Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 285 - 83 Death

Mia ran through the dark realm of the Shadow Realm.

She wasn’t sprinting at full battle speed, but instead was moving forward at an even and energy-saving pace.

However, the distance the delegation had traveled over several days was impossible to cover in a few hours, even at her current speed.

Therefore, she had to take turns with Peggy. When she got tired, she would let Peggy emerge from Fire Island.

Mia would rest on her back and use her Shadow Ability to cover her entire body, preventing Peggy from being corroded by the Shadow Realm since she didn’t possess the ability of the "Shadow" Sequence.

Peggy, who had the ability from the "Flesh" Sequence, was far superior to Mia in terms of endurance for long-distance running, so their abilities complemented each other perfectly.

Neither of them encountered a horde of rats along the way, it seemed that these creatures did not choose to move along the main road under the guidance of the shadowy hand behind the scenes.

Of course, the aim of The Azure Longsword was not to chase them but to hurry to Mingxing City as quickly as possible.

The sky gradually brightened. Having run through the night, Mia could only exit the state of the Shadow Realm, then went to Fire Island to catch up on sleep.

Peggy continued onward, carrying the Half-plane Fragment. The "Flesh" ability allowed her not to need sleep nor to feel tired mentally, so the heavy task of traveling fell on her shoulders.

That afternoon, Peggy hurriedly returned to Beggar Village and finally saw the first traces of the rat horde.

When the girls of The Azure Longsword emerged from Fire Island, they were shocked to see the sky above the once serene Beggar Village filled with thick black smoke—seemingly, the smoke was generated from the desperate villagers setting their own homes on fire to drive away the rats.

Eleanor immediately wanted to rush forward, and Aske quickly called the team to follow:

"Stay alert during support, and be careful, the main body of the enemy might be nearby!"

They entered the village in combat formation, only to discover that the main force of the rat horde had already left, leaving behind only a few rats feasting on the corpses scattered across the ground.

There were no screams, no cries for help, and probably all the people had already died. The surrounding houses were all engulfed by fire, with black smoke gathering above the village like a black pall at a collective funeral.

Eleanor’s peripheral vision even caught a glimpse of a small figure lying beside her mother at the edge of the burning ruins—one of those little hands that had once offered her flowers was now completely cold, with fingers gnawed bare by the rats.

A pain struck her heart, and she turned her head away, not daring to confirm any further.

Several cans of kerosene were thrown out, then shot midair by Miel’s bullets and exploded. Medea casually added a few more flames, turning the corpses and the rats feasting on them into fuel for the raging fire.

"Wait, where’s Hood?!" Nora suddenly came to her senses.

Everyone’s heart immediately sank, and they quickly proceeded towards the direction of the lakeshore.

Hood’s house was built by the lake, in the most scenic part of Beggar Village, and they had even attended his wedding in the small ground at the entrance of the woods.

Bursting out from the grove, they saw the delicately crafted three-story house was also engulfed in the roaring fire. Eleanor, clad in Power Armor and fearless, charged ahead and quickly found Hood and Maria lying on the living room floor, rescuing them out of the burning building.

"They’re not dead yet, Nora!" cried Eleanor in panic, "Nora!"

Placing the two carefully on the ground, Nora hurried forward. Upon seeing the scene before her, she felt an urge to vomit. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Maria had been dead for a while, her lower half completely devoured by rats, only half of her abdomen remained, with an umbilical cord still attached to a palm-sized fetus, and her head was also gnawed away.

Hood’s eyelashes trembled ever so slightly, as if still clinging to a faint breath. His left arm was holding the dead Maria, and his right hand gripped the charred, blood-stained Longsword, with both legs below the knees gnawed away by the rats, revealing half-broken pieces of white bone.

Under Nora’s Healing Touch, he finally opened his eyes slowly and said weakly,

"The Azure Longsword... Squad Leader, you’ve come..."

"We’re late," Aske said in a low voice.

"It’s okay." Hood shook his head with effort. "Thank you, Squad Leader... for seeing me off on my last journey..."

"Hood, don’t talk." Nora’s voice also started to tremble, "Your body is still very weak, the burns and the toxin..."

"Nora, don’t bother about me anymore..." Hood said slowly as blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, "I never intended to... continue living..."

"These terrible, rats... are the conspiracies of the Wolf Family that you spoke of, aren’t they?" He laughed miserably as liquid slid down his cheeks, "It’s ridiculous, you all warned me, and yet I naively thought... disaster wouldn’t befall me..."

"If I could have learned swordsmanship from you like the others... maybe I wouldn’t have ended up in this state..." The dying Hood coughed several times, black blood spurted from his mouth, "Aske, you were right... once war descends, it leaves no escape for the weak... in this world..."

With his last bit of strength, he held Maria’s corpse tightly in his embrace:

"Give me relief, Aske..."

"...kill me."

Aske was silent for a long time, then stepped forward, sword in hand.

"Aske..." Nora looked at him with a pale face, already realizing what was about to happen. She wanted to speak to stop him but found no words came out, as if her throat was blocked by something heavy.

"Hood. In your next life, may you and your Maria be born into a good family, one not plagued by constant wars," Aske said slowly.

"Okay." Hood looked at him weakly, seemingly trying to squeeze out a smile, but he failed.

"If there’s a chance," Aske drew the Longsword, "choose a more reliable godfather for your children."

"Alright."

The Longsword plunged neatly through his scarred body. His face contorted with agony for a moment, then settled into a peacefulness and relief of release.

Hood’s cloudy eyes tenderly regarded the already dead Maria in his arms, his lips barely parting:

"Don’t be afraid, Maria... I’ve come for you... We’ll be together, forever..."

His voice quickly faded to inaudible, his pupils dilating.

He was gone.

Eleanor stood behind, silently watching him die. Her limbs turned cold once again, as cold as the countless times before when she had witnessed the deaths of innocents, so cold that she nearly couldn’t feel any warmth.

If only we had discovered it sooner.

If only we had gotten here faster.

Maybe then...

"Damn." As if drained of spirit, she broke free from the tormenting regret and the heavy sorrow, and an expletive slowly forced its way through her teeth.

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