Chapter 54: 《Fanatic》- (2)
(I)
-First unit annihilated in the Great Western Forest. Urgent support needed.
“The first unit, an-annihilated?”
The High Saintess of Serion, Marina Bergard, was deeply shocked as she read the short letter sent by the Senior Saintess, Isabella.
Marina, who always maintained her composure as the High Saintess, couldn’t hide the tremble in her voice this time.
“Our first unit, Serion’s Holy Knights, annihilated?”
The support unit dispatched from Serion to aid the Avilia Kingdom—blessed by the Celestial God Asteria and departing with confidence—had just sent news of their first unit’s annihilation.
Marina was stunned.
“…Who could have done this? Who would do such a thing?”
Her hands trembled as she tried to calm herself. Marina muttered blankly.
“To think they were wiped out before even arriving….”
If they had been defeated in battle against Elzerba, the Progenitor Vampire, it would have been understandable.
But to be annihilated in the Great Western Forest, far from their destination of Nevirthol, was incomprehensible.
“…All contact was cut off. Scouts were sent to trace their movements, and heavily mutilated bodies were found in the Great Western Forest.”
“Ugh….”
Hearing the Holy Knight’s report, Marina bit her lip and lowered her head. Her eyes reflected deep sorrow.
“…Why would they leave the main road and go into the Great Western Forest? Why?”
“Perhaps they chose to cut through the forest to shorten the distance as much as possible.”
“Haa….”
Hearing her subordinate’s response, Marina let out a deep sigh.
Certainly, passing through the forest would have significantly shortened the distance compared to the main route.
Edward, the unit’s vanguard leader, likely made the decision to cut through the forest in hopes of achieving merit quickly.
It wasn’t an entirely incomprehensible decision. But there was one troubling thought.
“…What kind of monster in the Great Western Forest could annihilate the first unit?! Are you saying such a monster still exists in the forest?”
The Great Western Forest, often called a labyrinth above ground.
As part of their sacred mission to eradicate all monsters under Asteria’s name, Serion’s Holy Knights regularly conducted expeditions into the forest.
And over the dozens, even hundreds of expeditions, no monster had ever been strong enough to overcome Serion’s Holy Knights armed with powerful Holy Magic.
Even Behemoths and Dragons, mighty creatures in their own right, turned to ash under the Holy Magic of the knights.
Of course, given the vastness of the forest, there was always the possibility that unknown monsters might exist.
But Marina was confident that no monster capable of annihilating hundreds of knights existed in this world.
…Except for one: Elzerba.
“…Could it be Elzerba, the Progenitor Vampire?”
High Saintess Marina Bergard cautiously asked her subordinate. Elzerba, holding a significant grudge against Serion, might have been observing their movements and could have annihilated the first unit through her subordinates.
According to Marina’s memories, Elzerba’s Vampire Butler and Zombie Maid were nearly as powerful as Elzerba herself.
If they had acted personally, it would have been difficult for the first unit to hold their ground.
“N-no. It doesn’t seem like the Progenitor Vampire was involved.”
But the Holy Knight shook his head at Marina’s speculation. Hearing his response, Marina’s expression hardened further.
“What…?”
If it wasn’t Elzerba, the situation was even more serious.
It meant that another monster, hostile to them, capable of annihilating hundreds of knights, existed in this world.
“Who… could it be?”
Marina asked in a trembling voice.
Having spent thousands of years on earth after being exiled from heaven and stripped of her angelic wings, Marina could not fathom anyone other than Elzerba capable of such destruction.
The Holy Knight cautiously replied to her.
“Well, there weren’t any clear traces to determine who it was exactly, but….”
“….”
“…All the bodies had fang marks on their necks.”
“Fangs…!!”
“…Like vampires.”
“Could it be….”
Vampires.
Marina’s forgotten memories suddenly resurfaced.
“If it’s vampires….”
Yes, it made sense if it was vampires. If the culprit was the vampire hidden in the Great Western Forest, then the annihilation of the Holy Knights and the fang marks on the bodies could be explained.
…There was one monstrous vampire other than Elzerba. One who likely still lurked in the Great Western Forest.
“…Damn bastard. He’s still alive?”
Marina’s eyes burned with rising fury.
…The lunatic vampire who gathered his kin to free Elzerba’s seal 800 years ago. A heartless, bloodthirsty madman.
“Arbelion Lwaiar….”
The Vampire King, Arbelion Lwaiar.
Though they had nearly been annihilated by the newly developed Holy Artifact Heavenly Light at the time, Arbelion seemed to have survived somehow. Over the last 800 years, he must have been growing stronger in the Great Western Forest.
Considering how cunning and sly vampires were, it also made sense how he had avoided Serion’s notice until now.
This time, he likely ambushed under the cover of night and annihilated the first unit. That was their usual tactic.
“Now that their master has moved, they think they can crawl back out into the world….”
The fact that they engaged the Holy Knights meant they were emboldened by the breaking of Elzerba’s seal. Revering her like a goddess, the vampires likely decided to come out into the open.
It was a troubling development.
Without Serion’s Holy Artifacts, the vampires were powerful enough to destroy the Avilia Kingdom outright.
“Damn it….”
Marina frowned deeply and lowered her head.
Currently, Serion’s regular forces dispatched to support Avilia were led by Senior Saintess Isabella, Serion’s second-strongest after Marina. However, Marina doubted Isabella could hold her ground against both Elzerba and Arbelion.
It was questionable whether they could last a week, let alone a month.
…They clearly needed more support.
“…Very well.”
Having made up her mind, the High Saintess of Serion raised her head resolutely. She then spoke firmly to her subordinate.
“I will go myself. Inform Isabella of this as well.”
“Y-you, High Saintess?!”
The Holy Knight, wide-eyed with shock, tried to dissuade her. Marina had never participated in any battles before. He waved his hands, trying to stop her.
“N-no, High Saintess. Please, trust us to handle this.”
Allowing the esteemed High Saintess, the Apostle of Asteria, to fight was a disgrace for any subordinate. The Holy Knight desperately tried to stop her, but Marina’s resolve was unwavering.
“No, I must go.”
Her voice was filled with determination.
If it were just Elzerba, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Judging from her memories of 1,000 years ago, Elzerba preferred overwhelming her enemies with numbers, using her powers as a Necromancer Lord to summon endless armies of undead.
If Elzerba attacked Nevirthol, the strongest fortress on the continent, fortified with Serion’s Holy Magic, it would hold like an unbreakable wall against the undead. Surviving until the Celestial God’s prophecy could come true wouldn’t be impossible.
…But the real problem was Arbelion.
That mad vampire and his kin would never fight honorably. They specialized in ambushes, assassinations, and other underhanded tactics.
Arbelion would undoubtedly exploit the chaos caused by Elzerba’s direct attack on Nevirthol to target their commanders. Marina knew that even Isabella or the immortal hero in their ranks couldn’t handle Arbelion.
The only one who could face him was Marina herself. If she didn’t go, their leaders would likely fall to the vampires’ fangs.
“That cannot be allowed.”
Marina clenched her fists tightly.
With about a month and a half left until Asteria’s prophecy, Marina resolved to buy as much time as possible by using the Avilia Kingdom as a shield.
To fulfill Asteria’s prophecy—that was the purpose of Marina’s existence.
Her god.
Her eternity.
Her everything.
“Asteria….”
For the sake of the great Celestial God, Marina was ready to face any foe.
Even if it was Elzerba, the most fearsome monster in human history.
“…May all be blessed by Asteria.”
***
(II)
“Th-there it is…!!”
Several days after departing Nevirthol by aerial carriage, Judith Evergrit finally spotted her hometown, Rieli.
“Faster, faster….”
Judith urged her carriage forward toward the small territory she called home. The closer she got to the city, the heavier her heart grew with worry.
‘What if everyone’s dead?’
‘What about Father? What about my sister?’
Would the townspeople be safe? What had happened to her kidnapped father? Was her only sister okay? A flood of concerns filled Judith’s mind.
“….”
A few minutes later, Judith finally arrived at the gates of Rieli. The once-sturdy gate was battered, as if struck by siege weapons, and lay in ruins.
…It was a sign that someone had already invaded the city. An indescribable unease crept up Judith’s spine.
“Please, please….”
Praying for minimal damage, hoping the vampire had shown some mercy and left at least one survivor, she stepped into the city.
“….”
Despite having heard the news of “annihilation,” the interior of the city was relatively intact.
Only a few cracked or bloodstained buildings could be found, and Rieli had largely maintained its clean and orderly appearance.
‘There are no corpses… what could have happened?’
If the city gate had been breached, it was certain that the enemy had entered.
In that case, a fierce battle would have taken place within the city as well. Yet, strangely enough, Judith Evergrit could not find a single corpse.
“Is anyone here? Father! Sister!”
Calling out desperately for someone, Judith ventured deeper and deeper into the city.
As she approached the central plaza, a terrible stench assaulted her nose.
…A smell so vile it could be described as a mixture of rotting milk and food waste left out for a month.
It was, without question, one of the worst odors imaginable.
“Urgh….”
The nauseating smell made Judith instinctively cover her nose.
Though she didn’t want to think about or recall it, Judith had encountered this smell before.
As a member of the hero’s party, she had cut down countless enemies, making it a scent she couldn’t avoid.
