Chapter 170 – Hardeon (2)

I could no longer call the monster from the ghost story a man-eating monster.

It was a creature with completely different characteristics from what was known.

‘How dreadful.’

From a distance, it had the perfect shape of a human. Despite looking like that, the monster had unhesitatingly bitten that disgusting orc.

And surprisingly, that act was not to satisfy hunger.

If that were the reason, it wouldn’t have ended with just one bite of flesh.

The orc’s mana vanished, and it died very quickly.

It was a scene that showed the monster’s surprising killing ability.

“Kieeeeeeeek!!”

And what was more surprising was that the dead orc got up again.

While emitting the exact same aura as the monster that had bitten it.

‘It’s become stronger than before it died.’

A hollow laugh escaped me at this series of bizarre events.

At first, there was one monster, but now there were two.

One was human-based.

One was orc-based.

To conclude from what I had just seen, that monster multiplied through the act of biting.

Although my sleep was disturbed, I thought it was a good thing I came.

“Kieeeeeeeek!!”

The two seemed to have come to an agreement and were about to head somewhere together.

I immediately took out two daggers from my inventory.

Whoosh!!

The thrown daggers flew without a single miss and lodged themselves in the backs of each monster.

With a short scream, the two monsters turned around.

In those eyes, there was no focus, no life, not even emotion.

But in the aura emanating from their entire bodies, a clear killing intent was present.

They started to run towards me.

They were properly aggroed.

I knew now.

These things moved as if they were living creatures, but in fact, they were already dead beings.

Back then, I had thrown the monster into the Spring of Elixir and turned it back into an ordinary corpse, but a question arose here.

‘What happens if I kill it physically?’

The concept of killing a being that had already died once was bound to be unfamiliar.

A few days ago, when I knew nothing, I didn’t even know this thing was dead, and I was only thinking of capturing the monster alive, so I hadn’t even tried it.

The creatures came right up to me without a moment’s hesitation, like moths to a flame.

Since they had no emotions, it was natural that they would have no fear.

Swish!

First, I cut off one of the orc’s arms.

Black blood poured out, and an extreme stench filled the air.

The arm that fell limply to the ground twitched for a moment and then stopped moving.

“Kieeeeek!!”

Usually, it would be a situation where it should be in pain or fear, but the creature charged without hesitation.

Its wide-open mouth and the ferocious teeth lurking within. Its mind seemed to be filled only with the thought of biting me.

Swish!!

This time, I cut off one of its legs.

A fountain of black blood gushed out again.

With a thud, the creature slightly lost its balance.

Even with one of its legs below the knee gone, the creature did not withdraw its killing intent towards me.

It crawled towards me, relying on its remaining arm and one leg.

Its ferocious teeth were still bared.

It was just amazing that it thought it could bite me even in that state.

Pooow!!

First, I lightly subdued the human monster that charged at my back with a kick.

Looking at the crawling orc, I aimed my sword.

I had cut off an arm and a leg, so what was left was the neck.

It didn’t seem to have regenerative abilities, so it would soon die.

‘Should I let it bite me once before that?’

A natural curiosity arose.

I was confident I wouldn’t die, but at the same time, a disgusting image came to mind.

My stomach was more important than my curiosity, so it was rejected.

Swish!

In the end, I cut off its neck.

[You have hunted an Orc Zombie.]

It was the moment the creature’s official name was finally revealed.

The unfamiliar name of zombie.

The ‘orc’ in front would probably change depending on what it used as a host.

“Kieeeeeeeek!!”

Now, what was left was the human-based zombie.

Like the orc, it would die simply by cutting off its head.

But I wanted to find a cleaner way to deal with it.

Even if it had become a monster now, it must have once been a being that breathed and lived as an ordinary human.

Stab.

Bastian’s blade accurately pierced the zombie’s chest, skewering its heart.

If it didn’t die from this, I would have no choice but to cut off its neck as well, but,

[You have hunted a Zombie.]

The method of stabbing the heart was effective.

The zombie collapsed to the ground, black blood dribbling from its mouth.

Even after searching its clothes, I couldn’t find any clues to its identity.

I didn’t know what kind of person it was in its past life, so if it was a good person, I could only pray for its soul to rest in peace.

After the situation was resolved, I organized my thoughts.

Zombies attack both humans and monsters without discrimination.

And if you are bitten by a zombie, you become a zombie.

Zombies were not particularly strong monsters, but there was still a part that concerned me.

‘In a natural state, the zombie’s propagation rate is…’

The conclusion was that it had to be high.

Because the zombie’s behavior pattern was solely focused on biting the opponent.

Moreover, if you compared individuals of the same class, the Orc Zombie was clearly stronger than an orc.

If left like this, the Abyss would be covered in zombies.

So far, the places where zombies had been found were near the entrance of the Abyss and right here. And.

‘Huh?’

Through my expanded senses, I felt the aura of zombies again.

