Chapter 338: 177. The Beginning of the Destruction -3 (Part Two)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

The person he admired the most, his father, had been praising that Holy Emperor nonstop for so long, so it was perhaps inevitable that Roy would also grow curious about how wonderful of a person this Allen Olfolse was like in reality.

The things said about him sounded like the stuff of fantastic fairy tales. Even then, listening to those tales made Roy feel rather uncomfortable. Most of all, he hated that name, ‘Allen Olfolse’. He couldn’t explain why, but this sense of… repulsion he kept getting felt almost instinctive at this point.

However, all the other kids around Roy’s childhood also idolised that Holy Emperor a great deal as well. So even he ended up developing some level of awe and respect in the end.

Roy, along with Laurence, chatted with the other villagers on their way to the Ariana citadel. Soon the duo stepped into the city’s marketplace.

…Five minutes until the invasion of the Jötnar.

“How about learning swordsmanship from Lord Harman, Roy?” Laurence asked his son as they walked down the street hand in hand.

“I’m on the fence about it, dad.” Roy smiled back awkwardly, then recalled the face of the Paladin named Harman.

Apparently he was a trainee Paladin who had been working out of the Ariana citadel. For some reason, though, he showed an abnormal level of interest in Roy’s welfare, often asking the boy if he wanted to learn how to wield a sword, or urging him to drink some weird-smelling medicine, etc, etc…

Although Harman didn’t have any malice in his actions, Roy still felt strangely uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Clang-! Clang-! Claaang-!

It was right at that moment that bells began ringing loudly. People already on the streets started whispering and muttering to each other.

Laurence suddenly began feeling this unexplainable anxiety creep up on him. But that’s because he had noticed this uneasy air pervading the Ariana citadel recently.

It couldn’t be that there really was a war brewing now, could it?

“Dad?”

“Mm? Ah, it’s nothing, son.” Laurence shook his head. He then noticed someone familiar in the distance and pointed to the street that person was on. “Ah. Look, Roy. Over there.”

An old man in seventies wearing a butler’s outfit could be seen at a spot some distance away from the marketplace. He was the old butler, Klare, and he was waving his hand at Laurence and Roy.

“You should say hello back to him, son,” encouraged Laurence.

Roy faced the old man and bowed his head a little. Although they were some distance away and his voice wouldn’t even reach the old man, he still reflexively began muttering out, anyway, “Hello, Mister…”

Zero minutes left until the invasion of the giants.

It began right then. A creeping chill ran up Roy’s spine.

“…Klare?”

When the boy raised his head back up…

A humongous boulder crushed Butler Klare seemingly to death.

BOOOOM-!!!

The boulder continued to roll around and destroyed the buildings in the surroundings. Countless people were crushed and their blood splattered and spread everywhere.

Screams of people resounded out. “S-someone got crushed!”

Roy’s trembling eyes were fixed to his front. ‘M-Mister Klare?!’

The old butler was in the grip of an unknown individual, a Paladin kitted from head to toe in gleaming white armour.

A musket was slung around his back and sticking over his right shoulder.

‘Who is that…?’

But now wasn’t the right time to question that.

Roy’s head automatically rose. Countless more boulders were seemingly flying in the sky. It looked like they were falling in slow motion to the boy’s eyes.

“Fuu-heuph!” Roy sucked in his breath, grabbed Laurence’s hand, and began escaping from there. Not too long after that, many boulders rained down and crash-landed on the spot they had been standing on earlier.

‘W-we gotta get out of here somehow!’

What kind of a calamity was this…?!

“Ah, aaah! Dear Goddess Gaia! And His Majesty the Holy Emperor! Please protect us!!!”

Roy turned his head to look at his father when he heard that prayer. Laurence was still running right behind the boy, a despairing expression on his face.

How could he even think about praying to the goddess in the current situation?

‘Dad, even if you’re feeling desperate, gods won’t help us in a situation like this one, you know? So you shouldn’t…?’

This happened right then.

Just as Laurence began staggering unsteadily after his stamina had run out, a carriage came to a screeching halt in front of the fleeing duo.

Roy jumped up in shock and took a look at the person riding on the driver’s seat. It was none other than the trainee Paladin, Harman.

‘Holy cow, did the goddess really answer my dad’s prayers?!’

Just as Roy reflexively gasped out in amazement, Harman cried out to him, “You two, hurry up and get in!”

**

“Well, that was a close call. Wouldn’t you agree, Mister Butler?”

