The Mimics
Mimics.
Monsters with a rather peculiar name, found nowhere on the continent but the Frigod Autonomous Region.
They looked like something vaguely crossed between a monkey and a human — long, sinuous limbs and an abnormally elongated head.
And these vaguely human-shaped monsters had one strange quirk: an obsessive fixation on imitating humans.
It began with hunting.
The warriors of the Gahal Tribe, the region's natives, would ride into the forest on horseback and hunt the Mimics for sport.
Back then, the Mimics were little more than broken-brained creatures whose overlong legs left them incapable of a proper run. The warriors would pile the slaughtered corpses into mountains and crow about their own valor.
Then one day, at the height of the Mimic-hunting boom, every warrior who rode out vanished without a trace. The pursuit party that followed found nothing, and the hunts were suspended for a time.
Before long, the real trouble began.
The Mimics came out of the forest and invaded human territory.
They mounted the horses they'd looted from the dead, drew bows just as humans did, plundered property, and burned homes to the ground.
They even piled the slaughtered human corpses into mountains and performed a ritual, dancing in circles around them.
Under this sudden reversal — humans being hunted — the Gahal people who farmed outside the fortress walls had no choice but to seal themselves inside and wait.
With the villages and the vast pastures in their grasp, the Mimics' imitation grew even more brazen. They began tilling fields like men, and raised horses and livestock on their own to eat their meat.
Their numbers exploded, and the next human behavior they chose to copy was none other than—
War.
Having watched the Gahal clans fracture into civil strife and steal fortresses from one another, the Mimics launched their own war to take those fortresses for themselves.
Only after losing six fortresses did the Gahal tribes end their infighting and unite against the monsters — but by then it was far too late. The Mimics wielded human weapons and had even copied human arts: swordsmanship, spearmanship, and more.
And so the Gahal Tribe lost most of its territory and fortresses to the monsters. Today, of forty fortresses, only a single one remained.
Doom-doom-doom-doom—!
That night, five enormous war chariots led by skeletal horses were cutting through the forest.
"That concludes the briefing."
The teaching assistant seated at the very front of the chariot bowed politely. A heavy atmosphere settled over the students, who sat checking their weapons and undead.
"Monsters that imitate humans?" The student sitting across from Simon snorted in disbelief. "And they just leave things that dangerous alone? What are they planning to do when the region becomes a major population center? What the hell is the Shahed Kingdom even doing?"
"Hey, what's Shahed got to do with it?" A student who looked to be from Shahed scowled. "That's just the sound of someone talking out of their ass because they're too incompetent to do anything."
"Say that again. What did you just call me?"
"Allow me to explain on their behalf."
The teaching assistant hurried to smooth things over.
"The Frigod Autonomous Region is forbidden not only from military intervention by the Shahed Kingdom but from any deployment of its army at all. For Shahed to move, it needs the approval of the Frigod Council of Chieftains — and the Gahal Tribe is refusing all outside support."
Every race in the Frigod Autonomous Region, scarred by its blood-soaked history, deeply resented the idea of Shahed soldiers setting foot in their land.
"That said, scholars believe that given the Mimics' nature, they won't expand beyond their territory so long as there are no humans nearby to imitate. Accordingly, the Shahed Kingdom and the Council of Chieftains recommended abandoning the last fortress — but the Gahal, with only that one remaining, declared they could never abandon their homeland and would fight to the very end."
"...Hmm."
"And so Professor Grelion, himself a native of the Frigod Autonomous Region, made them an offer."
We are not the Shahed Kingdom's army. We are necromancers of Kizen.
We will not send war-crazed soldiers. We will send students.
We want the monsters' corpses.
Give us only that, and we will fight alongside you.
'So that's how it came together.'
Simon nodded slowly. Not the kingdom, but Kizen — an independent organization. Not an army, but children who were still students.
It was a clever sidestep of the Gahal's rules. And with no other gain demanded beyond the monsters' corpses, the strategically outmatched Gahal Tribe had ultimately accepted the support.
"Unbelievable."
A male student with a scar beside his mouth crossed his arms. "A Kizen student with wartime command authority over the Alliance is more of a threat than an actual army."
"Must've been pretty desperate, I guess."
Chatter drifted from every corner of the chariot. Even on the eve of a major battle, everyone carried themselves with the easy confidence of second-years now — veterans of a year at Kizen.
Their conversation had already moved past how the Mimics fared to the real question: how to claim a Guardian, the finest material for crafting a top-tier Dullahan. The Mimics revered the Guardians — monsters above even themselves — as their 'kings.' If the Mimics were on the move, the Guardians would surely appear on this battlefield as well.
-All units, attention!
A commanding voice boomed from the communication crystal inside the chariot.
-We will now punch through the monsters' encirclement and enter the Gahal Tribe's final fortress!
