Chapter 6: The First Cry
Gurba walked leisurely down the street filled with agonizing screams, moving against the tide of fleeing people.
Thunder roared. The Corpse King was trampling the demons.
Seeing the armaments he himself had forged become the King’s power, and watching him wield those weapons to their absolute limit, was a source of supreme bliss for Gurba.
Though the King remained humble, Gurba marveled at his skill—convinced that no one in human history would ever make his weapons dance more perfectly. For the first time in nearly two hundred years, Gurba was truly impressed.
While etching those transcendent techniques into his memory, Gurba headed toward his destination as ordered by the Corpse King.
“[Gyugyukokokoko—Gyu!?]”
A beetle-type mid-tier Demon flew at him from somewhere. Gurba crushed it with a single swing of his small hammer and tossed it aside without a second thought.
Even though Gurba wasn’t a dedicated combatant, a demon of this level wasn’t worth his attention.
Ignoring the stunned gazes from those around him, Gurba climbed the stairs of the Sleepless Country branch of the Senoskar Merchant Guild.
“Forgive the intrusion during such an accident.”
Thud!!
He pried open the heavy door with one hand and stepped inside.
“Wh-Who are you!?”
Inside the guild, where more than half the staff had collapsed, a single woman raised her voice spiritedly at Gurba.
Gurba’s eyes widened slightly in admiration at the woman—Serge, the branch manager—who didn’t flinch even before a giant of a man like him.
“I wish to speak with Zeno-dono. I am a messenger from the Young Master… from Hizaki.”
“From Hizaki-sama!? Ah, no… but…”
“I have no intention of being a looter in this emergency. Please, I ask of you.”
Serge continued to meet Gurba’s eyes without recoiling.
A few seconds passed. It was likely the moment Serge’s mind had ever worked the fastest in her life.
Then, looking around at the fallen members, she made her decision.
“…Understood. This way!”
She took heart and guided Gurba forward.
[Gurba-dono. It has been a long time.]
A skeleton gentleman, projected via a remote hologram, gave a respectful bow.
However, Gurba cut straight to the point.
“Forgive me, Zeno-dono. This is urgent. I have a message from the Young Master.”
At those words, Zeno lost his formal posture and leaned forward, listening intently.
He sensed the extreme urgency from Gurba’s tone and the fact that the Corpse King hadn’t come personally.
“Zeno-dono. He asks to buy every drop of ‘Holy Water’ you have in this branch.”
[Holy Water… you say?]
The clearest natural water in the world. A substance that powerfully attracts magical energy.
“You should understand, Zeno-dono… That is why you possess enough of it to serve it to guests, is it not?”
Natural water, sometimes called Holy Water.
Holy Water, essential for the Church to dispel curses.
“I heard it from the Young Master. All the wealth you built using every ounce of your business talent was to obtain this Holy Water. That dispelling your [Undead Curse] was your true life’s ambition.”
And then, Gurba continued.
“The Young Master is likely trying to break someone’s curse right now. He asks for your assistance.”
Gurba spoke with absolute conviction, his words and gaze filled with trust.
Upon hearing this, Zeno gave a generous nod, as if reminiscing about everything that had happened.
[Trust in the King… Indeed, you all remain just as you were in the old days. …To tell you the truth, I was actually quite troubled by how to handle the Holy Water. So much so that I didn’t mind serving it to guests.]
As he spoke, Zeno signaled to the waiting Serge.
Though her face showed shock, she nodded obediently and left the room.
[While I was obsessed with dispelling my curse and threw myself into business like a ghost… my merchant guild grew to this extent. Customers who trust me. Members who look up to me. Somewhere along the way, I lost my reason to use the Holy Water. On the contrary, I’ve even come to feel gratitude for this body that allows me to continue providing for my subordinates without dying. To think I’d feel this way about a curse I once loathed… Life truly is unpredictable.]
Gurba hallucinated a glint in those hollow eye sockets that shouldn’t have been there.
[As I thought, I’m glad I didn’t use the Holy Water. Because now, I can see the world where you people of Helheim live with my own eyes once again. —Please, use the Holy Water I obtained through all my obsession. If it can be of use to you… if it can help someone who is suffering, then such water is not something to be stingy with.]
“…I can never repay you, Zeno-dono.”
[I am humbled. Knowing Shiou-kun, I’m sure he fully intends to pay for it.]
Gurba laughed out loud, as if to say “magnificent.”
