NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21: Monster Stampede and Unique Ghoul
Narrator POV
6 hours had passed since the bells rang.
The sun had gone down as well.
"REPORT!" <Officer>
"Yes sir, currently the main force of the adventurers had advanced toward the Undead King. Judging from the report at this time they must be facing the Undead King." <Soldier>
"Roger, is there any problem with the rear group defending the City?" <Officer>
"There had been minimal casualties and injured but as of far we are doing very well." <Soldier>
"I see; we are doing well. We just have to wait until the main group defeats the Undead King." <Officer>
Mirran, who is one of the closest aides of the guild master of Altus city is in charge of all of the information running through the command center of the operation located near the front gate of the city.
The outpost is busy with running soldiers and adventurers who are processing and confirming the reports coming from the people fighting in the frontline.
"Things are going well but somehow... I feel something is off." <Officer/Mirran>
"Something is off? Did you notice something out of place?" <Female Soldier>
The female who seemed to be a high-ranking soldier asked about Mirran's baseless mumbles.
"No... It's just that... things seem to be going too well." <Mirran>
"If things are going too well then there's nothing to be worried about right?" <Female Soldier>
"Normally I would feel that way, but this incident had been an enigma to us all. We don't know its true origin other than the fact that we know that they are monsters transported by a mysterious portal." <Mirran>
"Since all things are going well there should be no problem. This only means that we are managing to respond to this unknown just well... right?" <Female Soldier>
Mirran could not help but to agree with the female soldier.
[What bothers me is that this incident itself is out of the ordinary. I did not expect things to go as planned. Something... There must be something that I missed… but what?] <Mirran>
"SIR!" <Soldier>
Out of nowhere, Mirran's internalization was interrupted by a sudden intrusion of one of the soldiers who came to report to him.
"What is it?" <Mirran>
"There had been an increase of casualties in the rear group. The report says that they have encountered an unusually strong undead." <Soldier>
"What? strong undead? is it an Undead Knight? or maybe a Headless horseman?" <Mirran>
"No, the report says that it was a ghoul." <Soldier>
"A ghoul? If it's a ghoul there are a lot of adventurers in the rear group who could deal with it." <Mirran>
"That is the problem, sir some of the casualties were those individuals who tried to face this monster." <Soldier>
"What?! That's bad! we must know this unknown monster's identity before it causes a problem!" <Mirran>
Mirran tried to make sense of what he just heard.
He instinctively placed a hand over his face as he thinks of many possibilities that might have caused this to happen.
"Is something odd about this undead in the report? Something that would tell us about this monster's identity" <Mirran>
"Yes, most of the description of the survivors described the monster as a typical-looking ghoul, but..." <Soldier>
"But?" <Mirran>
"Y-yes! this ghoul seemed to be wielding a weapon?!" <Soldier>
Mirran's eyes widened after hearing this information.
"A weapon? I have never heard of a ghoul wielding a weapon before. They must have mistaken this undead with some other monster.” <Mirran>
He looked in the female soldier’s direction with a stern face.
"Nina, command a C... no B rank adventurer on standby to investigate this matter." <Mirran>
"Yes Sir Mirran" <Female Soldier/Nina>
"Everyone, please be safe..." <Mirran>
*************************************************
At the same time
Rear Group: Outskirts of the forest near Altus City
6 hours since the Bells sounded.
The sun had fallen for several hours now.
The only illuminations that lit the surroundings were the half-moon and some lights coming from magic lamps and torches.
-Clang-
-swoosh-
-Clang-
The sound of battle echoed all around the forest.
Adventurers and soldiers are fighting against the undead marching to the city of Altus.
Through the dark woods, a figure had been hopping silently through the shadows.
"Oh my god! it's an Undead Knight!" <Soldier 1>
"Call the unit leader! we can't deal with it on our own!" <Adventurer Mage>
"Looks like it took a lot of damage from the frontline already. I think we could defeat it!" <Soldier 2>
Two soldiers said as they saw the Undead Knight.
They nodded at each other and decided to attack the monster.
"DIE!" <Soldier 2>
One of the soldiers yells while charging at the Undead Knight.
"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T! STUPID! DON'T!" <Adventurer Mage>
A female mage adventurer yelled at the two soldiers.
As an Adventurer, she knew what the monster in front of them was.
It was a C-ranked monster, Undead Knight.
The reason why she yelled at those soldiers was to stop them.
She knew that even if the Undead Knight's armor was visibly destroyed the black aura surrounding it was still protecting the monster from any attacks.
