Chapter 63 Behind the curtains(3)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: BaeBae

By the looks of things, Im guessing we dont have time to chat. Ill keep it short. Did they get Lars?

Anya nodded with a sad expression. Juan bit his lip.

He shouldnt have left that child to his own.

Ethan. Your loyalty, your devotion and belief has killed one of the emperors children and brought the god of death onto this land.

A bitter taste was left in his mouth.

Looking back, Juan had no choice but to leave to stop Bishop Rieto.

Even if hed warned Lars more sternly, the result would have been the same.

He didnt want to blame Lars. There was no time to do such thing.

Wind containing the smell of death was blowing closer. Soon, Nigrato would arrive.

If that happened, everything that Lars tried to protect would be killed and destroyed.

Juan couldnt sit by and let that happen.

Is this even possible.

Even now, Nigrato was fast claiming his existence into this world.

This was different to how hed met Taltere in Tantil. If Taltere was a seed wanting to bud into a sprout, Nigrato was a tree that was rapidly growing.

To make matters worse, Juan had never fought Nigrato before.

Nigrato had died, before Juan started to make a name for himself. Nigrato became stronger each time he died and revived, so at the time he killed himself hoping to gain more power.

However, the southern necromancy clan had been exterminated before they could resurrect Nigrato. Therefore hed failed to come back to this world.

That was until Lars, who had ended the necromancers, decided to consume Nigratos essence.

Juan clutched his dagger and stood. Anya nodded.

Planning to kill the god of death? Ill lead the way.

Why dont you ever doubt my capabilities for once. Even just for formality sake, tell me that this is beyond me.

How could I ever doubt Juan. Theres no one else to put my hope on but Juan.

Anya replied while smiling with a sad expression. Dilmond also approached Juan with his hammer in his hand.

We were planning to head towards Nigrato. Well tag along and do our best not to be a burden even if it costs our lives.

The Hugin knights all clutched their weapons with determined expressions.

Juan looked at each face one by one. Persuasion wasnt going to make them back off. But even so, Juan shook his head.

No.

Juan, were.

I dont care what you say. You guys are the last remaining inheritance of what Lars left behind. If you all died, there wouldnt be anything of Lars remaining. I dont think Lars created the Hugin knight order so that he could kill everyone with his own hands.

Dilmond glared at Juan.

He was annoyed that precious time was being wasted by having this unnecessary argument.

The arrival of Nigrato would be formidable in that he nor Juan would likely survive.

If Lars nim was alive, would you think he would have told us to run, or told us to stay with him and die while fighting? I find your description of us being his inheritance distasteful. We were his sword. We dont mind if we were to break along with our master in the midst of battle.

Juan quietly watched Dilmond before finally nodding his head.

Fine.

Even if you resist till the end.wait, what?

I said fine. Im going to need some extra hands. However.

Juan nimbly went up to Anya and smacked her in the gut.

Anyas eyes rolled over and lost consciousness. Juan carefully held her from falling and passed her to one of the nearby knights.

Take this one and get her away from here. Necromancers are of no use against Nigrato. Rather shed lose control of herself to him.

..Alright.

It wasnt for that reason alone but it was enough to convince. The knight received detailed orders from Dilmond and headed towards the outskirts of Hiveden. Several knights followed to protect them.

Juan watched as Anya drifted away into the darkness before turning his head.

Were going to run from now on. I dont have time to wait for stragglers.

Without waiting for a reply, Juan took off running.

*****

What on earth is that

Sina looked on at a vast cloud of darkness looming over Hivedens center.

The darkness that seemingly looked as if it wouldnt stop expanding, squirmed as it finally took on a shape. Unbelievably, a form of a man.

From the area where the head would be, something bursted itself up. It was a giant skull of a human that was near unimaginable.

Sina couldnt even begin to fathom what this thing was. But she was sure of one thing.

That it was an ominous and disgusting thing.

She couldnt accept herself to watch this thing emerge into the world.

Kueek.!

The bonds around her hands and feet were tightened hard. It didnt look like it was going to loosen anytime soon. But determined not to sit by, she mustered strength into her wrists, calmly accepting the fact that her wrists could break.

Finally, with the sound of a loud snap, she felt her hands become free.

Looking at her wrists, her wrists were unexpectedly fine except for some cuts. But there was no time to be thinking about this.

Sina ran towards Camille who was in a daze after losing her mind.

Camille!

The darkness, death is rising. The winds from the nether world.

Sina whipped in a slap without hesitation.

Thinking that she wouldnt come around with just one slap, Sina grabbed her collar and slapped her another one. As Sina was about to hand her a third, Camille grabbed Sinas wrist.

.Thats enough.

Thats for keeping my wrists restrained. So, what are you going to do. Arent these the kinds of beings that are the true enemies of the Paladin order?

Camilles expression showed that she had no reply for that.

Sinas words werent wrong but strictly, Paladins didnt have a single experience in fighting mythical beings.

Primarily, Paladins were only created after the emperor had died.

