Chapter 324: Khajiit's Swan Song, Enri's Echo Triggered!
The Corpse Pit.
Thump… thump…
Khajiit lay amidst the corpses, his eyes lifeless and pupils dilated, his heart beating slowly.
He was completely oblivious to the overwhelming stench emanating from the surrounding rotting corpses and the thunderous roar of colliding magic from the outside.
With so many rotting corpses, there should have been swarms of mosquitoes and flies. However, there wasn't a single bug in this area, because the Negative Energy here was far too dense.
Any living being that entered here would only be corroded!
His already emaciated body now seemed to be nothing more than a thin layer of skin stretched over bone.
A layer of gray gradually clouded Khajiit's eyes.
Am I going to die again?
His consciousness was gradually fading. The corrosion from the Negative Energy had long since ravaged his body, making the so-called transformation into an Undead utterly impossible.
In a daze.
A gentle, blurry face appeared in what remained of Khajiit's consciousness.
Who is it?
I can't see it clearly at all.
So familiar.
...
...
So... it's you, Mother.
...
Darkness enveloped him completely.
BOOM—
The terrifyingly immense Negative Energy and deathly aura of the entire Corpse Pit, as if a drop of water had fallen into a pot of hot oil, exploded into a violent boil. Then, like a waterspout, it surged into Khajiit's body at a ferocious speed.
Khajiit's body was rapidly corroded. In the blink of an eye, his organs and skin vanished completely, leaving only a skeletal frame.
The fragile-looking bones, under the continuous infusion of Negative Energy, rapidly became solid and rugged, transforming toward the shape of some kind of beast.
Wisps of a pus-like yellow and green miasma emerged from every bone, gradually enveloping its entire body.
*Mother can no longer be resurrected.*
*Then I'll drag all the living—into death with me!*
"Roar!"
A self-muttering voice, as if from the Abyss, emanated from the Corpse Pit.
Having fled the battlefield earlier, the Gray-robed Mage who had feared the Archangel Dominion was now stationed near the Corpse Pit, his attention fully fixed on the two figures battling high in the sky.
"Ahaha, as expected of the Alliance Leader."
"To be able to fight against such a powerful angel, he's no different from the Demon Gods of two hundred years ago."
The Gray-robed Mage's face was filled with adoration.
"No, even the legendary Thirteen Heroes might not be as powerful as the Alliance Leader!"
Suddenly.
The Gray-robed Mage felt a chill run through his body. His eyes widened abruptly as he whipped his head around to look behind him.
Crack!
Crunch!
The sound of grinding bones drifted from the depths of the Corpse Pit, growing progressively clearer.
A horse-like undead beast, nearly two meters tall and shrouded in a gleaming green and yellow miasma, climbed out of the Corpse Pit.
"This is..."
The Gray-robed Mage's pupils constricted and his body trembled. The thought of fleeing for his life instantly surfaced in his mind.
However!
His body wouldn't move.
The Gray-robed Mage seemed to be affected by some kind of debuff, standing rigidly on the spot.
An invisible pulse emanated from the undead.
Thud!
The Gray-robed Mage's eyes rolled back, and his life aura dissipated. He collapsed to the ground as a corpse, kicking up a cloud of dust.
This powerful magic caster, who had stepped into the Heroic Realm—a level of power that would be considered a national treasure in any country—had died without so much as a whimper.
In an instant!
The aura of the yellow-and-green-miasma undead surged violently. Swaying slightly, it stepped over the Gray-robed Mage's corpse and headed toward the center of the battlefield.
There, it could sense the auras of many living beings. It intended to bring death to them all.
High in the sky.
The massive, holy figure and the magic caster chased each other in battle, leaving the Humans and demi-humans on the ground stunned.
The scene before them was enough to become part of an epic, sung by countless bards for ages to come.
Figures of Priests and Paladins craned their necks to look up at the sky. To be able to witness this with their own eyes, a feeling of fortune actually arose in their hearts.
"Oh, God!"
