episode_0050

“Hu, huk…! The ground, it’s blood…!”

“What is this!”

“Magic? Is it magic!”

The adventurers still engaged in battle recoil in horror at the boiling blood, hastily avoiding its touch.

A sudden change.

The bodies that had been sprawled on the blood-soaked ground melt away like butter, and the thickened blood flows towards the old man like a surging wave.

It was a chillingly eerie sight. Yet, this was merely a prelude.

Gurgling…!

The stench of putrid blood, as if one’s nose would twist.

Imbued with immense magical power, the seething blood slowly gathers in front of the old man’s palm, gradually diminishing in size.

Compressed to the extreme, and compressed once more…

Kwaaaaah!

Finally, bursting forth as if to rupture at its limits.

A fountain of seething blood erupts fiercely, towering several meters high like lava spewing from the summit of an exploding volcano, sending a spine-chilling sense of peril coursing down their spines.

“Kuk…!”

I ran towards him, glaring with eyes wide open, surveying the blood puddles across the ground.

It was too late to halt this sudden turn of events.

“Huhahaha! Success! I have finally succeeded! Indeed, the deaths of the priests were necessary!”

The Abyssal Priest, Kasval, gazed triumphantly at the fountain of blood, bursting into gleeful laughter.

Within his laughter filled with ecstasy lay the implicit reason for his actions.

To sacrifice numerous priests, using their corpses to manifest higher-level magic—a madman’s motive driven by obsession with the arcane.

Establishing a stronghold at this archaeological site solely for that purpose, gathering undead from all corners as bait for a trap, all to lure and massacre the city’s priests.

A perfectly executed plan.

And the fruit of his labor…

◆◆

The once ceaselessly erupting fountain of blood now settles.

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

A thunderous roar reverberates beyond the night sky.

“Huhahaha! Behold! Isn’t it overwhelming!”

Before the exultant eyes of the Abyssal Priest, the result of his magic slowly rises, dripping blood as it begins to stand.

“E, eee…ugh, ughhhhh!”

The adventurers turned their heads and screamed as they fled, clutching their throats. The moment they saw him, they were certain. Death was imminent.

“Groooaaaahh…!”

Glaring red eyes. Decaying, mottled skin and exposed ribs on the chest. Sharp teeth and claws like blades.

While the overall figure resembled a deeply decomposed human corpse buried in the ground, no one in this world would call such a thing human.

Not only did he appear as an undead now, but even when he was alive, he must have been like that.

Kuuuuung!

Just taking a step and rising caused the earth to tremble and groan.

Arms and legs reminiscent of a majestic oak tree covered in mold.

Length, thickness, weight—every part of his body deviated significantly from human proportions.

Resembling a human form but overwhelmingly massive. Such a race existed in this world.

“A giant, it’s a giant!”

A giant race.

One of the eight races known as the Demons.

Yotun.

Standing against the gradually brightening dawn sky, the 6-meter-tall giant’s corpse cast a long shadow as it rose.

◆◆

“…Let’s retreat.”

The moment the 6-meter-tall giant rose, I immediately suggested a retreat without hesitation.

Our forces deployed for the ruins defense were either dead or had fled. There was no reason for just the four of us to engage in combat with such a monster.

Despite being relatively small for a giant and significantly weakened in comparison to his living self due to being resurrected as an undead, a giant was still a giant.

“That… that’s too dangerous.”

It was clear that with that physique, just swinging his arms would easily annihilate ordinary humans like flies.

“…I agree. Unless there were paladins remaining, it doesn’t seem wise for us to handle this on our own.”

“Yes. It’s best to find and join the paladins.”

Amy and Gerda readily agreed without hesitation.

“Uh, um, retreat, are we retreating…? Oh, no, I mean, I’m not objecting! If Miss Hilde made that decision, then it must be the right one!”

Freide slightly cocked her head in confusion for a moment, but without expressing any opposition, she immediately turned towards the forest.

Tossing aside the large Revenant’s head that she had been holding in her left hand like trash.

Since everyone in the group was in agreement, we immediately turned our bodies and leaped into the forest.

“Hahaha!”

“Grrrrr!”

While the Abyssal Priest and the corpse giant were raging, their attention seemed to be directed elsewhere, not towards us.

◆◆

And so began our escape drama.

I carried the exhausted Amy on my back and rushed forward, with Gerda leading the way, tracking the traces left by the knights and determining our escape route.

