Blood Barrier

"That... that's... the undead that invaded Canfor? It's... it's huge..." Denolan said, eyes wide. "How... how could just the two of us possibly... deal with a monster like that?"

"Hey—"

Tiadam roared, "Denolan, if you want to run, I won't hold it against you. You've already come this far with me, and I have no right to make you die with me—"

"We've already come this far together. How could I leave now—" Denolan's answer was timid. He had never seen a monster before, much less fought one.

The Giant Dead towered like a mountain. Tens of thousands of corpses within its body cried helplessly, trying to escape the grotesque mass. Beneath its yellowish-brown skin, the remains of other undead could vaguely be seen. This monster, gathered by curses, was far more terrifying than any curse. Its hatred for the living made it continuously exhale the breath of the dead.

Standing at the undead's feet, Denolan and Tiadam were like ants by comparison.

"Ah—" Black evil energy poured from the undead's mouth. The bright starry sky turned into polar night, and even the pale moon was obscured by the dead thing's evil aura.

"I... I have the ability to fight beside you. We are... we are..." Denolan shouted tremblingly as he looked at the undead's massive body. "We're partners—you dying would be a real problem for me—"

"Same here—you dying would be a real problem for me too—" Tiadam smiled at Denolan. "Don't you dare die."

Boom—

The undead's ankle swept across in front of Denolan. A violent gust slammed into the man before he could recover his senses. Blown down by the pressure of the wind, Denolan rolled twice across the ground before stopping.

"T... Tiadam..." Denolan's voice trembled in his throat. "What... what happened... It was only... a moment..."

Dust falling from the Giant Dead turned into lesser undead, swarming toward the Upper District. Only after calming down did Denolan realize that he was nothing more than an ordinary man. No magic, no bloodline, no wealth... and no courage. Faced with so many undead, all he could do was kneel on the ground and quietly wait for the death that belonged to him.

"The hero... the hero is dead—"

The terrible news of Tiadam's death entered Canfor's Upper District alongside the lesser undead. Whether they were devout believers kneeling in Salat Church to pray or ordinary citizens watching the battle between the hero and the monster from afar, the order of all Canfor collapsed almost instantly.

Looting, cursing, and trampling followed one after another. Those who believed their deaths were near began one final carnival. Martyrs committed evils even demons could not commit. Those carrying fire set the idols ablaze, while those with knives drew their blades and hacked at others...

"What a perfect sight—"

Ivena led Lord Yetara's servants through the streets as though nothing had happened, breathing in the sin born from chaos.

"I truly hope the whole world can fall into a state like this—" The demons grinned madly. Not a single star shone in the pitch-black sky, while wails and screams rang without end.

"Please don't—make jokes like that—" the butler Ivena said coldly. "You were summoned by Lord Yetara, not merely to watch this spectacle. Please take up your cleaning tools and handle your proper duties."

"Understood—" the demons answered loudly.

"Alright—now, attendants whose names are called, step forward. Ikasa, Vichy, Jurmily, Milando..." Ivena said, opening the roster in her hand. "Your task is to assist Lady Klauna in exterminating the lesser undead monsters entrenched in the south of the city. As for the demon attendants whose names have not been called, under my direction, restore order within Canfor. Do your best to ensure that the chaos brought by refugees fleeing the south does not spread to the north and west of the city."

"Yes—" The demons answered once more, then vanished without a trace.

"I... am I dead already...?" Denolan said, pinching his own cheek. "It seems like I'm not dead yet..."

"If you want to die, I can grant that wish right now—" Klauna flew beside Denolan on enormous black wings. At that moment, Denolan was already thousands of feet above the ground, and the Giant Dead below looked no larger than a teacup.

Only from here could Tiadam glimpse the full extent of Canfor. Canfor was lower in the southeast and higher in the northwest. To the southeast lay the decaying Elrina Forest, while the northwest connected to the snowy plains of Timirora Peak. The Giant Dead was ravaging the south of Canfor, while the buildings in the other three directions had not suffered much damage.