She also knew that this monster is powerful enough to kill those soldiers easily.
But those soldiers still ignored the adventurer.
They thought that this adventurer was too much of a scared cat.
One of the soldiers swung their weapon at the exposed bone of the monster.
-Tang-
An odd sound of metal clashing on a hard object echoed as the soldier's attack hits the body of the Undead Knight.
"Wha- Wha- What? It did nothing?" <Soldier 2>
"Stupid! The black mist Aura is protecting the monster! There's no way we can damage that monster. RUN!" <Adventurer Mage>
"Wa, whaaaaa!!" <Soldier 2>
The soldier immediately turned around after realizing that his attack would never penetrate through the Undead Knight’s black aura.
It was a little too late, the Undead Knight already swung his sword into the soldier.
The armor of the soldier was drilled right through by the dull sword.
"Guhkk" <Soldier 2>
The soldier was pierced cleanly right in the middle of his torso.
The soldier raised his hands toward his companion to ask for help but the other soldier was too afraid to act.
Then the poor soldier was plunged into the ground by the dull sword of the Undead Knight and dragged the soldier like a mop.
After a moment of helpless struggle, the soldier died while still skewered by the sword of the Undead Knight who seemed to be toying with his dead body.
The black aura flowed through the body of the dead soldier causing it to jolt.
When the Undead Knight pulled the sword out of the soldier's body, the soldier rose again as a part of the army of undead.
"Hiiikk" <Soldier 1>
The soldier companion who seemed to be stunned by the scene he just saw could not move and fall with his butt on the ground.
His lower leg lost its strength out of fear.
"What are you doing sitting on the ground like that? RUN! RUN! or you'll die!" <Adventurer Mage>
The female mage tried to warn the soldier but the soldier seemed to be out of his mind.
The soldier realized this fact but he could not get his body to stand, instead he tried to crawl with his arm and knees away from the Undead Knight.
[Dammit if I try to help him now I will die with him. Somebody, please help that guy. Even if I try to help I can not do anything for him. My hands are full of the other undead around as well. somebody...] <Adventurer Mage>
The mage bit her lips as she could not do anything for the soldier who is about to die at the hands of the Undead Knight.
The Undead Knight who seemed to enjoy the pitiful soldier who was crawling on the ground pursued him slowly.
It did not take long before the Undead Knight reached the crawling soldier.
The undead cocked its large sword back, ready to pierce the soldier's body with its sword just like it did with the soldier's friends.
"Sorry." <Adventurer Mage>
The mage averted her eyes to avoid the death of the soldier.
That mage was prepared to hear the cry of the soldier but even though how long she waited the cry never came.
Cold wind flowed through her face.
She opened her eyes and saw glittering crystals through the air that reflects the light of the moon.
Her gaze followed the crystals in the air and found herself looking in the direction of the soldier and the Undead Knight
She could not believe her eyes.
The Undead Knight stopped moving.
"Wha- Why did it stop moving?" <Adventurer Mage>
She mumbles through the cold air.
She squinted her eyes and saw that patches of Ice were holding the Undead back, freezing its arm to stop.
"Ice magic?" <Adventurer Mage>
She blinked several times not knowing what to do.
"What are you doing? save the moron."
She heard a soft yet cold voice coming from somewhere.
She did not bother to look for the source of the voice but instead, run toward the crawling soldier.
The mage helped the soldier to stand and shouldered him to escape from the Undead Knight.
-tak--tak--tak-
-tak--tak--tak-
The Undead Knight gnashed its teeth repeatedly and made a loud clanking noise from its teeth.
It looked pissed from the fact that its body was being held back.
With its sheer power, it forced itself to free its hands to break the ice on its joints.
"Thank you" <Adventurer Mage>
Said the mage to the person waiting for her to get away from the Undead Knight.
The sharp gaze of that person gave her chills that ran through her back.
The red and purple hue of that person's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.
"Just hurry and go."
The indifferent attitude and the monotonous voice of that person made the adventurer forget the danger that the Undead Knight imposes momentarily.
She walked past that person while shouldering the soldier to escape.
The mage adventurer looked back at that person.
That person was wearing odd-looking white and red clothing.
Her physique indicated that she was only but a child who is barely reaching her teenage years.
Her knee-long black hair swayed with the cold breeze of the night.
Judging from her looks alone, no one would assume that she was an adventurer.
Despite that, the presence she give-off was comparable to the high-ranking adventurer she met in the past.
The small girl lifted her left hand.
Bits of crystal appeared in the empty air and gathered in her hands creating a sword.
