◈ 380. [STAGE 15] Last Prayer
The goblin army poured into the city of Crossroads.
Right now, the place with the most people in the city was the temple, and the goblins smelled humans and flocked to the temple.
bang! Kwajik! Kwakwang!
There are two doors in the Temple of the Crossroads.
One big front door and one small back door.
Both of the doors were lined with goblin corpses and blocked by hastily built barricades of chairs and desks.
Outside the barricade, the goblins banged their weapons fiercely.
“Whoa, whoa… … .”
Torkel, the leader of the Leper Slayer, glared at the front gate of the temple that had just been closed.
His whole body wrapped in bandages was covered with the blood of the goblins and his own blood from the open wounds.
But Thorkel had no time to care how dirty his body was.
“All who can fight, take up arms!”
Thorkel looked inside the temple and shouted.
However, how many of the injured soldiers would be able to fight fully, and how many of them would be able to use the weapons equipped in the temple.
Grabbing the kitchen knife he hurriedly retrieved from the temple cafeteria, and tying a round table instead of a shield to his left arm, Torkel felt it.
If the relief army does not come, everyone in this temple will die.
And at the point where the monsters flocked to this place, they couldn’t hope for a relief army.
“I give orders.”
But that doesn’t mean you can just lay down and die quietly.
Thorkel quickly ordered his Leper Slayer party members.
“You block the back door. The road is narrow and the fence is high, so the four of you should be able to stop it.”
“Then the captain… … .”
“I will block the main gate here with the other wounded soldiers.”
Fortunately, it was that the temple fence and stone walls were covered with holy protection magic.
The goblins didn’t bother to cross the fence, they tried to break through the gate. Thanks to this, a defensive tactic could be established.
Body Bag and Burnout, who were in charge of setting up the barricade, were additionally building obstacles throughout the temple.
The injured soldiers who had been brought in after being injured throughout this defense battle also joined with their weapons one by one.
As instructed by Thorkel, the remaining 4 Leper Slayers left to defend the side gate.
Torquell hastily organized the soldiers gathered in front of the main gate and placed them at a defensive point.
“I will help too!”
Marherita, the head priest, ran out and shouted.
“I know how to use shield magic. It will help.”
“… … .”
Thorkell wanted to tell her to go inside, but he didn’t even have the time.
Kwagwawang-!
The barricade blocking the main entrance was smashed.
I didn’t expect to last long, but the breakthrough was much faster than expected.
It seemed that the suicide bombers among the goblins blew up the barricade.
“Let’s push them away!”
Gritting his teeth, Thorkell rushed forward. Bodybag, Burnout, Marherita, and other wounded soldiers desperately helped him.
A fierce battle ensued.
Although wounded, there were many skilled soldiers. The goblins who intruded into the temple were knocked down.
Torkel and Burnout crushed the goblins with overwhelming fighting power.
Marherita cast a shield spell on the soldiers, and Body Bag continued to restore the barricade with telekinesis.
It seemed like he could easily block them for a while.
Kirik!
Kiyaak-!
That was until suddenly goblins appeared from behind.
“what?!”
“Why behind!”
“The back door seems to have been pierced… … !”
Shouting, Thorkel gnashed his teeth.
It was as he intuited. As the front gate defense was solid, the goblins focused their attacks on the back gate.
All of the leper slayers defending the back gate were heroes skilled in combat, but they couldn’t last long without any equipment on their injured bodies.
In the end, all four of them resisted to the end and met their end.
And the goblins pouring in through the breached back gate attacked the main gate defense force from behind.
“We must retreat, retreat-!”
It was impossible to fight in a situation surrounded from the front and rear. Eventually, Torkell gave up defending the front gate and shouted.
“Into the building! hurry!”
The survivors managed to break through and retreat into the temple building.
After shutting the door and locking it, Thorkell shouted as he blocked the door with an obstacle.
“Block the windows, bring the people together! right now!”
But there was no need to gather people.
Everyone gathered in the corridor of the central hall, trembling and praying.
Soldiers unable to fight due to severe injuries and priests without fighting ability were praying to the goddess as they trembled at the imminent death.
“… … .”
Outside, the goblins screamed ferociously and struggled to open the locked door, but the inside of the temple was silent.
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I was embarrassed because this gap was unfamiliar. Thorkel slowly moved into the concourse.
It was there.
goddess statue.
He always watches from afar, never seen him up close… … the face of the goddess.
“Goddess… … .”
Thorkel muttered blankly.
“… … You were making this face.”
The face of the goddess was pitiful, as if looking down at something pitiful and sad.
Right after that, my eyes flashed.
“ah.”
Only then did Thorkel realize that he was bleeding.
A sword and a spear were stuck in each one of them. It must have been thrown on his back by a goblin during retreat.
His dull skin did not even feel the attack. But the damage was clear. Thor Kell knelt in a pool of his own blood.
“Mr. Thorkel!”
Marherita hurriedly pulled out the sword and spear from his back, administered healing magic, and bandaged him.
The original color of Marherita’s priestly clothes was already dark red with the blood of wounded soldiers. Watching her struggle, her torkel murmured.
“Stop it, saintess. nothing now… … It makes no sense.”
“… … .”
“We will all die here.”
Thorkell slowly closed his eyes.
“It was terrible, life.”
“… … .”
“I have suffered from leprosy all my life, been ostracized, and pointed at. And in the end, they are killed by the goblins.”
“… … .”
“This is the first time I have seen the face of a goddess, so I would like to ask… … Why did you give me this pain?”
