Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 494: The Spirit of the Dead Waters
After the three Emperor's Blades departed just like that, the Serpent Scales were left completely dumbfounded. This was entirely outside their plan. Those reinforcements were supposed to be their decisive trump card, and now that they were gone, the enemy standing before them was someone they had no way of dealing with.
Yelena, however, had no intention of giving them time to process that fact.
Once she was certain the Royal Guards wouldn't be coming back, she began to approach the Serpent Scales who were still holding Alina hostage, her expression utterly emotionless. The biting cold rode the wind, piercing straight into their spines.
The Serpent Scales exchanged quick glances.
Since the Royal Guards were no longer an option, and they had no confidence whatsoever in defeating Yelena, then there was only one thing left they could do—achieve the bare minimum objective.
Without hesitation, they aimed their weapons at the completely defenseless Alina.
There was no longer enough time to torment her body or crush her spirit. But no matter what, she had to die here today.
As long as Alina was dead, both Talulah and Steven would be left with an irreparable scar in their hearts. That was the ending the Black Snake desired.
Yet just before they could kill the helpless girl—before Yelena could strike first—a brilliant burst of light exploded from the blonde girl who had been quietly standing at Alina's side like a maid all this time.
The dazzling radiance instantly enveloped Alina, and at the same time sent the incoming weapons flying away.
Margaret had been watching the Serpent Scales closely from the very beginning. Earlier, under the overwhelming pressure of the Royal Guards—and with the enemy not making a move—she had restrained herself. But now, this was the perfect moment to fulfill her duty.
The Radiant Knight's signature Originium Arts surged forth, swallowing the Serpent Scales whole. By the time they realized what was happening, Margaret had already withdrawn with Alina, placing herself behind Yelena.
She could have taken advantage of the moment to eliminate them outright, but as a bodyguard, her top priority was ensuring her client's safety.
Besides, when it came to dealing with these assailants, there was already a professional standing right here.
Leaving the battlefield to Yelena, Margaret stood silently in front of Alina. The girl she was protecting, meanwhile, hurried over to check on the two fallen Infected children, paying no attention at all to the battle behind her.
Alina knew full well that, as someone who's powerless, she couldn't interfere in the fight anyway. Rather than getting in the way, she chose to focus on what she could do.
Yelena, having recovered from the blinding flash, quickly realized that this blonde knight was likely one of Steven's contingency plans. With that understanding, she devoted her full attention to the remaining Serpent Scales.
With no hostages left in their hands, there was nothing holding her back anymore.
Before they could move—or even beg—Yelena had already drawn her sword and pointed it in their direction.
The freezing gale answered her command, engulfing the Serpent Scales completely. When the curtain of snow finally dispersed, all that remained were lifelike ice sculptures, frozen in their final moments.
"Phew… that guy really did think of everything," Yelena muttered as she looked at the now-lifeless Serpent Scales. The tension that had been etched across her face finally eased. "Well, I guess this means I can report back now. Hmm—no, actually… he should probably start thinking about how to repay me for this."
After all, these enemies might have been troublesome for ordinary Infected, but as long as the Royal Guards weren't involved, she could handle them.
As for Steven entrusting her with protecting another girl, Yelena merely noted his thorough preparation—with no real trace of jealousy at all.
After all, Yelena had long heard of Alina's deeds within the Infected camp. Faced with such a kind, sincere, and pure-hearted girl, she simply couldn't bring herself to feel even the slightest hint of jealousy.
However, just as Yelena turned around, intending to check whether Alina and the others were unharmed, a sensation that made everyone present feel their hair stand on end suddenly spread from beyond the forest ahead of them.
A sound like a young girl's mournful song drifted through the air—soft, lingering, and haunting. Yet what permeated the entire area was an overwhelming aura of death that made one's heart clench in dread.
From within the forest, a frail figure slowly emerged through the biting wind. Draped over the body was nothing but a tattered piece of cloth—and beneath it lay the true source of that eerie song.
Everyone's gaze instinctively converged on the newcomer, but in the very next instant, they were forced to look away. The almost tangible sense of wrongness made their stomachs churn with an uncontrollable urge to vomit.
Beneath the ragged cloth was a bewitchingly beautiful girl, as though she belonged only in dreams. Her pale skin traced flawless curves—but where her legs should have been, there was instead a fish tail, rotting as if it had been left in a sewer for days, reeking of decay, crawling with live maggots.
