Who told you I am an NPC

Chapter : 38

Yan Yunqing was shocked, but he found that Henry seemed to feel nothing.

He was still focused on cutting the vine tumor, completely ignoring the dark green juice that was corroding his body.

No... the undead would indeed not be physically corroded, but the white smoke rising from Henry's body clearly indicated that his soul was also suffering a corrosive attack.

His arms gradually rotted away, the corroded wounds deep enough to see the bone.

Yet Henry's face still wore a focused expression, making the scene particularly terrifying.

Henry, who had always behaved no differently from a human, was finally showing his undead side.

When the last bit of his palm melted away, the dagger Henry was holding fell limply, but he caught it between his arm and body and continued his work.

Yan Yunqing stood where he was, not trying to go forward to help.

He quietly watched Henry cut down the vine tumor bit by bit. In the process, his arms also gradually melted away, disappearing bit by bit, leaving only a small section.

The cross-section was corroded into a bloody mess.

Just looking at it, Yan Yunqing felt a faint pain in his own arms.

As a swordsman, how could Henry so calmly watch his own hands disappear, never to be able to lift a longsword again?

The cut-off vine tumor gradually shriveled over time, slowly withering away.

The outer layer of vines peeled off, revealing a flesh ball inside that looked like a newly formed embryo.

It was dark red overall, with a sticky membrane on the surface.

If you got closer, you could hear its heart beating one by one, the boiling blood surging.

No wonder it was called a tumor.

The vines entangled on the surface of this monster, upon closer inspection, were all connected to this giant tree, continuously drawing nutrients from it to provide themselves with vitality.

Seeing the flesh ball that had been peeled off, Henry wanted to end its life with his sword, but he no longer had hands to lift his blade.

He looked at Yan Yunqing for help.

Yan Yunqing was silent for two seconds, then stepped forward and drew [Henry's Longsword]. He aimed at the flesh ball and slashed down fiercely.

Juice splattered everywhere.

He dodged quickly, and only a little splattered on the hem of his clothes.

When Henry saw the familiar sword in Yan Yunqing's hand, a trace of confusion flashed in his eyes.

Then, as if suddenly awakened, he looked around, his expression filled with bewilderment.

Yan Yunqing watched as the flesh ball gradually lost its vitality under his hand.

It wanted to struggle, but it had not yet formed a real body from the embryo. In the face of its own death, it was powerless to turn the tide.

Finally, it shriveled into a thin sheet of paper and disappeared into specks of light.

Yan Yunqing looked up and met Henry's bewildered and somewhat melancholic eyes.

He was stunned for a moment, glanced at the [Henry's Longsword] in his hand, and understood.

"You remember?" Yan Yunqing wiped the unknown liquid from the longsword, wanting to return the sword to its original owner. Who knew that Henry, seeing his intention, shook his head.

"You don't have to give it to me."

Henry wanted to raise his hand, but could only slightly lift a small part of his upper arm.

"In my current state, I can't lift this sword anymore. It's better in your hands."

His gaze swept over the other magic wand tucked into Yan Yunqing's waist.

"A dual-wielder of magic and sword... sounds like a miraculous fairy tale."

"A miracle?" Seeing that Henry really didn't seem reluctant to part with the sword, Yan Yunqing put it away again.

"I don't think so. The reason miracles are called miracles is because they can still be realized by people with a strong will.

Don't you agree?"

Henry seemed to be touched by Yan Yunqing's words, "Miracles can be realized by people with a strong will... is that why they're called miracles?"

Henry lowered his head in thought.

At this moment, he looked very frail. His two empty sleeves fluttered in the wind, and with his pale face, he looked like a handsome male ghost from a horror movie.

Of course, he was indeed a male ghost now.

Henry seemed to have thought of something. He slowly nodded, "You're right.

This is a miracle."

He was about to say more when a sudden gust of wind blew, causing the vines hanging from the tree to swing wildly.

