novelraw Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Chapter 247 : Chapter 247
Volume 4 Chapter 35 – Only Through Damnation, Can One Be Reborn
“Eh?!”
Just as the group was racking their brains trying to figure out how to bypass this barrier, the massive gate swung open with a simple push.
The gate, once a legendary fortress that had stood sealed for centuries, gave way so easily it left everyone stunned.
Was this really the gateway to another Demon Territory? Why was it so easy to enter?
All of them exchanged puzzled glances.
Compared to the previous barriers that had required Teresa to forcefully break through using [Sacred Oblivion], this one felt like it had rolled out the red carpet for them. It was eerie.
Teresa casually plucked her bowstring. An arrow flew out and passed through the gate unimpeded, striking the dirt on the other side.
On the other side of the gate lay a flat, open road, while behind them remained a city of ruins. By previous patterns, such a drastic shift in scenery always meant they were entering a new Demon Territory.
But this barrier was strange. It didn’t feel like a barrier at all.
Teresa exchanged a glance with Astrid, then stepped through first.
The moment she passed through, her figure dissolved like water—vanishing without a trace.
“A spatial gate?!” Astrid blurted out, stunned. Then, without a second thought, she charged after Teresa and vanished as well.
With two members already through, Brilliant Sun and Moon had no room to retreat. Yimi followed quickly.
Seeing most of the team had gone ahead, Felicia and Wenfu didn’t dare hesitate either—especially Wenfu, who feared being left behind the most. As soon as Felicia stepped forward, she clung to her like a shadow and followed her in.
***
A moment of stillness, followed by spatial distortion.
When Teresa opened her eyes, the world had changed.
She had been in a sunlit plain just a moment ago—mountains behind her. Now she stood inside a fortified city, shadowed by eerie gloom.
Dark walls, a sunless sky, and faint green ghost-lights floating like fireflies gave the place the air of a haunted city. Crows cawed in the distance. All it lacked was a chilling BGM.
No doubt about it: the barrier hadn’t been normal.
Apparently, powers and projectiles could pass through freely, but living beings were selectively filtered—perhaps rejecting "life" itself.
Teresa scanned the skies and searched for her companions. But—no one.
Not a soul in sight.
Well—not human souls, at least.
With her keen Elves vision, Teresa spotted several shambling figures lurking in the shadows.
They swayed in the wind like puppets, bodies grotesquely twisted, as though their bones had been melted and pulled like rubber.
Zombies. They reminded Teresa of apocalyptic films—mindless, insane, infected monsters.
As she approached, they noticed her.
Their hollow, melted-together eyes turned. Hair like dead straw dangled from their pale scalps. Their limbs twisted grotesquely, flailing like tangled vines.
They let out horrific howls—detecting Teresa as not one of them. Arms outstretched, they charged with broken speech, like a damaged phonograph on loop.
Teresa pulled her bowstring taut and fired. The light arrow pierced one monster’s gaping mouth, exploding its head and tearing through three others behind it.
Good news: they're fragile—far weaker than Beastmen.
Bad news: the noise had attracted more.
Howls erupted from all sides.
These zombies were pale and bloated, dressed in all sorts of tattered clothes, suggesting they’d once been ordinary citizens. Now their bodies were sacks of green, toxic fluid.
Teresa frowned as she glanced at the splattered “soup” from the first kill.
She didn’t want that filth on her.
Melee was not an option. She raised her bow and aimed for the sky.
—[Blooming Rain].
Life magic burst like fireworks. Dozens of shimmering projectiles fell like meteors, blanketing the horde in light.
Soon, the ground was slick with slime, limbs, and other unnameable things—living dismemberments that still crawled even after decapitation.
How tough were these things?!
Teresa exhaled and frowned. Where were the others?
Hopefully okay—these zombies were weak.
She quickly covered her nose and mouth.
The zombies released thick green smoke upon death—toxic miasma.
She’d inhaled some.
Opening her Divine Appraisal, Teresa checked her status window.
Status: Infected with Undead Plague
Timer: 29:58 – Until Complete Ghoulification
The chilling familiarity of the status screen made everything click into place.
Just like in zombie movies. Weak monsters, but insanely infectious.
She hadn’t even been scratched—just inhaled their smoke—and she was already infected.
Which meant… Astrid and the others were probably infected too.
She blasted away more undead with Divine Authority, then quickly drank an Alchemy Potion.
No change.
The virus couldn’t be cured with regular potions.
Still—she didn’t panic. Even if she was going to turn into a monster, she had half an hour left.
And her hundreds of years of experience told her—there’s always a way out.
As the infection spread, she noticed something odd: the zombies no longer reacted to her as violently.
