Kays Translations

Chapter 70: Amidst the Frenzy ③

From all around her, screams of terror and trembling arose. Emily raised her body from the floor where she had been crouching, and stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her eyes as if her soul had left her body.

Dylan Agreas Ziemeld’s severed arm was grotesquely retracting, pulling sticky, eerie threads as it healed. Everyone was transfixed by the eerie spectacle, and no one was looking at Emily anymore.

She had craved attention and praise, and now the mask that even she herself hadn’t realized had been peeled away, exposing her to the gaze of those who mingled disappointment and contempt. Soon after, the public’s attention shifted to Agreas, and no one was even paying attention to Emily.

Realizing that she was even relieved by this, Emily shuddered.

　–I… How could I, such as I am, be treated specially by a goddess? …it was never real to begin with…

Without reason, she had believed that she was a special person. She had been carried away, and now, she was being stripped of her foolishness. And the more she realized how foolish she was, the more it tormented her.

“…Immortality, it’s not such a bad thing.”

A slick voice murmured from somewhere. It was a high-ranking noble or maybe someone from the wealthy class. In the crowd of frightened people, some were drawn to the idea despite their dismay.

Emily felt as if the hair on her whole body was standing on end. If this was the Emily from a little while ago, she might have jumped for joy to hear that she could live forever and remain young and beautiful. But this wasn’t the case now.

　–Forever? Will I be seen as a fool, a fake, forever…?

　Despair had actually made Emily’s thoughts clearer. Compared to when she had been flying high and blindly believing in herself, she was able to think calmly. After all, The reality that awaited her was a life of nothing.

If this state of immortality came to be, and everything lasted forever, how would she be treated? Just imagining it was terrifying enough.

Dylan Agreas Ziemeld, with his calm smile,  still looked as beautiful as ever, but the regenerating arm was a grotesque anomaly, eliciting an indescribable sense of repulsion.

　It was hard to believe that immortality was something that simple. The reason she was so wary was probably because she was aware that she, herself, had been used by Agreas up until that point.

The coldness was severe, but she couldn’t move from this place. She didn’t know what to do. There was no one to conveniently help her at the moment. She didn’t even think that Elliot or the other knights would treat her the same way as before.

Thinking about it, Emily finally remembered the image of Elliot being swallowed up by the Undead Slime.

　–I really… only think about myself…

She fell in love and was supposed to love him, or so she had thought. The more she realized her true thoughts, the more it felt like she was falling into a deep abyss.

In the midst of the turmoil of shock, fear, and a small touch of vulgar expectations, someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Looking up, Marianne stood there with a blank expression. Her usual gentle smile was gone; her face looked frozen.

“…lady Marianne? What else… will you do to me…?”

There was no reply to the words she managed to weakly speak.

　

　◆◆◆

The court magician who had been maintaining the barrier was bewildered by the scene in the VIP seats. He thought he had been brought in as a replacement for the clergy because of the large-scale public subjugation. However, this was very different from what they had discussed.

The physical barriers cast by magicians have their limitations, since its power source was the rare power of magic.

There was a displeasing sound, like cracks running through glass, and when they looked ahead, the mass of Undead Slime overflowing the arena was about to smash through the barrier.

“…The barrier, it can’t hold much longer!”

The magician shouted, and Agreas turned around with a beaming smile.

“It’s all right. That is the sea of origin that will create a new world. Even if you are swallowed up by it, you will not die. It will be like returning to your mother’s womb.”

　Those somewhat insane words send chills down his spine.

With a crackling sound, they could see the barrier breaking in the distance. Screams rose from the crowd in the stands. Then, one after the other, the barriers began to break. An eerie, dark red wave spread out. The sight was far from the words of a new world, it was hell.

“Now, the beautiful world of immortality begins!”

Agreas, whose arm had almost finished regenerating, spread his arms grandly like a saint who had received a revelation, and laughed again.

The last barrier broke, and the viscous wave of Undead Slime poured into the VIP seats as well.

　The Prime Minister panicked, but used his own body as a shield to protect the King, but in an instant half of his body was trapped in the wave of mucus, and he was helpless. Even the weapons of the Royal Guards nearby were melting away, raising white smoke. In this situation of hopeless despair, unable to do anything, he still looked at the chaos around him.

　Far into the distance, an unfamiliar group appeared from the southern gate, opposite the VIP seats.

A strange carriage and about a dozen or so knights on horseback, with black shields, followed by Knights carrying the Marquis Beresfold shield.

“That’s…!”

“…Could it be, Lionel…?”

　Noticing where the Prime Minister was looking, the King also raised his head. At the head of the Black Knights was a familiar face. The King’s voice was now clinging, filled with a sliver of hope and deep regret.

　Agreas noticed this as well, and his handsome face contorted in displeasure.

“Now? What are you going to do?”

The voice he spat out was full of ridicule.

As he listened to the words, the prime minister bit down on his anger and regret for himself, clinging to the last bit of hope in this situation that had appeared.

　◆◆◆

　Passing through the southern gate of the arena, Mr. Dolph and Father Sydney sat in the carriage’s driver’s seat. They both took in the sight unfolding before them, with serious expressions on their faces and their arms folded.

“This is bad. We were supposed to sneak in by circling around, but we came out right in the middle.”

“I guess it would be the same no matter where we enter from. But it’s a terrible state.”

　Gilbert, peeking out of the skylight in the shed on the carriage bed, couldn’t help but half-smile as the two old men spoke in relaxed voices that lacked any sense of urgency. Flora, peeking out from beside him, was stunned by the sight that unfolded before her.

“You two, stay hidden. We’re going to have to hold on until we’ve confirmed the situation.”

“This situation, the whole thing, this is all the Undead Slime, right. ……?”

As they were talking, Lionel, who was at the front, pulled on his horse’s reins.  He must have touched some slime that was oozing out onto the ground. White smoke was coming out from under the horse’s feet.

“It’s no good. Pull the horses! It’s Iron-Eating Slime… It’s eating the horse’s horseshoes.”

At Lionel’s command, everyone on horseback dismounted and moved their horses to the rear.

“Hmm, that’s a troublesome thing that showed up here. Now, what should we do?”

Dolph stroked his beard and looked around at the entire arena.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter