senpai…?”

I called him cautiously.

“What is it, kid…”

Helinante forced a smile, but it only made my heart ache more.

“How are you holding up?”

“Well, I’m managing…”

“I think we’ll have to run over with the cavalry; are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Ah, it’s fine… More importantly, young lady…”

“…If it gets too hard, just let me know at any time.”

Trying to talk some sense into him felt pointless; I had no choice but to keep a close eye on him…

This time, I got up and approached Esmela, who was sitting near Helinante.

“Young lady?”

“…What?”

I called out to her while observing her complexion.

However, Esmela had her head bowed so low that her blonde hair obscured her face.

“I don’t know if you heard, but as soon as Arit’s prayer is finished…”

“I’ve heard.”

She cut me off sharply.

“I’ll manage on my own, so just leave me alone for a bit.”

“…Alright.”

With no choice but to silently step back, I took my usual position on her right side, standing stiffly as her attendant.

“…”

I just hope we can escape quickly.

From those obnoxious zombies, and from the ashes of a love that has burned away between us.