Chapter 269

“Kieeeek!”

The headless body staggered back.

The bugs, sensing the death of their host, screamed and went berserk.

Ernst’s body, unlike that of an ordinary Paladin, was a special creation crafted by Isabella with great effort.

A masterpiece where muscles, flesh, bones, and even nerves were entirely replaced by bugs.

Thanks to this, it could overwhelm even high-ranking holy knights and seasoned masters… but keeping hundreds of bugs in the shape of a human and moving them was no easy task.

Having lost the head that served as its core, it was now nothing more than a disordered swarm of bugs.

Like a straw doll collapsing, the human skin tore apart, and bugs poured out like rain.

From parasites smaller than a finger to centipedes as thick as an arm, all sorts of things fell, leaving ripples on the water’s surface.

“Ahhhhh!”

With a roar mixed with tears, Leonor swung her sword endlessly.

She already knew. The Ernst she once knew was no longer anywhere to be found.

Yet, she couldn’t suppress her grief.

Boundless sorrow and endless hatred intertwined in her blade as she swung it.

“Heavenly ruler, gracious Elpinel… grant peace to this poor soul ensnared by darkness…!”

A curtain of radiant light.

The last light emitted by Bels, who had collapsed to the ground, surged like a wave, sweeping through the waterway.

“Kiiiiii!”

The bugs touched by the holy light screamed and turned to ash.

As the light, capable of annihilating evil, imprinted itself in her eyes, Bels’ consciousness sank into darkness.

“Haa… haa…”

Leonor, having swung her sword with all her might, exhaled wearily and slumped down.

Every monster in sight had been cut down. Even the last bug clinging to a severed head.

A few that fell into the waterway might have survived, but they were now just weak bugs.

It wouldn’t be long before their dark energy faded and they perished.

A body so mutilated that not even a corpse remained.

That was Ernst’s final end.

“Brother…”

Leonor, sheathing her sword, wiped away her overflowing tears and stood up.

This was no time to sit and rest.

She was merely exhausted, but the condition of the other two was grave.

Nigel, who fought through massive blood loss, and Bels, who burned her soul to emit light.

Both needed to be shown to a priest as soon as possible.

Leonor hoisted them up. Their armor was shattered, making them lighter than expected.

Under these circumstances, she had to head to the Church Order’s infirmary above the waterway.

With Isabella still running rampant, she couldn’t take the unconscious two to the saint candidate.

– Kugugugung!

The underground waterway trembled and groaned again. The collapse was spreading.

What had happened over there? Ha-shal-leur, Elmain, Sigmillus. Were the three still safe? Leonor had no way of knowing.

– Kwaaaaang!

…It was clear they were still fighting.

Leonor, with a childlike gaze, watched the direction of the deafening noise before turning her head.

She wanted to rush over and tear the witch apart. Her burning hatred was deeper than the ocean floor.

But… she couldn’t. She mustn’t.

‘Yes, for now…’

At least for now, treating the two came first.

Leonor walked toward the waterway’s exit.

=======[ Ha-shal-leur ]=======

For a moment, her vision darkened, then brightened again.

So, this is how it is.

The familiar scenery of the city unfolded before her eyes.

A forest of concrete and steel.

The flickering light of a broken searchlight illuminated the ruins.

The endless sound of gunpowder explosions tore through her ears.

Overturned vehicles and torn bodies littered the shattered road.

…When was this again?

“Lieutenant ○○○! Are you alright?”

A young man with short-cropped hair grabbed her shoulder.

Dressed in a military uniform with a bulletproof vest and a belt of ammunition around his waist.

A thin stream of blood trickled from his cracked helmet, staining his rough cheek.

Who was this guy again?

“Max! Take the Lieutenant and fall back!”

Someone’s voice rang out. A sharp, urgent tone.

Followed by the sound of intense gunfire enveloping the area.

Ah, right. Max. That was his name. I forgot.

Led by the man’s hand, she leaned against a collapsed wall. Her body felt heavy, and her head was dizzy, as if she’d been hit.

“…Luckily, it doesn’t seem like a serious injury. Even though the vehicle was blown away, you only have these wounds. You really are lucky, Lieutenant. Anyway, if we just hold out here for a bit, reinforcements will…”

“Ha, haha…”

Leaning against the wall, she laughed with her head raised.

Even in her dazed state, she couldn’t hold back the laughter.

“Lieutenant ○○○?”

Max looked at her as if she were crazy. His worried blue eyes reflected her image clearly.

Long, glossy hair. A large chest wrapped in bandages. A fur armor covered in spikes, and a longsword at her waist.

Yeah, I knew it.

In the end, it was Isabella’s power, and she only knew “Ha-shal-leur.” So, of course, my form in this power had to be like this!

“Max… yeah, Max. I remember now. So, this is Rotterdam. This is where you died, right?”

“Died? What are you talking about? You must still be out of it…”

“You died. In Rotterdam, trying to save me…”

Durandal, drawn from its sheath, flashed like lightning.

A blue arc sliced through Max’s neck.

“…Your head was blown off by a sniper.”

