30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue

Chapter 251

Half-broken dragon skull. Considering the inside and the bone structure, this must be an artifact of Abiditas. At this moment, Ivan quietly lamented.

‘I commanded it to be discarded.’

It was highly likely an artifact that came from the excavation of Abiditas’s Aetherial Plan. Last summer, when the diplomatic relations with the Dwarfs were first established, the first operation undertaken was the excavation of the Aetherial Plan.

As the merit of defeating Abiditas lay with this side, the rights to harvest the Aetherial Plan, where countless riches might be asleep, also belonged to this side. And if a part of Abiditas’s body was discovered during that process, it must have been an artifact difficult to value.

Isn’t that a divine relic? No matter how much the malevolent entity dormant inside is purified and how insignificant the remaining divine nature may be after the original body has long since perished, that is still a sacred relic.

Was it hidden in the treasure vault? Did they originally come for that? Or was that one of the goals?

“Lord Yaremov! The corpses!”

“I know.”

The entire city was screaming. Under the powers of Abiditas and Olegha, all the corpses lying in this city were being resurrected to live unholy lives.

Corpses were rising in every alley, every street.

How many deceased souls slept beneath this land? In the long history of Krasilov, Frechenkaya has always been the capital. The number of corpses that had once inhabited this city must have been stacked in layers beneath the city.

Those ancient corpses were rising. There were no intact corpses. Most were broken and damaged. However, under Abiditas’s mana, they recovered their bodies and walked towards the souls of the living.

The senseless dead surely must hate the living. Their only motivation for action is the boundless jealousy and hatred towards those who possess life.

In between, another group of corpses leapt forward.

“You bastards!! Once again, you—!”

The vampire in the sky screamed. Perhaps his sanity was being eroded, as it seemed he began to believe he was Abiditas.

If so, it was understandable for him to be enraged. The corpses wielding swords and rushing through the ranks of the dead he raised were the souls of heroes who once struck at Abiditas’s neck.

The Cleanup Unit was running to protect their city.

They were agents trained to make the most rational decisions at any moment. Now, they began to scatter throughout the city.

‘Thank you.’

Ivan silently glanced at their retreating figures. The most rational choice. That meant they were indifferent to taking down that vampire.

Those present had concluded that they could handle that one. Now, they only needed to prove it.

Naturally, the one to initiate was the hero.

“Isabelle.”

“Yes, uncle!”

“Use ‘that’.”

“What? Ah! Hehe… you mean ‘that’….”

Isabelle stepped forward with a sinister smile. Gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, she bent one knee and took her stance.

Her hair bristled. Rough mana swirled around in her grasp.

My target, my enemy, my sword.

Parting her lips slightly, she exhaled deeply, calming her mind. When Isabelle opened her eyes again, her arm stretched upward along the optimal trajectory.

-!!!!

There was no sound after the strike. The vampire, hovering against the dark night sky, turned to look down at Isabelle.

What did she do? Surely, potent mana brushed past his body. Was it a threat? But—

“Isabelle’s—.”

The sword, stretching high into the sky. Her gaze was straight ahead, her back upright, adjusting her grip on the hilt, then bringing it down.

Isabelle’s eyes glared at the vampire.

“Falling Morning Star.”

The blade descended like a dance. Deeply from above, horizontally below. Mana flowed along the edge of the blade, and will shaped reality once again towards the sky.

Even until the stance was completed, the vampire couldn’t grasp what had occurred. He twisted his head to survey his surroundings, before discovering the other humans staring up at him in awe.

At him? No, no. While his direction was right, it was clear they weren’t looking at him.

Their gazes were filled not with fear and hatred, nor with animosity, but with admiration and surprise. Only then did the vampire turn around.

“What is… what is this—?!”

The sky was split.

The ‘Eternal Night’ conjured by Olegha had been shattered. A massive rift appeared in the sky, devoid of celestial bodies, shrouded in darkness.

