Welcome to the Legion, Akemus
With Akemus reclaimed, Simon crossed back over to Roc Island safely via the teleportation circle.
After reporting his return to Jane alongside Serne and Kajan, he hurried through the Forbidden Forest and slipped into Pier's ruins.
“Everybody, come on out!”
Simon seized the empty air and flung it wide open.
BOOOOM!
As if they'd been waiting for this very moment, Pier, Akemus, Erzsébet, and Prince emerged one after another from the colossal subspace. The skeletons and corpse spiders that had accompanied them came pouring out in a rush, scattering into the depths of the ruins.
[I'm finally home!]
Erzsébet stretched long and languid, then turned her gaze on Simon, eyes gleaming with naked desire.
Simon felt a chill crawl up his spine and spread through his whole body.
[My girl, I daresay you rendered truly distinguished service on this mission.]
“R-right. Thank you for your hard work.”
[Are you anticipating a reward?]
When she flicked her tongue, Simon shuddered with a fresh wave of goosebumps.
[No! Not happening!]
Hands tugged insistently at his clothes, and when he turned, there was Prince.
[I earned merit too! You have to play with me first! Oh, and I invented a brand-new handshake at the manor. Want to know how it goes? First, you...!]
KUUUUNG!
Erzsébet and Prince fell silent at once. Akemus had arrived at some point and was prostrate on the floor, howling as if in lamentation.
[Forgive my disloyalty in joining the Legion so late! Young Master!]
Simon waved both hands, smiling awkwardly.
“I-it's fine, really! It couldn't be helped!”
[To think the son of Lord Richard was born and grew into such a fine young man! While I remained buried in obscurity, ignorant of even that, squandering my time in vain!]
It seemed one more troublesome undead had joined the ranks.
Simon was thinking exactly that when Pier — by far the closest thing to sane among the four — snickered.
[Shut up and get ready to build the Skullwing corps, Akemus! You saw the might of the 5th Legion, didn't you? The 7th Legion must grow far stronger than it is now!]
Not that Pier could exactly be called sane either.
In the end, Simon stepped in.
“L-let's take care of Akemus's body first.”
As an Ancient Undead, Akemus possessed self-regeneration, but there were parts of him that had yet to heal.
For starters, they extracted the stakes and spikes jammed into him all over. He must have been in excruciating pain, yet Akemus bore it with stoic calm.
[Careful there, boy!]
As Simon reached for a spike embedded in Akemus's thigh, Pier stopped him.
[That one carries a curse.]
“Ah.”
Pier plucked the spike out with his bare hands in Simon's stead, dropped it to the floor, and crushed it underfoot with tremendous force.
With a sharp crack, black smoke spilled out. It coiled into the shape of a skull, then slowly dispersed and vanished.
[Curse stakes. Magnus truly is a vile one.]
Erzsébet said, dabbing the black blood from Akemus's face with a handkerchief.
Akemus clenched his jaw and silently endured as the spikes were drawn from his body. Then, midway through, his eyes met Simon's — and he broke into another wallowing sob.
[Young Master! I cannot simply let this pass! Allow me to first atone for my disloyalty—!]
[Enough of that now, hmm?]
When Erzsébet caught the back of his head in her webbing and yanked it backward, Simon and Prince burst into quiet laughter.
Once every spike and stake had been pulled free and the caked blood wiped away, Akemus looked presentable again.
[Young Master, I shall now prepare for the contract.]
As Akemus clutched his chest and pulled it open, the cavity gaped apart to reveal a black orb trembling between his ribs.
Half of it was jet-black; the other half, deep red. And the moment the other Ancient Undead laid eyes on it, they all heaved a deep, collective sigh.
[Oh, you simple-minded fool.]
Pier shook his head as well. Caught off guard by the sudden shift in mood, Simon blinked in confusion.
“What's wrong with everyone?”
Pier closed his eyes.
[...So that is why Magnus tortured him with such vicious spite.]
