The Witch in the Sleeping Forest -1-

The goal was crystal clear. In this vast underground cavern, amid the expansive natural forest that reminded us we were underground, there was a jarringly alien lava zone—and atop that lava zone loomed a massive castle. That castle was our target.

"This must be the message left behind by Princess Zhan Ark."

"Eue~"

-Nod nod-

Dena nodded as if to confirm my words.

-Rustle-

The red cloth in my hand right now was made of exactly the same material as the red shroud that had wrapped the body of Princess Borshijin Langfang, the original Kangjang. Scrawled across it were letters from this other world.

All intelligent beings in this world used the same writing system, barring differences in nouns for specific things. Summoned Heroes could use that language thanks to the Goddess's Blessing.

'But I don't have the Goddess's Blessing?'

It was probably because my Transcendent Awakening System had been assisting me even before awakening. That was my guess. And at the same moment, a surge of rage toward the goddess boiled up inside me.

'Goddess! You're a total feminist, lesbian, sadist, and hedonist!! There's no other explanation for not giving your summoned hero a blessing!!'

If I'd had even a fraction of what the others summoned alongside me during the fight with Flamma had, I wouldn't have taken a near-fatal wound!!

Anyway, my undead mind quickly quelled the anger, and I focused on the message left by Princess Zhan Ark.

"Alright, Dena. Read the message left by Princess Zhan Ark."

"Uue!!"

Dena nodded and lifted the red cloth to begin reading.

"Uue... Eueu~ Eue~"

"Hooh, is that so?"

"Uue~ Uuu~ Eueuu~ Uueu~♥"

"I see, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I see."

"Uuuu~ Eue~Uueu~ Uu~♥"

"Got it."

"Uu... Eue~ Uue~"

It was a perfectly clean and coherent explanation. Dena didn't just read the message I'd asked her to—she delved into Princess Zhan Ark's memories in her head, adding supplemental details here and there to make it as clear as possible for us.

If this had been a presentation contest, she would've taken first place without a doubt. As expected from an original who was royalty—and a Hero at that—she excelled at this sort of thing.

-Clap clap clap-

"Bravo!! Excellent explanation."

"Au~"

Kangjang and I applauded Dena's presentation.

"Eue…"

-Scratch scratch-

Dena blushed bashfully and scratched her head.

-Wiggle wiggle-

But seeing her idiot hairs dancing happily, it was clear she was quite pleased by the praise.

Anyway, summarizing that perfect explanation might be sacrilege, but to put it simply: the castle was a cradle holding the witch's corpse, and inside the castle lurked a powerful monster.

'I thought Princess Zhan Ark's burns meant she'd been done in by a dragon, but no.'

The being that killed Princess Zhan Ark was none other than the powerful monster inside the castle. She'd snuck into the castle during the dragon's slumber and succeeded—but the burns covering half her body were wounds from fighting the monster within.

For reference, that monster seemed unable to leave the castle, likely bound by some restraint the witch had placed on it.

'A massive head with dangling tentacles... and dozens of those heads embedded in it...'

There was a similar monster in Auroray Fantasia. Well, actually, Auroray Fantasia had such a vast array of maps and monster types that pretty much every monster from any fantasy showed up—but anyway, 'it was definitely a Watcher.'

A monster with a massive head, a huge central eye, and tentacles bearing dozens to hundreds of eyes depending on its rank, attached to the head.

Compared to that, the monster in Princess Zhan Ark's records had tentacles dangling from below, with multiple eyes on its body rather than the tentacle tips. There were slight differences in appearance from the one in the records, but they shared the trait of eyes that were all evil eyes.

'The Watcher's evil eyes have abilities like petrification, disintegration, instant death, charm, time stop, space manipulation, and more, varying by rank.'

And most importantly, the huge central eye had an anti-magic effect that nullified spells below a certain rank—a somewhat annoying foe.

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't know exactly what evil eyes this castle monster possessed. According to Princess Zhan Ark's message, it was a demon beast she'd never seen before, and the ones it used on her were petrification and slow evil eyes.

She'd nullified the curses with her Hero powers, but her body suddenly burst into flames, forcing her to flee in a hurry.

'Ignoring distance to instantly strike the target—must be a sure-hit evil eye?'

It was an ability from the game too. In that case, spells or skills with [Sure-Hit Ignore] could block it, and there were even abilities that nullified sure-hit ignore.

'Gotta be careful, anyway.'

"Grraaah…"

"Uooo!!"