Yan Yunqing was blown off balance and almost fell from the tree trunk.

He quickly grabbed a vine as thick as his arm to steady himself, and at the same time, grabbed Lilian, who had been accidentally thrown out.

However, this was all Yan Yunqing could do.

Henry, who was a few steps away from him, was swept away by the strong wind.

Having lost his arms, he could no longer grab a vine and swing himself back like before.

He was carried away by the wind and thrown violently from the giant tree.

"Henry!" Yan Yunqing shouted.

Lilian braved the strong wind and held her magic wand, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the wind kept rushing in, giving her no chance to chant a spell.

Henry fell straight down.

There was no look of panic on his face.

On the contrary, his lips were still curled in a smile.

He closed his eyes and completely relaxed his body.

Yan Yunqing's heart was in his throat, about to leap out, but he saw that just before Henry was about to be smashed into a pulp, he was enveloped by another invisible wind.

The speed of his rapid descent was slowed, as if he had fallen into a gentle cloud, slowly sinking in.

He was properly protected.

Henry still had his eyes closed, allowing the wind to envelop him.

"Little cat!" Lilian shouted against the strong wind, "Watch out, something has appeared—"

Only then did Yan Yunqing notice a figure shrouded in black mist appear not far away.

He couldn't see the person's face, but Yan Yunqing was sure: this was Kalenna.

The vine that Yan Yunqing had been holding onto finally couldn't support his weight and snapped from above with a crack.

Yan Yunqing was caught off guard and was directly swept away by the strong wind.

Yan Yunqing backhandedly stuffed Lilian into his embrace, trying his best to control his body in the wind, recalling the postures needed for a high-altitude emergency landing that he had seen in short videos, and trying to protect his head...

Before he could adjust his posture and prepare to land, a huge surge of magic power erupted from Lilian in his embrace.

In an instant, a warm current also enveloped Yan Yunqing—and then they fell rapidly.

Yan Yunqing:???

Yan Yunqing watched with wide eyes as he splatted onto the ground... and bounced back up??

What is this...?

Yan Yunqing found that he was wrapped in a layer of translucent energy, like a balloon.

Upon contact with the ground, it instantly dissipated the force, and the remaining force bounced him up.

Yan Yunqing thought he was hearing splatting sounds.

After rolling a couple of times, Yan Yunqing finally came to a stop on the ground.

The energy around him disappeared.

Lilian popped her head out and said with a look of accomplishment, "How was it? My bubble magic!"

Yan Yunqing gave a thumbs up, "You're still the useful one."

The strong wind showed no sign of abating at this moment, but now that Yan Yunqing was on the ground, he didn't have to worry so much.

Lilian cast a gravity spell on both of them, multiplying their weight by ten, ensuring that even a category twelve typhoon couldn't blow them away.

Yan Yunqing braved the wind and moved towards Henry.

He had expected to see Henry in a nervous and vigilant state, but when he got closer, he found Henry looking up at the black mist.

He seemed unaffected by the strong wind, standing freely.

"What kind of wind is this?"

Yan Yunqing shouted at Henry, "How do we make it stop!"

Henry turned his head, looked at Yan Yunqing, and took two steps towards him.

Yan Yunqing immediately felt the wind around him weaken a lot.

As Henry got closer and closer, it was as if they were in a separate space.

Outside, the branches and vines were dancing wildly, but they were completely unaffected by the strong wind outside.

Yan Yunqing:???

Alright, he got it. Kalenna was playing favorites, right!

Yan Yunqing, who had drunk a bellyful of wind, was speechless for a moment.

He tidied his messy hair, "That black mist up there—is that Kalenna?"

Yan Yunqing asked very directly, and Henry also answered very directly, "Yes, but she has no reason now. We need to clear the black mist around her so she can wake up."

"That black mist is..." Yan Yunqing was halfway through his question when Lilian interrupted him.

"That's the black mist born from the bones of a god!

