Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: The Lich's Collection
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["Kkhhhaak! Which bastard dared to do this to my beautiful skull? How rude! Finding a skull that fits one's head is a job in itself! I had to dig through a whopping 40 graves to finally, finally, finally find this skull! Oh dear! It's all broken now, what do I do! I really liked it! Don't you know that if the skull isn't pretty, it has no intimidation factor at all? You uncultured swine!"]
‘Hmm, this doesn't seem like Darken Dina.’
["Anyway, being a lich doesn't mean I don't think about beauty at all. And…"]
The lich's characteristically bleak voice could be heard, but its overly frivolous and incessantly chattering tone made it clear this was absolutely not Darken Dina.
Moreover, the lich didn't stop talking as it approached, and Beonald, thinking it was truly noisy, kept moving without stopping, aiming his 'Bolt Shooter' and continuing to fire.
‘It's lich-class, as expected? Silver arrowheads alone won't be enough. Then, in the end… I need holy water or consecrated arms, but…’
Beonald had neither.
From the beginning, he had built walls between himself and religious orders or priests, and even now, due to the 'Forbidden Zone Liberation', his relationship with the church wasn't that great, though he didn't show it outwardly.
So, for him, the standard way to deal with undead problems was with fire and explosions. He had brought along things like magical tools and magic stones engraved with explosion runes that explode when thrown, akin to bombs, but it was questionable how effective they would be against a lich.
‘I'll just have to try everything.’
["Anyway~ Let's see what this mouse-faced brat looks like! Light! Rise up! 'Soul Light'!"]
Fwoosh!
The lich in the darkness used magic to illuminate the underground, revealing both Beonald and its own form simultaneously.
The lich was strangely holding a sword, not a staff, and beneath its robe, it was wearing a bizarrely ornate, brilliantly shining silver armor. At a glance, it looked like one might mistake it for a death knight.
Upon seeing Beonald, it was startled and began to react.
["Hmm? What are you? Your appearance is young, but your soul is… an old but lively geezer? What kind of being are you? Ha! That's really fascinating. How did you do it? An old man's soul in a child's body!"]
‘Ah… It can see souls, but it doesn't know me?’
["Bizarre! Utterly bizarre! That old soul entering a fresh, new body! How on earth did you do it? What knights who reach a certain level of mastery achieve is a reset where their physique becomes robust and youthful… but your body isn't like that. So how exactly did you transcend the inevitability of death? What secret method did you use, I ask!"]
"I'd like to know such a secret method myself. Anyway… seeing as you're guarding this place and not the Necromancy Department Head, are you a member of the Dina family?"
["That's right. I am Dante Dina. My specialty is the 'Soul Major' within the Necromancy school of magic. The soul is the essence of life, and the easiest energy to obtain. Huhuhu, well then… Anyway, I'm curious about what exactly is inside your soul……."]
‘It smells dangerous. I shouldn't let it stall.’
Thwang!
Beonald fired without hesitation, drew up his Aura, grabbed his sword, and closed the distance.
Thanks to making the 'Bolt Shooter' a size convenient for one-handed use, he could attack from range while approaching. However, as expected, the small arrowhead size limited its power; he couldn't expect more than piercing specific points.
But that didn't mean the efficiency of this ranged weapon was low. Just being a nuisance to a mage was enough to buy time to get close and swing his sword.
‘I need to finish this as quickly as possible…’
["You damn bastard! Attacking while someone is talking? I won't let this slide! 'Soul Shield'!"]
As Beonald closed the distance, Dante erected a semi-transparent magical wall in front of him.
It was likely to buy time, but Beonald thought he could just cut through it with his Aura. He focused to slash it down. But as expected of a lich-level mage, its durability was nothing to scoff at.
‘Damn it!’
["Arise! My slaves!"]
‘Necromancy? Undead?’
Expecting common skeletons or zombies to rise, Beonald immediately applied holy water to his sword and prepared to respond.
‘What is this? This feels different.’
Vroom!
Something began to appear, falling around Beonald. Strangely, they were humanoid armors, each equipped with weapons: swords, spears, flails, and shields.
Looking closely, their designs were impressively well-crafted, seemingly made with considerable effort.
‘What is this? Death knights?’
["Go and deal with him. The secret to overcoming death… I'll just ask his soul directly once I capture him anyway. Hehehe."]
["……."]
‘Tch! No. This armor…?’
Clang!
At first, he mistook them for death knights because they were armor. But when he swung his sword to block and parry the attacks of these moving suits of armor, he realized.
‘The inside… is it filled with something?’
Armor is normally hollow to protect the person wearing it. But these suits of armor were precisely filled with metal and some flexible material inside, as if they were never meant to be worn by a person from the start.
"Could this be… a golem?"
["Foolish creature! Comparing my soul puppets to such mere constructs. These are the result of my advanced 'Soul Possession Magic', where I bind souls into these armor suits crafted to resemble the human form to make them move. If I had to call them something… yes, 'Soul Knights' would be fitting."]
