A Hell Without End

Death Knight.

An immortal monster — a mighty knight resurrected as undead, scattering death in every direction with power far greater than anything they wielded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in life.

Their essential strength followed the capabilities of the knight who had been revived. But regardless of that power, they shared one trait in common.

A Death Knight commanded the undead as soldiers.

In a place filled with nothing but skeletons, that was the worst possible situation.

"So that's the fortress."

X's party arrived at the heart of the dungeon, where the fortress stood. A space so vast it was hard to believe they were still underground unfolded before their eyes — calling it a small city would not have been an exaggeration. The ceiling soared dozens of meters overhead, and at its center a fierce light blazed in place of the sun.

And in the middle of that enormous cavern sat the fortress.

"Looks pretty grim."

"I can feel an alien mana. That's definitely the black magic necromancers used. Looks like there really is a Death Knight in there."

Seen up close, the fortress was more ominous than they had expected. As they drew near, a visceral revulsion crawled up from beneath the skin, like ants marching under the flesh. Countless skeleton archers lined the walls, keeping a savage watch on the surroundings, their eye sockets glowing with an ominous, menacing red. Hostile at a glance.

"How did it end up like this?"

"I know not, either. We were simply continuing our eternal lives as we always had, repeating the same wars. A few days ago we detected an ominous mana coming from the fortress where General Magnus was stationed. We were gathering our forces in a hurry to storm the place, but…"

Meaning they had had the misfortune of running into X at the worst possible time.

So that's why a hundred-man unit was wandering around from the start.

On top of that, they had also spotted an unidentified Legion on the move. It felt like obstacles were piling up one after another on the simple goal of getting out of this place alive.

"Why does this kind of thing only happen to me?"

"Save the complaining for later. Let's work out a plan first."

They sat down with Circe and Meryus to discuss strategy. X went over what they had to work with.

"We don't have much. Available forces: ten officers, four elites, eighty-four soldiers. Barely a hundred-man unit. Nowhere near enough to take that fortress."

Given the situation, one thought naturally presented itself.

"The wandering Legion is the only thing worth trying… but I don't know what their purpose is, or why they even exist. If we accidentally fall under Magnus's sway and turn undead, we'll just have a bigger headache. To take on the two Legions defending the fortress, we'd need over five thousand just to have a fighting chance…"

X shook his head.

"Gathering that many would be insane. We have no idea how long it would take — or what Magnus, now a Death Knight, might do in the meantime."

Originally, if it had just been X and Circe, the objective would have been simpler. They had planned to throw some troops at the fortress as a diversion, then sneak inside and head for the exit. But the appearance of the assassin group had thrown everything off. To capture the noble who had attacked X, they had to bring the assassins with them. And that meant neutralizing the fortress.

General Magnus turning into a Death Knight has nothing to do with me, if you think about it. I never intended to clear this trial the proper way. I'm not supposed to take the reward, either.

There wasn't a single good thing about the situation. Even just knowing why Magnus had become a Death Knight, or what they were preparing inside the fortress, would have been better. Observer's Perspective couldn't be applied here, either — this place was located in the Empire, so it was classified as Imperial territory.

I wish I had some intelligence.

Unfortunately, the skeleton soldiers couldn't be used as spies. They could understand speech, but they couldn't report anything back.

Intelligence… information… infiltration…

Then, at just the right moment, a piece of lore about the Hero's Trial flashed through X's mind. To develop that thought a little further, he called Meryus over.

"What kind of man was General Magnus? His personality, his character… even small habits would help."

"Ah, General Magnus! A rather grave and cautious man, he was. I would not call him generous, but he governed his soldiers with iron discipline and carried out every mission entrusted to him to perfection."

"A perfectionist, then?"

"I would not go that far. He simply loathed seeing his soldiers die. After a battle, he would personally deliver the remains to the families of the fallen. If I had to put it in words, he was a man overflowing with a sense of responsibility. And…"

Meryus launched into an enthusiastic account of Magnus. By the time X was desperately fighting off a yawn, the skeletal bard's hymn of praise to the hero of Magic Empire Magia finally came to an end.

"The more I hear, the stranger it gets. If his sense of duty toward his mission was that heavy, why did he become a Death Knight…?"

"…Time is the ultimate destroyer, the force that unmakes all things. Even a will of steel belonging to one who bears the fate of the world will eventually crumble. Perhaps he collapsed all the faster because he carried so much."

"What about the possibility that a necromancer infiltrated?"

"As you of later generations well know, the warriors here already take a form little different from the undead. When we built this facility, necromancers were the very first thing we guarded against. An opportunity to turn thousands of warriors and hundreds of knights into one's own limbs — how could we not be wary?"

"But undead have appeared. So that means…"

"It means they became undead of their own will. They chose to follow General Magnus's wishes…"

Meryus let out an unintelligible lament. From the side, it just looked like his jaw was clacking.

Regardless, a plan had taken shape. When Circe heard X's plan, she cut him off cold.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"There you go, opposing me from the start again."

"You actually think a crazy plan like that will work?!"

Circe's reaction was understandable.

"There's nothing else that can turn this situation around. And the only person I can trust here is you, Circe."

