Ch.641Difference in Mindset

# Field of Mortality

Hersella’s Tale of Heroes that commands death to all living beings within its range.

The moment Hersella’s rage surpassed her reason, it revealed itself naturally, as if it were only natural. Like a starving hound gnawing through the chain around its neck and breaking free.

A fog of murderous intent, incomparably thicker than when she faced the Church of Grimnir, enveloped the entire cavern.

The bubbling lava held its breath, and even the flames trembled with fear and flickered. A suffocating scent of blood filled the air.

‘A manifestation of will…?!’

Orhan, who had been frozen in shock, flinched and reflexively scanned his surroundings.

The dark red mist filling the entire cavern. The abyss-deep murderous intent and Karma contained within it. There was no doubt. This phenomenon was undoubtedly the power granted to those who had crossed the wall—a manifestation of will!

‘She wields two manifestations of will? Was that even possible?’

The manifestation of will Orhan knew Haschal possessed was one that enabled unnaturally swift movements.

An acceleration as if she alone walked in a different world. Those movements that had evaded his attacks multiple times in their previous battle were impossible without a manifestation of will.

But then, what was this technique? No warrior Orhan knew possessed two manifestations of will. Not even himself.

After all, since the essence of a manifestation of will was projecting one’s soul onto Karma, he had never even considered the possibility of wielding two.

‘Is it because she’s both a warrior and a sorcerer? Are her warrior’s manifestation and sorcerer’s manifestation separate?’

That was the only possibility Orhan could think of. Even he couldn’t conceive the idea that two souls could coexist in one body.

—-

“Grrraaaah!”

Hersella had no interest in Orhan’s bewilderment. She was equally perplexed by the sudden emergence of Field of Mortality, as it was a mistake brought on by anger that had crossed a threshold.

‘Oh no…!’

Before Hersella could hastily withdraw her power, dark red claws seized all living beings within the domain.

A perfectly manifested death sentence. The activation speed, now dimensionally faster than before, proved her growth, but in the current situation, it was rather unfortunate.

‘What a meaningless waste of power…!’

Hersella bit her lip and glared at Orhan.

Field of Mortality only pronounced death upon those who had not reached her level.

When used against a Master, it would only inflict serious injuries at best, and when targeting someone who had reached the level of Hero, its limit was greatly depleting their energy.

Like now.

—-

“Hssssss…”

The fog of murderous Karma that had enveloped Orhan’s entire body dissipated without pronouncing death, like a mirage in a desert, eerily quiet.

“…?”

Orhan tilted his head, looking down at his body with his arms half-spread.

Despite being hit by a manifestation of will that was threatening just to look at, there wasn’t a single wound on his body. Nothing in the surrounding environment had changed either.

It was difficult to understand.

The moment the dark red mist enveloped his body, he saw a hallucination of something ferocious that he couldn’t understand or explain, literally like an incarnation of murderous intent, tearing and devouring him.

It was a manifestation of will that felt as if death itself was reaching out, making even his heart grow cold for a moment.

But that hallucination dissipated like smoke the next moment. Without inflicting death or even injury. Only the fact that about twenty percent of his energy had disappeared proved that he had been attacked by something.

‘A manifestation of will that attacks energy rather than the body…?’

Orhan couldn’t help but think so. Because it felt completely different from how Karma power was consumed by Unyielding Flesh.

The second manifestation of will Haschal had demonstrated felt more like a curse that drained a person’s vitality rather than a physical attack.

It had exuded an incredibly malevolent aura for something that couldn’t inflict a single wound and only drained a portion of energy.

Of course, there was an enormous gap between his conjecture and the truth. Field of Mortality had only drained his energy and been dispelled because his level was equal to Hersella’s.

Those who had not reached Hersella’s level would not have escaped mass slaughter from the Field of Mortality that had been deployed for just a second.

And that was indeed what happened.

It was something Orhan couldn’t know, and even Hersella wasn’t aware, but they weren’t the only humans within the range of the momentarily deployed Field of Mortality.

Above their heads, dozens of meters up on the surface, the fierce battle between the Ka’har and the Imperial Army was still raging. They were divided into those trying to break through and those blocking them, using the debris of the wall that had become a rocky hill as their battlefield.

And Hersella’s Field of Mortality had indiscriminately enveloped them all, grinding them into pieces of flesh. Since the Ka’har warriors had the upper hand in the battle on the debris, most of those caught in it were Ka’har warriors.

Without any warning, hundreds of humans had burst like balloons in an instant. The surface was now in a state close to panic.

But Orhan and Hersella, buried deep underground, couldn’t notice this.

—-

Regardless of the situation above, Hersella couldn’t suppress the feeling of dismay.

