Hero's Coffin Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the end, Harenir shook his head lightly, and Kalterik dropped him as if throwing him away. Seeming deeply ashamed of receiving a warning from the commander, he glared at him while grinding his teeth.

"Consider it an honor. How else would someone like you get a chance to be with the hero? Researching necromancy in a peaceful world built on sacrifice—how ungrateful. And in the Holy Empire, no less..."

Could it be that when he was brought out of prison, he had bumped into things not because of urgency, but due to Kalterik's animosity? It was a reasonable suspicion. Even now, as he barely managed to grab a tree to keep his balance after nearly falling flat, Kalterik, perhaps thinking he was being ignored again, started spouting words. Something about the history of the empire.

Harenir suddenly turned back towards them.

"Quiet."

"He's the only one talking."

When he pointed accusingly at Kalterik out of indignation, the man flinched, and Harenir looked at him even more strangely. But really, all the noise right now was coming from him.

"...You two, separate."

Harenir declared the separation in a voice that conveyed the weariness of a kindergarten teacher. In the end, the silver-haired knight ended up standing between Kalterik and him.

Only after the commotion had settled could he observe the scene before him. At the edge of the forest, softly illuminated by moonlight, stood a pure white temple.

It was overwhelmingly huge. Though it showed signs of age at a glance, it was clearly meticulously maintained daily, with all sorts of characters engraved on the tall pillars and ceiling. In the center, what was probably the temple's symbol, a sun, was sacredly etched.

As he was curiously taking in the sight, Kalterik quickly surveyed the surroundings and raised his hand. Perhaps wanting to make up for his earlier mistake and earn praise from the commander, he promptly called out.

"It's definitely clear. Everyone seems to have gone to check on the tower. Haha, I deliberately made a big commotion!"

"Hmm, by now they should have realized that 'that' death row inmate has disappeared, so they won't be back for a while."

If it had been just the collapse of the prison, they probably wouldn't have paid attention all the way from the temple, but with a death row inmate set to die tomorrow having escaped, everyone would be on high alert. Especially since he wasn't an ordinary prisoner, but someone treated as a villain by the empire.

"Well then, let's go find it now."

Perhaps wary of any guards that might still be around, all three moved silently, causing him to tense up and move cautiously as well. What were they looking for?

That question was soon answered when they reached the front of the main hall. Looking through the long windows, he could see long benches arranged on both sides, and at the end of the open central aisle stood an altar. On top of it, along with colorful flowers, a peach-colored coffin was placed at an angle.

Inside the open coffin, a single pure white ‘sword’ was visible.

Just from its appearance and atmosphere, it seemed sacred—perhaps it was a holy sword. Probably Harenir's sword, the one that all citizens of the empire knew was used by the First Knight of the Order.

He had been curious about how they had faked the death, and wondered if today's funeral had been held with just the holy sword. With only the sword symbolizing the hero placed alone, everyone would assume his death even without a body.

"Fortunately, the sword is where we expected it to be..."

Harenir said calmly. He seemed satisfied that it hadn't been moved yet, as holy relics would usually be kept in hard-to-access places. But then he lightly tapped the door with his index finger.

"They've put up a barrier before leaving."

"Ugh, I'm sorry. I should have caused an even bigger commotion...!"

"No, it's right to put up at least this minimal safety measure if all the guards were to leave their posts. It would have been stupid not to do even this much."

It seemed they had placed a barrier around the entire main hall to guard against potential intruders. It was fascinating to see something shimmering in front of the door even with his own eyes. Would an alarm go off if someone tried to force their way in?

Harenir turned to the silver-haired knight and said,

"Mela. Can you create a 'gap'?"

"I'll try."

He finally learned the names of all his companions. As he was internally condemning the game for not having a single possession buff and cursing that it must have been a failed game... he came to a chilling realization.

Wait, if the holy sword disappears from the main hall now.

"If the hero's sword disappears right after I escaped, won't everyone think I stole it?"

"I suppose so? You're already on death row, what difference does one more charge of theft make?"

Well... that's true...

He found himself agreeing with that matter-of-fact voice again, before belatedly feeling indignant. What was it about that voice? It resonated so sacredly, as if reciting scripture, that he kept accepting it as an eternal truth. He wanted to argue out of frustration, but the problem was that his words were right again.

After all, he was already seen as such a villain in the empire that he was sentenced to death, so what difference would it make if he stole the hero's sword too? In game terms, it would just raise his infamy level. Even if it was notoriety.

While he was grumbling internally, Mela drew her sword. Even in the shadow of the building, the well-forged rapier exuded a sharp aura.

Swoosh!

As Mela drew her sword straight down, the shimmering around the door began to part. There was no time to marvel at the amazing sight as the three moved quickly, and he was swept along with them.

However, wanting to distance himself from the crime scene like a last line of defense, he stayed far from the altar. He stood firmly by the doorway, watching the backs of the three knights as they approached the coffin. Yes, he was present at the scene of the sword's theft, but he didn't steal it himself. That's how it was, anyway.

As he was making these meaningless arguments in his head, he kept hearing rustling sounds from behind. What was it? He turned around curiously, and...

[Kyaaaaaah!]

[Grrrr--]

Through the long glass windows, he came face to face with dozens, no, hundreds of crimson eyes. Some looked like centipedes or spiders, while others resembled wolves or snakes. The sight of their glistening eyeballs rolling around was horrifying.

Their abnormal appearance evoked an unpleasant revulsion, and his whole body tensed up. The malevolent energy mixing into the air revealed their identity.

They were monsters.

"Gasp."

As he took a deep breath at the chilling sight, a centipede's head suddenly squeezed through the gap in the barrier. As it moved, seemingly widening the gap, the monsters poured into the main hall in a flood.

Ding-dong-dang-dong—

Ding-dong-dang-dong—

A loud bell sound violently struck the space. It was a reaction to the barrier being forcibly broken, wider than the gap Mela had opened. Kalterik glared behind him and shouted,

"Those bastards dare to covet the holy sword!"

Dozens of monsters rushed towards the coffin. Their eyes glistened with what might have been greed or anger. Saliva dripped long trails onto the floor.

Normally, monsters would avoid holy objects, but had they cut off the holy sword's energy to ensure the hero's death was convincingly faked? Holy swords were often described that way in stories. They would only accept a person with specific qualifications as their master, and only shine their true light in that person's hands.

If so, the holy sword was essentially sealed now, so were the monsters taking advantage of this moment? They might want to destroy it, or they might desire its powerful energy. Whatever the reason, it was clear they had gathered for nothing positive.

Kalterik and Mela drew their swords and began to engage the monsters, while he frantically fled to the wall to avoid them.

He had seen monsters in games and webtoons before, but encountering them in person right in front of him was a completely different dimension. A wave of revulsion welled up, and his body trembled with fear. The difference between 2D and 4D was this great. Ah, if he had known, should he have practiced with 3D VR games? Jumping two dimensions at once made it hard to adapt.

Slash!

Swish!

Monsters were crushed under Kalterik's greatsword, and Mela's lightly thrust rapier pierced through them in an instant. Meanwhile, Harenir simply walked towards the altar. Whether he naturally trusted his subordinates or not, he never once looked to either side.

There was no sense of tension in his walk through the chaos. He seemed to have expected monsters to swarm like this on the way to retrieve the holy sword. There would be a commotion, but as long as they got out with the sword before encountering others, it would be fine.

As he was blankly watching Harenir's profile, he suddenly looked up at the ceiling and was startled. A centipede-like monster was crawling on the ceiling, trying to ambush Harenir. He couldn't even tell when it had climbed up there. There were far too many monsters for just Kalterik and Mela to handle, and more kept pouring in.

"Hey, over there...!"

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Follow the arrow and run.

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As he was about to warn Harenir of the danger, a window suddenly appeared before his eyes. Huh? There was even a blue arrow flashing.