Butler Klare was frozen stiff while staring at the boulder that had practically whooshed past right in front of his nose. Like a broken machine, his head creaked noisily as he turned around to stare at the Paladin who had pulled the old butler back in the nick of time.

“W-w-who?”

The Paladin was kitted out in a set of white armour from head to toe; it also featured Rune engravings on its surface.

Klare next looked beyond the Paladin. More specifically, at the creatures behind the knight.

It was a skeleton horse that emanated a sacred feeling. Some local kids were riding on top of the creature as well.

‘A-a holy undead? No, wait. Could he be…?’

Klare was stupefied for a moment there, but he quickly regained his wits and realised who the Paladin under the helm was. He loudly cried out, “Y-Your Majesty the Holy Emperor!”

The old man was about to kowtow on the ground, so Allen quickly reached down to stop the butler, pulling the man back up.

He wrapped his arm around Kare’s waist, urgently mounted the old butler on the skeleton horse, and then he himself jumped up on the undead creature.

He roared out, “Let’s go!”

The skeleton horse broke into a fierce sprint. Boulders continued to rain down right behind them.

Klare urgently looked above him. “W-what is the meaning of…?!”

It was like he was now staring at a hailstorm, except that, instead of hails, boulders ranging in size from three to five metres were falling on the city.

“Everyone, evacuate right now!”

Soldiers stationed on the city’s streets were urgently waving their hands around to guide the citizens. The soldier manning the guard post by the bell tower had woken from his slumber by now, and was urgently ringing the bell in panic as well.

However, that only caused the citizens to fall into a panicked state themselves.

“Y-Your Majesty, just what is happening right now…?!”

“You can listen to Seran’s explanation later on.” While saying that, Allen snapped his fingers. Various large glowing Runes suddenly appeared on the ground all around him.

Bones broke through the surface and rose up, becoming summoned skeleton horses and skeleton soldiers.

Allen roared out, “Evacuate everyone, now!”

The holy undead creatures grabbed the panicking citizens and placed them on the skeleton horses, but somewhat understandably, the scared people tried to push the skeletons back or even outright escape from being ‘captured’. Still, most were caught before long.

The skeleton horses carrying people began dashing away to safety. But the boulders falling like hailstorm still crushed the fleeing undead, turning them and the humans riding on them to bloody meat paste.

No matter how hard Allen tried, it was impossible to rescue everyone!

“Give me a freaking break.” Allen yanked his musket off his back. “Dear Goddess? It’s been a while since I last prayed, but be kind and please take good care of me.”

He breathed deeply into the musket’s loading chamber. At the exact same time, the skeletons riding along with the evacuating citizens also pulled out their muskets in unison.

“Oh, dear Gaia…”

Klare was riding behind Allen when he realised that a large shadow was looming over them. The old man hurriedly looked up and ended up screaming in shock as a flood of cold sweat gushed down his forehead. “Y-Your Majesty! T-t-there’s a massive boulder… a boulder…!”

“Please grant your servant the necessary power to…”

Divinity began swirling and spinning within the musket’s muzzle.

The local children also riding on the skeleton horse trembled in terror while hugging their heads.

[Divine Aura is activating.]

[Spread Shot ability has been granted.]

[Equipment will temporarily be upgraded.]

[The Aztal Rune has been activated. The granted ability will now be transferred.]

“…protect these poor lambs through your…”

Glowing runes appeared to engrave themselves on the muskets wielded by the skeletons.

“…grace-!”

Allen aimed the musket at the boulder falling on top of him and pulled the trigger. The spinning divinity fired out of the lengthy barrel and scythed through the air.

The holy bullet split apart into dozens upon dozens of rounds and pierced straight through the boulder.

KA-BOOM-!

A loud explosion went off, and small bits of broken rocks rained down. Skeletons raised their shields to block the pelting stones.

And just like that, the skeleton horses carrying the citizens managed to safely leave the city limits. On the other hand, the skeleton horse carrying Allen and Klare headed straight to the city’s citadel, instead.

They saw a boulder crashing into the citadel’s wall, breaking it down.

Klare cried out, “B-b-but, My Lady and His Majesty are all inside the…!”

“I know already. But before that, we are not out of the woods yet.”

Soon, that creature would show up here.

The Frost Giant!

And then, the calamity that thing would cause…

-All of you, turn into blocks of ice!- a loud and heavy voice suddenly roared out from somewhere far away.

Allen cried out to Klare behind him, “Hold on tight-!”

Right at that moment, the ground they were running on froze in an instant, and broke apart as an iceberg tore through from below the surface.

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