novelraw Chapter 219 : Haelyes
Chapter 219 : Haelyes
Chapter 219: Haelyes
Months of bloody battle had not left the Vengeful Undead army without losses.
On the surface, they appeared high in morale, even radiating unstoppable momentum. Their combat prowess was formidable—every soldier had replaced their gear, making them look like a true elite force.
But Haelyes knew all too well—they had reached a breaking point.
Previously, they had all been victims of the Aust Empire's oppression, the greatest sufferers of this war. As long as there were Aust soldiers within their sight, they could endure hunger, pain, cold, even death—driven by a relentless grudge. Until that fury was fully unleashed, they remained unstoppable.
However, once their numbers grew to five thousand and all Aust soldiers in the vicinity were eradicated, that rage finally dissipated.
Perhaps the displaced refugees and routed troops from Count Garris's Territory, used as cannon fodder in this death vanguard, still harbored hatred and dreams of counterattacking Garris, the Western Region of Tyrella, or even Aust territory itself.
But for the refugees from Bayor Territory, their vengeance was already fulfilled.
Now, what awaited them was hunger and bitter cold.
Perhaps they could endure it for ten days or so, but as time passed, discontent and complaints would inevitably arise. Deserters would appear. For an army formed from many scattered forces—a "motley crew"—this was a deadly issue. It could even lead to internal chaos.
This was the outcome Haelyes absolutely did not want.
So, before the breaking point erupted, he sent a negotiation letter to the people who had been monitoring them.
Haelyes had always known someone was watching their movements. But since those observers had shown no hostile action, he had refrained from escalating things. Now, having reached a critical juncture, he had no choice but to seek a new solution.
"Do you think they'll come?"
A frail, sickly man asked weakly, "It's been several days since we sent the letter."
"They’ll come," Haelyes nodded. "They didn’t clash with us when they noticed our movements—only sent observers and focused their forces southward to deal with the Invisible Ones. That proves they’re not fools. Given the choice to negotiate, they won’t refuse."
"Let’s hope so," the man sighed. "I’m not holding my breath."
As he spoke, the man suddenly broke into a violent coughing fit, hacking up a large mouthful of bloody phlegm.
"Are you alright?" Haelyes asked.
"This is my 『price』."
Haelyes fell silent.
He had seen what this frail man looked like eight years ago.
Back then, Luurt had been a textbook Aust citizen—over 180 cm tall, with radiant golden hair, sharply sculpted features, and charming blue eyes always filled with laughter. Even when he first arrived at the Death Camp, he hadn't given up on life or freedom. He even encouraged his companions to survive each war.
But as the comrades in his barracks died one after another, and he was transferred again and again, that bright and cheerful young man grew silent. Later, in pursuit of strength, he chose a path completely opposite to his family’s bloodline advancement.
Luurt hailed from a noble family in Champagne County, Fanbar Province of the Aust Empire.
Unlike Tyrella Kingdom, which had six autonomous ducal territories, Aust used a three-tier system: provinces, counties, and fiefs. Titles were distributed accordingly. But regardless of rank, these governors were merely imperial administrators without full autonomy. Only the grand dukes had independent territorial rights.
At the provincial level, the highest title was Marquis.
A province typically had five to seven counties, each governed by a Count.
Below counties were fiefs, originally meant to be autonomous regions, but autonomy had been stripped when the Aust Empire was founded. The title holders of fiefs were usually Barons, occasionally Viscounts. Much like in Tyrella, the distinction between the two was vague.
In Aust, while nobility implied privilege, power didn’t come from title alone, but also from rank and influence. Even Dukes didn’t have their own lands. They were like bricks—moved wherever the Empire needed them.
One imperial order and they had to pack up and relocate.
Luurt’s tragedy began when his father was reassigned.
As the eldest son, Luurt lacked the talent of his younger brother. When his father left their long-held Champagne County, his wife conspired with his brother, framing him for "endangering imperial security"—a crime second only to treason.
Naturally, Luurt was sent to the Death Camp. In fact, had the Empire not been at war with Tyrella and needed cannon fodder, he might’ve been executed.
