WTYTIAAN Chapter 38
by VolareNo… undead are indeed immune to physical corrosion, but the white smoke emanating from Henry clearly indicated that his soul was suffering from corrosion attacks.
His arms gradually festered, the corroded wounds were deep enough to see bone, but Henry still wore a focused expression on his face, making the scene all the more terrifying.
Henry, who had always behaved like a human, finally revealed his undead side.
When the last bit of his palm melted away, the dagger Henry had been holding fell weakly, only to be clamped between his arm and body as he continued his work.
Yan Yunqing stood in place, not trying to help, quietly watching Henry cut the vine tumor bit by bit, his arms also gradually melting in the process, disappearing little by little, leaving only a small section.
The severed surface was corroded into a bloody mess, and Yan Yunqing felt his own arms aching as he watched.
As a swordsman, how could Henry watch his hands disappear so calmly, knowing he would never be able to lift a longsword again?
The cut-off vine tumor gradually withered over time, shedding its outer layer of vines, revealing a fleshy ball inside that looked like a newly formed embryo, dark red overall, with a sticky film on the surface. Close to it, one could hear the sound of its heart beating, the boiling blood throbbing.
No wonder it was called a tumor. A closer look revealed that the vines entangled on the surface of this monstrosity were all connected to the giant tree, constantly drawing nutrients from it to provide life force for itself.
Seeing that the fleshy ball had been stripped away, Henry wanted to use his sword to end its life, but he no longer had hands to lift his sword. He looked at Yan Yunqing for help.
After a two-second silence, Yan Yunqing stepped forward, drew [Henry’s Longsword], aimed at the fleshy ball, and slashed it open fiercely, causing sap to splatter everywhere.
He dodged quickly, only getting a little on the hem of his clothes.
Seeing the familiar sword in Yan Yunqing’s hand, a trace of confusion flashed in Henry’s eyes, as if he had suddenly woken up. He looked around, his expression filled with blankness.
Yan Yunqing watched the fleshy ball gradually lose its life force under his hands. It wanted to struggle, but it had not yet formed a real body from its embryonic state. Faced with its death, it was powerless to reverse the situation.
Finally, it shriveled into a thin sheet of paper, turned into light spots, and scattered away.
Yan Yunqing looked up and met Henry’s dazed eyes, which were tinged with melancholy. He paused, glanced at the [Henry’s Longsword] in his hand, and understood.
“You remembered?” Yan Yunqing wiped the unknown liquid from the longsword and wanted to return it to its original owner, but Henry saw his intention and shook his head.
“No need to give it back to me.” Henry wanted to raise his hand, but could only slightly lift half of his upper arm. “In my current state, I can’t lift this sword anymore. It’s better to leave it in your hands.”
His gaze swept over the magic staff hanging on Yan Yunqing’s waist. “Dual cultivation of mage and swordsman… sounds like a miraculous fairy tale.”
“Miracle?” Seeing that Henry really didn’t seem reluctant to part with the sword, Yan Yunqing put it away again. “I don’t think so. The reason miracles are called miracles is that they can still be achieved by those with a strong will, don’t you think?”
Henry seemed to be touched by Yan Yunqing’s words. “The possibility that miracles can be achieved by those with a strong will… is that why they are called miracles?”
Henry lowered his head and pondered. He looked very thin at the moment, the two empty sleeves fluttering in the wind, paired with his pale face, like a beautiful male ghost from a horror movie.
Of course, he was indeed a male ghost now.
Henry seemed to have thought of something, and he slowly nodded. “You’re right, that’s what a miracle is.”
He wanted to say something more, when suddenly a strong wind arose, and the vines hanging on the tree were blown wildly. Yan Yunqing staggered in the wind and almost fell off the tree trunk. He quickly grabbed a vine as thick as an arm to stabilize himself, and also grabbed Lillian, who had been accidentally thrown out.
However, that was all Yan Yunqing could do. Henry, who was a few steps away from him, was swept away by the gale. Having lost his arms, he could no longer grab the vines like before and swing himself back.
He was wrapped in the wind and slammed heavily off the giant tree.
“Henry!” Yan Yunqing shouted.
Lillian braced herself against the wind, grabbed the magic staff, but every time she opened her mouth, the wind poured into her mouth, not giving her a chance to chant.
Henry fell straight down, his face without any panicked expression. On the contrary, the corners of his mouth were still curved in a smile. He closed his eyes and completely relaxed his body.
Yan Yunqing’s heart was lifted high, almost jumping out of his throat, but he saw Henry wrapped in another invisible wind just before he was about to be smashed into a pulp. The speed of his rapid descent was slowed down, as if he had fallen into a gentle cloud, slowly sinking into it.
He was well protected.
Henry remained with his eyes closed, letting the wind envelop him.
“Little Cat!” Lillian shouted against the wind, “Watch out, something’s appearing—”
Only then did Yan Yunqing notice a cloud of black mist not far away, shrouding a person. He couldn’t see the person’s face, but Yan Yunqing was sure: this was Karenna.