“I'm sorry?”
[Akemus has not yet undergone Legionification.]
Simon's eyes went round.
In truth, back when Simon had first explained his plan to Pier — capture Magnus's Ancient Undead and trade him for Akemus — it had been taken for granted that Akemus would already have been Legionified by Magnus.
Legionification was the process of converting an ordinary natural or summoned undead into a member of one's Legion.
A greedy creature like Magnus would surely have done it the instant he laid hands on Akemus — that much everyone had assumed, and Pier, the Legion's manager, had intended to work out some countermeasure in time.
[Akemus held out.]
Within Akemus's core, half his own jet-black and half Magnus's jet-black stood locked in perfect equilibrium. He had refused Legionification through sheer force of will alone.
[Honestly.]
Erzsébet crossed her arms and sighed.
[Humans never do understand us, do they?]
Ancient Undead were beings so inscrutable that even scholars had abandoned the attempt to study them — impossible to explain by any academic framework.
Each bore some missing emotion, and to fill that void, they most often contracted with a necromancer: their Legion Commander.
For Erzsébet, the Spider Queen, it was love.
For Prince, the Zombie Prince, it was play.
And as for Akemus, newly joined to their ranks — Simon suspected it was loyalty.
Magnus had tried to dominate a being defined by loyalty, by force. Small wonder the revulsion ran so deep.
'Wait — how am I supposed to fill a void of loyalty, exactly?'
While Simon was still mulling that over, Pier, who had been examining Akemus's core, turned to him.
[Boy! Akemus is in no great condition, but for the sake of a swift recovery, we should Legionify him now.]
“Understood.”
As Simon approached, Akemus sank to one knee.
[All the while I was imprisoned, I awaited this very moment. It is an honor beyond measure.]
“I'm counting on you, Akemus.”
So saying, Simon laid his hand on Akemus's core and poured his jet-black into it.
“Ugh!”
[Ghk—!]
Their bodies were instantly engulfed in a swirl of jet-black.
Then Erzsébet's eyes went wide.
[Pier, this—!]
[That wretch...!]
Pier's gaze turned ferocious.
[I knew he would never surrender Akemus this easily!]
The instant Simon's hand touched Akemus's core, the other half — Magnus's jet-black — came raging to life as though it had only been waiting, and began pushing their power back.
Simon reeled under the shock, his vision swimming.
[Hold fast, boy!]
Pier roared.
[If you fall, Magnus will seize control of Akemus! No — in the worst case, the core will explode!]
If Akemus's core detonated here — an Corpse Explosion of an Ancient Undead — Pier's entire ruins would be vaporized.
Gritting his teeth, Simon placed his other hand on the core as well.
[Y-Young Master!]
“Just hold on a little longer!”
Simon's eyes flashed.
Even through all that torment, Akemus had waited — for Simon, and for his father's Legion. He could never, ever abandon him.
“HAAAAAAAH!”
Simon's blue-black jet-black surged violently forward and clashed with Magnus's.
Magnus himself was absent — and yet two Legion Commanders collided over a single Ancient Undead.
[Grrrragh!]
As the two opposing Commanders' powers hammered against each other without an inch of concession, Akemus — who hadn't so much as flinched while stakes were pulled from his flesh — clutched his core and cried out in agony.
If this dragged on much longer, it might blow.
'In one strike!'
The jet-black flooding every corner of Simon's body was drawn inward in a single pull.
'Drive it out!'
Blue-black radiance erupted like a detonation, and in the blink of an eye it swallowed Akemus's core whole. With弹性 bursts popping from every side, the displaced jet-black of Magnus flared up like a pillar of fire — then scattered into the air and was gone.
“Haah.”
Simon's legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground. Erzsébet and Prince caught him from either side.
[...]
Akemus opened his eyes.
He slowly flexed his fists open and shut, then spread his wings.
FWOOOOSH!
Flap.