Freide was running between us, scanning all directions.

“Pant… Pant…”

Because I was carrying a person and running, I started to get out of breath, but I couldn’t afford to stop running.

“Grrrr!”

“Oh no, they’re coming! They’re coming this way!”

As soon as the Abyssal Priest Hug Kasval saw us fleeing, he demolished the dungeon entrance and immediately began pursuing us.

“Why are you running so frantically, miss? Your arrogant attitude seems to have wounded someone deeply.”

…It seems that my hometown-style taunt had deeply wounded him.

Putting everything else aside for later, I was determined to kill him as soon as I got my hands on him.

“He’s relentlessly chasing us! What did you say to him?!”

“……”

I had nothing to say.

If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn’t have made those sarcastic remarks.

At the time, I felt a bit relieved, but now there was no turning back.

“Gah…! We can’t keep this distance…!”

Glancing back, Gerda bit her lip and sighed.

Every time the corpse giant roared, the trees behind us snapped like twigs, collapsing with a thunderous noise.

A relentless and destructive pursuit.

We were running desperately, but despite that, the distance between us was getting narrower and narrower.

Our rapid pace, smashing through every obstacle in our path with sheer force, was akin to a speeding tank with legs.

“At this rate, we’ll be caught!”

“I know!”

Without needing Gerda’s warning, it was clear that we wouldn’t last much longer at this pace.

“…Damn.”

Regrettably, only one plan came to mind.

“Gerda! Take Amy!”

“What…? Wait, what are you-”

Startled, Amy looked back at me as I swiftly handed her over to Gerda.

“Eek!?”

Amy flailed her arms as Gerda, wearing a bewildered expression, caught her like a sack of potatoes, hoisted her onto his back, and glanced at me.

“Hilde! What are you planning…!”

What else could I do in this situation?

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

The giant corpse’s roar echoed through the forest, surely audible to the approaching paladins. They must be rushing here urgently.

So… if we keep fighting him off, they’ll eventually come for us.

That’s why I entrusted Amy to Gerda.

With my abilities, I couldn’t evade the enemy’s attacks, and the patrolman’s combat effectiveness was diminished without arrows. It seemed like a perfect combination.

As Gerda dodged the attacks instead of Amy, she could shoot her magic from his back, taking down at least one person.

“Now, are we really going to fight, Hilde?”

“…We have no other choice, right?”

“Yeah, I guess…?”

Frida nodded, shouldering her greatsword.

“The… Abyssal Priestess, I’ll, I’ll manage somehow! I can deflect her magic a couple of times, so…”

She would handle the Abyssal Priestess, leaving me to deal with the giant corpse.

“R-really…?”

Honestly, it was quite unexpected for me, who had considered the opposite.

I had thought that Frida, being quicker and more skilled with the greatsword, would be far better suited to face the colossal foe.

However, if Frida had a plan to deflect the Abyssal Priestess’s attacks, then things had changed.

Blocking the Abyss Priest’s attack and getting close shouldn’t be too difficult to take down that old man.

“Got it, I’ll handle it.”

“Hehe… Leave it to me, just leave it to me!”

Freide giggled like a child, nodding eagerly. It was astonishing how he could laugh so brightly in such a dire situation.

His optimism was truly remarkable to me.

Anyway, after giving all the instructions, I turned around and looked back.

“Have you given up your futile escape?”

Crackle!

The colossal corpse giant pursuing us pushed aside the towering trees as if parting curtains, revealing its form.

“Now, embrace the blessing of eternity in the arms of death.”

Perched on his shoulder, then sliding down to the ground alongside the Abyss Priest.

“Nonsense.”

I took a deep breath, calming my labored breathing, and looked up at the towering 6-meter-tall creature.

Man, it’s disgustingly huge.

“If you think death is a blessing, then you should practice what you preach. Go hang yourself right now.”

Considering he shamelessly lived to that age while imposing his will on others, there’s no way his talk about death being a blessing holds any weight.

“Why, are you too scared to do it?”

When it’s clear as day that he himself fears death.

“…Kill him. Preserve the original form as much as possible.”

Apparently having no retort, the Abyss Priest raised his right hand, pointing at me, commanding the corpse giant without a word.

“Won’t you die? In a form that leaves nothing of the original behind.”

I parried his words, gripping the hilt tightly with trembling hands.

“Grrrrr!”

With crimson eyes gleaming fiercely, the putrid corpse giant lunged at me like a calamity.