NOVEL WEB Chapter 292: Encounter with the Cultists?
Lillian watched as the bone-chilling rifts expelled countless streams of cultist members.
Although Lillian couldn't see what happened upon them making it to the ground, she knew the outcome.
The cultists would fall, crashing into the ground and simultaneously shattering their bones. However, under mystical means, their body would be repaired.
As she was thinking this, she quickly stepped back, noticing a black blur of more than one shooting towards the window she was standing at.
SHATTER!
Watching as the glass shattered, she immediately put up her guard and quickly summoned her black odachi—the Black Maw—into her hand.
The invaders, who had "cannon-balled" into her medical ward, slowly crawled back onto their feet as their injuries recovered at a frightening rate from their fall.
They wore pure black clothing and a cloak that was all stained red by their blood. They wore a black cultist mask with sharp antlers—it was completely intact from their fall.
Lillian glanced down at the weapons they had with them, grimacing.
One wielded a sharp sabre, and the other wielded a heavy mace.
Upon getting back up to their feet, albeit shakily, they leapt at her with extreme speed, without a moment of delay to scan their surroundings.
The one with the sabre charged at her directly, while the one with the mace came down from above.
The sword cultist swung his weapon, intending to slice her neck in two, whilst the mace cultist intended to crush her head into a pulp.
Lillian, enhancing her body, used the flat side of her black odachi to knock the incoming sabre away. Angling her odachi, she raised it and cleaved through the metal handle of the mace.
Once parrying and defending, she summoned a droplet of water right before their forehead, before sharpening and shooting it through their skulls.
The one wielding the sabre immediately went limp, falling.
The one in the air was pushed away by Lillian, preventing him from falling on her.
Thud. Thud.
Lillian gave a sharp breath as she quickly stepped back.
She then muttered:
"T-too close... Improving my reaction time really did help..."
If it wasn't for her training with Marionette's "bullet hell", one of the cultists' attacks might've landed on her.
However, she was also fortunate that she had managed to kill them before they regained their full strength after their fall, which had left them slightly vulnerable.
Before she could flash back to her training for a brief moment, she watched as one of the cultists' bodies twitched.
The hole in the back of their head began to slowly regenerate and was pulled together by thin red wires...
The other began to show the same symptoms. They were coming back to life...
They got back onto their knees, almost onto their feet. However, right as before, that could happen—
"Nope!"
Thud. Thud.
—Lillian kicked them in the centre of their chests, putting them back down onto their backs before severing the connection with their heads to their necks.
Lifting her blade and allowing the blood to drip off of it, she scrutinised their body, waiting for any kind of reaction. Walking around them and seeing nothing supernatural, she sighed in relief.
"I gotta leave... I got to reach my objective."
Turning to leave, she accidentally kicked the side of one of their heads, knocking their masks off.
Lillian, giving a curious glance down, cringed and grimaced as she stared at the face of a deceased man, their dead eyes staring back at her.
"Ohh... Please don't stare at me like that. It's super disturbing..."
Crouching down, she slowly placed the mask back onto their face, hiding the look she was being given before quickly leaving the room.
Although she was repulsed by what she saw, she wasn't too disturbed. After all... The invasion was being attacked by what she could only describe as "zombies".
Only by severing the head's connection to the body could they put them to rest.
Swapping out her black odachi for her lantern—the Depressing Warmth—she made her way out of the medical ward, venturing into the dark hallways of the hospital.
She wasn't as strong enough to wield that black odachi in one arm. For it still remained the same weight even after her mana enhanced her body.
She sighed, glancing at the lights on the ceiling that refused to work. If only she had someone who could see in the dark with her. Unfortunately, she didn't because she sent them off to make sure her mother was okay.
The hospital was still clean of blood, so far.
In the story, the Headmaster had a button inside his office that would activate a teleportation device that would send all living organisms inside an underground shelter.
The teleportation device was set up inside the guest building, where those who came to watch the tournament were staying. The dormitories. And finally... The hospital.
It was a flawless plan if it wasn't for the fact that it had a timer for activation after the button had been pressed. Something that wouldn't be the case if an EMP hadn't gone off.
Fortunately, that was the only flaw, for the invaders didn't count as "living organisms"...
"Because they are already dead..."
As she whispered this, a shriek resounded down the corridor.
"HELP! SOMEONE!"
A massive shiver shot up Lillian's spine.
Following this was a familiar ding of her system—a noise she hadn't heard in a long time.
[New Quest: Be A Hero or Disappointment]
[Description: An infamous cult named the Cult of Jesters has begun its attack on Louis Mana Academy. Survive while saving as many people as you can.
The more people you save, the more chances you have of succeeding in your mission.
"Fate blesses its Heroes. Will you be able to be able to receive it?"]
[Number of people saved: 0, Number of People not saved: 0]
[Succession Rate Increase: 10%]
'A-a mission?! Why at a time like this?!'
Lillian quickly dashed forward, reading the quest while simultaneously moving through the corridor that was clumsily disorganised and messy, as stretchers and IV stands were strewn everywhere.
'Come on...! Why are these everywhere!?'
As she continued to push her way past them, even almost tripping, she managed to make it through.
For some reason, she felt as though they really were placed there intentionally.
Step! Step! Step!
She quickened her pace as the sounds of groaning echoed into her ears. And eventually, she was able to make it to them.
Unfortunately...
She wasn't able to make it on time.
Huddled around a man, who wore a lab coat—now stained red—were bloodthirsty cultists, around 3 in total.
And... They had delivered the last blow to his stomach, pinning him to the wall with their sword.
The man let out one last cry for help before gurgling and going limp.
Lillian, who had only arrived when the man fell limp, froze, her face darkening as reality and expectations washed over her like chilling water.
"I... Failed...?"
Ding...!
The translucent screen of her system flashed before her eyes, displaying the quest and...
[Number of People Saved: 0, Number of People not saved: 0 -> 1]
Showed how she failed to save a person in need.
Lillian's eyes trembled, the fear of failing grasping her heart tightly. She gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw as her eyes flashed with a certain light.
She knew the reason why she tripped back at the colosseum and ended up in the academy's hospital...
She now knew the reason why the quest to save people had suddenly appeared...
It was all because...
'The Lady of Fate is a sadist bitch!'