Chapter Twenty: Fighting to the Brink of Madness

When Eric opened his eyes, a figure suddenly knelt down beside him with a thud, staring wide-eyed at him. He was too exhausted to utter a word. The other person just stared at him with trembling lips, stunned, before suddenly shouting out.

Despite his extreme fatigue, Eric was startled awake and momentarily gathered his wits.

“Miss Sophie? ... Is the holy water arriving?”

Sophie looked at him more closely and realized that the blood on his face and body didn’t appear to be his own.

“... Sophie?” On the other side, the weary head nun also spoke.

“Ah? ... Yes! It’s coming! They’ve all brought it over!”

“That’s good.” Gritting his teeth against the pain, Eric struggled to his feet and scanned the surrounding crowd. “Why are you all gathered here? Go about your business.”

The crowd slowly dispersed.

“Give me a hand.” Eric grabbed a guard from the lord’s mansion and leaned on him as they made their way out.

Watching him walk away, Sophie was still a bit dazed. After a long moment, she turned to the head nun and asked, “What exactly happened?”

Alena glanced at her, pressed her dry lips together, and said, “Help me up first.”

“Oh, of course!”

Sophie helped the head nun to her feet, letting her lean on her shoulder as they walked out of the mine, just as the guard had supported Eric.

As they walked, Sophie gradually realized that aside from extreme exhaustion, both the head nun and Mr. Eric seemed unharmed.

From what the head nun told her, that was indeed the case.

The situation underground had been complicated—sometimes active, sometimes passive, and in battle, utterly reckless. They had fought through the entire day and emerged completely drained.

The blood on Eric’s body belonged to an unfortunate villager. The man hadn’t been attacked by the undead but was struck on the head by falling rocks in the mine, bleeding heavily. Fortunately, the head nun had used divine magic to save him in time.

Eric had carried the unlucky man out of the mine and collapsed from exhaustion. Not long after, Sophie had returned to the mining camp.

“So that’s what happened. You scared me...” Sophie muttered quietly. Alena was so tired she barely had the strength to look at her, simply lowering her head and letting Sophie support her.

Back at camp, several village women immediately gathered around, eagerly taking the head nun from Sophie’s arms with such warmth that even the battle-hardened Alena felt somewhat restrained.

“Let me rest in my tent for a while...” Alena said weakly.

“Oh no, that won’t do! After a whole day’s work, you need to eat first.”

Alena wanted to lie down in her tent, but in the end, she was helped to the bonfire. There were already steaming bowls of broth, roasted meat, and fresh bread set out nearby.

Eric sat opposite her, his armor removed. His clothes still bore bloodstains, though his face was washed clean—though it looked as if a towel had been roughly wiped across it, erasing any expression. He just stared blankly into the flames.

“If only I’d brought two maids from home... at least they’d treat me like a young master and be gentler with their movements,” he murmured softly.

Alena couldn’t help but smile at his quiet complaint. The scent of food stirred her appetite, and despite her exhaustion, she suddenly felt a surge of energy.

She pressed her dry lips together, lifted the bowl of broth, and sipped a few small mouthfuls. Picking up a piece of soft roasted bread, she tore off a bit with her fingers and ate slowly.

After a while, she heard movement from the other side of the fire. Looking up, she saw Eric, having regained some strength, biting into a piece of roasted meat.

The camp bustled with villagers coming and going—mostly those helping out. Few of the fighters still had the strength to move.

The two ate in silence, quietly absorbing the warmth and nourishment, slowly regaining their strength.

“Head Nun,” Sophie returned after having been called away earlier.

“How is it going?”

Alena suddenly remembered that the person who called Sophie mentioned something about the holy water. She had intended to deal with it after a rest but had completely forgotten.

“The burning has already begun,” Sophie said, pointing toward the mine.

Alena turned and saw towering flames behind her.

Holy water dissipates easily when exposed to air; it doesn’t affect combustion nor act as an accelerant. The fire was so fierce simply because there was ample fuel.

She watched for a while, the flames casting a glow over the thick smoke. Among the drifting smoke might be the bodies of the undead she had personally slain during the day.

“Did everything go smoothly today?” Alena asked the young nun, “No issues, right?”

“No,” Sophie smiled shyly. “Just had to wait a long time.”

She wanted to admit she felt a certain sense of accomplishment but was too embarrassed to say it outright.

“The batch of holy water will be used up soon. They’ll ask you to fetch more,” Alena said.

Though the head nun didn’t say much, entrusting Sophie with the task was a clear vote of confidence. Sophie’s smile grew even brighter.

“Yes, yes!”

“You should eat something, too.”

