I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 112: A Traitor To Humanity

Blight Cradle.

For Marcus, it was a name he could never forget.

He was his own brother, frail but intelligent, whose talent was recognized by the royal family, enough to be appointed as a dedicated scholar.

He admired his intelligent brother.

At one time, he even considered his brother, who influenced the entire country with his intelligence, a savior.

But why…

“Why did you appear before me in such a state?”

What had happened to his homeland in his absence?

What end had he met in his plague-ravaged homeland, to be resurrected by the lingering attachments of life and appear before him as a betrayer of humanity?

A voice leaked from the beheaded neck, unable to bear such resentment.

What leaked from the grotesque head, no longer retaining a human form, was that of his brother, unforgettable even half a century later.

“Marcus, although our paths have diverged, I still vividly remember that you are my brother…”

“Shut your mouth, you are nothing but a monster that has taken over my brother’s corpse. Do not further dishonor my brother’s death!!”

It was a given.

The undead were merely ‘copies’ built on the most intense lingering attachments among the memories left in a corpse.

Even records written by human hands could be distorted, so what difference would it make for his brother, resurrected by the hands of the calamity known as the Corpse Lord?

“…Well, this was supposed to be a touching reunion after a long time. But I suppose it’s too much to expect understanding from a beloved brother who is still among the living.”

Then tentacles sprouting from the neck began to merge with his fallen body.

It was a grotesque act that no ordinary person could conceive.

Horrified that it was done through his brother’s corpse, Marcus quickly raised his sword and threatened him.

“Don’t move!!”

“Whoa, calm down, little brother. This is just a clone, not the main body. If you get so scared, your lifespan will shorten even more, you know?”

Provoked by his words, the sword pointed at him trembled slightly.

A clone? Wasn’t he here to eliminate the commander overseeing this place?

If not to kill, then why send a clone?

“Why…?”

Despite having risen to the position of commander of the army responsible for humanity’s future, could even that seem insignificant to an existence elevated to the level of a calamity like this person?

“What happened in our country that you changed into such a being? The you of the past…”

“I was weak, faint-hearted, and knew nothing but books. At the same time, like you, I was a loyal retainer who knew only our lord.”

Even as a clone, its essence was that of his brother.

From such a foundation, trying to understand the current situation, Blight quietly responded to his brother with a bitter voice.

“The reason I walked a different path from you is simply because I realized one fact.”

“Realized… what…?”

“In the end, all living beings are destined to become dust… Yet, all creatures instinctively understand that the world will continue without them, which is why they fear danger, desire growth, and ultimately, seek to leave offspring.”

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It was a nostalgic statement.

Though his mind may have decayed, it served as a reminder that, at his core, he was undoubtedly his brilliant brother.

“However, despite such natural laws, this world is filled with too much absurdity for life. How can one be sure that adhering to instinct will leave their mark in this world, when even those who live diligently can be wiped out by natural disasters?”

“…So you’re saying you willingly joined for that reason?”

“Yes, I, too, have loyally joined the ideal of my second lord by my own will.”

A smile formed on his beak-like mouth.

Despite his grotesquely different appearance from humans, it was immediately understood that the smile drawn on his face was one of confidence.

“My lord said this: If we are all destined to vanish into destruction, shouldn’t we at least make our gravestones that remain afterward sturdy? Ensuring that more people leave such marks is the true mission of those facing imminent destruction!”

That was precisely the ultimate future pursued by the dead.

If one couldn’t go against despair, then the goal was to hasten the period of succumbing to it, to leave at least some trace behind.

“Is that something that must be achieved, even if it means trampling over the living?!”

Absolutely, never.

A despairing future that those still alive couldn’t partake in.

“If our ideals align, we could look for a compromise without fighting, but Marcus, having experienced the era of wars, you must understand. If we cannot compromise, then fighting is the only way according to the logic of the world.”

Yes, if we cannot be together, then we must fight.

