No to Being the Suffering Heroine! – Chapter 50

“Huh, huff…! The floor, the blood…!”

“What is this!”

“Magic? Is it magic!”

The adventurers who were still fighting recoiled in shock from the boiling blood, trying to avoid it.

A sudden anomaly.

The corpses strewn across the sea of blood melted like butter, and the blood, now thicker, flowed like waves towards the old man’s eyes.

It was an eerily bizarre sight. Yet this was merely a prelude.

Rumble…!

A rotten blood stench that could make one’s nose twist.

The vast amount of blood, infused with magical power and boiling, flowed and gathered in front of the old man’s palm, gradually shrinking in size.

After being compressed to the extreme, and compressed again…

Boom!

Until it finally reached its limit and erupted.

Like lava bursting from the top of an exploding volcano, a fountain of blood shot up fiercely to a height of several meters. A chilling sense of crisis ran down my spine.

“Kuk…!”

I ran towards him, glaring with wide eyes at the center of the blood pool.

The scene of the anomaly that was too late to stop.

“Hahahahaha! I’ve succeeded! I’ve finally succeeded! So the deaths of the priests were indeed necessary!”

The Abyss Priest, Casvail, burst into joyous laughter as he looked up at the fountain of blood.

The reason for his actions was encapsulated in that laughter filled with ecstasy.

Using the deaths of numerous priests and their corpses as sacrifices to implement higher-level magic. It was a motive befitting a madman obsessed with magical arts.

It was likely for this sole purpose that he had created a base in these ruins, gathered undead from all over to prepare an army to use as bait.

To lure the city’s priests into a trap and annihilate them.

A perfectly executed plan.

And the fruit he obtained from it was…

* * *

Where the blood fountain that seemed endless had subsided.

“Grooooooooar!”

A roar like thunder reverberated through the night sky.

“Hahahahaha! Look! Isn’t it overwhelming!”

Before the eyes of the Abyss Priest, who burst into maniacal laughter, the result of the magic he had achieved was slowly rising, dripping with blood.

“Uh, uh… Aaaaaagh!”

The adventurers who turned to witness this screamed and ran away. They were certain the moment they saw it. That death was right before their eyes.

“Grooooar…!”

Glowing red eyes. Rotten, decayed, ragged skin with ribs clearly visible on the chest. Razor-sharp teeth and nails.

While its overall shape was close to that of a deeply buried, rotted human corpse… no one in the world would call such a thing human.

Not just in its current form resurrected as undead, but even when it was still alive.

Boom!

The ground trembled and groaned just from it taking a step and rising.

Limbs reminiscent of massive trees covered in human skin.

Length, thickness, weight. Every part of its body greatly exceeded human proportions.

A being with a human form but overwhelmingly larger than humans. Such a race actually existed in this world.

“A giant, an undead giant!”

Giant race.

One of the eight races called demon folk.

Jötunn.

With its back to the slowly brightening dawn sky, a 6-meter tall corpse stood up, casting a long shadow.

* * *

“…Let’s withdraw.”

The moment the 6-meter tall undead giant rose to its feet, I spoke of retreat without any hesitation.

The forces assigned to defend the ruins had all died or fled. There was no reason for just the four of us to engage in a desperate struggle with such a monster.

Though it was small for a giant, and having been resurrected as an undead without reason, it would likely be greatly weakened compared to when it was alive… still, a giant is a giant.

“That… that’s too dangerous.”

It was clear that with that size, a mere swing of its arm would kill normal humans like flies.

“…I think so too. If the paladins were still here it might be different, but it doesn’t seem like something we can handle on our own.”

“Yes. Finding the paladins and joining up with them would be the best course of action.”

Amy and Gerda also agreed without delay.

“Uh, um, re-retreat… are we retreating…? Ah, I’m not opposing it! If Hilde judged it so, that must be right!”

Friede tilted her head slightly, showing a moment of doubt, but didn’t particularly object and immediately turned towards the forest.

While throwing away the large revenant head she had been holding in her left hand like trash.

With the entire party in agreement, we immediately turned and dashed into the forest.

“Hahahahaha!”

“Grooooar!”

Hoping that the attention of the laughing Abyss Priest and the undead giant would be directed somewhere other than us.

* * *

And so began our flight.

I ran carrying Amy, who lacked stamina, on my back, while Gerda took the lead, tracking the traces left by the paladins to determine our escape route.

Friede was running between us, looking around in all directions.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

Perhaps because I was running while carrying a person, I started to get more and more out of breath, but I couldn’t stop running.

