Chapter 39
Chapter 39 - SECOND TRY
Early morning.
On a hill overlooking a plain of snow and ice.
Below, the undead legion swarms in plain sight.
Hidden, I spoke to the other three.
"Well... let me explain the plan once more. Everyone roughly knows it, right?"
The Border Duke, Leila, and Seolbaek nodded cautiously.
"......"
"......"
The party's atmosphere couldn't be called good, even as an understatement. Particularly between Seolbaek and Leila, there seemed to be an invisible wall.
"......"
"......"
The two were treating each other as if they were invisible.
Though I could feel the awkward tension, I couldn't bring myself to tell them to reconcile. Even I don't want to make up with Leila, so who am I to judge?
Sighing, I first addressed the Border Duke.
"Margrave, just focus on breaking through the path ahead. After reaching the Eldritch, return the same way and escape. Don't worry about me."
"... Sir Jeong-yong. I can't do that. I should stay with you until the end–"
The Border Duke hesitated.
I knew he'd say that. I cut him off before he could finish.
"Lord Margrave, you have the important duty of protecting these two women in case the plan fails. Isn't protecting ladies part of chivalry? Do that. Just cut ties with me."
"But..."
"No buts. These women's lives are in your hands. Understood?"
"... Alright. I'll do as you say."
The Border Duke reluctantly nodded. Just as expected. Works like a charm, just like in my previous life.
Looking at the other two, I couldn't help but sigh.
Their dissatisfied expressions suggested this would take longer than with Lord Margrave.
I first asked Leila.
"Why do you look so gloomy again?"
"I've been like this from the start."
"......"
Right. She's been full of complaints from the beginning.
Well, though she grumbles, following Gwyn's recommendation and her master the Lord Margrave's orders, she probably won't neglect her duties. I have to believe that.
"You wait here and draw the undead's attention when we enter. Just do your thing with the iron ball."
"I know without you telling me."
Such attitude. I turned from her to look at Seolbaek.
"Why the expression?"
"Well... I feel like... I'm not doing enough. Like I'm just a burden..."
Seolbaek spoke with a dejected expression.
I widened my eyes and grabbed her shoulders.
"What are you talking about? You have such an important role!"
"How is keeping watch from the rear important?"
"You're not just watching - your spirit dragon is helping me pull my weight."
At those words, Seolbaek fell silent.
That's right. Seolbaek is an auxiliary spirit artisan... in simple terms, a buffer. Her spirit dragon can enhance various physical abilities when attached to others.
We plan to make full use of that in this fight. She's definitely not dead weight.
Plus, Seolbaek has another crucial role.
"Look at all those undead. Think we can break through without injuries?"
I pointed down the hill.
Hundreds, no, thousands of various undead writhed below, each engaged in maddened behavior.
―Kieeeee!
―Kaaaark!!
Some groups fought and devoured each other, while others meaninglessly screamed at the sky. Just watching seemed enough to drive one insane.
Seolbaek watched briefly before turning away with a shudder. I timed my words accordingly.
"If we fail and need to retreat, injuries will slow us down considerably. You'll need to heal immediately with your spirit dragon. Understood?"
"... Yes. I understand. Trust in me."
Seolbaek finally brightened up with pride and nodded.
She's secretly ambitious despite her appearance.
Anyway, I first reached out to Seolbaek.
"Let's begin then. Attach the spirit dragon."
"Yes."
Seolbaek nodded and immediately summoned her spirit dragon.
After she whispered something, the spirit dragon slightly nodded and flew over to merge with my body. A cool sensation different from ether wrapped around me.
'Wow damn. Is this what they mean by tiger strength surging?'
It's relatable to that cereal commercial's tagline. That's how strongly I could feel the power flowing through my veins.
While waiting for the right timing to move out after mental preparation, Leila suddenly asked from behind.
"I have a question."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Why did you specifically choose this time?"
"Ah. That's..."
I reflexively started to answer but couldn't help smirking at the irony.
Last time it was Lord Margrave, this time it's Leila asking. It really hit home how our numbers had grown.
I grinned and muttered.
"For insurance renewal."
[Immortal's checkpoint has been renewed.]
[Time - Mittelland Kingdom Calendar/Year 547, December 21st, 7 AM]
[Location - Northern frontier of Halcenberg territory, Snow Plains]
[Notice - The Immortal Demon King is near hatching.]
[Notice - Checkpoint will be renewed every 12 hours until the Immortal Demon King fully revives.]
The time had come.
I immediately began final preparations.
"Really hope this is the last time I'll see this…"
I rummaged through my backpack with familiar movements and took out the box of the dead. I quickly renewed the death insurance(?).
'Preparations are complete.'
Now all that's left is to charge. I immediately drank ether.
From the previous failure, I desperately felt the need for attack power. So I removed one each of wind and earth ether, and had charged fire ether as well.
'This time with full doping!'
I inhaled three types of ether simultaneously.