If it's not cleared away soon, it will continuously give birth to countless demonic beasts!"

Yan Yunqing also became nervous, "How do we clear it?"

Continuously giving birth to demonic beasts?

What's the difference between this and an instance continuously spawning monsters?

This must be a bug!

Lilian's voice was grave, "For the thousand years since the birth of demonic beasts, no race has found a way to completely eliminate them, unless—by using the purest power in the world to destroy the source of the black mist."

The source of the black mist—isn't that the bones of a god?

But now the black mist was wrapped around Kalenna.

What did that mean?

Taking advantage of the windless area around them, which was still relatively safe, Henry explained to Yan Yunqing, "Kalenna has fused with a small piece of a god's bone."

Yan Yunqing:?

"Fused?"

Henry nodded, "You're holding that sword, so you must have come from outside, right?

How long has it been since Kalenna and I died?"

Yan Yunqing: "...Six years."

"I see, it's already been six years." Henry said wistfully, "I've been in a daze in this space all this time.

Unknowingly, six years have already passed."

Henry sighed lightly.

The sigh contained complex and deep emotions, "Six years ago, just before Kalenna and I died in battle, we found a small piece of a god's bone in the forest."

"At first, we didn't know what it was, until a demonic beast suddenly appeared and kept chasing us.

Only then did we guess that it was the bone of a god."

"We were all in a panic at that time.

The level of that demonic beast was clearly not something we could handle.

And with that god's bone, new demonic beasts would continuously spawn around here."

"At that time, Kalenna suggested going back to inform everyone in the village to prepare to escape... But it was no use.

We found that this demonic beast was actually a rare multi-talented demonic beast.

It had a spatial-type talent magic that covered the entire Sunset Forest... and the village."

"A few people running out alone wouldn't attract its attention, but once a large number of people left, the villagers who couldn't protect themselves would become its best food."

So Kalenna changed her mind.

She rushed back and had her brother, Brother Lawson, lead a few people to sneak out from the back of the village to seek help.

According to Kalenna's plan, she would have the villagers go to the nearest Seta City to ask for help from the stationed army.

To be on the safe side, her brother would go to the capital to ask for help from her mentor, Adelaide.

This way, if a more powerful demonic beast appeared later, with a high-level mage present, there wouldn't be any major problems.

However, Kalenna never expected that this demonic beast and the god's bone were themselves a 'joke' played by the upper-class nobles.

Seta City did not send a single person to help.

The entire Sunset Village was isolated and helpless.

The rest of the story was just as Yan Yunqing knew it.

In order to protect the village, Kalenna, with her frail mage's body, stood at the forefront.

Henry led the patrol guards who were willing to stand up to assist Kalenna in slowing down the demonic beast's advance.

At the same time, they hid all the people in the village who had no combat power, to ensure that even if they died in battle, the demonic beast would not harm those people.

"Kalenna's level was no match for that demonic beast, so she used a forbidden secret technique." Henry said softly, "She embedded that god's bone into her body and used her life as a flame to ignite that bone... At that time, she wanted to perish together with the demonic beast."

When Yan Yunqing heard this secret, he was completely stunned. According to this, Kalenna wanted to turn herself into a... human bomb?

"That's impossible!" Lilian obviously knew about this secret technique as well.

"A level twenty-one mage is simply incapable of performing this secret technique.

She would only be quickly eroded by the filth of the bone and turn into a new demonic beast!"

"A level twenty-one mage's spiritual power cannot resist the pollution of the bone!"

"Yes, Kalenna failed.

So when I snatched her back from the demonic beast's claws, she had completely lost her sanity."

Henry said it lightly, but it weighed heavily on everyone's ears.

"I killed her before she could become a new demonic beast."

"After that, I also lost consciousness.

I suppose I must have died at that time too?"

"When I woke up again, I was in this space," Henry said.

"I only remember that I had to do something very, very important, so I kept walking and walking, killing any demonic beasts I encountered, until I walked to this tree—"

"I just knew"

"This tree is Kalenna."

