Chapter 542
Chapter 542: Just This Moment. (2)
Helgenik’s neck was completely torn and flew off to the side.
And Ghislaine, who swung her sword, said, “Guh!”
Creak! Boom!
With the sound of something twisting and exploding, she fell backward, even dropping her sword.
She couldn’t even handle the force for that brief moment, and something went wrong with her body.
“Ghislaine.”
Yulien quickly moved back and caught Ghislaine. Blood kept gushing out from Ghislaine’s mouth.
“Did you catch her…?”
Yulien slowly let Ghislaine down and turned his head.
“She’s still… alive.”
Helgenik’s body was swaying in the chaotic energy. It moved much like Duran without a head.
That body was trying to find its own head. Helgenik’s head, completely torn and detached, was lying far away.
“Grrr… you bastards…”
Even after his head and body were separated, he was still able to speak. It was an absurd situation, but Ghislaine and Yulien weren’t surprised because they knew how such a thing was possible.
Only, as his body separated, was the source of his magic cut off?
The dark, rippling aura that always covered Helgenik’s face began to disappear.
“……”
The revealed face was horrific. It looked like a bluish corpse stitched together in various places.
Ghislaine, Yulien, and even Jerome were speechless at the sight. Although they already knew, seeing it with their own eyes was devastating.
“That’s why he didn’t die even after all those attacks.”
Ghislaine knew the secret hidden within Helgenik’s body from the information she obtained in her previous life.
As a necromancer, he had poured his soul into a chimera made through various experiments.
A body that was half corpse and half living being. That’s why his magic was largely replaced by blood and organs.
This was information that Parniel had discovered after fighting Helgenik for a long time in her previous life.
Before fighting Helgenik, Ghislaine informed her allies of this. As usual, she made excuses about where she heard it.
Helgenik opened his treacherous mouth with that disgusting face.
“I never… imagined it would end like this…”
His body lost the head that could control it. His soul was contained in his head, and the source of magic was in his heart.
Even if his neck was cut off, he could come back if they simply reattached it, but they would not just let that happen.
“……I need to dispose of him.”
Yulien grabbed Helgenik’s writhing body and threw it far away.
Screeeech!
Even with his heart punctured and covered in wounds, Helgenik’s body was racing towards its end.
No matter how strong he was, a body without a head was simply a hunk of meat. With the head gone, the magic began to rampage.
His body started bursting all over, and the speed only increased.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With every time his body burst, energy flew out into the air. After a little more time,
Boom!
Helgenik’s body exploded into pieces. All remaining energy scattered into the air.
The explosion was quite powerful, but it didn’t pose a threat to those left behind.
Yulien had thrown him far away, and a significant amount of energy had already exited.
Step, step.
Yulien approached Helgenik’s head.
Although Yulien was wounded and weary, he was now the only one capable of moving.
Helgenik rolled his pitch-black, rotten eyes and opened his mouth.
“You brats… you are the ones…”
Having lost the source of magic, he was also losing the strength to speak. With the remaining magic, he barely maintained consciousness.
Yulien stared blankly at Helgenik’s head, then slowly lifted his foot.
“……”
He didn’t say much. He simply stomped hard on Helgenik’s head.
Crack!
Helgenik’s head crumbled away helplessly.
Without magic, he had no way to hold onto his soul. That soul would inevitably be pulled into the river of the dead by the laws of the world.
—Kraaah!
It vaguely sounded like a desperate scream echoed in the air.
Helgenik, who had killed countless people and tormented their souls, met his end just like that.
Jerome sat down, watching the scene, and let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness… that was a real monster.”
He had been incredibly difficult to deal with. Just thinking about the days of suffering because of him made his teeth shake.
Yulien looked at the collapsed Ghislaine and Jerome and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Of course, I’m fine.”
Ghislaine gave a thumbs up and smiled. Seeing that, Jerome also smiled, showing his teeth.
“……”
Yulien, who had been quietly observing, found himself smiling faintly.
“Wait, did you just smile?”
