The Swamp's True Master
Raon scratched his neck as he watched zombies and skeletons crumple like autumn leaves before the swords of the Light Wind Squad.
Something's off.
The defining traits of undead monsters were powerful regeneration and pitiful defense. The lowest-tier undead—zombies and skeletons—were so frail they barely possessed anything that could be called a guard. Yet the bodies of the zombies here seemed harder than a martial artist's.
"Frika."
At Raon's call, Frika edged closer.
"W-what is it?"
Still rattled by the Light Wind Squad's savage aura, Frika approached with his shoulders trembling.
"The bodies of these zombies and skeletons seem a lot tougher than they should be. Do you know anything about that?"
"Uh…"
Frika's eyes flew wide, as if the question itself had startled him.
"Y-you're smashing them all in a single blow, so how would you even…"
He pointed a shaking chin at the Light Wind Squad, who were casually dismantling skeletons and zombies as if they were kindling.
"Because they're different."
If these had been ordinary zombies and skeletons, the aura pressure the Light Wind Squad was throwing off would have split their bodies apart on its own. The undead here had flesh several times harder than anything of their kind Raon had ever seen.
"The vice-squad leader is right."
Frika nodded as he looked over the zombies.
"Ever since the swamp's water level rose, the undead's bodies have gotten harder. There have even been a few times when an arrow through the head—their weak point—didn't put them down."
"And you still didn't go out on reconnaissance, even in a situation like that?"
"Of course Lady Wendy reported it to the family head. The order that came back was that there was no reason to be afraid of a few zombies, and if one shot didn't kill them, shoot twice."
"Twice…"
Raon let out a hollow laugh. Wigen was an even more broken human being than he had sensed yesterday.
"Why isn't the ranger captain doing anything?"
"Th-the person who hates going on patrol more than anyone is Lord Veinder."
"And yet he sits quite comfortably in the captain's seat."
"That's…"
Watching Frika trail off, Raon twisted the corner of his mouth.
Tsk.
Wrath wrinkled his nose in sheer disbelief.
A family planted in a swamp, and every last one of them reeking garbage. Fitting.
Yeah. Not even worth recycling.
There were plenty of hints pointing to the anomaly. The risen water level. The swelling numbers of monsters. The hardened flesh of the undead. Any one of those three should have sent someone charging out on reconnaissance immediately—but Wigen would have waved it off as a hassle, telling himself nothing would come of it anyway.
I can picture it perfectly.
Wendy pleading that they had to inspect the swamp, and the potbellied family head ignoring her to feast and revel with the rest of his officers.
This King sees it clearly as well.
Wrath clicked his tongue, a hand to his forehead.
The Demon Realm had the same sort of affair. The empty-headed fools commit the blunder, and the common folk swallow the damage whole.
He drew a finger across his throat, declaring the man not worth keeping alive.
Yeah. That's more urgent than the swamp.
Mission or no mission, for the sake of the people living in House Arian, Raon made up his mind to thoroughly dispose of Wigen and his officers.
"How long are you going to waste time cleaning up zombies?"
Raon put his weight into his left foot and stepped forward. Cutting through the fog that sat thick over the marsh, he raised the blade of his right hand. A violent storm roared along the arm that shot out like a thunderbolt.
KRAAAAAANG!
The swamp floor split deep enough to show the bottom, and the mud geysered upward in a reverse waterfall.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
When the mud hanging in the air crashed back to earth, not a single zombie or skeleton remained in sight.
Raon turned. Looking toward the faint outline of House Arian's castle, he let a blade-sharp gleam rise in his eyes.
"This should be interesting."
He was curious what excuses the pigs would invent to cling to their seats.
Frika, third squad leader of House Arian's rangers, clutched his temple as he ran at the head of the column through the marsh.
What am I supposed to do?
Yesterday, after he had escorted Raon and the Light Wind Squad to the Lord's Palace and was trying to rest, Veinder—captain of the rangers—had come looking for him.
Frika had never much liked the man, and he had been about to leave, claiming he was tired, when Veinder caught his shoulder.
"Frika. Isn't it about time you moved up?"
How long did he plan to stay stuck as a third squad leader, Veinder had asked, and was he not interested in the ranger captain's seat?
Frika's feet had stopped of their own accord. The ranger captain was one of the family's officers—a position that came with money, status, and honor. Everything.
"The work is simple compared to the reward. You just have to change the search route a little."