"Even the legendary Demon Gods and the Thirteen Heroes were probably just like this."
A Priest from the Sunlight Scripture, gazing at the magnificent and powerful figure of the highest-tier angel, suddenly fell to his knees and prayed with pious hands.
Captain Nigun had been killed by the magic attack "Pale Fire," unable to evade after being caught by a magical bind, but the members of the Scripture Unit had managed to recover his corpse.
"Free Will Tang."
"That guy."
Kelart and Remedios had already reunited. They exchanged a look and fell silent, but a peculiar light shone in both their eyes.
As the two geniuses of the Holy Kingdom, and moreover, the right and left hands of the first Holy Queen, both Kelart and Remedios were extremely proud individuals.
But at this very moment.
Kelart and Remedios knew clearly that the battle before them was not one they could interfere in. They couldn't even offer assistance.
"Kelart, that Item..." Remedios suddenly began.
"No."
"Although its power is immense, it's not suited for this kind of one-on-one combat," Kelart hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.
"To think that in the end, the hopes of everyone in this calamity caused by the undead would rest on the shoulders of a single Adventurer."
Remedios looked up at the sky, her hand tightening around her holy sword before slowly relaxing. Complex emotions welled up inside her.
Of the two powerful enemies, the Death Knight had been indirectly eliminated by Tang Zheng. And now, even the terrifying Alliance Leader of Zuranon was being dealt with by this same man.
It was truly indescribable!
At this very moment.
Whether Human or demi-human, everyone was intently focused on the battle in the sky.
Everyone understood perfectly well that whether the Archangel Dominion controlled by Tang Zheng could defeat the Alliance Leader would truly decide if they would be victorious.
"God, please protect Lord Captain."
Enri clasped her hands together before her chest. She had never believed in any god before, but at this moment, she prayed with utmost piety, hoping that a god from the legends would descend.
Protect everyone, protect Lord Captain.
Kcha... At this moment, the peculiar aura around Enri's body actually showed signs of collapsing.
Just as everyone's nerves were stretched taut—
Panicked screams of terror erupted from the forefront of the demi-human ranks.
"What is this undead!"
"Kill it."
"Why are you all just standing there, not moving?"
"..."
"They're dead! Everyone died for no reason!"
An atmosphere of panic rapidly spread from the direction of the demi-humans, and their entire force began to stir restlessly.
Kōkosh of the Seven-Colored Scales and the Beast General, Hector Weiss, two of the Ten Elites, were actually unable to suppress the spreading panic.
"What's with these demi-humans..." Hearing the commotion from the front, Remedios looked up with an angry expression, but in the next moment, that expression froze on her face.
She saw.
Vast numbers of demi-humans, completely unable to resist, were falling to the ground in droves like reaped wheat.
And the cause of it all was a skeletal undead, roughly two meters tall. It resembled a horse-like beast and emitted a pus-like yellow and green miasma.
Wherever this undead passed, the demi-humans couldn't even resist. They would simply stand rigidly on the spot before dying, their life auras completely extinguished.
It was a bizarre scene.
An inexplicable chill ran through Remedios's entire body. "What is that!"
"A Soul Eater?"
"Why... why is there a Soul Eater here!" Kelart's light-cyan pupils dilated wildly, her fingertips trembling as she nearly screamed aloud.
Both the Death Knight and the Soul Eater were known as legendary undead. Since they had been preparing to face a Death Knight, Kelart had naturally consulted historical records and had indirectly learned about the other type of legendary undead.
It was a type of undead that greedily devoured the souls of the living. Legend had it that they once appeared in an orc city on the Central Continent.
It caused the deaths of over 100,000 people and turned an entire city into ruins, which came to be known as the "Silent City."
To fight this kind of monster, one needed to be able to use at least third-tier magic. Otherwise, it would be difficult to even face such a monster, as it would spread a power known as "Fear."
"Remedios..."
Kelart's neck was stiff.
"What's wrong?" Remedios drew her holy sword.
"Run!"
