Chapter 382: 201. At the End of the Apocalypse -3 (Part One)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
“Fuu-woo… fuu-woo… huff…”
Heis was huffing and panting laboriously. His anxiety level and fear had reached their limits; the more fatigued he became, the heavier his sword felt in his grip. .
‘This is crazy!’
“Keep fighting back-!” Heis’s father was roaring out while wielding his sword. Why was someone at his age still full of vigour like that?
No, wait… even his father was probably having a difficult time enduring this battle, too. That was likely the same story for everyone else here.
A person screamed as a zombie bit into him.
Soldiers were giving their everything to resist the waves of zombies.
But two hundred thousand allied forces resisting the four hundred thousand strong zombie army was still too much to ask in the end.
“Ahaha! Look, the livestock are all tired now! Our victory is right in front of our eyes!” a Progenitor Vampire riding on a chariot guffawed loudly.
Lycans continued to dash around and rip soldiers to death, while vampires riding on the chariots swung their polearms around to hunt the living. Their curses then revived the dead soldiers as zombies.
“Our left flank has been breached!”
Heis heard that desperate cry and gasped in surprise as he turned his head towards the left flank. The zombie army and the Jötnar had indeed broken through there, and began surrounding the allied forces.
If this continued on, the living army would soon be surrounded with no way to retreat. That would hand a decisive advantage to the enemy.
That wasn’t all, either. Nearly forty thousand zombies and thirty Jötnar were rapidly advancing towards the Theocratic Empire’s capital right now!
The capital didn’t have all that many defensive forces stationed there, so things would get really terrible if the city was attacked right now!
‘Oh, dear gods…!’ Heis prayed. ‘Grant us the courage to keep fighting them. Grant us a miracle so that we can continue on!’
He used his sword as a crutch and forced himself back to his feet. Gritting his teeth, he began wielding his weapon once more.
A zombie’s head was roughly severed; it flew up in the air before falling to the messy ground. But at the same time, two other zombies pounced on Heis.
They bit into his shoulders. His flesh was gouged out and blood splattered from the wounds.
“Uwahk?!”
“Lord Heis!”
Knights hurriedly swung their swords at the zombies, but they were also too tired to attack properly.
Zombies were like vicious predators that didn’t let go of their prey once they started biting. Their toxins began spreading within Heis’s body. He was terrified at what would happen next; was his destiny also to become another undead?
But then, something happened.
Zombies flinched all of a sudden; they released the teeth sinking into Heis’s flesh and raised their heads up before looking behind them.
‘…Now!’
Heis used that opening to kick the zombies away. Knights near him slammed their swords down on the undead’s heads. Rotten blood splattered about as their skulls were shattered.
The knights were also breathing roughly as they turned their heads in the direction the zombies were looking in just now.
“What’s going on?” Heis walked up to them and placed his hand on a knight’s shoulder.
“…Sir, it’s… an Emissary,” the knight muttered out his reply in a dazed voice. Heis shifted his gaze forward as well. “The gods have sent their Emissary to us, sir.”
Everyone present on the battlefield stumbled back. The eyes of Paladins and Priests were wide open in shock, while the countless soldiers of the allied forces were letting out gasps of awe from their jaws hitting the ground.
On the other side, the vampires were shivering in sheer terror right now. As for the zombies, they simply burned away to ashes just by laying eyes on that emissary.
In the middle of the chaotic battlefield was a lake of holy water. A humongous being was pushing itself out from its surface.
-I heed the call of my master to…-
Heis felt a powerful awe and respect well up from deep in his heart.
-…descend to this world once more!-
Eventually the being pulled its lower torso out from the holy water lake.
This was Heis’s first time seeing this existence, the mighty creature called the Skeleton King. It was a being made entirely out of huge bones.
Within the ribcage of the Skeleton King was the beating heart of a dragon. A pure white aura spread out into its surroundings every time the heart pulsed.
The Skeleton King took off its crown, only for bones to rush up there and create a dragon’s skull, turning it into a new helm of bone.
-Bloody hell, it’s this creature! This bastard is the one who has devoured our brothers!- Utgar cried out as its brows shot up high.
Just before the metal armour began covering the humongous undead creature, the Magic Giant had caught the sight of the two souls belonging to Hrímr and Surtr within its ribcage. Those souls were crying out in despair and torment, begging to be saved as their illusory arms reached out.
-…Well, this just became quite troublesome.- Hrungnir swallowed drily. For the first time ever in its existence, the Earth Giant felt a deathly chill run down its spine.
1
The metal armour belonging to Metatron screeched noisily as it covered the Skeleton King’s ribcage. At the same time, sparks danced off from the four massive hands of the creature. Cogwheels were spinning all around it now.
Hrungnir instinctively retreated and created a lot of distance when that happened.
Metal armour also gathered to cover the Skeleton King’s four hoofed legs, then the undead pushed itself up as its mighty dragon-like tail swayed from side to side.