The vine that Yan Yunqing had been holding onto finally couldn’t support his weight. With a snap, it broke off from above. Yan Yunqing was caught off guard and was directly swept out by the gale.
Yan Yunqing reflexively stuffed Lillian into his arms, trying to control his body in the wind, recalling the posture one needed to take for a high-altitude forced landing that he had seen in short videos, trying to protect his head…
Before he could adjust his posture to prepare for the fall, Lillian in his arms released a huge surge of magical power. Instantly, a warm current wrapped around Yan Yunqing—and then he fell quickly.
Yan Yunqing: ???
Yan Yunqing watched himself splat on the ground… and then bounce up again??
What was this…?
Yan Yunqing discovered that he was surrounded by a layer of translucent energy, like a balloon. Upon contact with the ground, it instantly released the force, and the remaining force bounced him up.
Yan Yunqing thought he heard a squishing sound.
After rolling around twice, Yan Yunqing finally came to a stop on the ground, and the energy around him disappeared. Lillian popped her head out, looking proud. “How was it? My bubble magic!”
Yan Yunqing gave a thumbs up. “You’re still useful.”
The gale showed no sign of weakening at the moment, but since Yan Yunqing was already on the ground, he didn’t need to worry so much. Lillian cast a gravity spell on both of them, multiplying their weight tenfold to ensure that a level 12 typhoon wouldn’t blow them away.
Yan Yunqing moved towards Henry’s direction against the wind. He thought he would see Henry looking nervous and alert, but when he got closer, he found Henry looking up at that cloud of black mist.
He was standing freely, seemingly unaffected by the gale.
“What kind of wind is this?” Yan Yunqing shouted at Henry, “How can we make it stop!”
Henry turned his head, looked at Yan Yunqing, and took two steps towards him.
Yan Yunqing suddenly felt the wind around him weaken a lot. As Henry got closer and closer, they seemed to be isolated from the outside world, with the branches and vines dancing wildly outside, but they were not affected by the gale at all.
Yan Yunqing: ???
Alright, he understood. Karenna was being biased!
Yan Yunqing, who had swallowed a bellyful of wind, was speechless for a moment, and tidied up his messy hair. “The cloud of black mist up there—is that Karenna?”
Yan Yunqing asked very bluntly, and Henry also answered very directly, “Yes, but she has no rationality now. We need to clear the black mist around her so that she can wake up.”
“That black mist is…” Yan Yunqing asked halfway, but Lillian interrupted him.
“That’s the black mist born from the bones of a god! If it’s not cleared as soon as possible, it will constantly breed countless demons!”
Yan Yunqing also became nervous. “How do we clear it?”
Constantly breeding demons? What’s the difference between this and a dungeon constantly spawning monsters? This was a bug!
Lillian’s voice was solemn. “Since the birth of demons more than a thousand years ago, no race has found a way to completely eliminate them, unless—the source of the black mist is destroyed with the purest power in the world.”
The source of the black mist—wasn’t that the bones of the god?
But now the black mist was wrapped around Karenna, what did that mean?
Taking advantage of the fact that they were shielded from the wind, and it was relatively safe, Henry explained to Yan Yunqing, “Karenna has fused with a small piece of the god’s bones.”
Yan Yunqing: ?
“Fusion?”
Henry nodded. “You have that sword, so you must have come from outside, right? How long has it been since Karenna and I died?”
Yan Yunqing: “…Six years.”
“So that’s it, it’s been six years already.” Henry was melancholy. “I’ve been in this space in a daze, and unconsciously six years have passed.”
Henry sighed softly, the sigh containing complex and deep emotions. “Six years ago, that is, before Karenna and I died in battle, we found a small piece of the god’s bones in the forest.”
“At first, we didn’t know what it was. We only knew when a demon suddenly appeared, constantly chasing us, and we guessed that it was the god’s bones.”
“We were very flustered at that time. The level of that demon was obviously not something we could deal with, and with that god’s bones, new demons would constantly be born around us.”
“At that time, Karenna proposed to go back and notify everyone in the village to prepare to escape… but it wouldn’t work. We found that this demon was a rare multi-talented demon. It had a space-type talent magic that enveloped the entire Sunset Forest… and the village.”
“A few people running out alone wouldn’t attract its attention. Once a large number of people left, those villagers who couldn’t protect themselves would become its best food.”
So Karenna changed her mind. She rushed back and asked her brother, Big Brother Rosen, to sneak out of the back of the village with a few people to seek help.
According to Karenna’s idea, she asked the villagers to seek help from the garrison stationed in the nearest Setta City, and for insurance purposes, her brother went to the capital to seek help from her tutor, Adelaide, so that if more powerful demons appeared later, there wouldn’t be any major problems with a senior magician in charge.
However, Karenna didn’t expect that this demon and the bones of the gods were themselves a ‘joke’ opened by the upper nobles.
Setta City didn’t send anyone to rescue them, and the entire Sunset Village was isolated and helpless.
The story behind that was the same as what Yan Yunqing knew. In order to protect the village, Karenna stood at the forefront with her magician’s frail body, and Henry led the patrol guards who were willing to stand up to help Karenna hold back the demons.
