Ch.92Chapter 92 – The 12 Heroes (4)
by fnovelpia
‘…Cough. Longinus, you won in the end.’
Kyle Leonhardt, barely maintaining consciousness, swallowed a hollow laugh. That Longinus—when he took Iscariot’s corpse explosion spell head-on, I thought he was surely dead, but the tenacity born from rage was truly terrifying.
Longinus’s body, which had barely recovered from near-death through unconscious self-regeneration, was in terrible shape. With every step he took, his tendons must have been on the verge of snapping, causing him excruciating pain. Yet immediately after recovering, once Longinus grasped the situation, he screamed Iscariot’s name loud enough to shake hell itself, then rampaged like a berserker.
A holy knight with nothing left to protect becomes relentless and persistent. Longinus, moving with the sole intention of killing without needing to worry about comrades, without needing to check demons for the rear guard, without any trivial distractions—he was like a natural disaster that no human power could stop. Firing holy spells without restraint or pacing himself, thinking nothing of the aftermath, he made demons perish helplessly like insects before pesticide.
Even as demons clung to him, gnawing at his flesh, Longinus never took his eyes off the dark mage, rampaging until he finally annihilated all demons blocking his path and drove his spear through Iscariot’s heart.
True to his genius as a dark mage, Iscariot’s resistance was fierce. Even as his blood and energy twisted from breaking the geas right after his betrayal, he overdrove his mana heart and confronted Longinus with remarkable magical control.
However, no matter how talented he was, he couldn’t escape the penalty of breaking the geas, and couldn’t hold onto his scattered magical energy for long. In the end, Iscariot couldn’t even escape via teleport and breathed his last on Longinus’s spear. In truth, Longinus didn’t even need to finish him off—given time, Iscariot would have self-destructed within a day anyway…
When Iscariot’s heart was pierced, the magical energy was released, and the undead he had summoned naturally returned to dust. And Longinus, his holy power depleted, lost consciousness immediately after the battle.
Thus, in the desolate desert that had regained its silence, only the corpses of demons and those once called heroes remained.
‘Hahaha… What an empty ending.’
Despite his mind being foggy from excessive blood loss and his consciousness flickering, Kyle couldn’t help but laugh. His situation couldn’t be more ridiculous. After stubbornly pushing aside his ministers’ objections and crossing into hell, he was dying miserably without even meeting the Demon King, let alone one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Betrayal. Kyle ruminated on his own foolishness. He had firmly believed that because of the geas placed on Iscariot by the Papal Office, betrayal would be impossible. But regardless of his priestly background, a dark mage was still a dark mage.
‘To commit betrayal knowing he would die… I should never have trusted a dark mage. My sin is great.’
Kyle was consumed by bitter guilt. The Emperor himself was responsible for the Twelve Heroes plan, and it was Kyle who had allowed Iscariot to join the party. Because of his careless judgment, Ortesia died, Bruce died, Raymond died, Sophia died, and now he was dying too…
Everyone was gone, and only Longinus remained alone on this harsh hellish land.
‘Ah… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Longinus! I’ve placed too heavy a burden on you…’
As the dying Kyle’s mind swirled with guilt, anxiety, doubt, and fear, his emotions twisted into something indescribable. Would the fallen Longinus wake up? Were his comrades who had gone ahead still alive? Were there other traitors among them? Could they assassinate the Demon King with less than half of the survivors remaining? Would the Empire and its people be safe? His two sons who must be anxiously waiting for him…
Amidst countless questions, the great Lion King of the Empire breathed his last.
***
Shin Jaehyuk descended to the ground via elevator and cautiously stepped outside. Before heading to the rendezvous point, he intended to check Kyle’s corpse one last time.
Shin Jaehyuk wanted to perform a soul-calming ritual for Kyle’s remains. Undead can be raised by necromancers when both the spirit and body of the deceased exist, and the soul-calming ritual prevents the corpse from rising as undead by sending the soul to the afterlife.
‘When I checked my status window earlier, my level had increased. Since Kyle’s death is certain, I’ll quickly perform the funeral and get out of here.’
The undead that had surrounded the building seemed confused after their connection to the higher entity was suddenly cut off, unable to hide their disarray. Some were returning to their posts according to previous orders, some were standing dazed, and the less intelligent ones were stupidly fighting among themselves.
Avoiding the monsters’ gaze, Shin Jaehyuk retrieved the mace he had thrown out the window and searched for Kyle’s remains. The search wasn’t difficult. Black smoke was rising from the center of a large crater.
