Chapter 124: In The Words Of Those Who Went Against Nature

Chapter 124: In The Words Of Those Who Went Against Nature

The Undead Legion and the Demon King’s Army.

The news of these two forces clashing had already reached the human side, and the leadership was planning to take advantage of this opportunity to annihilate both forces.

Recovering the dragon’s bones to gain strength was important, but if they utilized this opportunity well, they could significantly weaken the forces that threatened humanity.

“It’s ironic that the soldiers we sent for that purpose are now with us. Haha.”Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

Inside the area that was used by the human side just a few days ago.

Gorgon Zola, looking at the neatly arranged corpses of the soldiers who originally occupied the place, smiled ironically as he gazed at them.

Despite considering a surprise attack, the sudden actions of the heroes, who were caught up in their self-indulgence, and the foolish officers who, instead of abandoning them, pushed forward, thinking it was an opportunity to achieve merit...

As a result, the human side suffered near-total annihilation and had to retreat, which allowed the Undead Legion to seize a strategic advantage in this war.

For the Undead Legion, war was actually a means to replenish their forces, so direct conflict with the human side was an opportunity to acquire more troops than anticipated.

Having taken advantage of such a golden opportunity to defeat one of the Four Heavenly Kings, it was truly regrettable to have to retreat and abandon all those achievements.

“Well, you’re a bit late, King Briton IV.”

“...Were you here first?”

As if to show that the awareness was mutual, the Blue Knight of Death, Briton IV, joined the main force and spoke bitterly.

Gorgon just gave his usual mischievous laugh in response to his words.

“Haha, just like you, I am her vassal, so how could I act against her orders?”

What was regrettable was not the war, but the clear sense of their lord’s condition that was still palpable.

Even without explicit instructions, the emotional turmoil that was transmitted was something that could not be overlooked by those who served her.

“Well, there’s nothing to be solved by idling around here, so let’s go straight to her.”

“Wait a moment...”

Briton IV stopped Gorgon just as he was about to leave.

His gaze then turned to the head of the corpse held limply in Gorgon’s hand.

“...What is that you’re holding?”

“Oh, this? It’s the head of one of the Four Heavenly Kings I dealt with. What was his name? Gluttony... Glovrele?”

The head, which looked like a mix between a pig and a locust.

Although he was a demon powerful enough to rise to the position of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, by now, Gorgon Zola had sucked out all his nutrients, leaving his skin and bones tightly stuck together.

No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t withstand the combined forces of the human army, so the outcome was inevitable.

“Anyway, that’s the name, and he called himself the ‘Demon of Gluttony.’ Since his innate power strangely matched well with mine, I sucked out his marrow. I’m thinking of offering it as a war trophy to our lord to commemorate our victory. Do you think she would be pleased?”

“...Sorry, but I’m not good at sensing these things, so I can’t give you good advice on gifts.”

“Ah, you’re so old fashioned, the IV. You could just humor me a bit at times like this.”

Gorgon grumbled at Briton IV’s words.

Then, he irritably threw the head he was holding and led the way, mumbling bitterly in front of him.

“It’s bitter, isn’t it? Knowing that there’s no one left to joke around with anymore.”

Yes, the immediate concern was why she suddenly experienced such a significant emotional change.

The reason was something both of them, who were vaguely connected under her leadership, could guess.

The place where the Undead Legion had currently settled was once a location occupied by humans.

Several buildings made of prefabricated parts were scattered around, and their lord’s place was like a shrine with idols and a cross.

For her, who was once revered as the saint of the church during her lifetime, there was no place more familiar.

“Ah, Annabel. Annabel...”

However, instead of praying for victory in the war, she was crouched down and weeping sorrowfully in the prayer room.

The sight alone made the two knights realize.

That she, who led all the dead and dreamed of the world’s end, was emotionally completely broken for some reason.

“Oh, great lord. Why do you grieve so...?”

“Gwen.”

Yes, at that moment, she was not the queen of the dead but a single woman named ‘Gwen Hwibar.’

Realizing this, Briton IV quickly left Gorgon’s side and approached her not as a vassal but as a companion.

“Gwen, look at me. Gwen!”

“...My King.”

