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Chapter 289: The Vile Rat That Pollutes the Seas (6)

“You all know this. Demons are invading our land.”

Bayern’s words echoed among the Barbarians.

In the north, demons had descended.

They were trampling the land and forming a front to defile the earth, attacking as they advanced.

“But there are no demons there now. Something entirely different is invading and polluting the land.”

Bayern spoke in a low voice.

“It is a dangerous being. And powerful.”

His words stirred murmurs among the Barbarians.

They didn\'t know what had descended, but the fact that the king himself acknowledged its danger and strength made them restless.

Something the king recognized as dangerous was there.

The glint of battle-hungry ambition was in the eyes of the Barbarians.

Seeing this, Bayern smiled and continued.

“That creature is polluting the north. The north is no longer ours. Do you think you can conquer the continent if you cannot even protect your own land? Impossible.”

It was only then that the Barbarians realized what the king was after.

Bayern declared,

“So here’s the deal. You have one week. Solve the pollution defiling the north. If you succeed in purifying even a speck of it, I will lead you to conquer the continent.”

“Oooooooh!”

“Waaaaah!”

The Barbarians roared with excitement.

If they could just solve this issue, they could finally march towards the continent!

Filled with determination, they rushed toward the front.

Bayern smiled, knowing they would do just that, and muttered quietly,

“You’ll have to endure quite a bit in the coming week.”

The Barbarians, charging ahead, soon arrived at the front line.

And they saw it.

The green land, filled with poison.

“Ugh.”

“W-what is this?”

Even those driven by instinct hesitated.

No, it was because of their instincts that they paused.

That thick green land held a force they couldn\'t comprehend.

The Barbarians instinctively kept their distance.

“What is this filth?”

But not all of them were cowed.

A Barbarian, overconfident in his strength, boldly stepped onto the poisonous land.

“Hahaha! This poison is nothing before our powerful bodies! Come on, everyone!”

He shouted with arrogance.

And at that moment, the poison crept up his leg and into his body.

His expression froze instantly.

“H-huh? Wait a second!”

He tried to scramble out of the land, but it was too late.

The poison had already climbed up his leg and into his head.

His body began to sink into the earth.

“N-nooo! Stop…”

The poisoned land swallowed the Barbarian.

After a brief silence, a hand shot up from the ground.

[Uuurgh…]

It was the Barbarian, now corrupted by the poison, rising as a decayed zombie.

The twisted creature attacked the remaining Barbarians.

“W-what is that!”

“Get a hold of yourselves!”

Clang! Clang!

The Barbarians, shocked, drew their axes and swung at the creature.

But the corrupted Barbarian didn’t fall easily.

Only after it had infected and killed three more Barbarians did they manage to sever its limbs and stop it.

[Uuuurgh…]

The headless torso continued to twitch.

The severed limbs wriggled on the ground.

“…What in the world…”

It was grotesque.

Unnatural.

The Barbarians realized they couldn’t approach that land carelessly.

They backed away cautiously.

“Ugh. What do we do now?”

They couldn\'t step onto the land.

But retreating wasn’t an option either.

If they could somehow purify this pollution, they would gain the chance to conquer the continent.

The usually thoughtless Barbarians strained their minds to come up with a solution.

Then, one Barbarian finally thought of something.

“Let’s overturn the land!”

“Oooooh!”

“What a brilliant idea!”

“Let’s try it right away!”

The Barbarians, amazed by the suggestion, immediately set to work.

But overturning the land was no easy task.

As soon as their axes and shovels touched the poisoned earth, they too became corrupted. Dozens of Barbarians lost their precious weapons in vain.

Only the strongest, wielding enchanted weapons, managed to overturn a portion of the land, but of course, it was meaningless.

The pollution had seeped deep into the earth.

All they had done was bring the poison from beneath to the surface.

“Ugh…”

“Mmm…”

The plan to overturn the land had failed.

The Barbarians were stumped.

Then, one of them muttered.

“What if we cover the pollution with clean dirt from outside?”

“Ooooh!”

“That’s a great idea! Very clever!”

“Alright, let’s try that right away!”

The Barbarians shoveled clean earth from outside and tried to cover the poisoned ground.

And, predictably, it failed again.

The moment the clean dirt touched the poisoned ground, it too became corrupted.

All they had done was spread the polluted area.

Every attempt they made failed.

But the Barbarians did not give up.

“It’s okay!”

“We can do this!”

As long as they succeeded, they would finally be able to march toward the continent!

Driven by this thought, the Barbarians continued to throw themselves into the task, trying every idea they could think of.

But in the end, all of it was in vain.

The week passed with no progress.

Bayern clicked his tongue as he looked at the despondent Barbarians.

“You lot couldn’t even solve this pollution. You couldn’t fix the problem defiling our land. Tell me again, how do you think we deserve to conquer the continent?”

“……”

The Barbarians couldn’t respond and hung their heads in shame.

Seeing this, Bayern quietly smiled.

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“I gave you a chance, but you failed. You couldn’t solve the pollution defiling our land at all. Now, keep quiet and follow me.”

Bayern led the Barbarians toward the polluted area.

