Chapter 119 : Purgatory (3)
Chapter 119: Purgatory (3)
It had been about two hours since they began resting.
“O-Open the gate!”
“Let us in! Hurry! They're coming! Those things are coming!”
Someone desperately pounded on the gate of the hastily constructed northwestern barricade.
Behind them echoed the roar of beasts.
“Survivors!”
“Open the gate! Quickly!”
As the barrier and protective magic were dispelled, the wooden gates swung open.
Three-legged monsters charged toward them at incredible speed, but once the soldiers waiting atop the barricade unleashed a volley of arrows, they quickly gave up.
“Affiliation?”
“Mercenary. Italian.”
“Ah, I'm Korean. From Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province.”
A total of five people.
The unaffiliated Hunters collapsed to the ground, letting out sighs of relief.
Considering the deadline...
They were likely the last survivors.
The rest were probably dead.
“We've lost roughly twenty percent.”
Ian frowned.
The losses were far greater than expected.
But giving up wasn't an option.
If they retreated here...
It meant abandoning not only the Agamemnon Mountain Range, but the entire southwestern region of the Empire.
“What about the route to the second rally point?”
“The terrain has changed significantly in several places, but fortunately the valley itself hasn't been blocked.”
At Ian's question, Zigharun, the Chief Mage leading the Imperial Mage Corps, pointed to one corner of the map.
A valley located approximately 2.5 kilometers from here.
To reach the gate...
They absolutely had to pass through it.
‘Can that really be called fortunate?’
Yohan pondered Zigharun's words.
The closer one got to the gate in Purgatory...
The more the terrain warped and twisted.
Yet despite that...
The valley remained wide enough for a massive army to march through?
Something smelled off.
It was almost as though someone wanted to lure them there on purpose.
The command staff had probably already considered that possibility.
So it wasn't the most urgent issue.
There was something else bothering him more.
‘I need to confirm it.’
Whether it was mere paranoia or not.
He had to consider every possibility.
Yohan quietly slipped out of the command tent.
“Inspect your equipment one last time! You lot know better than anyone just how dangerous this place is!”
“Potions and scrolls over here! Hurry! We're moving out soon!”
Everyone bustled about.
The Hunters also drank energy drinks and consumed combat rations while preparing for another battle.
Most of the troops headed toward the northern entrance.
Before long...
Only the supply corps, priests, and long-range magic units remained.
‘It should be somewhere around here...’
Yohan walked through the rows of tightly packed tents.
Then stopped.
The five survivors who had arrived last were gathered together.
They seemed busy doing something with their hands.
“Excuse me.”
Yohan spoke first.
“G-Gah! You scared me!”
“Hey, make some noise before sneaking up on people! Nearly gave me a heart attack.”
They hurriedly hid something.
Taking a closer look...
It was jerky stuffed with cheese and several bottles of alcohol.
“Ahem! It's not like we're stealing supplies or anything. We were just... looking around to see if there was anything that might help in battle.”
The Korean from Dangjin hurriedly explained.
Hmm.
Judging from how flushed his face was...
That explanation seemed a little questionable.
Putting that aside—
“I'm a public official from the Hunter Association.
Nothing serious.
I just have a few routine questions.
I'd appreciate your cooperation.”
Yohan casually produced a forged identification card.
There wasn't even a hologram on it.
It was a complete fake.
Still...
At first glance, it looked convincing enough.
“Go ahead.
We'll answer whatever we know.”
“I heard you're unaffiliated mercenaries.
Which expeditionary force were you traveling with?”
“Hoshino Yuki.
That Japanese Ranker.
Wasn't she leading it?”
“Yeah.
That short-haired lady was the commander.”
The others nodded in agreement.
If it was Hoshino Yuki...
She should have crossed the plains together with the Imperial Mage Corps.
A considerable number of mercenaries had accompanied them.
At least their story lined up.
“If these are just routine questions, hurry up and finish.
When we first arrived at the rally point, the priests and everyone else kept asking us questions and inspecting us.
We didn't even get a chance to rest.”
