novelraw Chapter 324: Childhood Friends - Roles
Chapter 324: Childhood Friends - Roles
323. Childhood Friends - Roles
‘What’s going on?’
The mage had suddenly collapsed, sprawling on the ground. Rev, who had been feeling hopeless, saw his chance. Quickly, he knelt down to check on Lena.
“Are you okay?”
“…”
As the spell’s effects lifted, Lena slowly sat up. Blood had seeped into her once-white cleric robes, and she looked around with a pale face, gritting her teeth.
“…It’s fine. This isn’t the end. Rev, help me up.”
“Alright. Let’s get out of here before—”
“No. Look over there.”
Following her pointing finger, Rev turned to see the mage staggering to his feet. But his eyes…“Oriax?”
The pink hue was gone from his eyes.
Black, rotten blood pooled within them. Without a doubt, those were Oriax’s eyes.
Rev was bewildered.
Oriax’s sudden appearance was shocking enough, but the mage had thrown aside his staff and rushed directly into the wedding hall, which was filled with screams and chaos.
Lena clarified the situation.
“Did you really not realize? It was Sir Bart. The man who took the necklace earlier. Hurry, go to him.”
“Bart? Oh… you’re right. Damn it, he should have just come with us in the first place. But are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Go quickly. I’ll follow the orphanage kids.”
Rev nodded and dashed off. Lena steadied her trembling legs and tried to calm the frightened children.
She knew she wouldn’t be much help to Rev. While the orphanage children couldn’t cast holy spells, they could channel the divine power they carried through song.
If only she could do the same.
As Lena led the children toward the wedding hall, she turned back, feeling a pang of regret. She knew that, if she joined them, she would likely only get in the way, so she decided to stay outside and wait for the outcome.
“A monster! A monster has appeared! Quickly, everyone, flee! Nobles, this way! Hurry to safety!”
The sounds of shouting and screams intensified from inside as the battle raged. The palace guards were swarming into the hall, but apparently, it wasn’t enough; calls for additional reinforcements echoed through the hall.
‘Rev…’
Would he be alright? Should she just wait here? As Lena struggled with her thoughts and the task of collecting the crushed bodies around her—
Tock, roll…
The staff that the mage had abandoned rolled over to Lena’s feet, kicked in her direction by someone’s foot. Without thinking, Lena picked it up.
---
“Aaaaah!!”
When Rev burst into the hall after Oriax, he found it in utter chaos.
The king was torn open, revealing stones erupting from within his body.
The mage who had run in moments before was now blocking the knight (Sir Bart) trying to shatter the stones, only for his own body to explode and transform into a massive hulk of flesh.
This monstrous mass, which resembled the form of an ox, exuded a nearly unbearable stench, crawling with maggots that squirmed and writhed.
The grotesque sight paralyzed several noblewomen with fear, causing them to faint, while the remaining nobles panicked, screaming.
What on earth was that?
No one knew what it was, but one voice rose above the horrified murmurs, snapping everyone back to focus.
Lady Jenia Zachary shouted.
“It’s an enemy! It’s a… demonic beast that has harmed our king and tried to flee! Capture it!”
Her cry served as a major obstacle for Oriax.
With his cover blown and a Swordmaster attempting to destroy his fragment, Oriax planned to escape with the shard while the humans remained in disarray.
If the shard were destroyed, it would be catastrophic.
With no worshippers left to sustain him, he risked potential annihilation.
But the knights, now fully alert, blocked the doors in all directions. Wanting to avoid being bogged down in battle, Oriax charged straight at a wall to break through...
- Ouchi!
The wall remained unscathed, and instead, Oriax recoiled in pain. Why wouldn’t this thin wall shatter? As he examined it, Oriax seethed with anger.
It was a holy barrier.
The drapes and curtains hung to celebrate Eric and Elika’s wedding were laced with consecrated threads, infused with pure divine energy.
- Ib tuag zooy li o!
Oriax, rarely one to curse, erupted in fury.
That fool of an apostle Eric had let his guard down, enamored by his bride! How could he have allowed a trap of this scale to be set?
The Primordial God had certainly chosen his moment well.
As Oriax ground his teeth, the Swordmaster charged at him, aiming for the fragment he held in his jaws.
Oriax sharply tilted his head to evade, and the aura blade barely grazed his chest.
But even a minor wound came with consequences. Blood spurted from the slash, spraying droplets across the hall.
The blood hit several nearby nobles, and they began to melt. This sight, along with Oriax’s monstrous figure, threw the rest of the guests into a frenzy.
The nobles began fleeing en masse, and at some point, a gentleman’s wig went flying across the room.
“W-wait! Stay in formation! You’re breaking the line…”
“Out of my way! Do you know who I am?!”
Chaos reigned.
The nobles ran in the opposite direction of Oriax, flooding toward the main entrance and creating a bottleneck that startled the knights guarding the door.
There.
Ignoring the pesky Swordmaster at his side, Oriax pursued the nobles. Thud! Thud! Each heavy step he took made them run faster.
Seizing the moment, Oriax outmaneuvered the knights and attempted to escape through the doorway. But then… Vatsvi Quaev!! A curse slipped out. Another Swordmaster had appeared.
“Anyone lend me a sword! Thank you.”
It was Rev. He had snatched a sword from a nearby guard and raised it high.
The aura blade blazed with a brilliant light.
The nobles, desperately avoiding Rev blocking the main door, fled past him on either side. Occasionally, someone’s shoulder would bump against him, but Rev kept his eyes trained solely on Oriax.
What was that thing it was holding?
Whatever it was, it clearly had the creature on edge. A crimson stone... Rev shouted, without bothering to introduce himself.
“I’m here to help! That thing is what they call an evil god! If we work together, we can bring it down, but be cautious of its blood! Are there any clerics here?”
Unfortunately, there were none.
Rev sensed that, even with two Swordmasters present, this fight wouldn’t be an easy one. Oriax seemed to sense it too.
- Ruam thiab... rhuav tshemy.
His pronunciation slurred slightly from holding the stone in his mouth, but the spell’s power activated nonetheless.
Oriax, now loaded with curses all over his body, assumed a battle stance. However, since he had something he needed to protect, he didn’t dare charge forward recklessly.
= Lub cevy tive thaiv!
“What… What’s happening? His horns…”
A massive heap of flesh several meters tall.
Seventeen horns jutted out around what appeared to be his head, eyes glaring and pulsing with blood. All but three of them retracted, vanishing only to sprout from new places—legs, knees, shoulders, and various other points on his body.
It seemed he understood that, while his current form was ideal for charging, it wasn’t suited to fighting in such confined quarters. With his horns spread wide, Oriax leapt, moving in a wide circle around the room.
“Damn it!”
“Knights, aim for the legs! Bart! Can you hear me? Let’s synchronize our attacks!”
= Rot Thiab tuag!!
“Gahhh! M-my wound…!”
“Watch out! Don’t let it touch you!”
“What’s happening?!”
Bart was on the opposite side. The noise was so intense that Rev nearly shouted his explanation.
“He’s trying to escape! If we leave an opening, he’ll break through the doors and flee. Let’s take turns targeting the stone—it’s the only way to keep up with his speed.”
“I understand!”
= Kuv yuav yog ib tug!!
Hundreds of thin, black tendrils burst from Oriax’s body, clinging to everyone they touched. The corpses of the dead rose to join him, their wounds festering and decaying as they became part of his twisted form.
Rev and Bart chased Oriax, leaping in sync to try to strike the stone he was desperately protecting.
Oriax ducked his head inward to dodge Rev’s sword and continued to search for an escape route, only for Bart to block his path. As he turned in a new direction, Rev cut him off again.
There were three doors in total.
Their attempts to block Oriax’s escape were effective, but the surrounding area was devastated. The lack of a cleric was a critical disadvantage.
“Damn it… this isn’t working.”
“Stay focused! Don’t give up and keep—damn it.”
“Agh… another wound. I’m finished…”
Even a mere graze from his wildly thrashing horns inflicted serious injuries, and being trampled meant certain death. His blood melted everything it touched.
As a result, the knights, who aimed for his legs, had to keep hopping back in fear, but the littered remains of broken chairs and tables posed an additional hazard.
