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Chapter 99
The group, still unaware of my presence, hastily attempted to move away.
Then it happened.
Boom... Boom!!!
A massive rumble shook the earth as sothing enormous erged from the mist.
"That’s...!"
"Ugh... What is that?"
"We’re all going to die... We’re all going to die!!"
What erged from the mist was a colossal stone statue.
Its height easily exceeded 20 ters.
It resembled the kind of stone statues seen in temples.
Its movents were puzzling, given the stone texture, and it trudged along as if it hadn’t noticed any humans.
With such an overwhelming mass, there was no need for anything else.
No creatures like that had ever been discovered on this continent.
But I had encountered this one before.
I had even fought it.
[Identified: Margah’s Colossal Sentinel.]
"Like the ti with the Void Glutton... This isn’t related to the Red Moon, right?"
[No signs of the Red Moon phenonon have been detected. Unlike the Void Glutton, Margah’s Colossal Sentinel is a monster from the past.]
Not that there are many ordinary creatures among these fog monsters anyway...
"So why is that ancient monster rampaging here now?"
[It is speculated that remnants of extinct monsters were trapped within this fog.]
Extinct monsters...
[Given the current circumstances, it’s likely that a past event caused most of these monsters to be trapped here.]
"And then the event subsided and reerged, revealing those trapped here?"
It would make sense if ti had been frozen.
Or if an ecosystem had ford here, it wouldn’t be surprising if so survived.
[This is the most probable theory. Whether intentional or not, this space effectively functions as an ancient ecosystem.]
The Colossal Sentinel halted its steps.
Then it slowly turned its head, taking in the sight of the people.
As its crimson eyes locked onto them, it began moving directly toward them, including the prince.
"Run... RUN!!"
But no human could match the speed of the Colossal Sentinel’s strides.
Within monts, the panicked crowd was overtaken, and they began screaming in terror.
Even the prince wouldn’t have a way to handle this monster...
Without thinking, I pushed off the ground.
The monster’s body was so tough that even an Aura Blade barely made a scratch.
But every monster has a weakness.
I accelerated gradually.
My fighting style focused on counterattacks.
I primarily used reactive sword techniques.
However, relying solely on counterattacks limited proactive combat strategies.
Thus, I had developed an aggressive form of attack as well.
I couldn’t accelerate as quickly as when countering.
Short bursts of speed were normally too taxing on the body to sustain.
The solution was to slightly reduce the maximum output.
By lowering it just enough to minimize the strain, the situation changed.
I accelerated instantly.
While not as fast as my counterattack technique [Single-Horn Flash], it was far quicker than my normal speed.
In a flash, I surged forward, my blade slicing the monster’s Achilles tendon before racing up its leg.
Like ascending a spiral staircase, I cut through its body as I climbed.
Only when I reached its head did it finally stagger, but by then it was too late.
Crack!
I drove my aura-wrapped cursed blade into the monster’s crown, piercing its skull.
A shattering sound echoed as if sothing had broken.
Thud!!!
The beast fell to its knees as if its body could no longer sustain its massive weight.
Cracks ford along its legs as they split apart.
Its defenses were disabled.
With its legs sealed, all that remained were its arms.
The Colossal Sentinel flailed its massive arms, trying to grab , but its humanoid form left inevitable blind spots.
I slid down from its clavicle to the back of its neck, slicing through its armpit.
Using a blade tethered with necromantic mana, I wrapped it around the monster’s arm and launched myself back up.
As a result, its left arm went limp.
I had destroyed the cores that sustained its head and arm.
"Groooaaaar..."
The monster’s head swiveled 180 degrees to face .
It reached for , hovering in midair, determined not to let escape.
Its sweeping arm covered a wide area, making evasion nearly impossible.
But I didn’t stop there.
[Sky Step]
[Breaking the Void]
Crack!
A sound like shattering air rang out as I propelled myself off the empty space, zigzagging like lightning to avoid all its attacks.
Seizing the opening created, I thrust my sword into its throat and twisted, slicing it horizontally.
Crunch!!!
Though its stone skin should have been tough enough to withstand an Aura Blade, its body now cut like softened clay.
Disabling its defenses and limbs...