Although she had withdrawn Field of Mortality as soon as she manifested it, minimizing the waste of murderous Karma, the time limit for how long she could fight had still drastically decreased.

‘The time I have left is, at best, a few minutes…’

It was far too short a time to end Orhan’s life with her own hands.

[This is a bit different from the plan. Didn’t you say you weren’t planning to use Field of Mortality?]

‘Haschal’ expressed doubt.

While she had remained quiet when Hersella was hurling accusations at Orhan, thinking it wasn’t her place to intervene, the use of Field of Mortality was an issue she couldn’t ignore.

It might have made sense to use it as a finishing blow when Orhan’s energy was nearly depleted, but there was no point in manifesting it at such an awkward timing.

‘…It wasn’t intentional.’

At Hersella’s confession that it was a mistake, Haschal let out a hollow laugh.

[Well done. Now what are you going to do? Can you keep fighting?]

‘Given the situation, waiting for the next opportunity is…’

[Don’t talk nonsense.]

The two had differing opinions.

Unlike Hersella, who was fixated on killing Orhan with her own hands, Haschal’s goal was to kill Orhan with minimal damage.

She had left the battle entirely to Hersella out of respect for her desire for revenge, but letting an enemy who had fallen into a trap escape was beyond the realm of respect for Haschal.

Hersella also didn’t think such an unreasonable argument would work. She had just thrown it out there on the off chance.

‘Then I have no choice. I’ll have to do what I can like this.’

Hersella let out a faint sigh and readjusted her grip on Durandal. Although her murderous Karma had been rapidly depleted, Orhan’s energy would have also been significantly reduced.

The only option left for her was to fight to the end, hoping that Orhan didn’t have much energy left.

—-

Unlike Hersella, who was immersed in dismay, Orhan had not a shred of hostility left.

Until just before Field of Mortality was deployed, he had reflexively responded to Hersella’s attacks, but that was merely the manifestation of a natural defensive instinct.

With the mental fatigue of fighting in an embarrassingly pathetic manner, combined with the psychological shock from Hersella’s accusations, his spirit was already half-broken.

‘Do I have any reason left to endure?’

To the point of asking himself such a lamentation-filled question.

Orhan realized it. That he had no right to speak of avenging Imelia. And therefore, no right to ask Haschal to join him.

The hope of reconciling with his daughter had been a great delusion. It was impossible unless the dead Imelia could be brought back to life.

‘Is there any reason left to fight and survive?’

The only reason not to release Unyielding Flesh and burn to ashes, in his mind, was just one.

“…I understand why you want to kill me. I’m nothing but an enemy to you.”

“You finally realize it. Then atone with your death.”

Hersella pointed Durandal at Orhan. Instead of taking a defensive stance, Orhan stood still and continued speaking.

“Then, what will you do next? Do you even know who the real culprit behind your mother’s murder is?”

Orhan intended to tell Hersella about the villain hiding somewhere in the great plains, the ‘Great Sorcerer of the White Valley.’

Orhan himself hadn’t discovered the villain’s identity, but through torturing the sorcerers who had carried out the deed, he had at least learned of such a person’s existence.

“I don’t know. I’ve never thought I could find out, nor do I need to.”

However, Hersella’s answer once again deviated far from his expectations.

“What…?”

“If someone was targeting an important figure of the Aishan, it would have been more typical to target you, Targiyan, or Biyashen rather than my mother. The fact that they didn’t means it was the work of an insider who considered my mother, who was thought to have lost favor, a thorn in their side despite her situation.”

Hersella named the suspects with a growling tone, baring her molars.

“In the end, it must be someone related to Biyashen, Meiharin, or Dahamei? No, Dahamei was said to have fallen. So that leaves two.”

Her blue eyes, resembling Imelia’s but filled only with murderous intent, blazed like will-o’-the-wisps.

“If you can’t find your prey hiding in the forest, you simply burn down the entire forest. If I can’t identify the villain, I’ll just kill everyone I suspect. Biyashen, Targiyan, Meiharin, Sahakal. And all those who are loyal to them!”

Hersella had never intended to waste time trying to discover the villain’s identity. It had already been ten years. How could she uncover the truth now? Enough time had passed for even traces to erode.

“And if I still can’t find them, I’ll kill every plainsman over thirty. Someone under twenty couldn’t have committed such a deed!”

Therefore, Hersella planned to kill everyone who could possibly be the villain instead of searching for them. Whether thousands or tens of thousands died in the process was of no concern to her.

As long as the true culprit was included in the mountain of corpses she piled up, her revenge would be complete.

Orhan stared at Hersella with a face that had forgotten what to say.