◈ 380. [STAGE 15] Last Prayer
A situation where the goblin army poured into the city of Crossroads.
Right now, the place with the most people in the city was the temple, and the goblins smelled humans and flocked to the temple.
bang! Kwajik! Kwakwang!
There are two doors in the Temple of the Crossroads.
One big front door and one small back door.
Both of the doors were lined with goblin corpses and blocked by hastily built barricades of chairs and desks.
Outside the barricade, the goblins banged their weapons fiercely.
“Whoop whoop… … .”
Thorkel, the leader of the Leper Slayer, glared at the front gate of the temple that had just been closed.
His whole body, wrapped in bandages, was covered with the blood of the goblins and his own blood from his open wounds.
But Thorkel had no time to care how dirty his body was.
“All who can fight, take up arms!”
Thorkel looked inside the temple and shouted.
However, how many of the injured soldiers would be able to fight fully, and how many of them would be able to use the weapons equipped in the temple?
As he hurriedly took out the kitchen knife from the temple cafeteria and tied a round table instead of a shield to his left arm, Torkel felt it.
If the relief army does not come, everyone in this temple will die.
And at the point where monsters flocked to this place, they couldn’t hope for a relief army.
“Issuing orders.”
But that doesn’t mean you can just lay down and die quietly.
Thorkel quickly ordered his Leper Slayer party members.
“You block the back door. The road is narrow and the fence is high, so the four of you should be able to block it.”
“Then the captain… .”
“I will block the main gate here with other wounded soldiers.”
Fortunately, it was that the temple fence and stone walls were covered with holy protection magic.
The goblins didn’t bother to cross the fence, they tried to break through the gate. Thanks to this, a defensive tactic could be established.
Body Bag and Burnout, who were in charge of setting up the barricade, were additionally building obstacles throughout the temple.
The injured soldiers who had been brought in after being injured throughout this defense battle also joined with their weapons one by one.
Following Thorkel’s instructions, the remaining 4 lepers left to defend the side gate.
Torquell hastily organized the soldiers gathered in front of the main gate and placed them at a defensive point.
“I will help too!”
Marherita, the head priest, ran out and shouted.
“I know how to use shield magic. It will help.”
“… .”
Thorkell wanted to tell her to go inside, but there was no time to do so.
Kwagwawang-!
The barricade blocking the main entrance was smashed.
I didn’t expect to last long, but the breakthrough was much faster than expected.
It seemed that the suicide bombers among the goblins blew up the barricade.
“Let’s push them away!”
Gritting his teeth, Thorkell rushed forward. Bodybag and Burnout Marherita and other wounded soldiers desperately helped him.
A fierce battle ensued.
Although wounded, there were many skilled soldiers. The goblins who intruded into the temple were knocked down.
Torkel and Burnout crushed the goblins with overwhelming fighting power.
Marherita cast shield magic on the soldiers, and Body Bag continued to restore the barricade with telekinesis.
It seemed like he could easily block them for a while.
Kirik!
Kiyaak-!
That was until suddenly goblins appeared from behind.
“what?!”
“Why behind!”
“It looks like the back door has been pierced… !”
Shouting, Thorkel gnashed his teeth.
It was as he intuited. As the front gate defense was solid, the goblins focused their attacks on the back gate.
All of the Leper Slayers defending the back gate were heroes skilled in combat, but they couldn’t last long without any equipment on their injured bodies.
In the end, all four of them resisted to the end and met their end.
And the goblins pouring in through the breached back gate attacked the main gate defense force from behind.
“We must retreat, retreat-!”
It was impossible to fight in a situation surrounded from the front and rear. Eventually, Torkell gave up defending the front gate and shouted.
“Into the building! hurry!”
The survivors managed to break through and retreat into the temple building.
After shutting the door and locking it, Thorkell shouted as he blocked the door with an obstacle.
“Block the windows and bring the people together! right now!”
But there was no need to gather people.
Everyone was gathered in the hallway of the central hall, trembling and praying.
Soldiers unable to fight due to severe injuries and priests without fighting ability were praying to the goddess as they trembled at the imminent death.
“… .”
Outside, the goblins screamed ferociously and struggled to open the locked door, but the inside of the temple was silent.
I was embarrassed because this gap was unfamiliar. Thorkel slowly moved into the concourse.
It was there.
goddess statue.
He always watches from afar, never up close… … the face of the goddess.
“Goddess… .”
Thorkel muttered blankly.
“… You were making this face.”
The face of the goddess was pitiful, as if looking down at something pitiful and sad.
Right after that, my eyes flashed.
“ah.”
Only then did Thorkel realize that he was bleeding.
A sword and a spear were stuck in each one of them. It must have been thrown on his back by a goblin during retreat.
His dull skin did not even feel the attack. But the damage was clear. Thorkell knelt in a pool of his own blood.
“Mr. Thorkel!”
Marherita hurriedly pulled out the sword and spear from his back, administered healing magic, and bandaged him.
The original color of Marherita’s priestly clothes was already dark red with the blood of wounded soldiers. Watching her struggle, Thorkell murmured.
“Stop it, Lady. nothing now… … It makes no sense.”
“… .”
“We will all die here.”
Thorkell slowly closed his eyes.
“It was a terrible life.”
“… .”
“I suffered from leprosy all my life, and I was ostracized and pointed at. And in the end, they are killed by the goblins.”
“… .”
“It is the first time I have seen the face of a goddess, so I would like to ask a question… Why did you give me this pain?”
