Chapter 223

It was a peaceful place, almost laughably so.

Faces free of worry and anxiety, leisurely footsteps, cheerful and lively everyday conversations, young couples exchanging shy glances.

It was a place brimming with the fresh energy of youth.

For these students, this place was a sanctuary, a paradise.

The thought of defiling such a place filled Mesker with an unbearable excitement.

– You seem to be in a good mood.

“Yes, I am in a very good mood,” Mesker replied to the fairy, a wide grin spreading across his face. He scanned his surroundings, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

– What are you doing?

“Choosing my first prey, of course.”

– Oh, is it finally starting?

The fairy’s eyes sparkled with excitement. Seeing her anticipation, Mesker knew he couldn’t keep her waiting for long.

His gaze settled on a particular spot.

The clock tower.

Young men and women were gathered around it, chatting and laughing. It seemed to be a popular meeting place.

The sight of their carefree happiness made Mesker want to shatter it even more.

“Yes, let’s go.”

With a wicked smile, Mesker started walking towards the clock tower.

As he walked, he thought about his options.

Who should he choose?

Ah, those two would do nicely.

A young couple in school uniforms, whispering sweet nothings to each other.

One happy couple in the world was enough.

The rest deserved to suffer, to weep and wail in agony.

Yes, that’s how it should be.

Thud!

Mesker deliberately bumped into them, hard.

“Eek!”

The girl shrieked as her coffee spilled, staining her uniform with a dark brown blotch.

A perfect blemish.

Mesker hated things that were clean and pure.

They deserved to be defiled.

“What the hell, man?” the boy snarled, his face contorting in anger. He was well-built, with a physique that suggested regular physical training. He probably thought he was strong enough to protect his girlfriend.

Mesker couldn’t resist the urge to laugh. The thought of crushing this boy’s confidence, of shattering his illusions of strength, filled him with a perverse joy.

“Ahahaha.”

“Are you serious? You bump into us and then you laugh?”

The boy’s anger escalated.

“H-He’s crazy. Let’s just go,” the girl whispered, tugging at her boyfriend’s arm, fear evident in her eyes.

But she didn’t understand one crucial thing about men.

They couldn’t stand to appear weak in front of the women they cared about.

“No, we need to get an apology,” the boy said, his voice firm.

“You better apologize right now.”

A final warning.

The last line he would tolerate.

Any man would know.

What would happen next.

But Mesker just smiled, a twisted, mocking expression on his face.

“Congratulations,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“What?”

The boy thought it was a deliberate taunt, a way to provoke him even further.

Congratulations instead of an apology.

It was certainly a strange thing to say.

The boy clenched his fists, his anger boiling over.

He shoved Mesker hard, sending him stumbling backwards.

But even as he stumbled, Mesker was smiling.

“W-Wait!” the girl cried, but the boy ignored her and shouted,

“Are you deaf? I said apologize…”

“Congratulations,” Mesker interrupted, his voice cold and menacing. “On being the first to die.”

He snapped his fingers.

And in that instant,

A skeleton materialized out of thin air, its bony hand clutching a rusty sword. It lunged at the boy, slashing at his thigh before he could even react.

Slice!

The blade tore through flesh and muscle, leaving a deep, gaping wound.

The air, which had been filled with the sounds of laughter and chatter just moments ago, was now thick with the metallic scent of blood.

The boy screamed in agony as pain shot through his leg.

“Aaaaaargh!”

He collapsed to the ground, his leg buckling beneath him.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The girl’s scream shattered the frozen silence, as if awakening the students from a trance.

“What the…?”

“What’s going on?”

“An undead?!”

“R-Run!”

Panic erupted as the students realized what was happening. They screamed and scattered, their faces contorting in terror.

But their bodies were frozen in place, their minds unable to process the unimaginable scene unfolding before their eyes.

Clatter.

The skeleton, oblivious to the chaos it had unleashed, advanced on the fallen boy, its bony hand raising the sword for the final blow.

Swish!

