Chapter 379: 199. At the End of the Apocalypse -1 (Part Two)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
One short sentence from the Holy Emperor reverberated throughout the battlefield. The celebrating soldiers were puzzled by that. They slowly shifted their gazes to the dust cloud over yonder.
Lightning cracked within the dark clouds, but even louder noises were coming from the curtains of dust. Demonic energy filled the air, and a rain of blood began falling to the ground.
The crimson rain rapidly dissipated the dense dust clouds, and the resulting sight froze everyone in their spots.
“Just how in the world…” .
Jenald yanked on the reins to stop his horse.
His eyes now took in the sight of the army of blood spread over a wide plain. A zombie army, well over four hundred thousand strong even at a casual glance, was waiting for the living.
But, was that all? No!
The outer walls meant to defend the Hedron fiefdom had been broken and crumbled down, revealing an army of Jötnar around two thousand in number. The giants were spreading out over a wide area as well.
Behind them was a gargantuan beast over one hundred metres tall, shuffling closer while carrying a King of the Jötnar on its back.
Just looking at them made one mistakenly think that the half of the world had been stained in a dark crimson colour.
Ruppel discovered a certain individual riding on a huge sedan chair among all the zombie hordes. “…The Vampire King!”
“…Just how many people did they even slaughter, to achieve this number…?” Tina the Dark Elf muttered dazedly to no one in particular.
The enemy had shown up with at least twice the numbers of the forces the Theocratic Empire had managed to put together. Worse still, the longer this war dragged on, the greater the strength the undead would get to exhibit.
The ‘immortal’ army…
One that didn’t need any provisions, nor did it experience fatigue. Hordes of zombies that suffered from zero emotions, therefore fearing nothing…
Individually they might be weak, but they were still more scary than any other undead when they formed a large horde to rush in at you.
Even Alice, tirelessly singing the sacred hymns until then, abruptly stopped her melodies. Despite being a Saintess, fear began budding deep within her heart.
[Alice, please continue with the hymn.]
She faltered a little at that. Her gaze shifted over to Allen in the middle of the battlefield.
He was looking back at her while sending another message. [I need you to do this, dear Saintess.]
“…If that is your command, Your Majesty.”
Allen’s injuries hadn’t been healed yet, and he was still suffering from some hidden aftereffects. She needed to ensure that he’d not be burdened any more than necessary.
Alice began singing once again.
However, despite her voice echoing throughout the battlefield, the soldiers remained agitated, their complexions pale with fright; so much so that they seemed to have even forgotten about fleeing.
“Ahahaha! Look at those fools! They are all frozen with fear!”
The vampires riding on chariots were cracking their whips on the lycans pulling at their vehicles. The chariot regiment charged forward, the dullahans riding on ghouls sticking closely to the vampires’ vehicles.
“That’s right, you’re all livestock to us! We are the true new dominant species…!”
The loud yelling of the vampires finally slapped Ruppel awake, and he cried out loudly, “E-everyone, prepare for com…!”
Allen suddenly raised his Spear up before slamming it down. “Archangel, Metatron!”
The skies above began ripping apart. A humongous figure forced itself out from the fissure as many cogwheels rapidly spun around there.
The archangel, equipped with huge hands, thick metallic armour covering its entire body, and twelve wings on its back, revealed itself.
Metatron brought its hands together as arcs of electricity freely coursed through its figure. The cogwheels spun even faster, and the mechanical giant’s body grew crimson in hue as sparks danced and exploded from it.
Its hands drifted apart and a powerful attack that had even crushed the great magic spell Meteor began coalescing there once more.
“Blow them all away.”
One command from the Holy Emperor, and…
The archangel raised its hands up high, and then a lump of truly vast divinity flashed in blinding light before going berserk.
The light was so strong that it could have blinded everyone who dared to look at it, and such a beam of light utterly pierced through the land.
All the vampires rushing in were pulverised to fine dust from the sonic boom alone, while the ones further away from the attack’s trajectory were instantly enveloped in scorching flames. The light cleanly penetrated right through the gargantuan beast over one hundred metres tall.
Just as everyone silently stood still in sheer stupefaction, Holy Emperor Allen smirked deeply, “The one who gets the first strike always wins.”
Belatedly, a monstrous boom loud enough to rupture eardrums exploded out, followed soon after by the despairing cries of vampires.
Even the gargantuan beast started screeching tragically, its whole body quivering uncontrollably. The attack had cleanly penetrated through its torso, and a massive amount of sand was pouring out from the gaping hole.
It was like witnessing Moses’s miracle; the path of Metatron’s attack had utterly divided the army of blood in half.
All those triumphant vampires froze in their places, while the combatants of the army of light stood there with their mouths agape.
Just how many thousands of undead were annihilated by that single attack?
“Hmm, there are still a lot of them left.” Allen’s voice reached their ears just then. “There is only one way to end this war.”
Allen’s glare locked on the Kings of Jötnar, then at the Vampire King sitting on the sedan chair fashioned into a throne around the giants’ feet.
“…And that is to kill the Kings.”
The Holy Emperor strode forward; the Bone Dragon in front of him lowered its head to the ground. He climbed on its skull, and the huge undead creature raised its head up once more.
Only then did Ruppel finish the rest of his yell from earlier. “E-everyone, prepare for combat, now!”
“Get in formation!”
The army of light quickly got into their formations again. They raised their shields up, and the cavalry gripped their reins tightly in anticipation.
The Bone Dragon flew up in the air.