And soon after, an old man appeared.

The Barbarians’ eyes widened as they recognized him.

“A follower of the gods?”

Even the north wasn’t entirely without faith.

Despite countless persecutions and humiliations, there were still churches barely holding on.

The old man was a saint—the leader of a church that worshiped the god of purity, barely surviving in the north.

“O, Your Majesty... Why...”

The barbarians recognized his face, their expressions displeased, but they did not voice any objections.

They had failed after all, and as the defeated, they held their tongues.

Seeing this, the old man stroked his beard with a curious look.

“You don’t raise your axes at me? How interesting.”

“We’ve been preparing for this for a week. Just go ahead.”

“There’s no need to ask. You’ve protected us, after all. Please, speak as you wish.”

The old man stood before the corrupted land and began to pray.

Bayern spoke.

“You could not protect our land. You were utterly useless.”

Keiiiiiiing!

Divine power surged forth, bathing the land in its radiant light.

The barbarians’ eyes widened.

The corruption that they had been unable to cleanse, despite trying everything for a week, was now being purified.

“And yet, the very power of the god you scorned and persecuted is now protecting our land.”

Bayern declared to the barbarians,

“The remaining churches in the north will act to protect our land. You will stand by and watch them.”

* * *

Keiiiiiiing!

Starting with the old man, all the remaining churches in the north began to move.

They began purifying the toxic land from the outskirts.

The barbarians remained silent.

The very believers they had despised and deemed unnecessary were now safeguarding their land.

It was confusing, humiliating even.

But those feelings didn’t last long.

“Hahaha! How splendid! They’re actually protecting our land!”

“We scorned them as weaklings who relied only on their god, but they have their worth after all!”

The barbarians quickly acknowledged the believers.

The main reason they hated them so much was that they saw them as weaklings who leaned on the name of a god to flaunt power, refusing to believe in their own strength and attributing everything to the will of the divine.

However, the corruption of the land was something they could not purify no matter what they did.

But now, the believers were solving the problem in the name of their god.

It was impossible not to acknowledge them.

Barbarians are brutish, narrow-minded, and barbaric.

In other words, they have no shame and can change their attitude as easily as flipping their hands.

The barbarians dropped their hostility toward the believers and showed a friendly demeanor.

The believers, surprised by the sudden shift in behavior, looked bewildered.

Bayern smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

“This is going well.”

The barbarians rejected the gods and despised believers.

As such, the north was a place where religious churches held little power.

But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

The gaze of the divine watches over the earth.

If a problem arose, no one could act as swiftly and decisively as the churches.

Bayern had been pondering how to establish the churches in the north, and now a perfect opportunity had presented itself.

Bayern chuckled to himself.

“From now on, the barbarians won’t be able to strongly reject the churches. And now, I have a reason to control them too. It’s all thanks to you.”

“I merely conveyed the message. The real help came from this fellow here.”

Ketal lightly tapped the Holy Sword.

[Right? See, I’m useful, aren’t I? Bringing me along was a brilliant choice!]

The Holy Sword exclaimed with excitement.

Ketal casually responded.

Bayern muttered to himself as he observed the land being purified.

“The purification itself is progressing smoothly. Since this area is on the outskirts and devoid of the rat, it seems the believers’ power is enough. The barbarians are handling the monsters that appear. But soon... it will show up.”

“Yes, it will. A creature like that wouldn’t just sit still while its territory shrinks.”

“So, I ask of you.”

“I’m all for it.”

Ketal grinned, baring his teeth.

* * *

Keiiiiiiing!

The believers, along with the barbarians, continued purifying the land tainted by the toxic air.

Their progress was swift.

The corrupted territory had already noticeably shrunk.

And then, the master of the territory, having sensed this, finally revealed itself.

Kugugugung!

“Huh? What?”

“What’s happening?”

People panicked at the sudden tremors in the earth.

Soon, the source of the quake emerged.

Kuuuuung!

Bursting forth from the corrupted land, it revealed itself from beneath the ground.

A decayed, grotesque rat.

[How repulsive.]

The rat, now exposed, radiated intense displeasure.

[How dare these younglings... soil my land without knowing their place.]

“Huh? What?”

“Ah...”

The believers’ faces turned pale.

Even the barbarians, who prided themselves on standing firm in the face of death, involuntarily stepped back.

They all realized at that moment.

What stood before them now was a grotesque monster, something wholly otherworldly.

Something beyond their comprehension and acceptance.

“Huff... Huff...”

“Ugh...”

Those unable to wield mystery clutched their heads in agony.

The mere presence of the rat twisted their minds.

Even those with mysteries were not much better off.

The noxious energy exuding from the rat polluted their very beings.

[I shall ensure that none of you die. You will live on in eternal regret within the poison.]

The rat, annoyed, began to move.

At the moment when they all sensed their horrible fate...

"...Huh?"

From the sky, a small figure began to descend.

It was falling straight toward the rat\'s head.

The rat, unaware, was about to scatter its poison when...

"Whoops."

[Screech!]

Ketal, falling from the sky, slammed his fist down.

With a thunderous crash, the rat’s body crumpled.

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