"Now then, I have been bored with just the skeleton and undead hounds... even those ghouls do not even give me excitement. Now then? Would you be able to entertain me or would you be like those weaklings?"
She points her crystal sword in the direction of the Undead Knight.
As if provoked the monster emitted a dark aura from within its body and enveloped its weapon.
"fufufu, yes, yes just like that... Come on, I would not use my god's ability so try to kill me with all you have." <Someone>
With one hard action of closing its mouth, the Undead Knight swung its sword in the air and shoots a black crescent sword wave in her direction.
At the same time, The girl wearing white and red clothing swung her crystal sword and propelled a block of crescent-shaped ice toward the Undead Knight.
The black crescent sword waves and the block of crescent-shaped ice crashed and exploded.
"Tsk, the attacks canceled each other... I thought that my attack was stronger... Not bad..." <Someone>
The crystal sword in her broke and fell to the ground.
She stood confidently and crossed her arms looking at the Undead Knight the same way a human looks at an ant.
"Be proud, a monster like you is given a privilege to face me, Ued- ah... wrong..."
The small girl coughs as she realized that she introduced herself to the monster wrongly.
She used that moment to recollect her thoughts and introduced herself to the monster once again.
"Ahem, Ahem, be proud, a monster like you is given the privilege to face me, Luna Nightfall an E-rank adventurer." <Someone/Luna>
She said in a monotone voice and with a smug face.
The girl wearing a Miko Outfit said her name in her monotone voice.
The Undead Knight tilted its head trying to assess its opponent.
Luna returned a gaze by slightly tilting her head up so she could look down at the monster.
-tak-
The Undead Knight bit on its teeth once again as if to hype itself up.
Right away the monster kicked the ground and charged at the little girl.
Once Luna noticed the monster rushing at her.
Luna lifted her left hand once again in the open air and created a crystal sword out of it.
"Ice Sword" <Luna>
She got into a stance at once and waits till it was close enough to exchange sword slashes with the monster.
The Undead Knight swung its sword toward the small girl but hit nothing but the ground.
The ground exploded with the effect of the black aura.
Luna was able to evade by leaping to the left.
The Undead Knight followed and swung its sword at her horizontally.
"Nope" <Luna>
Luna jumped off the ground at the right moment.
As a result of the swing of the Undead Knight's sword, it was left wide open for an attack from the front.
Luna was in perfect position while still in the air.
Using the momentum of her jump, she twirls in the air and used that same momentum to thrust her sword into the naked skull of the Undead Knight.
-crackle-
Instead of the sword piercing the skull, it exploded instead.
The strike caused an explosion of white mist and ice covering the skull of the Undead Knight.
With that attack, the crystal sword disappeared with the explosion of cold magic.
"How's that?" <Luna>
Luna pushed herself away from the Undead Knight by kicking into the chest of the Undead Knight following it to stagger back as well.
The white mist of cold air covers the torso and all the body parts above it from sight.
Luna observed the situation and was looking intently at the Undead Knight.
Her eyes catch even the slightest movement.
Her eyes twitched and at the same time the mist subsided and behind it was the skull of the Undead Knight.
A quarter of it was frozen and turned into ice but not enough to kill the undead.
"hmmmnnn~" <Luna>
Luna squinted her eyes, she made a tune out of her nose that says how much she was impressed with the monster's sturdiness.
"So one strike is not enough... I kinda knew it but still... I'm quite disappointed... -Sigh-" <Luna>
She jumped back and distanced herself from about 5 meters away from the large monster.
She lifted both of her hands as a sign of using another magic.
"Frost Aura" <Luna>
-foooooosh-
A blue mist swirled from the ground in a circle around Luna causing the grass and bush to freeze.
She cocked her left hand back and grabbed into the air as she cast another magic.
"Ice Sword" <Luna>
Another crystal sword emerged out of the empty air and grabbed into it.
As if not done with the two magic she invoked, Luna crouched down on the floor ready to pounce using the right hand to support her body.
"Icicle Lance" <Luna>
Two floating large needles made out of ice emerged on her back.
"If you survive after this then I'll give you a reward." <Luna>
The Undead Knight responded by pumping its chest forward and emitting a black aura that was noticeably more than he had before.
With a smirk forming on her face, Luna pounced toward the Undead Knight.
The Undead Knight retaliated with a swing.
Luna adjusted her body in midair to dodge the attack.
As the sword passed Luna, one of the ice lances shot toward its body.
The monster tried to block it with its free arm.
