novelraw Chapter 147: Great Sacrifice
Chapter 147: Great Sacrifice
Erika moved before anyone else could. In a single motion, she severed the bone spike with both katanas, catching Liora’s falling body before it could be dragged back underground. Blood soaked her arms instantly—thick and warm. Liora’s breathing was shallow, her pupils unfocused.
“Stay with me.” Erika pressed her hand against the gaping wound while pouring a high-quality healing potion over it. But she knew that it was futile. Even a healer of Istellise’s caliber would struggle to save someone this badly injured. “Arlen! Take her to the inner district. Find a priest, a healer—anyone!”
Arlen’s expression twisted with rage and disbelief, but he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Liora gently yet urgently and sprinted across the wall toward the stairs, shouting for the guards to clear a path. Erika knew that Arlen had a special feeling for Liora, so he was the best person to protect her.
Grun and Korr roared in anger, searching for the enemy responsible. “Show yourself, coward!”
Their challenge was answered. The ground at the base of the wall convulsed violently, cracking open like a widening maw. From within, a towering skeletal abomination climbed out. Its frame was bulky and heavily reinforced with jagged, bone-like armor plates grown directly from its flesh. Thick cords of muscle wrapped around its limbs, and its arms were holding massive blades made entirely of sharpened bone. Chains of skulls dangled from its waist, looking like trophies.
[Bone Tyrant – Lv.162]
A colossal abomination created from fused bones and cursed flesh that commands undead creatures. Possesses powerful regeneration that makes it extremely difficult to kill and can create bone projectiles or spikes from the ground at will.
Threat Level: Extremely High
“Fresh… marrow…” Its voice rattled like bones grinding. The creature raised a hand, and the earth beneath the walls cracked open. Dozens of skeleton soldiers clawed their way out of the ground like corpses rising from hell.
Korr’s face darkened. “It’s a necromancer… a damn necromancer beast!”
The creature’s head slowly rotated, its empty sockets locking onto Erika. “You… smell… strong.”
“Everyone! Fall back from the edge!” Erika shouted, dragging the nearest guard backward just as another volley of spikes shot upward. Bone pillars erupted along the battlements, skewering anyone standing too close.
“Aarghh!”
“Help!”
Blood splattered across the parapets as bodies collapsed, limbs twisted grotesquely around sharp bones. The situation had instantly escalated into a nightmare.
Grun stepped forward with a roar to intercept the creature, but Erika blocked him mid-step. “No! That thing isn’t just some ogre or elite gnoll. We need to regroup and—”
“Aaaagh!! Help!!” Arlen’s panicked scream echoed from behind.
Erika’s eyes widened. There’s another enemy… behind us? No, inside the town?! And from the sound of it, Arlen appeared to be in a deep predicament.
Grun and Korr exchanged grim looks before turning to her.
“Go,” Korr said, bracing his tower shield. “You’re the strongest one here. If that lad and Liora have any chance of surviving, it’s with you.”
Grun cracked his knuckles, planting his feet firmly. “We’ll stall this bone bastard long enough for you to inform Party A what’s happening here.”
“Don’t be reckless,” Erika warned, brows furrowing.
“Reckless?” Grun grinned savagely. “Ha! That’s how we’ve been living our whole lives.”
Without another word, the two men vaulted over the battlements, landing with heavy thuds on the ground outside the wall. They planted themselves between the eastern gate and the advancing army of undead—a two-man barricade of steel and muscle.
“Oi, you bone-brained shitpile!” Grun bellowed, slamming his axe into the dirt. “Your opponent is right here!”
Skeletons rushed at them in a rattling tide, and the giant abomination lumbered behind them, but Korr and Grun did not flinch. They stood unyielding, ready to fight even if it cost them their lives.
Knowing hesitation meant lives lost, Erika dropped down into the town and sprinted at full speed toward Arlen’s screams and whatever horror was waiting for her next. She dashed to the nearest street in the hope that she wasn’t too late, but the moment she turned the corner, she froze.
Arlen was lying in a pool of his own blood, throat slit wide open. His eyes were glassy and vacant, staring into nothing. His sword lay shattered beside him, half-buried in the dirt as though he had desperately tried to defend himself until the very last moment.
And a few meters away… was Liora.
Her body was twisted unnaturally, thrown aside like a discarded doll. The bone spike that had pierced her earlier left a horrific, gaping wound in her abdomen, staining the ground dark. Her eyes were now completely lifeless.
“Damn it!” Erika clenched her fists that were holding the twin katanas. She was too late—both Arlen and Liora were dead.
Just then, a slow, scraping sound echoed from deeper within the alley, causing Erika to snap her head toward the sound. A towering figure stepped out from behind a collapsed cart—tall and wrapped in crimson robes that fluttered despite the still air. It wore a bone-white mask carved to resemble a twisted skull, which hid its face entirely, save for two malevolent red lights burning from within the eye sockets.
[??? – Lv.???]
Threat Level: ???
Erika’s entire body stiffened. Her instincts screamed at her to run—to escape this place as far and as fast as possible. This presence was nothing like the skeletal abomination that just appeared. She knew, deep in her heart, that facing this being head-on would only lead to her death.
But she wasn’t someone who would run away in the face of strong enemies. She would keep challenging anything that came her way. For a moment, they both stayed motionless, and then Erika’s killing intent exploded like a blade drawn from its sheath.
“If you think I’ll run after you murdered my comrades,” she said coldly, pointing a katana directly at the masked figure, “then you’re gravely mistaken.”