"Run, now!" Kelart's face was pale. She spun around and roared, completely losing her composure, "Holy Knight Order, Cleric Corps, everyone retreat!"
Remedios was stunned; she had never seen her sister lose her composure like this.
The feeling of panic spread like a plague across the entire battlefield!
The demi-humans, who were at the front and also the most numerous, were the first to break, fleeing to the rear in a single, panicked wave.
Terrified screams were everywhere.
Dust and sand were kicked up by the scattering, fleeing demi-humans. The ground was littered with the corpses of humans and demi-humans, as well as the mangled remains of those who had been turned into undead long ago.
"Everyone..." Enri stood rooted to the spot, at a complete loss as she stared blankly at the chaotic, disordered, and panic-stricken battlefield before her.
Standing in the very center of the battlefield.
Enri suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of insignificance. "Life... is so fragile."
"Enri, hurry up and leave!"
The Green Leaf Witch rushed over from behind, grabbing Enri's arm to pull her away.
"No."
Enri gently pulled her arm free and suddenly smiled faintly. "Lord Captain is still fighting. How could I possibly leave?"
"The Captain won't be in any danger..." the Green Leaf Witch said quickly, her eyes filled with terror as she looked ahead. She could already faintly make out the figure of the Soul Eater.
Wait!
The Green Leaf Witch's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She looked down at the hand Enri had pulled free. When did Enri get so strong?
"Miss Cui Ye, did you know? I just prayed to the gods with all my heart, but I found that the only thing that answered me was my own voice."
Enri blinked, disappointment showing in her dark brown pupils, which at the same time flickered with a peculiar light.
"I'm just a farmer's wife from a border village."
"From the very beginning, I knew how vast the gap was between myself and Lord Captain."
Enri raised her hand, clutching the chestnut-gold, three-strand braid that lay across her chest. She looked up at the holy figure battling in the sky, her eyes filled with longing.
"But it's only now that I've realized this gap is even larger than I ever imagined."
"Because even those high-and-mighty nobles, the captain of the Paladins, and legendary strong ones like the Ten Evils of the Demi-Humans can now do nothing but gaze up at the sky or run away..."
The anxious look on the Green Leaf Witch's face grew more intense. She felt like she was going mad.
No!
It was Enri who had gone mad.
What on earth is this kid doing!
Looking at the desperately fleeing demi-humans and Humans, and the Soul Eater that was now fully in view, a cold sweat drenched the Green Leaf Witch's body. She wished she could abandon Enri and run away immediately.
But if she did that! Her master would definitely kill her, along with her sister.
"What are you trying to do!?" The Green Leaf Witch's voice was strained. She was now considering whether to defy her master's orders, knock Enri out, and drag her away.
"I don't know..."
Enri murmured to herself, her brown pupils fixed on the Soul Eater and its yellow-green miasma, which had come into her line of sight.
"I want to close the distance to Lord Captain."
"I want to be of help to Lord Captain."
"I want... Everyone's lives shouldn't end here."
Enri turned to look at the anxious Green Leaf Witch beside her, her lips pressed into a smile, the corners of her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
"Miss Cui Ye, I think I can help now."
Whoosh—
A wave of air blew past, rustling the hem of Enri's dirty and somewhat tattered skirt.
Enri bent down and picked up a longsword from the ground.
The Green Leaf Witch's pupils inexplicably constricted, and she took a step back.
Remedios and Kelart, who were in the process of retreating, looked at the two figures standing motionless in the distance at the center of the battlefield, their expressions stunned.
"What are those two doing? Are they insane!?"
Above the battlefield.
Tang Zheng and the Alliance Leader, locked in fierce combat, also noticed the scene on the ground.
"A Soul Eater? It actually succeeded!"
"Khajiit, hahaha, as expected of my prized disciple." The Alliance Leader was clearly surprised, but he immediately followed it with a triumphant laugh.
"Cleric, you have utterly lost!"
"Do you know what that is? That is a Soul Eater, a legendary undead even more terrifying than a Death Knight."