As someone who once participated in a great war, he was already aware of this phenomenon. A small sigh escaped his lips.

“Hero—!!”

Then, a long line connected to his body. Swish, crimson blood lost control and surged up. The strike that grazed him left his entire form cleaved in two.

He wouldn’t be defeated in one move. The control over blood was already surpassing Enrique’s abilities. The spilled blood immediately returned to his body, and the wounds healed as if washed away.

However, he couldn’t prevent losing his balance. In that fleeting moment, he was in free fall.

“Well done.”

“Ha! Huh… Huh—!! I-I’ll take a moment to rest!”

Isabelle, trembling, quickly stepped back while Ivan’s orders followed.

“Oscar, head-on. Hold your ground.”

“Yes!”

“Ecdysis. Left flank, attack while ignoring defense. Just draw their attention and withdraw when focus shifts.”

“Easy enough!”

“Eugene, you take the right flank. Elpheira, provide rear support. Use fire magic.”

Ivan quickly issued commands as he ran. The fallen vampire was regaining his stance.

“Enrique and Lucia, do not engage. Protect the city.”

“I knew that would be the case. Leave it to me!”

If the enemy had almost completely inherited Olegha’s powers, there was a risk of Enrique falling into enemy hands.

If she were turned against them in battle, it would be impossible to predict the damage inflicted. It was right to exclude her from this operation.

After Ivan’s orders were concluded, Yuri, who was running beside him, spoke cautiously.

“What about me…?”

“With me.”

The party members had taken their formation, encircling the vampire and beginning combat. Sitting on the rooftop ledge of a building, Ivan drew a new axe and said.

“Attack.”

“B-but, what’s the plan? No further orders?”

“Do as you wish. When you are able.”

Yuri’s specialty was ‘Invulnerability’. To elaborate, it was akin to ‘knowing a way to win without fail.’ The important point here is the ‘way to win.’

If there is even a 1% chance, succeeding with 100% certainty means that if there is even the slightest chance of failure, it cannot be activated at all.

She couldn’t be sent alone against the Seven Dragon Lords. The chance of victory was non-existent.

However, with the current party and indeed even with Ivan included in the fray…

She is the most powerful assassin capable of delivering a ‘significant blow’ to the Seven Dragon Lords, ‘with certainty.’

“When those damned things—!! Cowardly vermin—!!”

As the vampire began to rampage, Ivan was already leaping down with his axe clutched tightly.

Yes, this was the most ideal situation.

The Hero Party was composed for undertaking decapitation missions based on the premise of multi against one. He had forgotten about this in the midst of facing many alone for too long.

Perhaps because of that, Ivan involuntarily said a word.

“Well then, did you think you were facing a saint?”

Ignoring the sound of Yuri suppressing a laugh.

The vampire, aiming to gather the essence of two of the Seven Dragon Lords and devour many lives to be reborn as a new god, instantaneously turned to the appearance of a school violence victim and wailed.

There was no time to carefully weave blood magic. Simple strikes, swung with all his mana shoved in, followed one after another.

Boom—!!

Oscar took a hit and was sent flying, during which Ecdysis rushed in wildly swinging a mace. As her pulverized arm immediately regenerated, she could not fend off Eugene coming from the opposite side.

“Lord!! Another one is coming!!”

Eugene shouted as he swung his great sword straight. The glimmering light under the helmet was eerie. A vampire’s arm flew off, only to grow back instantly.

Grimacing at the spectacle, Elpheira did not halt her hands. Her hair floated, and teal mana crackled, gathering at her fingertips.

“Thunder Call!!”

She understood the order to hinder recovery with fire-based spells. Yet, she was a mage of the Heavenly School, and the spells she was most confident in were also of the Celestial series.

After all, whether it was fire or electricity, the results were similar, weren’t they? Only those from the humanities and arts believe flames can only burn people.

Zzzzzzzt!!