“How terrible.”
Heavily dented armor, charred intestines protruding awkwardly. Shin Jaehyuk felt both relief and deep sadness at the sight.
Why did he have to fall? Not finding the answer troubled him deeply.
“…There are many unclear aspects, but these are questions I can no longer answer. It’s all in the past now.”
Shin Jaehyuk briefly paid silent tribute to his old friend. Proud Emperor of the Empire. Though your end may not have been beautiful, as your close friend, I release you from your sins here.
Shin Jaehyuk extended his hand and concentrated his holy power for the soul-calming ritual.
And then—
THWACK—!
A massive bone spear shot up from the ground without warning, piercing Shin Jaehyuk’s abdomen.
“Kuh—!”
Shin Jaehyuk spat blood, his eyes wide. An ambush? He hadn’t sensed any presence… Yet a voice that defied his senses came from behind.
—My, my… I felt magical energy draining away rapidly, so I came to see what was happening…
It was a rough voice, as if coated with phlegm. Shin Jaehyuk turned his creaking neck to find the source. A figure in a black robe had appeared behind him. The voice was coming from beneath the robe.
—This immense holy power. So familiar, so very familiar…! I thought you had surely died back then.
Shin Jaehyuk finally realized what he had been missing.
Why had the black knight’s regeneration been so fast? Because magical energy had been poured into him as if from an endless spring.
Then how could a mere Death Knight possess such vast magical energy?
Now Shin Jaehyuk realized the question was wrong. That magical energy wasn’t Kyle’s to begin with. He was “drawing” it from someone else.
After all, if there are undead, there must naturally be a necromancer controlling them.
And a necromancer capable of raising a swordmaster who died in hell hundreds of years ago…
“You, you…! That voice…! It can’t be—!”
Shin Jaehyuk’s face contorted with rage. He couldn’t believe his ears. It couldn’t be. This manner of speaking, so unfamiliar yet paradoxically so familiar…
“ISCARIOT!!!!!!”
—It’s been four hundred years, Longinus.
Shin Jaehyuk cried out in denial, his bloodshot eyes refusing to believe what he was seeing.
“I vividly remember the sensation of my spear piercing your heart!”
—Ah, that spear was truly dreadful. Perhaps that’s the pain a parent feels when their child drives a nail into their heart.
Iscariot removed his hood with a flippant remark. The answer to Shin Jaehyuk’s question was there.
His face had no flesh. Not a single muscle existed, not a single blood vessel, not a drop of blood. What existed beneath the hood was nothing but a stark white skull.
“…You! You abandoned your human flesh and became a lich!”
—Yes. Fortunately, I made a contract not with some lowly demon, but with Belphegor, the Lord of Death, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
The moment the opponent’s identity was confirmed, Shin Jaehyuk’s eyes rolled back with fury. Breaking the bone spear piercing his abdomen with sheer grip strength, Shin Jaehyuk recklessly fired a lightning bolt. However, the lightning was easily blocked by a bone shield that rose from the ground at Iscariot’s feet.
—Hmm, no matter how happy I am to see you again, such a violent welcome is unnecessary.
Speaking so nonchalantly, Iscariot raised a skeleton to retrieve the black knight’s corpse from the pit. Seeing this, the enraged Shin Jaehyuk charged again. In his narrowed field of vision, only the lich was visible.
“You—! How dare you touch that body with your face—!”
—My, how hurtful to speak that way. Kyle and I were comrades four hundred years ago, and even now we continue to fight for the same cause.
Iscariot wiggled his finger, which was nothing but bone. Bones shot up from the ground, instantly assembling into two Skeleton Knights in just over a second. The two skeletons, created at an unbelievable speed, swung their bone swords to protect their master from the attacker.
“Kuk!”
Despite facing only two Skeleton Knights, Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t easily defeat them. The aftereffects of fighting Kyle left his holy power incomplete, and the bone fragment in his abdomen caused pain with any vigorous movement.
Above all, these undead raised by Iscariot, though Skeleton Knights, were vastly superior to ordinary ones. Their ergonomically woven muscle and bone structure made them faster and stronger than undead raised by ordinary necromancers. It felt like fighting Death Knights rather than Skeletons.
Moreover, Shin Jaehyuk felt anxious and burdened, not knowing when the dark mage hiding behind the undead might cast a spell. However, Iscariot showed no intention of drawing magical energy, merely watching Shin Jaehyuk’s struggle.
