Welcome to the Legion
[You—…!]
Prince lowered his stance and growled. Simon took his time surveying the room until he spotted Prince's true body.
A corpse seated upon a throne, a crown perched atop its head. The moment Prince read where Simon's gaze had landed, he reacted with extreme sensitivity.
[Is the crown what you're after!]
"No."
Simon shook his head, then added:
"You're what I'm after."
[…What?]
Prince let out a baffled sound.
"I told you, didn't I? Join my Legion."
[Get lost! There's no way in hell I'm ever contracting with another necromancer again!]
"Hmm."
Simon pointed casually out the window with his left hand, the one not gripping the greatsword.
"Then how do you plan to stop that?"
Outside, the one-sided battle was still raging.
Prince had destroyed only a single Meat Golem. The tide of battle hadn't shifted one bit.
"I can lend you my power. Of course, on the condition that you join my Legion and submit to me absolutely."
[Cut the bullshit!]
Enraged, Prince lunged without warning, raining down punches. Simon raised his greatsword to block, then slipped out sideways like water flowing around a stone.
His movements are easier to read than when we first fought.
Yes, he'd been powered up through Pier and the Legion's strength, but something about it felt tantalizingly within reach, almost graspable.
Prince, meanwhile, threw caution to the wind, shouting himself hoarse as he hammered out blow after blow.
He's worked up. On edge, cornered psychologically, with zero composure left.
He seemed like a completely different person from the Prince who'd fought Simon in the sewer at the start.
Did his mind follow his childish appearance? He was being swept around by his emotions far too much.
At this rate, I might actually win this easily.
Simon, still deflecting Prince's attacks with his greatsword, deliberately struck not at Prince's fist but at his arm.
Clang!
Even Pier's greatsword couldn't cleave through Prince in a single stroke. The blade left a wound on his arm and bounced away with a violent ring, as though it had struck solid metal.
Into the opening where Simon's right arm had been knocked upward, Prince dove without a shred of suspicion.
He took the bait perfectly.
Open Gate.
Whoosh!
Subspace tore open around Simon. Overlord's blades shoved aside Prince's airborne body and slammed him against the far wall.
KUUUUNG!
Prince's face twisted at the brutal impact. Simon, who had already kicked off the jet-black and shot forward, drove his greatsword with full force into Prince's abdomen.
With the sound of flesh splitting, Prince let out an agonized scream.
Wow, this thing is absurdly tough.
Not even a quarter of the blade had gone in. Simon released the greatsword and stepped back.
[Grrgh! What are you trying to do!]
"This."
Simon's body launched off the jet-black, flew to the sword, and slammed against its hilt with a kick.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
Only now did the greatsword sink nearly halfway into Prince's stomach.
[Ngh—Nghaaaargh!]
His body was hard as iron, but apparently he felt the pain just fine.
Prince made strangled, choking sounds as drool spilled from his mouth in long strands. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes, and he trembled uncontrollably.
"That's what you get for laying a hand on my friend."
Simon turned his back on the impaled Prince and approached his true body.
[Don't touch my body!]
Prince squirmed and screamed, but Simon breezily ignored him.
He stripped off the luxurious garments worn by Prince's true body, then pried open the crevice of its cracked chest with force.
Thump— thump—
Prince's core was visible, beating like a heartbeat.
[You—you—you—don't tell me!!]
Simon answered with a smile. Just then, the zombies, drawn by the commotion, came swarming in.
"Pierce, if you would."
[Understood!]
Whoosh!
The Bone Armour Simon was wearing peeled away like living cloth, reverting to its true form—a towering skeleton.
[Kuhaha! Stand back!]
Pierce bellowed at the top of his lungs and pointed a finger at the forehead of Prince's true body.
[Do you wish to watch your master die?!]
At those words, the zombies faltered, and Prince ground his teeth furiously.
[You thieving bastards! Get out of my manor right noooow!]
Whether Prince raged or not, Simon focused on the core before his eyes.
These were his father's old comrades, after all—he had planned to show them proper respect and take his time persuading them. But the situation was too urgent for niceties now.
First, I'll take it. I can always finish this later if I don't like what I find.
For now, he needed to shackle Prince to the Legion.
Simon boldly placed his hand on the core.
FWAAAAAH!
Simon's and Prince's jet-black exploded outward, raging wildly against each other.
"Ngh!"
[Periiiish!]
It was agonizing, but the moment passed quickly.
Soon the jet-black stabilized, and Simon's distinctive bluish-black energy could be seen flowing out of Prince's true body as well.
"Whew."
It worked.
Now the Legion's third Ancient Undead, Prince no longer seemed to have the strength left to curse at him, wearing an expression of utter resignation.
"I'll get you out."
