Chapter 140: The Largest, Most Awful Tragedy in Human History

The chariot plowed violently through the horde of corpses.

Although merely fashioned from a makeshift carriage, as a time-honored instrument of war, the chariot still displayed its tyrannical dominance. The shattered flesh and severed limbs beneath the ground could not impede its advance; gathering ever-increasing speed, even the hardest skulls were crushed to pulp beneath the vehicle's impact.

Yet, Ryuu had no spare emotion to concern herself with the chariot's harvest. She glanced from time to time at Roland, who stood audaciously atop the horse's back, mercilessly wielding the holy sword in his hands like a meat grinder. The hero who always wore a charming smile now inevitably revealed a hint of fierce and chilling hostility.

No matter what kind of zombie served as an obstacle, before they could truly touch the chariot, they were sliced into multiple pieces by the blade's light and sent flying directly away, leaving behind no proof of existence other than a few severed limbs and splashed blood.

With such a powerhouse proactively blazing the trail, they were galloping along the pedestrian walkway toward the Guild at a speed far exceeding the ordinary.

Although she had hesitated at the beginning, that was merely a fleeting sentiment of compassion born from a long environment of peace. Amidst Roland's chilling declaration that "the living are more important than the dead," Ryuu quickly learned to obey. After all, before joining the Host of Fertility, she too had once experienced a time when she was the darkness, the avenger.

Furthermore, violence was always the most persuasive argument.

Before the power Roland displayed while clearing the way, the tavern's occupants did not even dare to breathe heavily. Dealing with ordinary people was one thing, but facing numerous fearless adventurers, once surrounded, if they failed to break out immediately, they could only await death.

Yet before Roland, these people seemed like meat voluntarily delivered to the chopping block. Aside from slaughter, Ryuu could find no other word to describe the scene.

After every flash of the sword's light, a mixture of red and white fluids would spray and splatter, adding new strokes to this hellish landscape.

The further they advanced, the heavier Ryuu's heart felt.

The main street of Orario possessed the highest level of defense, especially during festivals. Yet now, most of those guards were nowhere to be seen; only shattered armor and powerful zombies mixed among the horde proved they had once existed.

From the alleys adjacent to the main street, Ryuu could faintly hear the echoes of screams.

Painful, terrified, and hoarse.

Moreover, the directions from which the sounds came were far from single. In this purgatorial place, mere survival was a time of enduring torture; regardless of race or status, the sounds they could utter were much the same.

Except for Roland, who had long since mentally prepared himself for such a scene, everyone from the tavern felt somewhat shaken and uncertain. As adventurers, they had retired, not committed heinous crimes to be arrested; witnessing such a spectacle, it was impossible not to be moved.

At this moment, Syr alone maintained an unusual calmness. She gazed at Roland's back, showing no sign of being frightened by the surrounding bloody scenery, and instead revealed an excited smile.

No scene could be more fitting. In this environment surrounded by the living dead, every time Roland swung his sword, the malice in his heart kept churning, resembling nothing less than a shining beacon of hope.

Several minutes passed thus, and the surrounding screams gradually grew fewer, save for the occasional roar resembling beasts, the tearing sounds of colliding limbs, accompanied by intense fighting and desperate wails.

The once peaceful Orario seemed to transform into a living hell in less than a few minutes.

No, it did not merely seem like it.

Roland raised his head, watching the pitch-black smoke rising in the distance, like a pronouncement before the arrival of a death sentence.

The true hell had descended. Even the tragic spectacle unfolding in Orario, the center of the world, was merely an insignificant fraction of this disaster.

The entire world would plunge into frenzy and despair.

This was the greatest and most heinous despair event in human history.

---

"What on earth happened in Orario?"

Once they had passed the largest of the corpse hordes and the surrounding pressure began to ease slightly, Ryuu spoke up. Her eyelids drooped, faintly revealing unease, yet she maintained the calmness of a warrior.

"Roland-kun, you seem to know some inside information..."

"I do indeed know some facts."

Roland nodded readily.

"However, first to correct you on one point: not just Orario, I fear the entire world is like this."

"To put it simply, monsters in the deep levels of the Dungeon underwent a mutation, deliberately spreading this virus in an attempt to destroy the world. Before I came to Orario, this virus had already begun to spread quietly, and the abnormal movement of the monsters was for this exact reason. Today's God's Meeting was precisely to discuss when to launch a grand expedition to thoroughly resolve this threat."

"After all, it can no longer be contained. Who knows how many people across all of Orario are harboring the dormant virus. The attacks by those monsters were likely just a trigger, activating the virus within the bodies of those attacked, which then destroyed their consciousness. Judging from our observations just now, these fellows seem to have adopted the same brain wiring as Dungeon monsters. Although they can use weapons and will attack upon seeing people, if you don't draw their attention, they won't charge at you."

Roland said, almost as if joking.

"From that perspective, if we can resolve this disaster, the exploits gained would surely be more than enough to rank up several levels."

Ryuu fell into silence, and even Mama Mia, the backbone of the tavern, remained tight-lipped. Only a deathly stillness lingered.

Ryuu, usually calm and composed, trembled slightly in the face of this bloody reality.

"Then isn't this world finished?"

Even when magical beasts ran amok and people could only rely on heroes to survive, they surely had never faced such a desperate plight. Close comrades suddenly turned into monsters requiring ruthless slaughter, innocent ordinary people were also mobile sources of infection, allowing for no mercy whatsoever, not even leaving time for mourning.

"For an ordinary world, probably close to it. But to destroy this world? Not quite yet."

Roland, however, was not so pessimistic. Although the horror of this zombie crisis was in no way inferior to a Lost Christmas, the nature of the two still bore distinct differences.

