Coachman and the Three Tri-Colored Horses -1-: Before Departing
Before setting out, I gave the order.
"You lot, guard this place."
"Grrr!!"
"Grooo!!"
"Buooo!!"
For starters, I decided to station part of the undead legion here to defend this underground castle.
An underground castle? Talk about romantic.
For an underground spot, it had light shining from the ceiling, natural features, and all in all, it wasn't a bad base at all. With spatial transfer magic at my disposal, I could return anytime I wanted, so I figured I'd use it as a forward operating base—and maybe even a vacation home once everything was wrapped up and I headed back to Earth.
Deploying some undead troops here means my overall forces are lighter than expected.
To compensate, the undead generals and their subordinates would patrol the underground caverns, turning the corpses of slain monsters into fresh undead reinforcements.
I'd love to make another advanced undead...
Unfortunately, there weren't any monsters strong enough to serve as material for one. I considered using the gluttonous ogre corpse stored in the morgue, but I decided to save it for later.
Fine then...
There was only one option left: the spell Death Spiral, which let me create an advanced undead by fusing multiple low-grade corpses.
Death Spiral
I cast the spell on the corpses the undead had gathered, and—
-Whoooosh!!
-Clatter!! Clatter!!
The bodies, clearly dead, began to tremble, spewing black death aura.
-Fwoosh!!
The death aura from the corpses mingled with mine, forming black threads that twisted and intertwined. But it wasn't chaotic—the threads moved with purpose, as if guided by a single will, shaping into a specific pattern.
-Whoooong!!
A circle formed, a hexagram inscribed within.
-Crackle!! Crackle!!
[Death Spiral Formula]
⟨ Death Spiral ⟩
Eldritch runes—beyond human comprehension—filled the gaps.
-Whoooong!!
The magic circle completed, amplifying the death aura even further. The thickened, viscous aura clung to the corpses like slime. Unlike the earlier random twitching, the bodies now moved with clear intent.
"Roooar!!!"
"Grraaah!!!"
"Kieee!!"
"Uuuu..."
Around forty mid-grade undead emerged: Death Knights, Shadow Walkers, jiangshi, necro guards, geists, wights, dullahans, and more.
The types were completely random. Death Spiral used low-level corpses to randomly produce various mid-grade undead. But if that was all it did, I wouldn't bother with it. Since every monster here could be material for a mid-grade undead anyway, it'd be better to craft them individually as needed.
But this spell offered more.
-Hehehe!!
-Kieee!!
Mad cackles and wails echoed from the deranged undead.
At the same time—
-Whoooong!!
The death aura from the newly created undead converged on the strongest corpse among them, condensing rapidly.
-Whoooong!!
-Crunch!!
The aura-saturated body floated upward, transforming.
"Kieeeek!!!!"
What emerged was a pale-skinned abomination—like an underdeveloped fetus enlarged beyond an adult man's size.
-Whoooong!!
Mysterious, grotesque rainbow lights swirled across its form.
-Swoosh!!
Some lights extended like tentacles, functioning as hands.
It was an advanced undead specialized in spatial magic—especially transfer spells: Warped Embryo.
Death Spiral could randomly produce one advanced undead if enough corpses were used. That was the real draw over forty mid-graders.
It was pure RNG, so junk could pop out—which was why I hadn't used it before. But...
"Lucky draw."
"Kieek!!"
This pull was solid. The Warped Embryo's physical prowess was weak, and its attack spells limited, so combat-wise it wasn't top-tier. But its portal creation for spatial transfers rivaled supreme undead.
Normally, Warped Embryos are special custom undead that require specific materials.
But Death Spiral spat out random advanced undead, occasionally hitting the jackpot like this. Junk was more common, though.
With the Warped Embryo born, I finalized how to deploy the undead legion.
"Kieek!!"
-Whoooong!!
At my command, the embryo opened a massive dimensional gate to the surface—the northern front lines, where monsters and humans were locked in fierce battle.
I could only transfer to places I'd been before, but the spatial-specialized Warped Embryo could go anywhere with precise coordinates.
And the northern front's coords weren't hard to pinpoint.
"Go farm some EXP."
"!!!"
