Chapter 206: Chapter 202: Unexpected Reunion

Gorgon Zola.

Back when I was just an adventurer, he was the one who made me painfully realize the vast difference between a calamity and a human.

The fear born from those past experiences began to slowly resurface the moment I sensed his presence.

Not just because old traumas were being triggered, but because his presence now was overwhelmingly more terrifying than back then.

“Hu… ng… ry…”

Gorgon Zola, who had reappeared in that form, soon opened his mouth and began to emit a wail while staring at us.

“So… hungryyyy…”

Then came a thud as he moved one of his arms.

As his body advanced as far as the arm’s reach, the nearby hill crumbled, turning into a small landslide.

Was his lower body, which should be beneath him, missing because it couldn’t bear the weight of his upper body?

But even at this moment, flesh and bones were continuously converging under his upper body, showing signs of trying to regenerate what should be there.

Just by watching that endless regeneration, I could infer one thing.

That the regenerative ability of this monster, with a body larger than a mountain, had reached a level that defied comparison with anything I had faced before.

“Hero, pl-please give us orders…”

The sailors who had been watching the scene began to tremble with fear as they looked at me.

Even the heroes who would normally fight bravely were now just waiting for my orders.

“Please, give us orders! Quickly!”

Yes, it was impossible to respond to this.

How could anyone muster the courage to face something that was more than just a monster or a disaster, but a being worthy of being called a ‘calamity’ itself?

“Everyone, retreat into the ark!”

Realizing this, I gave the order, and the sailors, snapping back to their senses, quickly began boarding.

But even at this moment, those gleaming eyes continued to watch us.

“Food…”

As if provoked by the movement, the monster soon stopped its hand, which had been in motion, and grabbed a mass of flesh beneath its upper body.

And then, it swung it, hurling the flesh towards us.

“Bring me fooood…!”

Thud, splat!

The rotten flesh rained down on the sailors who were continuing their evacuation from the construction site.

Fortunately, no one was hit directly, but the problem was that the shattered pieces of flesh were now wriggling on the ground.

-Grrr, hiss.

-Screeeeech!

The flesh, which had melted like mush, surged up and then solidified into shapes resembling humans, before letting out shrieks.

They had hideous forms, lacking even the proper distinction of limbs, let alone joints.

Yet, despite their grotesque forms, the teeth and mouths protruding from their bodies were clearly defined.

As if to show that their sole purpose was to devour us.

“Damn it, protect the sailors!”

In the face of the undead’s indiscriminate assault, the heroes, including myself, drew our weapons and charged to protect the evacuees.

They attacked in a simple manner, typical of the undead, but the ferocity they carried was no small matter.

Their claws were sharp enough to slice through metal armor cleanly, and throughout the confrontation, drool and guttural sounds spewed from their gaping mouths. ŘΆƝọ𐌱ÊŚ

-Screeeeech, aaaahhhhh!

The rampage of these monsters, who saw us only as prey, was terrifying just to witness, and it was steadily eroding the morale of the trained heroes.

-Thud, thud!

And even in that moment, the hurling of flesh continued repeatedly.

The monsters created from those flesh pieces soon outnumbered the heroes on the front lines.

It wasn’t that we couldn’t win, but the biggest problem was that not everyone here was a hero.

“Aaaah! Help me!”

The moment I heard the terrified scream, my eyes quickly shifted in that direction amidst the battle.

There, I saw a worker trapped under the rubble that had collapsed from the shock.

But the heroes were struggling just to hold the line, making it impossible to send immediate help.

And to the undead, an isolated individual was nothing but a tasty prey.

-Screeeeech!

“Oppa! It’s dangerous!”

“Damn it, move!!”

Just as the undead swarmed from all sides, we managed to push them back with Ga-ram’s support.

But in doing so, I lost the opportunity to throw my spear, and the undead got dangerously close to the isolated worker.

Damn it, am I just going to have to watch this happen?

-Slash!

At that moment, a shadow rushed in front of the fallen evacuee.

With a rough motion and a surge of magic, the undead were torn apart, leaving the isolated worker pale with shock.

