Chapter 439: Night of the Living Dead (2)

A child walking on the street while holding his mother's hand suddenly pointed at the sky.

"Mom, there's someone flying in the sky."

"Oh, child, that can't be—Ah!"

At the scream, Seo Jun-Ho slowly opened his eyes.

'This is incredible.'

Thanks to the air resistance spell, there wasn't even a scratch on him.

Whoosh!

'Am I there?'

The sense of weightlessness disappeared as he landed in front of a small cabin.

"Hmm? This spell..." The knight, who was acting as the node, stared at the black-haired man with a surprised look.

'I think he's part of the elite strike squad. Why is he here?'

According to the news, Nazad Hallow was currently attacking Merhen. In that case, he should have gone over to Mateo rather than Lacus since it was much closer to Merhen.

At the thought, the knight frowned. 'Is he perhaps a deserter?'

He didn't think that a member of the elite strike squad would do something so disgraceful, but one could never truly know people.

Before the knight could ask any questions, the black-haired man spoke first, "Which way is Merhen?"

"Merhen?" The knight thought about it for a moment. He then turned his back on the black-haired man and started gesturing while saying, "If you go straight this way, you will eventually find Merhen, but... if you were going to go there in the first place, why did you even here—huh?"

The knight was astonished to find the black-haired man missing.

"What?"

The knight was baffled. The black-haired man had disappeared without leaving any traces, making him feel like he was talking to a ghost.

***

Merhen had never been in a battle on such a scale...

"Block them!"

"Don't let them climb!"

"Uaaahh!"

"Grrrr! Craaa!"

The undead started climbing the walls while trampling on each other's heads and shoulders.

Crack, break!

They crushed each other's heads and shoulders in the process, but as befitting of corpses, they couldn't feel any pain.

"Uh, uhhhh."

"They have no sense of camaraderie at all."

"Uwaaack!"

The soldiers with weak stomachs couldn't resist vomiting, and even those with strong stomachs trembled with fear. The corpses brutishly climbing up the wall with determination to kill were the manifestation of fear itself for the soldiers.

"Wake up! Don't just stand there and watch! We have a long night ahead of us!"

"This way! Bring the pot this way! Pour the boiling oil here!"

"Don't stop shooting the magic and fire arrows!"

Nazad Hallow watched the fierce battle from the plain. Merhen's walls were several meters taller than the castles he had taken over so far.

'It's taking quite a while.'

The soldiers were better than they seemed, and they had already been blocking his corpses for an hour. In addition, he was starting to see hope on the faces of the soldiers.

"It's already been an hour!"

"Just do what you've done so far! Twice! Just two more times!"

"Persevere! We have to persevere until the reinforcements are here! They will definitely come, so just hang in there!"

The lord of Merhen and his bodyguard knights boosted the morale of the soldiers.

At the sight, Nazad Hallow revealed a smile.

'It's about time we get started.'

Nazad Hallow had many habits, but he had a particularly disgusting habit. It was the habit of trampling on the people's sweet moments of hope just as they started to get optimistic.

Woooong.

The pitch-black demonic energy swirling from his wrinkled fingertips animated a creature in the proverbial blink of an eye.

It was a five-meter-tall creature, and it was covered in stitches all over, as if a new layer of skin was stitched onto it.

"Goliath, go and destroy the wall."

"Guohh."

Goliath took a step forward in response.

It staggered as it kept walking, but even though it looked like it would stumble to the ground any time soon, its posture actually got better the more steps it took.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Finally, it 'remembered' how to run, and its eyes shone crimson as it roared.

"Guaaahh!"

"Ugh!"

"Ah!"

Its roar was so loud that the eardrums of the soldiers close to it burst. The ragged giant ran forward while stepping on the corpses.

Boom! Boom! Booom!

After taking three steps, the giant leaped into the air.

"I-it's flying?"

"Uhh. It's getting closer and closer. O-oh no...!"

The soldiers were overcome with fear at the realization.

However, a voice filled with magic entered their ears.

"Shield! Forward! Listen up!"

"S-shield, to the front!"

"Hold up your shields!"

The soldiers came to their senses and hurriedly put their shields forward.

Boom!

The giant finally landed on the castle wall. When the giant landed, it created a shockwave that sent thirteen soldiers flying. The poor soldiers plummeted to the ground and died instantly.

"Damn it! Attack!"

"Cut its fingers off!"

"S-stop him from coming up!"

"Drop it!"

The soldiers stabbed the giant with their swords and spears. Magic spells were even hurled at the giant.

"Guooohh!"

However, the giant remained steadfast. It started patting the wall and throwing away the soldiers it managed to capture with its gigantic hands.

"Ah!"

"God...!"

The soldiers who fell on the plains had their flesh torn by the corpses before they could even scream. The scene was so shocking that the soldiers were paralyzed with fear.

'W-we're gonna die.'

'We have to fight something like that? There's an overwhelming difference in numbers as well...'

'Ugh! Ugh! There's no way I'll survive this...'

While the soldiers couldn't move from the fear gripping their hearts, the wicked and ragged giant finally climbed up the wall.

"Keeuuuu."

The giant's torn mouth seemed to mimic human laughter.

"This bastard of a monster...!

The Knight Commander was furious after losing his long-time friends and comrades.

"I will cut your head off today and—"

Pugh!