Just in case, I'd pushed forward the tankers I'd made additionally on the way here—Death Knights and Necro Guards—forming a wall.

No need to issue verbal orders; my will transmitted to the undead almost without delay.

"Uuu!!"

"Uue!!"

Like me, Kangjang and Dena, protected within the undead formation, assumed combat stances and finished their preparations.

-Hummm!!

Pale battle aura enveloped Kangjang's body. It was one of the abilities of [Nine Heavenly Spirit Arts].

-Crunch!!

In contrast, red armor suddenly appeared around Dena's body, encasing her. The armor's intricate scales resembled a dragon's hide—as they were a real dragon's scales, of course.

The dragon's power used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to create Dena had been fully transferred to her. The Dragon Skin skill had transformed into that armor.

It had a passive effect of hardening her skin at all times, but activating it produced that armor. I'd designed it that way.

-Hummm!!

Her dragon heart in her chest began spewing vast magical power. At the same time, a horned helmet modeled after a dragon's head appeared on her head, and on her back—

-Flap!!

Dragon wings burst forth.

-Clank!!

In her hands was a massive greatsword even larger than her body. It too was red, made from the scales of a red dragon. Kangjang fought barehanded as a jiangshi, so she had no need for one, but undead created with basic weapons could have them enhanced via Corpse Carving, depending on the design and materials used in their creation.

Unlike lesser Death Knights, Doom Knights didn't carry shields. Their bodies were tougher than any shield.

-Hummm!!

Semitransparent pale death aura wrapped the entire blade, turning it into something like a lightsaber.

-Whoosh!!

Blue flames flickered over it.

The Doom Knight's skill was [Sword of Ruin]. Its power was roughly on par with a sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aura coated in undead fire that burned the life out of the living.

'Unfortunately, unlike Kangjang, Dena can't easily use her original Hero class abilities.'

The goddess had reclaimed the Hero's power upon her death. Especially the Hero's proof and core skills—[Goddess's Blessing (S+)], [Light's Holy Power (S)], [Heavenly Sword (S)]—were completely unusable.

"Eueuu!"

"But she's cute, so it's fine."

"Uue~"

Though her face was hidden by the helmet, making her expression invisible, Dena let out a pleased sound at my praise.

-Creak!!

The massive Necro Guard at the front began pushing open the huge castle gates with both hands. Gradually, the path into the castle revealed itself.

"Alright, let's go."

"Au!!"

"Uue!!"

We stepped forward.

"Oh? The inside is cleaner than I thought."

As I'd said, the interior was surprisingly tidy. Plus, 'the design looks like something out of a fairy tale.'

It had an overall cute, soft, and warm atmosphere. The exterior, with its lava and dragon, had given off a total Demon King castle vibe, creating a stark contrast.

'Better safe than sorry...'

I cast detection spells.

-Hummm!!

At the same time, I combined the mana-based scouting techniques I'd learned from knights in the imperial palace with my senses from my past and present lives to scan the surroundings.

The scan revealed no traps or anything like that. Precisely—no, there was something more important than traps.

-Crack!!

-Flash!!

A stone statue shaped like a monster on the ceiling suddenly opened its eyes wide.

I immediately activated a spell.

Not on myself, but on Kangjang. Because several of the dozens of eyes on the ceiling monster were aimed at Kangjang.

If it had been me, I could've dodged with my overwhelming physique or used [Blink], but Kangjang couldn't.

-Pling!!

"Uu?"

"Uueee?"

In an instant, the positions of a Death Knight at the front and Kangjang swapped.

And then—

-Roar!!

"Uueeeeee!!!!!?"

The Death Knight's body was instantly engulfed in superhigh-temperature flames. That was probably the monster's fire attack—the one that killed the Hero.

'Not a sure-hit evil eye, then.'

If it had been sure-hit, the flames would've gone to Kangjang, the original target, instead of the Death Knight.

But the one burning now was the Death Knight, not Kangjang. Call it an ignition evil eye, maybe?

But more importantly—

"Grrraa…"

"You bastard…"

I glared at the thing that floated toward us like a balloon before leisurely landing on the castle floor opposite us. Growling like a beast, I snarled at it.

"How DARE you do that to my precious... my PRECIOUS subordinate, Death Knight No. 3!?!!! I won't forgive you!! Never!! You fucking bastard!!"

It was rage toward the thing that had perfectly roasted one of my subordinates with fire—one of undead's weaknesses.

"Grrrh?"

For a moment, it looked at me with dozens of eyes like I was some lunatic, but it was probably my imagination.