Naively, he had believed his wife would gather evidence to prove his innocence.
But after seeing countless comrades die, and learning all his letters had been rejected, with messengers revealing his wife’s affair with his brother, Luurt awakened the 【Plague Beast】 bloodline the very next day.
His family had a full Sixth-Tier bloodline route, but 【Plague Beast】 was not part of it.
Since then, that once tall, handsome youth became this pale, frail man—barely 160 cm, with lifeless gray hair, gasping between every word and coughing up blood.
As Luurt said—
This was the 『price』 he paid for awakening the 【Plague Beast】. Though it had "beast" in its name, it was in fact a 【Demon Bloodline】. Compared to other side effects like eating raw meat, organs, or even brains, 【Plague Beast】 was relatively mild.
It simply reduced him to someone on the brink of death—but in return, he gained terrifying poisonous abilities. His blood was now venomous, fast-acting, and he could imbue poison into anything without aid.
Despite his condition, Luurt remained strong.
He was the second most powerful Third-Tier Bloodline User in the Vengeful Undead, right behind Haelyes. In fact, with the right direction, he could already attempt to break through to Fourth-Tier. He was only considered lacking compared to his elite Six-Tier family.
And people like Luurt, with clear targets for revenge, were everywhere in the Vengeful Undead.
Revenge fueled them.
It was their unwillingness and rage that kept them alive in the Death Camp. Until they exacted their revenge, they dared not fall.
That was why Haelyes needed to neutralize the breaking point quickly.
He was the First Hawk of the Vengeful Undead, and the direction he led this army of "undead who should not exist" was toward vengeance against their persecutors.
Chewing on a green wild grass, Luurt glanced at the darkening sky and smirked.
"Looks like there’ll be no results today either. That commander must be too scared to meet us."
Haelyes sighed softly.
It had been six days since he sent the letter.
He estimated the round trip for the letter should only take two days, three at most, with another three days for deliberation. So today should have been the day they received a reply. Yet, with night falling and no response, disappointment settled in.
"What will you do now?" Luurt asked.
"We’ll wait one more day," Haelyes said after a pause. "If there’s still no reply tomorrow, we’ll march east. We have five thousand people here who trust me. They chose to rally under my banner, so I must give them an answer."
"You Tyrellans are so sentimental," Luurt scoffed. "Not like us Austs—we date if we like someone, marry if it works, and divorce if it doesn’t. As long as there are no kids, it’s all clean."
"Hate to break it to you, but your decisive Aust wife didn’t quite think that way."
"True enough," Luurt shrugged. "She fancied my brother, and he fancied her, so they wanted each other—and my inheritance. They tried to kill me. But hey, I’m still alive, so I believe I’ll return one day."
"And then?" Haelyes asked.
"Don’t know yet," Luurt shook his head. "But we Austs love surprises. Maybe I’ll hide in a gift box on their birthday, and when they open it—surprise!"
"I don’t really get Aust romanticism or humor," Haelyes said dryly. "But I think they’d be horrified, not surprised."
"You’re right," Luurt nodded. "Though they don’t share a birthday. Oh, I know—when I return, I’ll check who’s birthday is closer, cut off the other one’s head, hide in the box with it, and jump out yelling surprise!"
Haelyes stared at him. "You do know you’re insane, right?"
"That’s insane?"
Luurt looked at him with disdain. "Then you’ve clearly never heard of Apaz’s revenge plan."
Haelyes fell silent at that name.
Apaz Mornas—also an Aust.
Unlike Luurt, who abandoned his surname, she wasn’t betrayed by family but by a lifelong friend.
Her best friend had fallen for her fiancé. To win him, she drugged Apaz at a ball, leading to her violation by multiple men. Then she sold her to the underworld, forged documents claiming she’d fled to avoid marriage, and smeared her family with false charges, exhausting their resources defending against imperial scrutiny.
To survive, Apaz shed her once-gentle self and joined the Death Camp.