The headless body twitched before dissolving into countless bugs and scattering.

…Her vision darkened again.

Her consciousness slowly sank back into the dream.

So, what’s next?

—-

“…Lieutenant, have you ever thought about what you’ll do after leaving the military?”

On the cheap hotel bed, the blonde woman lying next to me whispered as she looked at me.

The blanket felt rough, and the old light flickered dimly. An old radio by the window played an incomprehensible song.

“…Never really thought about it. What about you?”

Yeah. Back then, I never thought about it.

I didn’t know any other path but this one.

“Well… I wonder…”

“Shall we give it a try? Sounds like it could be fun.”

The woman smiled like a boy.

Her naked body, drenched in sweat, was marked with scars here and there, but it was still beautiful.

“Bar? …You?”

A woman who downed strong vodka like water was setting up a bar…

Would she end up drinking all the displayed products by herself?

“You, saying such rude things. I can actually make cocktails, you know?”

“Well… it might suit you.”

I laughed, imagining her dressed in a suit. It seemed like it would suit her better than I thought.

Under the bar’s LED lights, she would surely shine brilliantly.

“Right? If you ever get discharged and have nothing to do, come by. I’ll hire you out of kindness. Employees get Julia’s special cocktails for free!”

Yeah. Julia. That was her name. She said she was born in a rural area in Italy.

She was quite fascinated by me, saying she had never met someone from the Republic of Korea before.

“I don’t think pouring vodka, whiskey, and beer randomly counts as a cocktail. Besides, I don’t know much about alcohol.”

“I’ll teach you everything. Just standing at the bar would be worth your salary. There’d be plenty of female customers coming just to see your face.”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

“Trust me. It’ll definitely be fun.”

With a sly smile, Julia leaned into me.

Maybe it was her warmth. I felt strangely drowsy, as if I could fall asleep again. My eyelids were heavy.

“Still tired, huh? …Then let’s take another nap. There’s still plenty of time until morning.”

Julia’s body wrapped around my upper body.

Her chest and mine pressed softly against each other.

“…No, I should get up.”

My left hand, hesitant until the end, grabbed the back of her neck.

“Huh?”

“…Yeah, Julia. It would’ve been fun. That bar would’ve been packed, and every day would’ve been exciting. From noon to evening, you’d be busy making cocktails for countless customers. My drinks would’ve been amateurish, and yours too strong… but the customers would’ve loved it.”

It must’ve been like that.

“And when night came, we’d close the bar, drink the leftover alcohol, and chat. We’d talk about what kind of customers might come tomorrow, what cocktails to try next. You’d come up with some ridiculously strong drink, and I’d laugh, saying I’d pass out if I drank it. That life, laughing and looking at each other until we fell asleep… would’ve been as fun as you said.”

Yeah, if only it could’ve been like that.

Living in Italy with her wouldn’t have been so bad.

We might not have understood each other’s language, and the weather might’ve been too hot for me… but that wouldn’t have mattered.

“But you’re dead, Julia.”

Captured by terrorists… in a truly horrific way.

I remember it clearly.

With my own hands, I collected the pieces of her body that were displayed on the wall and buried them.

After that day, I started drinking strong alcohol, which I rarely did before.

“…I don’t understand. Why are you crying, ○○○?”

“……I don’t know either.”

*Thud.*

Ha-shal-leur’s body easily broke her neck.

…The swarm of insects scattered.

—-

And then, the next dream.

A boy, only eighteen, Han Si-woo.

He said he wanted to stay up all night playing games he couldn’t play during his three years of service.

He didn’t even last half a year.

Because the kid who handed him ice cream, thinking of his younger brother, exploded right in front of him.

Durandal pierced his heart.

*Next.*

A deserter from the Chinese Empire, Yu Wei.

She never told me what she went through, but she hated her country terribly.

Yet she could never quit her hometown’s cigarettes.

She became a madwoman, killing soldiers from her own country endlessly, and eventually lost her life by my hand.

This time was no different.

…The cigarette she handed me was bitterly strong and toxic.

Next.

Next.

Next. Next. Next….

How many times did I sift through old memories?

How many beloved faces did I cut down with my own hands?

I lost count and kept going until…

…finally, the nightmare ended.

—-

The world crumbled like shards of glass.

Beyond the shattered illusion, the nightmare, was just a pure white space.

The sky, whose height was unknowable, and the ground, stretching endlessly, were both painted in pure white.

“What… what is this?!”

There was a witch there.

Her face, almost devoid of human traces, was filled with nothing but shock at the incomprehensible.

Her presence meant… I had safely passed the first hurdle of the “Black Rest.”

The Durandal in my hand trembled.

Boiling hostility growled with hatred.

And then.

“I’ll kill you…! I’ll definitely kill you…!”

A thick smell of blood brushed my nose.

Endless rage. A storm of crimson fury raged.

“I’ll tear you to shreds, you disgusting monster!!”

A scream, both mine and not mine, echoed through the world.

Hersela.

The woman who lingered in my consciousness finally appeared before me.

Exuding a murderous aura like an abyss.