Chapter 643
Truly Horrific. (3)
Even as its flesh peeled away, Morbus did not lose its fighting spirit. A monster that knew only destruction had no concept of retreat.
Kwaaaang!
With a sound that seemed to tear through the air, Morbus’ massive fist came crashing down toward Ghislain.
Ghislain's body plummeted to the ground like a lightning bolt.
“Guh!”
His skin and muscles immediately began to rot away, exposing bone. The poisonous miasma surrounding him seeped deep into his skeleton.
However, rather than pain, a smile spread across Ghislain’s lips.
Ssssshhhh...
As if time were reversing, his decayed body rapidly returned to its original state.
With his ability to absorb poison combined with his overwhelming regenerative power, the toxic atmosphere had no effect on him. At this point, it was difficult to tell who the real monster was.
“Hooop!”
With every breath Ghislain took, the poisonous mist around him was sucked into his nose and mouth.
The once-dense lethal fog visibly thinned. The onlookers' eyes widened in disbelief.
“Oh, this is delicious.”
The grin on Ghislain’s face deepened, his voice brimming with amusement. He sounded like a gourmet savoring a newly discovered delicacy.
A whirlwind erupted beneath his feet once more. In an instant, Ghislain shot toward Morbus with the speed of lightning.
Kwaaaang!
Under the relentless attacks of the Transcendents, Morbus’ body was beginning to collapse.
The decayed flesh and innards of the creature that had ruled this forest in terror were ripped apart, leaving behind only its pale bones.
Gueeeeaaaaaaargh!
Morbus let out a horrifying scream. It was a chilling wail, as if the gates of hell had been flung open.
Even with only bones remaining, Morbus continued to move freely, manipulating the power of decay. This alone was proof of how abhorrent its existence was.
However, even its power of decay had significantly weakened due to the constant holy energy being radiated by Parniel and Piote.
From the beginning, the Transcendents’ attacks were merely meant to disable Morbus' physical form. The real key to victory lay in purging its decayed energy with divine power.
“Time to end this.”
Kwaaaaang!
Ghislain’s sword struck like lightning, shattering Morbus’ cracked skull.
At the same time, Julien and Gillian’s swords cleaved through its ribcage from both sides, causing its upper body to collapse.
Kwaang! Kwaaang!
Belinda’s daggers danced through the air. Each time her weapons passed, bones were severed in two.
Parniel’s mace slammed into Morbus’ lower half, and its skeletal frame crumbled like a sandcastle.
Jerome and Vanessa unleashed their magic, pressing down on the remaining bones with powerful gravitational spells.
Crrrrk! Crrrck! Crrrk!
The shattered bones desperately tried to reassemble themselves, writhing like a living organism. Its resilience was terrifying.
“Phew, let’s begin the purification process.”
Parniel drew a sign of the cross and released her divine power onto the heap of Morbus' bones. Piote also poured all of his remaining divine power into Morbus' remains.
As their divine might intertwined, a brilliant light radiated outward.
Only after the two had poured out their divine energy for quite some time did the twitching bones finally come to a complete stop.
"It's finally gone. That wasn’t too bad, was it?"
As Ghislain collapsed onto the ground, everyone merely shrugged.
Morbus was undoubtedly a formidable monster. Excluding dragons, it was probably the strongest foe they had ever encountered.
But those gathered here were powerful. They had already survived battles far more perilous than this one.
If they couldn't win, then no one else could.
Even so, it had been a grueling fight. Everyone had expended a significant amount of strength, so they sat on the ground to rest.
Belinda looked at Ghislain with a displeased expression.
"Sigh… I worked so hard to keep you from eating weird things since you were a kid, and now you go crazy for poison the moment you see it. You’re practically a poison monster yourself…."
"Most poisons barely even register anymore."
In truth, ordinary poisons had little effect on Ghislain now. At this point, training his mana refinement technique was far more beneficial.
However, Morbus’ poison was strong enough to harm even Transcendents. To Ghislain, it was as precious as a rare elixir.
Jerome gave him a dumbfounded look.
"Wait, you're telling me you get stronger by consuming poison? How does that even work?"
"My mana refinement technique happens to work well with poison. I guess you could say I only absorb its essence?"
