Chapter 542
At This Very Moment. (2)
Helgenik's neck was completely torn apart, his head flying off to the side.
And Ghislain, the one who had swung his sword—
“Urgh!”
Crack! Boom!
With the sound of something twisting and bursting, he was flung backward. His sword slipped from his grasp.
Even in that brief moment, the strain was too much for his body to handle, causing severe repercussions.
“Ghislain.”
Julien quickly moved back and caught him. Blood gushed from Ghislain’s mouth, spilling out uncontrollably.
“Did you get him…?”
Julien slowly lowered Ghislain to the ground and turned his head.
“He’s… still alive, barely.”
Helgenik’s body was convulsing wildly, caught in a storm of rampaging energy. The way it moved without a head resembled a Dullahan.
It was searching for its missing head. Helgenik’s severed head lay far away, abandoned in the distance.
“Grrr… You bastards…”
Even with his head and body separated, he was still speaking. It was an impossible sight, yet neither Ghislain nor Julien were surprised they already knew why such a thing was possible.
However, had the severance of his head also cut off the source of his mana?
The dark energy that had always obscured Helgenik’s face began to dissipate.
“……”
The face that emerged was grotesque a patchwork of stitched-together, ghastly blue flesh, like that of a decaying corpse.
Ghislain, Julien, and even Jerome were momentarily speechless at the sight. They had known about it beforehand, yet seeing it with their own eyes was far more horrific.
“No wonder he didn’t die even after taking so many attacks.”
Ghislain had learned the secret of Helgenik’s body in his past life.
As a necromancer, Helgenik had experimented with various chimeras, ultimately implanting his own soul into one.
Half corpse, half living organism his body functioned in a way that defied nature. Mana had taken the place of blood and vital organs to a significant extent.
This information had been uncovered by Parniel, who had fought Helgenik for a long time in Ghislain’s past life.
Before facing Helgenik, Ghislain had shared this fact with his allies, as he always did, making up some excuse about where he had heard it.
Helgenik, with his grotesque face, opened his mouth to speak.
“I… I never thought… this would be my end…”
His body had lost its head, the part that controlled it. His soul resided in his head, while his mana source was in his heart.
Even though his neck was severed, he could still survive as long as the head was reattached. But there was no way his enemies would allow that to happen.
“…We should get rid of it.”
Julien grabbed Helgenik’s flailing body and hurled it far away.
Hiiisssss!
Already pierced through the heart and covered in wounds, Helgenik’s body was reaching its limit.
No matter how powerful he was, a headless body was nothing more than a slab of meat. Without a head to control and wield mana, his energy was spiraling out of control.
Helgenik's body burst open in various places, and the speed of the ruptures only increased.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Each time a part of his body exploded, energy gushed out into the air. And then, after a short moment—
Kwoooom!
It detonated, scattering into countless fragments. The remaining energy dissipated into the air.
The explosion was fairly strong, but it did not cause significant harm to those who remained.
Julien had flung him far away, and much of his energy had already drained away.
Step, step.
Julien approached Helgenik’s severed head.
Though Julien, too, was wounded and exhausted, he was the only one still able to move.
Helgenik rolled his blackened, rotting eyes and opened his mouth.
"You bastards… You… dare to… me…."
Having lost his source of magical power, he no longer had the strength to speak. With only the residual mana left in his body, he was barely clinging to consciousness.
Julien gazed down at Helgenik’s head with an impassive expression before slowly raising his foot.
"……."
He said nothing.
He simply stomped down on Helgenik’s head with all his strength.
Crunch!
Helgenik’s head crumbled into nothing.
With his magic gone, he no longer had a means to tether his soul to this world. By the laws of nature, his soul would be forcibly dragged into the River of the Dead.
— Aaaaargh!
For a brief moment, it seemed as if a wretched scream echoed in the air.
Thus met his end Helgenik, the one who had taken countless lives and toyed with their souls.
Jerome collapsed onto the ground, exhaling a sigh of relief as he watched.
"Thank goodness… What a damn monster."
He had been an unbelievably troublesome foe. Just thinking about the days of struggle they had endured because of him sent shivers down Jerome’s spine.
Julien turned to look at Ghislain and Jerome, who were lying on the ground.
"Are you alright?"
"Of course, we are."
Ghislain grinned, giving a thumbs-up. Seeing that, Jerome bared his teeth in a matching smile.
