CHAPTER 095
Through the open door, the emperor was met with a forest under a dark night sky.
The forest reeked of smoke, and trees covered in black ash stood bare or lay fallen on the ground as if a wildfire had swept through.
Under the white crescent moon, the forest was in utter chaos.
From all directions, the anguished cries of wild animals pierced his ears.
Animals gathered in groups, scattered in all directions to avoid becoming prey to the monsters.
In their panic, they stumbled and fell, getting trampled by other animals or tumbling together in a heap.
Yet those animals were the fortunate ones.
Those unable to escape were mercilessly devoured by the ravenous monsters.
The ground, where demons with serpent bodies and human faces slithered, was littered with piles of animal bones.
"Venom Pythons! Stab them in the abdomen. Never cut off their tails. From the severed tail, dozens of snakes are born."
Seeing the Venom Pythons swiftly overtaking the forest, Caligo shouted.
Compared to other monsters, they were not particularly strong, but the power of the Venom Pythons came from their countless numbers.
Cutting off their tails resulted in the birth of dozens of snakes.
No matter how strong a monster was, it couldn't withstand the endless onslaught of newly born snakes.
A flock of blackbirds that had been circling the sky under the white crescent moon descended into the forest.
Competing with the Venom Pythons, they devoured the forest animals whole.
"Harpies!"
Caligo bared his claws at the blackbirds with human faces, whose cries were ear-splitting.
"Harpies can only be killed by cutting off their wings. Their lifeline is attached to their wings! You must kill the leaders of both groups. Otherwise, their numbers will be overwhelming."
"Annoying pests coming in swarms. Don’t mess around and stay behind me. I need eyes on my back."
The emperor said in a low voice as he stepped in front of Caligo.
His words were unpleasant, but they showed the emperor’s concern.
The emperor intended to protect Caligo, who could not walk properly due to an injured foreleg.
To maintain the pride of the white leopard, he asked him to be his eyes.
Without a word, Caligo stood behind the emperor.
With keen eyes, he surveyed the chaos caused by the demons both in the sky and on the ground, becoming the emperor's additional eyes.
The emperor raised the Musatir’s sword, held in both hands, above his head, drew a large circle, and then slashed downward.
With each swift slash of the crimson longsword through the air, harpies fell from the sky, their wings severed, and snakes split in two and piled up on the ground.
At that moment,
"No! Go away!"
"Ahhh!"
"Ermior!"
"Grab my hand!"
From the other side of the forest, obscured by the fallen giant trees, the faint cries of women could be heard.
Both the emperor and Caligo turned their gaze toward the obscured part of the forest.
Amid the cacophony of animal cries, the voices were hard to distinguish.
The voices seemed to fade into the air, barely audible.
The emperor's red lips twisted.
With a trembling breath, he whispered,
"Arabelle…"
The name of the woman he loved dearly escaped his lips.
Caligo softly called out "Princess Ermior."
Without even catching his breath, the emperor dashed toward the direction where Arabelle's voice had come from.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The emperor's roar shook the forest.
Everything in his path was quickly cut down and fell to the ground.
Jumping over the fallen tree trunks, the emperor stood on the topmost log.
In his trembling eyes, he saw three women standing on a rock.
He couldn't see the other women clearly.
Only Arabelle stood out vividly in his red eyes.
Though a bit pale and thin, she was undoubtedly Arabelle.
His Arabelle.
The woman who, in their final moments, had held him and whispered, "I hope you won't be too sad because of me. I pray you will find happiness."
The woman who didn't realize that he could never be happy without her stood before him.
He had to get out of there and tell her.
Tell her that she was his happiness.
That she was the one who first made him truly smile.
He absolutely had to tell her.
So that she would never leave him again.
To ensure that his happiness wouldn't disappear.
For the first time since entering the underworld, the emperor’s hands trembled as he faced Arabelle.
Hot air surged from his throat, making his eyes wet.
The emperor bit down hard to keep his emotions in check.
Now was not the time.
He needed to stay calm more than ever.
At that moment,
Caaaaw,
A screeching sound came from above.
A harpy with its mouth wide open was rapidly descending towards Arabelle.
Arabelle covered her ears with her hands and tightly shut her eyes.
The emperor leaped from the log, running across the ground toward the rock.
Snakes lunged at him from all sides, but he paid them no heed.
Thud,
The emperor sprang into the air, using the mound of piled-up snakes as a stepping stone, and extended his hand.
He caught the harpy flying toward Arabelle by its neck and landed.
Without pausing to catch his breath, he swiftly severed the wings of the harpy in his grasp and threw it to the ground.
The emperor's crimson eyes met Arabelle's wide eyes as he fended off the descending harpies and the demons climbing up the rock where she stood.
Please, just hold on a little longer.
For the first time, the emperor muttered something resembling a prayer.
