Chapter 449: The Fall of the Usher Family (9)
Chapter 449: The Fall of the Usher Family (9)
...Crash!
A powerful blow to the back of the head was followed by darkness in the left eye.
[What the...?]
Andrealphus quickly turned his head.
On top of Usher Mansion's pointed spire, a man stood tall.
A gaunt figure, tall and skeletal, with a pale complexion like a corpse, large, somber eyes, thin bloodless lips, and long, spider-like hair.
Roderick Usher. The man known as the Bow demon.
He, who had been cursed by the Red Death, picked up his bow and arrows.
Now, he was gazing intently at the sky with his usual expression.
[Roderick? How is he still sane...? Oh no!]
Andrealphus's face contorted in horror.
The rushing waters of Lake Lakedock surged into the marshy swamp of the Usher mansion, temporarily washing away the aura of the Red Death.
Roar...
The red specters dissolved in the blue foam.
The deathly, plague-ridden atmosphere surrounding the mansion briefly cleared, letting fresh air in.
Creak—
Roderick drew his bowstring once more.
His extremely cold and dry gaze was fixed solely on Andrealphus, hovering in the sky.
"Madeline."
A voice emerged from his fragmented intestines and collapsing body.
At the same time, the arrow shot by Roderick pierced Andrealphus's chest again.
...Boom!
A massive hole was punched through, beyond mere penetration.
Andrealphus screamed in agony as flesh and blood scattered everywhere.
[Screeeeech! Brother! What are you doing? How could you do this to me!]
In desperation, a demon takes on the voice of its human host.
But this only made Roderick's bloodshot eyes even redder and sharper.
"Madeline!"
Roderick drew his bowstring once more.
Bang!
Andrealphus's head exploded again.
With the right side of his face completely blown off, only his lower jaw and tongue remained.
[Brother! It's me! Madeline, the sister you buried alive when I was a child! Are you going to kill me again so recklessly!?]
The monster, reduced to a lower jaw and tongue, continued to spew Madeline's voice from its throat.
The sister who had closed her eyes due to a fever in her childhood.
The sister who was delicately buried in the grave by a weeping Roderick.
But one rainy night, the sister who clawed her way out of the grave.
The sister who was thought to be dead but was actually alive.
The sister who overcame the terror of being buried alive and escaped her grave by her own strength.
The sister who regained her health and grew up vigorously.
...But in truth, the sister had indeed died from the fever back then.
What had been wearing her shell all this time was that hideous and repulsive demon.
Confirming this, gray flames flickered in Roderick's eyes.
"Andrealphus!"
Roderick no longer uttered the name Madeline.
Having finally released the sister he should have let go of long ago, he now sought to repay the deception he had endured, with interest.
Crack...
Roderick. He pushed his body, already consumed by the Red Death, to its absolute limits.
Veins bulged on his corpse-like, emaciated body.
The sound of bones breaking echoed loudly.
Bianca cried out as she watched Roderick.
"Dad! Don't overexert yourself! You're not in good health...!"
In that moment, she saw her father's gaze directed at her.
It was the look of someone ready to face death, with a solemn resolve to give everything he had.
A silent message passed between Bianca and Roderick.
"...Dad."
Bianca staggered, her legs seemingly giving out.
Tudor, standing beside her, supported her.
"Why is Lord Roderick...?"
"...Dad is..."
Bianca responded to Tudor's question with a bewildered look.
"He intends to sacrifice his life here."
"...!"
Everyone was shocked and turned to look again.
There, the Bow Demon Roderick was preparing his final strike.
Crackle—
An aura gathered at the tip of Roderick's aimed arrow.
A final strike, disregarding even his own life.
The result of his aura erupting violently from his entire body.
Finally.
...Boom!
An explosion so loud it was hard to believe it came from the release of an arrow.
A massive whirlwind formed, filled with countless bolts of lightning.
The wind swept away the dark clouds in the sky, and the sniping arrow cutting through the center created a pillar of light like a falling comet.
The Strike of Heaven's Reversal.
The strike was even more powerful than when Hugo had killed Andromalius (10th Corpse) in the past.
The arrow Roderick shot flew with a terrifying aftershock towards Andrealphus.
Finally.
Crash! Boom!