Anyone who fell or was scratched suffered wounds that rapidly festered.
A cleric could have healed minor injuries quickly, but since Eric hadn’t invited any to the wedding, one knight could only stare in despair at his wound, now writhing with maggots.
Overcome by poison, he soon fell. Oriax’s legs had grown even bulkier since the start of the fight.
If only Cardinal Verke were here!
Rev despaired. With him, they could have subdued this creature with ease.
Rev stole a glance back.
The children from the Grania were singing hymns with all their might, but it was only marginally helpful. What they truly needed was someone to heal the knights or to summon the power of Lachar, like Cardinal Berk, to halt Oriax’s movements—someone who could play a decisive role.
This was getting dangerous.
Oriax, who had been focused on escaping, now seemed to realize he was gaining the upper hand. His efforts were now directed at killing more knights and guards.
Bart shouted.
“Let’s rush him together, young Swordmaster! I’ll get inside his defenses and make the attack!”
With Oriax circling around in a large loop, Bart intended to move to his inner side, realizing that their current strategy—jumping several meters high to strike—was failing repeatedly.
Oriax could just pull his head in and avoid any attack aimed at the stone he held.
But that plan would leave an escape route wide open for Oriax. It was already difficult enough for the two of them to cover the three doors, and it would be impossible for just one.
Rev, panting heavily, shouted.
“That won’t work!”
“Then what do you suggest? We’re out of options here!”
“…Wait a moment. No, there might be a way! Ah—Block over there! Damn it, Jenia Zachary!”
“What is it?”
Jenia, a knight of the First Order, managed to intercept Rev as he darted back and forth across the hall. He jumped off the wall to strike down with his sword, redirected Oriax’s path, and then ran on, explaining as he went.
“Go to the captain of the guards and ask where the rope is—the rope they were supposed to bring into the palace!”
Two laps later, while Rev and Bart continued their pursuit around the hall, Jenia returned.
“They said it’s here. They used it as an excuse to set up all the drapes and banners!”
“Great… tell them to pull down a length of it. I don’t know how well it’ll work, but let’s start with just one rope… Hah! Where do you think you’re going?”
“Understood.”
Jenia relayed Rev’s unusual order to the guards. Thirty soldiers quickly detached one of the cords from the drapes and, grasping it on either side, held it taut as if for a tug-of-war.
The length was considerable due to the hall’s height. The soldiers, ready to drop the rope and flee at any moment, watched with surprise as Oriax, without interference from the Swordmasters, altered his path to avoid it.
It worked!
“Hey! Get more guards over here! Grab every last one who ran off!”
For the soldiers who had been paralyzed by fear at the sight of the monstrous creature, finally, there was something they could do.
Under the direction of Count Lopero, who had stayed to avenge his fallen comrade Bart, more than thirty guards took up the consecrated rope.
“Slowly! Slowly! Don’t obstruct the knights, and be careful to stagger your positions. No overlapping the ropes!”
Oriax seemed extremely wary of the consecrated cord, yet he could only avoid so muChapter As the ring around him closed tighter, he eventually had to step on it and crush it beneath his hooves.
“Aaah!”
“Don’t get dragged in!”
It seemed useless… Just as people were starting to despair, Rev leapt with excitement and shouted.
“That’s it! Wrap the rope around him! Throw it if you must, or hook it around his horns or legs!”
One of the cords had caught on his leg.
It wasn’t the one he’d trampled but rather one that had snagged after. Rev recalled a beast he had captured a long time ago.
It was called the “Apohan Don.”
A beast with the head of a duck and the body of a pig. Ray had captured it by attaching a log trap around its neck, securing the hunt. Since Oriax had no hands to free himself, the same method seemed like it might work here.
Hunting was Rev’s specialty. Soon, soldiers were piling ropes on him, each group pulling with all their strength.
“Perfect! He’s slowing down! Bart, now you can—huh?”
But when Oriax met Rev’s gaze, Rev felt a chill. He hadn’t noticed before because of the stone in Oriax’s mouth, but his twisted, lopsided grin…
It looked unmistakably like a sneer.