Zeno chuckled knowingly and spoke with dignity.
[Tell Shiou-kun this: for this once, I will not accept payment. If he still refuses to back down—tell him his pocket was lined thanks to the Fighter Hizaki. Tell him this is a return gift.]
As if he had pulled one over on them, Zeno took a gold coin from his pocket.
“…I’m glad the Young Master’s stubbornness is understood by a man like you.”
[Do not underestimate me. I have known him longer than anyone else in Helheim, after all.]
Zeno’s face as he laughed from the bottom of his heart…
In Gurba’s eyes, he didn’t look like a cold skeleton, but like a kind, elderly human gentleman.
■
A divine wind blew.
A wind blade that gently caressed and healed people, yet brutally carved through demons.
Everyone looked up at the sky.
Hearts trembled at the rising storm, and the roaring thunder felt almost gallant.
Instinct told them that these terrifying natural phenomena were now the laws of the world protecting them.
“As I thought, the compatibility is terrifyingly good! After me, of course!”
The Black Dragon raised both hands in praise.
“Uwaaaaa… The King! He’s just so much like a King!!”
The small wolf couldn’t help but voice her loyalty at the sight.
“…As expected of you, Shiou.”
The right arm, overflowing with deep emotion, realized before anyone else that everything in the Sleepless Country was coming to an end.
“Fu-chan, let’s go wild for the first time in a while.”
“Nihihi—Fu-chan + Hel-kun equals…?”
[THE STRONGEST!!]
What was deployed was the Level 7 Wind Magic: Garuda, the Storm God’s Performance.
Compared to the one Hraesvelgr activated with Aleu at the Arena, the output was nearly ten times greater.
Six wings made of wind swirled on the Corpse King’s back, and from all directions, countless light bullets—condensed with energy rivaling Level 6 magic—flew forth.
With a lightning spear in his right hand, the storm donned the lightning.
His left hand was tucked under Hraesvelgr’s small knees, and she, in turn, wrapped her arms around his neck in a gesture of absolute trust.
“…I highly dislike that posture.”
“We agree for once, Useless Dragon. That bratty girl is definitely showing off and enjoying herself.”
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Whether or not she heard Nifl and Nidhogg’s murmurs, Hraesvelgr pressed her body even closer to the Corpse King, as if to fill the void of their time apart.
“Ah… feels so goooood… sticking to Hel-kun while showing off to those two is seriously the beeeest…♡”
She shivered.
Having completely regained her “Mesugaki” (bratty girl) spirit, Hraesvelgr bared her sharp fangs and narrowed her eyes with a mischievous grin.
“That Beast Curse without Fu-chan is like Hel-kun without Fu-chan! So weaaaaak! Za~ko!“
“Hey, Fu-chan, you’re attacking me with that too, you know.”
“I sure am~!”
Fu-chan pressed her cheek tightly against the Corpse King’s.
Feeling a sense of nostalgia at the act, the Corpse King—began a god-speed glide.
—!!
An impact. The sound followed a moment later.
First, the claws were shorn away. The Beast Curse didn’t even have time to recognize what was happening.
The electrified spear pierced its torso, discharging instantly.
“[OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!]”
Following the lightning strike, countless light bullets rained down like a machine gun.
“Not yet—!!”
Hraesvelgr thrust her hand toward the heavens.
As if pulled by her hand, a gale swirled, creating turbulence at the ceiling of the dome. That turbulence soon became a storm, and a powerful wind began to blow, whipping everything inside the dome.
Simultaneously, the Corpse King threw his lightning spear as if to pin the shadow of the prone four-legged beast to the ground.
[——Supercell of the Divine Storm]
The voices of the Corpse King and Hraesvelgr chanted the name together.
Magic Level: 9.
Every human still conscious looked up with mouths agape at what they could only mistake for a technique of the gods.
The lightning electrified by Hraesvelgr’s storm fell straight to the ground, using the lightning spear as a lightning rod.
There was no way to dodge a storm that attacked at the speed of a lightning bolt.
A flash, a roar. —An impact.
“[————————————————!!]”
The shadow couldn’t even let out a final cry before it was burned and collapsed by the lightning strike.
The shadow that had engaged in a death match with countless explorers was easily scattered into dust.
However…
“Even after all this, it still regenerates, huh…”
The dust carried by the wind began to gather in one spot, attempting to reform into a single shape once more.
At that moment.
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