The students who had been trading jokes finally grew serious.
-You fight not as students, but as combatants! Each and every one of you is a force Kizen has poured its efforts into cultivating! I will not be issuing step-by-step orders. Move freely, as the necromancers you are!
Simon looked out the window as he listened to Grelion's speech. He could see the pitch-black mass of monsters watching them in predatory silence.
-Battle pairs follow the assignments Professor Aaron designated! If even one of you falls out of line, I will personally handle your expulsion! Every member of a team that produces a deserter gets the lowest possible mark on the Dullahan practical evaluation. Look after your comrades yourselves!
Clack.
Clack.
The chariot windows slid open. The students readied their dark magic; some summoned creatures from their subspace to prepare long-range attacks.
Simon brought out his Skeleton Mages and had them at the ready.
-If you can't survive a battlefield of this scale, you'll die like dogs in a real war against the Priests! All department students — survive, by any means necessary!
"Sir!"
Ne-e-egh!
Knrrrk!
The monsters began surging toward the chariots. The skeletal horses picked up speed.
"Ready."
The fifth chariot at the rear was under Simon's command. At his word, magic circles unfurled in full all around.
When the monsters closed to within arm's reach of the chariot, Simon shouted.
"Fire!"
With a deafening roar, a riot of dark magic and curses poured out the windows. The monsters trying to cling to the chariot were flung sprawling across the ground.
"Direct hit!"
"That's satisfying! Die, all of you!"
Excited students blazed away out the windows. The rear chariot — Simon's — had fired first, and at that signal the other chariots opened up as well.
With more than ten students per war chariot, the sheer firepower was staggering.
Boom! Boom!
Simon was fighting alongside his Skeleton Mages when he heard footsteps on the chariot roof. He moved at once.
"Loraine, you take command!"
"Where are you going?"
"Up top!"
Simon thrust himself out the window and sprang onto the roof of the chariot in one elastic motion.
'Two of them.'
One Mimic with a sword, and one hoisting a long spear.
Simon beckoned lazily, as if to say come on in.
Swish!
The spear-wielding Mimic lunged in an instant. This was no wild flailing — it was genuine human spear technique.
Simon dodged by arching his back, then gathered jet-black at his toes and flicked upward against the midpoint of the spear's shaft.
CLANG—!
The shaft wrenched violently upward, tearing the weapon from the Mimic's grip. Simon spun in place and drove a kick into the face of the sword-wielding Mimic closing in from the front.
The creature tumbled clean off the chariot, and flowing into the motion, Simon snatched the fallen long spear from the ground and drove it through the last Mimic's abdomen, felling it.
Whoosh.
Simon tossed the spear aside and lightly brushed off his hands.
'Good. At this rate, it should go smooth—'
WHAM!
"Gwaaagh!"
"Kyaaaaaa!"
Without warning, the chariot lurched violently. One of the pitch-black monsters had rammed it head-on.
Simon, standing on the roof, was flung clean off.
"N-no! Simon!!"
Toto's desperate cry echoed across the field. Simon, thrown from the chariot, was plummeting toward the seething horde of monsters below.
'...Focus.'
Simon's mind blazed. His perception expanded, time slowed, and his judgment crystallized.
His fingertips reached for the chariot falling away from him.
<Cloud>
A teal rope slapped onto the chariot and stuck fast. Simon gathered jet-black into his legs, kicked the head off a leaping Mimic, and landed atop a nearby tree.
-Keeeeeeee!
In an instant, the Mimics below had surrounded Simon's tree. And beyond them, countless more were chasing after the chariot.
<Bone Armor>
Simon calmly opened his subspace and donned his Bone Armor. Gripping the Cloud anchored to the chariot with both hands, he held on as the tension stretched toward its limit.
'Now!'
He hurled himself off the tree. Simon's body flew in a straight line toward the chariot, smashing into the monsters in his path.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!
The monsters caught in his path went flying in every direction. Simon punched straight through the horde and landed stylishly back on top of the chariot.
"Nice!"
"That's our Council President for you!"
Cheers rang out from inside the chariot. Simon lifted his head.
'They're going all-out from the start over there too.'
FWOOSH!
Hector, transformed into his Fire Dragon form, had hefted his assigned war chariot bodily above his muscular legs and was blasting breath after breath, reducing monsters to ash.
Asseraz and the other students were fighting atop their chariots as well.
"You okay, Simon?"
Worried, Loraine climbed up onto the roof as well.
"I'm fine! Is everyone else all right?"
"Everyone's safe!"
"Presidennnt! Loraine!"
Just then Eshu thrust her head out a window.
"It's bad! It's Toto!"
Something had clearly happened. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"What happened?"
"Toto jumped out of the chariot saying he was going to save you! I guess he thought you'd fallen! What do we do?!"