The arrow obliterated not just the heart of the giant monster bird but its entire chest.
[Screeeeech!]
Even after being hit by such a fearsome shot, Andrealphus did not die immediately.
However, the unexpected mortal wound made his flight path unstable and his altitude drop.
And waiting for the falling Andrealphus were Marquis Sade and Major Orca.
"Hahaha—The young Usher has given us a fine gift."
"It's payback for the hail this crow mf dropped earlier."
The two elderly men, who had been tormented by the hailstorm, were furious.
A whip writhing like a snake, a club crashing like a tsunami.
The deadly aura surrounding the two soared into the sky.
Whack! Crash! Boom!
The whip and club tore through one of Andrealphus's wings each.
The remaining wings were then barraged by the arrows of the Divine Archer Squad.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!
Andrealphus, now bristling with arrows like a porcupine, shook his head and screamed.
[Screeeeech!]
It was an indistinguishable, horrifying death wail, neither fully human nor entirely bird.
Creak—
The final bowstring was drawn.
"..."
The last shot belonged to Bianca.
...Thump!
Her arrow decisively extinguished Andrealphus's remaining strength.
Boom!
Bianca's arrow obliterated the monster's tattered final wing.
A demon without any wings was falling from the sky..
Andrealphus seemed unable to even scream, let alone fly away.
The monstrous bird's body, plummeting towards the ground, headed for the Usher mansion.
Roderick stood below.
As Andrealphus fell towards him, Roderick asked Bianca,
"...Cervantes. What happened to him?"
The one who answered was not Bianca but Tudor, standing beside her.
With closed eyes, Tudor shook his head.
Roderick nodded, seeing the empty sleeve fluttering in the wind and the spear Gungnir in Tudor's right hand.
"...I see. So that's what happened."
Tudor's appearance and demeanor alone provided a sufficient answer.
Roderick, understanding all that had transpired, closed his eyes.
In a dry voice, he spoke.
"Take care of the Usher House."
These were his final words.
...Crash!
The massive, broken body of Andrealphus crashed onto the Usher mansion.
The mansion and the island, which had temporarily been free from decay, began to collapse again with Andrealphus's fall.
Rumble—
As thunder and torrential rain roared, the grand mansion of the Usher family started sinking into the swamp.
[Ah... Ahhhhh... My great ambition... My great ambition...]
The dying demon's flames flickered out. The final moments of the Ice Lord Andrealphus were pitiful and solitary.
* * *
Eventually, the hail, storm, and thunder subsided.
In the now quiet marshland, only ripples and foam remained.
The fall of the Usher family.
Bianca's eyes, watching the mansion disappear into the bottomless swamp, were filled with tears of blood.
Turning to Tudor, who had placed a hand on her shoulder, Bianca spoke.
"...Those demons. I'll kill every last one of them."
"I will be by your side."
Tudor, too, looked down at the heirloom Gungnir inherited from his father and replied.
The two young heroes sharpened their hatred towards the demons.
At that moment,
Thud, thud, thud...
Footsteps approached from behind.
Vikir. The Night Hound.
A hunter who had secretly fought demons alone long before the world changed.
Tudor and Bianca turned to look at Vikir.
With a gaze filled with unwavering faith and trust.
And the old, seasoned hunter spoke to the newly awakened novice hunters.
"Now, there are only two left."
Most of the ten demons who caused the era of destruction have been killed, leaving only these two.
The First and the Second Corpse. If these two are captured, it may be possible to prevent the age of destruction.
It won't be easy, perhaps even more difficult than all the shit they've gone through so far, but they must succeed.
And now, Vikir was no longer alone.
The Night Walkers followed the Night Hound.
Including their Academy comrades Camus, Dolores, Sinclaire, Tudor, Bianca, Sancho, Figgy, and even Marquis Sade and Major Orca from Novellebag.
Beyond them, numerous forces from Fort Tochka also wholeheartedly supported Vikir.
"Now is the final stage."
Demons have lost too many comrades, they will not simply sit idle anymore.
There is a high possibility that they will now mobilize all the time and strength they have cultivated so far.
The Night Hound turned away from Andrealphus.
Those who followed him did the same.
With the era of destruction in sight, the prologue to a full-scale battle was underway.