Whoosh!
Beonald dodged the swords and various weapons swung at him. The approaching 'Soul Knights' moved as if alive, swinging swords, coordinating with each other, forming ranks, and dealing with Beonald.
["The souls bound to these 'Soul Knights' are all knights who made a name for themselves in life. Of course, now each one is a slave under my 'Soul Control Magic'."]
"That's… quite a harsh fate. If they suffered in life, they should be allowed to rest in peace after death… That's why I'm not too fond of necromancy. Doing whatever you want leads to acts like this. But even if they were outstanding knights, they wouldn't perform as well as in their original bodies, would they?"
["Why don't you feel it for yourself? Hah! Get rid of him!"]
["……."]
Clang! Clang!
The movements of the 'Soul Knights' charging forward with heavy metallic sounds were formidable. But in the end, they were not living bodies.
Moreover, a dead body couldn't use Aura, so Beonald assumed they were merely puppets incapable of using the superb techniques of prestigious families…
["Hmm… Now… Slash…!"]
‘Don't tell me? Aura swordsmanship?’
Swish!
A sword imbued with black Aura sliced through the air, shearing off a lock of Beonald's hair by a hair's breadth. He couldn't help but be shocked.
These Soul Knights weren't simple puppets; they could manifest not only the experiences and memories from their lives but also their techniques.
Startled, Beonald took a step back, observing the ten Soul Knights advancing towards him and the state of Dante Dina behind them, gathering his thoughts.
‘Stay calm. Even if they use Aura swordsmanship, they aren't perfect. First, these knights are things that Dante in the back must be controlling their souls. Otherwise, no one would like being a slave who can't even die. That's it. These movements… in the end, they have the life formula of a soul, but no will. They're incomplete!’
Whoosh! Clang!
Only now did he perfectly analyze why these Soul Knights, even with knights' souls bound to them, showed such awkward movements.
However, aside from that issue, these steel knights inhabited by souls moved excellently, pressuring Beonald, who possessed the skill of a high-ranking knight, proving they were sufficiently practical in combat.
And while fighting, he discovered something else shocking: the runes engraved on the other metal components filling these knights' bodies.
‘The runes engraved on this knight's body… Damn it! They're Neumel-style! Somewhat modified, but… Well done, my descendants!’
‘Most of the work I do now… is commissioned by the Dina family, making what they want.’
In the end, these 'Soul Knights' were a collaborative work of the great Neumel and Dina families. Engraving runes to make the knight bodies sturdy and agile, then possessing them with souls to control them… Beonald couldn't help but think it was impressive.
Now, the fear of the unknown had vanished, and he began pondering how to deal with them.
‘But they're still no pushover. Tch!’
Clang!
Sparks and magical light scattered in all directions as sword clashed with sword, and Aura collided with the mana in the Soul Knights' bodies.
Individually, they were knights with awkward movements, so it might have been manageable, but now he was facing twelve. Moreover, they coordinated their formations and responded with their respective weapons, making it too difficult for Beonald to switch to offense.
‘Good! An opening now!’
["Don't make me laugh! 'Bone Shield'!"]
"Tch! Don't tell me……."
["Did you think… a mage of the Dina family! A lich! would just let it happen?"]
Crack!
An opportunity he barely seized during the exchange was ultimately blocked by Dante Dina's magic from the rear.
Beonald dodged the attacks of the Soul Knights aiming at the opening and retreated again. He readjusted his stance, contemplating a way to break through.
As Dante said, a mage capable of becoming a lich should easily be able to perform double or even triple casting. He was a high-level mage.
Beonald began to ponder what to do as he fell back.
‘I didn't think it would be easy, but this is quite troublesome.’
["Hahahahaha! If you surrender obediently, I'll work you to death and then add you to my soul collection. You seem like you'd work quite well. I'll work you for hundreds… no, thousands of years. Kehehe."]
‘It's not that there's no way to break through… I'd just prefer to conserve my resources if possible.’
It wasn't that no plan came to mind, but Beonald wanted to be somewhat frugal with the methods and means he currently possessed.
Since there were likely more enemies from the Dina family ahead, and the important Darken Dina to face, he needed to fight as efficiently as possible.
He considered turning back now to join up with his descendant Arjen, but the problem was that would take even more time.
‘Huuu~ No choice. To get past here…!’
Deciding he had no choice but to fight with full force, Beonald took a deep breath. To start fighting in earnest, he took a magical tool from his pocket. First, with the 'Bolt Shooter', he fired at a small, seemingly meaningless sphere he threw upwards towards Dante Dina to draw attention. It burst, and white smoke began to billow out.
["What is this? Smoke screen? Are you looking down on me? I am a lich! This won't hinder my vision at all."]
True to its word, the white smoke densely covered the underground, but since Dante Dina could still see Beonald's soul, it was not hindered at all.