"How is that even possible?"
"Who knows? I only found out by accident. Maybe you'll be able to do it too someday."
"How?"
"You remember that grimoire I told you about? If you manage to get your hands on it, you might find out."
"Hmm?"
Jerome furrowed his brow, tilting his head in confusion. Ghislain simply laughed at his reaction.
That grimoire mainly focused on how to manipulate energy.
After studying it, Ghislain had refined his mana technique to amplify his own power. But as a side effect, it also allowed him to absorb the energy of anything that entered his body.
Aside from a dragon heart, poison was one of the most potent energy sources one could consume.
Belinda shook her head a few times, as if resigning herself to the absurdity of it all. Then, glancing around, she spoke.
"It looks like this area won’t be easy to reclaim anytime soon."
"Yeah, it'll take a while to purify everything."
Though Morbus was gone, the land had already rotted beyond repair. Toxic miasma continued to seep from the ground in various places.
Since a considerable area had been tainted, purifying it would take a long time.
Then, as if a thought had just occurred to him, Ghislain spoke up.
"Absorbing that bastard's poison made my mana increase faster than when I train using my mana refinement technique. If I consume all the remaining poison here, wouldn’t the purification process speed up? I could come here to train whenever I have time."
Even now, Ghislain was steadily converting the poison he had absorbed into mana.
The others looked at him with a mix of fascination and unease. It was the first time they had ever seen someone enjoy poison so much.
Noticing their reactions, Ghislain chuckled and continued.
"We can deal with this area later anyway. The land we've already secured is massive."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Though Morbus had occupied a vast territory, it was still just a fraction of the Forest of Beasts as a whole.
Even though they had advanced nearly in a straight line toward the core, they had already secured an enormous area and gathered countless resources.
Now, all that remained was to confirm what lay at the forest's heart. The rest could be explored and reclaimed at a more leisurely pace.
Once that was done, everything would be settled. With the Ritania Kingdom claiming dominion over the Forest of Beasts, a golden era would begin.
Jerome, curious, asked,
"There aren’t any stronger monsters left, right? I mean, we’ve only been running into grotesque creatures so far."
"This guy was the one occupying the core, so I’d say we’re done," Ghislain replied.
That was what the records had stated. The Duke of Delfine's journals, which documented their extensive exploration of the Forest of Beasts, had mentioned it in detail.
There were no more major obstacles left. From here, they just needed to keep moving forward.
Ghislain felt his heart beat a little faster.
‘I’ve finally made it this far.’
He had once vowed to conquer the Forest of Beasts properly. In a way, everything had begun because of this place.
The fall of Ferdium, Ghislain’s rapid growth after his regression all of it traced back to this forest.
‘At first, even getting past the outskirts was a struggle.’
He had risked his life countless times. A single mistake could have meant his death.
But now, he had reached this point more easily than ever before. It was all thanks to the people who had believed in him and followed his lead.
‘Now, I can take one step closer to the truth.’
Ever since he had obtained the Relic and had those dreams, Ghislain had been intrigued by the war that had taken place a thousand years ago.
After hearing a brief account from Ereneth, his curiosity had only grown. It hadn’t been his top priority, so he had put it aside until now.
If he ventured into the heart of the forest, he was certain he would uncover more.
He could feel it.
What had the Duke of Delfine found in the heart of this forest in his past life? What had they been trying to accomplish?
Ghislain was eager to uncover the answers.
"Let's rest a little, then move out."
No reinforcements could join them here. Only those present capable of withstanding the toxic miasma would venture into the core of the forest.
Lingering in this place for too long wouldn’t do them any good. While poison acted as an elixir for Ghislain, the others had to constantly suppress the miasma with mana.
If it weren’t for Parniel and Piote periodically purifying the area, they would have had to leave long ago.
Ghislain tilted his head slightly toward Julien.
"What do you think? Fun, isn’t it? At this rate, wouldn’t you say we're taking it easy just like I told you?"
"……."
The others sighed and narrowed their eyes. No one could understand the criteria by which Ghislain considered something taking it easy.
But Julien was different. For a brief moment, hesitation flickered in his cold gaze.
He was seriously contemplating in what way this was fun and how it could possibly be considered taking it easy.
