novelraw Chapter 150: At What Cost?
Chapter 150: At What Cost?
The response to my rallying shout was immediate.
Michelle drew back her bow to its limit, three explosive arrows at her fingertips, each one wrapped in green power and divine light borrowed from the seal’s influence. “Nature’s Power!” The arrows split midair and descended like judgment, detonating around the unmasked abomination and tearing chunks of corrupted flesh from its body as thick, deciduous vines burst forth, coiling tightly around its limbs and torso.
Lucian lifted his magic orb and began chanting. Mana surged around him as chains of pure energy manifested, snapping into place around the creature’s body and locking its movements completely. At the same time, Tuilë, having been partially healed by Istellise, forced herself upright and fired her cannon one last time. The shot was precise, blasting apart the creature’s lower torso and scattering bone fragments across the alley.
Erika followed with her attack. She rushed forward despite the blood dripping from her wounds, her remaining katana seething with Sword Intent and Sword Aura fused into a single, lethal presence. Her slash was clean and absolute, carving straight through the abomination’s chest and leaving behind a glowing, cross-shaped wound that refused to regenerate under the seal’s pressure.
Finally, I made the last move. I activated Falling Star again with the intent of ending this once and for all. The spear howled as I thrust forward, releasing a concentrated beam of meteor-impact energy that shot straight ahead and slammed directly through its face.
“GRAAAHHH!” The creature screeched, the sound no longer human nor undead.
Without its mask and without its dominance over curse magic, it was exposed for what it truly was: a high-tier undead entity rather than a simple necromancer.
[Corrupted High Lich – ???]
???
Threat Level: Impossibly High
A Corrupted High Lich? I’d never heard of such an undead. It had to be an existence corrupted by an eldritch being, similar to how Graham had transformed into an eldritch spawn.
Its body convulsed as cracks of golden light spread across it, the divine seal actively rejecting its existence. Even so, despite our combined assault and its power being suppressed by the seal, it wasn’t destroyed. It staggered backward several steps instead, clawing at the alley walls as though desperately trying to steady itself.
“…This… is not over…” it rasped.
I felt a sudden shift as the ground beneath the creature darkened unnaturally, curse mana folding inward instead of bursting outward. Before any of us could press the advantage, the alley floor swallowed it halfway, like quicksand formed from shadow.
“Don’t let it escape!” Michelle shouted, shooting an arrow.
I lunged forward as well, driving my spear down with all my strength, but it was already too late. The lich cast one last distorted glare in our direction before its body dissolved completely into the earth, leaving behind only cracked stone and fading curse residue.
Silence fell heavily over the alley.
“It escaped,” Lucian said quietly.
“Yes,” I replied, my eyes fixed on the spot where it had vanished. “But it shouldn’t come back in this scenario… I think.”
Before long, the golden radiance of the divine seal dimmed, retreating beneath the eastern district as though it had never existed at all. At the same time, the exhaustion I had been suppressing finally caught up to me, and my legs gave out as I collapsed to the ground. The borrowed power from the possession began to fade rapidly, draining away until there was nothing left to hold me up.
Warning: You have run out of Plausibility.
The possession has ended.
Your power has returned to normal.
You Strength has increased by 2.
Your Dexterity has increased by 1.
Your Stamina has increased by 2.
You have acquired a skill: [Brutal Smash Lv.1].
“Huff, huff… huff…” My breath came out ragged and uneven. I could barely keep myself upright, forcing the spear into the ground just to stop myself from collapsing completely. I quickly took out a healing potion and chugged it down like someone who hadn’t drunk water for days.
“Maxim.” Istellise hurried to my side, kneeling beside me as a faint glow gathered around her hands, healing my wounds. “Are you alright?”
“I’m… fine,” I muttered, even though my legs clearly disagreed.
Her crimson eyes turned toward the lingering traces of divine light. Her brows knitted together, confusion and disbelief mixing on her face. “That divine seal… the sanctified ground. I’ve been searching for it for months. There were only fragments of records, half-burned scriptures, and old testimonies. And yet… it suddenly manifested here, at this exact moment.” She looked back at me, as though I would know the answer. “How is that possible?”
How should I know? No, wait, I was the perpetrator…
I met her gaze for a brief second before looking away. “Who knows. It must be a lucky coincidence,” I replied evenly. “That thing we fought wasn’t normal. Its presence probably triggered whatever defensive measures were buried beneath the town. If a corrupted entity like that appeared, it makes sense the seal would react.”
Istellise hesitated at my explanation, but after a moment, she nodded slowly. “I… suppose that explanation is plausible. A divine construct reacting to extreme corruption…”
“More importantly,” I cut in, pushing myself to my feet with great effort, “we don’t have time to dwell on it.” I straightened, ignoring the tremor in my arms. “What’s the situation outside? Have the gates held?”
Michelle wiped blood from her cheek, drank a health potion, and glanced toward the direction of the wall. “The pressure eased the moment that thing vanished. I think the monster army may be retreating.”
Lucian closed his eyes briefly, sensing the flow of mana. “Whatever was coordinating them is gone. What we fought just now was truly their top commander.”
