Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Clump (1)
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It was when Demian burst out of the building.
Fenrir rammed into the castle wall again. The wall caved in and was pushed back.
“Ugh, uwaaak!”
“Th-this is bad!”
One more hit and it seemed like the wall would completely collapse.
To stop Fenrir, Demian summoned his mana. Mana spread through his entire body, dramatically increasing his running speed.
Sensing Demian’s mana, Fenrir turned its head just before slamming into the wall again.
Its pale, cloudy eyes stared blankly at Demian.
Under the bright sunlight, a wolf made of rotting flesh.
It was a bizarre and chilling sight. Perhaps it felt this way because the undead before him was Fenrir.
In his previous life, that creature had been called the Beast of Ruin, dyeing the world in blood.
“Athena, I’ll slice open its body. Drive your lightning into the spot.”
But being called the Beast of Ruin was a story of the future.
Right now, Fenrir hadn’t yet been modified by Dorgo, and it had only been born a short time ago.
Demian could catch it alone without issue, but he had no intention of letting his guard down. To be safe, he wanted to end it decisively.
“……Did you just give me an order?”
“What? Doesn’t sit well with you?”
Demian turned to Athena and flinched in surprise.
Athena was grinning broadly.
“You need me, right?”
“……You could say that.”
“Just trust in me.”
Athena summoned her lightning.
Demian was momentarily flustered watching the lightning crackle and burst forth. Wasn’t she overdoing it?
-Grrrr...
At that moment, Fenrir bared its teeth and growled. It raised its hindquarters and lowered its head. It looked ready to charge at any second.
-Growl!
Fenrir let out a loud cry.
At the same time, it kicked off the ground with all four legs and charged.
......In the opposite direction from Demian.
“Huh?”
Demian was bewildered as he watched Fenrir flee.
An undead of that caliber running away with prey right in front of it?
It wasn’t even just escaping—it was fleeing at full speed.
Then, suddenly, it melted into the shadows and vanished.
‘Shadow Assimilation’
A special ability unique to Fenrir.
In his previous life, Fenrir had used that power for stealth, creating clones, and various other combat tactics.
“......It’s using its innate ability just to run away?”
Demian muttered in disbelief as he came to a stop. Athena wore a similar expression.
It was while the two of them stood there dumbfounded.
The castle gates opened, and people came pouring out.
The crowd surrounded Demian and Athena, cheering wildly.
“Oh my! Thank you!”
“We owe our lives to you two!”
A middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd. From his fine silk clothes, he appeared to be the lord.
“I can’t thank you enough...... If it’s not too rude, might I ask who you noble guests are and where you hail from?”
“We’re from the Fafnir Mercenary Group. We came to slay that undead.”
“Aaah......! A royal decree has gone out across the entire region! It said warriors from the Fafnir Mercenary Group would arrive, and to treat them with utmost hospitality!”
The lord’s face lit up instantly.
“Please, come in! We’ve prepared a place for you two to rest!”
“Sorry, but we have to pursue Fenrir......”
At those words, the lord grabbed Demian’s hand tightly.
“P-please, I beg you. If you leave and that monster comes back......”
The lord spoke with a face full of fear.
Having witnessed Fenrir’s danger firsthand, it was natural for him to be so terrified.
Demian glanced at Athena. It wasn’t a decision he could make unilaterally.
“I think resting first would be good. We need to unpack and learn about the situation here anyway.”
Athena’s words made sense. Demian decided to accept the lord’s invitation for now.
“This way, quickly!”
The lord eagerly led the way. As Demian followed, he asked,
“I only see soldiers. No knights?”
“Embarrassingly, yes. We’re not wealthy enough to hire knights.”
The lord said with an awkward expression.
“Then you must have taken heavy losses from that undead earlier.”
“Fortunately, no one died. A few injuries, but nothing serious. Truly fortunate.”
Demian felt deep suspicion at the lord’s response.
‘An undead like Fenrir attacked, and no one was hurt?’
It was utterly incomprehensible by the common sense Demian knew.
‘Come to think of it, it’s strange the castle held until we arrived. The current Fenrir should be able to overrun a place like this in no time.’
It was weaker than in his previous life, but the current Fenrir was still a tremendous monster.
It had held the advantage against two high-class experts from the Grape Kingdom.
With that level of power, toppling a small castle like this should have been instantaneous.
‘And when our eyes met, it didn’t show any killing intent.’
The Fenrir Demian remembered was the incarnation of violence.