Thorkell, who slowly clasped his hands together, spoke in a suppressed voice.
“I’d rather say that I was punished for the sins of my previous life, as I’ve believed all my life, and that I’m being punished for the sins I was born into.”
“… .”
“If you don’t even have that kind of cause and effect, this life of only suffering… Aren’t you being too unreasonable… … .”
However, even after seeing her face for the first time and praying, there was no answer from the goddess.
Instead, Marherita, tightly bandaged, spoke in a businesslike tone.
“I repeat, Mr. Thorkell. There is no such sin.”
Thorkel opened his eyes and saw Marherita. Marherita, as always, had a grave expression.
“There is no sin in your birth. What you suffered is not a punishment from someone else.”
“Then why? Why did I suffer?”
“Yeah… Because the world is what it is.”
After the first aid treatment, the saintess spoke calmly.
“This world is inherently irrational and doesn’t care about cause and effect. And it hurts.”
“… .”
“We are living together in this hell.”
Thorkell, who was at a loss for words, stuttered and asked.
“Then what are we to do in this terrible hell?”
“I have to struggle.”
Marherita smiled.
“As much as you can until the end.”
“… .”
“And pray at the end.”
Marherita held out her hand.
“I will hold your hand.”
The saintess’ blood-soaked hand grabbed Thorkel’s bandaged hand. And Marherita closed her eyes and prayed.
Thorkel stared blankly at it.
It was the first time anyone held his hand since he had leprosy.
Also praying with those hands.
bang! Kwakwang-!
The locked door of the temple shook violently. The sound of breaking windows echoed from all directions.
Soon, goblins would flock to this corridor.
Chaenggang-!
The stained glass on the left and right of the door was broken, and goblin archers dug in.
They shot arrows at the people in front of the statue of the goddess with the bows in their hands.
Torkel tried to take the attack with his own body without realizing it.
But there was a hand that pushed him away.
‘uh?’
Pushing aside, Thorkell saw the man who pushed him.
It was Marherita.
She put shield magic on her body and took the goblins’ arrows instead. But she was also in a situation where she had already exhausted her strength.
Chaeng-Grang-!
I couldn’t block the last arrow, and the shield magic went off, and
I was hooked… … !
The goblin’s arrow pierced the priest’s robe.
Marherita collapsed quietly without a groan.
Torkell picked up the fallen Marherita in her arms and supported her as the other soldiers charged the goblin archers and killed them.
The priests tried to heal her, but the area hit by the arrow was bad. The arrow tore through her left breast.
When the healing magic didn’t work, the priests shook their heads slightly.
“why?”
Thorkell asked, genuinely unable to understand.
“Why on behalf of something like me? you… ?”
“… I am a priest and you are a patient.”
With bloody lips, Marherita struggled to answer.
“To save the patient… Because we do anything… … .”
“But I am a disgusting, dirty leper… Why for something like me… … .”
“You and me, we are all the same.”
Marherita’s voice quickly faded.
“We all struggle to survive in this terrible world… What a pitiful life… … .”
Marherita raised her clouded eyes.
In the opaque world, the statue of the goddess was looking down at her.
“… Mr Thorkell. What kind of face was the first goddess you saw?”
To Marherita’s question, Thorkel answered in a choked voice.
“He had a very sad and pitiful face.”
“That’s how you see yourself.”
“yes?”
“As far as I can see, the goddess… .”
A smile crossed Marherita’s lips.
“You are smiling so brightly… .”
“… .”
“You have this smile too… I wish I could see… … .”
Marherita slowly closed her eyes.
And she couldn’t breathe anymore.
“… .”
Thorkell calmly set her body down on the floor.
Then, he grabbed the kitchen knife he had put down for a moment and tied the table to his left arm again.
“Because the last prayer has already been said.”
It was luxurious enough that it would never happen again in a lifetime- because the saintess held his hand and prayed with him.
“Then now… All that remains is to struggle until the end.”
Hearing those words, the wounded soldiers and priests who had been crouching in front of the statue of the goddess to pray stood up one by one.
They all overheard the conversation between Marherita and Thorkel. And we saw Marherita’s death together.
Didn’t have to say a lot. People finished their last prayers and held something in their hands.
for the final struggle.
If this is the only thing you can do in this terrible world, be willing.
thud! Kugoong! thud… !
The door of the temple shook violently as if it would break at any moment.
When everyone made their final decision and prepared for a decisive battle, led by Thorkel,
tutu tu tu tu… … .
A low, regular sound began to echo in the distance.
At first, I thought it was a battle cry and tried to ignore it, but gradually the sound got closer and louder. Thorkell glanced upward curiously.
‘what? mechanical sound?’
Then, in the sky above the temple, the motion of the sound stopped-
du-du-du-du-du-!
It emitted a deafening sound.
Everyone inside the terrified temple fell flat on the floor.
The terrifying roar and vibration continued for a long time.
The sound of bullets bouncing, the sound of the ground being dug up, and the screams of the goblins rang loud enough to deafen my ears.
After a while, the roar stopped. Torkel realized that the goblins in front of the door had lost all signs.
okay. clap.
Thorkel carefully cleared the obstacles in front of the door, unlocked it, and looked outside.
“?!”
All the goblins gathered at the entrance of the temple were reduced to pieces of meat. And there were countless bullet marks on the floor.
“… what is this?”
Torkel, who was perplexed, looked up at the sky. The sky was dyed red as evening approached before he knew it.
And he opened his eyes.
“That… !”