-Snap!!
The undead general saluted and led the legion—minus those guarding the caverns—through the gate. They wielded modern weaponry reinforced via the undead meister's skill Dead Rooted, which consumed corpses or undead to empower arms. Everything from guns and heavy machine guns to armored vehicles, fighter jets, and helicopters—endless variety.
And the stars of the show:
"Grrr!!"
"Grooo!!"
Dirty bomb and nuke-laden suicide necro guards.
This force should rack up plenty of EXP. Plus, it'd slow the monster advance.
Buy time until I hit level 100 and assemble the undead hero party.
Against a guy like Flamma—an Archfiend(?)—this wouldn't win, just stall.
Dozens of those bastards, huh...
-March!!
Watching the legion advance to an uninhabited spot on the northern front, I set out from the underground caverns with my Living Death shōjo-s.
Of course, I didn't follow the legion or use spatial transfer. The path I took was a hidden backdoor exit from the tomb.
"So, that way?"
"Fua~ Ahfu~"
Naturally, Mari had pointed it out.
Why not use the Warped Embryo? Because en route to our planned corpses, I intended to loot any decent women we encountered. Plus, kill monsters for materials and EXP along the way. The legion was heading north too, but EXP was always in short supply.
"Fua~"
-Whoooong!!
Mari dispelled her illusion on a cavern wall, revealing the hidden exit only she could access.
"Heh, leads here, huh."
"Ahfu~"
"Uuu!!"
"Uee!!"
After a long tunnel, we emerged in a cabin at the northeastern edge of the Forest of Beginnings.
And the moment we entered the forest proper, I noticed something.
It's changed.
The Forest of Beginnings used to reset—monsters slain, terrain altered, it all reverted. No one in this world knew why, but now I did: it was an illusionary barrier created by the Rose Witch, Mari's original.
The barrier's core was her corpse's resting place. With Mari created from it, the surface barrier had collapsed.
No monsters left in the forest now.
Tough break for the Roman Empire and Adventurer's Guild—no more training spot.
Minus the witch's tomb below (unknown to most), it was just an ordinary forest. The underground barrier persisted without Mari.
"This way, right?"
"Fua~"
"Uuu!!"
"Uee!!"
Anyway, we headed northeast through the Forest of Beginnings—our destination.
But then—
"Hm?"
My senses picked something up.
-Rustle.
"Oh my~ Look over there, girls—someone's here~"
"Ahh, finally some excitement in this boring search."
"Wow!! Hot guy and cute girls~ Bet they taste delicious."
A few seconds later, melodic voices like chattering birds reached us.
Three stunning women appeared before us—but not human. Horns on their heads, wings on their backs, sleek tails ending in arrowheads.
I recognized them from imperial library knowledge.
"Hmm? Those are..."
Succubi?
But questions arose. Succubi had mind-ensnaring powers and were intelligent demons—major threats to humanity. The faith hunted them relentlessly; the last was killed a century ago, or so I thought.
Yet here they were.
Fuck, is the imperial direct territory's security for real?
Flamma before, now this? Demons infiltrating left and right? And after one breach, you'd think they'd tighten up—but over a week later, it's still wide open. Truly lamentable.
"Hi everyone~"
"Hey, handsome? Wanna get wild with us?"
"Ehehe~ Such cute little things~ Let's have some fun with big sis~"
The succubi approached, chatting us up, but my Living Death and I ignored them.
As undead, we suppressed our auras to avoid trouble with any humans. Mari's illusion magic dulled our presence and disguised our outfits—visually, we looked like novice adventurers fresh in the forest.
Pink aura around them suggested charm magic, but it did nothing to us undead.
Anyway, I sized them up.
Hmm...
Different horns, colorful hair—black, green, silver. The silver-haired one had chocolate-brown skin unlike the pale pair. Not quite as stunning as my Living Death, but top-tier beauties.
Demons or not, time to process them quick and loot the corpses—
"Wait? This aura? It's not alive."
"What? For real? All of them? Undead? No way!"
"Aah!! Totally!! Undead are impotent!! I got all excited thinking we could have fun, but impotent?!"
Impotent, impotent, impotent...
-Crack!!