Ghislaine asked in surprise, and Yulien replied with an expression that said, “When did I smile?”
“I didn’t smile.”
“It looked like you did.”
“That never happened.”
Yulien didn’t reply further and reached out to Ghislaine, who took his hand and got up.
Yulien, supporting Ghislaine, also extended a hand to Jerome, helping him up as well.
Exhausted, the two had no choice but to lean on Yulien.
As they walked with Yulien’s support, Ghislaine chuckled, saying, “Smiling is good. Why are you always so troubled?”
“……”
Jerome chimed in from the side.
“Absolutely! We should live while smiling. When I was at the Mage Tower, the older folks in town always said…”
“Wait, are you like that magic user Claude? No, are you a mix of Claude and Alfoy? Well, you’re still not as ridiculous as Claude. If someone like that got stronger and showed up, it would be a worldwide calamity.”
Jerome was curious and talkative like a magician, but he wasn’t as brazen as Claude.
Ghislaine’s words made Jerome tilt his head.
“What does that mean?”
“It just means it exists. Anyway, even though it’s our first meeting… how about we speak casually?”
“Ah, is that okay? But you are still a Duke.”
“I treat you based on your abilities. It’s easier to get along as friends. Let’s get along well.”
“Then… should we do that?”
Jerome smiled sheepishly. He preferred to get along comfortably. He wasn’t fond of stiff and awkward situations.
In fact, Ghislaine had suggested “friendship” to lighten her own heart, but no matter how great a high mage she was, she couldn’t grasp the underlying intention.
Ghislaine also spoke to Yulien.
“What do you think? Isn’t it good? You don’t have many friends. Let’s all get along well.”
Jerome chimed in again.
“Then shall I be your friend? I’ve managed fine without friends until now, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some…”
“……Do as you wish.”
Yulien simply ignored him. The newcomer seemed a bit off mentally.
Still… something small began to change in his heart.
‘…It’s not bad.’
Yulien had never been able to build bonds with anyone since he was a child.
It was the same after he entered the world. Everyone only found him intimidating.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was bad. Everyone relied on him and pledged their loyalty. They were united in trying to save people together.
Everyone was doing wonderfully in their respective roles. Thus, there shouldn’t have been any dissatisfaction.
However, he had no one he could entrust his back to during a fight. There was no one he could talk to openly.
He was always with someone but remained alone.
So, he felt lonely, and the burden of having to bear all the weight alone was heavy.
But right now…
“Lord!”
“Young Master!”
Gillian and Belinda rushed over. The Mobile Army, which had fought the corpses, was all coming to Ghislaine.
They had swept away all those corpses with their formidable fighting power.
Belinda eagerly snatched Ghislaine from Yulien’s hand, saying, “Are you okay? Why do you push yourself so much? If you miss one, you can just catch it later!”
“We caught him in the end. It’s all good that we won. Did I not say that going with this friend is enough?”
“That Parniel and that mage also jumped in the middle of it, didn’t they?”
“That was just a little change in tactics.”
“Geez, seriously. If you can’t even talk straight, it would be less annoying.”
Everyone laughed at Belinda’s jab.
They didn’t think Ghislaine would lose. After all, their lord’s plans had always succeeded.
Gillian shouted loudly.
“We won!”
“Waaah!”
“Ah, why isn’t my Aura Blade coming out!”
“Brother! I want to go home! I’m a princess! A princess!”
“Waaah! Destruction Princess! Destruction Princess!”
The cheers and various shouts of the people mixed together, quickly becoming noisy. It was no different than a bustling marketplace.
This free atmosphere was a characteristic of the Penris Mobile Army.
Yulien quietly observed the scene. Jerome poked him in the side, saying, “The atmosphere is nice, huh? I really like such a free vibe. Everyone feels like friends. The Duke of Penris seems to be quite easy-going.”
“……”
Jerome was truly enjoying making such wonderful friends since entering the world.
There were many strong individuals, comparable to him. Plus, they had the noble intention of exterminating the Salvation Society and saving people. How could he not be happy?
