Chapter 34

Worm felt a strange sensation in his mouth. Then, his brain felt as if it were being repeatedly hammered, causing intense pain. His limbs wouldn't move freely, and his chest ached as he exhaled.

“Ahh... huuuuhh”

A sense of suffocation and pressure enveloped Worm's entire body. The strong smell of earth and decay filled his nose. When he moved his body, the darkness cleared slightly after a slight resistance.

Worm exhaled as if he had been waiting for it, and he realized that the air he exhaled contained clumps of soil and moisture. It took him a while to realize that he had been underground. Even though he had escaped from underground, half of his vision was still shrouded in darkness.

The remaining half showed the night sky. The familiar smell of the battlefield was even more intense than usual. Moving only his right eye to survey the surroundings, he saw that the bodies of soldiers were scattered haphazardly. He felt a dull pain as if his head were being squeezed by a vise and a sharp pain as if an ice pick were piercing his eyeball. He checked his eye using the reflection of the longsword he had pulled out. There were no noticeable external injuries, but his black eyes were cloudy and discolored.

The cloudy eyes reflected nothing. Worm realized that the light in his left eye had been extinguished. Ah, he must have been burned by magic, Worm thought, oddly accepting it. He had received an excessive and concentrated magical attack, which was enough to bury a single person. It was no wonder one of his eyes had been affected.

Worm began to assess his condition. His head might have a crack. Strangely, the lacerations had already clotted and were even beginning to regenerate. His left hand's fingers were pointing in random directions. Each breath he took brought unbearable pain. There was no part of his body left unscathed. After a moment of work, Worm looked up at the sky again. It was a full moon. The shape of the moon, which had been waning, had changed.

"How many days have passed since then?"

Worm voiced his question. Around him, there was nothing but death. Several large holes, created by concentrated magical attacks, were filled with bodies.

The corpses that had not been completely buried or had been exposed from the ground were beginning to decay. Rats and maggots covered their surfaces, feasting on them.

All of them were from the Hyserk Empire's army. Worm deduced that the enemy had buried the bodies of their own soldiers carelessly. There was a faint smell of holy water mixed in, as if it were a token gesture.

The large amount of soil and debris thrown up by the explosion had hidden Worm underground, protecting him from predators and enemy soldiers.

"Ahh... Reinus, Tivard, Danfan..."

Worm uttered several names. They were the veterans of the Dewey squad. Although they weren't particularly close, they had been comrades who had survived the brink of death for nearly a year.

They were far from being comrades who cared for each other, but they had saved his life on occasion.

A red alert was screaming in Worm's mind. Stop. Don't look any further—

Red hair, a crushed bow, a broken battle axe of the Dewey squad leader.

“Ughh...”

His empty stomach tightened, and acid rose up. The taste was terrible.

Unconsciously, Worm clasped his hands. What should he do? The exhausted Worm couldn't focus his thoughts for a few minutes.

Under the moonlight, all the military flags belonged to the Four Nations Alliance. Most of the ramparts had fallen, and the one Worm had been defending had become a massive graveyard.

The front lines shouldn't be this quiet. It must have become a safe zone for the Four Nations Alliance after they completely eliminated all resistance, Worm grunted.

He understood that the enemy's main force had filled the ramparts where the Hyserk Empire's army had been deployed.

How far had they fallen? Was it all over, or was only the city wall left? What should he do? Should he continue to pretend to be a corpse and look for an opportunity to escape, or should he surrender?

When Worm lowered his gaze, he saw the empty eye sockets of his comrades who had been stabbed repeatedly. There were also bodies that had lost their facial features. It wasn't just one. Worm had heard from his brother that those who lost both eyes in life would wander in the darkness of the underworld for eternity. He couldn't tell if their eyes had been gouged out before or after death. The bodies had their hands tied behind their backs, indicating they had been killed after being restrained. Whether it was the result of individual soldiers' rampages or organized actions—

Rampages by soldiers were a common occurrence. Worm, who had dealt with prisoners, knew from experience that they were a burden in terms of food, supervision, space, and cost.

The Hyserk Empire's army, to avoid worsening the mood in occupied territories and to secure labor, officially refrained from massacring prisoners. Even so, Worm had seen prisoners killed many times due to a lack of supplies for prisoners or as a way for soldiers to vent their frustrations. In the Third Rampart, countless soldiers from the Four Nations Alliance had been killed or injured. Armies with disunited command structures treated prisoners inconsistently, and Worm could imagine that this had led to the massacre of prisoners. Still, he couldn't understand or empathize with the need to gouge out the eyes of the dead.

“It's war. It's not unheard of...”

Was it necessary to despise and violate the enemy to such an extent? The word "rational war" floated in his mind, and Worm bared his teeth, laughing loudly.

“Haha, u, hiiii, iuuu”

Despite having killed and been killed so many times, he still clung to notions of character and intellect, Worm despised himself.

He didn't know how many days had passed. Still, the faces of his squad members, who had been joking with each other just a few hours ago, flashed through his mind.

“Aah, that's right. Death can come suddenly. It happened before, didn't it? And this is war. This is war. We are killing. We are being killed.”

Worm tried to organize his thoughts by speaking, but his emotions got in the way.

At that moment, he noticed a light approaching through the dim darkness.

“Hey, something's standing there.”

“Another undead? Hyserk soldiers are a pain even when they're dead.”

“We crushed the eyes and limbs of these ones. They can't move much. Let's just crush their heads.”

The carefree conversation of the Ferius soldiers reached his ears. The thought of surrendering and begging for his life crossed Worm's mind, but he saw the bodies of his comrades, who had been killed after being restrained.

“Surrender? Screw that, no way. They're just a bunch of bullies.”

Even if he begged for his life, he would probably be killed easily at best.

“Take a chance, smear myself with maggots and corpses and escape? Not bad.”

Ignoring the fact that he was surrounded by over ten thousand soldiers in the heart of enemy territory, it wasn't a bad plan.

Duty, responsibility, revenge.

An offering to his squad, loyalty to his country, hatred for the enemy.

‘What do you wish for with your clouded eyes?’

“...”

“Hey, is he mumbling something?”

“He's just groaning.”

“He's dirty, but his eyes aren't gouged out. Maybe we missed him.”

“Huh, surrounding and beating him will do the same.”

Words circled in his head. Suddenly, Worm had an idea. Will-o'-the-wisps are also called guiding lights to the underworld. If he made a grand guiding light, his comrades wouldn't wander.

Worm declared to his comrades, whose eye sockets were exposed.

“Even if you can't see, you can feel my will-o'-the-wisp. I'll make a grand guiding light for you.”

As Worm spoke these words to his comrades, the Ferius soldiers finally realized he was alive.

“He's not an undead. He's alive.”

“The battle was five days ago. He's a coward who survived by smearing himself with corpses.”

“To have been here for five days...?”

Something hit Worm's feet, which he hadn't moved. He picked it up and spoke excitedly.

“You're considerate. Will you come with me? I'm going to make a grand guiding light.”

The mask clattered in agreement. Worm slowly put it on and exhaled, his breath causing the mask to tremble as if it were reaching its climax.