Another survivor muttered loudly enough for Yohan to hear.
He wasn't wrong.
As a precaution...
The priests and Holy Knights had already examined them.
Officially, it was to check for injuries.
In reality...
They were looking for signs of infection.
‘They all passed.’
[No abnormalities detected.]
Nothing beyond dehydration and minor wounds.
Which only made it even more suspicious.
“Then could you explain how only five of you managed to make it through there?”
Unlike the south...
The northwest was crawling with monsters.
Aside from a handful of Rankers belonging to major guilds...
There hadn't been any survivors from that direction.
“Brother, that's a pretty offensive thing to say...”
“You're talking as if we're monsters.”
“So you're saying you don't even trust the priests who already examined us?”
The atmosphere turned cold.
Truthfully...
This had merely been a test.
Whether they had been blessed by incredible luck...
Or their abilities exceeded expectations...
There was no way to prove either.
“My apologies if I offended you.
Just one last question, and I'll leave.”
They had already passed the inspection.
So they weren't monsters from Purgatory disguised as humans.
However...
There was still one more possibility.
Smiling faintly, Yohan spoke.
“Say this:
'The Demon King is a bastard.'”
Time for an ideological purity test.
＊
“......”
“......”
Their expressions changed instantly.
The whining and complaints vanished.
Only five people radiating murderous intent remained.
Yeah.
He had suspected it...
And he had been right.
Yohan never believed Cain would simply trigger the Outbreak and leave.
He had expected him to prepare another scheme to sabotage the expeditionary force.
“Why aren't you answering?
What, is this some dictatorship where you can't even insult the Demon King?”
The Requiem Cult might tolerate many things.
But they could never casually insult the Demon Kings they worshipped like gods.
The trap had worked perfectly.
He didn't even need an answer.
Their expressions revealed everything.
“So you're the one Lord Cain warned us about.
He said he'd love to chew you to pieces.
Looks like he wasn't exaggerating.”
“He really holds a grudge.
Well...
If I were him, I'd probably hate me too.”
After all...
Thanks to repeated failures, his head was hanging by a thread.
How could he not resent him?
“Kill him.”
The cold voice marked the beginning.
Shing!
Clank!
The hidden weapons were revealed.
But Yohan had already finished casting.
Thud!
The Burning Sword shot forward like an arrow and pierced one of them.
“Urgh...”
Without even managing a proper scream...
His eyes rolled back.
Spinning like a pinwheel, Yohan immediately placed his hand on the second man's abdomen.
Boom!
Fire magic erupted.
A massive pillar of flames shot skyward.
Two enemies eliminated in the blink of an eye.
He had already deployed a Silent Room around the area.
No ordinary commotion would attract outsiders.
“If you confess what you're planning...
I'll make your deaths painless.
But if you resist...
Things won't be very enjoyable.”
Yohan gripped his dagger in a reverse hold.
Overwhelmed by the gap in ability...
The remaining three instinctively stepped backward.
They had realized they couldn't win in a direct fight.
“We'll use it here.”
“What? B-But if we do that...!”
“We're not leaving here alive anyway.
I'll repay this debt by buying you a drink in the afterlife.”
“Yeah...
Understood.
If that's your wish.”
Whatever emotional brotherhood they were trying to display...
Yohan had no intention of indulging them.
[Bloodline Ability 'Blood Explosion' has been activated!]
Boom!
An explosion erupted at the center of the group.
All three narrowly avoided the blast.
However—
The scattered droplets of blood instantly sharpened.
Then fired in every direction.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Aaaagh!”
“Guh!”
The men groaned as the razor-sharp blood daggers pierced their bodies.
Oh.
One of them had managed to deflect every single blade.
So he was probably the strongest.
[Bloodline Ability 'Blood Bind' has been activated!]
Yohan restrained the healthiest-looking one.
Then—
[Void Magic 'Black Devourer' has been activated!]
Crunch!
He sent him straight into the Void.
The upper half of the Requiem Cult believer's body vanished.
Two remained.
“Go Tae-seok! I'll buy you time!”
One of them charged with his sword drawn.