And beneath that grotesquely contrasting tail, what truly allowed her to move across the land was a cluster of corpses—half-rotted bodies, twisted and hideous with decay, lifting the girl up and carrying her forward. It only amplified the already terrifying aura that surrounded her.
Once the initial wave of nausea finally subsided, Yelena spoke up in a voice tinged with fear, calling out the name of the monstrous being that had appeared before them.
"The Riverbank Hag…? But isn't that just a monster from old Ursus legends? How could it possibly exist in reality?!"
Her beautiful eyes were wide with shock. No matter how hard she tried, Yelena couldn't accept that the creature from the bedtime horror stories meant to scare children had now appeared right before them.
Yet the pressure radiating from the monster, the way the ground beneath its feet had already turned into a lifeless ashen gray, along with that unmistakable rotting fish tail and the corpses beneath it—all of it testified to the being's terrifying power.
"My name is Rusalka, Spirit of the Dead Waters."
"Of course, you may also address me as god."
The woman's voice, laden with temptation, echoed forth, though her lips never moved. Her pitch-black eyes slowly turned toward Alina, who was being shielded behind Margaret.
"I have come only to fulfill a promise made many years ago. Leave the girl behind, and you may all depart."
Like a marionette, stiff and unnatural, the self-proclaimed god raised her arm and pointed in Alina's direction. Her tone carried an absolute authority—one that brooked no refusal.
From the moment she spoke, an immense pressure bore down upon Yelena and Margaret, crushing their chests and stealing their breath, let alone leaving them with the strength to argue back.
Yelena knew that although the monster before them might not really be a god, it was absolutely an existence powerful enough to drive her into despair. Forget herself, even if her father were standing here, there was no guarantee he could defeat this thing.
But how was that possible?
Given Alina's personality, how could she have ever provoked such a terrifying being? The idea made no sense at all.
Yet this was no longer the time to dwell on questions like that. Yelena understood perfectly well that the words spoken just now were Rusalka's final ultimatum. Perhaps out of some twisted sense of a strong being's dignity, the self-proclaimed spirit seemed unwilling to provoke unnecessary conflict with them.
Even so, Yelena had promised Steven that she would protect Alina.
Letting out a quiet sigh, she forced herself to move under the suffocating pressure, stepping forward until she stood directly in front of Alina.
At the same time, Margaret moved as well. She didn't fully understand what was happening, but what remained firmly etched in her heart was her promise to Steven. To a knight, one of the most important virtues was honesty and keeping one's word.
Brilliant white light enveloped the three of them, dispelling some of that crushing pressure. Margaret and Yelena exchanged a wordless glance, then turned their eyes together toward the monstrous woman before them.
"Foolish," Rusalka said flatly. "An ant trying to stop a tachanka."
The doll-like face lifted slightly, a flicker of displeasure flashing through her pitch-black pupils. In the next moment, ashen-gray water began to seep out from beneath the corpses at her feet, spreading rapidly toward Alina.
Wherever that gray water passed, it was as if all life was drained away. Grass withered in an instant, trees rotted and collapsed, turning to decay before one's eyes. Though it looked like nothing more than slow-moving liquid, its speed was terrifying—it reached their feet in the blink of an eye.
Yelena reacted on instinct, trying to command the surrounding frost to freeze the dead water solid. But even the ice itself seemed to rot, melting the instant it touched the gray flow, as if exposed to unbearable heat.
Even the radiant, shield-like barrier Margaret forced into existence was corroded the moment it made contact, a gaping hole eaten through it before it shattered like a fragile eggshell.
With unstoppable momentum, the gray tide ignored both Yelena's and Margaret's defenses entirely, surging straight toward Alina.
And just as that pool of dead water was about to touch the frail, powerless girl, a familiar arc of sword light flashed past.
In the frozen plain, a deep, unfathomable trench was carved in an instant.
Even more terrifying was the fact that the gray dead water—despite being liquid—seemed to have its connection to its controller severed by that single strike. It collapsed into a stagnant, foul-smelling puddle, losing all ability to spread further.
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Note:
Rusalka is based on a Russian legend, the Rusalka.
The Rusalka is a female entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water. It has counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melusine and the Germanic Nixie.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka
Tachanka is a horse-drawn cart (such as a charabanc) or an open wagon with a heavy machine gun mounted on the rear side. A tachanka requires a crew of two or three (one driver and a machine gun crew) and must be pulled by two to four horses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachanka
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
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