643 – This is really horrible. (3)
Episode 643: It’s really horrible. (3)
Even as his flesh was being torn away, Morbus did not lose his fighting spirit. There was no retreating from a monster that only knew destruction.
Kwaaaaang!
With a sound like the air was being torn apart, Morbus’s massive fist slammed down on Giselle.
Jiselle’s body crashed to the ground like lightning.
“Ugh!”
His skin and muscles quickly rotted away, exposing his bones. The poison surrounding him penetrated his bones.
But instead, a smile spread across Giselle’s lips.
Swish… … .
As if time had been turned back, his rotten and decayed body instantly returned to its original state.
With her ability to absorb poison and her powerful resilience, even in the midst of the poison, Giselle was immune to any damage. Now it was hard to tell who the real monster was.
“Ugh!”
Every time Giselle took a breath, the surrounding poisonous mist was sucked into his nose and mouth.
The deadly poisonous fog that had filled the surroundings noticeably diminished. The eyes of those watching grew wide.
“Oh, this is totally delicious?”
The smile on Giselle’s lips grew deeper. His voice was filled with joy. He sounded like a gourmet who had discovered a delicious dish.
Again a gust of wind rose from his feet. Giselle ran towards Morbus at lightning speed.
Kwaaaaang!
Morbus’s body slowly collapsed under the successive attacks of the superhumans.
The rotten flesh and entrails of the thing that once reigned as a terror in this forest have burst out, leaving only pale bones.
Grrrrrrrr!
Morbus let out a terrible scream, a chilling cry as if the gates of hell were opening.
Even in his skeletal state, Morbus was able to move freely using the aura of decay, which only served to prove once again how repulsive he was.
However, the aura of corruption had been significantly reduced due to the divine power that Parniel and Piote continued to emit.
In the first place, the superhumans’ attacks were merely auxiliary in disabling Morbus’s body. The real purpose was to eliminate the aura of corruption with divine power.
“Let’s end this slowly.”
Kwaaaaang!
Jiselle’s sword passed through Morbus’s split skull like lightning.
At the same time, Yulien and Gillian’s swords shattered Morvus’ ribs on both sides. Morvus’ upper body collapsed.
Boom! Boom!
Belinda’s daggers danced through the air, slicing bones in two with each pass of her weapon.
Parniel’s mace struck Morbus’ lower body, and the bones crumbled like a sand castle.
Jerome and Vanessa’s magical powers crushed the remaining bones with powerful gravity magic.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
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The completely shattered bones tried to come back together again in a final struggle.
The bone fragments moved as if they were living creatures. They had surprisingly tenacious vitality.
“Hoo, let’s start the purification process.”
Parniel made the sign of the cross and unleashed his divine power onto the pile of Morbus’ bones. Fiote also poured all of his remaining divine power into Morbus’ bones.
The divine powers of the two people intertwined and emitted a dazzling light.
Only after the two of them had poured out their divine power for a long time did the movement of the bones completely stop.
“It’s gone now. Was it still worth doing?”
Everyone shrugged as Giselle spoke, sinking to the floor.
Morbus is definitely a powerful monster. Excluding dragons, it is probably the strongest opponent you have ever encountered.
But those gathered here are strong. And they have experienced more dangerous battles than this one.
If they can’t beat this guy, then no one else can.
Still, it was a tough battle. Everyone had used up a lot of strength, so they just sat down on the ground and rested.
Belinda looked at Giselle with a trembling expression.
“Ah, my lord, I tried not to feed you strange things since you were little. But now you go crazy and eat poison just by looking at it. You’re not some kind of poisonous monster… … .”
“Even the strongest poison doesn’t even reach the liver.”
In reality, most poisons were no longer helpful to Jiselle. It was better to practice mana training instead.
However, Morbus’s poison was so strong that it could even affect superhumans. To Giselle, it was like a precious elixir.
Jerome said with a look of disbelief.
“No, how can you become strong by drinking poison? How does that work?”
“My mana training method is surprisingly toxic and works well. Should I say that it only absorbs the poisonous energy?”
“How can that be?”
“Well? I just happened to find out about it. Maybe you can do it too.”
“how?”
“There’s a magic book I told you about. If you get it, you might be able to learn.”
“Hmm?”
Jerome frowned and tilted his head. Seeing Jerome like that, Giselle just smiled.
The magic book focused on how to handle energy.
Jisel looked at the magic book and modified it to amplify her mana. However, it also had the effect of absorbing the energy of anything that entered her body.
Excluding Dragon Heart, Poison was the most powerful medicine.
Belinda shook her head several times as if she had given up and looked around as she spoke.
“It seems like it would be difficult to develop this area right away.”
“Yeah, it’ll take quite some time to purify everything.”
Morbus was gone, but the surrounding area had already rotted away. Poison was constantly leaking out from everywhere.
A fairly large area was in a state of decay, so it took a long time to clean it up.
Jiselle said as if a memory had suddenly occurred to her.
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“When I absorb that guy’s poison, my mana increases faster than when I do mana training. If I just drink up all the remaining poison, won’t it be purified even faster? I think I can come here and train whenever I have time.”
Even now, Jiselle was continuing to convert the poison she had absorbed into her body into mana.
The others looked at Giselle with a slightly disgusted expression. This was the first time in their lives that they had seen anyone eat poison so deliciously.
At that reaction, Jiselle smiled and continued speaking.
“Anyway, we can clean up this place later. The area we’ve already secured is huge, isn’t it?”
Everyone nodded. Although the area Morbus occupied was large, it was only a handful compared to the entire Forest of Demons.
Even though they only advanced in a straight line to the center, they secured a huge area and obtained numerous resources.
Now we just need to check what’s in the center, and we can take our time developing the remaining areas.