Well now.
This almost made Yohan feel like some third-rate villain.
[Ben Mersian activates his Unique Ability 'Poison of the Underworld'!]
The blade, dyed green with poison, shot toward Yohan's neck.
Using [Distorted Vision], he cleverly concealed the trajectory of the strike.
Not a bad attack.
An ordinary Hunter would have found it quite troublesome.
Unfortunately...
He had chosen the wrong opponent.
Slash!
After countering the strike perfectly...
Yohan approached the last remaining man.
It was the Korean from Dangjin, Go Tae-seok.
“I won't let you die easily.”
He intended to summon the Sea Otter Trio and conduct a long interrogation.
He would extract every secret the Requiem Cult was hiding.
But—
Thrust!
Go Tae-seok stabbed his own heart with a ritual dagger.
Blood erupted like a fountain.
“What are you doing?”
“Cough! Gah... Heh heh!
May every irreverent soul in this place... be purified... without exception.”
His voice dripped with malice.
This wasn't simply a final curse.
There was far too much confidence behind it.
As though...
No one would survive what came next.
Wooooong!
A terrifying wave of mana followed.
Brilliant magic circles illuminated the area around the tents.
This wasn't a spell meant for a handful of targets.
It was an enormous area-of-effect magic circle.
One spanning several hundred meters.
This flow of mana...
No way.
Yohan's eyes narrowed.
[Advanced Summoning Ritual 'Law Against Heaven' has been activated!]
Damn it.
It was real.
These lunatics had actually prepared the Law Against Heaven—
A summoning ritual requiring the sacrifice of over five hundred people.
The light continued to expand.
The crushing pressure weighed upon his bones.
His heart pounded wildly.
He had to run.
As far away as possible.
Every cell in his body screamed a warning.
Boom!
Yohan launched himself away with all his strength.
Almost simultaneously—
Rumbleeeee!
An enormous number of monsters were summoned directly into the center of the rally point.
＊＊＊
Sizzle!
Thick smoke filled the air.
The summoning ritual used by the Requiem Cult produced results beyond imagination.
“Aaaagh!”
“Help!”
Screams echoed everywhere.
The monsters of Purgatory had appeared in the very heart of the supply corps.
Where the priests.
And the long-range magic units were concentrated.
Since all the knights and soldiers had been stationed at the northern entrance...
The rear lines became easy prey.
Even the central command tent had been completely obliterated by the explosion.
“Kikih! Kikikik!
Food!
A grand feast!”
The Floral Artist reveled in her bloody banquet as vines lashed outward.
“Submit yourselves... to the Great Will.”
The Evangelist sang its grotesque hymn.
Those with low Magic Resistance immediately fell under its influence.
Boom! Boom!
All manner of medium- and large-sized monsters rampaged through the rally point.
The stench of blood was so overwhelming that it numbed the senses.
The casualties increased every second.
The greatest problem...
Was that even Nephilim had been mixed among the summoned monsters.
Rumble...
Unlike when they had first encountered them at the ballroom...
These were on an entirely different level.
The half-bloods, overflowing with the mana of Purgatory, swung swords dripping with molten lava...
Slaughtering every human they saw.
Knights who wielded Aura were ripped apart as though made of paper.
Even the Mages' barriers melted away.
At that moment—
“Everyone, head for the second rally point!
Do not engage the monsters here!
Preserve your strength as much as possible!”
Ian's voice echoed from the distance.
Since the rally point had been designed to repel enemies attacking from the outside...
Recapturing it from within was several times more difficult.
More importantly...
There was no reason to shed blood trying to exterminate them.
Their only objective was destroying the gate.
‘So he's sacrificing part of the force to pin the enemy down here.’
It was already impossible to save the rear guard.
Ian had decided they wouldn't accept even greater losses.
From his perspective...
It was a decisive gamble.
‘I hope everyone made it.’
Yohan looked toward the direction where his companions had been.
In the chaos that had already engulfed the battlefield...
It was impossible to look after everyone individually.
All he could do was hope they would reach the destination safely.
It was time to move.