Chapter 243: 243

Chapter 243: 129 . Ronia of the Northern Region (Part One)

Translated by: A Passing Wanderer

Edited by: RED

**

The Land of Dead Spirits was a place of constant dense fog and vicious snowstorms lashing out seemingly endlessly .

Toward the end of this land was a frozen ocean and a barren plain covered in nothing but thick layers of snow .

And on top of the densely-piled snow were staggering zombies wandering around aimlessly . Their numbers seemed to be well past tens of thousands – no, maybe hundreds of thousands, if the ones scattered in the vicinity were all taken into account .

A group of Vampires kitted out in robes were currently treading on this land where the undead, usually found scattered throughout the continent, were naturally drawn to .

Not only were these Vampires strongly resistant to cold, the demonic energy emitted by the Land of the Dead Spirits actually made them feel a sense of belonging to this place .

They were led by a Lycanthrope who had been charged with a mission .

This being had been acknowledged by the Vampire King himself and was no longer seen as a mere pet by the Vampires, but as an actual member of the Vampire hierarchy .

Its hulking body was at least three metres tall . Its fangs were sharp, and his claws were deadly .

Its name was Helk, and its rank was ‘count’ .

The creature raised its head and stared at the imposing ‘ice castle’ standing tall amidst the snowy terrain .

“…So, that’s the former fortress of the Necromancer King?”

The grand fortress-like structure apparently constructed by the Necromancer King, Amon, all those years ago…

It was partially destroyed as if to serve as a stark reminder of the intense battle fought against the Theocratic Empire in this very location .

Right now, it was also Count Timong’s base that doubled as a lab where all sorts of heinous experiments were being carried out even at this very moment .

Count Helk and the group of Vampires stepped inside the Necromancer King’s fortress .

When they strode past the open fortress gates, a dullahan that seemed to be a puppet of the Vampires appeared to block their path . It carried its head in one hand, while a lit lantern was in the other .

The eyeballs in that severed head shifted around . The undead was considerably large, but when compared to Helk, it came across as relatively shabby .

Helk spoke up first . “I’ve come to meet Count Timong . ”

-This… way…

The dullahan replied with a cracked voice and turned around to lead the way .

Count Helk and the Vampires followed after the undead and walked inside the fortress, but they still didn’t forget to survey their new surroundings .

“It seems that the rumours of him going insane must be true . ”

Blood-stained rune letters were inscribed in various places in the fortress .

Helk had heard that Timong often abducted Priests in order to use them as research material in his warp gate experiments, but to think that he still persisted with such a vile hobby even now .

Unfortunately, even that would come to an end soon .

The Vampire King no longer wished to delay the war . He wanted to gather all the Progenitor Vampires and wage a full-on war against the Theocratic Empire .

And Count Timong’s presence was an absolute necessity during this war . After all, the ‘maturing jars’ he had invented could force the undead stuck inside to evolve to something even stronger .

Those things would become absolutely essential in increasing the number of Vampires .

Count Helk continued to walk forward inside the partially destroyed fortress while thinking that to itself, only for it to tilt its head in confusion .

There was a large and empty plaza inside the fortress, but it had a huge hole in the middle . And all sorts of undead creatures were busy digging the earth out to widen the pit even further .

Why were they excavating the ground like that?

‘It’s impossible to figure out what’s in the head of an insane Alchemist . ’

It was right at that moment that a massive hand suddenly extended out from the hole . It proceeded to slam down on the undead nearby .

The undead getting crushed into bloody meat paste looked like small, insignificant insects compared to the hand’s sheer size . The hand then scooped the crushed undead up before disappearing under the ground once more .

Helk, who witnessed that spectacle, froze up in its spot .

‘What the hell did I just witness?!’

“Did his majesty the Vampire King send you?”

Helk turned its head at that voice .

The Progenitor Vampire with a bent back like a hunchback that was at least three metres tall, and boasted stitched-up scars and bizarre-looking tumorous growths all over its skin, was standing not too far from the lycan .

It was Count Timong . He was kitted out in leather gloves, an apron, and a pair of goggles .

“A mere pet is a Count now…? I can only express how impressed I am at his majesty the Vampire King’s boundless generosity . ”

Helk shot a displeased glare at Count Timong . But it soon withdrew the glare and pointed at the huge hole in the ground . “What is that?”

Count Timong stared at the pit dug out by the undead and snickered insidiously . “It’s a jar, of course . ”

“A… jar?”

An undead was thrown inside such a huge pit so that it could be matured? It seemed that a monstrous existence required by the upcoming war was being ‘tamed’ inside there .

Helk felt a bout of intense curiosity to find out what the unknown creature looked like, but it somehow managed to suppress its urges and addressed Count Timong, instead . “His majesty has sent a message . He has commanded all of us to gather to prepare for the war . As such, Count Timong, you must…”

“I won’t be going . ”

Helk’s brows rose up .

The order was issued by not just anyone, but the one and only Vampire King . The mere notion of ignoring the order from his majesty was utterly inconceivable .

Timong continued on, “I was given a separate mission . And that is to craft an item, a tool, that can utterly crush the Imperial Family . His majesty the Vampire King has directly ordered me . ”

“That mission has been rescin…”

“If you wish to order me around, bring along a Progenitor with a marquis rank or a higher peerage with you . I’m in no mood to entertain the barking of a pet creature . ”

Helk’s eye muscles twitched in anger .

This foolish Alchemist had been saying some things that touched the lycan’s reverse scale for a little while now .

Helk began loosening up its muscles . “I’ve been tasked with gathering all the Progenitors by none other than his majesty . However, if anyone dares to disobey…”

The lycan’s figure began ballooning up . Its muscles grew larger and veins bulged on its hide .

The sharp claws lengthened and curved inward like meat hooks .

Count Helk’s physique had ballooned past four metres in height, and now, it was tall enough to glare at Timong from above . “…I shall drag that fool away . ”

“Hmm…”

Count Timong looked up at Helk before studying various parts of the lycan’s body .

The corners of his lips curled upwards . “The meat of a wild beast, is it…? Yes, it indeed is a nice offering . ”

“What did you say?”

Helk momentarily froze up at that .

However, Count Timong simply snapped its fingers as his response . “Jötunn . ”

Thud… Thud…!

A huge shadow was suddenly cast over Count Helk .

The lycan found this situation somewhat hard to understand and raised its head to look up . And that’s when it discovered several giants with massive physiques at least eight metres tall walking out of the fortress .

The ground cracked apart from the footsteps of these creatures, caused by their heavy weights . Their rotting skin, visible between their tough muscles, was seemingly frozen solid .

“Wha… what the hell?!”

Helk stared at the zombified Jötnar and unwittingly stumbled back in shock .

“Hey, you . ”

Helk lowered its gaze at that voice .

Count Timong, the owner of said voice, was now pointing at the hole in the ground . “How about volunteering to become the next offering?”

**

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

Loud alarm bells were going off in the distance .

Charlotte, who was slumbering quietly away until then, hurriedly raised her upper torso up on the bed . She quickly shook her head full of bed hair .

Knocks came from the door and maidservants rushed inside her room .

“The undead have begun their raid, my lady . ”

The maids informed her of the current situation .

Charlotte addressed them, “I’ll be setting off . Assist me . ”

The maids busily moved about at her command . They helped her with putting on the set of white armour .

After the Paladin’s armour was placed on her, she attached the divine sword on her hips and quickly left the residence . She rode on a horse and urgently headed towards the city’s outer walls .

“They have come . Do not let your guard down!”

Harman was already present, issuing commands from above the outer wall .

The normal enlistd soldiers operated the large siege weapons, while the convicts rushed up to the outer walls while wielding bows, spears, swords, and maces .

They glared sharply at the ground some distance away, which was currently shrouded in a veil of darkness .

-Ku-eeeeeehk!

Along with the encroaching icy chill, the undead horde was approaching the northern fiefdom of Ronia .

Their monstrous howls sent shivers down the spines of all who listened, and their collective footsteps were loud and raucous enough to rock the ground below .

All anyone could see right now were countless glowing crimson eyes inside the darkness .

“Fire!”

Harman roared out his command . The arrows were soaked in oil and lit up before being let loose . The burning arrows rained down on the ground outside the walls, striking the zombies and lighting them up in bright flames .

Despite all their staggering, they didn’t stop advancing until their whole bodies were too damaged to move by the flames .

The types of undead showing up were varied, but still mostly limited to skeletons, zombies, and ghouls . All of them were low-tier undead .

However, various monsters and demi-humans had been zombified along with the usual human zombies, which imparted a strange sense of uniqueness to the incoming horde .

For instance…

“Bloody hell, it’s an Ogre!”

(TL: “Jötnar” is a plural of “Jötunn” . )