The Vampire King, silently witnessing all of this unfold, narrowed his eyes and finally spoke up, “Oh, mighty Kings of the Jötnar, what will you do now?”
-You asking us what we will do? Of course we will all turn them into piles of sand! What about you, Utgar?- the Earth Giant Hrungnir asked its kin, the Magic Giant Utgar.
The latter was busy casting its magic on the panting gargantuan beast it had been riding. -To think my masterpiece would end up in this state!-
The gargantuan beast flailed in an ungainly manner before forcing its body back up. Utgar mounted the beast again and glared at the army of light that had now gotten into a formation.
-Kill them all! Leave not one alive!-
Vampire King Vlandmir grinned deeply. “Very good, oh dear kings of Jötnar. In that case, let us all march together!”
The vampire raised his hand and sent a signal, prompting the zombie army to start shuffling forward. They flailed and jerked around unnaturally, and in order to devour all living things, they began their march.
“All personnel, follow His Majesty the Holy Emperor-!” Charlotte loudly roared out as the Bone Dragon took to the air.
The Bone Wyvern was summoned in right next to it, carrying skeletons wielding muskets. Their glowing eyeballs gleamed sharply.
“Oooooooh-!”
The army of light followed behind them, while the army of blood faced their incoming opponents and also rushed forward.
The two opposing forces…
…collided.
Zombies and soldiers running in front of their respective packs crashed against each other, and were seemingly crushed. The sounds of weapons clashing, screams, and death throes resounded out.
The soldiers, believing in the roars of victory, continued to swing their weapons at the undead.
Metatron in the air poured out countless arrows and spears of light as its cogwheels spun around nonstop. In the midst of its attacks, the huge mechanical angel raised its head to look.
-You, fight me!-
The archangel stared at the gargantuan beast that somehow managed to survive its attack, then at Utgar riding on top of said creature.
-You bastard, a measly oversized lizard dares to oppose me?!-
A humongous boulder came flying in at the Bone Dragon’s flight path. It dived lower to avoid getting hit, but that allowed Hrungnir, the one responsible for throwing the boulder in the first place, to grab the throat of the Bone Dragon.
The force of that impact threw Allen off from his ride. He rolled on the ground several times, but still pushed himself back up while using his spear as a crutch.
He shifted his glare over to Hrungnir and the Bone Dragon. The two huge monsters were waging an intense battle up there.
“I have been waiting for this moment.”
Allen turned his head in the direction of that voice. He discovered Vlandmir perched up on the sedan chair being hoisted by hundreds of zombies. The Vampire King was pointing its spear at the Holy Emperor.
“I shall burn you, and all of your kin, down to ashes today, and thus finally severing this chain of grudges!” Vlandmir growled in a voice filled with rage and hatred.
Crimson blood rapidly gathered all around him, and a cage of blood suddenly materialised around Allen, cutting off his potential escape paths.
Vlandmir glared at Allen and began rousing up his demonic energy. “I shall claim your head as mine!”
The Vampire King’s figure broke down and was absorbed into the blood cage. Suddenly, Allen tilted his body to the side as a spear of blood flew in at him from behind.
Vlandmir reappeared right behind Allen, then stomped on the ground with great force. The earth below split apart as the vampire’s muscles expanded.
He sucked in a deep breath and thrust his spear of blood forward again with all of his strength. The air was torn apart as this powerful attack rapidly closed in on Allen.
It was also right at that moment that the Holy Emperor decided to speak. “Vampire King. Back when we first met…”
For a moment there, Vlandmir locked glares with Allen. The latter’s eyes were arcing up like a pair of new moons to create an eerie grin.
“…I made a promise, didn’t I?”
Allen clenched his fist. A storm of divine power madly whipped around the surroundings. A transparent holy ghost materialised behind his back, and gently grasped his shoulder next.
And right at that moment, his fist slammed down on the incoming spear of blood.
KA-BOOM-!!!
The impact was unbelievably heavy; the spear was driven straight into the ground. The sheer weight of the impact from the spear broke all the bones in Vlandmir’s arms, and it even ruptured the blood vessels, causing small fountains of blood to gush out.
It felt like divinity was viciously coursing through the Vampire King’s whole body!
“Euhk?!” Vlandmir gasped from the shocking pain, but then, his ears caught a rather familiar voice next.
“Indeed, I made a promise to present your skull to my grandson as a gift.”
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Creepy goosebumps broke all over Vlandmir’s skin, and the vampire instinctively created distance between himself and his opponent. His eyes began quaking from disbelief. “You… You! Who the hell are you?!”
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Allen spread his arms wide open. As if he was completely looking down on his opponent, he began striding forward, utterly defenceless.
He even began guffawing heroically as well, before holding his head high up to make his reply. “Did you really ask me who I am?”
Vlandmir could faintly see it; a soul, glistening with light, floating behind Allen like some kind of a guardian.
That soul had a wrinkled face, white hair, and a beard. This soul spread open its arms wide just like his grandson had done and began guffawing loudly. His laughter had this power to utterly piss off his opponents, too.
“Haven’t you already fought me before, oh dear Vampire King?”
The muscles around Vlandmir’s eyes began twitching uncontrollably.
The human who should’ve died and disappeared from this world was now present before his eyes once again.
“…Kelt Olfolse!”
The former Holy Emperor had made his return!
< 199. At the end of the Apocalypse -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.
(TL: I’ll be releasing the final batch of five chapters tomorrow. Please look forward to it.)