Veinder had smiled smoothly and unfolded a map. He had shown Frika a path that peeled off to the right instead of heading for the far end of the Swamp of Death—leading them somewhere else entirely.
"No need to worry. From this point on you'll only shift direction by a toe's width. They won't notice."
Even if Raon was a Master, Veinder had smiled, he wouldn't know the lay of a swamp he was visiting for the first time.
"Just go that far and come back, and within a year you'll be sitting in my seat."
When Frika had asked what they would do if something truly dangerous waited at the swamp's end, Veinder had said they could simply send the Yellow Battle Sword Squad to deal with it after the Light Wind Squad went home.
"We have to survive first. If the Light Wind Squad catches on, Zieghart catches on. It won't just be the officers who take the blame—the rangers will too."
The carrot, then the stick. Frika could not exactly call himself clean, so he had bitten his lip.
"I'll have a word with Wellis as well. I'll be waiting for you to make the wise choice."
With that, Veinder had left. Frika had known he ought to refuse, if only for Wendy, who had helped him so much—but the words would not come out.
"Hey. Squad leader."
While Frika was chewing his lip, still wrestling with it, Wellis drew up beside him. He spoke using the rangers' cipher.
"When are you going to do it?"
Wellis rolled his eyes nervously and flashed a hand signal: if they didn't turn from here, they wouldn't be able to take the long way around.
"Haa…"
Frika closed his eyes and recalled the conversation he had had with Wendy at dawn.
"I'm counting on you tomorrow. If we miss this chance, this family will never escape the swamp."
Unlike Veinder, she had offered neither carrot nor stick. She had simply asked him, person to person.
Wendy Ariane…
The biggest fool he knew.
Wendy was a woman who could have lived more comfortably than anyone, and had instead lived more harshly than anyone. When the other young ladies clasped gem-studded bracelets, she strapped on sandbags. When they raised parasols, she raised a sword and ran beneath the blazing sun.
It had been the sincere plea of a martial artist who had staked everything on changing her family. Even without a carrot, it pulled at him. Even without a stick, it ached.
Damn that woman…
It was not affection, and it was not pity. The life he had watched Wendy live since they were children stood in the way of Veinder's offer.
"Squad leader!"
Wellis's shout snapped Frika back. He opened his eyes.
"If we pass this point, it'll be too late to change direction."
"Sorry, but…"
Frika looked straight ahead with unwavering eyes and smiled.
"We're going this way."
"What? What do you mean…"
"This is the last chance to change this family."
"Tch! You think being squad leader will keep you safe?"
Wellis glared, reminding him that Frika had put his own feet in the mud as well.
"Veinder told you to threaten me like that, didn't he?"
"That's…"
"It's fine. I have no intention of pretending I'm clean."
Frika nodded as he glanced back at Raon running behind them.
"I'll pay for what I've done too. I don't want to do anything that squeezes my heart anymore."
"Squad leader!"
He did not look back at Wellis's call. He only ran faster through the swamp.
A full day had passed since they entered the Swamp of Death.
Thanks to the Light Wind Squad tearing through hundreds of undead at a blistering pace, they were close enough that a little more ground would bring them to their destination—the far end of the swamp.
Raon watched Frika's back as the ranger ran with a heat in his spirit that was almost palpable, and a faint smile touched his mouth.
So this family isn't completely rotten after all.
He had known Frika was entertaining other thoughts. Wendy had asked him to trust the man, so Raon had waited without pressing—and Frika seemed to have settled the matter himself. There was no hesitation in his stride.
The ranger captain must have been the one pulling strings.
Frika and Wellis both belonged to the rangers, which meant the orders had come from their captain—the man named Veinder.
The route, most likely.
In a swamp this vast, even the slightest change of direction would keep them from ever reaching their destination. Veinder had clearly meant to lead them along the outskirts instead of the heart of the swamp, to make it look as though nothing was wrong here.
It wouldn't have worked anyway.
With the Ring of Fire and the Sense of Frost Flowers, fog and marsh of this degree meant nothing to Raon. If Frika had led them another way, he would have been on the list for disposal the moment they returned.
Raon glanced behind him.
No problems back there either.
The Light Wind Squad had been fighting and running all day, and not one of them showed a hint of fatigue. If anything, they seemed to be working off stress by smashing undead.
Yua and Julius are impressive too.
The two of them were pouring sweat, clenching their teeth to keep from falling behind their seniors. Admirable kids.
When we get back, I'll put together a special training regimen for them.
