◈ 401. [Side Story] Plague
“Your Highness.”
I shuddered at the sound of a voice beside me.
“Why are you like that, Your Highness? Are you drunk already?”
“Huh huh? what?”
Looking to the side, Jupiter is sitting.
The one-eyed old soldier wore a familiar mischievous smile. With a cup of hard liquor in one hand and a smoking cigar in the other. He twisted his forehead next to me.
“This is difficult to draw. Didn’t you decide to be my drinking partner all night?”
“uh… ?”
“Anyway, so that’s what Junior said to this old lady… .”
This was the bar of the mercenary guild. I looked at the empty bottles in front of me.
what?
Since when have I been drinking here?
I obviously… … .
“majesty?”
“uh?”
“You seem to be really drunk. Shall we stop at this point today?”
“No no! I’m okay.”
“Then fill this old man’s glass quickly. Your Highness didn’t follow me, so you’ve been talking all by yourself with a burning throat since earlier.”
I quickly picked up the bottle in front of me and filled Jupiter’s cup.
I was embarrassed at first, but soon a smile spread across my lips.
How long have you been drinking with Jupiter?
“Hey Jupiter. I don’t know what kind of nonsensical thing to say all of a sudden, but it’s really nice to talk with you over a drink like this.”
Saying so, I drank and when I looked around,
this place was no longer a mercenary guild. It was on the southern wall.
The smell of blood, the smell of gunpowder… … And on this wall full of dead bodies, Jupiter fell dead.
His chest was full of wounds from blood bullet magic. It had been a long time since the old soldier died with blood spattering all over his old black uniform.
“… ?!”
what.
what is this all of a sudden
Embarrassed, I quickly stepped back. Then the scenery around him changed again.
This was an annex next to the manor house. It was a place used by the shadow unit as a lodging.
“Prince!”
“Your Highness the Prince!”
Two little elves I hadn’t seen in a long time came running to me.
It was the old girl who always smiled and waved at me when she saw me, and the skull, whose face was full of scars. The two elves stood on either side of me and swarmed.
“I want to drink our fruit juice!”
“The snack with nuts you gave me the other day was delicious!”
“Okay guys. I’ll take care of it. But wait… … Take a breath, Prince… … .”
I was out of breath, but when I looked down at the two again,
I sighed.
Patter… … .
Old Girl’s blood drained and she collapsed like a withered tree, and the Skull was shattered by the bombardment of blood magic.
My whole body stiffened.
“OMG… ?!”
Turning around with a creak, I ran.
As I ran away, I found myself in front of the barracks. Quylan’s older brother, Kureha, a beast with red braids, was standing there.
“Kureha! call people! something strange… … .”
“… majesty.”
The next moment, Kureha was transformed into a huge wolf monster.
His deep well sad eyes looked at me.
《Give me an order.》
And then, like an old tower collapsing, he collapsed and died.
I ran into the city holding back my screams.
God Hand was standing in front of the alchemist’s studio, peering into the studio. In his hand was a bouquet of tangled flowers.
Are you hiding here to startle Lily?
My eyes lit up when I saw the shy smile on his lips.
“God Hand! Glad you were here!”
When I ran up and grabbed God Hand’s shoulder,
excellent… … .
Flowers were scattered on the floor.
With a prosthetic hand holding a bouquet, only flowers were scattered on the floor… … God Hand disappeared without a trace.
“ah… .”
It was difficult to breathe.
Stumbling back, I entered the temple next door.
But even here.
In front of the statue of the goddess in the temple… … Marherita lay down with an arrow in her chest.
quietly. like falling asleep Quietly. dead.
“Uh uh… !”
Gritting my teeth and holding back my screams, I escaped the temple and ran through the crossroads. to escape anywhere.
but.
There was nowhere in this city for me to escape.
The whole city was a memory with people, and
that’s why the whole city was death.
– City on graves.
The tinnitus of Crossroads slowly stirred my brain.
The corpses of my heroes and my soldiers were filling the city. I finally couldn’t hold on and ran out of town.
“Huh! Huh!”
When I opened the castle gate and ran out, I saw Ken surrounded by swarms of black spiders in the distance.
The shield knight who died in the tutorial stage looked at me and muttered in a voice mixed with tears.
“Damn, I thought it would be like this… .”
The claws of the spiders swung and Ken was slaughtered.
I blankly took in the sight.
The whole horizon… … It was filled with the deaths of my people.
Unable to hold on any longer, I knelt on the floor.
It was then. As I was breathing heavily, someone slowly approached me, dragging their feet.
Looking up, it was a skinny old man with a beard.
It was an unforgettable face. I called his name
“… Marquis.”
“How is it?”
The former lord, Marquis Charles Cross, smiled bitterly and asked.
“To protect this city enough to dedicate your most precious thing… Was it worth it?”
And before I can even answer
Cudangtang… … !
His body, devoured by the rats, collapsed beside me. Broken spears and shields followed his body as they fell to the ground with a thunderous sound.
I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t breathe.
