Chapter 128
Chapter 128
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: 38. Necromantic War
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Death Land, huh.”
Terajik fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“It’s a fitting name for that place. Countless lives met their end there over hundreds of years without respite. Death’s influence has already grown stronger than my own there.”
“No, I know that already... The Psyche Dimension caused an earthquake in Death Land? So what’s the problem?”
In other words, why do I have to get stronger because of that?
“A sanctuary of Quincy, the god of darkness and death, exists there.”
“And?”
“Death Land is sustained by Quincy’s power. But the earthquake caused something there to go awry.”
“Go awry? What happens then?”
“Death, freed from control, is overflowing. I sensed it from the cracks in the earth. Hundreds of thousands of deaths are heading west, seeking the living.”
“......Hundreds of thousands?”
Oh man, my head.
A sudden headache made my head feel like it would split open. I squeezed my eyes shut and pondered for a moment before asking back.
“So in the end, the necromantic army is stirring again and heading for the Elstone Earldom? Hundreds of thousands of them?”
“I don’t know the exact name. But Claude, what you’re thinking is probably right.”
Of course it would be.
It was so absurd I couldn’t even speak.
A necromantic army now, of all times!
I’d definitely smashed the Necromancer Lord and even his base, the Necropolis, right at the start of my regression...
“......Teus?”
“Yes, Claude. Hearing your voice, it seems something’s gone wrong.”
“It’s a big problem. We need to change destinations.”
“Not the mansion, somewhere else?”
“Further east from there. The Elstone Earldom is in danger.”
If the earldom falls, it’s a straight flat shot all the way to Emperor Road, the imperial capital.
No, there’s a small forest in between—Lunenberg Forest.
Our home.
I pressed my throbbing temples with both hands and ordered Teus.
“Fly as fast as you can. I’ll supply as much mana as you need.”
“Leave it to me.”
Teus gave a curt reply and picked up speed. I bit my lip, recalling the pale face of Crock, the Necromancer Lord I’d personally eliminated.
Hundreds of thousands of the necromantic army.
Is that even possible?
Can that many move without the Necromancer Lord’s command or influence?
And where did hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers even come from in the first place? Is Death Land some corpse farm?
* * *
“......Here.”
The house-sized white wolf settled on the hilltop and spoke.
“This is where the most corpses are massing. How far can you throw the spear?”
“About 300 meters....... I can reach that pile of rocks down there.”
The one answering was Linen, clad in thick mid-grade magic armor.
“Whew......”
Linen took a deep breath and leaped down from Regal’s back. Varis, who’d been riding behind, tossed him a spear and shouted.
“Do your best, Sir Linen! With your power, we’ll annihilate this army of death that defies the five gods’ providence!”
“I-I’ll do my best.”
Linen caught the spear and steadied his breathing. Regal narrowed his eyes, watching the necromantic army approaching from afar.
“No need to tense up. You’re safe. If unhandled corpses get close, climb back on my back right away. I’ll get you out to safety and let you throw again.”
“I almost died to those guys before....... Back then, Prince Highness wiped out the whole army with one Turn Undead.”
Whining about absent help now was pointless. Varis cast the divine magic Strength to boost Linen’s muscles and smiled.
“This time, Sir Linen, you’ll do great.”
“Y-Yeah, I guess?”
“No need to feel burdened. Everyone else here is incredibly strong too, so just focus on your role and we’ll win.”
“They’d better all do well.”
Regal growled lowly in warning.
“The enemy’s scale is different from what Claude described back then. Ten times—no, twenty times more.”
“T-That much?”
“My sense of smell is going numb. The stench keeps coming endlessly. To think I once hid in these corpses to mask my scent. Ridiculous.”
Regal let out a hollow bark of laughter. At the same time, a massive wave crested over the distant ridgeline.
“Ugh......”
Startled, Linen clutched the spear to his chest.
The necromantic army.
An army of the dead made of skeletons and zombies. Varis, equally shocked, began tracing the five gods’ holy symbol on his chest.
“O Uren, god of earth and life......”
“Gods above, I’ve never seen so many troops. Even after Sir Tolari swept them once?”
“What you see isn’t all of it. More corpses are massing behind.”
“Eek......”
“Get a grip.”
Regal turned his head and nipped Linen’s shoulder lightly.
“Ow!”
“Focus. Throw the spear when I signal.”
“Yes, got it!”
Linen straightened his posture and began infusing light into the spearhead. Meanwhile, Regal, eyes fixed ahead, signaled the moment the vanguard crested the midway rock pile.
“Now. Throw at that rock pile I mentioned.”
“Spear throw!”
Linen hurled the spear with dynamic form.
Whoosh!
As the spear arced through the air, Priest Varis tossed another and shouted.
“Sir Linen! Next spear!”
“Thank you!”
Linen caught it and turned it into a Holy Lance again. Regal tilted his head sideways and said.
“Throw again. In the direction I’m facing.”
“30 degrees left....... Spear throw!”
The moment he threw the new spear, the first one exploded in the air over the target.
A blinding explosion of light.
Shards of light scattered, engulfing hundreds of undead.
Skeleton soldiers caught in the shards thrashed their joints wildly like dancers before crumbling to dust in an instant.
Zombies with flesh left met a more gruesome end.
Struck by shards, they spewed yellowish fluid from their bodies, then mummified and collapsed, billowing white smoke from every pore.
“One more. Opposite side this time.”
Regal ignored it and tilted his head the other way. Linen hurled the third prepared Holy Lance in the new direction.
Flash!
Then the second Holy Lance exploded, followed shortly by the third.