Eight years of war left her body covered in scars. The pampered girl became the infamous "madwoman" of the camp—wilder than a harlot, crueler than a black widow, sly as a jackal, fierce as a lone wolf, and commanding like a lion.
If Luurt was the second strongest in the Vengeful Undead, Apaz was second only to Haelyes as their leader.
"You know she’s infertile now, right?"
Haelyes nodded.
Given her years of wild indulgence, it was a miracle she hadn’t died of disease.
"Wait," Haelyes looked at Luurt in disbelief. "You 『poisoned』 her?"
"She asked me to," Luurt shrugged. "You wouldn’t understand what she went through. Only in extreme pleasure could she forget the pain and stay sane. When she begged me to poison her to avoid birthing a mongrel, I agreed. Since then, she became the true Black Widow."
"Using indulgence to stay sane…" Haelyes shook his head. "You Austs really are mad."
"Thanks for the compliment," Luurt chuckled. "But if you said that to her face, she’d be thrilled—might even invite you to sleep with her."
"That would be her way of returning the favor?"
"Hahaha!" Luurt laughed until he coughed up blood. "She once said she’d bring a hundred men back to Bordeaux County to find that dear friend. If that woman was still alive, she’d bring her to camp and let the brothers enjoy themselves."
"You’re truly insane."
"Maybe," Luurt smiled faintly. In his pale, gaunt face, only his blue eyes retained a trace of the past. "After surviving the Death Camp, who here is still sane? —Are you?"
"I think I’m still pretty normal," Haelyes replied calmly.
"Ha." Luurt laughed harshly. "If you were, you wouldn’t be leading us misfits seeking justice. We’re mad, yes—but you’re the pillar keeping our last sanity intact. Just as we are yours. If you 『don’t guide us』, you’d be the maddest of all."
Luurt stood and patted Haelyes’s shoulder. "Whether you’re Haelyes or Hais, we trust you. You’re our pillar, so we’ll follow wherever you lead."
"Even if it’s a road to death?"
"Even if it’s a road to death," Luurt said quietly. "Because we know, even if I die now, you’ll take my head back to my wife and brother. Even if Apaz dies, you’ll find a hundred men to visit her dear friend."
"No," Haelyes shook his head.
"If you all die—"
"I’ll bring the heads of your ex-wife, your brother, and your entire family to your grave."
"I’ll lead a thousand men to Apaz’s friend’s manor and throw a wild feast."
"I’ll also avenge Zol by killing his father and stepmother’s entire household."
"And I’ll—"
"Hahahahaha!" Luurt laughed wildly, coughing blood but never stopping. "Now that’s the most beautiful revenge."
"No one else’s vengeance can match your own," Haelyes scoffed. "So—don’t you all dare die yet."
"Looks like we won’t die just yet," Luurt shook his head. "Someone’s coming—one of the watchers."
"Aliman Shelf," Haelyes muttered, his expression complicated as he looked at the Third-Tier Bloodline User riding toward them.
"You know him?"
"In a way. His father and uncle died because of me. I owe him at least two lives," Haelyes sighed. "But he might not remember me. Or think I’d remember him."
"Ha, you Tyrellans really are sentimental and melodramatic," Luurt clicked his tongue. "No wonder you gave them so many days—it was for an old acquaintance."
Haelyes stayed silent.
"Think it’s good news or bad?"
"Let’s hope it’s good."
"Let’s bet."
"On what?"
"If their commander meets you, I lose. If not, I win."
"What’s the wager?" Haelyes raised an eyebrow.
"Whoever loses sleeps with Apaz."
"You’re insane!" Haelyes looked shocked. "Why would our bet reward Apaz?"
"That’s what makes it a wager!"
"You’re betting big," Haelyes shook his head. "I don’t mind, but be warned—Apaz has a twisted obsession with you. If you sleep with her, you know what’ll happen."
Luurt said softly, "I’ve entrusted everything to fate."
Haelyes looked at him and chuckled. "Aha? Aust decisiveness? Date if you like? Marry if it works?"
"Shut up!"
Haelyes chuckled again. "For Apaz’s happiness, even if their commander refuses, I’ll march to the fortress just to meet him."