From a place that could have been simply swept away, he specifically recognized and sought out his old brother for that reason.

“So, I do not resent you. And you, too, should not resent me. Even if the future laid out before us is not what you desire, that is how the logic of the world has always been…”

One of the regrets held by the dead named Blight Cradle.

Perhaps due to his ‘last concern as a brother’ hoping that his brother’s final moment here might be a little less unjust.

“Commander, are you safe?”

“There is the White Knight over there! Knights of the Sacred Order! Vanquish that guy with holy power!!”

Following that, soldiers burst onto the scene. Those who approached while vanquishing the infected around them were also priests possessing the holy power to resist the plague.

But Blight’s clone had already left his last words and lost consciousness.

Marcus, feeling powerless as he looked down at him, quickly turned his attention to his subordinates, who had come to find him, grinding his teeth.

“Commander, it’s fortunate that you are safe, but we have no time to delay here.”

“Soon, the infected will rush in here too. First, we should flee to the west, where the priests are gathered, and then regroup…”

“Send the heroes guarding the northern barricade to the deepest part of the excavation site immediately!”

Marcus urgently shouted to the soldiers, who were intending to escort him.

At his roaring command, the soldiers hesitated and quickly turned to look at him.

“The heroes to the deepest part…? Shouldn’t we clean up this place?”

“We can’t do anything about those already infected and fallen, but we should be able to stop the immediate damage here with our own forces!”

Even facing his own brother, it was a decision made in the end while maintaining composure.

In reality, Blight’s forces, ambushed for a stealthy surprise attack, were few in number, and even if that small number spread the infection, with the distance kept and the help of the priests, secondary spread could be prevented.

Yet, the reason Blight did not mobilize additional forces and only swept through the garrison area was likely for ‘disruption,’ one of the initially anticipated purposes.

‘It’s not simply waiting for the enemy knight to enter. For such, both sides have mobilized very few forces to attack this place…!’

If no additional forces were mobilized beyond this, it meant the opponent’s objective was not to annihilate this place but to quickly infiltrate and approach the target inside.

And there was only one place in this land that could be such a target.

“The White Knight’s objective is definitely the Dragon’s Heart! We must send the heroes there immediately to stop him!”

The Dragon’s Heart. Among the remains of dragons that had not withstood the passage of time and had become part of the landscape, it still held immense energy.

After recognizing its existence, the empire prioritized its excavation and was ready to transport it to the empire soon.

Since the path to it was all clear, if there was such disruption as now, it would not be difficult to deliberately infiltrate inside.

‘Currently, three heroes are somehow stopping the enemy knight. Even if it’s fatal to the large army, if it’s the White Knight, who is relatively weaker in combat power compared to other knights, a small elite force should be able to handle it…!’

Among the heroes, there were also priests who could counter the plague.

So, while they risk their lives to resolve the garrison’s issues, if they enter the deepest part to handle the task, they should somehow be able to thwart their objective.

“Th-that is…”

However, the faces of the soldiers who actually heard the order were only painted with distress.

Afterward, exchanging glances, they reluctantly delivered unwelcome news to Marcus.

“Not a single hero responded to the initial order to head to the northern defense line.”

“…What?”

“It’s exactly as said. The report was delayed due to a sudden surprise attack, but currently, the identities of the heroes who should be heading north are unclear.”

“What does that even mean?! Are you telling me that even in such a situation, they are dragging their feet–”

“Commander! It’s an emergency!”

One soldier rushed towards Marcus, who was getting heated.

He, who hurriedly crossed between the undead, wanted to report to the Legion Commander, even in a breathless state.

“Currently, the guards protecting the path to the deepest part of the excavation site… the path to the Dragon’s Heart have been found murdered!”

“Murdered…. What in the world…?”

Murder. A term not used if the opponent was undead.

Because those killed by them would rise again as the dead, turning into enemies.

Using the term murder in a situation where allies turn into enemies would be inappropriate.

