nycdaug Chapter 59 : Cleared
Chapter 59 : Cleared
Cleared==============================
Endless monsters surged forward. Although they no longer appeared as boundless as they once did, their numbers were still terrifying.
If one were to use a metaphor, it would be that what once seemed like an endless black sea now resembled a vast, tumultuous inland black lake.
"Jiang Cheng, with so many of them, you're not planning to have them all killed, are you?"
Lyle said, a bit shocked.
"Mm-hmm?"
Jiang Cheng raised her eyebrows and replied, "Why, are you worried about them?"
"A bit, yes,"
Lyle nodded. His kindness did not wish to see such a great group of warriors fall here.
"Well,"
Jiang Cheng shrugged, "but sometimes that's just the way things are..."
"They really have to kill all these corrupted monsters?!"
Lyle asked incredulously.
"Of course,"
Jiang Cheng sighed in resignation and said,
"This king of corrupted monsters is as cunning as its damned ancestors—there's just no way around it,"
"It'll only show itself once all the corrupted monsters are dead or routed."
Because of the special nature of the spirit realm, the appearance of these powerful monsters dwelling there had practically become a kind of summoning ritual; they would only appear once certain conditions were fulfilled.
Otherwise, most of the time, they hid within the vast magical currents of the spirit realm or among the thoughts of the people in the mortal world, refusing to reveal themselves.
Even if a super-powerful individual came to search and investigate, they still wouldn't find a trace, for these were the rules of the spirit realm—the restrictions and protections that the spiritual world granted to those strong beings that dwelled within it long-term.
The summoning conditions corresponded to both the opponent's strength and their identity.
Precisely because of that, the king of corrupted monsters set its requirement in an insidious manner—it would only appear once every corrupted monster in the area had been defeated.
In the original story, Lyle fused a portion of the Adventurer God's inheritance gifted by Ferran, and after four days and nights of non-stop killing, finally wiped out all the corrupted monsters, relying on the hero's body's powerful regenerative abilities.
By then, Lyle's eyes were bloodshot and he was drenched in blood.
(Although, strictly speaking, corrupted monster blood couldn't really be called blood—it was black.)
Only then did the king of the corrupted monsters descend, relentlessly chasing down the already exhausted Lyle, who had fought for four days straight.
In the end, it was Lyle's sudden burst of power, covered by Ferran's sneak attack, that allowed him to counterattack successfully and bring back the king's crown.
"Should I, or maybe Renata and the others, go help?"
Lyle asked.
In his heart, he still didn't want these people to die.
"Nope, not allowed~"
Jiang Cheng replied with a beaming smile, though her face was filled with unyielding determination.
"I have other uses for you all, and the loss of even a person, or a bit of effort, might affect my plan—so the answer is no~"
As she spoke, a glint of amusement flashed in Jiang Cheng's narrowed eyes. "Of course, if you think it's fine if the plan fails and your revenge doesn't matter, then sure, go ahead and help. After all, one dead teacher isn't as important as a living person~"
"You!"
Lyle snapped, a bit angry. "Jiang Cheng, don't say things like that. The teacher is your teacher too—you should understand how I feel!"
"No, I don't understand!"
Jiang Cheng cut him off. "In fact, I think it doesn't matter if she dies."
"..."
Lyle fell silent, once again recalling his own imagined version of Jiang Cheng's past and assigning her resentment towards the teacher to himself as the cause.
"Sorry,"
Lyle said seriously.
"That doesn't matter. All that's important is to do as told,"
Jiang Cheng's tone was unequivocal.
"My plan cannot tolerate a single mistake."
"But didn't you promise to restore their reputation and find a way to turn them human again? How can you just let them all die?"
"Of course,"
Jiang Cheng nodded, "so not all of them will die. By my estimate, only half of them will. I'll use the power of the Temple of the Gods to turn them human again."
"As for restoring their names... The dead can be vindicated too, can't they?"
Lyle said nothing. His eyes returned to the scene where an endless tide of corrupted monsters once again attacked the knights.
"Check your remaining equipment," the leader of the knights commanded calmly.
"There aren't many explosive bullets left, and only a bit of kinetic energy in the chainsaw swords. At this rate, they'll be spent in ten minutes."
Upon hearing that, a sigh came across the knights' comms network from their leader.
"What about the cannons?"
"They're overheated and overloaded. Should be back online in half an hour."
The situation was growing worse and worse, but for the sake of final victory, there was no other choice but to...
"Fight as you wish," the leader ordered. "Use as little equipment as possible for the maximum result."
After a moment's pause, he added, "Don't die."
His voice, still sticky and unpleasant, was strangely moving in this moment.
"Lastly—for the purity of the human world, the corruption must be cleared!"
"The corruption must be cleared!" the knights shouted in unison. In the next second, the roar of chainsaw sword motors rose again as they charged with tremendous fury into the endless horde of corrupted monsters.
If death could not be avoided, then at least let it be for victory and the greatest gain—let them raise hell before the end.
Dozens of mechas raged through the battlefield like a sweeping storm; corrupted monsters caught up in their path were torn to shreds by chainsaw swords.
Even the corrupted monsters whose defense had mutated couldn't last a split second.
Once again, the vicious power of the chainsaw swords was displayed to the corrupted monsters.
But, just as their earlier report had said, they had very little kinetic energy left.
"Whirr, clack-clack—"
As the first chainsaw sword jammed and came to a stop, countless corrupted monsters leapt toward that mecha. Follow current novᴇls on NovєlFіre.net
"Bang!"
The precious explosive bullets roared, obliterating the corrupted monsters swarming over.
The pilot howled, swinging his now motionless, massive chainsaw sword at the monsters.
Although the chainsaw sword, stopped, was not very lethal, he used it as a club. With the mecha's enormous strength, corrupted monsters were smashed to pulp.
Soon after, a second, then a third—every mecha's chainsaw swords stopped spinning.
They fought on using the last of their explosive guns and their now-static chainsaw swords among the corrupted monsters.
Fortunately, a fresh volley of artillery erupted; the cannon barrels, no longer overheating, spat monstrous tongues of fire again.
A hail of bullets and explosions shattered the corrupted monsters.
But soon, even the bullets of the explosive guns ran out, while corrupted monsters still surged.
Even though their numbers had been reduced shockingly compared to the outset, what remained was still an almost unreachably vast number from their perspective.
"Boom!"
With a tremendous detonation from the first mecha to rush into the mass of corrupted monsters, they found another way.
They began to self-detonate.
Explosion after explosion rang out. Eventually, at some moment, this region of the spirit realm fell into silence.
"Mission accomplished," the knights' leader said, dragging his battered mecha as he returned.
"Unexpected,"
Jiang Cheng smirked with narrowed eyes. "I thought more of you would die."
The leader was silent, not saying a word.
"All right, well done,"
Jiang Cheng tossed off lightly with a smile. "Leave the spirit realm and wait for your vindication. Humanity won't forget your contributions."
As for what came next? It was time to slay the king of corrupted monsters.