—I thought it was a connection long past, but this is truly unexpected. Four hundred years ago, I wanted to raise you as my loyal servant along with Kyle Leonhardt. But like Ortesia, your soul disappeared for unknown reasons, so I couldn’t make you undead.
“You…! You touched Ortesia’s body too—!”
—I was curious if I could raise a saint as undead. But whether it was because she received God’s love as a saint or for some other reason, her soul had already left her body. So I gave up immediately and threw her to the demons as food. I wasn’t too disappointed though. She wasn’t of much value to me. What was far more valuable to me was you, Longinus.
He spread his arms dramatically.
—But when I rushed over after the unexpected news that you had been killed by Beelzebub, your body was already half-dissolved by his poison, and your soul was gone too! You can’t imagine how disappointed I was then.
Just five meters away stood his mortal enemy, desecrating the memory of his lover. Shin Jaehyuk suppressed the urge to lunge forward. A reckless attack would only be blocked by his magic. Instead, Shin Jaehyuk continued the conversation, waiting for Iscariot to show an opening.
—How fascinating. Reincarnation! How did you find life again in another world, in another body, skipping four hundred years?
“…I don’t know. Do you?”
At Shin Jaehyuk’s answer, Iscariot scrutinized him as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth. After careful observation convinced him that Shin Jaehyuk’s answer was genuine, Iscariot couldn’t hide his puzzlement.
—Amazing. You really don’t know? The angels wouldn’t so easily release a gray soul they should collect in their basin… Is it because you’re a saint recognized by the Papal Office, making you an exception? Or did God intervene directly?
As Iscariot muttered various hypotheses to himself, Shin Jaehyuk saw the perfect opening.
Shin Jaehyuk gave in to his anger. His rage moved silently. With momentary superhuman strength, his mace crushed the ribs of the two Skeleton Knights, sending them flying. Having cleared the obstacles, Shin Jaehyuk stepped toward the traitor who was running his mouth carelessly.
Shin Jaehyuk’s shoulder moved like lightning to pierce that mouth with his spear. However, he had to stop abruptly. His legs wouldn’t move. Skeletons that had somehow emerged from the ground with only their upper bodies showing were clinging to his back, firmly gripping his legs and shoulders.
‘Shit! I can’t move my legs or arms…!’
Iscariot, who had bound Shin Jaehyuk, calmly approached and stroked his cheek.
—No matter. I can research from now on. The only successful work of the God’s Hand Project, my greatest masterpiece.
At those words, Shin Jaehyuk stopped struggling to break free and froze.
“…”
—At first, I was so disappointed that all the creatures I created were failures. And when those failures all died because of King Beelzebub’s plot to attack the Papal Office, I thought the project had completely failed, but that turned out to be the fortune that awakened a failure into a success!
Recalling that moment when his mood swung between despair and elation, Iscariot laughed gleefully. Shin Jaehyuk, lowering his gaze, murmured quietly.
“…Why did you betray us?”
Despite the repeated provocations, Shin Jaehyuk remained calm and instead asked a question, causing Iscariot to flinch before responding with a tone of surprise.
—Because I’m a dark mage. Like a proper dark mage, I made a contract with a demon, and that ‘process’ was just part of the contract. It was a necessary process. Surely you didn’t feel safe because of the geas? Did you actually trust me, a dark mage? Didn’t the Papal Office teach you? Never trust the tongue of a dark mage, no matter what.
“…I believed in you. I considered you a comrade I could trust with my back. Even if you studied taboos out of curiosity once, I didn’t think you, who had been a priest, would forsake the light. I believed that goodness still remained in a corner of your soul.”
—Kuhahahahaha—! That’s the most ridiculous nonsense I’ve heard in four hundred years—
“…I thought of you as a father.”
At those words, Iscariot paused. As if he had heard something completely unexpected, he abruptly stopped laughing. And for quite a long time, he maintained silence. As if sorting through his thoughts.
—…….
“……”
Iscariot looked into Shin Jaehyuk’s eyes as if trying to gauge whether he was telling the truth. Shin Jaehyuk didn’t avoid the skeleton’s gaze and stared straight back. Shin Jaehyuk wanted to see Iscariot’s true feelings through the window of his soul, but his eye sockets were already decayed and collapsed, nothing but black holes with no way to see inside.
It was Iscariot who looked away first. He let out a casual laugh as if finding it absurd, then slowly opened his mouth.
—In my lifetime, I only ever had one son.
“……”
—And not once did I ever consider you my son.
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