The Alliance Leader didn't miss the opportunity to launch a verbal assault. He had already noticed that the Archangel Dominion's movements had slowed and the feathers on its wings were showing signs of dissipating.
"Khajiit?"
He hadn't expected the Alliance Leader to actually create a Soul Eater. From the sound of it, Khajiit was the one who had transformed.
If it was truly a Soul Eater, then basically everyone present would die.
In the game YGGDRASIL, you might only be hit by its instant death effect once every few hundred fights with a Soul Eater, so the threat wasn't that great. But in this Otherworld, the effect of its instant-death aura was continuous.
The stronger one was, the lower the probability of the check succeeding, but without resistance to instant death, once the check passed, death was certain.
Tang Zheng immediately controlled the Archangel Dominion, intending to hit the Soul Eater with a magic attack first.
"I won't let you succeed!"
The Alliance Leader, who had been suppressed the entire time, finally seized the initiative and moved to intercept him.
Just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate!
Down at the center of the battlefield.
BOOM—
A brilliant white light suddenly materialized out of thin air.
Enri held an ordinary longsword in both hands. White streams of light flickered in her brown pupils. As if talking to herself, yet also as if beseeching something, she said:
"Everyone, please, lend me your strength!"
Everyone?
The Green Leaf Witch took another step back, subconsciously glancing around.
Voom— Voom—
A shining radiance, like a dense swarm of fireflies, floated up from the battlefield, converging from all directions onto the sword blade in Enri's hands.
The sudden scene made everyone pause.
This white light was not the power of a holy attribute, but rather a pure "positive" attribute that no one had ever felt before.
"Enri? What in the world is happening?" Tang Zheng was the most bewildered of all.
Voom—
The Stat Panel vibrated.
『Skill 「Heroic Moment」 discovered. Requires Special Job Class [ΧΧΧΧΧ]. Current conditions... Failure...』
『Information acquisition failed...』
『Skill Information Acquired—「Heroic Moment」: Borrow the power of deceased comrades to temporarily gain a Physical Attack Stat Bonus, raising it to match the highest Physical Attack Stat among allies and enemies.』
『Skill 「Heroic Moment」 discovered. Requires Special Job Class [Hero·Believer (Unique)]. Current Job not held. Skill acquisition failed. Requires 3 Skill Points.』
『No prerequisite High-Tier Job Class. Skill acquisition failed. Requires 6 Skill Points.』
『No prerequisite Intermediate Job Class. Skill acquisition failed. Requires 9 Skill Points.』
『No prerequisite Basic Job Class... Converting [Genius]... Conversion of [Genius] failed. Prerequisite Basic Job Class does not exist. Requires 12 Skill Points.』
『Consume 12 Skill Points to forcibly acquire this Special Job Class?』
『Job acquisition conditions not met. Upon acquiring the Special Job Class—Job degradation will occur.』
『Warning! This Job is a "Unique" Job.』
『Please choose whether to take this job?』
A dense stream of job information appeared on the Stat Panel.
"Enri... a Hero-type job..."
Tang Zheng was unusually silent. With just a single thought, he could obtain this power.
A completely independent "Hero" Special Job Class.
Through the information revealed on the Stat Panel, Tang Zheng could clearly perceive the power contained within this Special Job Class.
"A Hero, huh."
In a daze, Tang Zheng seemed to sense a certain will contained within the job. He suddenly understood why Enri had obtained this job, and he knew with absolute certainty.
By normal means, he would never be able to obtain this job.
A "Hero" was never about being born strong, but about will and choice, about the conviction to rise from weakness to strength!
This was a will and a choice that belonged to Enri alone!
"Haha."
Inside the Archangel Dominion, Tang Zheng suddenly began to laugh. Since transmigrating to this world, he had never felt such genuine happiness.
It was like walking down a desolate road, only to suddenly find someone who could keep pace with him.
"That power belongs to you, Enri," Tang Zheng said with a brilliant smile.
"No."
『Job acquisition failed!』
(end of chapter)