Th-that's not a reward, that's a punishment!
It is a reward. They'll grow faster.
That's what you think! The pineapple girl does not want that kind of reward!
Wrath ground his teeth, declaring he wanted to crack Raon's skull open and take a look inside.
Then I'll ask her later…
As Raon turned his gaze forward again, a fierce presence flared up ahead.
Goooooh.
Death energy of a completely different caliber from anything so far. This was no zombie or skeleton. A high-ranking undead, without question.
So something of this class was here, was it?
A laugh rose in his throat. The mere existence of that thing would be enough to wring House Arian's potbellied lord dry.
"Light Wind Squad."
Raon lifted a hand, a faint smile on his face.
"Enemies ahead. Clear them as fast as you can."
"Yes!"
The Light Wind Squad answered as one and shot past the rangers.
They had been running for about ten minutes when a corpse burst from behind a tree on the left—similar in shape to a zombie, but four times as fast. From the opposite side, a skeleton whose bones were a murky gray advanced with sword and shield.
"Uh…"
"A g-ghoul!"
"Skeleton warrior!"
Ghouls and skeleton warriors were stronger, tougher, and faster than zombies and ordinary skeletons. They even carried poison. Treat them like zombies and you would pay for it.
The Light Wind Squad kicked off the marsh even harder. Sword auras of every color bloomed from their blades and poured toward the ghouls and skeleton warriors.
KRAAAAAANG!
The surface of the swamp cracked like a spiderweb, and the charging ghouls and skeleton warriors were carved into dozens of pieces and sank.
"They're still coming!"
"Keep your heads on straight!"
As Burren and Marta charged the ghouls and skeleton warriors, a massive horse exploded out of the vines on the right.
KIIIIIIING!
Its body was pitch-black and twice the size of a normal horse. A giant in crimson armor sat astride it—except the head that should have been on its neck was tucked under its left arm, and in its right hand it held a great axe the size of a grown man's torso.
"Dullahan!"
Burren hauled his aura up to full power at the sight of it.
"I'll smash that head myself!"
Marta kicked off the marsh with savage force and shot to the front.
"Isn't that head heavy?"
Runaan raised her sword as she eyed the head the Dullahan was carrying.
The three squad leaders surged forward together and brought their blades down as one. Three streams of sword aura wove together like a constellation—and the Dullahan whirled the axe in its right hand.
JEOOOOOONG!
The death energy bursting from the axe perfectly blocked Burren, Marta, and Runaan's sword auras.
The Dullahan did not stop at defense. It swept the axe up from below, and pitch-black death energy shot for the three of their throats.
TEONG!
Runaan stepped in and unleashed the power of frost. Cold unfurled in a gentle wave, coiled around the death energy, and froze it solid.
"Hup!"
Burren burst out from behind Runaan and brought his sword down like a bolt of lightning. The cutting wind on the blade punched through the Dullahan's death energy and split its armor.
KRRRRRK!
Crimson light blazed from the head in the Dullahan's left hand. It drove its horse forward as if to crush Burren flat.
Death-wreathed hooves were about to smash Burren when Marta charged in from the right. She poured every ounce of her Titan Aura into the sword gripped in both hands and drove it down.
The Dullahan yanked the axe haft up to meet Marta's strike.
KUWAAAAANG!
Power crashed against power. A violent explosion tore through the heart of the swamp, and the Dullahan and the three squad leaders were all thrown back.
Raon clicked his tongue at the hairline fractures running through the Dullahan's armor, a piece of which had already fallen away.
That settles it.
The undead here were thick with death energy. The zombies and skeletons had been too frail to judge clearly, but the Dullahan made it certain. A Dullahan was supposed to have exceptional stamina and defense among the undead—but taking only that much damage from Burren, Runaan, and Marta made no sense. These undead were wrapped in far more death energy than ordinary ones.
"This thing's too damn hard!"
"It's got no head, so there's nowhere decent to hit!"
Burren and Marta bit their lips as they fell back from the Dullahan.
"The horse's head first."
Runaan stared down the steed the Dullahan was riding and let frost billow off her.
The Dullahan's armor was crushed, bone and flesh peeling away in places—and still it poured out death energy even thicker than before.
"Why are there so many of these things!"
"You said there was nothing here!"
"Shut up and just kill them!"
With the squad leaders pinned by the Dullahan, the rest of the Light Wind Squad could not push forward either, swamped by the numbers of incoming ghouls and skeleton warriors.