"So Canfor is this big~" Denolan could not help saying. "By the way, are you ***?"

"***? Don't make me laugh—" Klauna said, touching the ram horns on her head and the cow tail behind her. "One look at me should tell you I'm a demon."

"If you're a demon... then why did you save me? Do you want to eat my soul?" Denolan asked ignorantly.

"You haven't been baptized, so why would I eat your soul?" Klauna looked at Denolan with utter contempt, as though looking at an idiot. "Besides, I don't care about your soul. What I do care about is where that lamp on your waist came from."

"A lamp?" Denolan instinctively touched his waist. The emerald-green Twin Lantern there was glowing faintly. "I bought this lamp from Oyana's witch shop."

"Oh~ I see..." Klauna continued, "Then what is the relationship between you and the hero? Friends, family, or..."

"The hero... You mean Tiadam?" Denolan thought for a moment. "We're business partners."

"Oh~ Partners... Then keeping you alive should still be somewhat useful—"

Klauna snapped her fingers. A pair of mid-rank demons flapped their wings and pushed Tiadam out of the clouds. Because of his fear of heights, Tiadam was currently unconscious.

"This place is safe for now, so you two stay here..." Klauna flapped her wings and flew toward the Giant Dead. "The Levitation spell will disappear at dawn. If I can't make it back in time, then you're on your own..."

"On our own?" Denolan shouted. "Lady Angel—you—"

Before Denolan could finish, Klauna flicked a light bullet from her hand. It exploded not far from him.

"I already told you once that my race is demon. Don't make me repeat myself—" Klauna warned.

The demons commanded by Yetara began gathering above Salat Church in the south of the city. This time, to resist the Giant Dead's invasion, Yetara had summoned dozens of demons. Among them were three upper mid-rank demons, five upper lower-rank demons, and eleven mid upper-rank demons. If this demon formation were compared to an army, their combat strength was roughly equivalent to a hundred and fifty thousand well-equipped holy knights.

"Everyone—" Imira said, flapping her thin bat-like wings. "Thank you all for coming from Hell. Though I am unworthy, I have been appointed by Lord Yetara as the overall commander for this battle against the Giant Dead..."

"Wasn't Lady Ivena the overall commander? How did it become you?" A questioning voice came from among the demons.

"Battle against the undead—heh heh—pay attention—" Imira replied. "Lady Ivena is the commander overseeing the bigger picture, while also maintaining order within Canfor. The great task of fighting the undead will still be handled by..."

"By your head—"

A beam of blackish-purple light shot toward Imira from above the southern district. As an upper-rank demon, Imira quickly erected a pale-gray energy wall, barely blocking the light bullet. However, the purple-black energy splashed across the dome of Salat Church, violently smashing off the head of the Holy Son statue inside.

"You useless trash—what are you still doing down there—get your asses up here—" Klauna shouted from high above.

"Upper high-rank demon—Klauna Carter. Why is even she here..." Imira was utterly shocked at Klauna's appearance. "Shouldn't she be..."

"What are you idiots standing around for?! Hurry up and come help—" Another purple-black energy sphere gathered in Klauna's hand, then she hurled it directly at the demons still watching the show above Salat Church.

"These damned idiots should have gone back to Hell long ago—"

Pure black energy shot from Klauna's mouth, but this time it was aimed not at the demons, but at the Giant Dead composed of countless lesser undead monsters.

The black energy pierced straight through the Giant Dead's head, but it was meaningless. The yellowish-brown lesser undead quickly filled the hole. The lamentations of the undead gathered in its eyes, and two yellow-green energy beams shot from the Giant Dead's gaze.

Blood Barrier—

Four crimson walls of blood slowly rose from beneath the Giant Dead's feet, blocking the decaying energy it had fired and trapping it firmly inside.