…It was the stench of corpses.
“What… is this smell?”
Judith frowned deeply as she continued taking step after step forward.
The relatively clean cityscape from before now seemed meaningless.
The closer she got to the central plaza, the more bloodstains covered the streets.
In addition to the worsening stench of corpses, the smell of something burning and the buzzing of flies began to fill the air.
“….”
Clutching her chest to calm its frantic beating, Judith finally arrived at the central plaza.
What greeted her first was the gruesome sight of a soldier’s corpse impaled on a wooden barricade.
“Good heavens….”
…And behind that, a scene straight out of hell.
All she could see were horrifying corpses and a lake of dark red blood.
The once-blue-and-gray central plaza of Rieli was now dyed entirely crimson.
The soldiers’ corpses, carelessly strewn about, were crawling with maggots.
The stench emanating from their bodies bypassed Judith’s nose and seemed to strike her brain directly.
“Urgh… Uweeeek!”
The moment she saw the dreadful scene, Judith vomited everything in her stomach.
Even the noblest of heroes would likely feel the same nausea at this sight.
“What… what on earth happened here?”
Judith hastily looked around her surroundings.
…Weapons and barricades scattered across the ground, along with countless corpses of soldiers.
Judging by the situation, it seemed the soldiers had made the central plaza their second line of defense after the city gate had been breached.
Though the outcome was tragic, this must have been their last stand, where they staked all their hopes.
“Ugh….”
Seeing the pitiful and horrific end of her people,
Judith swallowed her tears. If only she had arrived a little sooner, or if she had never joined the hero’s party in the first place—could something have been different?
…She didn’t know.
“….”
Through her tears, Judith scanned her surroundings again. In the center of the plaza, she spotted a pile of charred corpses.
It seemed someone had started to burn the bodies but abandoned the task halfway through.
Yes, with such an overwhelming number of corpses, especially those of family and friends who had laughed and chatted with her until recently, even Judith herself might not have been able to bear the psychological shock and would have fled partway.
“Sigh….”
…Still, the fact that someone had attempted to deal with the bodies meant that at least one survivor existed.
That single fact—that someone from her hometown was still alive—brought a small sense of relief to Judith.
“….”
Judith then tore off part of her coat to fashion a makeshift mask.
Rolling up her sleeves, she grabbed the leg of a nearby corpse and began moving it to the center of the plaza.
She couldn’t leave the people of her hometown, those she had known since childhood, lying here like this.
At the very least, she needed to give them a proper funeral so their spirits wouldn’t wander aimlessly.
…It was the minimum duty she, as the lord’s daughter, felt she must fulfill.
***
(III)
“Ju-Judith?”
“Huh?”
She had been gathering bodies to prepare for cremation for who knows how long when she suddenly heard someone call her name.
Startled, Judith raised her head, hearing a voice she thought she’d never hear again in Rieli.
“Judith? Is that really you?!”
“…!!”
To her left, a woman wearing a mask, much like Judith’s, was walking toward her in a daze.
…Though half of her face was covered, Judith recognized her instantly.
That blue hair, the same shade as her own.
Those beautiful eyes, as deep as the ocean.
“…Sister.”
It was her one and only sister, Ruby Evergrit.
“Sister!”
“Judith.”
In the hellscape their hometown had become, the two sisters embraced each other tightly.
Overwhelmed by the unbelievable fact that her blood relative was alive, Judith buried her face in Ruby’s arms, sobbing.
“Sister, you… you’re alive….”
“Of course I’m alive.”
“Thank goodness… thank goodness….”
Ruby gently stroked her younger sister’s hair.
Tears welled up in Ruby’s eyes as well as she gazed upon Judith’s face.
“…Sister.”
After holding each other for what felt like an eternity, the sisters finally managed to calm themselves.
Judith wiped her tears and looked at her sister properly for the first time.
Though she looked slightly thinner, it was unmistakably her sister.
Clearing her throat, Judith asked Ruby.
“Sister, what on earth happened here?”
She gestured to the horrifying scene around them as she asked.
Hearing Judith’s question, Ruby let her tears fall.
“Judith….”
Her voice trembled. That frail voice, barely escaping her lips, carried a deep fear.
“The Progenitor Vampire attacked our city….”
“….”
“Everyone fought back, but in the end….”
Ruby couldn’t finish her sentence. Judith clenched her eyes shut and lowered her head.
“That damn, devilish bastard….”
She cursed the monstrous being who had devastated her hometown.
To have slaughtered all the soldiers in the city so mercilessly, had they brought an army of tens of thousands?
“No, that’s not it.”
“What…?”
But Ruby shook her head. Her tear-filled eyes reflected a fear so profound it seemed bottomless.
