CH 249

“Opert?” Sina hastily looked around. If Gerard was keeping an eye on her, it would only be a matter of time before he found Opert as well.

Unlike Sina’s concern, however, Gerard didn’t appear.

Opert held Sina’s wrist tightly and pulled her to a corner under the shade of a tree.

“Sina. Weren’t you confident when you told Gerard earlier that His Majesty will return? Were you bluffing all this while?” asked Opert, seemingly frustrated.

“Of course, he will return, but…” Sina trailed off.

“Then, why were you trying to kill yourself?” asked Opert.

Hearing that, Sina finally realized that Opert misunderstood.

Sina shook her head and muttered, “I have no idea what you’re thinking, but I wasn’t trying to throw myself into the Crack. I was just thinking about jumping on that rock.”

Opert followed Sina’s gaze and saw a rock the size of a house at least a few dozen meters away from them. Opert stared doubtfully at Sina. Unless one had wings, it seemed impossible to jump onto that rock.

Opert sighed. “I don’t know even if there’s even a difference between throwing yourself into the Crack and jumping on that rock.”

“I wasn’t really going to jump...”

Sina’s actions was similar to backing out at the last minute, similar to what she had done when she wanted to kill Gerard. However, she couldn’t really be blamed.

She was desperate to act on her thoughts, but she knew better than anyone else that she couldn’t do that. Sina couldn’t help but think that all she had learned during her time here was indecisiveness.

“More importantly, Opert. Is it really okay for you to come into contact with me like this? Gerard is…”

“I was just going to keep my eye on you, but I got afraid that you might get too emotional once you heard the news, so…I guess I got careless as well.” Opert looked around with a nervous expression and whispered, “But I think it will be fine for the time being. Gerard seemed to be focusing on something else for some reason. It seemed like he was in a hurry. There must be a reason why he ordered his subordinates to stop the Northern Army instead of stepping up himself.”

Sina nodded at Opert’s words.

She never had a close or proper conversation with Opert before, but she somehow felt at ease for the first time in a long time.

The fact that she could meet and talk to her ally when she was in a situation where she wanted to kill everyone around her made Sina feel better.

“Anyway, it’s a relief. I feel great that we’re able to talk like this.”

Opert smiled bitterly. “To be honest, I feel like my hundred-year-old thirst is being quenched just by talking to Dame Sina like this. I had to constantly imitate and talk to the traitors and heathens around me while making sure that my cover remains intact. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that this will be our last conversation for a while.”

“What do you mean?” Sina asked.

“Gerard has ordered the interception of the Northern Army, so Aruntal has to move as well. Therefore, I also have to leave the Crack with them. I’ll have to figure out the perfect timing to turn my back on them, so I won’t be able to talk to you for a while.”

“I see...”

“I came here because I have something to tell you...” Opert lowered his voice and whispered to Sina, “His Majesty said that he might get involved in an unexpected situation, so His Majesty told me to deliver this to Dame Sina…”

Opert placed a piece of paper in Sina’s hand and continued. “I could have read it out loud, but I thought that it would be better if you read it yourself because His Majesty wrote it himself.”

Sina was surprised to hear that His Majesty had written the note himself. If Sina’s memories were serving her correctly, she could swear that Opert had lost contact with Juan since he infiltrated Aruntal from the Magic Tower.

This meant that Juan had written the note to Sina long ago.

“Well, then. May His Majesty’s protection be upon you, Dame Sina.”

Opert then disappeared behind the rock before Sina could even say anything. Sina felt that she should have said goodbye to Opert. However, Opert had to hurry, so Sina knew that she couldn’t keep him here anymore.

Sina carefully unfolded the paper that Opert had handed over to her.

The paper contained a sentence that Juan had written himself.

Upon reading the sentence, Sina clenched her fists tightly without realizing it.

[Live. You have to live, so I can live.]

It was a simple and clear order—perhaps even a request.

Sina squeezed the paper in her palm and collapsed to the ground. She had no idea why Juan would send her this note, but the meaning behind the sentence he had written touched her heart.

Upon reading Juan’s message, Sina knew that she couldn’t afford to die no matter what.

Sina quietly looked up.

Unbeknownst to her, Lenly was watching her from a distance.

***

Anya stared down the hill with bloodshot eyes.