"The one with the silver hair is the leader."
Following behind, Caligo urgently informed the emperor.
Just as Caligo had said, the emperor spotted a harpy with silver hair flying amid the flock.
The other harpies were flocking around this young woman with silver hair.
The emperor pulled out a limp, yellowish bundle of hair from the leather pouch around Caligo's neck.
It was the fin covered in long hair taken from the sea monster Charybdis.
Like throwing a javelin, the emperor swung the fin upward and then hurled it at the harpy in a diagonal motion.
The fin left the emperor's hand and spread wide, ensnaring the harpy leader at once.
Despite its sharp teeth and thorny wings, the harpy's struggles were futile.
The hairs of the fin pierced the harpy's skin, injecting poison, and soon the creature's movements ceased.
The fin, now a rounded bundle, fell vertically from the sky.
Thud,
Caligo hurried over to the fallen fin.
He bit and lifted the fin, and the tattered remains of the harpy leader rolled out onto the ground.
Immediately, the harpies that had covered the sky scattered with metallic cries.
Although the flock of harpies retreated from the sky, demons with serpentine bodies still swarmed around the rock.
The demons and snakes surrounded the rock, snapping their jaws and waiting for an opportunity to climb.
The emperor carved a path toward the rock by slashing his sword.
No matter how many demons and snakes he killed, their numbers didn't seem to decrease.
Then, the emperor's keen eyes fixed on a scorched walnut tree next to the rock.
A monster with a single eye coiled around the thick trunk, its gaze sharp.
Snakes around the one-eyed monster didn't slither toward the rock but remained vigilant, guarding their surroundings.
Unlike the other snakes, they didn't seem interested in the prey atop the rock, staying solely by the one-eyed monster's side like royal guards.
It was undoubtedly the leader.
If he attacked the one-eyed leader, it would create a gap in the defense around the rock.
He couldn't keep fighting the endlessly replicating snakes forever.
Unlike these self-replicating snakes, he would soon... tire out.
While maintaining the rapid swings of his sword, the emperor thought.
He reached into the leather pouch around Caligo's neck with his free hand.
Pulling out something sharp, he quickly calculated the distance and direction.
Like shooting an arrow, he spread his legs in a straight line, twisted his torso, and threw Hydra’s tooth with all his might.
"Screeee!"
A chilling cry of agony echoed through the forest.
The sharp Hydra's tooth had pierced the monster's abdomen.
As the monster's face began to melt, its coiled tail around the tree went limp.
Thud.
A snake's tail, about the length of two fingers, fell to the ground and quickly slithered away.
As the leader fled, the demons and snakes scattered, crawling away from the forest.
The emperor finally noticed three water snakes biting into his thigh.
Frowning, he grasped the three snakes by the throat with one hand.
He tossed the limp snakes to the ground and slowly raised his head.
His blood-red eyes locked onto Arabelle, who stood on the rock, gazing down at him.
Arabelle's tear-filled, dark eyes were fixed on the emperor.
Her trembling lips curved into a faint smile of relief and joy, eventually blossoming into a full, radiant smile.
Something hot and damp, perhaps sweat, blurred the emperor's vision.
He took a step forward.
Then another.
And then several more, moving closer to Arabelle.
At that moment,
"Princess Ermior!"
Caligo cried out as Ermior, who had been standing on the high rock with Arabelle, was pushed and fell.
Caligo limped and rushed to the fallen Ermior.
The emperor’s gaze briefly lingered on Caligo and Ermior before returning to Arabelle on the rock.
His crimson eyes flickered with indescribable emotions.
Desperation, fear, and anger mingled, causing him to tremble.
He could never lose Arabelle again.
The woman standing beside Arabelle morphed into a monster, her head transforming into a writhing mass of snakeheads, flicking their tongues at Arabelle's face. Sharp claws dug into Arabelle’s arm.
The decayed skin of the creature, reminiscent of a rotting corpse, was dry and cracked, and its dark eyes, devoid of whites, gleamed menacingly.
As the hideous, reptilian face drew close to Arabelle's, the emperor's neck muscles tensed.
The monster threatening Arabelle was grotesque and loathsome.
A clawed hand, with yellow, hyena-like nails, gripped Arabelle’s shoulder, causing her to bite her lower lip in pain.
The emperor leaped up the rock with his sword, aiming at the monster holding Arabelle hostage.
Whoosh,
Standing atop the rock, he pointed his sword at the creature.
From below, Ermior, cradled in Caligo's arms, opened her eyes and gasped in disbelief, her face turning pale.
"Arabelle…!"
In her blue eyes, Ermior saw Arabelle trapped within the monster's skin, and the figure of Cephilia, who resembled Arabelle, beside her.
And the red-eyed man who had saved them was now pointing his sword at Arabelle.
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