The Icicle lance pierced through the arm and the body while ignoring the aura and armor of the Undead Knight.
The lance itself did nothing but the aftereffects of it caused an explosion of ice magic that froze the arm and armor of the undead inside a big chunk of ice.
The second lance shoot toward the foot of the Undead Knight and completely renders it to be frozen in place.
Unable to resist, dodge, or even block an incoming attack.
Luna stood over the body of the Undead Knight placing both of her feet over one of its frozen shoulders.
Luna's purple and red eyes seemed to glow as she looked down at the undead under her feet and pointed her Ice sword toward the defenseless skull of the Undead Knight.
"You did well, I did not make a mistake in using your kind as a test subject for that girl after all." <Luna>
At that moment the Undead Knight seemed to have recognized the identity of the girl standing over its shoulder.
A red glow twinkled from within the empty eye socket of the undead as it realizes this fact but it was too late.
Luna had pierced the Ice sword resting in her left hand down into the head of the Undead Knight.
As soon as the sword pierced its head, white mist exploded through the air.
The black aura protecting the undead body disappeared and the entire body of the undead turned into a pale blue hue and crumbled to the ground.
"Thank you for your hard work." <Female>
A voice echoed through the air.
Luna turned her head to look behind her and saw a woman who has a face that looks exactly like hers.
"Stella..." <Luna>
It was her sister, Stella Nightfall.
"You provided some flashy show there, Luna" <Female/Stella>
The gentle and alluring voice of Stella traveled through the cold air caused by Luna's Frost aura.
Luna turned off her Frost aura.
"Well, that monster was stronger than I initially thought so I ended up overdoing it a little... Tehe~" <Luna>
Luna was trying to act cute but her monotone voice neutralized all of her effort to act cute.
Stella squinted her eyes as she hears the excuse of her sister.
"Not just "a little"... You froze the area around... also you have gathered several spectators." <Stella>
Stella move her body aside and showed numerous adventurers and soldiers watching Luna's battle.
The surrounding was also frozen as a result of their battle.
"Wow..." <Soldier A>
"Did that girl just solo that Undead Knight?" <Adventurer A>
"Is that girl a C no... B rank adventurer?" <Adventurer B>
"No, from what I heard I thought she said that she was an E-rank." <Adventurer C>
"E-rank?! with that level of ability? Do you say she's just an E-rank? Don't joke around!" <Adventurer B>
-sigh-
Luna let out a sigh.
"Well, well, now that's a nice showcase for your debut~" <Stella>
"shut up" <Luna>
The two continued to walk forward into the dark forest and continued to slay the undead around.
Luna looked around to avoid others from eavesdropping on the topic she was about to talk about with Stella
She pulled the woman's sleeves to lower her head to her level so she could whisper something to her ears.
"That reminds me. We did prepare something for this event, right? you know... That zombie you made." <Luna>
"Oh, you mean "that" zombie?" <Stella>
Stella replied while lifting her index finger into the air.
"Yeah, it's about time it makes a move." <Stella>
"I see... Where is it right now?" <Luna>
Stella closed her eyes.
She seems to be trying to locate something in her mind.
"Ah, Found it... It seems to be 2 Kilometers over that direction." <Stella>
She pointed in a certain direction.
Luna used her power and looked in that direction.
With this, she was able to see what "that" was doing.
"Oh... fufufu it seems that our toy would make contact with Themis' favorite kid." <Luna>
"Oh, my~ if she fights that thing right now she might die. I should make it avoid her by all means." <Stella>
"No, wait... I think It would be nice if she encounters it. We'll just have to make that thing avoid killing her right? Remember that she is with that child as well." <Luna>
"That... child?" <Stella>
"Did you forget, the one you pointed out to be interesting when we watch them arrive in the city? I think it's about time for him to "awaken"." <Luna>
"Oh, that child... Indeed... I forgot about that child." <Stella>
"Well, why don't we go there and observe them up close for a change? In that way, I could directly supervise "that" thing... I can also make sure that "that" thing would NOT accidentally kill Themis' Favorite... But, well... I'm not sure about the safety of the others who is with her... after all, she's not the only hero around..." <Luna>
Luna was looking at Stella's face.
[...Stella is making that creepy smile again. I hope nothing would go wrong, she doesn't seem to notice it but sometimes she becomes overboard when she does that smile. I hope nothing would go wrong...] <Luna>
"-sigh- It can't be helped." <Luna>
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Author Note:
Ops I went over 3k words
I was originally going to have it at 2.9k words originally but after some editing, it came out like this….