Reborn As A Maid

Chapter 63: Chapter 63 - The First Demon General ( Part 7)

Dawn never came...

Or perhaps...

It was what it seemed like...

Gray Hollow should have been flooded by the warm rays of dawn.

But instead, it had been swallowed up by a dense layer of dark-gray clouds...

There were some rays of sunshine somewhere behind them.

But not even one of them ever reached the village...

It seemed as though the whole world was enveloped by perpetual twilight...

An unnatural silence settled over the land.

And even the wind seemed to have stopped.

Inside the church...

Nobody got much sleep...

The students looked extremely tired...

The hunters carefully inspected their weapons for the third or fourth time...

And the Royal Knights guarded each and every entrance...

Lilia sat next to Jennie, holding two cups of hot tea in her hands...

"...I couldn’t sleep."

Jennie smiled.

"I noticed."

"Was I that obvious?"

"You counted sheep out loud."

The girl’s cheeks instantly turned red.

"...You heard that?"

"You reached four hundred and eighty-two."

"..."

"...I fell asleep at four hundred and eighty-three."

Jennie nodded.

"That’s quite a success."

Lucas, who polished his sword near the girls, laughed.

Even a few tense hunters smiled.

For a moment...

The unbearable atmosphere seemed to lighten.

But then—

BOOM!!

The ground started shaking. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

The hot drink was spilled all over the wooden tables.

Candles fell...

Stained-glass windows trembled...

Several students almost lost their balance...

"What was that?!"

Another explosion reverberated from under the ground.

BOOOOOOM!!

The church trembled...

Dust started falling from the ceiling.

The Headmaster Roland instantly rose on his feet...

"Everybody, outside!"

The expedition rushed to the village square...

What met their eyes...

Made everyone gasp.

Gray Hollow itself started collapsing...

The ancient stone well...

Which had no bottom...

Got broken...

The massive cracks started appearing on the ground as the web of a spider.

A purple-black light started shining from under the ground...

The dark mist started rising into the sky.

It seemed as though the whole world got injured...

The wind finally came...

But it didn’t come as the breeze.

It came as a storm...

Howling from the empty streets.

Doors burst open.

Windows broke.

The dead trees bent under the invisible pressure...

Students barely managed to keep on their feet.

Lilia raised her arms to cover her face...

"The mana..."

"It is overflowing!"

Jennie just observed the eruption...

The voice of Excalibur echoed in her mind...

"...The seal has been broken."

Some ancient runes suddenly appeared around the enormous crater...

Gleaming golden runes floated through the air...

Beautiful...

Sacred...

But...

One by one...

They broke...

Every break sounded like the sound of breaking glass...

CRACK.

CRACK.

CRACK.

Excalibur spoke quietly...

"These are the sealing runes of Goddess Miasa."

Jennie’s crimson eyes narrowed...

"They are failing."

"No."

Excalibur corrected her...

"They have already failed."

Then...

They heard it...

A heartbeat...

THUMP.

A deep, heavy throb echoed from under the ground...

THUMP.

The sound wasn’t loud...

But everybody heard it in their chests... freёwebnovel.com

As though their hearts tried to copy its rhythm...

Several students fell on their knees...

One of the hunters put his hands over his ears...

"...Make it stop..."

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Every beat brought such enormous pressure...

As though something terribly ancient started waking up...

Far under the ground...

Buried under dozens of layers of stone...

An enormous chamber slowly revealed itself...

Ancient pillars reached toward the ceiling...

Gigantic chains as thick as castle towers wrapped themselves around one figure, sitting on the black throne...

Each of them was glowing with holy light...

And bore the crest of Goddess Miasa...

Only one chain was still intact...

The figure slowly raised his hand...

His skin was pale gray...

Long black claws touched the ancient iron...

And then...

With an effortless strength...

CRACK.

The last chain broke...

Above...

The pressure burst...

BOOOOOOM!!

An enormous column of black mana exploded into the sky...

The clouds became crimson...

The lightning lit the sky...

The air became so heavy that it was almost possible to breathe...

All the horses fell down...

The birds flew in all directions...

The monsters, hiding in the distant forests...

Screeched in horror...

All over the Kingdom of Seraiya...

The people looked at Gray Hollow...

Even hundreds of kilometers away...

The column of darkness could be seen...

Inside the Royal Palace...

King Aldric got up from his throne...

His face became completely serious...

"...That..."

Queen Celestine looked out of the palace window...

"...It is impossible."

Nearby...

Martha Morius quietly put down the teacup she had been preparing...

For the first time in years...

The legendary Head Maid frowned...

Inside the Hunter Association...

The Director Alfred Rowan slowly closed the report he was reading...

Each hunter in headquarters rushed toward the windows...

Silence filled the building...

One of the veterans whispered...

"...Calamity."

Back at Gray Hollow...

The Headmaster Roland drew his sword...

"Royal Knights!"

"Protect the students!"

Lucas stood in front of Lilia and Jennie...

His fingers tightened their hold on his sword...

"I don’t care what appears..."

"But nobody will pass."

Jennie smiled faintly...

"...Still trying to pretend being the reliable older brother?"

Lucas smiled back...

"Someone must."

The ground kept shaking...

And then...

A giant hand emerged from the crater...

It wasn’t a human hand...

Its skin was covered in the black armor which looked as though it was fused to the flesh...

Crimson runes gleamed on every finger...

The nails were like the swords...

The hand grabbed the edge of the crater...

And another hand appeared...

The ground cracked even more...

An enormous figure started emerging from the abyss...

One step...

And another...

Each step caused trembles...

When the figure finally stood under the crimson sky...

Everyone forgot how to breathe...

He was nearly four meters tall...

Jet-black armor covered his body, carved with glowing crimson runes which were older than recorded history...

A tattered cape fluttered after him even without any wind...

An enormous cursed greatsword lay at his waist...

Its blade was full of hatred...

Its edge was dripping with the black mana...

Slowly...

The figure raised his head...

Two crimson eyes opened...

Ancient...

Cold...

Merciless...

He looked at the world...

As though greeting his old enemy...

And then...

He smiled...

A calm...

Elegant...

Terrifying smile...

"...Five hundred years."

His deep voice echoed across Gray Hollow...

"So..."

"This world still exists."

The Demon General of Ruin...

Azrakiel...

Had awakened.