The snow had lost all its moisture, turning it into a powder that the weak breeze easily blew away. Snow was falling everywhere, but the group of growling monsters was still completely visible. It was impossible to count the number of monsters crawling up the Crack, and they had long crowded the hill as well.

However, there was an even more shocking sight than that.

Gigantic monsters with odd-numbered slender legs staggered as they moved forward.

The tall monsters uttered grotesque-sounding groans, and they would sometimes lash out with their tentacles at breakneck speeds to snatch a monster beneath them. Then, they would drag the hapless monster into their mouths located on their abdomen.

Flesh and bodily fluids constantly flowed out of the tall monsters’ mouths, but not a single monster beneath them looked up.

At the sight, Nienna muttered, “Their consciousness is under control. It’s going to be difficult for us to beat them like what we have been doing until now.”

“Are you saying that someone is controlling them?” said Pavan, sounding displeased.

The reason behind their overwhelming victories in every skirmish until now was thanks to the monsters’ haphazard and disorderly actions. If Nienna’s words were true, then they would have to suffer a lot of damage to deal with these monsters from now on.

“Why don’t you bring back winter? I’m sure those monsters are more vulnerable to the cold than the Northern Army,” Pavan said.

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“Just because the Northern Army is strong against the cold does not mean that the army won’t freeze to death, and their movements will slow down as well. I think we should push them back now while there still aren’t many of them,” Nienna answered.

“But didn’t you say that one can only temporarily take control of the monsters?”

“There seems to be a competent person among the thornbush priests. Talented ones do appear among them sometimes. As far as I know, their church leader is a talent. Of course, he won’t be able to control the monsters forever. Therefore, we can just wait until they lost control of the monsters, but…” Nienna trailed off while staring at Anya.

Anya was glaring at the monsters in silence and the killing intent she was emitting made her look like she would charge at the monsters anytime soon. The air around the Undead Army had become gloomier after being influenced by Anya’s killing intent.

Nienna shook her head and said, “I’m also finding it hard to just stand around and wait. As we speak, Gerard is probably furthering his insidious scheme.”

Nienna reached out to grab Anya’s hand.

Anya’s hands were cold, and they were trembling.

Gerard had allowed Juan to ambush him, and Gerard succeeded in catching Juan with the huge tentacles he had summoned as a result. However, Gerard seemed confused as well when the tentacles grabbed Juan into the deep ground.

Of course, he quickly disappeared as well before anyone could react.

Anya desperately dug into the ground to try and pull Juan out, but it was an endeavor that wouldn’t succeed. After all, they had no idea how deep Juan was in the ground, so they couldn’t just excavate haphazardly.

The others had frozen over—they had no idea what to do. However, Anya quickly came back to her senses and started giving orders.

‘His Majesty is still alive.’

Anya’s out-of-focus eyes were the ones who had replied to the concern of the others.

‘He won’t show up no matter how much I try to summon him.’

Anya’s words weren’t credible at all. However, Nienna and the others decided to take advantage of Anya’s words. There were still many people who were doubting about the emperor’s death, and Nienna still despised the Crack even if the emperor had truly died.

Therefore, there was only one thing she had to do—she had to use Anya’s testimony as a weapon to move the Northern Army.

They left the place where the emperor was buried and advanced until they finally reached the Walls of Nulvin.

However, what they encountered upon arriving was a huge Crack that was so massive that it looked as if it were about to swallow the horizon itself. They were also met with an astonishing scene made up of multitudes of monsters and black bubbles.

“Pavan, I thought you would protest,” Nienna said.

“It’s all because think I have something in common with His Majesty.”

“I’m sure His Majesty would wash his ears in disbelief if he heard your remark just now.”

“I know of His Majesty’s greatness, but I am not cognizant of his cunningness. There’s definitely a reason he provoked Gerard and allowed himself to be defeated. I am unaware of the picture he is drawing in his head, but…”

“So you’re saying that His Majesty is still alive?” asked Nienna.

“His Majesty’s mana can no longer recover naturally.”

Nienna stared at Pavan.

Pavan went on. “I don’t know how much mana he got from absorbing the cloned heart of Mananen McLeir, but it cannot compare to Gerard’s mana. In other words, His Majesty doesn’t have much time left to live.”

“Get to the point.”