Loraine's expression turned grave, and Simon was already running before she'd even finished.
"Eshu! Where is he?"
"Behind the chariot! He just fell with nothing to catch him!"
The rear of the chariot was already crawling with Mimics. But Simon leapt down into them without a moment's hesitation.
He crossed his arms and tucked into a crouch mid-air.
SHRRRRRSH!
In the sky, skeleton bones came streaking in and sheathed Simon's body.
<Bone Armor — Heavy Armor Type>
KOO-KOO-KOOM!
Clad in thick bone plating in an instant, Simon hit the ground and crushed the monsters beneath him.
"Toto!"
He plowed through the Mimics in his path. Simply swinging his arms as if wading through water was enough to send monster bodies flying.
Of course, the creatures' weapons couldn't so much as scratch Simon's Heavy Armor.
"Presideeent!"
Tap.
Something landed on top of Simon's Heavy Armor's head. Startled, he looked up.
"E-Eshu?!"
She flailed both arms wildly for balance before finally managing to steady herself.
"Don't look up at me from down there! It's embarrassing!"
Flick.
Flick.
Once centered, she spread her arms wide, and her little Curse Dolls scattered in every direction.
"Light up the area!"
FLASH!
FLASH!
Ten Curse Dolls floating in the air burst with dazzling light. The monsters flinched and cringed from the sudden glare.
"We can't just leave Toto! I'll support you, so keep going!"
"..."
But Simon was silent, as if lost in thought. Then, after staring straight ahead for a long moment, he abruptly turned on his heel and started walking back toward the chariot.
"Wh-what are you doing!"
Eshu pounded on his Bone Armor in shock.
"Why are you turning back already?! Weren't we going to save Toto?!"
"This much is enough, Eshu."
Her expression froze, hollow.
"Enough? What's enough about this! You're saying we abandon Toto right now?"
Knrrrk!
Several unusually large Mimics blocked the way forward, shields raised. Simon paused mid-stride and spoke.
"That's not it."
"Then what is it! Don't tell me you think Toto's already dead! He might still be alive! We have to go get—"
Grab!
Simon seized Eshu with his bulked-up Bone Armor hand.
"Gck, let go! I'll go by myself if I have to!"
"Toto is a Kizen student too. You said he went to save me, right? Then the moment he learns I'm fine, he'll extract himself on his own."
Simon shed his Heavy Armor and rose out of it. The armor clamped its other hand around Simon's body and hurled him into the air alongside Eshu.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
The two of them went flying skyward, tearing through the air. Simon made a motion of snapping his fingers.
The masterless Heavy Armor left on the battlefield dissolved into a rush of bones and shot skyward after them. It soon dressed Eshu in a fresh set of Bone Armor, and Simon donned one as well. With Bone Armor's 'attraction' function, they could stay aloft far longer.
"Simon! Eshu! Grab on!"
Loraine, waiting atop the chariot, hurled a chain twisted from jet-black. The two caught its end, and she hauled them in.
Thud!
They landed in a half-collision against the chariot.
"Haah. Haah."
"Nice one, Loraine."
Simon stripped off his Bone Armor with an exhausted face. Eshu still wore a dazed expression.
"So then, Toto..."
Simon had his eyes closed in concentration when he sensed a new tremor beside the chariot — and smiled faintly.
"Here it comes."
KWAAAAAAM!
Right beside the chariot, the Death Worm under Toto's control burst up through the ground.
"Wha—?"
"I told you."
It had all happened because of a mistimed message, but Toto was more than capable of rescuing his comrades from over there and getting out on his own.
Simon had leapt from the chariot in the first place for one purpose: to let Toto know he was unharmed.
Presently the worm-creature's maw gaped wide and spat something out with a plop. Toto, drenched in reeking fluid, dropped onto the chariot roof.
"Ah!"
Spluttering off the slimy liquid, Toto threw his head up.
"Everyone's okay!"
"You idiot!"
Eshu sprang to her feet.
"You're insane, jumping out there?! Who do you think you are, charging off to save the President!"
"I-I'm sorry...!"
Simon and Loraine caught each other's eyes and smiled.
Aaron, who had been standing atop the chariot with the communication crystal in hand, climbed back down.
"Situation resolved. The students overcame it on their own strength, Professor Grelion."
"Of course they did!"
Grelion, seated in the lead chariot, laughed heartily.
"Students grow by making mistakes, that's what students are for! You coddle them too much — that's your problem."
"Is that so."
Aaron recalled his skeleton and lifted his head. There, atop the chariot roof, the members of Squad 10 stood with arms slung over one another's shoulders, laughing together.
And so the monsters' encirclement was broken through without incident. Now, before them, a massive fortress wall loomed into view.
"It's not over yet. Stay sharp."
Aaron raised the communication crystal.
"We are entering the fortress now."