If the Virus Queen had truly made up her mind, anyone infected with the Apocalypse Virus would have directly transformed into purple crystals; why bother with the trouble of relying on zombies to activate the dormant virus?

Yet along the way here, Roland had still witnessed quite a few dormant Apocalypse Virus carriers who only exhibited symptoms after being attacked. Before that, they had been completely fine.

From this, it could be seen that Orario's current miserable state was entirely because the number of adventurers here far exceeded the rest of the world. When spreading to ordinary people, the difference in strength caused the efficiency to be exceptionally high, which, combined with those rioting monsters attracting the attention of most high-level adventurers, allowed the situation to spiral out of control.

For countries outside of Orario, they would undoubtedly be at a loss initially, but if the source of transmission was limited to ordinary people and a small number of adventurers, once this initial wave of infection began to stabilize and official institutions reorganized their forces, paired with armies formed of organized adventurers, this disaster would soon be suppressed.

Conversely, Orario itself, owing to its higher combat power, would make subsequent suppression somewhat more troublesome.

Yet if true resolve was established, it was a matter that could be decided in a single God's Meeting.

The seemingly ferocious corpse hordes now were mostly composed of low-level adventurers and ordinary residents. Even numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands, annihilating them was no difficult task for a Level 6 adventurer.

"Roland is right. Ryuu, do not lose your head. Once the clues are uncovered, high-level adventurers are hardly likely to fall easily."

Mama Mia also nodded, acknowledging Roland's statement.

"However, the prerequisite for not falling is... that the gods remain alive."

For an anomaly like Roland, the presence or absence of patron deities was naturally immaterial, but other adventurers could never maintain such a relaxed attitude.

The Falna was divine magic bestowed by the gods. Once a patron deity met their demise, the ability value bonuses brought by continuous leveling would be directly sealed. Although one could subsequently seek another deity for conversion and unsealing, under such dangerous circumstances, adventurers who lost their ability values were more likely not to survive until that moment.

Years ago, Orario's Evilus had once caused considerable chaos through tactics specifically targeting deities.

Therefore, rather than rushing to establish strongholds, maintain order, and ensure the safety of the deities currently meeting in the Guild was the top priority.

"Then, explanations end here." Roland gradually slowed the chariot's pace. "Next, it's time for real business."

He leaped down from the horse, gripping Aster in his hand, and stared sharply at the Guild's steps before him.

Even during the festival, this true center of Orario remained packed with people.

What appeared in everyone's field of vision was a cluster of monsters infected by the Apocalypse Virus.

Most of them wore neat gear and tightly gripped weapons in their hands; many were upper-tier adventurers. In a situation where they could not let loose and directly destroy the surrounding buildings, the narrow interior of the Guild was practically an unknown hunting ground. A single misstep could spell doom inside.

"I'll help you."

Mama Mia also jumped from the carriage; even without wearing any formal equipment, the aura about her could not be underestimated.

"There is no need for that. Just guard the door outside for me. I have no wish for the comical situation where I slaughter my way in, only to have to hack my way out again with great effort."

Although his tone was not serious, it nonetheless halted Mama Mia's steps.

In the battle just moments ago, Roland had fully proven himself.

Whether it was his wisdom in the face of crisis, his strength to break out of encirclement, or his unshakeable calmness in times of peril, all of it made Mama Mia understand that he was by no means a rookie adventurer, but a hero who had begun to shine long ago.

Thus, Roland walked alone into the grand hall of the Guild.

"Roaaar---!!!"

Catching the scent of living survivors, these monsters with human shapes let out beast-like cries from their throats, instantly stirring up a commotion.

This was the joy of seeing prey, the cry summoning companions, the hatred of monsters toward humanity.

In an instant, Roland raised his sword, but monsters who had lost their sapience in soul felt no fear. They lunged fiercely toward Roland, and behind them were countless leaping and overlapping shadows.

Although they had lost their reason and adopted monster-like thinking, these fellows at least did not attack their own kind. Therefore, while individuals were not particularly troublesome, compared to individual strength, that locust-like swarm was where their true difficulty lay.

They could afford countless mistakes, whereas the enemy needed only a single error for the virus to seize the momentum and convert them.

Yet to Roland, the fellows before him were mere animated chunks of flesh.

In his eyes, there was no distinction whatsoever between the states of life and death.

"Squelch—!"

Accompanied by a sound like tearing silk, crimson blood and powerful limbs flew simultaneously into mid-air. The sword's light, so swift it seemed to stop time, turned the surroundings into a field of corpses without harming the buildings.

Roland's indifferent and ruthless pupils swept across the zombies before him, his lips pressed lightly. He strolled leisurely as if a monarch inspecting his lower gardens, yet his voice resounded with the resonance of a tolling bell.

"Too slow. You should weep for my strength."

Without the slightest pause, he violently flicked Aster upward, using a streamlined exertion technique to completely annihilate the zombies blocking his path. Then, he slightly tilted the sword tip, cleanly shaking off the accumulated blood.

Yet the fearless zombies still swarmed forward mindlessly. Even though they posed no threat, they displayed their tenacity to the utmost.

The further Roland advanced, the more turbulent the corpse horde around him became. Amidst the pleasant sounds of tearing flesh and flesh hurled high into the sky, gazing upon the bloody and cruel scene before him while feeling the painful wails of surrounding souls—

The malignant side of his body was calling out. Since coming to this world, how long had it been since he properly vented his emotions?

These creatures, whether in life or death, ought to have shown him respect, yet they dared to be this arrogant. Then, he should repay them with a just verdict.

"Since you cannot even weep or fear, let death decide everything."

Thus, the evil dragon opened its jaws.

Sword light resembling pure snow, accompanied by a torrent of flame, washed over everything in Roland's vicinity.

"Come! Come! Come! Base things, lowly creatures! All of you, die beneath my burning divine might!"