The monster’s stone eyes fixated on , defenseless.
Though they had no pupils and didn’t move, they conveyed the sense that the monster was staring at before falling silent.
Tap!
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I landed softly on the ground, noticing the many stunned gazes directed at .
"You are...?"
"Are you injured, Prince Dorn Lu Pascalia?"
His identity was clear without needing further confirmation.
He was none other than Prince Dorn, lissa's friend Lilia’s betrothed.
At my question, his eyes widened.
"You… you know ?"
"There’s no other prince in this city, is there? I am Leon Cascadia."
I needed to find Luna and lissa, but since he was lissa's friend’s future husband, saving him wasn’t a problem.
Besides, he might have so information on lissa’s whereabouts.
"Leon… Cascadia… Ah! You must be the brother of Count Cascadia."
"Yes."
"Ah, what the Count said was true, then."
He offered his hand for a handshake with a gentle smile.
His touch was endlessly warm and soft.
He looked older than , but not aged in any way.
Handso with a kind deanor.
From what lissa told , even though it was a political marriage, Lilia Berner loved him.
With a face like this that could sway hearts, it made sense.
Not to ntion, he had good manners and seed to have a decent personality.
This must be what people refer to as an "alpha male" type.
"Have you t lissa by any chance?"
"Ah… unfortunately, I haven’t seen Count Cascadia since this fog appeared."
He looked down with a bitter expression.
"Sorry I don’t have better news."
"No need to apologize. It looks like you’re injured."
"Haha. It’s a wound of honor. Thanks to it, I was able to protect them."
He answered as if it was enough for him.
The people he saved were just five.
But in this situation, saving even those five was worthy of praise.
"Do you know anything about what’s happening here?"
"Sorry. I don’t know much. This phenonon itself is beyond comprehension."
"I see."
"However, before all this, there were signs through my private information network that cultists and mbers of the Moon Watchers infiltrated the city."
The Moon Watchers.
An unexpected na that made narrow my eyes.
"The rogue group, Moon Watchers?"
"Yes. They’re notorious for being a band of murderers."
"Why would they…?"
Could they have caused this phenonon artificially?
Even with rituals, creating sothing of this scale would require at least a 7th-circle mage.
"I don’t know the exact details either. But based on past occurrences, I suspect they’re involved this ti."
Ah, the cultists again.
Cultists always awakened powerful forces like liches and krakens just to use them for their own ans.
However, the Moon Watchers and cultists were supposed to be at odds.
Why would they suddenly join forces?
"I understand the cultists’ involvent, but the Moon Watchers…?"
"The Moon Watchers is a bizarre group with unknown motives. They don’t take assassination contracts like normal guilds, and even the Empire’s Intelligence Bureau has no solid information on them."
Most assassination guilds kill for money, but the Moon Watchers doesn’t even accept contracts—a mysterious group indeed.
"For now, go sowhere safe."
He smiled bitterly, understanding my words.
"Sorry. I’d only hold you back. I plan to continue searching for and guiding as many residents as possible to safe zones."
"Safe zones?"
"There are areas within the fog that monsters can’t enter. I’m currently leading survivors to those zones."
"Why don’t you just go and hide?"
"I can’t. They are citizens of the Empire. As a prince, I have a duty to protect them."
His firm words made lower my gaze slightly to the blood-stained sword he held.
While not without skill, he couldn’t handle sothing like the rock beast that appeared earlier.
Unless he was a swordmaster…
"You could die. You understand what it would an for a prince of the Empire to die, don’t you?"
Surely, he wasn’t foolish enough to be unaware of that.
"Haha. I’m just a minor prince, after all. At the very least, I must be soone Lady Lilia, my future wife, wouldn’t be ashad of."
A husband, huh…
"Do you love her?"
I found myself curious.
Loving a partner was still unfamiliar to .
"Love… I’m still clumsy with it, but perhaps so."
His soft smile left feeling strangely unsettled.
I then reanimated the insect corpses around us as undead.
"I hope they’ll be of help."
"Necromancy… It’s fascinating how they’re different from regular undead. Thank you."
I didn’t plan on sticking with him from the start.
If he was rescuing survivors, I could move to destroy the enemies.
It was more efficient that way.
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