The Smiling Death-Chapter 391: Another Death

On the western side.

Near the tower, two huge abominations with black skin were dead.

Most of the monsters had already been killed. But there was silence. No one could hear a cheer of joy.

The scent of fresh blood mixed in the air. Corpses lay here and there. Most of them belonged to monsters. But among them, a few were those of humans and some other races.

They had killed those two Rank Five abominations. But it had cost them a lot.

Near the dead body of one of the huge monsters, a middle-aged woman sat, leaning against its massive corpse. Her maroon hair had turned a liquid red color. It was her own blood. A deep wound had formed on her belly. It was a terrible cut. Her intestines could be seen. One of her arms was broken. Her once beautiful face was now ruined by bruises and wounds. One eye was swollen. One of her pointy ears was torn.

She was none other than Nora, taking her last breaths. She was on the verge of death. She had fought hard. She had given everything to kill those Rank Five abominations together with Peter, one of her strongest group members. He was at the peak of Master Ascendant.

He was in better condition than her. Of course, he was badly injured as well. But at least he was not dying. His dirty gray hair was messy, stained with blood. Cuts covered his entire body, but he was still walking slowly toward her.

"Lea-Leader?" he called in a shaky voice. The sword in his right hand fell to the ground. "Are you okay? Damn it! Wait, I will call David so he can heal you!" He looked around frantically for David.

Far away, David was healing another injured person. Just as Peter was about to shout to call him immediately, Nora stopped him.

"Do not... bother with it," she said in a slow, heavy, tired voice.

It felt as if even uttering a single word was too difficult for her.

"What do you mean? You are dying!" Peter said, looking at her with a shocked expression. His eyes slowly became watery.

"What happened?"

"Leader Nora! Are you okay?"

Just then, Oliver and Steffeny came running toward them. They had been helping others move to a safer place. Their armor was slightly broken. Their clothes were battered. A few other members followed behind them.

Nora looked at them with weak eyes. "My wounds are too deep... with the level of healing power David has... I cannot be saved. I have lost too much blood..." She coughed. More red blood came out of her mouth.

"Leader!" Steffeny knelt beside her, trying to support her dying body. She placed one hand behind Nora’s back.

Nora smiled faintly. It was weak, but still gentle. "The battle is over... we have done... our job here... only the last step remains."

Her gaze slowly moved across their faces. She looked at each of them as if trying to remember them.

"You all fought well... better than I ever expected..." she whispered. "Do not... blame yourselves for anything. This was a war... losses are inevitable..."

Her breathing became more uneven.

She turned her head slightly toward Peter, who was barely holding back his tears.

"Go inside the tower... you need to see what is there... and deactivate the tower. This is my last order..."

"Leader Nora! Do not say that! You will be fine!" Oliver said desperately, his voice shaking.

But Nora did not respond immediately.

For a moment, her eyes drifted toward the sky, as if she was looking at something far beyond their sight. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"...We will escape it..."

Her voice was barely audible now.

Then silence followed.

Her maroon eyes remained open. But the light within them was gone. Her chest no longer moved. Nora had stopped breathing.

"..."

No one spoke.

Steffeny’s hand trembled as she held Nora’s body.

Peter lowered his head, his shoulders shaking. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

Oliver stood frozen, unable to say anything.

Around them, the battlefield remained silent.

The victory felt hollow.

---

On the southern side of the forest.

The scene was not much different from Nora’s side.

Those two guardian monsters were dead. On some distance form them, a giant black scale snake like monster was dead.

Corpses of monsters lay everywhere, covering the area.

Many people were injured and wounded. But no one had died.

Some injured members were being healed, while others continued fighting the few remaining monsters.

A fire arrow shot through the broken forest.

Thud.

It pierced perfectly into the head of a wolf-type monster. The arrow had been released from Katherine’s bow.

Her whole body was dirty. Small wounds were visible across her skin. Her small demon horns were covered with soil and dust.

A short distance away from her stood Julian. He continued killing monsters with determination. His wind-covered blade sliced through the head of a spider monster.

Beside him was his comrade, supporting him with daggers.

Both of them continued fighting without stopping.

Everything was under control here.

That was why Roland and Silvan had entered the tower.

Silvan was the best healer among them. But he also knew how to fight better than many others.

Inside the tower.

The place was very different from what they had imagined.

It was not empty as they had expected, with only stairs leading upward.

But neither it was filled with rooms and monsters either.

Inside the tower was a massive hall. It rose high above them, with no visible end to the ceiling.

The monsters had likely been here, in this place, for many years.

But what drew their attention were the things embedded into the walls.

Huge, unknown machines made up of brown metal and transparent pipes rose from the ground and extended upward endlessly.

Those pipes were covered in strange patterns, runes, symbols.

Even on the black walls, which were not covered with those machines and wires, ancient patterns were still carved.

Inside the transparent pipes, something was moving.

"What is that?" Roland asked as he observed the substance traveling inside them. It was violet in color, slightly glowing, and slowly moving downward.