All of a sudden, Camille felt embarrassed to have proclaimed Paladins as the emperors fist, sword, spear or anything else for that matter.

In truth, they hadnt faced the real threats that the emperor had.

Camille!

I. Dont. Know. What do you want me to do!? This thing appeared from where the Hugin knights and Paladins would have been. Its something that my fellow Paladins nor even commander Ethan could stop! Why are you asking me for a solution?

Camille replied as if this was unfair on her.

If youre asking me to go fight and die, Ill gladly die. But if I do..I only see a death without purpose. If you would still tell me thats my duty then Id do it. However, if youre asking me for a solution against that, I have none.

Do you not even know what that thing is?

Most likely, its Lars. I cant think of anyone else except Lars Raude that would be able to summon or transform himself into something like that. Its rumoured that he made a deal with the god of death in order to kill the emperor.

Sina observed the giant darkness once again.

On its cloud-like body, a white skull was apparent and bits of white bones were branching out to form its limbs.

Sina hadnt seen Lars once, but had heard the countless ominous stories about him.

That he was the emperors child.

Juan.

After neutralizing Rieto, a pale Juan had run off after seeing that thing emerge.

Knowing Juans personality, he could and would have finished off Rieto and Camille.

So it was no secret that this thing had deeply shocked him.

If this was the case, Juan would be somewhere inside that darkness.

Through the alleyways in the city, the shifting darkness slithered through as it expanded. And from the darkness, undeads started to walk out from it along with screaming residents trying to flee.

Seeing this, Sina immediately grabbed Camilles sword on the ground and chucked it at her.

What are you doing?

I wont ask you to die while facing that monster, but how about saving those residents from death?

Camille hesitated at Sinas words.

Her last assignment was to protect Bishop Rieto and slaughter any Hiveden residents that got out.

Sina was asking her to ignore her orders.

But upon seeing the resurrection of god of death, she felt if there was still any meaning in following her orders anymore. Camille drew out her sword and stepped forward.

As youve not fully recovered, stay here and protect Bishop Rieto, Sina kyung. Knowing that the undeads are our opponent, as a Paladin Ill do your share of fighting and more.

*****

Its getting darker as we get closer! Keep tight. Shoulders to shoulders and stay alert!

The Hugin knights glued themselves to each other after hearing Dilmonds strict warning.

Juan wanted to move at a faster pace but the oncoming wind was too intense.

Juan who was lightweighted was finding it more difficult dealing with the wind than facing a knight of death.

Currently in front, Dilmond and his massive body looked ever so dependable in the wind.

Enemies on the right!

Theres multiple on the left too!

Juan was making sure he was being useful too.

Hed smeared his blood onto his dagger, creating a small flame. While small, it still helped keep the darkness away creating valuable time.

When enemies appeared, the Hugin knights all attacked simultaneously in unison, immediately eliminating the threat.

You guys seem quite skilled at this.

If were talking about undeads, we had to basically live with them till now. We know their weaknesses and arent scared of them.

Dilmond looked at Juan who was following behind while grabbing onto his belt.He continued talking.

There are less of them than I had expected. And I suppose your fire is doing work as well. The emperors flame is like poison to them.

I appreciate you telling me that but you dont have to be considerate towards me. Im aint some brat you need to take care of or keep happy.

Quite assuring Anyways, do you know where we need to go? The spot where Lars nim had been struck doesnt seem far away from here.

The direction of the wind. The concentration of ill intent. Where darkness is clumped up.

Youre talking in riddles.

It means keep going forward as were going the right way. Were already inside the realm of the underworld. Where youre standing is half Hiveden and half the other world. Its going to get harder from here to get a sense of distance.

Whats there at the end of this path?

Undeads, undeads and more undeads. And Nigratos essence will likely be there too. If we manage to take care of his essence before he gets a physical form then we can keep him restrained while hes still incomplete.

Restrain him while hes incomplete? Were not going to kill him?

Well.. Id like it if it was that simple but, beings that have claimed divinity dont die so easily. If he stays incomplete, then at least he can be killed later on. Anyways, Im saying we cant let him reach his complete form. If he doesI dont know if even Vares Valte could take care of him.

That sounds interesting. The thought of making him fight against that bastard Vares Valte.

Ill rephrase that. Vares Valte and maybe a third of the empires population.

Juan suddenly stopped and pulled at Dilmonds belt.

Dilmond looked back at him with a what look. But then, he also realised why Juan had come to a stop.

So.. They werent avoiding us due to the fire it seems.

They were moving to protect their master.

A frightening number of undeads were standing in front of them.

Zombies, skeletons soldiers, undead knights and even unrecognisable monsters were swarming in one spot like a single organism.

The ominous feeling tickling down their skin was emanating from where they were grouping.

The good news is that were going the right way. The bad news is that we dont have much time.

Dilmond snorted at Juans words.

Wrong! The real bad news is that were going to continue going down this path!

Dilmond roared as he stormed forth.