“How could I summarize His Majesty’s great picture? However, I’m sure that His Majesty is trying to make something out of this extreme method. And…” Pavan hesitated for a moment, but he eventually spoke carefully, “A good commander knows where to put his subordinates based on their capabilities, skills, and personalities. I mean, even I know the importance of that, so don’t you think that His Majesty had entrusted to us a duty that he couldn’t tell us?”

Nienna sighed at Pavan’s remark. In the end, they had no choice but to move forward while thinking that Juan had something planned for them.

“General Nienna. Are you doubting His Majesty’s survival?”

“The thought that His Majesty has died has never occurred to me at all,” Nienna answered, “However, on the off chance that he’s already dead, we still have to move forward. Gerard—that fucking bastard—is still waiting for us over there, and I’ll kill him for good this time.”

“Aren’t you two supposed to be siblings?”

“Siblings do fight each other to the death, anyway.”

“...I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.”

“I guess you’re an only child, then. You said you were a war orphan, right?”

Nienna turned and measured the sun’s distance from the horizon. The clouds were thick, so it was hard to see, but the sun’s corona could still be seen.

“Don’t you think it’s time?” Nienna asked.

“Yes. well, I guess it doesn’t matter if there’s a slight time difference.”

The base of the hill was still populated with monsters. The thornbrush priests were still standing behind the monsters along with the Order of the Lindwurm, whose members had been living beyond the Crack.

Nienna felt a tingling in her heart as she looked down at all of them from the top of the hill. Her breathing started to get rough. Nienna glanced at Pavan with a big smile that almost reached her ears.

“Aren’t you glad?”

“I’m sorry, General?”

“I absolutely hate everything down there,” Nienna muttered.

She was slowly heating up from the excitement.

Pavan looked at Nienna, seemingly confused.

“I reckon that I will never have an opportunity like this again where I can kill so many of those bastards. Besides, my hatred toward them has grown after those bastards dared to attempt on His Majesty’s life,” said Nienna.

Pavan was about to tell Nienna to calm down, but Nienna unsheathed a frozen sword and shouted at the entire Northern Army.

“His Majesty has prepared a feast for me. All hail His Majesty!”

The Northern Army shouted in response to Nienna’s cry.

“For His Majesty!”

Pavan’s cursing was buried beneath Nienna’s order to charge.

Tens of thousands of Northern Army soldiers descended the hill, following the footsteps of Nienna and Fenrir. The combined noise level of their footsteps was so loud that the ground started trembling.

Pavan commanded the Northern Army with all his might and made sure that they would descend the hill in an orderly manner. Unlike the Capital Army, which acted mainly on moderation and discipline, commanding the Northern Army was arduous for Pavan.

Pavan wanted to scream that the Northern Army were all out of their minds, yet he had no choice but to swallow his swords because Nienna was the one running like crazy ahead of the Northern Army.

“Fuck it! Screw it! Tear them apart!”

Pavan roared and hurled his helmet at a monster standing ahead of them. He thought that he had made a mistake the moment the monster opened his eyes wide and turned to look at him, but a creepy gray mist suddenly invaded the monster’s ranks.

At the same time, a storm of flesh and blood swept across the monsters.

Pavan looked back and saw Anya clenching her teeth with a distorted look.

“These monsters…! Trivial like dust and dirty like trash…! I’m sure even bastards like you can feel pain. I’m going to kill you all. Then, I’ll bring you all back to life, so I can kill you all again! Then, I will kill you all again and…!”

Pavan scooted away from Anya. He felt like he would go crazy as well if he were to keep listening to her crazed mutterings.

Anya let out an incomprehensible cry and summoned the Knights of the Dead and the Undead Army. She then ordered them to charge toward the monsters. The first group that collided with the monsters was the death force.

Nienna erupted into laughter as the forces of death mercilessly tore the monsters apart.

Meanwhile, the Thornbush Priest Organization finally started moving.

The thornbush priests made the monsters surround the Northern Army.

The enemy’s movement didn’t escape Pavan’s notice.

“Don’t look back! Run at full speed!”

It was an order that he would never give while under the threat of being surrounded by enemies. However, Pavan remained confident in his judgment. Of course, he really couldn’t do anything else other than pray that everything would go according to plan.

All of a sudden, a pillar of fire burst out of the clouds and struck the ground.