Hero's Coffin Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Just then, Harenir, who had leaped up there, remained silent at the Dium's mockery. Whoosh— As the cool night wind blew, his golden hair scattered and sparkled brilliantly under the moonlight.

At the highest point of the colorless Encroachment Zone, his figure holding the pure white holy sword under the bright moonlight was supremely sacred. However, for some reason, only those blue eyes had a worn-out look, as if he had walked a very long and arduous path.

Rustle— As Harenir tilted his head, his golden hair fell disheveled over his forehead.

"If I were really a god..."

He smiled silently. No, perhaps it was closer to self-mockery.

"..."

Harenir moved his lips a couple of times but ultimately said nothing. It was impossible to guess what words he had just swallowed. As his hair tilted diagonally, a shadow fell over one eye.

Something that was neither joy nor sorrow appeared in his blue eyes like an old stain and then disappeared. The corners of his mouth, still forming a smile, suddenly seemed to him like a taxidermied trace.

Finally, Harenir raised his sword.

"Let's not waste time unnecessarily."

Below, the two knights were still fighting dozens of Dium. Moreover, it had been well over an hour since they entered the Encroachment Zone, so there was no time to leisurely converse with the tri-horned Dium. They had to deal with it before becoming contaminated.

Bang! Harenir immediately charged at the Dium. But unexpectedly, the Dium flew off in the opposite direction. He was bewildered by its action that seemed almost like fleeing, as he had naturally expected a fierce battle to ensue.

Harenir also asked, as if puzzled,

"Are you tucking your tail and running from the start?"

[Kuk kuk, wouldn't it be a foolish choice to clash head-on with the great 'god'? And we need time...]

The Dium looked down ominously, chuckling. Below the canyon, two holy knights were fighting against one- and two-horned Dium. Just two. Those struggling below, believing Harenir would handle the tri-horned Dium.

[We have energy received from something that came while we were preparing the ritual. It said it was a good means to plunge humans into despair, so I should try using it.]

Whoosh, some kind of energy began to spread from the Dium. Watching from afar, he opened his eyes wide. The energy the Dium was emitting had a dark red color. It was surprising to see something with 'color' appear in the Encroachment Zone that was entirely colorless.

However, the reason it couldn't be seen as positive at all was because he had seen similar energy from a demon before. The succubus they had encountered on the sky island had used energy of exactly that ominous color.

Whoosh! As the dark red energy spread widely, it covered the moon in the sky and then poured down like rain. It was more powerful energy than the succubus's, and it looked almost like blood was falling.

As he was about to step back hurriedly at the very unsettling sight, Noi staggered in front of him.

"Ugh, urgh..."

He had already taken a hit earlier when the tree trunks were crushed. Though he had stubbornly endured and continued using his ability afterwards, he stumbled as soon as the rain touched him. Though where he and Noi were was far from the altar, the dark red rain fell even here.

Thud, Noi finally collapsed to the ground, clutching his head. He wanted to run away alone, but if he did that, the quest's success would become remote. If it were just him getting hit and collapsing, it might be different, but wasn't Noi Harenir's long-time acquaintance? Probably related to the previous Holy Knight Commander.

Resigned, he jumped into the rain to grab Noi. He needed to escape as quickly as possible, but with this pathetic body, it was difficult to move even Noi, who was smaller than him. Pulling his robe's hood down deeply, he panted as he dragged Noi along. Carrying him was out of the question.

"Huff, hah, let me put points into strength stat."

He barely moved away from the range of the falling rain and caught his breath. Though Noi's appearance was a mess from being dragged on the wet ground, well, he had still kept Harenir's words.

"Urgh, this is similar to that annoying bastard's energy!"

Kalterik shouted irritably from the other side. He groaned as he staggered from the pouring rain while in the midst of fighting a two-horned Dium. But after shaking his head vigorously a couple of times, he let out a "Hyaah!" and drew up his holy power. Golden energy rose like a wave.

"This mere, nightmare or whatever, doesn't work on me anymore...!"

...It seemed to be working a little, though.

He decided to ignore the cold sweat on Kalterik's forehead. Still, as someone experienced with nightmares, he was escaping it well. Just as he was feeling relieved that there was no need to worry about the holy knights, he witnessed a truly unexpected sight.

"...Ugh."

On the opposite side, Mela staggered and then collapsed with a thud.

It was a first. Mela had always existed flawlessly upright. The image of her he had seen so far was of her calmly surveying the situation with her cold navy blue eyes, her mysterious silver hair flowing. A loyal knight who followed Harenir's every word and quietly guarded his side.

Mela, who had never once faltered, was now kneeling on the ground, panting. The holy power trying to resist the rain imbued with nightmare energy flickered unsteadily around her.

"I, I, came out of that place..."

Mela fumbled to pull out a necklace from between her collar. She grasped the silver necklace engraved with Solnium's emblem and muttered something quickly, which sounded like verses from a sacred text.

Kalterik, realizing the situation, tried to hurriedly approach her, but a horde of Dium rushed in to block his advance. Kalterik looked frantic, trying to surround himself with holy power to block the nightmare rain while also fending off the Dium.

Finally, the tri-horned Dium shot an attack towards Mela. Its arm had somehow transformed into a bow. One arm was shaped like a bow, while the other had elongated its nails to form an arrow.

Swish! The arrow, aimed precisely at Mela, flew carrying black fog. Moreover, the arrow began to split the moment it was fired. From two to four, eight, and in an instant, sixteen.

"Mela!"

Kalterik shouted her name like a scream, but thud! A terrible sound erupted. The sound of flesh being pierced echoed chillingly and then...

As the thick fog cleared, the scene that appeared was Harenir standing in front of Mela. Originally, the two had been far apart, but he seemed to have moved instantly. He had deflected most of the arrows with his sword, but the arrows he couldn't block had pierced him.

One had gone through his shoulder, and another was lodged in his palm. He had caught with his hand the one shot at Mela. Plop, plop, bright red blood fell. Mela looked up at him with an astonished expression as blood poured out enough to form a puddle on the ground.

"C-Commander..."

Harenir exhaled softly, "Hoo—" Then he calmly pulled out the arrows from his shoulder and palm one by one, but because the arrowheads had a bizarre shape, holes were left behind. Blood gushed out.

His left hand trembled naturally in response to the physical reaction, but Harenir forcibly clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, about three or four times.

Finally, extending his left hand, now restored to its original form, to Mela, Harenir smiled gently. As he turned around then, he looked like the flawless hero as always.

"That's right, Mela. You came out of that place."

It was a shockingly impressive recovery ability once again. This time, the wounds had been deep enough to pierce his body completely, yet even those healed in an instant. Not just his palm, but his shoulder was the same. It was strange to see his shoulder, exposed through the torn uniform, fully healed. Though his flesh was covered in blood, there was no wound anywhere.

Was this why Harenir was revered as the manifestation of God? It was a quite understandable situation. While he was still marveling at this, Harenir gave an advice that was difficult to understand.

"Mela. Don't make dangerous choices."

"..."

"I don't want you to do things you dislike. You don't have to do that."

Harenir's tone was very kind, but it also sounded vaguely like a firm warning. It was an enigmatic content that seemed more than just trying to calm Mela who must have been surprised, or telling her not to feel guilty about the current situation.