Perhaps they sensed the infection in her and now saw her as half one of them.
No time to waste—she had to find the others.
But without a forest, even she couldn’t track their location.
Then, an idea struck.
She aimed her bow at a rusty bell tower in the center of town and fired.
DONG—DONG!
The heavy clangs echoed across the undead-infested city.
Immediately, the zombies went berserk.
They stampeded toward the city gates, clawing and screeching, piling on top of each other.
They formed a grotesque “wall of bodies”, clawing desperately at the gate as if desperate to escape.
It looked exactly like a scene from a doomsday movie.
Their motivation wasn’t unity—it was instinctual hunger. They just wanted to get out.
As she walked against the horde, Teresa spotted a flash of silver.
“Astrid!”
The silver-haired Elf Girl was slashing through zombies with her curved blade. She turned, stunned to hear her name, then smiled in relief.
But as she turned, Teresa saw her condition—soaked in zombie fluid, her black tights drenched.
Teresa activated Divine Appraisal. Sure enough—infected.
“Astrid, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Have you seen the others?”
“No. You?”
“No. I’ve been fighting these freaks since I arrived. But… I did hear what might’ve been Felicia’s Divine Authority nearby. I was just about to check it out.”
“No time to waste,” Teresa grabbed her hand. “Let’s go!”
***
On the way, they found traces of Felicia’s Crystal Shards—orange fragments marking her trail.
That meant trouble. And if Felicia was in trouble, Wenfu might be too.
Felicia could defend herself. Wenfu? Not likely.
They rushed ahead—and soon found Felicia surrounded in the city center, holding her ground alone.
“Felicia!”
“Huh?! Teresa! Astrid?!”
Relief flooded her expression. She hated this kind of gloomy place—and being alone made it worse.
Teresa and Astrid joined the fray, clearing out the nearby zombies.
“Felicia! Have you seen Wenfu or Yimi?!”
“No. I’ve been alone since I got here.”
That made things worse.
The team’s Divine Child and mascot—the strongest and weakest combatants—were both missing.
Fortunately, the zombies were still distracted by the bell.
Then, Teresa’s mind flashed.
A golden pulse. Elves kin-sense.
Yimi. She was subconsciously sending a signal.
“That way!” Teresa shouted, bolting southeast.
No one questioned her. They followed.
***
In a narrow alley, after clearing a few stragglers, they saw something twitching behind a crate.
“Plop!”
Cat ears popped up from a box.
“Wenfu? Is that you?”
“Meow?!”
The ears froze.
That was Teresa’s voice, right?
Cautiously, a tiny head peeked out.
“Teresa!! You’re finally here, meow!!” Wenfu leapt into her arms, trembling with relief.
“Are you okay? Where’s Yimi?”
“Yimi… she…” Wenfu’s voice wavered. Guilt flooded her face. Her eyes welled up.
“She protected me… and got bitten…”
“What?! Where is she?!” Teresa tensed.
“Th-this way!”
Wenfu’s panic vanished the moment she saw Teresa. Like a child thinking, It’s okay now. The grown-ups are here.
She led them inside a nearby building.
There, on a broken bed, lay Yimi—unconscious, face pale, breathing weakly.
Teresa rushed over and activated Divine Appraisal.
Everyone here was infected—but in different degrees:
Teresa: Inhaled the gas. Long timer.
Astrid & Felicia: Splattered by fluid. Shorter timer.
Yimi: Bitten. Most severe.
Teresa checked her vitals.
Her pulse was dangerously faint—especially odd for someone blessed by the Goddess of Life.
“Three minutes,” Teresa murmured.
“What?”
“In three minutes… Yimi will undergo irreversible ghoulification.”
Teresa clenched her fists. Even now she can't hide her anxiety.
“We have antidotes! I’ll get them!” Felicia offered.
“No good. They won’t work on her,” Teresa shook her head.
In fact—Yimi’s life force wasn’t fading. It was… growing, in an unnatural, twisted way.
Healing potions would only worsen her condition.
If they didn’t find a real solution, not just Yimi—they’d all transform within 30 minutes.
Teresa thought of Kanz City, where people became Demons out of despair.
And the Demon Race of Ruglian, who were once human…
If they didn’t act soon, they’d become part of Ruglian too.
Yimi lay unconscious.
Tension thickened—until Astrid finally spoke.
“I remember… While fighting those zombies, I passed by a clocktower. It had strange runes etched on it. In Elvish, it said: ‘Only the one who ties the knot can undo it. Only through damnation, can one be reborn.’”
“The clocktower?” Teresa’s eyes narrowed. “The one we passed earlier?”