Henry's words once again confirmed Yan Yunqing's guess.

He continued along Henry's line of thought, "Trees have the meaning of guarding a place, so in this space, the tree is the embodiment of Kalenna.

And the vines and tumors on the tree are the... parasites that the god's bone attached to Kalenna."

They continuously drew from Kalenna's soul, breeding countless demonic beasts.

The great tree that once blotted out the sky was meant to be a protective umbrella for the village, but unexpectedly, it became the gloom that blocked out the last ray of light.

"Yes, so I have to clear away the filth on Kalenna and awaken the real Kalenna," Henry said helplessly.

"Unfortunately, the cycle has repeated day after day, year after year, to the point that in the end, I even forgot why I came here to clear these tumors."

Doing these things had become his instinct.

Countless times, he would wake up at the edge of the forest, pick up his longsword, and cut a path through the thorns to reach this place.

Under the attack of demonic beasts, he would climb up the branches of the tree and clear away the filthy tumors for his beloved.

After his arms were corroded away, he would fall, be enveloped by Kalenna's remaining consciousness, and be sent out of this dangerous place.

Thus—Henry would wake up again at the edge of the forest.

Even if Henry forgot his original purpose, he would still persevere and come here.

Even if his arms were corroded, he never gave up on clearing those tumors.

Even if Kalenna was polluted by the bone and lost some of her sanity, she would still subconsciously protect Henry when he was in danger and send him away from here.

The lingering shadow of the curse of Sunset Village was this bone that parasitized Kalenna's body, and also Kalenna herself.

Before entering this instance, Yan Yunqing had already guessed that perhaps the curse itself was not a curse, but a form of loving protection.

Some undead, after death, would form peculiar abilities due to their strong wishes in life.

Just like the undead of a general who died in battle would always guard the border, and a mother who died protecting her child would always guard her child and shield them from disaster.

This setting already existed in "Demon King," but the conditions for the natural formation of undead were extremely harsh, so Yan Yunqing didn't think of it at first.

Later, when he discovered the existence of the instance, Yan Yunqing wondered why those who moved away would be quickly attacked and killed by demonic beasts.

Now, the truth was finally revealed.

Kalenna's will to protect this village gave birth to a 'curse'.

Everyone living in this village would be protected by Kalenna's invisible will.

Therefore, for so many years, even though Dean and Feu had silenced all of Adelaide's students, they had turned a blind eye to this village.

Perhaps they had tried before, but were mysteriously blocked by Kalenna's will.

And those who tried to move away from the village were not cursed.

On the contrary, Kalenna's protective will discovered their departure.

Once they left the area she protected, she could no longer continue to protect them.

However, this protective will had no mind of its own.

It would only attach itself to those people and try to bring them back.

And Kalenna herself was polluted by the god's bone, so this protective will naturally had the characteristic of attracting demonic beasts...

Thus, those who moved away from the village quickly died in demonic beast attacks.

This was the curse of Sunset.

After the logical chain of all the speculations was connected one by one, the last missing 7% of the puzzle of [The Curse of Sunset] was finally filled in, showing the quest as completed.

Yan Yunqing sighed with emotion, "Love is the most twisted curse."

Henry looked at Yan Yunqing with a gentle and tolerant gaze, like a benevolent elder looking at a reckless junior who had stumbled in.

Yan Yunqing averted his gaze a little uncomfortably, "So how should we clear the black mist around Kalenna now?"

He looked at Lilian, "What is the purest power?"

Lilian paused for a moment and began to count, "An angel's holy fire, a dragon's dragon flame, an elf's demon-breaking arrow, a siren's song of purification..."

"Apart from me, an elf, there's none of the others here," Lilian said.

"Most importantly, an elf's demon-breaking arrow can only be used after reaching adulthood. I can't do it right now."

"We should just run. I really can't deal with the bone's pollution.