“Betrayal…”

Yet, there was one reason for using such a term.

Because something incomparable to the invasion of the dead had occurred.

“Except for the three heroes guarding the east, the rest have collectively betrayed us in an attempt to retake the Dragon’s Heart!”

The hopes of humanity conspired to commit betrayal.

And it happened at this desperate moment.

At the same time, a passageway leading to the deepest part of the excavation site.

While the garrison area was being disturbed by the infected, delaying the convergence inside, two spores filled with magical power flew towards Blight, who was roaming the passageway.

Both were his clones that carried the disease.

He had a body capable of indirectly experiencing the memories of what his clones went through by accepting such carriers into his body.

“Hmm, so that’s what happened.”

The clone attached to the enemy knight, and the clone sent to provoke the commander leading this garrison area.

Among them, what Blight cared about more, ironically, was not the princess of the kingdom he served but his younger sibling, who had become one of humanity’s main pillars.

“If only he had died elsewhere as a guest, there would have been no need to fight, but it has come to this.”

It was regrettable, if anything.

Their ideals might be reluctantly pursued in a world of destruction, but the instincts of the living never allow for such understanding.

“…Well, Marcus will understand later. In such a world, to leave anything behind, everyone must rely on Hyo.”

Yes, Blight at least did not think of himself as fallen.

Even the once-prosperous royal family fell overnight due to the plague, so what could mere humans do against such a natural disaster?

So, to leave even a trace of his existence behind, he would have no choice but to rely on the name engraved in his mind.

By spreading the name Woo Hyo-sung, a name of three characters, he had never met in person…

“…Huh? Wait a minute. This doesn’t seem right.”

Blight, feeling his train of thought derail at some point, soon chuckled with a corrected mindset.

Even though his mind had long since decayed, he felt his sense of duty being overwhelmed by a name that surfaced more vividly than any lingering regret.

“Puhuhu, an existence endlessly engraved even in the memory of the dead… If it weren’t for this, I would have sought him out personally.”

A minor curiosity, but after this was over, he’d like to meet the person who was the source of that name.

With that thought in mind, Blight took a moment to survey the center of the passageway, focusing on his mission.

“Now then, having ambitiously made it to the deepest part…”

Nearly a dozen bodies clad in elegant and expensive equipment were strewn across the floor.

It was evident just by their appearance that they were different from ordinary soldiers and adventurers.

That these were the ones called heroes, the hope of humanity.

“Why are all those here completely annihilated?”

The sight of such heroes scattered dead all over the place was quite unexpected to Blight.

Even though he had prepared himself and stood alone in the midst of enemies, it was the very heroes who he thought might be tracking him that were found dead before him.

“Could it be that another faction has infiltrated and launched a surprise attack…? No, that’s not it.”

Blight compared the weapons clenched in their corpses with the ones found on the bodies.

Just by seeing their matching wounds, it wasn’t difficult to infer that they did this to “each other”.

Not only did the heroes, who he thought were tracking him, enter here before him, but they also came to this place to kill and be killed.

Could it be that those who sought the Dragon’s Heart betrayed humanity, and even betrayed their comrades who joined them in betrayal, all for the sake of monopolizing the heart?

Boom!!!

As soon as the slightest hint of such a thought occurred, a mass of energy erupted from the remote part of the cave.

Blight’s mask shattered violently upon impact, revealing his grotesquely distorted face to his opponent.

“Heh, take a good look at this.”

And Blight also recognized his opponent.

Blight, facing the fact that the hero who attacked him caused this situation, soon revealed his discomfort towards his opponent with flashing eyes.

“I thought this would be a fight between the living and the dead here…”

“Why is a random mosquito buzzing in to ruin the moment?”

The fact that among the heroes sponsored by the leaders of humanity, it was surprising that there was one awakened as a vampire here.

It was evident why the heroes were all acting foolishly in this situation, wasn’t it?