"All demons assigned to exterminate the Giant Dead, pay attention to your positions—" Blood mage Yetara stood atop his own high-rise building, casting magic. Through his contracts with the demons, Yetara could easily communicate with them. "Those outside the Blood Barrier, enter it immediately. Slaughter this monster made of lesser monsters within the Blood Barrier—do not let it destroy the other districts of Canfor—"

"Tch—" Imira muttered quietly. "At a time like this, he still cares about that. If this lousy city gets destroyed, then so be it..."

"Imira—I can hear what you're saying—" Yetara said. "And it seems your death contract is still in my hands, isn't it..."

"Lord Yetara, right away—I'm heading to the Blood Barrier right now—" Imira beat her wings and flew toward the Blood Barrier.

The Blood Barrier Yetara had established was a variation of curse magic: spatial magic that used arcane energy to manipulate blood as its medium. Within the Blood Barrier, demon-type creatures received nourishment from the blood, greatly improving their agility, attack power, and magical strength. Undead creatures and monsters, meanwhile, suffered varying degrees of magical damage according to their size.

"Everyone, I'm late—"

Imira flapped her thin wings and dove down from above the Blood Barrier. With a single strike, the Demon Spear in her hand pierced through the entire body of the Giant Dead.

"My apologies..." Imira said pretentiously. "I had a brief chat with Lord Yetara, and this is what happened. Everyone... why do you look so miserable? This doesn't look like upper-rank demons at all~"

"Worry about yourself first—idiot."

As Imira flew over, the many demons quickly scattered.

Boom— A yellow-green Lamentation of the Dead blasted away half of Imira's body.

"Ah—"

Caught off guard, Imira hurriedly hid within the Blood Barrier, using the magic within it to rapidly restore her body. "Didn't my Demon Spear pierce that thing...? Even the highest-ranking undead monster shouldn't be able to recover this quickly..."

Within the scarlet barrier, Imira saw the split Giant Dead divide its body into two connected masses. Then both bodies simultaneously formed a pair of arms made from undead flesh. Immediately afterward, hundreds of energy bullets carrying the power of decay fired from the mouths of the smaller undead on those arms.

"Don't scatter—don't scatter—"

Klauna commanded the demons, "Use the Wall of Lamentation—use the Wall of Lamentation—those energy projectiles are too fast—we can't dodge them—"

"Klauna, you're worrying too much—"

A blade-and-axe demon assigned to the frontal assault ignored Klauna's warning. He summoned his demonic weapon and chopped directly at the undead's projectiles, trying to knock them aside with the wind pressure from his swinging axe.

"Roar—"

The blade-and-axe demon's air blade cut halfway through one of the Giant Dead's arms. One of the Giant Dead's heads fell in response, and the lesser undead scattered from it were immediately consumed by Yetara's Blood Barrier. On the surface, the demons had temporarily gained the upper hand, but...

The undead's decaying projectiles were not deflected by the wind pressure of the swinging axe. Hundreds of energy bullets struck the blade-and-axe demon, turning him into a sieve in an instant.

"Even though he was a mid-rank demon, that guy was still... too careless..." Imira said, mostly recovered. "If this vessel is destroyed, he'll have to stay in the Hell of the Fourteen Witches for at least one or two hundred years..."

"Imira, open your eyes and take a good look at what happens when that monster's projectiles hit someone—" Klauna shouted from within the Wall of Lamentation.

"Other than returning to Hell... what else could happen... Ah..."

As Imira watched the blade-and-axe demon gradually fall, she suddenly realized a terrifying fact—the energy bullets fired from the Giant Dead could corrode souls.

"What is this... Radila's soul... her soul... it's disappearing..." Imira shouted.

The demon whose vessel was a blade gradually turned to dust. Her black armor and pink hair vanished together, the blade in her hand slowly rusted away, and the high heels on her feet, along with the death contract branded onto her body, turned into nothingness the moment they touched the ground.

"It can actually corrode a demon's soul... This thing... this thing... is definitely..." Imira said, trembling as she looked at the Giant Dead gathered from countless dead. "A remnant of the Demon King left behind from those days—"