While Raon quietly watched the battlefield, Mark Goetten approached.
"Vice-squad leader. I will join them as well."
"No."
Raon shook his head as Mark reached for his sword.
"They can handle this."
The undead here were strong, that much was true—but they were nowhere near a level the current Light Wind Squad could not take down.
"Light Wind Squad."
Raon drew a short breath and laced aura into his voice.
"Did I train you too gently?"
At that icy tone, the hands of every fighting member of the Light Wind Squad flinched at once.
"I told you to clear them quickly, and there are still this many left. I'll have to prepare a new training regimen."
The instant the words left his mouth, a dense madness began to bloom over the Light Wind Squad's shoulders.
"N-no! Anything but that!"
Dorian screamed and thrust his sword, and the wall of skeleton warriors in front of him collapsed in a heap.
"Ch-charge!"
"UAAAAAAAAH!"
"Wipe them all out!"
The Light Wind Squad's eyes caught fire as they began to tear the ghouls and skeleton warriors apart. Watching undead melt under a single stroke from each swordsman, it looked less like they were fighting ghouls and more like they were cutting down ordinary zombies.
"DIE ALREADY!"
A mighty yellow aura blazed along Marta's blade and sheared the Dullahan's shoulder clean off.
"I am not doing any new training!"
Burren sniffled and stabbed through the torso of the Dullahan's horse. A small storm bloomed from the blade and ripped the black steed's body apart.
"I just want to sleep."
Runaan extended Snow Flower in a long, flowing arc. From the silver blade, petals of an even deeper silver unfurled and wound around the Dullahan's torso.
Shards of frost similar to Flower Spirit, yet of a different grain, froze the off-balance Dullahan's body solid.
JEOJEOJEOONG!
Burren, Runaan, and Marta charged as one and smashed the frozen Dullahan to pieces without mercy.
The three squad leaders and the Light Wind Squad shredded every last undead, then turned around.
"Hahk!"
"Th-they took down ghouls and skeleton warriors that easily…"
"The Dullahan's in pieces!"
"I knew they were strong, but this…"
The rangers swallowed dryly as they watched the Light Wind Squad casually crush undead wreathed in fierce death energy.
Raon gave the Light Wind Squad a leisurely nod.
"See? You can do it. Why were you dragging your feet?"
At that, the madness in the Light Wind Squad's eyes burned even hotter.
"Nngh…"
"That bastard!"
"He just stands there…"
"Being weak is a crime. A crime."
They could not even argue. They only stood there, fists trembling.
"Frika."
Raon gestured to Frika, who was standing beside him with his mouth hanging open.
"We're almost at the end. Let's move quickly."
"Y-yes, sir."
The rangers took the lead again and guided Raon and the Light Wind Squad onward. The fog grew thicker and thicker, but no more monsters appeared.
After the Dullahan, they did not meet so much as a single zombie. The three pillars said to stand at the end of the swamp began to show faintly through the mist.
"Was the Dullahan the last of it?"
"Looks like it."
"Glad it ended easy."
Everyone was letting the tension go, about to smile—when Raon raised a hand.
"Halt."
At his order, the Light Wind Squad and the rangers stopped in their tracks.
"Raon?"
"What's going on?"
Raon pointed beneath the pillars and smiled.
"The master of the swamp is coming up."
The words had barely left his mouth when the marsh beneath the pillars began to bubble and boil. The yellow-green mud blackened, and stark white bones slowly rose to the surface.
GOOOOOOH!
The skeleton was clad head to toe in dark-red armor, and from its hollow eye sockets it vomited searing crimson flame.
KUGUGUGUGU!
An aura pressure of a completely different dimension from any undead they had seen so far. Not only the rangers but the Light Wind Squad itself held its breath.
"Hahk!"
"A D-Death Knight?"
"Why is something like that here…"
Under the Death Knight's vicious death energy, the rangers' jaws trembled as they stumbled backward.
The Death Knight—the knight of death—fixed the Light Wind Squad with flame-wreathed eyes that held a spark of intellect.
"Kh…"
"So this is a Death Knight?"
"We really do see everything…"
Led by the three squad leaders, the Light Wind Squad raised their level of power to push back against the Death Knight's aura.
Raon looked from the Death Knight to the Light Wind Squad, and the corner of his mouth curled up.
At that icy voice, the Light Wind Squad's shoulders shook harder than they had at the sight of the Death Knight itself.
Is that really the line you want to use here…