“Did the two fail?”

The reason was immediately guessed.

She was once the most recognized symbol of goodness in the church.

Now, having risen from the dead and decided to kill all the living for the greater cause, there could be only one reason for her to collapse emotionally.

“Do you know why I, who lived such a worthless and empty life, awakened my consciousness even after death? Why I became equal to you after death?”

“That...”

“It was a book. A book that an illiterate farmer, out of curiosity, began to learn to read.”

Living day to day with farming and paying taxes as his only pride.

A book he happened to come across sparked a small curiosity, and the process of learning to read to understand its contents gave him a sense of achievement far beyond plowing fields.

He even vaguely set a goal to finish that book before he died.

“But I never got to finish that book. When the plague reached our village, people desperate for firewood threw that book into the bonfire.”

To prevent the spread of the plague, the borders were closed, and food and firewood in the village ran out.

To endure the cold, they gathered all the kindling they could find, which was the natural outcome.

All that remained of the book he was engrossed in was a fleeting warmth, but he still didn’t know the rest of its contents.

“The villagers, starving, began to eat each other. As an old and sick man, I escaped their notice... but I still ended up dying alone in my room.”

Gorgon Zola continued speaking, still holding Gwen’s hand, draining her magical power with his famine ability.

His determination was quiet but unwavering, unlike the absolute ruler, who crumbled at the realization of unfulfilled familial love from his past life.

“But Your Majesty, why did I, instead of wanting to live at that time, think about the firewood used to stave off the cold?”

“...Gorgon.”

“Your Majesty, I only wish to know. Repeating the feelings I had back then is my only desire. Awakening after death to fulfill that pure goal, I have nothing to lose, unlike you or our lord.”

A peasant and an old man with no family or friends to care for.

Even his sole purpose was merely to learn something, leaving no lingering attachments to hinder him.

“Yet, gratitude exists for the one who awakened me... If that person desires the world’s destruction, I will project my pure desire onto that purpose and fulfill it on their behalf.”

Destroying humanity by their own hands before the world ends.

Such a task, which required the death of human spirit, was better suited for an empty undead like him rather than someone compassionate like her.

“By using the ‘endless desire for consumption’ currently within me.”

Yes, at this moment, Gorgon Zola felt the desire to pursue that purpose.

When the power of the ‘Demon of Gluttony’ he had faced before mingled with his body, he felt it awaken something within him, combining with his own lingering ‘hunger.’

“...My King.”

Even though she felt his malevolence, Gwen did not withdraw her withering arm.

Instead, she seemed persuaded by his words.

Realizing the role of an absolute ruler did not suit her, she whispered quietly towards the ‘last object of her regret’.

“May you live forever...”

Briton IV could not muster the will to draw his sword at her lonely voice.

Seizing that moment, Gorgon Zola’s other hand swung towards Gwen’s head.

Unsatisfied with merely draining her power, he transformed his hand into a massive mouth to devour her entirely.

Crunch!

As the swallowed body was crushed from within, the connection between her and them faded in real time.

At the same time, her immense power began to merge with his being.

“...Your Majesty, what will you do now?”

There was nothing left to bind them.

Gorgon realized this, but what Briton IV felt towards him was fear.

“With her gone, only your inherent lingering desire controls you now... Will you join me for that desire? Or, like her, will you be tormented by old ties and oppose me?”

Proving it was no illusion, Gorgon’s body began to swell, his emaciated flesh gradually filling out, no longer embodying ‘hunger.’

“Either way, I will continue. I will learn everything in this world and consume it all until my endless hunger is sated...”

At this moment, his desire was not just the lingering hunger of the past but also the added craving of gluttony.

The mouths sprouting between his burgeoning flesh signaled the manifestation of that combined desire.

“...This is.”

The empty end of the king of the undead, who yearned for annihilation.

And the birth of a great catastrophe surpassing him.

Witnessing this scene, the Blue Knight of Death foresaw one fact as the connection with their lord was completely severed.

“This is the retribution for those who defy the natural order.”

The wish of the undead, who sought the world’s end by witnessing their ruined homeland.

The ‘Great Catastrophe of Gluttony’ would consume even that end.