Still, she wasn’t an idiot. Fighting this thing alone was a guaranteed death sentence, and the only path forward was to contact Maximilian and the others. Therefore, she didn’t hesitate.
Erika swung her sword in a horizontal arc, which sent a flying crescent slash of crimson energy toward the masked figure, forcing it to halt and shield itself with its robe. Using that momentary distraction, she pressed a finger against the comm-link on her ear.
“This is Erika! Liora and Arlen are dead! And… something terrifying just appeared!” Her voice strained with urgency as she shouted.
There was static coming from the other side, likely caused by the chaos of battle. After a moment, Maxim’s voice finally came through.
“Erika… say that again?”
“I said we have a powerful enemy inside the town!” she snapped, glaring sharply at the masked figure as it lowered its robe, completely unharmed by her attack. “Get here now!”
She cut the comm-link transmission immediately. There was no time to waste on further words. Taking a sharp breath, Erika reset her stance, redirecting every ounce of her focus toward the enemy standing before her.
The masked figure tilted its head unnervingly. Then, without uttering a word, it lifted one hand. The bone spikes embedded in the ground around Erika quivered like hounds awaiting their master’s order. In the blink of an eye, they elongated and curved inward, sealing off every possible path of retreat.
It appeared that its plan was to trap her here and finish what it started.
Still, if this monster intended to trap her, she would carve her own path with her blades, buying as much time as she could until Party A arrived. Fortunately, she had just enough skill to hold her ground. By combining both Sword Intent and Sword Aura, she would reach the next level of swordsmanship beyond what normal people could ever hope to achieve.
***
After receiving Erika’s emergency report through the comm-link, my heart dropped. Dammit. To think that there’s a monster inside the town…
There was no mistaking the urgency or the fear hidden beneath her calm tone. Whatever she was facing wasn’t just some mid-boss monster. I clenched my jaw, immediately reminded of the mysterious figure from the ninth scenario—the one even I couldn’t properly analyze. As though confirming my hunch, a System prompt flashed before my eyes.
A scenario anomaly has been detected, and its strength has exceeded the standard threshold.
The scenario’s difficulty has been adjusted accordingly.
Scenario #10 [Defense of Graythorn]
After the restoration of the ruined settlement known in the past as Graythorn, the frontier town has become a strategic stronghold protecting nearby trade routes and human refuges. Unfortunately, its reconstruction has drawn attention from the monster tribes in the badlands as they unite into a single large army. And now, that same army, led by a mysterious masked figure, has surrounded the settlement, intent on razing it to the ground.
Mission Type:
Difficulty: B
Main Objective: Repel the monster army’s assault on Graythorn. (0/1)
Time Limit: None
Reward: 20,000 Soul Coins
Penalty for Failure: Death
Extra Conditions:
1. Keep civilian casualties below 30%. (6%/30%)
Reward: Daleth-Tier General Lootbox
2. Keep civilian casualties below 20%. (6%/20%)
Reward: Two Daleth-Tier General Lootboxes
3. Keep civilian casualties below 10%. (6%/10%)
Reward: Three Daleth-Tier General Lootbox
4. Eliminate the monster army’s strongest boss monster. (1/1)
Reward: Epic-Grade Armament Voucher
5. Drive away the mysterious figure leading the monster army. (0/1)
Reward: A Random Epic-Grade Skill Book
As I had thought, that thing was here too, and it had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike at our rear. This was not good. Not good at all!
“Party A, follow me!” I barked, turning away toward the wall.
Michelle, Lucian, Boris, and Tuilë didn’t need any more explanation. They had heard everything through the comm-link, and even without that, the look on my face would have told them that something had gone horribly wrong.
Actually… I stopped dead in my tracks and turned back toward the fallen cyclops before placing my hand on its still-warm corpse. “Absorb Plausibility.”
You have activated Absorb Plausibility.
Converting existence value into Plausibility.
From deep within the monster’s massive body, faint motes of golden light bled outward, drifting into my body from my palm. Even the blood pooling beneath the corpse rippled unnaturally, as though some invisible essence was being pulled free.
As the flow intensified, a terrifying flood of primal desire crashed into my senses—the crushing swing of a giant club, the instinct to dominate everything smaller than itself, the endless roar of survival driven by brute force alone. Its life had been nothing but hunger, hatred, and destruction. All of that overwhelming existence… was reduced to pure, neutral plausibility within me.
You have absorbed the corpse of [Mutant Cyclops – Lv.168].
You have gained 265 Plausibility.
Berserk has leveled up.
You Strength has increased by 2.
“Whoa, that’s more than what I expected to get, not to mention the other bonuses too?” I let out an involuntary laugh, ripping my hand away from the corpse. I hadn’t thought Absorb Plausibility could provide anything other than plausibility, so this was a pleasant surprise in the middle of chaos.
But celebration would have to wait. I spun around and bolted toward the wall, sprinting past Boris’s position.
“I’ll hold the line here!” Boris shouted without even sparing me a glance. His metal-coated muscles swelled as he continued smashing monster after monster into paste. “Go help them before it’s too late!”
I met his eyes briefly and nodded. “Don’t die.”
“Ha! You kidding? I’m Boris Ivanovich Volkov!”
Good enough for me.
With no time to waste, I leapt up toward the battlements, landing on top of the wall before vaulting down the inner side of the wall. Michelle, Lucian, and Tuilë followed right behind me, sprinting at full speed toward Erika’s location and the nightmare she was facing alone.
We were already too late to save two of our own, but we sure as hell wouldn’t lose a third.