As lightning cascaded down, Eugene flinched and stumbled back.

“Elpheira!!”

“You should have dodged better!”

“How was I supposed to see a lightning strike coming!”

“You should have trained well enough!”

Of course, adequately trained operatives could attempt to dodge upon seeing the signs of lightning. Lightning tends to strike the highest conductor in the area, so one could lower their body or roll on the ground just before impact.

Therefore, it wasn’t incorrect. Ivan quietly admired.

Eugene, witnessing that, should have been thankful for the broken status screen for the first time. Seeing the message that Elpheira’s favorability had increased would probably have made his stomach turn.

“I will kill you! You vermin will not die peacefully…!! I will chew your flesh and one by one, tear apart those you love the most!!”

He began to frantically rave again. Ivan was already observing his behavior and had completed the patternization process. Perhaps due to losing his sanity, the enemy’s attacks were incredibly simplistic.

Surely, a single strike would be capable of ripping through a person’s body dozens of times. Even in a state of insanity, he was casting necromancy over the entire city.

While he hadn’t gained divinity, he could be considered a demigod. Yes, mortals could become his minions just by dying next to him.

He was overseeing the ‘deaths’ of the entire city. Surely, if such a being appeared on the battlefield, hell would unfold.

A vampire that resurrects no matter how many times he is killed, and a high-ranking necromancer who could revive surrounding corpses and command them as minions every moment; with boundless mana, and with attacks that ordinary superhumans would struggle to withstand in close combat, launched as basic strikes.

Inevitably, countless death tolls were bound to occur on the battlefield, allowing him to ascend to godhood. Only superhumans could contend, yet forced into a lengthy battle with nearly infinite lifespan, the extent of the damage would be unimaginable.

The Hero Party exists to hunt such beings.

Beings that have become gods. Those whom one cannot confront in numbers. Mighty deities that human beings cannot overcome with their strongest weapons, techniques, and skills.

Evil gods that roam the earth. The despair manifest above the world.

The Hero Party exists to confront such despair. Solely to face them.

At this time.

“I should have rather waited for Elizaveta to bring her army.”

Crunch!

An axe sank into the vampire’s head. The moment it was pulled out, the vampire’s head rapidly reformed and opened its mouth towards him. Sharp fangs were visible.

“I should have rather attempted this before the expedition ended.”

Crack!

The vampire’s fangs broke under the axe blade. It glared at him with its broken fangs. He could feel the regrown fangs snapping at the axe blade.

Ivan released the axe and balled up his fist.

“I should have rather never attempted this from the start.”

Boom—!!

His fist smashed down onto the vampire’s head. Amidst that powerful blow, the bridge of the nose collapsed, and the back of the head shattered. Blood began to reverse course, pooling as it started to restore the form.

It’s fine. It doesn’t matter.

The vampire’s immortality is equivalent to the total amount of souls he has devoured. He is infinite as the number of humans he has consumed.

Still, it’s fine.

As long as I kill him infinitely, that’s enough. Killing those immortal beings, over and over again, until they can never resurrect again is something I have already done before.

Thus far, no immortal being has managed to achieve true immortality until the very end.

Boom—!!

The head explodes. The axe, now deprived of its blade, dropped from the vampire’s mouth. Ivan caught it, plunging it into the vampire’s body.

“I should have rather lived like he was dead until now.”

With that whisper, the vampire’s eyes became filled with rage and shame.

It’s fine.

It won’t take long until he sees fear.

All the immortal beings he had dealt with begged for mercy in their final moments.

Only those who fear death choose the path of immortality.

The God of Death? Manifestation of Death? Absurd claims. Those who fled from death, the defeated who couldn’t fulfill their lives and clung to their regrets, only those debris choose the path of undeath.

“I should have rather not messed with us.”

Ivan raised his fist above the vampire’s face and growled.

I will reclaim the price for awakening all these comrades who had been resting peacefully, one by one.

   

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