Sophie sat down and cast a casual glance across at Eric. Alena followed her gaze to find the young lord also staring blankly at the blazing fire in the mine, lost in thought.

At one point, his gaze dropped and met hers.

Alena lowered her eyes, then looked again at the glowing logs. Amid the crackling flames came Eric’s voice: “The fire’s really strong. At this rate, in a day or two, the undead should be completely cleared.”

Alena looked back at Eric, but instead of agreeing, she said, “That’s too exhausting.”

“Yeah...” Eric couldn’t deny it.

He had been swinging his sword all day, slaying countless rotten corpses, his entire right arm aching with fatigue.

“It’s manageable if we just push steadily, but the surprises never stop.” He sighed, shaking his head slightly. “It’s beyond expectations.”

Alena studied him but couldn’t quite grasp what he meant by “beyond expectations.”

In that environment, nothing was surprising; they, the warriors, should be prepared for anything.

Or rather, the unexpected was just part of the constant battle.

Eric easily read her expression but found it hard to explain.

He was living in the real world now, not a game.

Over the past two days, he’d reminded himself of this many times, but when faced with truly unexpected situations, he couldn’t help but be surprised:

In online games, when fighting a minor boss, another boss wouldn’t suddenly show up with minions.

But this was reality, where such things happened one after another.

Today, they had been swept along by a series of unexpected events that had actually pushed their progress beyond what was planned.

The cave was without day or night. Had the unlucky villager not been struck by falling rocks and needed rescue, they might have continued fighting to the point of exhaustion—battles weren’t difficult, even minor bosses were just a few extra strikes for these third-tier warriors. The continuous killing brought an indescribable thrill, driving them deeper like they were possessed.

Only the sudden emergency forced them to stop, and overwhelming fatigue caught up, nearly breaking them.

Eric turned to the other side of the bonfire, where the exhausted guards from the lord’s mansion gathered. Leslie, the most diligent, looked numb, probably dropping more meat scraps than he swallowed.

Though Eric himself wasn’t in much better shape.

After a few glances, Eric averted his eyes, noticing he hadn’t eaten much but had lost his appetite.

Still, he forced himself to eat a little more.

His body was numb from exhaustion, but his mind remained clear. He knew that sleeping without eating wouldn’t restore much strength.

Besides, he wanted to take a hot shower.

When a village woman passed by, Eric called out to her, stating his need. She immediately agreed and went to prepare hot water.

“Head Nun Alena, don’t you want to wash up?” Sophie asked quietly.

“Yes.” Alena didn’t even remember how many times she had been soaked in sweat today. Though now dry, just thinking about it made her feel sticky and uncomfortable.

“I’ll arrange it.” Sophie stood up, still energized from having accomplished a task.

Alena was too tired to move and didn’t object but wasn’t in a hurry. “Eat first, then go.”

“It’s fine, I’m almost done.”

Watching Sophie leave camp to catch up with the village woman, Alena thought that today’s gains weren’t just for those who directly fought.

Eric, opposite the bonfire, silently fed himself food while Alena continued eating. Both paused for roughly the same amount of time.

The great fire in the mine lit up the sky above.

Though most of the rotten corpses were badly decayed, it would still take time to burn them all thoroughly, and the number was staggering. Eric guessed it would take at least four or five days of burning.

Fortunately, when choosing the cremation site, they had carefully considered the wind direction, so the ashes wouldn’t fall on the town below.

“Let’s delay going back into the mine tomorrow. Everyone should rest more,” Alena said, looking to Eric for confirmation. He nodded with no objection.

He stood and went over to another bonfire, beginning to talk with the guards from the lord’s mansion.

Soon after, Sophie returned to camp, saying the hot water was ready and they could bathe. She also informed Eric.

They both headed to a corner of the lower town to wash, but couldn’t go together or make one wait for the other. Sophie found a nearby place for the head nun.

Entering a simple but clean low house, there stood a large bucket of hot water—no telling how much effort it took to fill it.

Eric checked himself and realized he didn’t even have half a copper coin on him. He planned to ask the captain of the guards for money after returning to camp.

He took off his outerwear and noticed the door was still open. Just as he reached the doorway, he suddenly spotted a faint shadow in the adjacent house’s window, moving as if undressing.

Villagers used candles for lighting, which was dim and flickering. The dancing flame cast a wavering, blurred silhouette, but the general outline was visible.

After removing her headscarf, long hair flowed freely. Without the robe to cover her, the curves of her back were either straight or rounded, and in front...

Suddenly, the candle went out.

“...”

Eric had no energy even to roll his eyes. He shuffled his feet, closed the door, and sat down in the bath bucket.

The water splashed.