Chapter 91

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 91: Soul Reaper Hercules (2)

An old man, clad in a pure white robe, leaned on a wooden staff embedded with a blue gemstone.

I could sense a considerable amount of mana emanating from him.

Of course, compared to me, who possesses a Dragon Heart, it was like a drop in the ocean.

The old man raised his staff toward me, his body trembling.

“Such immense mana... Was this your doing?”

“Hah. Do you really think I could have caused such a massive event with just this level of mana?”

“Hmm…”

“I came here to help defend the Mana Core. Zombies are rampaging everywhere, and the fallen are on the verge of turning into undead.”

“We are doomed... How could Erundal, which has flourished for so long, fall in a mere moment...?”

“This is the work of the Chaos Lord and the Lone Colossus. Do you know anything about them?”

The old man shook his head in response to my question.

Instead, he asked me back.

“Chaos Lord? What is that? Is it related to the sudden appearance of dungeon portals?”

“You could say they’re the bosses behind all this. Where is the Mana Core?”

The old man, who had been wary of me, sighed in resignation and pointed behind him.

There, a pristine white altar stood, and above it, a massive purple gemstone hovered in the air.

So, that must be the Mana Core of this city.

It was about the size of my upper body, making it difficult to carry, but after assessing my surroundings, I noticed that blocking the entrance I had come through would make it easier to defend.

I should fortify this place and gain some experience while I’m at it.

“I will block the entrance.”

“Thank you.”

I stepped down from the Flame Chariot and stood at the entrance.

The entrance was wide enough for dozens of people to pass through at once, making it tricky to defend.

This is where magic comes in handy.

“Create a wall.”

At my command, white stone walls surged up from the ground.

The magic materialized exactly as I had envisioned.

I wonder if I could create flamethrowers on top of the wall?

No, that would set the whole building on fire—something simpler would be better.

“Create Mana Cannons.”

In response, dragon heads formed from pure white mana and positioned themselves atop the wall.

A message appeared as four cannons were created: “Limited to 6th Circle. Only four can be generated.”

A shame, but this would have to do.

“No… What kind of magic is this…? Could this be Dragon Tongue?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh, great one, why have you come to the domain of Order…?”

“I’m not some great being. Let’s focus on stopping them first.”

Grrrr…

A chorus of guttural groans echoed as figures charged toward us.

Unlike the typical slow-moving zombies people imagined, these were moving at a speed comparable to C-rank hunters.

These zombies were unnaturally strong.

“Why are they so fast?!”

The old mage behind me shouted in shock but didn’t neglect his spellcasting.

He would handle things on his end—I needed to focus on my task.

“Thunder God.”

I unleashed a barrage of lightning.

The bolts radiated from my hands, completely engulfing the battlefield.

This level of power was comparable to when I had concentrated my energy before activating Thunder God.

The overwhelming surge of electricity obliterated the charging zombies in an instant.

“You truly are a great being! This power is beyond comprehension!”

The old man was already treating me like some kind of dragon, addressing me with utmost reverence.

Sigh.

It wasn’t worth the effort to correct him.

Boom!

As the lightning subsided, the Mana Cannons fired glowing white projectiles.

The mana bolts shot forward like laser beams.

The few zombies that had barely survived the lightning were annihilated by the blasts.

Oh?

So these fire automatically?

Not bad.

“Urgh… Uuugh.”

After dealing with hundreds of zombies, another wave came charging in.

Among them were knights, soldiers, servants, and maids—all stripped of their sanity and sprinting at full speed.

“Uuuuuuugh!”

“Yeoui.”

Summoning Yeoui, I swung it left and right.

The zombies were cleaved apart like straw.

Some of the severed torsos and legs still crawled toward me independently.

Disgusting.

I rained magic upon them, pulverizing their bodies until they could no longer move.

However, the collateral damage to the castle was increasing as well.

“This might end up destroying the castle.”

At my words, the mage responded deferentially.

“We can use the Mana Core to restore it. As long as the damage isn’t too excessive, it can be repaired.”

“So, I can burn them?”

“Yes… Just avoid anything too extreme. If it becomes too difficult to restore, I will inform you.”

“Burn.”

Since he gave permission, I conjured fire.

Flames erupted before me.

“Flame Chariot, go.”

