Just Like That Time
“Fallen undead lich?”
A lich must be some kind of mage skeleton.
But Camilla reacted to the message first.
“Master! It's the Life Vessel! Smash that, and the lich is done for!”
“Life Vessel?”
“Yes! They store their souls separately, so Dolores said you have to destroy the Life Vessel!”
So those skeleton mages are called liches.
From what Camilla was saying, you couldn't kill a lich until you smashed its Life Vessel.
Even if you shattered the skeleton and burned it, it'd regenerate after some time?
'There weren't any like this back in my hunter days... Doesn't matter, though.'
This was a type I hadn't encountered as a hunter.
But that didn't matter.
Hunters fought new monsters with their lives on the line.
If you knew the strategy, there was no reason not to fight.
If it was new, you just killed it like it was new.
“By the way, who's Dolores? Is the info source reliable?”
I wasn't doubting Camilla, but I needed to confirm the source.
Her answer was unexpected.
“Dolores is a black mage too! Not one of those skeleton bastards, though.”
“A black mage? How do you know her? Is she... trustworthy?”
“Hmm, she's fine when she's in her right mind! She claims she's not a black mage, but everything she does screams black magic...”
Camilla's explanation dragged on, but the conclusion seemed pretty reliable.
I didn't know her exact skill level, but she was at least a 4th-class mage.
I sorted my thoughts.
One slip-up, and we'd be fish food.
That's when Lena, examining Magrid's Legacy, spotted a new feature.
“Theo-nim! It looks like we can freely access each floor using this facility's functions! There's a passage!”
“Is that right?”
A strategy formed quickly.
But did we really need to risk fighting?
'Should I just ride the black horse?'
Suddenly, I wondered if pretending to be crazy on the first floor and bolting on the black horse would work.
But I shook my head.
No way.
Riding a horse in low-ceilinged, winding terrain wasn't practical.
Dozens of undead would swarm it before we built up speed.
Plus, any delay, and the higher undead—not to mention this lich—would come up after us.
'In the end, I have to take them down to use this facility properly.'
Running wouldn't solve anything.
Great that we'd claimed Magrid's Legacy, but I needed to clean these guys out completely.
Only then could I make full use of the ruins.
No other options.
And the next scene was enough to solidify that decision.
“Huh? Master! Look at that! Ugh... the skeleton's doing something weird!”
I couldn't ignore Camilla while planning strategy.
The scene projected on the wall was too gruesome to watch with eyes open.
“What the hell is that lich doing?”
I couldn't mince words.
The lich was torturing a holy knight.
And beside the lich, a special entity.
A massive eyeball blob, swinging tentacles around, obeying the lich's commands.
“That lich is definitely commanding the undead. Using a special entity too...”
The lich gave some order to the eyeball undead, then vanished.
Acidic solution dripped endlessly from the eyeball undead's tentacles, tormenting the holy knight.
The horrific scene unfolded vividly.
The holy knight couldn't even pass out, enduring the pain wide-eyed.
Amazing he hadn't died yet.
Lena spoke up.
“Death Knight... It looks like they're trying to make one.”
“Death Knight?”
“Yes, but... if a holy knight becomes a Death Knight, honestly, I can't predict how strong it'd be.”
An unprecedented situation.
Camilla's expression sank unusually calm.
Her eyes gleamed with a sharp edge.
But her next words weren't what I expected.
“A mere skull-bastard daring to hurt Master? I gotta kill it first... Ah! Before killing it, I should make it suffer! But how do you torture a skeleton? Should've asked Dolores... Why didn't I?”
Camilla didn't seem to care much about the holy knight.
But her anger was real.
She perceived the threat to the party differently.
She muttered rapidly to herself, biting her nails.
Her intensity was off the charts.
'To clear this place, I need to deal with the lich first. As soon as possible.'
Separate from Camilla, seeing the tortured holy knight made me anxious.
I felt indebted to him.
As I tried to confirm their positions for strategy, a message appeared.
Magrid's Combat Analysis System has been activated.
Hostile entities' positions are now marked on the map in real-time.
• Upper undead (5): Patrolling passages on Basement 1
• Special entity (eyeball): Basement 2, east laboratory
• Lich: Basement 3, central passage clearing area
• Life Vessel: Inside northwest stone chamber, Basement 3
The map was generated based on Camilla's sketch, with positions marked.
The system filled in the gaps.
Before the message finished, Camilla shot her hand up.
“Master! I'll go! I'll snag the Life Vessel!”