“Good. Let’s regroup at the gates and confirm. This scenario isn’t over yet.” I tightened my grip on the spear despite the fatigue weighing on my limbs. We still didn’t know what had happened to Boris and the guards holding the western gate, though I trusted his ability to stop anything short of a god.
“Oh, no. Grun and Korr…” Erika stiffened, realizing something. “They were stalling the undead and monster army at the eastern gate.”
“All right then.” I turned toward them and gave quick instructions. “You three check Grun and Korr’s condition. Tuilë, stay here and receive more treatment from Istellise. As for me, I’ll check on Boris.”
They all nodded without complaint. Compared to Tuilë—who had been pierced clean through the side of her stomach—and Erika—who had one of her arms almost entirely decayed and her entire body riddled with injuries—our wounds were comparatively lighter. Even so, exhaustion weighed heavily on all of us, but we didn’t dilly-dally and split up immediately, pushing our tired bodies as we sprinted through the streets.
When the western gate finally came into view, my pace slowed as I saw Boris standing atop the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his massive frame outlined against the smoke-filled sky. His Adamant Flesh had already receded, leaving only dents in the stone beneath his boots and piles of crushed dead bodies at the base of the wall to testify to what he had endured.
Relief loosened something tight in my chest when I saw that he was alive and standing tall. “Boris, you’re alive.”
I climbed the stairs to the top of the wall and stopped a few steps behind him. From there, the battlefield stretched out clearly before us. The monster army was in full retreat. Gnolls and goblins scattered back into the badlands, abandoning ladders, broken weapons, and wounded allies alike. The giant mammoths were gone, and the undead had been reduced to inert piles of bone. Against all odds, the town had repelled the enemy army.
“Looks like we did it,” I said, a faint smile forming despite my exhaustion.
“Heh… about damn time.” Boris grinned and lifted a fist toward me.
I didn’t hesitate and bumped my fist against his, the solid impact grounding me in the moment.
***
Erika ran until her lungs burned, pushing through the heavy injuries she had sustained in this scenario, with Lucian and Michelle close behind her. The sounds of battle had faded, replaced by an eerie quiet that set her nerves on edge.
When the gate finally came into view, Erika slowed, then stopped. Through the gap, she could see Grun and Korr still standing in front of the gate. Relief flickered in her chest, but it vanished the instant she realized something was wrong.
They stood side by side, unmoving, while the ground beneath them was littered with blood and corpses. Grun’s massive frame was riddled with wounds—deep gashes cleaving through muscle, one arm hanging at an unnatural angle. His war axe was embedded in the ground before him, both hands locked around the handle as if sheer will alone had kept him upright. Korr leaned against his tower shield, the metal bent and split from repeated impacts. Half his chest armor was gone, and dried blood caked his beard and jaw.
One glance was enough to tell that they weren’t breathing.
Michelle’s hand flew to her mouth. Meanwhile, Lucian froze on the spot, slightly disturbed by the scene.
Erika stepped closer, clenching her remaining fist. They had died on their feet… the party members she should have protected had all fallen, leaving her alone. A crushing sense of helplessness settled in her chest. She had been too weak to save them.
A guard nearby noticed and quickly dropped to one knee, shaking as he tried to speak. “They… these heroes wouldn’t fall. No matter how many enemies came at them, they fought without the slightest hint of fear,” he said hoarsely. “We tried to pull them back, but they wouldn’t move. They just told us to stay behind them.”
He swallowed hard, eyes fixed on Grun and Korr. “Those wounds… any normal man would’ve died long ago. But they kept fighting. And when the monsters finally started retreating… only then did they stop. They just… passed away where they stood.”
Erika closed her eyes, gripping her katana until it trembled in her hand. Both Grun and Korr must have used skills that pushed their bodies far beyond their limits, trading their lives for power, just to protect the gate and fulfill the scenario objective, as well as protect the people inside.
What disturbed her the most, however, was the realization that she had sent them away. If she hadn’t left the wall… they might still be alive. The thought weighed on her like a blade lodged deep in her chest. This was her greatest regret.
At last, she opened her eyes and said softly, “You did more than enough. Rest in peace.”
***
Just as I was seeing that the last of the enemies escaped on the horizon, my comm-link crackled, and Michelle’s voice came through.
“Maxim, Boris… the eastern wall is safe, but Grun and Korr are… dead.” Her voice was strained and unsteady, as though she had seen something truly horrifying.
My mind went blank for a few seconds. I knew, deep down, that death was completely unavoidable in Divine Will. It was a world built on survival of the fittest. Still, it was jarring to hear that people I had just met and spoken with not long ago were gone just like that.
Instinctively, I turned to the one who should have been shaken the most. Boris stood beside me, staring out over the retreating battlefield with an unreadable expression,
“They knew what they were getting into,” Boris said quietly at last. “They made their choice knowing the risks.” He clenched his fist once, then let it relax. “The best thing we can do now… is make sure their deaths weren’t for nothing.”
Four people were dead in this scenario… Although they weren’t people we knew very well, they were still comrades who had fought alongside us.
We had won this scenario, but at what cost?