Simon approached, pulled the greatsword free of Prince's abdomen, and recalled Overlord's blades. Prince's body slumped to the floor and vanished like black smoke dispersing—the zombie corpse had simply returned to being an ordinary one.
KWAAA-BOOM!
Then a black bolt of lightning crashed down on a nearby zombie. The corpse blackened over and transformed into Prince's shape.
Five lives remaining.
[Hah! Hah!]
Prince panted, gasping for breath again and again.
Perhaps influenced by Simon, his appearance had changed. His eyes now glowed bluish-black, and the formal robes he wore had shifted to a deep navy.
Prince glared at him with eyes brimming even with tears, seething with fury—but Simon didn't so much as blink, and simply smiled.
"Welcome to the Legion."
Pierce chuckled and chimed in beside him.
[KUHAHAHA! That's right! Once in the Legion, forever in the Legion!]
[You thieving bastards…]
Prince rose from his seat, trembling with rage. His fists were clenched so tight they shook.
"You want to fight?"
Simon blinked.
"Unless I dissolve the Legion, if the Legion Commander dies, so do you."
[Shut uuuuup!]
Prince charged at him out of nowhere. Simon stood perfectly still where he was, while Pierce crossed his arms and snickered, making no move to intervene.
Simon spoke.
"Kneel."
CRASH!!
Both his knees turned as heavy as iron weights, and Prince collapsed to the floor in a kneel. No matter how hard he strained, he could not rise.
Dripping with cold sweat and whimpering, he stared up at Simon as if looking at a monster.
No way. Absolute Order?
There was no resisting an authority like this. Prince felt his fighting spirit snap clean in two.
Simon let out a small sigh and spoke.
"Like it or not, we're on the same side now. If you don't want your crown stolen, I'd say we need to work together."
[……]
"Explain the situation. If there's anything I can do to help…"
[Help?]
Prince sneered coldly.
[Don't make me laugh! Help, my ass! Because you forcibly legionified me, the situation has gotten several times worse!]
"?"
[If you've got eyes, go look out the window!]
Simon did as he said and walked over to look out the window.
The zombies…!
The zombies that had been fighting on the front lines were suddenly acting strangely, as though their chain of command had fallen into chaos.
Even with enemies right in front of them, they didn't attack—they just stood dumbly in place, or randomly dug at the ground, or turned on each other, biting and tearing at their fellow zombies.
[Because you forcibly legionified me, the connection between the crown and the zombies has been severed! What are you going to do about it?!]
Prince said, trembling all over.
[With our forces outnumbered too, it's over now! Before I can regain control of the zombies, Manus and Javier will storm the manor—hey! What are you doing?! What the hell are you doing!]
At some point, Simon had picked up the crown that Prince's true body had been wearing.
"So this is what you used to control the zombies?"
[You insane bastard! Put it down right now! That thing is not something a human can withstand!]
"It's not like there's any way to get it working again besides using this crown, is there?"
Simon said this, and carefully placed the crown atop his own head.
"…!"
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump-thump—
A massive flood of stray thoughts began pouring into Simon's mind.
It wasn't just one or two undead. A hundred, a thousand—no, far more than that.
More thoughts than he could possibly count came surging into his head. And at the same time, their senses flooded in with them.
The footsteps of every single zombie fighting outside, their movements, the blink of their eyes, the pain of being stabbed by weapons, the agony of being crushed to death beneath Meat Golems—all of it.
In those few seconds with the crown on, Simon experienced death again and again.
KUUNG!
The crown fell and rolled across the floor. Simon collapsed to his hands and knees, drenched in cold sweat.
"Uuurgh!"
His vision swam. Nausea surged up his throat.
Insanity. Connecting to over ten thousand minds at once was sheer madness.
[Heh. Told you, didn't I?]
Prince laughed, looking thoroughly pleased at his suffering.
But then Simon staggered back to his feet… and picked up the crown again.
[Don't tell me—…!]
"Huh."
Simon murmured quietly.
"This is more manageable than I expected?"
[Wha…?]
Prince felt his mind grind to a complete halt.
What the hell is this guy?
Simon raised the crown once more and set it on his head. Then he began writhing, pouring out sounds of sheer agony.
[Hey, you lunatic! You got wrecked once and now you're doing that shit again?!]
[Khehehehe!]
Pierce was laughing, shoulders shaking.
[Why aren't you stopping him?! You're the Manager, aren't you?!]
[Do not presume to judge that boy by your meager common sense.]
Pierce grinned slyly.
[That one is more dangerous than Richard—in a completely different way!]
THUD!
He dropped the crown again. But this time, he had lasted incomparably longer than before.
"Haaah! Hah! Hah!"
Simon panted for breath, then took hold of the crown once more.
[Why on earth would you go that far…!]
"Let's go, Prince."
He had the feel of it now, for certain.
Simon wiped his mouth with his sleeve and smiled.
"I'll show you how I win this war."