At the same time, they hid all the non-combatants in the village, ensuring that even if they died in battle, the demons couldn’t harm those people.
“Karenna’s level had no chance of winning against that demon, so she used a forbidden secret technique.” Henry said softly, “She embedded that god’s bones into her body, using her life as a flame to ignite the bones… At that time, she wanted to die with the demon.”
Yan Yunqing was stunned when he heard this secret: according to this, Karenna wanted to treat herself as a… human bomb?
“That’s impossible!” Lillian obviously knew this secret technique as well. “A magician at level 21 can’t possibly perform this secret technique. She will only be quickly eroded by the filth of the bones and turn into a new demon!”
“With the mental power of a level 21 magician, she can’t resist the pollution of the bones!”
“Yes, Karenna failed, so when I snatched her back from the demon’s claws, she had completely lost her rationality.”
Henry said it very easily, but it was heavy in everyone’s ears. “Before she became a new demon, I killed her.”
“After that, I didn’t have much consciousness. I guess I should have died at that time, right?”
“When I woke up again, I was in this space.” Henry said, “I only remember that I had to do something very, very important. I kept walking and walking, killing any demons I encountered, until I walked to this tree—”
“And then I knew.”
“This tree is Karenna.”
Henry’s words once again confirmed Yan Yunqing’s guess. He continued along Henry’s words, “The tree has the meaning of protecting a piece of land and water, so in this space, the tree is Karenna’s incarnation, and the vines and fleshy tumors on the tree are the… parasites of the god’s bones attached to Karenna.”
Constantly absorbing Karenna’s soul, giving birth to countless demons.
The original sky-shielding tree wanted to support an umbrella of protection for the village, but it turned out to be the haze that blocked the last glimmer of light.
“Yes, so I want to clear the filth on Karenna and awaken the real Karenna.” Henry was helpless. “Unfortunately, it seems that the time has been dragging on for too long with the repetition of day after day and year after year.”
Now it was completely impossible to separate Karenna from the bones of the gods.
“In order not to endanger the village, there’s only one way left.”
Henry looked at Yan Yunqing. Yan Yunqing pointed to himself in confusion, and Lillian said softly beside him, “If they are completely fused, as long as you kill the carrier parasitized by the bones, and there is no more nourishment provided to the bones, the black mist will naturally disappear.”
Henry nodded. “So, I beg you.”
“Please”
“Kill Karenna.”
Henry looked at his lost arms. “This matter should have been done by me. After all, Karenna wouldn’t be on guard against me, but in my current state… I can’t lift my sword at all.”
Yan Yunqing stared at him for a moment. “I know. Then what should I do? In Karenna’s current state, it’s difficult for me to get close to her, right?”
“Use that sword.” Henry gestured with his eyes. “That sword is what I used to carry with me all year round. It’s stained with my aura. Karenna will regard it as part of me. With it, Karenna won’t hurt you.”
“As for me”
“I’ll pave the way for you in front and guide you to Karenna’s side. This is a double guarantee.”
“You may not have Karenna’s vision at that time… This is just right. Karenna is very sensitive to the sight of others. Don’t look at her, and she won’t notice you.”
“Don’t worry about whether you can hit Karenna in a situation where you can’t see. You only need to point the sword at my heart, and I will adjust my position to make my heart and Karenna’s heart at the same level.”
“You only have one chance, you must stab it in without hesitation.”
“Do you remember?”
Yan Yunqing couldn’t say what he was feeling now, only that it was a mix of emotions. He was always influenced by such martyr-like wills, just like he once was…
“I remember.”
Henry continued, “After killing Karenna, please set this tree on fire. After Karenna dies, without her restraint, the demons that have already hatched or are half-hatched on this tree will frantically absorb power to strengthen themselves.”
“So, for the safety of the village, please burn this tree and the demons on it together.”
“Okay.”
“…”
“…”
Yan Yunqing whispered, “Do you have anything else to say?”
Henry was lost for a moment, then asked, “Can you… tell me about my father and Big Brother Rosen, how are they now?”
Six years had passed, and he was unaware of it in this space, but six springs and autumns had already passed outside.
“Your father, old Jason, is doing very well now. He adopted a little girl, Yuli, who lost her parents in that battle six years ago. The people in the village take good care of them, and this sword was given to me by him.”
“As for Uncle Rosen… well, he’s still looking for the truth about six years ago. Although he’s a bit slovenly, I believe that once he knows the truth, he will definitely regroup and restore his former self.”
Yan Yunqing thoughtfully concealed the fact that Rosen had lost an eye and a leg, and was vaguely ostracized by the whole village.
In any case, the dead cannot be resurrected and be with the living, so just tell the good side of the living to reassure the dead, right?
“So that’s it.” Henry lowered his head and smiled again.
This time, his smile was filled with relief and ease, as if he had put down a heavy burden and was finally about to embark on a new journey.
The undead had already died once, so what was there to fear about dying again?
They were just stepping onto their own shore.