The Knight Commander's head exploded like a watermelon. His corpse remained standing for quite a while before it eventually collapsed while spraying blood all over the walls.

"Guhehe."

Once again, the ragged giant burst into laughter and started punching the walls.

Boom! Bang! Boom!

"Ahhh!"

"C-crouch!"

"Get down!"

The entire castle started trembling. The soldiers got down and fell on their stomachs, but they made the worst decision.

Rumble!

The walls finally collapsed, and the corpses quickly jumped at the soldiers as if they had been waiting.

"Uah, uaaaah!"

"It hurts! It hurts! It huuuurts!"

The balance had shifted over to the enemies.

"Lord! Please hurry and evacuate! You must flee to the inner castle!"

"The castle wall has already collapsed! We cannot build a line of defense here!"

"You cannot stay here!"

The vassals and the surviving knights rushed over to the lord of Merhen and pleaded.

However, the lord of Merhen shook his head while staring at the unfolding strategy.

"The walls of the inner castle are weaker than the walls here, so do you really think that we can survive there?"

"But...!"

"My lord, we can start all over again as long as we're still alive!"

"...Why are you all being like this?"

The lord of Merhen's reproachful eyes turned to the vassals. Perhaps any other lord would selfishly value their lives, the lives of their family members, and their territories higher than anyone else.

"Even if others can do that, I will not."

The lord of Merhen was a noble. He was a noble and was tasked to govern His Majesty the Emperor's subjects on the latter's behalf.

"What is the raison d'etre of nobles and lords?"

Before he was an individual, he was a noble and the lord of his citizens.

The lord of Merhen unsheathed his sword without hesitation.

"Survivors and those who are still willing to stand up! take up your arms and build a line of defense!" Noh Ik-Jang, the lord of Merhen, screamed.

Under his leadership, the chaotic battlefield became less chaotic.

"Carlton! Go to the inner castle right now and evacuate the women, elderly, and children through the secret passage."

"B-but...!"

"Failure to comply with orders during wartime is treason!"

The youngest knight in the knight order burst into tears while biting his lips.

"Understood!

Upon confirming Carlton's departure, Noh Ik-Jang stared up ahead.

The surviving soldiers, knights, and mages stood next to him.

"Please blame us for our foolishness."

"We have completely forgotten what should have been natural, thanks to the peace we have been enjoying until now."

"Thank you for waking us up."

Hundreds of corpses flooded into the castle through the collapsed walls.

Noh Ik-Jang stared at the cursed beings and raised his sword high.

"For Merhen!"

The lord of Merhen himself and his knights ran up and tore the corpses apart. For well-trained knights, corpses were easier to deal with than training scarecrows. However, the ragged giant was an exception.

Clap!

It clapped its hands and crushed a knight between its palms before turning its head.

"Kuhuuu."

As it drooled and smiled, its eyes saw the lord of Merhen wielding his sword as if he had gone mad. The ragged giant had long lost its intelligence, but its instincts remained.

Its instincts were calling out to it. It was telling it that it had to kill that old man first before anything else.

"Geuuu."

It reached out to smash the head of the lord of Merhen.

Boooom!

There was a huge explosion on its body.

"Sheesh. How mischievous. It must be pretty difficult to control."

An old man floating in the air muttered with a cold expression.

The lord of Merhen's eyes widened upon recognizing the old man.

"T-tower Master...!"

The number of corpses inside the castle rapidly declined.

"The Imperial Knights Order and the Church of the Sun!"

The reinforcements whom they thought would never arrive in time finally arrived.

The lord of Merhen burst into crying without realizing it as he shouted, "Reinforcements! His Majesty the Emperor's reinforcements to us have arrived!"

"Woaaahhh!"

As everyone started crying in relief, there was a fight going on outside the castle.

"..."

Nazad Hallow swept his gaze across those who had surrounded him.

"The emperor's sword, the inquisitor from the Church of the Sun, and even an archbishop..." Nazad Hallow could see that the Ruben Empire really wanted to get rid of him.

"This is the end of your rampage, fiend."

Facing Hart's cold eyes, Nazad Hallow answered casually, "An old monster of Frontier who has lived for hundreds of years... Hm, you're definitely strong."

Nazad Hallow knew about Hart's power. They already had a grasp of the empire's strength long ago.

'And yet...'

His skin felt tingly. It meant that there was no way he could handle Hart when they were so close to each other.

'...He's beyond my expectations.'

In that case, was he afraid?

Keuk.

Nazad Hallow laughed. It was the complete opposite.

The Knight Commander of the Imperial Knights Order, Hart, was on his list as well.

"Archbishop."

"May God's protection be with you. Blessing of the Sun."

A golden energy wrapped around Hart.

"A slope."

Hart's powerful sword drew a line in the world.

'Hmm.' Nazad Hallow frowned slightly. He was prepared, but he couldn't avoid it completely.

'It consumed five barriers in one go.'

It was a huge loss, but it wasn't enough for him to start panicking.

"To deal with a monster... Hm, I guess I should use a monster as well."

Thick and murky demonic energy emerged out of Nazad Hallow as dozens of corpses manifested around him. The corpses belonged to various species, but this wasn't the end of it.

"Guoooh."

"Geu."

Knights, soldiers, and mages...

The ones who died fighting Nazad Hallow's army of corpses stood up.