“Grooooar!”

“Ah, damn it! It’s coming! It’s coming this way!”

The Abyss Priest Hugh Casvail, as soon as he saw us fleeing, collapsed the dungeon entrance and immediately began pursuing us.

“Why are you fleeing in such a hurry, young lady? Where has that confident tone gone, the one that spewed abuse?”

…It seems the hometown-style provocation I had uttered had deeply wounded his heart.

To the extent that he decided to prioritize killing me first as soon as he gained power, putting everything else aside.

“He’s chasing us like a madman! What kind of abuse did you say to make him like that?!”

“…”

I had nothing to say.

If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn’t have made that dad joke.

At the time, it felt a bit satisfying, but now that things had come to this, it was impossible to deal with the consequences.

“Kuk…! We can’t widen the distance…!”

Gerda glanced back and bit her lip, lamenting.

Every time the undead giant roared, the giant trees behind us snapped like reeds with a thunderous crash.

A persistent and destructive pursuit.

We were literally running for our lives, but despite that, the distance between us kept narrowing.

Strides several times longer than ours. The violence of advancing by forcefully smashing through all obstacles in its path. It was truly like a tank with arms and legs.

“At this rate, we’ll be caught!”

“I know that too!”

Even without Gerda’s warning, it was clear that at this rate, we would be caught before long.

“…Damn it.”

Unfortunately, there was only one solution that came to mind.

“Gerda! Catch Amy!”

“What…? Wait, what did you just-“

I lifted Amy, who turned to me in surprise, and threw her towards Gerda.

“Kyaaah!?”

Amy flew through the air, flailing her arms and legs. Gerda caught her like a sack with a bewildered face, then turned her around to piggyback her, looking at me.

“Hilde! What are you trying to…”

What else is there to do in this situation?

“We have to hold out! Until the paladins arrive!”

The undead giant’s roars were loud enough to shake the forest, so the paladins must have heard them too.

Probably, they were urgently turning around and running this way.

So… if we fight and hold out against it, they should come eventually.

That’s why I entrusted Amy to Gerda.

A magician who couldn’t dodge enemy attacks on her own feet, and a ranger whose combat power was halved due to running out of arrows. It was a perfect combination to put together.

Gerda could run and dodge attacks instead of Amy, and Amy could cast spells while riding on her back, more than pulling her own weight.

“So, um… are we going to fight now, Hilde?”

“…We have to. There’s no other way, is there?”

“R-Right…?”

Friede nodded and rested her greatsword on her shoulder.

“Um… I’ll somehow handle the Abyss Priest! I, I can block a spell or two!”

Saying that she would deal with the Abyss Priest, so I should take on the undead giant.

“Oh, really…?”

It was quite unexpected for me, as I had honestly planned to do the opposite.

I thought Friede, with her quick movements and greatsword, would be much better at fighting a huge enemy than me.

However, if Friede had a way to block the Abyss Priest’s attacks, that changed things.

If she could approach while blocking the Abyss Priest’s attacks, it wouldn’t be too difficult to take down an old man.

“Alright, I’m counting on you.”

“Hehe… Leave it, leave it to me!”

Friede nodded with a childlike grin. I was amazed at how she could smile so brightly even in such a dire situation.

Her optimism was simply astonishing to me.

Anyway, just as I finished giving all the instructions and turned around to look behind…

“Have you given up on your meaningless escape?”

Crack!

The undead giant that had been chasing us revealed itself, pushing aside the densely standing giant trees as if spreading prison bars.

“Then now, embrace death and receive the blessing called eternity.”

Along with the Abyss Priest who had been sitting on its shoulder and now slid down to land on the ground.

“…Nonsense.”

I took a deep breath to calm my rapid breathing and looked up at the 6-meter tall giant corpse.

Really, it’s disgustingly huge.

“If you think death is a blessing, you should practice it yourself first. Go hang yourself right now.”

In the first place, how could someone who shamelessly clings to life at that age be persuasive when telling others that death is a blessing?

“What, are you too scared to do it yourself?”

When it’s obvious that you yourself fear death the most.

“…Kill her. Preferably while leaving her in a recognizable state.”

Unable to refute, the Abyss Priest instead raised his right hand to point at me, giving an order to the undead giant.

“Won’t you die for me? Preferably in a form that leaves no recognizable shape.”

I threw his words right back at him while firmly gripping my sword hilt with trembling hands.

“Grooooar!”

With its red eyes glowing fiercely, the rotted giant corpse lunged at me like a disaster.