The Golden City Awakens
-Grrr!
-Grrraaaawr!
Werewolves were springing out of the shadow-drenched forest one by one. Judging by how well-grown they were — full adults, with a reddish gleam glinting off their fangs — these looked like an especially dangerous pack even among their kind.
Simon leveled Herseba's wand form before him and spoke.
"Herseba, from now on you're fighting with your own power. Tell me everything about your ability. In detail."
Herseba's expression turned to shock.
[Excuse me, what did you just say?! I never gave you permission to use me!]
"Permission, nothing!"
[Ah! Aaah! Don't grip me so hard! Your hands are all sweaty! Gross!]
Even as a wand, the Lich was as chatty as ever.
Just then, one werewolf at the front — the lead, crouched low and waiting for its opening — leaped up in a sudden ambush.
"Herseba!"
Simon shouted desperately. She let out a 'Ugh,' squeezed her eyes shut, and thrust her wand-shaped body upward.
And then —
Bonk!
Not at the werewolf — she slammed the tip of her wand down on the crown of Simon's head with all her might. At the same instant, the werewolf's sharp claws raked into Simon.
CLANG!
-Yelp!
The werewolf rolled across the ground with a pained cry, as if it had slashed its claws down onto solid bedrock.
At some point, Simon's entire body had transformed into gleaming gold. A moment later, his statue-frozen form reverted to normal.
"Whoa!"
Simon wore a stunned expression. By the time he'd come to his senses, the werewolf that had lunged at him was already writhing on the ground.
[This is my ability,]
Herseba said.
[Everything I touch turns to gold. The kind of power that drives merchants and luxury-lovers absolutely insane, no?]
She moved of her own accord, kicking up sand from the ground — and the scattering particles turned to shimmering gold, swirling up into the air and forming the shape of a woman.
A beautiful woman with long, flowing hair. Doubtless what Herseba had looked like in life.
Perched atop the wand like a witch, she spread her fingers wide.
[The duration of Goldenization is about thirty minutes for living things, roughly a week for non-living? Now that I'm undead, I honestly can't say for sure. Oh! And now that I'm a wand, I don't have hands!]
"That's incredible."
The explanation alone drew gasps of admiration from him.
But with no time even to catch his breath, another werewolf came charging in from behind.
[Got the hang of it?]
In her radiant female form, Herseba wrapped an arm around Simon's shoulder and laid her own hand atop the one gripping the wand.
"Yeah."
The two of them thrust the wand toward the oncoming werewolf and shouted in unison.
"Goldenization!"
[Goldenization!]
CLANG!
The werewolf turned to gold mid-leap, frozen in the very posture of its pounce.
[And at the same time!]
Herseba's eyes glittered. The wolf, so suddenly transformed into gold, soared dozens of meters into the air.
[I can move every piece of gold in this world as I please — including the gold I've transmuted!]
High above, the werewolf's golden state wore off. It dropped from that height and shattered against the rocky mountainside, dead on impact.
[Oh, and, hah, hah — if you can help it, don't goldenize living things! It absolutely exhausts me!]
"Okay. Main use is goldenizing objects — and then control."
Herseba made a show of flicking her forehead with a fingertip. The sand-formed woman collapsed and settled back to the ground.
Certain he had the feel of it now, Simon gripped Herseba in both hands and lowered his stance. Three enraged werewolves were charging in at once.
'Goldenization!'
Simon struck the ground with the tip of the wand, and several meters in every radius became a plane of gold. The werewolves, sprinting across the packed earth, slipped and skidded as though they'd stepped onto ice.
'And control!'
He dipped the wand slightly away from the ground, then brought it down again.
Fwoosh! Thunk!
Golden spikes rose sharp from the ground and skewered the werewolves through the belly. One strike punched clean through their stomachs and out their backs, killing them instantly.
[Not bad, kid!]
Simon let out a quiet breath of awe as he gazed at the spikes he'd raised. Looking closer, they weren't spikes at all — they looked like the pointed roofs of buildings.
"That's strange. I never pictured anything like that when I controlled it."
[You give the commands, but at the end of the day, it's my power.]
Simon was satisfied. The responsiveness was good, the power was good. Best of all — it consumed none of his own Jet-Black.
This was the power of a Lich. Even the fight just now had been the Lich's doing; in a sense, Simon had just killed monsters by merely swinging a wand, without spending a single handful of Jet-Black.
'If I have this...!'
No more collapsing mid-battle from the strain of maintaining the Royal Guard like before — and when he truly needed everything he had, he could wield the Royal Guard and the Goldenization ability together.
For Simon, whose combat endurance had fallen off a cliff, she was the perfect summon.
'?'
Then Simon looked down at his own arm.
From the right hand gripping Herseba, up along his forearm, something like a ribbon — or a bandage — woven of black and gold was spinning in slow circles at even intervals.
"What is this?"
[...Hmm?]
Herseba, once again a female figure of sand particles, stroked her chin.
[The Robe of the Golden King. The symbol of the Golden King. Normally, when I use my ability, it manifests on me — but that robe has somehow gone to your side.]
Not quite following, Simon touched the strange bandage wrapped around his arm. The material seemed metallic, yet it felt like woven fiber. And it was slowly spreading from his right arm toward the rest of his body.
[That robe is proof that the authority of the Golden City rests with you as well.]
"? I have literally never heard of any of this in my life, so I have no idea what you mean."
[Shall I make you understand?]
In that instant, Herseba's eyes flashed sharp.
[Keep using the ability, kid. Until the Robe of the Golden King covers your entire body.]
And her form scattered once more, settling into the ground.
Simon gave a stiff nod and unleashed the Goldenization ability again and again against the surrounding werewolves.