"So you're just going to dump everything on me and leave?!"

"Please. We have to get out of here alive first. Besides, how bad could the problems really be? Right?"

"It was almost fine until you said that last part…"

Circe heaved a long, heavy sigh.

"You're certain that 'thing' you mentioned is inside the fortress?"

And so X explained the plan to Circe and gathered every item they would need. All that remained was to pray it would work.

Time passed, and X arrived at the outer wall of the fortress. Cloaked in demonic power at full strength, he was able to move about freely even through the ironclad security.

The core of the plan was simple. Infiltrate the fortress. Gather information, or carry out sabotage. Somehow obtain that thing capable of bringing down an undead army.

If I get caught, it's over.

Standing before the outer wall, X channeled mana into Python's Leap, the ring he had borrowed from Circe. The Blink spell imbued in the ring activated, and his body dissolved into a trail of light.

He reappeared inside the fortress — the interior of the stronghold occupied by General Magnus.

Why is the atmosphere so gloomy…

He immediately hid himself and surveyed the surroundings. Ruined stone buildings stood everywhere throughout the fortress. Walls that had gone without maintenance for thousands of years had slowly weathered away; they looked ready to collapse at the slightest touch. A castle sat at the center of those ruins, and from its heart a spire rose with the grandeur to pierce the sky.

And red-eyed skeletons filled every direction.

I'll have to go a bit farther to reach the castle.

Avoiding the skeletons near the outer wall, he carefully made his way toward the inner defenses. Being the outer perimeter, the skeletons' quality wasn't particularly high.

The inner wall's security is tighter, as expected.

Elites had started appearing among the skeletons. They weren't wandering around haphazardly like the ones on the outer wall. They patrolled in groups, like well-trained soldiers. The thought that getting caught even once would mean the end came immediately.

Well, I managed to get in somehow…

Using Blink, he slipped inside the inner wall. Now all that was visible ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were the enormous castle and the training facilities. As he looked around the castle grounds, he noticed something unusual.

Namely, that there was no trace of people at all.

He had been told these were souls who had entered this place to hone the arts of war, to prevent the world's destruction that later generations would face. Even if they had become walking golems of bone, it didn't make sense that there was no sign of anyone living here.

First, the terrain and the patrol routes.

He moved to a spire that offered a decent view of the surroundings. Outside the castle, skeleton soldiers were everywhere — training, patrolling, standing watch. Officers with flags were visible here and there as well. He couldn't easily find a hundred-man commander. He might have to go inside the castle to see one.

A way into the castle… that window should work.

He spotted a window belonging to a room connected to the highest spire. He Blinked onto the wall beside it and peered inside.

The interior looked like a study used by someone of high rank. A desk cluttered with books and papers sat in the center of the room, and bookshelves that rivaled a library lined the walls. Anyone could tell the place reeked ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of musty paper.

General Magnus's room…?

As commander of the fortress garrison, having a study wasn't strange. What was a bit odd was that there were more papers and books than swords, spears, or other weapons. No one was inside. The window was firmly locked.

Since he could see the interior anyway, Blink would get him through this much. Without hesitation, he Blinked into the study.

Ugh… the smell is awful…

The mildew of decaying books filled the air. The source was the ancient tomes displayed on the shelves. Every book in the study was old and tattered. A few in decent condition were visible, but they were a tiny minority. It drove home once again that the flow of time inside the dungeon was different from the outside.

The paper and ink are in terrible shape, too.

Getting information from the books was impossible. Hundreds of rotting volumes were nothing but garbage. The papers on the desk, at least, were in relatively decent condition.

A journal?

Perhaps preservation magic had been used. The ink looked as if it had been written only moments ago, not yet fully dry. The earlier entries also appeared to have been written fairly recently.

X read the contents of the journal.

"…Twelve thousand years ago?"

For a moment, he read a word so distant it defied comprehension. X continued reading.

The journal was filled with General Magnus's regrets. Every time a span of years was mentioned, it was staggering — hard to believe.

Just how long has he been here.

The flow of time here was different from the outside. Twenty-four hours in this place equaled one hour in the world beyond. X didn't know when the Magic Empire Meryus spoke of had been founded, but if it was so ancient it couldn't even be found in the histories, then this place was equally ancient.

A span of ten thousand years had been mentioned. It might have been even longer than that. There was no way a human mind could endure that long.

The moment he thought that, Meryus came to mind.

Meryus might not be sane either…!

If that were the case, the plan and everything else was finished. If Meryus suddenly turned and attacked Circe, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she wouldn't have a proper means of fighting back. Even if she held command of the soldiers, that couldn't be trusted. Meryus was a mage who had lived for over ten thousand years, after all.

I have to get back…!

X immediately looked out the window, about to activate Blink. If he fled at full power, even at the risk of being discovered, it wasn't impossible. Security would be tightened, but Circe's safety came first.

The moment he thought that—

Thud!!

"Guh…!"

Something hard struck the back of X's neck with perfect accuracy. His consciousness receded in an instant from the surprise attack.

What…

The last thing that entered his eyes was a skeleton holding a sword. One radiating an extraordinary aura, at that…

Death Knight.

The commander of the fortress. General Magnus.