“Y-you are…?”

“Can you stand?”

The one who intervened was from a different race… but he wasn’t someone I personally invited onto the ark.

He had sharp claws and pointed ears, identifying him as a member of the demon race.

Someone I never thought would associate with humans was now rescuing one with his own hands.

“Uh, yes. My leg’s free now…”

“Then get inside immediately. We’ll buy you some time.”

With those sharp words, he spread his wings and bared his claws, charging forward.

As if taking that as a signal, the demons who had been waiting outside the ark began to charge at the undead.

“Sweep them all away!!!”

“Uwoooohhh!!!”

The undead were slaughtered by the demons’ warlike shouts and unleashed magic.

The battlefield, which had been precarious, was somewhat stabilized with their help, allowing us to successfully evacuate the survivors into the ark.

But demons helping humans? And doing so collectively—could that even be possible?

“Don’t worry. They won’t betray us.”

As I questioned this, Merilyn quietly approached me from the side.

Her eyes, like mine, were fixed on the fighting demons, but they also held firm confidence.

“Is this because you’re controlling them, Merilyn?”

“No, I decided not to interfere, aside from introducing them to this place.”

Not interfere? That practically meant this cooperation was coming from their own will, didn’t it?

“It’s not strange. Demons need somewhere to rely on until they’re strong enough to stand on their own. Naturally, after leaving the Demon King’s army, they would want to protect the place they intend to call home.”

“…So, they’d even risk their lives to protect this ark?”

“Well, maybe not their lives—no, actually, in this situation, they probably would.”

Merilyn let out a small laugh as she watched the demons fight.

Their actions, as they cut down the undead and cleared a path, seemed less like they were enjoying the fight and more like they were filled with rage.

“Revenge is a type of desire, after all. They probably think they have to do whatever it takes to crush those who looked down on them.”

“…That’s a pretty solid reason.”

Of course, after being at the bottom of the Demon King’s army since birth, they must have endured all kinds of mistreatment and contempt.

So it was likely that their desire was focused on ‘revenge,’ and they were probably willing to risk their lives for it when necessary.

“Evacuation’s done! You guys get back on the ark, too!”

Just in time, since we also needed guards to protect the ark and the refugees.

Under the assumption of cooperation, there was no one more suitable for that role than the demons.

“…Thank you for taking us in.”

As I called out, one of the demons who was boarding the ark turned and thanked me.

Sensing the sincerity in his face, I gave a small laugh and patted his back as we boarded the ark together.

“Everyone on board? Then let’s move out!”

With all the demons and sailors aboard, the Dwarves quickly moved to the helm and reached for the upgraded controls.

After going through more complex operations than before, they pulled the lever, causing the ark to shake violently and the front view to drop sharply.

The ark’s four supporting legs bent, and wheels protruded, starting to roll forward.

“The shock absorbers aren’t fully installed yet, so it’s going to be a rough ride! Everyone, hold on tight to something!”

-Clatter, clatter.

The ark began to roll forward on its wheels.

The vibrations were intense as it moved across the unpaved hilly terrain, but it was definitely faster than walking on four legs.

But given the situation, even that felt insufficient.

“Can’t we increase the speed?”

“Don’t ask for the impossible! We haven’t finished the construction, so we couldn’t replace the engine!!”

The Dwarves’ impatience was clear as they shouted back, and just then, the Undergrounders came rushing through the ark’s vents to deliver a report.

“Tsk! Big trouble, squeak! The outpost reports a giant monster is tracking us, squeak!”

“Oh, come on, really?!”

Yeah, it was too much to hope that everything would be over just because we got on the ark.

Quickly manifesting weapons and heading to the top of the ark, I was greeted by Coco, the leader of the Zoin tribe, who had received the report from the Undergrounders and had come down from the outpost, speaking in a tense voice.

“That moving mountain is crawling towards us on its arms. It’s fast—if we stay like this, it’ll catch up to us.”

Just as Coco said, the monster was pulling itself forward on its arms, dragging its massive body towards us.