Seeing his reaction, Ghislain’s eyes sparkled mischievously, like a playful child.
"Doesn’t it feel like we’re on a trip together? Camping under the stars, seeing strange monsters, getting some exercise with a few fights. And most importantly…"
Ghislain’s voice brimmed with excitement.
"We finally get to explore the heart of the Demonic Abyss, the place Ereneth mentioned. You were all curious about it, weren’t you?"
At those words, everyone nodded. They were now one step closer to uncovering the secrets of a thousand years past.
Of course, unlike Ghislain, they were more realistic. None of them expected to stumble upon some grand relic or earth-shattering secret.
If anything of such significance existed, Ereneth herself would have insisted on coming here first.
But she had neither opposed nor joined the expedition into the Forest of Beasts.
Instead, she had merely remained in her quarters in silence.
So, most of them assumed they would find traces of ancient myths and remnants of past wars, nothing more. It felt akin to sightseeing in historical ruins.
Only Ghislain, who had dreamt the Saint’s Dream, believed they would discover something truly extraordinary.
"Hmm."
Julien found Ghislain’s words reasonable.
For a long time, he had lived isolated from the world. Though he was powerful, in some ways, he was as naive as a child unfamiliar with the ways of society.
But that had changed.
Ever since meeting Ghislain and the others, his life had taken a different course.
So much has happened.
Together, they had led wars to victory and saved the continent. In battles against formidable foes like Helgenik and Arterion, they had trusted each other enough to fight back-to-back.
Coming to this forest, Julien had seen many strange monsters creatures unlike any he had ever encountered. Fighting them hadn’t been particularly difficult.
He had also explored ancient ruins and shared conversations however unconventional with his companions.
All of these experiences were new to him.
Emotions he had never once felt while confined within the tower had gradually accumulated, one after another.
And yet, it was only after arriving at Fenris Estate that they finally took on a tangible form.
If he had to name this unfamiliar feeling…
‘I see.’
A faint smile crossed Julien’s lips. He could no longer deny it.
The emotion he felt now was joy.
"Huh? Huh?! Did you see that? He smiled! I was right, wasn’t I?"
Ghislain turned to everyone, his voice triumphant. The others, equally stunned, widened their eyes as they stared at Julien.
The man who had always been as cold as an ice sculpture had just smiled a smile as warm as sunlight on a spring day.
With all eyes fixed on him, Julien let out a quiet chuckle and spoke for the first time.
"Yeah. I think this is fun."
At that moment, everyone held their breath.
For the first time, his voice, usually as frigid as a winter frost, carried warmth.
Like solid ice melting away, the mask of cold detachment he always wore was beginning to fade.
Everyone looked at him as if they had just witnessed a rare and exotic creature. Feeling the weight of their stares, Julien’s expression quickly returned to its usual blank state.
But now, they all understood.
The man behind that icy exterior the real Julien and the way, little by little, his heart was beginning to thaw.
—
Squish. Squish. Squish.
After their brief rest, the group resumed their march toward the core of the forest.
Since no living creature could survive in this desolate place, there were no more monsters to stand in their way.
Still, the stench of decay and the clinging, sticky sensation beneath their feet were nearly unbearable.
"Ugh, this is disgusting. Are we sure this stuff isn’t alive?"
Jerome grimaced as he stepped onto the black sludge coating the ground.
This place was filthy beyond revolting. He had briefly considered flying instead but decided against it out of courtesy to the others. Now, he was regretting that choice.
Luckily for Jerome, they didn’t have to endure it for long.
Before them, a staggering sight unfolded.
"Oh…."
Among the group Jerome, one of the most expressive, was the first to let out a breath of awe.
A vast clearing stretched before them. The ground was pitch black, scorched as if it were part of hell itself. Deep fissures, like gaping wounds, marred the landscape.
From these cracks, thick black steam writhed upward, twisting like living tendrils.
A low, eerie sound rumbled from the depths below like something moaning from the abyss.
The corrupted sludge and toxic energy that had plagued them until now seemed unable to cross a certain invisible boundary. It was as if an unseen wall kept them at bay.
And standing at the center of that plain of death…
A colossal black veil, beyond the scope of human language to describe, loomed before them.