The distance was a bit far, but this time I could tell it wasn’t just one, but a group.

Logically, the number of zombies had to increase exponentially.

‘What if their origin is Hardeon, as I suspect?’

I might see more zombies as I got closer to the destination.

A rather ominous premonition washed over me.

***

And that premonition was correct.

On the path to our destination, Hardeon, zombies continued to appear.

Zombie Orcs, Zombie Kobolds, Zombie Lizardmen…

It was a feast of various zombies.

“Shin Ah-yeon! Behind you!”

At my shout, Shin Ah-yeon swung her sword behind her back, cutting a Zombie Orc in two.

But this monster doesn’t die just because its waist is cut.

The Zombie Orc used its two arms as legs and sprang towards Shin Ah-yeon like a spring.

An obsession to bite at least once, even on the verge of death.

Its ferocious teeth were aimed at one of Shin Ah-yeon’s arms.

Kwaaaak!!

In the end, Bastian, which I threw, pierced its neck, killing it instantly.

“Thank you, Unit Leader!”

It wasn’t like she would immediately become a zombie if bitten, but there was no reason to check that directly.

Fortunately, such a thing hadn’t happened yet.

But I couldn’t guarantee that she would remain without a single scratch forever.

If a horde of several dozen zombies appeared at once, it would be difficult for someone at Shin Ah-yeon’s level to handle.

She caught her breath and continued.

“But Unit Leader, it’s strange.”

“What is.”

“This zombie, known as the man-eating monster. Its multiplication rate should be considerable, yet I wonder why it was so quiet near the entrance of the Abyss all this time. That’s a bit strange.”

If not a single one had appeared, it would be another story, but ghost stories about the man-eating monster were definitely circulating near the entrance of the Abyss, and I had even encountered one myself.

Then, it shouldn’t have remained just a ghost story; the zombies should have multiplied enormously in a short period of time.

But reality was different.

“Could it be because it’s a place with a lot of warrior traffic?”

“I wonder.”

That statement was not without its merits.

If initial suppression by warriors was possible, the multiplication of zombies might be preventable.

But in that case, the story should have spread.

Officially, not as a ghost story.

“Someone might be controlling it.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m saying that if someone is intentionally controlling the zombie’s range of activity, their multiplication might still be suppressed.”

“N-no way!”

“It’s just a possibility, so don’t worry too much about it.”

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.

It was just my own thought without any evidence yet.

But I couldn’t think of anything to replace this hypothesis yet.

“Then let’s move again.”

“Yes, Unit Leader.”

We still had a long way to go.

Following the report’s guidance, the two of us hurried a bit more towards Hardeon.

The frequency of zombie appearances gradually increased.

I thought Shin Ah-yeon might get hurt at some point, but her swordsmanship against the zombies improved faster than I had worried.

The purpose of her following me on this journey was ‘growth’.

Making full use of my swordsmanship guidance, she was excellently achieving her goal.

It was a few more days later that a portal appeared before us.

[Hardeon Empire]

The hidden quest of the Abyss discovered by the Gwangun Sword Family.

We stepped towards the portal that had barely been touched by the feet of Earthlings.

‘Could it be.’

The thought that this empire might have turned into a world of zombies suddenly rushed in.

But it was just a groundless fear.

The world that unfolded before my eyes was exactly as the report written by the Gwangun Sword Family described.

The scenery of a peaceful-looking rural village came into view.

[A quest has been generated. Obtain one of Erter’s relics.]

The quest was also no different from the one the Gwangun Sword Family had cleared.

Since the Gwangun Sword Family had already taken one, the range of choices was reduced, but since we had a guide, the actual difficulty was incomparable.

The early part could be easily cleared just by following the footsteps in the report.

“Unit Leader. Things seem to be going smoothly!”

I nodded my head.

“Erter’s relic…”

Erter was the former name of the Hardeon Empire.

Although its lineage was now cut off, Erter was said to have been an empire where magic was highly developed.

And about 400 years ago, the magocracy collapsed due to a rebellion of gladiators, becoming the current Hardeon.

What we had to find was a hidden relic of the brilliant magocratic era.

Considering that the current world was an era of gladiators where the persecution and oppression of mages were severe, it was definitely not an easy quest.

It was natural that the Gwangun Sword Family had a hard time here.

But we were in a situation where we could skip the various trial and errors that were not mentioned in this report.

“We need to find a mage first.”

Mages had disappeared from the world and no longer revealed their presence, but they secretly formed cell organizations and were still maintaining their lineage.

And one of the lowest-ranking members of that cell organization was running the tavern in this village.

“Renoi?”

I entered the tavern and immediately looked for the owner.

Renoi.

When I called his name, his face instantly turned pale.

And his slightly trembling pupils.

It was natural for him to be surprised since no one here called him by that name.

“It’s okay, Renoi. I won’t hurt you.”

His real name, which he had never told anyone in this village.

He was taking a slight step back at my appearance, calling it so casually.

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