The ground was being torn up beneath it, but it was still faster than when it was supported by its two legs, and the distance between it and the ark was noticeably closing.

-Screeeeech, screeeech!

The flesh that was spewed from it shot into the air, transforming into winged corpses that swooped down and landed on top of the ark.

The Zoin tribe was fighting back to defend the ark, but there were so many of them that they were overwhelmed.

“…The sky isn’t safe either. This is a dangerous situation.”

“Activate the defense systems to slow down their pursuit! Archers, get up on the ark and clear those things off the top!!”

Boom, boom!

We fired the cannons mounted on the rear of the ark to their fullest, launching volleys of arrows into the sky, shooting down the undead as they dive-bombed us.

But the undead kept coming, and the monster was so much larger than the ark that a few explosions couldn’t possibly halt its advance.

I hoped that if we could just keep inflicting damage, it might eventually collapse, but the areas hit by the cannonballs were regenerating before we could even fire the next round.

“So… hungryyyy…”

That monstrous voice echoed through the skies, asserting its overwhelming presence.

“SO… HUUUNNNGGGRRRYYYY…”

Just feeling the malice in that voice aimed at us made the hope we had painstakingly built together start to die.

As if to teach us that everything we’d done so far was meaningless.

As if to show us that everything we would do from here on would also be meaningless, and that being devoured by this monster was the fate that awaited us all.

“Why… why is this happening…?!”

If this was the fate decided by this world, wouldn’t it be a relief to just accept it?

As that sense of resignation began to eat away at my heart, Flang, who had been watching the situation with me, suddenly pointed to the side.

“Master! Look over there!”

Could it be that another despair was coming our way?

No, what I saw in the direction she pointed was a bluish light rising above the canyon.

But it was too far to clearly see what it was. Only those with keen eyesight, like the Zoin tribe, could probably make it out.

“Coco, can you tell what that is over there?”

“Corpses. Corpses are burning blue over there…”

Corpses burning blue? What could that be?

“Uh, ughhh…!!”

Just as I was wondering, the monster suddenly stopped crawling and turned its head toward the source of the light.

Then, its eyes glinting, the monster reached its massive arms towards the flickering blue light.

“Fooood…!!”

Thud, thud!

Pulling itself along, the massive creature moved toward the source of the light.

Before we knew it, the creature seemed to forget about us entirely as it moved away, leaving us to stare after it in confusion.

What could those blue-glowing undead be that such a massive monster would move toward them?

“We’ve lured it away, so we’ll be fine if we put some distance between us for now.”

Startled by the sudden voice, I looked up.

There, I saw a horse galloping through the sky, surrounded by blue flames.

No, to be precise, it was an undead horse made of bones and decaying flesh.

“You are…”

The one who dismounted from the horse and landed on the ark was an undead draped in tattered robes.

Though his face was nothing but a bare skull, the blue aura emanating from his body was strangely familiar.

Yes, I knew him.

“…Woo Hyo-sung.”

And surely, he remembered me too.

The name he uttered and the question that followed came from the memories etched in his hollow mind.

“Do you remember me?”@@novelbin@@

The Blue Knight of Death. Also known as the Knight of Death.

The moment I recognized him, both realization and wariness surged in my mind.

The realization that the blue light that lured the monster was caused by this man.

“…Why did you help us?”

And the question of why someone as close to the Corpse Lord as him would lure Gorgon, whom he was presumably associated with, to save us.

“Let’s save the conversation for a safer place.”

At my question, the Knight of Death moved his finger to the side, guiding everyone’s attention in that direction.

“Can you direct this structure towards that place?”

At the end of his pointing finger, faint shadows of a city could be seen on the horizon…

But no, with all nations except the Empire having fallen, any city left would be nothing but ruins.

“…Hero.”

The sailors, one and all, showed signs of wariness towards the Knight of Death pointing at such a place.

After deliberating on how to respond, I swallowed nervously and answered.

“Lead the way. To that place.”

Whatever this man’s intentions might be.

I took comfort in knowing that it was nothing compared to that absurd monster.

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