Then everything will be over. The Kingdom of Rutania, which has taken over the Forest of Demons, will enter its heyday.
Jerome asked curiously.
“There are no stronger ones now, right? They were all just disgusting guys.”
“Probably so. This guy was taking center stage.”
That’s what was written in the journal. It must be accurate, as it was written in the journal of the Delphine family, who pioneered most of the Forest of Demons.
There were no obstacles left. We just had to keep going like this.
Jiselle’s heart pounded slightly.
‘We finally got here.’
I had promised myself that I would one day properly develop the Forest of Demons. In a way, it was because of this forest that everything started.
It was because of this forest that Ferdium was destroyed and that Giselle was able to grow quickly after returning to the past.
‘At first, it was difficult to even conquer the entrance.’
I don’t know how many times I risked my life. If I had made even one mistake, I could have died.
But now, it’s easier than ever to get here. It’s all thanks to the people who believed in me and followed me.
‘Now we can get one step closer to the truth.’
Ever since she obtained the relic and had her dream, Giselle had been curious about the war from a thousand years ago.
After hearing the general circumstances from Erenes, my curiosity grew even more. I just put it off because it wasn’t a priority.
I had a feeling that if I went into the heart of the forest, I would definitely find out something more.
What on earth did the Duke of Delphine find in the heart of this forest in his previous life? What were they trying to do?
I wanted to quickly resolve that curiosity.
“Let’s rest a bit and then move.”
No other troops can come here. I was planning to bring only the current personnel who can withstand the poison and then go check the center.
There was no benefit in staying here too long. The poison was only effective for Giselle, while the others were using mana to suppress the poison.
If Parniel and Piote hadn’t occasionally come to clean up the surroundings, we would all have left this place long ago.
Jiselle tilted her head slightly towards Yulienne.
“What do you think? Isn’t it fun? Is this the extent of having fun like I said?”
“… … .”
The others sighed and narrowed their eyes. They had no idea what criteria Giselle used to judge someone as ‘playing around’.
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But Julian was different. A moment of thought flashed across his cold eyes.
He was seriously thinking about what aspects of it were fun and playful.
Noticing his question, Giselle’s eyes sparkled like a mischievous child.
“It feels like we’re all hanging out together. We camp together, see new monsters, and fight to loosen up our bodies. And the most important thing is… .”
Giselle’s voice was full of joy.
“So we can finally see the center of the magic realm that Erenes spoke of. Everyone was curious about that, right?”
Everyone nodded at those words. Now, they were one step closer to the secret of a thousand years ago.
Of course, unlike Giselle, they were realistic. They did not expect to discover any great relics or shocking secrets here.
If there had been such a thing, Erenes would have taken the lead and come here.
However, Erenes did not participate in this expedition to the Forest of Demons. He did not particularly oppose it.
He simply stayed in his quarters and kept silent.
So everyone thought they would be able to see traces of old myths and wars. It felt like they were touring ancient ruins.
Only Giselle, who was dreaming of becoming a saint, believed that there would be something special.
“hmm.”
Julian thought Giselle had a point.
He had been living alone for a long time, turning his back on the world. He was stronger than anyone else, but in some ways he was just like a child who knew nothing about the world.
But now it’s different. After meeting Giselle and her friends, his life changed.
‘There really has been a lot going on.’
Together, they won the war and saved the continent. They trusted each other enough to protect each other’s backs when fighting against strong opponents like Helgenich and Arterion.
Coming to this forest, I saw many truly strange monsters. Fighting them wasn’t that difficult.
I also saw ancient ruins and had many conversations with my friends there.
It was all a new experience for Julian. Emotions that he had never felt before while on the tower began to build up.
And it was only after coming to the Fenris Estate that it truly took shape.
If I had to give a name to this strange feeling I’m feeling right now… … .
‘I see.’
Julian smiled faintly. He had no choice but to admit it.
That this feeling I am feeling right now is ‘joy’.
“Huh? Huh? You saw that? You laughed, didn’t you? Did I say that?”
Jiselle said as she looked around at everyone. The others also looked at Yulien with wide eyes in disbelief.
The smile he wore, which was like an ice statue, was as warm as the sunlight of a spring day.
As everyone’s eyes focused on him, Julianne smiled for the first time and spoke.
“Yeah, it sounds fun.”
Everyone held their breath at those words. For the first time, warmth was felt in his voice, which had always been as cold as frost.
Like solid ice melting away, his cold mask was slowly peeling away.
Everyone looked at him as if they had found a rare animal. Feeling those gazes, the expression on Yulien’s face disappeared in an instant.
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But now everyone knew.
The true face of Julian hidden behind that cold face.
And his heart, which was melting little by little while he was with them.
* * *
Chulbuk, chulbuk, chulbuk… … .
Those who had taken a break walked straight towards the center. Since it was a place where no living beings could survive in the first place, there were no more monsters attacking.
Still, the rotting smell and sticky, unpleasant feeling were truly unbearable.
“Ugh, it’s sticky. Is this thing still alive?”
Jerome groaned as he stepped on the floor filled with black sap.
Seriously, this place was so dirty. I was thinking of flying alone, but I felt a little sorry so I walked with her, and now I regret it.
Fortunately for Jerome, it wasn’t long before an incredible sight unfolded before everyone’s eyes.
“oh…….”
Jerome, who was the most expressive of the group, let out an exclamation of admiration.
It was a very wide open space. The charred ground, like a part of hell, was deeply cracked here and there like huge wounds.
A black steam rose through the gap. A sound like something groaning from deep underground could be heard.
The corrupted sap and energy that had been tormenting them until now were unable to cross the land, as if they were blocked by an invisible wall.
And upon that plain of death… … .
A black curtain of such immense size that it was impossible to describe in human language was cast over us.