If I'm not careful, I might get you polluted too," Lilian advised.

Before Yan Yunqing could speak, Henry spoke first, "Don't worry.

Kalenna has already fused with the bone.

Even if she doesn't like you, a sudden outsider, she won't allow the bone to pollute you too."

"Kalenna is a very determined person."

Yan Yunqing was suddenly silent for a moment. What did he mean by 'even if she doesn't like him, a sudden outsider'...

Ah, so the Ghost-faced Earthworm he met at the pond at the very beginning was Kalenna subconsciously releasing it to drive him away?

Let me say it again, Kalenna, you really have double standards!

"As for how to clear the black mist around Kalenna..." Henry was dejected.

"Although I also want Kalenna to wake up completely, it seems too much time has passed."

It was now completely impossible to separate Kalenna and the god's bone.

"In order not to endanger the village, there's only one way left."

Henry looked at Yan Yunqing.

Yan Yunqing pointed at himself in confusion.

Lilian whispered beside him, "If they are completely fused, as long as you kill the host that the bone is parasitizing, the bone will no longer have nutrients, and the black mist will naturally disappear."

Henry nodded, "So, I'm asking you."

"Please"

"Kill Kalenna"

Henry looked at his lost arms, "This should have been my job. After all, Kalenna wouldn't be on guard against me.

But in my current state... I can't even lift a sword anymore."

Yan Yunqing looked at him steadily for a moment, "I understand.

Then what should I do? In Kalenna's current state, it would be difficult for me to get close to her, right?"

"Use that sword," Henry gestured with his eyes.

"That sword was what I wore by my side for many years. It's imbued with my aura. Kalenna will see it as a part of me. If you carry it, Kalenna won't harm you."

"As for me"

"I will clear the path for you in front and guide you to Kalenna.

This is a double guarantee."

"You might not have a clear view of Kalenna then... which is just right. Kalenna is very sensitive to others' gazes.

If you don't look at her, she naturally won't notice you."

"Don't worry about whether you can hit Kalenna without a clear view.

You just need to aim the sword at my heart.

I will adjust my position so that my heart and Kalenna's heart are on the same level."

"You only have one chance. You must stab in without hesitation."

"Do you remember?"

Yan Yunqing couldn't describe what he was feeling in his heart right now.

He only felt a mix of emotions.

He was always influenced by this kind of martyr-like will, just like he used to be...

"I remember."

Henry continued, "After killing Kalenna, please burn this tree down.

After Kalenna dies, without any constraints, the demonic beasts that have already hatched or half-hatched on this tree will crazily absorb power to strengthen themselves."

"So, for the safety of the village, please burn down this tree along with the demonic beasts on it."

"Okay."

"..."

Yan Yunqing said softly, "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Henry was lost in thought for a moment, then asked, "Can you... can you tell me, how is my father, and Brother Lawson, now?"

Six years had passed in a flash.

He had been in a daze in this space, unaware that six springs, summers, autumns, and winters had already passed outside.

"Your father, Old Jason, is doing very well now.

He adopted a little girl, Yuli, who lost her parents in that battle six years ago.

The people in the village take good care of them.

He was the one who gave me this sword."

"As for Uncle Lawson... well, he's still searching for the truth of what happened six years ago.

Although he's a bit disheveled, I believe that once he knows the truth, he will definitely pull himself together and return to his former self."

Yan Yunqing thoughtfully concealed the fact that Lawson was blind in one eye, lame in one leg, and was vaguely ostracized by the whole village.

No matter what, the dead could not be resurrected, nor could they stay by the side of the living.

So, as long as he told the good side of the living, it would be enough to put the spirit at ease.

"Is that so." Henry lowered his head and smiled again.

This time, his smile was filled with relief and ease, as if he had finally put down a heavy burden and was about to embark on a new journey.

The undead had already died once, so why fear dying again?

They were merely stepping onto their own shore of the afterlife.