“It was one person. Just one.”
“…One person?”
“Yes, a single Zombie Maid came and massacred everyone….”
“….”
Judith’s expression hardened. Her mind raced, but she struggled to comprehend her sister’s words.
‘A single undead destroyed our city?’
Even though Rieli was small, it was still a recognized territory of the Avilia Kingdom, equipped with a proper defense system and numerous soldiers.
Yet, a single undead—not even an army or the Progenitor Vampire herself—had decimated the city? It was too absurd to believe.
Zombies, after all, were monsters weak enough that even a farmer could defeat one. What kind of zombie could annihilate an entire city?
Judith was at a loss for words.
“The Progenitor Vampire sent it because we didn’t cooperate. If only we had done as we were told… maybe….”
“….”
Judith’s face stiffened as she looked at her sobbing sister.
Ruby wasn’t the type to lie or exaggerate in such a situation.
If what she said was true and the Progenitor Vampire had sent a single Zombie Maid to reduce Rieli to ruins….
‘Then how powerful must the Progenitor Vampire herself be?’
A chill ran down Judith’s spine.
“Wh-what about the townspeople? Are they all dead?”
Trying to shake off thoughts of the Progenitor Vampire, she urgently asked about the fate of the other townsfolk.
Ruby replied with a sorrowful smile.
“Thankfully, Father anticipated the attack and evacuated the townspeople a few days ago. Most of the elderly and vulnerable are safe….”
“That’s a relief….”
Judith let out a sigh of relief at Ruby’s words.
Though it was only some of the elderly, and even then not all, it was still something.
Knowing that some had survived was a faint glimmer of hope amidst the tragedy.
Judith then asked about the most important person to her.
“What about Father? Is Father safe?!”
Her father, Chris Evergrit, the lord of Rieli and the most precious person to Judith. She desperately hoped he was unharmed, but Ruby only lowered her head.
“Father….”
“Father?”
“…Was taken.”
“By who…?”
“The Zombie Maid took him. I think she brought him to the Royal Capital….”
“Ah….”
Judith’s knees gave way at the confirmation of her father’s abduction.
“Father….”
Her entire body was consumed by worry, making it hard for her to even breathe. Tears streamed down her face, soaking her sleeves.
“Wh-why would they take Father….”
What could the Progenitor Vampire possibly want with her father?
He was just the lord of a small territory. What could they gain from him?
Having already seized the Royal Capital, they should have had access to plenty of resources and intelligence.
What reason could they have for invading Rieli and taking her father?
Was it simply to make an example of him?
A warning to other territories that this would happen if they didn’t cooperate?
…Judith didn’t know.
“…Fine.”
But one thing was clear.
The fact that they had taken her father alive meant they wanted something from him.
And as long as they wanted something from him, there was a chance he was still alive.
As long as there was even a 1% chance her father was alive, Judith knew what she had to do.
“…Sister, I’m leaving the townspeople to you.”
Judith ripped off her tear-soaked mask and grabbed her sister’s hand. Hearing her determined words, Ruby’s face darkened.
“W-what? Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’re planning to save Father….”
“Yes, I’m going to the Royal Capital.”
Judith nodded firmly at Ruby’s question. Ruby yelled at her in disbelief.
“Are you crazy? You’re going to the Progenitor Vampire’s territory alone? Father might already be dead!”
Not wanting to part with her sister again, Ruby pleaded with Judith desperately.
But Judith’s resolute expression didn’t waver in the slightest.
“…It doesn’t matter. Then I’ll at least bring back his body.”
“But the Progenitor Vampire is the enemy! Please, just stay with me and the townspeople. They’ll be so happy to see you. They need you the most right now!”
To the people of Rieli, Judith was a priceless treasure as a member of the hero’s party. Her mere presence would undoubtedly bring them strength during these difficult times.
“…I’m sorry.”
But Judith shook her head.
“Sister, there’s something I must do.”
“Something you must do…?”
“Yes, something only I can do.”
While finding her father was one task, she also had another critical mission.
…Uncovering the truth about the hero’s bloodline, the connection between the hero and the Prime Minister, and their hidden secrets.
At this moment, these were tasks only Judith could accomplish.
Under the foolish governance of the Prime Minister, with the Avilia Kingdom teetering on the brink of collapse, Robert’s desperate plea, and her abducted father—
Perhaps it was inevitable that Judith would head to the Royal Capital.
“I will no longer yield. No matter the danger, I will stand and fight.”
…If fate is unavoidable, then she would fight it to the bitter end.
Even if her opponent is the Progenitor Vampire,
Even if it is the Hero,
Even if it is the god of this world—
“I… will face it with pride and overcome.”
No matter what, she would move forward.
—
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