Intense flashes sequentially blanketed the battlefield. Regal sniffed, nodded in satisfaction, and smirked.
“Good. A ton of the stench is gone. Must’ve wiped out over 500 for sure.”
“Success, Sir Linen! Holy Lance is the perfect counter to the necromantic army! Look at that empty battlefield! Wow!”
Varis cheered with wild gestures and shouts. Linen sighed in relief at the cleanly swept enemy lines.
“Phew....... This is all thanks to you, Sir Regal.”
“Don’t be modest. I didn’t do anything.”
“Didn’t you carry me and find the optimal throw spots? You even measured distances and timed the throws. Plus, I’m wearing this heavy magic armor......”
What Linen wore was ultra-heavy magic armor prioritizing durability over mobility. Only then did Regal seem unbothered by the flattery, gazing at the sky as he muttered.
“I can’t fly the skies like that bird boy. So this is the least I can do.”
“Sir Linen, you were amazing too. Throwing a spear that far.”
This time Varis praised Linen with a grin.
“Effort never betrays, huh? How much grueling training have you done, Sir Linen?”
“Heh heh......”
Linen scratched the back of his head and shook his head with a beaming smile.
“No, it’s all thanks to the core Prince Highness gave me. And the divine magic you cast, Priest.”
“You’re too humble. Sorry for holding you back, though. I can’t send a Light Shield that far or fast with my power.”
Combining Holy Lance with Shield of Light would scatter even more shards over a wider area. Linen hurriedly shook his head at the priest.
“No, we’re just thinning numbers fast right now. Soon enough, we’ll combine forces, right?”
“Of course. When that time comes, I’ll support you with everything I’ve got, Sir Linen.”
“We’ve practiced together a lot, haven’t we? Combining powers will definitely yield better results......”
“Hold on.”
Regal suddenly narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.
“Something’s off.”
“Yes? What’s wrong?”
That was when it happened.
Bursting through the freshly approaching enemy lines from afar, something enormous charged at the front.
“That’s......”
“The flesh monster the lady mage mentioned.”
A being leagues above regular undead—a monster the size of an ogre, stitched from assorted corpses.
Tolari had relayed intel on the enemy’s scale and composition during recon. Regal lowered his body as if to let them remount and said.
“Looks like it survived the Tempest and made it here.”
“Really? That insane magic from Sir Tolari......”
“It runs well even after being hacked to bits. Waste to spear just one. Let’s relocate.”
“Yes!”
“No, wait.”
Regal suddenly raised his lowered body and shook his head.
“An enormous corpse pile is right behind it. This is the optimal spot. So I’ll handle that flesh monster.”
By then, the flesh monster had rapidly climbed the ridgeline, closing to within 100 meters.
“It’s ridiculously huge....... So fat yet incredibly agile. Isn’t it dangerous?”
“If this counts as dangerous, I should ditch my magic beast title.”
Regal snorted and addressed Varis still on his back.
“So Priest, dismount for now. I’ll crush that corpse quick and come back......”
It was right then.
From the right, without any warning—truly out of nowhere—a knight in white armor charged the flesh monster.
So fast it left a white trail along his path.
“Captain!”
The moment Linen recognized the knight and shouted.
Slash!
Dabi severed the monster’s head in one stroke, then spun around and yelled.
“I’ll take the flesh monster! Sir Regal, stick to the plan—carry Linen and the priest around to find optimal intercept spots!”
“Bark! Be careful!”
With Regal’s warning, the headless flesh monster swung its axe at Dabi’s nape.
Whoosh!
Of course, it missed.
Dabi effortlessly dodged the invisible strike, then spun and cleaved off its right arm from the shoulder.
Splurt!
Despite the complexly interwoven sturdy bones inside, it meant nothing before a Knight Master’s blade.
But the thing wasn’t ordinary either.
Even headless, it accurately swung its remaining arm at Dabi’s torso.
Slash!
Dabi severed that too, then lunged in a counter-motion, stabbing repeatedly into its chest.
‘Gotta burst its heart to stop it?’
But no effect.
The grotesque thing, now headless and armless, hurled its entire body at Dabi.
“Tch.”
Boom!
As Dabi pulled back, it slammed face-first into the ground, shaking the surroundings with its immense weight.
‘Killing this with a sword will drain stamina.’
Only option left: smash it entirely. As Dabi resolved to unleash Storm Sword.
Swoosh!
An arrow-shaped wind spell flew in from the right.
The arrow’s target wasn’t the flesh monster’s body. It precisely pierced the center of the monster’s forehead, already severed and rolling on the ground.
Thud!
The unrelated body immediately went limp.
“What?”
Turning, there stood a long-eared elf boy deploying wind magic.
“Lanir!”
Dabi rushed to Lanir and shouted.
“What did you just do? How’d you drop it in one shot?”
“Elves can faintly see flows.”
“Flows?”
“Yeah. Like mana flows, I guess.”
Lanir pointed at the flesh monster’s remains.
“I’m still young, so I can only vaguely see really strong flows. That big guy had one too.”
“So?”
“All the flows converged inside its forehead. Even after being cut off. So I aimed there, just in case.”
“No way, even so......”
Dabi glanced back, gauging the distance to the flesh monster.
“You hit that one spot precisely from this far?”
“Real arrows would be tough, but this is magic.”
Lanir casually formed another wind arrow as if it were nothing. Dabi recalled Tolari’s words and clicked his tongue in amazement.
-That elf. His mana’s not insanely huge or anything. But his control is insane.
“Indeed...... No wonder he came boasting on purpose.”