Thorkell, who slowly clasped his hands together, spoke in a suppressed voice.
“I’d rather say that I was punished for the sins of my previous life, as I’ve believed all my life, and that I’m being punished for the sins I was born into.”
“… … .”
“If you don’t even have that kind of cause and effect, this life of only suffering… … Aren’t you being too unreasonable… … .”
However, even when he saw his face for the first time and prayed, there was no answer from the goddess.
Instead, Marherita, tightly bandaged, spoke in a businesslike tone.
“I repeat, Mr. Thorkell. There is no such sin.”
Thorkel opened his eyes and saw Marherita. Marherita, as always, had a grave expression.
“There is no sin in your birth. What you suffered is not a punishment from someone else.”
“Then why? Why did I suffer?”
“Yeah… … Because the world is what it is.”
After the first aid treatment, the saintess calmly spoke.
“This world is inherently irrational, and it doesn’t care about cause and effect. And it hurts.”
“… … .”
“We are living together in this hell.”
Thorkell, who was at a loss for words, stuttered and asked.
“Then what are we to do in this terrible hell?”
“I have to struggle.”
Marherita smiled.
“Until the end, with all your might.”
“… … .”
“And at the end, pray.”
Marherita held out her hand.
“Come on, let me hold your hand.”
The saintess’ blood-soaked hand grabbed Thorkel’s bandaged hand. Then Marherita closed her eyes and prayed.
Thorkel stared blankly at it.
It was the first time anyone held his hand since he had leprosy.
Also praying with those hands.
bang! Kwakwang-!
The locked door of the temple shook violently. The sound of breaking windows echoed from all directions.
Soon, goblins would flock to this corridor.
Chaenggang-!
The stained glass on the left and right of the door was broken, and goblin archers dug in.
They shot arrows at the people in front of the statue of the goddess with the bows in their hands.
Torkel tried to take the attack with his own body without realizing it.
However, there was a hand that pushed him away.
‘uh?’
Pushing aside, Thorkell saw the man who pushed him.
It was Marherita.
She put shield magic on her body and took the goblins’ arrows instead. However, she was also in a situation where she had already exhausted her strength.
Chaeng-Grang-!
I couldn’t block the last arrow and the shield magic was turned off,
well… … !
The goblin’s arrow pierced the priest’s robe.
Marherita collapsed quietly without a groan.
While the other soldiers charged the goblin archers and killed them, Torkel picked up the fallen Marherita in her arms and supported her.
The priests tried to heal her, but the area hit by the arrow was bad. The arrow tore through her left breast.
When the healing magic didn’t work, the priests shook their heads slightly.
“why?”
Thorkell asked, genuinely unable to understand.
“Why, instead of something like me? you… … ?”
“… … I am a priest, and you are a patient.”
With bloody lips, Marherita struggled to answer.
“To save the patient… … Whatever we do, we… … .”
“But I am a disgusting, dirty leper… … Why for something like me… … .”
“You and me, we are all the same.”
Marherita’s voice quickly faded.
“We all struggle to survive in this terrible world… … What a pitiful life… … .”
Marherita raised her clouded eyes.
In the opaque world, the goddess statue was looking down at her.
“… … Mr Thorkell. What kind of face was the first goddess I saw?”
To Marherita’s question, Thorkel answered in a choked voice.
“It was such a face, as if looking at something very sad and pitiful.”
“That’s how you see yourself.”
“yes?”
“As I see it, the goddess… … .”
A smile crossed Marherita’s lips.
“You are smiling so brightly… … .”
“… … .”
“You too, this smile… … I wish I could see… … .”
Marherita slowly closed her eyes.
And she couldn’t breathe anymore.
“… … .”
Thorkell calmly set her body down on the floor.
Then, he grabbed the kitchen knife he had put down for a moment and tied the table to his left arm again.
“Because the last prayer has already been raised.”
And that too, in a luxurious way that would never happen again in a lifetime- because the saintess held his hand and prayed with him.
“Then now… … All that remains is to struggle until the end.”
Hearing those words, the wounded soldiers and priests who had been crouching in front of the statue of the goddess to pray stood up one by one.
They all overheard the conversation between Marherita and Thorkel. And we saw Marherita’s death together.
Didn’t have to say a lot. People finished their last prayers and held something in their hands.
for the final struggle.
If this is the only thing you can do in this terrible world, be willing.
thud! Kugoong! thud… … !
The door of the temple shook violently as if it would break at any moment.
When the final decision is made and everyone prepares for a decisive battle, led by Thorkel.
tu tu tu tu… … .
A low, regular sound began to echo in the distance.
At first, I thought it was a battle cry and tried to ignore it, but gradually the sound got closer and louder. Thorkell glanced upward curiously.
‘what? Mechanical sound?’
And the motion of the sound ceased in the sky above the temple-
Doo doo doo doo-!
It emitted a deafening sound.
Everyone inside the terrified temple fell flat on the floor.
The terrifying roar and vibration continued for a long time.
The sound of bullets bouncing, the ground being dug up, and the screams of the goblins rang loud enough to deafen my ears.
After a while, the roar stopped. Torkel realized that the goblins in front of the door had lost all signs.
okay. clap.
Thorkel carefully removed the obstacles he had piled up in front of the door, unlocked it, and looked outside.
“?!”
All the goblins gathered at the entrance of the temple were reduced to pieces of meat. And there were countless bullet marks on the floor.
“… … What is this?”
Torkel, perplexed, looked up at the sky. Evening approached before I knew it, and the sky dyed red.
And he opened his eyes.
“That… … !”