"……."
Watching the two of them for a moment, Julien unknowingly let a faint smile slip.
"Huh? Did you just smile?"
Ghislain asked in surprise, but Julien, now expressionless once more, replied as if it had never happened.
"I did not."
"You totally did."
"No, I didn't."
Without another word, Julien extended his hand toward the fallen Ghislain. Ghislain took it and stood up.
Supporting him, Julien then reached out to Jerome as well, helping him to his feet.
Completely drained of strength, the two had no choice but to lean on Julien for support.
As they walked, propped up by Julien, Ghislain chuckled.
"Smiling is a good thing. Why do you always look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders?"
"……."
Jerome chimed in from the side.
"Of course! You have to live with a smile. Back when I was at the magic tower, an elder from my neighborhood always used to say that..."
"This guy's like a magic-wielding Claude. No, more like a mix of Claude and Alfoi? Well, he's still not quite at Claude's level. If someone like that got stronger and showed up, it’d be a worldwide disaster."
Jerome, true to his nature as a mage, was curious and talkative, but he wasn’t as ridiculously shameless as Claude.
At Ghislain’s remark, Jerome tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
"It's just a thing. Anyway, it's our first time meeting... but how about we drop the formal speech?"
"Oh, is that really okay? But you're a duke..."
"I treat people based on their skills. It’s more comfortable to talk like friends. Let’s get along."
"Th... then, I guess I'll do that?"
Jerome chuckled awkwardly. He also preferred a relaxed atmosphere. He wasn't fond of stiff, formal interactions.
The truth was, Ghislain suggested being friends mainly so he could speak casually without restraint, but even an Archmage wouldn’t be able to see through that.
Ghislain then turned to Julien.
"What do you think? Not bad, right? You don’t have many friends. Let’s all get along."
Jerome chimed in again.
"Then should I be your friend? I’ve gotten by just fine without any until now, but I suppose having some wouldn’t be a bad thing..."
"...Do as you like."
Julien simply ignored him. The newcomer seemed a little out of his mind, too.
And yet... something small shifted inside him.
'...Not bad.'
Julien had never formed close bonds with anyone since childhood.
Even after stepping into the world, nothing changed. People only ever found him intimidating.
Not that it was a bad thing. Everyone relied on him, devoted their loyalty to him. They became one, working together to save people.
Each person was fulfilling their role splendidly. He had no reason to be dissatisfied.
And yet, he had no one to fight alongside him, no one he could confide in.
He was always with others but forever alone.
Because of that, he felt isolated. And because of that, he felt lonely. There was also the burden of having to carry everything by himself.
But now...
"Lord!"
"Young Master!"
Gillian and Belinda came running. The Mobile Corps that had been fighting the corpses were all gathering around Ghislain.
With their overwhelming combat prowess, they had wiped out the vast number of undead.
Belinda quickly took Ghislain from Julien’s arms and supported him as she scolded,
"Are you okay? Why do you push yourself so hard? If you lost them, you could’ve just caught them again later!"
"But we got them in the end. As long as we won, that’s all that matters. Didn’t I say it’d be fine if I went with this guy?"
"Parniel and that mage also intervened in the middle."
"That was just a slight adjustment to the plan."
"Ugh, seriously. If only you couldn’t talk, then at least you wouldn’t be so infuriating."
Belinda’s remark made everyone laugh.
None of them thought Ghislain would lose. After all, their lord’s plans had always succeeded.
Gillian shouted loudly.
“We won!”
“Waaaaah!”
“Ugh, why won’t my Aura Blade come out?!”
“Oppa! I want to go home! I’m a princess! A princess!”
“Waaaah! Princess of Destruction! Princess of Destruction!”
The cheers of the people mixed with all sorts of shouting, quickly turning the place into a noisy mess. It was no different from a bustling marketplace.
This free-spirited atmosphere was precisely what defined the Fenris Mobile Corps.
Julien silently watched the scene unfold. Jerome nudged his side and said,
“The atmosphere’s great, isn’t it? I really like this kind of freedom. Everyone feels like friends. The Duke of Fenris seems really easygoing.”
“……”
Jerome was genuinely happy to have made such great friends after coming into the world.
He was surrounded by people as strong as he was. Moreover, they shared the goal of eradicating the Salvation Church and saving people. How could he not enjoy it?
