Chapter 393: The Power of Friendship, Love, and Faith (4)
'What the hell is going on?'
The person's appearance naturally surprised me.
I couldn't fathom why the Republic priest was running with his mouth evidently foaming.
I looked around in hopes of making sense of our situation, but I couldn't see anything because of the thick fog. Nothing changed, even after applying the maximum magic power to my eyes.
My brain was gathering up lots of questions.
I had a lot of questions.
"Trap! It's a trap! Stick together as much as possible!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
"We'll respond to the threat once we've regrouped! Don't get separated!"
'Where?'
We could hear a loud voice, but I couldn't seem to figure out where to gather. Our sights had been limited far too much. Allies and enemies were now mixed together inside our smokey cage.
I also realized that the fog surrounding the current troops seemed a little different from usual.
'The magic power is highly concentrated.'
I couldn't feel any traces of magic power until now, but the fog surrounding us seemed to have been artificially created. I felt like I was in a dungeon.
'Magic... Is it magic?'
Someone came to mind.
However, he wasn't supposed to be where we were.
The thought that there was a mist summoner here who should be participating in the Castle Rock battle was ridiculous. It was unreasonable to pull a significant person away from their defensive line when it's already being beset from all sides.
No, I couldn't even understand how that person could have come out in the first place. I was confident that our troops had the entirety of Castle Rock busy.
If she and some of the troops escaped Castle Rock, they should've gotten caught on our radar.
I felt like I was losing my breath, and my mind was being overloaded.
I knew that I must analyze the situation calmly, but it wasn't easy to make practical judgments about what was happening. In fact, I didn't even have time to think that much.
The most important thing at that point was to overcome the situation. However, my already burdened mind wouldn't allow me to focus on it.
"This dirty demon! Eeeeeekkk! Dirty demooon!"
Those who wielded weapons indiscriminately were hard to be seen as sane. I stepped back and swung my sword, causing blood to dye my face red.
Intestines spilled out as screams continued to echo across the battlefield.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Even with one arm completely blown away, the crazed being continued to run after me in a way that reminded me of maniacs and zombies.
I bit my lips tightly and cut its throat again, finally causing it to lose its life. Another figure ran towards me that looked to be the same as the last one.
With a slash from my swing, the puppet collapsed as well. Another figure approached me from behind through the fog at the very same moment.
I oscillated my sword when I heard a voice, but as I stopped myself just as I was about to cut its throat.
"It's me! It's me, Katya!"
"Mi... Mythica!"
"You were here."
"And others... No, can you tell me how the situation is right now?"
"I'm s-sorry. In fact, I can't figure it out. I only got here by accident. For now, we need to prepare something to cover our mouth and nose. I don't know if you've noticed, but..."
"Are you talking about the fog?"
"Yes. It's probably Cheon Gwan-wi's doing. No one else can spray fog all over such a wide area. How she got out of Castle Rock is unknown, but this is definitely her work. I think she covered her magic power by using a catalyst in the existing fog, but unlike before, the concentration of magic power is very explicit. And not only that."
"Did you find out anything else?"
"I'm uncertain about this one."
"It doesn't matter whether you are or you're not. Just tell me."
"Okay... i-it's just a guess, but this fog probably contains magic or some kind of weird drug. It might be a curse as well. I don't know in detail either, but... seeing that the priests' purification magic doesn't work, it's highly likely that other means had been used."
"Go to hell!! Hehehehehehe!"
"Careful!"
"T-Thank you, Katya."
"Keep talking. I will open the way."
"Yes, yes."
"What do you mean by other means?"
"I think it's a kind of alchemy potion. I haven't figured out how exactly it works, but it's probably a stimulant of some kind that induces hallucinations. One thing is certain: the more exposed you are to this fog, the stronger the effects. The monsters that attacked the troops earlier were probably also affected by this fog. Of course, as I said, these are all my personal guesses. If magic or the priest's purifying spells don't work, there's nothing else I can think of. I'm sorry I can't be much help."
"No. The insight is helpful enough. It's probably something really close to Mythica's speculation. I also thought that my body was sending some signals, little by little. It's a bit different from mental magic. If it were such magic, the effect wouldn't have lasted until now. The lower the resistance, the faster it'll take effect. The longer the time it stays in effect as well."
"Yes. You're right. The lower the magic power or HP is, the more lethal I think it is. Perhaps the probability that Lee Kiyoung made the potion and Chun Gwan-wi turned it into the fog is also..."