After savoring the light sensation swirling around my body, I immediately signaled to Lord Margrave .
"Let's go, Lord Margrave !"
"Understood!"
We stood up simultaneously.
And without anyone taking the lead, we kicked off hard from the edge of the hill.
"Let's gooooo!"
"Haaaaaaap!"
Shouting battle cries and screaming, we free-fell vertically to the plain below and landed on the ground with a bang.
Swoosh! We drew our swords.
Two wedges charged fiercely towards the numerous undead hordes.
"Haah!!"
Thud thud thud!
Suddenly, along with a battle cry, the sound of flesh tearing rang out. It wasn't from either Lord Margrave or me.
—Kueeaaak!
In an instant, some of the undead blocking our path were crushed where they stood. Lord Margrave and I stared at the scene before us in bewilderment.
Huge iron balls kept flying in, drawing the attention of the undead.
"Hurry and go!! I can't hold them off for long!!"
Leila started running in the opposite direction from us.
Every time her broom swung in all directions, flashing sword lights appeared. And without fail, the low-level undead were cut in half.
'Good. She's definitely earning her keep!!'
I was worried because she was an uncooperative woman, but it seems those concerns were unfounded. Many low-level undead had their attention drawn to Leila, making our movement much freer.
As someone who had directly experienced the previous iteration, the difference felt even more enormous to me.
"Now's the time! Let's charge, Lord Margrave!!"
"Of course!!"
Slash, crack, crunch!
Like a single wedge, we dug into the center of the formation. The sound of flesh tearing continuously announced our advance.
The characteristic swarm of undead around us made wood-scraping sounds as they rushed at us.
—Kueeaaak!
—Kiaaak!
The undead's reactions were the same in both the previous life and this one.
Rather than being thrown into chaos by our surprise attack, they uniformly rushed at us, trying to bite into our flesh.
"Hmm! Indeed, what enormous numbers!"
Lord Margrave, who was cutting down undead like lightning while advancing, suddenly shouted. I too was continuously cutting down undead and could feel it.
'Damn... have we slowed down again?!'
We had definitely advanced much further than before.
However, the undead filling our path were becoming increasingly dense, and our advance speed was decreasing exponentially.
The Death Bishop that had stopped us in the previous life hadn't even appeared yet. It's troublesome to be stalling already!
As I was biting my lip anxiously at that moment.
"Get down, Sir Jeong-Yong!"
Suddenly Lord Margrave cut down five ghouls charging from the front simultaneously, then immediately put away his sword and drew out the staff hanging at his waist.
The bright red jewel attached to the front of the staff started flickering with blue lightning.
'That's...!'
Blue lightning coloring the field of vision. And the ominously glowing bright red jewel.
I noticed what Lord Margrave was trying to do.
"Lotus Relampago!"
Crackle!
With a flash of light that seemed almost blinding, thick lightning bolts spread out in dozens of branches.
The lightning began to sear everything wildly, burning the air and undead. Screams and the sound of flesh bursting rang out everywhere.
It was a flower garden bloomed from lightning.
Beautiful, but looking at the destruction it left behind sends chills down your spine.
'Damn, I can't believe it even seeing it the second time....'
The ultimate magic that was on a completely different level from all the magic Lord Margrave had used until now.
I stuck out my tongue while looking around at the scorched surroundings.
"As expected of Lord Margrave! I believed in the General!!"
I gave Lord Margrave a thumbs up.
Lord Margrave smiled painfully while putting the staff back at his waist.
"Whew. Ancient magic is indeed not to be taken lightly."
I suddenly came to my senses at Lord Margrave's words.
Come to think of it. In the previous life, Lord Margrave had collapsed from exhaustion after using that magic.
'Could it be, this time too...?!'
I immediately examined Lord Margrave's condition carefully. And let out a sigh of relief.
Though his breathing was rough, Lord Margrave seemed like he could still hold on.
"Why are you standing there blankly? Let's hurry!"
"... Ah, yes!"
Rather, he was urging me to advance. No matter how I looked at him, he didn't appear to be about to collapse.
It had changed. That scenario I had experienced was broken!
'... Good. We'll break through like this!'
After clenching my fist tightly, I immediately followed behind Lord Margrave.
And shouted boldly.
"We still have far to go! Let's stay focused and move forward!"
"Understood!"
We advanced forward with unstoppable momentum like that.
Contrary to concerns, our charge gained more momentum as we went on. This was because we were building up know-how in cutting down the undead.
'Left here! Kill two ghouls and just take the hit from the next one!'
Finding exactly efficient routes and killing only the necessary ones. We advanced with a strategy of either trusting in armor or trusting in the defense power granted by earth ether for the rest.
It was an insane speed. It seemed like nothing could stop us.
—Living... flesh chunks... coming all the way... here....
At least until the zombie bishops in black robes holding skull staves appeared.
This is our second meeting.
I smiled fiercely while looking at them.