It tried to destroy everything in sight. It was so hard to control that it devoured several allied black mages.
By comparison, the current Fenrir showed remarkably little aggression. It was almost docile.
‘It’s far from the Fenrir I know.’
Which meant the change must have come from being used by the black mages.
What on earth had it gone through to become so ferocious?
Demian harbored deep doubts.
* * *
It was a bizarre sight.
Even without anything blocking the light, a massive shadow glided across the ground.
In the direction the shadow headed lay a vast forest. The moment it entered the forest’s shadows, something burst out from within.
A gigantic something began racing through the forest. It looked desperate, as if being chased.
Scawy! Scawy!
Clump raced through the forest, thinking only of escaping as far as possible.
Filling Clump’s mind was the image of the human male who had just charged at it.
The overwhelming pressure from that human male was scarier than any enemy the wolf had ever faced.
Human scawy! Too scawy!
Thinking back, it had always been that way.
Humans saw it and called it dirty or ugly, tormenting it.
They’d kick its belly, stomp its head. Blood flowed from its mouth, but no one stopped.
Its whole body hurt so much it couldn’t move. But wanting to live, it crawled along the ground searching for food.
At least back then, no human truly tried to kill it.
Humans bad!
After its body grew this big, every human it encountered tried to kill it.
Last time, two really scary humans had butchered its body.
Clump had struggled desperately to survive and barely escaped.
After running for a long while, Clump finally stopped deep in the forest.
Clump gathered fallen leaves on the ground. It lay on them and curled up into a ball.
Mastew...... Couldn’t find you again......
Clump had been wandering around following a nostalgic scent.
It had attacked the castle for that reason too. The master’s scent had wafted from the castle.
Excited, it rushed over, but the humans wouldn’t open the gate. To protest, it slammed into the wall.
Mastew...... Whewe awe you......
Clump closed its eyes. Slowly, the master’s image came to mind.
A small human.
A human as skinny as itself.
The only human who hadn’t tormented it.
~Clump~ Guess what I brought today? Bread for you!
Focusing more on the memory, the master’s voice rang out.
-Ahaha, no licking. It tickles.
-You’re worried about this wound? It’s fine...... Dad got a bit drunk last night.
-Oh, what do I do...... Ah, Dad’s calling...... I-I’ll come back later.
After those words, it could see the master no more.
Clump had roamed everywhere searching for the boy. Its body hurt, it was hungry, but the desire to see its master was stronger.
But before finding the master, blood poured from its mouth. Its body grew heavy like it was soaked in water. Darkness covered its eyes.
When it came to, its body had grown like this.
Strangely, it no longer hurt. It never got hungry no matter how much it ran.
But it couldn’t find its master.
Mastew, wanna see you again.
Cherishing that earnest wish, Clump fell asleep.
* * *
“An undead that sleeps? Looks like it still thinks it’s alive.”
From a spot far from where the undead lay.
A young man observed it through a telescope and spoke.
“It’s common when animals turn into undead. Unlike humans, they don’t quickly realize their situation.”
The young man lowered the telescope. Then he began diligently writing something in a small notebook.
Kar Dak watched the scene with a displeased expression.
His entire body, even his face, was wrapped in black bandages, so his expression wasn’t visible.
But his eyes brimmed with reproach.
“Garot. I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense. Answer quickly.”
“Answer? Oh, you mean Rubia’s request? De...... De...... What was his name again?”
“Demian Haksen.”
“Right, capture that guy?”
Boredom crossed the young man Garot’s face.
“Hmm...... I’m not really interested in humans...... Can’t you just do it?”
“I need to get back quickly to assist Rubia.”
“Ahaha, let’s use the right words. You’re not assisting Rubia—you’re surveilling her. Worried she’ll tangle with another man while you’re gone.”
A sneer curled at Garot’s lips.
“Who’d have thought you, hailed as the future of the Venom Scholar Sect, would ruin yourself over a woman. That’s why you never know with people.”
Grit.
Kar Dak ground his teeth. Murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
“So you won’t grant Rubia’s request?”
“Ugh, why get mad? Of course I’ll do it. Rubia aside, I owe you.”
Garot shrugged as he spoke.
“Thanks to the plague you gave me, such a fine undead was born.”
The plague ravaging the eastern Grape Kingdom region was none other than what Kar Dak had created.
“But first, I need to take care of my business.”
Saying that, Garot raised the telescope to his face again.
“I want to see that thing fully complete as a true undead.”