Camilla shouted confidently.
But it wouldn't be easy.
The third floor had the lich holding down the fort, plus skeleton miners working diligently.
Too many eyes to dodge.
Grabbing the Life Vessel wouldn't be simple.
“By yourself?”
“Yes! Shadow Leap is enough. I know the position now... And since it's gonna hurt Master like that, I'll...”
Camilla spouted something odd.
But the strategy itself wasn't bad.
“Then infiltrate and hold position. Lena and I will lure the lich. Grab the Life Vessel then.”
“That seems too dangerous... If I get caught by the lich, use that chance to escape! That'd be bet—”
“And you?”
“As long as Master isn't hurt, I'm fine! I've endured way worse! He-het!”
I stroked Camilla's head.
I got her feelings, but I had no intention of doing that.
No need.
“Camilla, I'd rather fight head-on than abandon you.”
Sacrificing Camilla? Better to use every flame explosion mine and Wrathfire Potion to collapse the ruins.
The place was filled with gas.
Plenty feasible.
Camilla started to say something after her slip, then shut her mouth.
Her face flushed in this critical moment.
“You'll do as I say, right?”
“Y-Yes! Don't worry! I won't get caught—I'll wait!”
“Good. Lena, let's go.”
Shuuuuk—
The passage door to the second and third floors opened.
Camilla melted into the third floor's darkness before it fully opened.
'Should we be more worried about ourselves than Camilla?'
The thought crossed my mind, but I cautiously stepped onto the second floor.
As the map showed, the entrance connected directly to the lab—fortunate.
“Theo-nim! Over there...”
Grrruk— grrrululuk—
“Kill me! Just kill me, you cursed things! Kaaaaah!”
The holy knight's screams echoed.
He was holding out in despair, but pain proved too much.
His condition was dire.
“Should we just put him out of his misery? One or two shots from the Sunogi would do it...”
Lena couldn't stand watching the torture.
A merciful death might be a blessing.
That's when I spotted the eyeball undead's mana circuit.
'The mana circuit... it's running backward?'
The mana flow was reversed.
First time seeing a mana circuit on an undead, and it was completely opposite to expectations.
The problem? The holy knight had one too, visible.
'His mana circuit... it's a mess.'
Far larger and thicker than the Aura Practitioner I'd faced before.
But the flow was unstable.
No, it was increasingly mimicking the special entity's mana circuit.
“Kuhk— Seres! Take back your blessing! Why leave me... Do I still have a mission? I... I...”
Praying even now.
But that desperate voice felt more like resentment than prayer.
Grief over lost comrades.
The pathos of the undead survivor.
Complex emotions mingled.
'Camilla kept going on about "human undead," and now I see why... His vitality is unmatched.'
Skin peeled, limbs partially melted.
Yet the holy knight lived.
Blessed vitality.
What would've been a boon in normal times now prevented death.
A blessing turned curse.
Tragic.
'Can't do it. Send the holy knight first... then take out the eyeball.'
A superior potion might save his life.
That body was that blessed.
Still, I raised the Sunogi.
Black cracks veined his blood vessels—undead transformation progressing.
The mana flow mimicking the special entity was ominous.
No hope here.
This wasn't something prosthetics like Camilla's could fix.
Undead conversion was underway.
I aimed at the holy knight's head.
Then.
He lifted his head.
“Who... are you.”
Our eyes met.
Eyelids too heavy to lift, eyes closed—yet it felt like eye contact.
I lowered the Sunogi and hid.
Grrruk? Grrrululuk—
The giant eyeball seemed oblivious to the holy knight's words.
Or dismissed them as deathbed ravings.
But the holy knight stared right at where Lena and I hid, eyes shut.
“A demon...?”
Maybe hallucinations before death.
But.
“Doesn't matter... Even if you're a demon, it doesn't matter. It's fine.”
Desperate voice from bloodied lips.
“My comrades... my knights... will be revived by those cursed things. Stop it... that alone... kuh!”
The holy knight writhed in pain yet worried for his fallen comrades first.
No strength to continue.
He vomited blood-mixed bile.
Forced the words out.
“I'll bear all the shame... please... kuh! Just... vengeance... if you grant that alone...”
Blood spewing, he screamed on.
“I'll offer my soul!”
That final plea.
It hit deep.
Then, an utterly unexpected message appeared.
Maybe the holy knight's wish reached the system.
Just like when I first met Lena.
Just like when I met Camilla.
Would you like to register as a minion?