Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 37
He said it without any tension, as if he’d just gotten caught up in something troublesome, leaving those around him unsure whether they should be scared or not.
“Di-did we make too much noise?”
Though they spoke with belated regret, instead of saying ‘I told you so.’ Rubel merely said in a monotone voice.
“It doesn’t matter. We wouldn’t have lasted long anyway.”
“Th-then what do we do now?”
“Well, we try our best to survive.”
Rubel raised his sword and took up a defensive stance. One by one, people followed suit, gripping their swords tighter and lowering their bodies. First, Rubel slashed down a monster that had lunged for someone’s neck beside him, then ducked to avoid the next attack before thrusting his sword upward through another monster’s head. Blood sprayed violently as he pulled out his sword.
“If you want to live, you’ll have to move. I’m not foolish enough to throw away my life for others.”
Rubel kicked away the falling corpse, using it to deflect an attack from another approaching monster.
People were momentarily mesmerized by Rubel’s inhuman fighting movements before finally coming to their senses and beginning to move forward with him.
True to his words about not throwing his life away for others, Rubel thereafter only moved forward, regardless of whether monsters moved behind them to devour someone. Though he occasionally helped others, he only did so when they were within his path of movement.
As this went on, people naturally began to form ranks to survive, and gradually started fighting more strategically.
‘They’re holding up quite well.’
Rubel thought as he looked at the people behind him.
But the problem was that this was just the beginning. Until now, no one had died because Rubel had dealt with the dangerous ones himself, only letting the weaker monsters slip behind, but from here on out, they would only be able to endure by losing people one by one.
‘And once one person dies, they’ll quickly fall apart.’
Judging by how they had been running their mouths about being scared before the monsters even attacked, they seemed like a group unfamiliar with loss. This was unusual for people living in the North.
While witches did handle monsters, they were usually eccentric ones who used monsters to complete their spells by sacrificing human blood. So typically, in places where witches dwelled, new graves would appear before the old ones could even be properly covered.
But this place, where Hecate had stayed for such a long time, was the opposite. It was too peaceful, and in some ways, it even seemed as if Hecate had protected these people.
Rubel thought as he thrust his sword into a monster’s vital point, quickly withdrew it, and aimed at the next monster.
So does that mean Hecate wasn’t someone who did such dangerous things? If she had no intention of destroying the Holy Empire, why was she developing such spells?
Rubel’s thoughts began to tangle complexly.
“Arghhhh!”
Just then, a loud groan came from behind, and he could feel the formation crumbling and scattering.
A man familiar to Rubel had fallen while fighting two monsters, and his arm was torn off by a Hecmel. Though Hecmel looked like wobbly slime and had no solid teeth, there were rare ones whose bodies were filled entirely with powerful acid.
Bad luck indeed.
Rubel clicked his tongue.
Though their attacks were slow, they were the most troublesome monsters to deal with without a priest.
“Damn it. Hey, are you alright!”
“Focus on what’s ahead of you.”
Rubel raised his glowing sword to deal with the Hecmel that had eaten the man’s arm. Several old men had gathered to try to save the man, and because of the Hecmel’s tendency to explode when stabbed, he had no choice but to use divine energy.
When the glowing sword pierced the Hecmel’s body, people’s eyes grew as big as saucers as they stared dumbfoundedly at the sword’s owner.
“Could it be just now…….”
He hoped they wouldn’t say he had been deceiving them all this time, or turn their backs on him saying he was the reason the monsters appeared. Not for Rubel’s sake, but because nothing could be worse for them.
After all, the sense of betrayal felt by those without ability was the surest way to get themselves killed.
As Rubel waited with annoyed feelings to see what they would say, someone suddenly embraced him tightly.
“God has blessed you!”
“This is the first time in my life I’ve seen such a thing!”
“So this is what they call the manifestation of divine energy!”
They were even getting teary-eyed with emotion and repeatedly patting Rubel’s shoulders. For once, Rubel stared at them blankly with a dumbfounded expression.
“What, are you all…….”
Are you idiots?
Rubel frowned hard while suppressing those words that were about to burst out. Hecate must have manipulated these people’s minds quite thoroughly for them to all end up with intelligence worse than dogs.
Just then, someone pushed Rubel while shouting.
“Look out!”