The Skeleton King continued to speak. -For the demise of all of you…-
The crown melted down and morphed into a lengthy spear, while the remaining three unoccupied hands plunged into the surface of the holy water.
-For the sake of balancing and safeguarding this world!-
One hand pulled out a spear of ice, just as the holy water’s surface froze up. The other hand pulled out a whip of flames as the water’s surface boiled over. Finally, the last hand extracted a golden sword gleaming with holy light.
The four treasure weapons were spread out in a threatening manner. The completed Skeleton King looked down at the Kings of the Jötnar below it.
It was at that moment that Heis and everyone else in the battlefield began thinking the same thing: that the gods’ Emissary had indeed descended to this world.
**
(TL: In 1st person POV.)
My body felt really heavy.
My breathing was getting short and wheezy, too.
Even as the sacred aura spread out, it still felt so painful that it was like my lungs were quickly rotting away.
I went down on one knee, but barely managed to keep myself upright by stabbing my spear into the Skeleton King’s shoulder to support myself.
I shifted my gaze around and stared at Alice down on the ground way over there. She seemed to be in a bit of distress as well. It wasn’t just her, though; many Priests were surrounding her in a group to pray away, as well.
They continued to sing the sacred hymn, and the beautiful melody went on to resonate with our divinity.
Still, I couldn’t afford to drag this one out for long. With this, I had to put an end to everything. The apocalypse would come to an end right here, and a new era would dawn upon this world.
-We are retreating, Hrungnir! That monstrosity is not something we can win against!- Utgar cried out as the Magic Giant began dripping cold sweat.
Hrungnir silently glared at me as I stood on the Skeleton King’s shoulder, then got ready to charge. It secured its footing on the ground and like an Olympic sprinter getting ready, it lowered itself and planted its hands on the ground, too.
-Do not make me laugh, Utgar! You think I, the King of the Beginning, am scared of a measly little insect like him?! I’ll just crush him flat and that will be the end!-
-Don’t be foolish, Hrungnir!-
-If we retreat from here now, we’ll still be hunted down and get killed later.-
Well, the Earth Giant was right about that. Even if the giants decided to flee from here, we would definitely chase them down to the end of the planet if it needs to be, and kill them!
We would show them, and to everyone else, that what it really meant to declare war against the Theocratic Empire.
Utgar stumbled back in sheer fright. -I’m different from you. I choose to live on! I finally regained my freedom, yet you want me to die in this place?!-
-Very well. If that’s what you wish, I won’t try to stop you.- Hrungnir replied in a flat voice, but that only made Utgar grit its teeth instead.
Was Utgar really planning to flee now? The truth was, after we killed Hrungnir today, it’d become as easy as pie to hunt down the sole remaining King of the Jötnar.
Our influence would continue to grow greater, while Utgar would gradually get weaker instead. There was no real need to force the Magic Giant into a corner right now, in other words. Well, it wouldn’t be a good thing to drive a rat to the point where it started biting back at the cat, after all.
However…
“…What a laughable notion that is.”
I had no desire to drag things on any further. We’d simply kill them all here today by giving it our everything, every ounce of strength remaining in our bodies.
That’s what we prepared for during the past five years. That was what all the sacrifices leading up to today meant.
Hrungnir roared out. -All Jötnar, hear me, and fight with everything you’ve got! This bastard, this monster, means to kill us all, so show them the true might of us Jötnar!-
Over a thousand remaining Jötnar secured their grips on their weapons. They howled and roared out before charging in at the Skeleton King.
“Assist His Majesty the Holy Emperor! Block the Jötnar at all cost!” Charlotte cried out, prompting the soldiers to charge towards the Jötnar, as well.
“Fine. Let’s end this.” I drove my divinity into the tip of my spear. The divine energy travelled through the weapon’s shaft and entered the Skeleton King’s shoulder before spreading over to the rest of its huge body. “It’s time to announce the dawn of a new era!”
-KU-OOOOOOOH-!!!- The Skeleton King’s jaw split open as it roared thunderously. The horse-like hooves on its lower torso reared up before the gigantic undead lunged forward.
My whole body was buffeted by the immense wind pressure right away.
-For the glory of all Jötnar!-
Jötnar rushed up to us and raised their weapons to strike. The Skeleton King swung its flame whip and tore through the limbs of many Jötnar.
-You bastard!-
One of the giants leapt up towards us, but the Skeleton King simply threw the ice spear at the airborne creature. The frozen weapon pierced through the sky and plunged deep into the giant’s heart.
-I am the King of Death!- The Skeleton King’s jaw clattered open as its voice resounded out, -I devour the souls of the dead and make their strength my own!-
The gigantic undead’s Spirit Speech reverberated throughout the vast battlefield.
As if to respond, the slain Jötnar began standing back up almost immediately.
-Oh hear me, army of the dead! Arise! Through your strength, hunt down the ones who dare to block my path!-
The Skeleton King’s roars caused the zombified Jötnar to pounce on their living counterparts. Their zombie mouths opened wide and they began to voraciously devour their own kind!
