Chapter 199 (1/2)

Epilogue (1)

Mercadius was fleeing frantically in despair.

How did that happen? It asked itself. It knew the answer, but it didn’t want to admit it.

Everything changed three years ago after the war between the Union and the Adgon ended.

Having returned to normal, the System encouraged Awakened beings to hunt Mercadius, and the Union actively responded to such demands of the System.

Since then, it became impossible to count how many of their kind had been hunted and extinguished. Their ability, cognitive control, was no longer as threatening as before. The “Parasite hunters” were necessarily accompanied by a high priest or incarnation-level individuals.

That was the case for the ones who were after him at that moment.

“It’s here!”

Mercadius once again teleported long distances. However, the host’s Mana was limited. In the end, he failed to leap through space as intended and fell nearby.

It asked itself again.

‘How did I end up like this?’

The world was governed by twelve countries having the lands divided, the most powerful of which maintained a military dictatorship. Hiding in that dimension, Mercadius sought to brainwash and plant seeds for key military forces.

The plan was going smoothly. The brainwashed leaders constantly tried to invade other countries, and the Awakened forces concentrated on the Gate were consumed while fighting with their own people.

A typical pattern of destruction.

But that day, all his plans had been ruined.

Swoosh!

Crossing the sky, he looked down. It was chaos under his feet. The military golem he mobilized to stop the “hunters” was swept away by undead troops that emerged from somewhere.

The zombies that took over the place were a powerful army that broke all stereotypes about the undead. All individuals had the same endurance and offensive power as the lower-class devils.

In front of their offensive, even the golem cast in magic metal was torn and pieced apart.

“K-eup!”

Mercadius clenched his teeth and almost completed the teleport spell. And the moment he tried to leap again…

Paht!

A hunter appeared out of thin air. The first to appear was a race covered with golden fur. The moment she appeared, Mercadius felt displeasure that put his nerves on edge.

It was an incarnation. Among them, the one who had received the blessing from the god of war.

Rosuelen, who blocked Mercadius, gave a fierce gaze as she lifted the Holy Sword given by her god. Blazing sword energy enveloped the blade, and she proclaimed in an icy voice.

“You better give up.”

Mercadius cried out.

“Nonsense!”

Paht! Paht!

Two people soon appeared behind Rosuelen. A man with a bone cane and a woman with a magical item embedded with seven runestones in her hand.

When Mercadius saw them, he smiled with satisfaction.

Mental manipulation couldn’t work against an incarnation. But those two humans didn’t seem to be as well-rounded.

He exuded twisted divine power. Sacred power was felt from the two of them as well, but it was weak. Hence, it tried to take control of their minds and attack the incarnation.

But-

“…!”

Mercadius was shocked. His entire body faintly trembled.

There were two reasons why he was so surprised.

For one, mental control didn’t work on them, who were less than the incarnate’s state.

And the other reason… was that he identified their weak divine power and its attributes of power that he thought was insufficient to resist brainwashing.

The traces left on them were similar to yet different from the power of Mercadius.

“What the hell are you?!”

Mercadius screamed.

The man reached for him, and a prison composed of bones appeared around and restrained his body.

Boo-boom!

When he managed to break free, a gravitational spell grabbed him. At the same time, the bone prison was summoned again.

While the two anchored the parasite, Rosuelen gathered enough strength on the sword.

Whoong!

Her sword energy and the divine power converged on her blade.

Shhhh!

It penetrated the heart of the enemy caught in the air!

“Oh… No! I can’t… Not this way…!”

The incarnation’s attack didn’t end in a flash. The seething divine power distorted the air and tore off the red waves that encroached on the host.

The mental scream rang for a while before finally stopping.

Mercadius had been slain.

“Phew, well done, everyone!”

Nate shouted with a worn-out face. Hibiki sighed, retracting Mana.

Rosuelen, who was chosen by the god of war, also responded by returning the summoned Holy Sword.

“Thank you both for your hard work!”

Rosuelen had a completely different aura from three years ago when she fled to the Grave of Incarnations to escape from the Adgons. At that time, she was an incarnation candidate, but currently, she had become a legitimate one. Though she maintained her cognition and soul as a mortal, a heavy presence flowed out without her realizing it.

She spoke to the two of them.

“That’s the third this month.”

Nate grumbled.

“I don’t know how this many Mercadiuses have been hiding so far.”

Hibiki stepped in.

“It’s a good thing we’re at least chasing them belatedly and getting rid of them one by one. Even the Union have said that they would be spread all over the place and deep-rooted this much.”