"We can think so, too."
"That's all I can guess. K-Katya. What will you do from now on..."
"First, I'll rearrange our troops. Find sorcerers and drive out the fog in any way. There is no other workaround."
"Okay."
"We will move a little faster. Mythica, stick to me and follow."
"Okay!"
In fact, it wasn't a significant achievement altogether.
But at least, they made sense of how things were going and how matters were going on.
The biggest question now would be how to deal with this absurd situation.
"Die! Die! Die! God Varian will not forgive you!"
"L-Let go of me!"
"Motherfuckers! Motherfuckers! Die! Lunatic bastards! "
"You'll be the ones who'll die, cursed children of the demon!"
The more I made my way out of the fog, the more I saw spectacular sights.
I saw armed people surrounding and beating a single soldier. I also saw someone crushing another person's face with its bare hands.
I wanted to go and save them, but the problem was I couldn't tell the ally and enemy apart.
There weren't just those who were wearing Varian's uniform. There were also those wearing the Republic military uniforms and those wearing their insignia.
Even those who appeared to be civilians were mixed in the fray. It would be a waste of time to distinguish them apart.
It went without saying that the situation was rapidly escalating more and more as time passed by.
"Dieeee!"
"I'm an ally! An ally! Don't swing!"
"Die! Fuck off! Don't come close! No one. No one comes close! Motherfuckers!"
"This crazy bastard!"
"Don't come close!"
"Unite! Unite!"
"Form a dense formation! Defend with dense formation!"
"Don't come closer, you crazy bastards! Ahhhhhhhhh!"
"God will punish you!"
"Dirty demon bastards! Disappear! Die!! Goddess Benignore and God you. These punished bastards!"
"Kill them! Kill them all!"
"I'm an ally. Don't swing. Ahhhhhh!"
"I'm an ally! Ally! Gab! It's me! Me!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
'Shit...'
"Damn..."
'Shit!'
"Katya-nim."
"Please stay close. The rear troops are probably in formation around the wizard."
"Yes... Yes."
No word could better describe the scene than the word hell.
Blood continued to splatter as a foul smell rose from the sticky floor. My body was damp due to the blood, and my hair was drenched in sweat. Screams and shouts pierced into my ears nonstop, and voices asking for help kept ringing in my head.
The more I breathed in, the dizzier I got. At that point, I knew the drug was working.
Of course, it wasn't just me that was getting affected.
Everyone around me was under its effects. Anyone who approached anyone was treated like an enemy.
People continued to wield their swords in fear, cutting their own allies as they got surrounded by actual foes. More and more individuals got brutally murdered while the fog continued to force madness into their minds.
It no longer even looked like a battlefield.
'What are we fighting against? What...'
"Die!!!"
"Help. Help me... Save me!! I am not... I am not! Gasp."
"You guys think you will take over the Republic..."
"Don't do this. Don't come closer! It's my fault. I did everything wrong, so don't come any closer. Please don't do this. I..."
"Help me. Please. Mother..."
"Kill them! Kill... Eeeekkk!"
"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
'Help me.'
"..."
'Help me. Katya... Please help me. Please... save me.'
"Sister..."
It wasn't because of the fog. My vision was becoming more and more distorted.
I saw and heart hallucinations. As I continued to swing my sword, those who fell with blood on their faces began to look more like demons.
'I'm just hallucinating.'
Everything was just hallucinations. My mind was getting blurrier and blurrier.
It was like magic. No, it felt like a curse.
"Mythica... are you following me properly?"
I looked back, but the glasses-wearing man was nowhere within my view. I bit my lips tightly, but nothing changed. It would be impossible to find him in this state.
"Katya!"
The moment I turned to the voice coming from the side, I saw a giant monster.
"N-Now."
"Die..."
"What?"
"Die... just die! This monster bastard!"
"What are... gasp."
The monster's neck was slashed apart instantly. However, when I cleared my eyes, the head of an unknown soldier was the one rolling on the ground.
It had become increasingly difficult to breathe, and my face had become distorted with an unknown fear.
It felt like all I could see was red as the world spun around me. Tears started to fill up my eyes when I tried to make sense of such an unintelligible situation.
I bit my lips tightly, but I felt like the incomprehensible reality kept putting my mind into a corner.
'Save me... Katya.'
"You must be purified! You have to be purified."
'Katya.'
"I will deliver salvation. The salvation of light! The army of light will drive you out!"
'Save me, Katya!'
"Salvation of light!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"