When Julien didn’t respond, Jerome, looking a bit awkward, continued speaking.
“You seem pretty strong. Let’s get along from now on. We’re friends now, right?”
“……”
“…I don’t know what I did, but sorry anyway.”
The new friend Jerome had made was incredibly taciturn.
Julien sank into brief contemplation.
‘A friend.’
Had he ever known someone he could call a friend?
Not even once. No one had ever approached him, and he had never reached out to anyone.
But things were slightly different here.
Ghislain considered him a friend. His subordinates, too, approached him without hesitation, unbothered by his status or personality.
And they were all strong. He could entrust his back to them on the battlefield. With them, he felt like he could set aside some of his burdens.
Fighting against Helgenik had been a new experience as well. It was the first time he had joined forces with others to battle such a formidable opponent.
Julien quietly repeated the words Ghislain and Jerome had spoken.
‘Friend…’
In just a few days, he had gained many new friends. Friends who had come into his life regardless of his own will.
Julien continued to watch Ghislain and the others chatter away. Jerome, meanwhile, kept sneaking glances at him, watching his reaction.
‘…….’
At any other time, he would have ignored it.
He was used to being alone, and he had no desire to form attachments.
The pain he had felt as a child had been more than enough.
But just for this moment—
“…Yeah, let’s get along.”
—he wanted to say the same words as them.
* * *
As everyone basked in the joy of victory and began preparing to return—
Off in the distance, lying alone, Parniel groaned.
“Kuh… Those bastards….”
She gritted her teeth and used her massive mace as a staff to push herself up with difficulty.
Had she been alone, blocking the attack from a distance, she wouldn’t have exhausted herself to the point of fainting.
But those two had fled behind her, leaving her no choice but to defend them.
“Duke of Fenris, that bastard… I figured he’d do something like this, but…”
That man was always unpredictable, so she could understand. But Julien? She hadn’t expected this from him.
It seemed that anyone who got involved with the Duke of Fenris ended up acting strangely.
In the end, there was no one in the world worth trusting. Friends, comrades they were all unnecessary.
The only ones she could trust were herself and God.
She had yet to realize—
That this, too, was one of the side effects of associating with Ghislain.
Either way, Parniel once again found herself sinking deeper into distrust of humanity, and her faith only grew stronger.
* * *
“It’s done! We’ve succeeded!”
Gartros wore an ecstatic expression.
The Allied Forces were currently advancing toward the Kingdom of Atrode.
However, it would take time for all the scattered forces fighting across the continent to gather in one place.
Not that it mattered if they all assembled. As long as they had enough time to seize control of the Kingdom of Grimwell, that was enough.
In truth, the Allied Forces were not what he feared.
“Are you certain the Duke of Fenris and his main forces have moved?”
“Yes, sir. The Mobile Corps has moved ahead to engage Helgenik. They won’t be able to come to Grimwell’s aid in time.”
Among the Ritania forces, the Duke of Fenris and his Mobile Corps were the most formidable opponents.
With them out of the picture, taking over the Kingdom of Grimwell would be no challenge at all.
“Kuhuhu, even they understand that choosing one means abandoning another.”
From the beginning, the Allied Forces had never intended to fight while saving every country and every person. That was an impossible feat.
For them, allowing Helgenik to run rampant was the greater threat, so they had no choice but to prioritize that battle.
Thanks to this alignment of interests, the Salvation Church was able to buy itself some time.
“To think Helgenik would pull through for us like this.”
It was truly remarkable. They had nearly exhausted all the Orbs of Life they had prepared, but even then, it had been an uncertain gamble.
That was how powerful the Duke of Fenris’s Mobile Corps had proven to be in the battles against the Ritania Kingdom.
But now that they had made their move, it was time for this side to act as well.
“Deploy all our prepared forces. Our target is the Kingdom of Grimwell.”
The Revolutionary Army, which had been operating covertly across the continent, had now joined forces with them. Even the nearby rebel forces had gathered.
The army of Duke Leinster was strong enough to rival any kingdom’s military, and most of the Salvation Church’s priests were also concentrated here.
With all of them attacking together, the Kingdom of Grimwell would have no chance of holding out.
“Just a little longer. Once we obtain the relic and find our king…”
Gartros’s eyes gleamed ominously.
“The world will soon face his wrath.”