As Yulien didn’t say anything, Jerome continued with a slightly awkward expression.
“You seem strong. Let’s get along well moving forward. We’re friends now, after all.”
“……”
“I don’t quite know what, but I’m sorry.”
Jerome’s newly made friend was exceptionally quiet.
Yulien momentarily fell into thought.
‘Friends…’
Had he ever had someone to call a friend?
Not even once. No one had approached him, and he had never approached anyone.
But here, things felt a bit different.
Ghislaine regarded him as a friend. Even her followers approached him without regard for status or personality.
And they were all strong. He could trust his back to them on the battlefield. With them, he felt he could lower his burden a little.
Fighting Helgenik was also a new experience. It was the first time fighting such a strong enemy united with someone.
Yulien repeated the words that Ghislaine and Jerome had spoken in his mind.
‘Friend…’
In just a few days, he had gained a lot of new friends. Friends born against his will.
Yulien continued looking at Ghislaine and the others chatting animatedly. Jerome was sneaking glances, observing him.
‘……’
In another time, he would have simply ignored it.
He was accustomed to being alone and didn’t want to give affection to anyone.
The pain he felt in his childhood was enough.
But right now, at this moment…
“…Yeah, let’s get along well.”
He wanted to say the same thing as them.
*
Everyone began to prepare to return, reveling in their victory.
And far away, Parniel lay alone.
“Grrr… those bastards…”
Grinding her teeth, she struggled to rise, using her massive mace like a staff.
In truth, she wouldn’t have been overwhelmed if she had fought alone from a distance.
However, since those two fled behind her, she had no choice but to intervene.
“The Duke of Penris was that kind of guy, sure…”
She could understand because that guy was always unpredictable about when and where he would jump around. But she hadn’t thought Yulien would act that way.
It seemed that associating with the Duke of Penris made everyone weird in that manner.
Indeed, there was no one in the world to trust. Friends? Allies? None were necessary.
The only ones she could trust were herself and her faith.
She still didn’t know.
This was also a side effect of hanging out with Ghislaine.
Nevertheless, today, Parniel fell deeper into distrust of people, her faith growing stronger.
*
“Done! It’s a success!”
Gathros wore a look of ecstasy.
The Allied Forces were advancing towards the Kingdom of Atrode.
But it would take time for the forces scattered across the continent to gather.
In fact, it wouldn’t matter if they all rushed in at once. They only needed time to occupy the Kingdom of Grimwell.
What he feared the most wasn’t the Allied Forces.
“Surely, the Duke of Penris and his main forces have moved, right?”
“Yes. The Mobile Army moved to engage Helgenik first. They will not arrive in time to aid the Kingdom of Grimwell.”
The Ruthania Army, especially the Duke of Penris and the Mobile Army under him, were the most feared enemies.
If they were absent, taking over the Kingdom of Grimwell would be quite easy.
“Cough, they understand that choosing one means discarding another.”
The Allied Forces had never intended to save every country or every person and fight. It was an impossible task.
For them, leaving Helgenik unchecked was more dangerous, so they had no choice but to prioritize that.
Those conflicting interests gave the Salvation Society a brief opportunity.
“Helgenik, I didn’t expect him to do this much.”
It was truly remarkable. Although he used almost all the life orbs he had prepared, it had been a bit of a gamble.
This was because the Mobile Army from the Ruthania Kingdom had been so powerful.
But now that the Mobile Army had moved, they needed to act quickly as well.
“Deploy all the prepared troops. The objective is the Kingdom of Grimwell.”
Currently, the revolutionary forces lurking throughout the continent had joined in. Rebel forces from nearby areas had also gathered.
The army of Duke Rainsdier was as powerful as any kingdom’s army. Most of the priests of the Salvation Society were also gathered here.
If they all attacked, the Kingdom of Grimwell wouldn’t last.
“Just a little longer. Once we obtain the sacred relic and find our king…”
Gathros’s eyes glowed ominously.
“Soon, the world will have to face the wrath of that being.”