By the time he'd subdued about ten of them —
[Good. That's enough. Lay me down flat on the ground.]
Simon did as he was told and planted Herseba into the earth.
GU-GUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!
From the golden ground spreading out around Herseba, something was surging upward.
'Wh-what is that?!'
They were buildings in the architectural style of some peculiar culture.
This time it wasn't just the roofs — the entire bodies of the structures rose from the earth. And as soon as each building fully revealed itself, its doors burst violently open, and something began walking out.
'Good heavens...!'
-Kyakyakyak-kyakyak!
Monsters wrapped head to toe in bandages.
Simon had never seen them with his own eyes — but he knew them from the encyclopedia of undead.
Undead that had never existed on this continent — said to dwell only beyond it, undead of pure legend.
'Mummies!'
Herseba kept raising the buildings of the Golden City with her ability, and from within them the mummies kept emerging.
And every one of them was waiting for Simon's command.
[Khekhek! Now this is fun!]
Pier's avatar had apparently been watching the whole spectacle, and spoke up.
[I did wonder what all the fuss was about, going to the trouble of creating a Lich — but it seems you've struck the mother lode, boy!]
The true power of the Lich Herseba.
It was the ability to draw forth mummies without end from the Golden City.
[The legendary army of mummies has joined the 7th Legion! Congratulations, boy!]
"...Ah."
Simon stood somewhat dumbfounded, but he couldn't stop the joy welling up from somewhere deep in his chest.
[Hmmm~ After becoming undead, the specs of my ability did change a bit,]
Herseba said this time.
[Producing undead like those was never part of my original ability, you know.]
"Oh, really?"
[Looks like the power of Goldenization got scaled down, and a Lich's undead-creation ability got added in its place. Hmm.]
Then one problem arose.
The werewolves had been driven off — but the mummies had begun multiplying without end.
The Forbidden Forest was off-limits to students, and it was already deep in the early hours of the morning. If the forest sentries caught wind of this, it would be a disaster, so Simon pulled Herseba from the ground and held her in his hand.
At once, the Golden City and the mummies began to scatter on the wind and vanish, as if they had never existed in this world at all.
[Oh, wait, wait. There's still one last thing left.]
"The last thing?"
[Yep! I don't know if it'll work with your strength while wearing the Golden Robe, but shall we give it a try?]
WUUUUUUUUUUNG!
A vast golden light poured out of the wand.
[Listen carefully. The first stage of my ability's authority is Goldenization. The second is the Golden City and its people. But my true worth begins with this — the third authority!]
Before he knew it, Simon could see a robe of black and gold settling over his entire body, taking its complete form.
[I'll show you! The very end of my power!]
In that instant —
Simon felt his consciousness slip away.
And then —
───────────!
He was invited into a world blanketed in sand and gold.
[Commander! Commander!]
When Simon opened his eyes, he saw Erzebeth's face, etched with worry.
'Huh?'
He was lying with his head pillowed on her lap. As Simon stirred and sat up, the Ancient Undead gathered around him came into view.
[So the final authority was too much for you after all, it seems.]
Herseba, back in her wand form, hung dangling from a tree, trussed up in spider silk.
[Shut your mouth, Lich!]
Furious, Erzebeth's mouth split open like a spider's.
[How dare you endanger the Commander—!]
[L-like I could've known it would turn out this way?!]
The eyes on the wand could be seen spinning dizzily.
[Still — quite the incredible experience, wasn't it? Kid.]
"..."
Simon clenched his fist and nodded.
"Yeah. I want to go back to that world again. Soon."
[You've pushed yourself far too hard, my Commander. You must rest today.]
"Yeah, okay."
Simon rose to his feet.
The smile wouldn't leave his lips.
He truly felt he'd laid his hands on an overwhelmingly powerful summon.
The next day was the weekend.
Having slept and woken at Pier's ruins, Simon headed straight for Rochest.
Gallen Eclipse, the subspace craftsman, had said he'd be staying on Roc Island for about a week, so Simon met with him alongside Benya.
"You want me to build a dedicated subspace? Like the one I made for Overlord?"
Simon nodded rapidly.
"Yes! Yes! Like with Overlord — the body stays safe inside the subspace, but the form lets it affect the outside world! Is that possible?"
"Not difficult at all. I've made one before, as it happens."
Gallen offered Simon two choices.
Building a completely new piece from scratch.
Or converting one of his shelved works into a dedicated subspace.
For the Overlord subspace, he'd gone with the latter.
"You said you'd be here for about a week, so please go with whichever can be done fastest!"
"Very well! Then we shall take the path of converting a shelved work."
Gallen fished out a brown pouch and upended it onto the table with a clatter.
Countless accessories, all glittering brightly. Every one of them was a subspace.
"There are a few fine pieces here."
Gallen smiled as he sifted through the accessories.
"You simply need a subspace with a function connecting it to the outside, correct?"
"Yes! And one that can be sustained for as long as possible!"
Right now, Herseba's single greatest problem was that her Lich body couldn't move.
Originally, she was meant to swing the wand herself as a Lich and wield her ability — but at present, her consciousness resided inside the wand.
Simon's plan was to store her main body safely inside a subspace, like Overlord, and draw out only the wand to fight with. The moment an enemy attack accidentally struck her Life Vessel, he'd lose not just the 25,000 gold, but the entire mummy army along with it.
Gallen said he'd notify them through Benya once the commissioned subspace was complete. And since Simon wanted it, he also offered to retrofit the Overlord subspace he'd made earlier as a sort of after-service — so Simon left that in his hands as well.
'I can't wait for the day I get to use Herseba in real combat!'
His whole body itched with anticipation, half mad with excitement.
For the time being, it was all-in on ability training.