Onto those rotting wings — molting and ragged, the bone frame showing through — blue-black feathers of pure jet-black slotted into the empty places one by one, weaving themselves into a single lustrous pair.
Simon thought they were the most beautiful wings he had ever seen.
[I, Akemus!]
He knelt with perfect formality before Simon, planted his fist against the ground, and wrapped himself in his wings. A posture of self-abasement — yet it radiated nothing but dignity.
[As one already among the dead, I have been granted new life. I hereby swear eternal loyalty to you, Young Master!]
Simon accepted the oath with a smile.
“Welcome to my Legion.”
The other Ancient Undead cheered and offered their congratulations.
And so Simon had, at long last, safely gained a new Ancient Undead.
After formally inducting Akemus into the Legion, they took a short rest.
Truthfully, Simon had planned to go back to Kizen and sleep in his comfortable dormitory bed — but every last ounce of strength had drained out of him, and he couldn't move so much as a finger. He resigned himself to spending the night here.
[Now then — it's time for my reward!]
Erzsébet ran a lecherous gaze over Simon. Once again, a chill ran down his spine.
As she wrapped her body in webbing, her form began to shift.
A black jacket, a red-toned tie, a flaring skirt — the uniform of a Kizen female student.
Her hair followed, blooming into rich pink. This was her Kizen-student persona: 'Elizabeth Wepper.'
[Now then.]
She knelt down on the bare floor and patted her thighs with a pat pat.
[Come here, please.]
Simon scratched his cheek, embarrassed, then finally said in a shrinking voice:
“...Y-you're not going to do anything, right?”
Erzsébet let out a short scream, as if she might die of how adorable he was.
[You don't trust your girl?]
Absolutely not.
Simon thought exactly that, and didn't lower his guard for an instant.
[Ohohoho! I do have my own code of honor, you know? I shall keep you chaste until you come of age at twenty, so worry not!]
Three years was but a speck of dust to an Ancient Undead. And there were feelings that could only be savored at Simon's current age — which was precisely why she had resolved to wait.
“...And what happens after I turn twenty?”
Erzsébet flicked her tongue like a beast eyeing its prey.
[Curious, are we?]
Simon shook his head in a hurry. For the sake of his own sanity, he decided not to ask any further.
Still, granting 'rewards' to the Ancient Undead to maintain their bonds was one of a Legion Commander's duties.
Simon stiffly shuffled over and lay down, pillowing his head on Erzsébet's lap. One glance up at her told him the angle was mortifying, so he tipped himself onto his side, curled up like a shrimp.
[You're sleeping here for the whole day today!]
[Hey! Me too! I get to play with Simon too!]
Prince wedged himself in. He lay down right beside Simon and started performing their new handshake with him.
Simon gave a hollow laugh. It felt less like consorting with Ancient Undead and more like humoring a pair of whining children.
[Those two never change, do they.]
Akemus remarked.
He and Pier — the two relatively composed ones — were deep in a discussion about the Legion.
[The Legion needs an aerial force, and quickly! Akemus!]
At Pier's words, Akemus nodded.
[As soon as my body heals, I shall build a nest, old comrade.]
Simon looked at Akemus.
“A nest? What's that?”
[An undead bio-structure that mass-produces Skullwings, Young Master. It can be made from pieces of my own body.]
Simon's eyes went wide with excitement.
“You can actually mass-produce them—!”
A mischievous Erzsébet pinched his cheek.
[You're starting to take after Pier, Legion Commander. Eyes forward, if you please.]
[Hey! Simon! Focus on the game!]
It really was like babysitting children.
With dazed eyes, Simon slapped his palm against Prince's outstretched one.
It looked like this was how things would go until dawn broke.
'Oh, now that I think of it.'
As Simon moved his palm back and forth in a trance, a single thought drifted into his head.
'The 30,000 gold I just received. I need to spend that fast.'
Was there any pleasure in this world quite like spending money?
And so Simon began plotting the grand scheme he would put into motion the moment he returned to Kizen.