The Flame Chariot surged forward, setting the zombies ablaze upon contact.

The undead hurled themselves into the inferno like moths to a flame, reducing themselves to ash and rewarding me with experience points and SP.

“You… You are too powerful.”

“Yeah, I’ll tone it down.”

The old mage whimpered as I adjusted the flames.

And so, an hour of battle continued.

[You have leveled up.]

A level-up message appeared—it had been a while since I last saw one.

Blocking the entrance and simply setting fires made things incredibly easy.

After spending another hour like that, the mage collapsed.

“Huff… huff… I’m sorry, but may I recover some mana? I can’t go on any longer.”

“Hm. Recover your mana.”

The moment I commanded him with a word of power, a new message popped up.

[Restoring mana for others requires an 8th-circle mage.]

Tch.

What a shame.

I reverse-summoned the Flame Chariot and extinguished the flames.

As soon as I did, zombies took the chance to rush in.

I cut them down with my sword and fired mana blasts.

Killing them was much slower than when I was burning them with fire.

Meanwhile, the number of enemies had grown significantly.

It seemed that even the people from the town were now joining them—their attire was completely different from before.

This isn’t good.

“How long do you think it will take?”

“Ugh…”

“Can’t you take that thing and fly into the sky?”

“If I do that, the magical city of Erundal will completely shut down!”

“The city's already doomed with all these people turning into zombies. If we at least save the mana core, we can rebuild later, right?”

The mage gritted his teeth at my words.

Then, suddenly, his face froze as he recognized one of the zombies I was cutting down.

“Rachel…? Why are you here…? I sent you to study in the capital…”

He managed to find an acquaintance among this massive horde of zombies.

That’s impressive.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t tell who was who.

I just swung my sword mechanically.

But unlike me, the mage started walking toward my position.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Rachel… It really is Rachel… Kgh… My pride and joy, my granddaughter…”

“Don’t come any closer.”

Hearing my warning, the mage stepped back.

Tears streamed down his face as he clenched his lips tightly.

“The city has fallen… My retainers… My granddaughter… They’re all dead… What’s the point of living anymore…? What’s the point of protecting this castle…?”

Muttering in despair, the old mage began chanting a spell before the mana core.

“Uninstall.”

Uninstall?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

No way…

Rumble.

The castle started shaking as he cast the spell.

Even the highest floors, which had remained unscathed despite all the zombie corpses piling up, suddenly cracked.

Thud.

I turned around to see the massive mana core falling onto the altar.

“…Oh great being, I entrust this mana core to you…”

His face was completely devoid of will to live.

His unfocused eyes stared blankly as he let his staff fall to the ground.

“Lightning.”

Summoning electricity with his hand, the old mage placed it against his own chest.

His heart crackled with energy before he collapsed.

Did… did he just kill himself?

Losing his magical city and his granddaughter must have broken him completely.

I stared at his lifeless body with mixed emotions before turning my gaze away.

No point in getting sentimental—it’ll all reset anyway.

Now that there’s no reason to protect the castle, I just need to grab the mana core and escape into the sky.

“Burn.”

Once again, I summoned flames and called forth the Flame Chariot.

Clutching the mana core tightly, I smashed through the wall and soared into the sky.

Outside was just as the Phoenix had warned me—a sea of fire.

The castle and the town I had seen earlier were engulfed in flames, and the zombies rushing toward the castle were now scrambling in confusion as they looked up at me.

Then, one by one, they were incinerated by the Phoenix’s attacks.

As the Phoenix continued its fiery rampage, its voice echoed in my mind.

[Master, there is an overwhelming abundance of mana. Shall I burn everything completely?]

“Yeah, burn it all. It’s already over anyway.”

[I left the Guild District untouched because your friend is resting there. But if I expand the range, I’ll have to burn it too.]

“Leave it alone. Most of the zombies probably came this way anyway.”

[Understood.]

Its voice sounded slightly disappointed.

This thing has totally become a pyromaniac.

Regardless, I unleashed the vast mana of my Dragon Heart from above, bombarding the zombies below.

Is this what it would be like if a bomber existed in medieval times?

With no way to retaliate, the zombies on the ground just groaned helplessly as they perished.

Some tried to jump, but no matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t leap all the way up to the sky.