I curled up and lay down. The whole world was darkness, death, blood and screams.
It was a world I made.
There was nowhere to run.
… It was then.
《Ash!》
Someone in the distance called my name.
《Care up, Ash!》
An outstretched hand grabbed my back.
***
《Ash!》
“… !”
I suddenly opened my eyes.
I was sitting on the floor and Salome was in front of me.
His hands are holding my shoulders. Did he even shake me awake?
Breathing heavily, I ran my hand over my face. covered in cold sweat
“Just now… .”
“It’s that guy.”
Salome glared at the empty space behind me. I hesitated and looked back there.
… There, a black and ugly ‘something’ wriggled and floated.
swarm of worms? no fog? is it a rat Crow? or not… .
All sorts of monsters that couldn’t even maintain their shape were pulsating with each other tangled up. And that terrible thing spoke out.
《Hey, are you awake, Ash?》
Though it was torn and crushed.
Undoubtedly, the commander of the plague corps… … It was Raven’s voice.
“To be conscious despite being infected with my new plague. Indeed, your spirit is strong.”
“The plague… ?”
With Salome’s help, I got up from my seat. My legs are still shaking.
“The plague I just suffered… ?”
“Yes. A new level I have reached. It is the ultimate plague that gnaws away not only the body but also the mind and rots the soul.”
Raven let out a low laugh and ‘stared’ at Salome. It had no eyes or anything, but its evil will was evident.
“Salome. In the meantime, I’ve always wondered what kind of plague would be born if I made you a breeding ground for a plague
. … !]
Salome quickly hid behind me. Raven continued as if amused.
《If the mental body has a greater weight than the physical body, when the body and mind are fed to the full, what form will the plague take? Will my plague, which only destroys
the body, evolve into a new form?” Raven leaned back and condescendingly—if you can call that monstrous mass a body.
“But thinking about it, I was like that too. I was also in a state where I was already outside the limits of my body.》
“… .”
“So I used my mind and soul as a seedbed. I broke my soul, crushed it, rotted it, and used it as material – then oh! At last I have reached! The body’s immunity! Beyond the mental barrier! To a new level where even the soul is rotting!”
Even if it becomes like that, the theatrical and over-the-top way of speaking doesn’t change. I clicked my tongue.
Anyway, his words were long-winded, but it was easy to summarize.
‘It means that a direct attack on the mind is possible.’
The [Phantom Pain]-phantom pain that Raven’s alter ego was using was fake.
It was just giving the ‘illusion’ as if the body had a plague.
But this is on a different level.
The plague in Raven’s body is ‘real’, gnawing at the mind and devouring the soul… … The concept of mental pollution has evolved into a plague of pollution.
‘It’s like, really… … .’
I clicked my tongue.
It’s a plague that affects the mind.
My passive skill [Indomitable Commander] is Immune to all mental abnormalities. The problem lies in the determination of this immune state.
The defense score for each status is determined as immunity from 100 points.
For example, if your ice attribute defense point is over 100, you will not be damaged by any ice attribute attack.
With this principle, I have not been harmed by any mental attack.
However, the plague status condition continuously reduces this defense score.
And if even one point of defense is reduced, it is no longer ‘immune’. The damage penetrated little by little.
Raven has been reborn as a monstrous being called Mental Disease, and this has succeeded in reducing my Mental Defense score, albeit by a small amount.
Just as Achilles was killed by an arrow in the heel, the only one who was not invulnerable.
Its plague gnawed through my mental barrier, creating a gap and revealing the terrible visions that had just penetrated into my mind.
‘If I get hit one more time, will I be able to escape again?’
Until now, I was immune to mental abnormalities. So there was no need to devise defense measures.
But Raven turned that premise upside down.
I remembered the terrible nightmare I had just seen – the deaths of my comrades. He bit his lip until it bled and clenched his fist.
If I face
that wave of guilt again, will I be able to withstand it?
I caught my breath and shook my head trying to think of a solution. Even in this situation, Raven continued to talk at length.
《Now that my body, mind, and soul are rotting, I am truly the ultimate plague! Even that arrogant King of Kings won’t be my opponent!]
Wow!
Black darkness glared at me.
“But my goal is Ash first. It is you.”
“… .”
“I will melt you first and kill you. And you, Salome, now worthless! let’s get rid of it together And after me! All the other nightmare corps commanders too! Even the King of Kings! It will rot!]
Chaaaaaagh!
Raven flew towards me with the sound of thousands of insect wings flapping.
“This Lake Kingdom! And all royalties! I will cover everything with my plague-!]
Raven’s black mist blew like a tidal wave. It was then.
Booung!
Someone’s strong arm grabbed my stomach. Then, the arm that grabbed Salome also carried us and sprinted backwards.
Looking back, it was Mason.
Mason carried us on his back and ran towards the sewers.
In front of the pool of black water, a sword demon and a spearman were waiting on a boat holding an oar.
“Come on, get on the boat!”
The two robbers shouted with unprecedented urgency on their faces.
“hurry-!”