They simply hopped around like rabbits before being consumed by the flames.

[You have leveled up.]

As I continued the massacre from above, another level-up message appeared.

“Grrr…”

“Uoooh!”

More zombies kept emerging from the district I spared.

I maintained the fiery inferno until sunset, gaining yet another level.

Three levels in one day.

165… what a nice number.

As I looked at my status window with satisfaction, the zombies suddenly stopped moving.

[Had your fun? You’re quite strong.]

A voice echoed from beyond the sky.

Hercules?

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw the sun slowly setting in the now-orange sky.

Unlike the hellscape below, the horizon was peaceful.

[Next time, come find me, Soul Reaper.]

As soon as he finished speaking, my whole body stiffened.

A world dyed in red.

I couldn’t move, yet my entire body tingled.

Danger detected...!

Ugh.

I have to dodge!

But my body wouldn’t budge.

Instead, sensing the imminent threat of death, Aegis’ shield automatically deployed.

[Heaven Severing.]

A single calm word.

Yet, the scene before me was the complete opposite of calm.

The sky in front of me had been split in two.

The sky, the sun, the earth...

Everything in sight had been cleaved cleanly in half.

A perfectly divided world.

Clang!

A crack appeared on Aegis’ shield.

Though the attack had split the world in two, Aegis stood firm against it.

Aegis' shield was said to be able to block even an SS-rank strike.

Was this attack at SS-rank?

Even though I couldn’t move, the shield steadfastly protected me.

But...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of collisions rang out.

With each impact, more cracks etched themselves into the shield.

Within mere seconds, it had clashed with something unseen hundreds of times before finally shattering into pieces.

Before my eyes, the radiant shield broke apart and vanished.

And then—just as I felt a slight sting on my head—my body was split in two.

Strangely, there was no pain.

[You have died.]

[User is a Soul Reaper. Soul Reap does not activate.]

[Returning to original world.]

As I read the last message, my consciousness slowly faded.

When I opened my eyes, I was at the topmost level of the Association.

A familiar sight.

“Haa…”

I survived.

I had resurrected here.

I touched my head, which had been cleaved in half moments ago.

It was intact.

“Haha… So that’s the Lord of Chaos?”

A laugh escaped me the moment I stepped out.

I didn’t even know where the attack had come from, and yet I had died in a single blow.

When he finally attacked, I couldn’t even move.

Back when we fought Kevrian, Hades must have been under heavy restrictions.

Even Aegis’ shield, said to block SS-rank attacks, had been shattered in the end.

The Lord of Chaos...

Are humans truly no match for beings of his rank?

The gap between us felt like the sun and a firefly.

No matter how much a human struggles, is this the limit?

Can a mortal really oppose a god?

A dragon god could obliterate a planet with the tiniest fraction of its power.

Hercules had split the world with a single attack.

How could a mere human stand against such cataclysmic beings?

Negative thoughts kept rising.

Could I really do it?

I looked around.

“I barely made it out of the dungeon alive.”

“Ugh, it’s so hard to level up past C-rank.”

Survivors of the dungeon within Eshtar before its destruction.

They gathered in small groups, chatting.

They were nowhere near B-rank.

If even B-rank was so rare, what about A-rank?

In the end, it had to be me.

I steadied my resolve.

If I gave up here, I’d end up like that no-magic user from earlier—drowning in despair before ultimately taking my own life.

If Hercules were ever summoned to Earth, the ones who’d turn into mindless undead would be humans.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I was still only B-rank.

I could grow stronger.

I wouldn’t give up until I could strike back at the gods.

I vowed to myself, again and again.

“…That aside.”

Eshtar was said to be cleared if one blocked Hercules’ strike.

But blocking it with a shield didn’t seem to count.

Phew…

At B-rank, there was no way I could stop it.

I had been paralyzed…

To resist that paralysis, I had to reach A-rank at the very least.

And… I had to become stronger.

So that I wouldn’t die from just one attack.

No matter what it took, I had to become stronger.

[Next time, come find me.]

Hercules’ words surfaced in my mind.

The Lord of Chaos.

The sworn enemy of humanity.

The leader of the forces of chaos.

Normally, no one would even consider seeking him out…

[You’re quick to return, Soul Reaper.]

Re-entering Eshtar—

I went to find Hercules.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]