The rusty blade plunged towards the boy’s heart.

“G-Gasp…”

The boy desperately tried to crawl away, but it was a futile effort, a last, desperate struggle against the inevitable.

– Good job, good job! the fairy cheered, her voice filled with delight.

A cruel smile spread across Mesker’s face as he watched the scene unfold.

Whoosh!

Crack!

An arrow, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, slammed into the skeleton’s skull, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

– Huh?

“Hmm?”

Mesker whipped around, his eyes searching for the source of the attack.

Whoosh!

Another arrow flew towards him before he could even react.

– Dodge, dodge!

Mesker clapped his hands together, summoning a wall of bone to shield himself.

Crack!

But the arrow pierced through the bone, stopping just inches from his heart.

Mesker stared at the arrow, a strange mix of surprise and amusement flickering in his eyes.

“Haha, well, well. It seems there’s someone interesting here after all. The more, the merrier.”

This time, his gaze was sharp, focused.

He locked eyes with his attacker.

Max Celtrine.

Mesker drew a finger across his throat, a silent promise of death.

“Ugh, this is infuriating. Infuriating. I have to kill the bastard who ruined my grand opening. Right? I have to kill him. I have to kill him. I have to kill him… Right? Right? Right? Right? Right?”

Mesker’s voice rose in a frenzied crescendo, his eyes burning with madness.

– Of course you do, the fairy, his goddess, replied, her voice a soft whisper in his mind.

Mesker snapped.

“You heard her, you little shit! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

His voice was a chilling scream, filled with unbridled rage and madness.

Everyone realized.

The man standing before them was truly insane.

A dangerous lunatic.

“D-Damn it! Don’t just stand there, attack him!”

“Y-Yeah! Let’s subdue him!”

The students, finally snapping out of their shock, charged towards Mesker, trying to stop him before he could hurt anyone else.

Camian and Annette were among them.

But Max grabbed them, holding them back.

“Why…?”

“It’s too late.”

“What do you mean…?”

At that moment,

Mesker burst into laughter, a manic, ear-splitting sound.

“Hahahahahaha! Die! Die! Die screaming and writhing in agony under my blood-red moon!”

He pulled out a dagger and started slashing at his own body, carving deep wounds into his flesh.

Blood splattered.

More wounds.

More blood.

More wounds.

More blood.

Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood.

The greater the blood sacrifice, the greater the power he could wield.

That was the absolute law that governed necromancers.

And finally,

The immense power Mesker had accumulated exploded outwards, a crimson wave of energy that washed over the surroundings, staining everything in a bloody hue.

Vision blurred, then faded completely.

Nothing was visible.

Nothing.

And then,

The world turned upside down.

* * *

“Ugh… Wh-What the hell?”

A male student groaned, clutching his head.

His mind was in turmoil.

He had been standing in front of the clock tower just moments ago.

He had seen a madman summoning a skeleton and causing chaos.

And then the madman had started hurting himself, and then something…

He could remember up to that point, but everything after that was a blur.

But one thing was certain.

Something had happened.

He needed to assess the situation.

He looked around, his eyes scanning his surroundings.

His gaze fell on the clock tower.

“Okay, let’s just go there… Uh, uh, whaaaaaaat?!”

He screamed in terror.

Because it wasn’t the clock tower.

Well, there was a clock.

But it was perched atop a giant skull.

…A skull tower.

A chill ran down his spine.

“N-No way…”

His heart pounded in his chest.

He felt a sense of dread, a premonition of something terrible.

He turned and ran, his fear propelling him forward.

“H-Hey! Wh-Where is everyone…?”

He called out, desperately searching for someone, anyone.

But then he heard it.

The sickening sound of bones clattering.

Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.

Bones.

Clatter. Clatter. Clatter. Clatter. Clatter. Clatter.

So many bones.

He froze, his blood turning to ice.

No way…

It couldn’t be…

It couldn’t be…

The clattering grew louder, closer.

Closer.

“Aaaaaargh!”

He screamed and ran, his fear overwhelming him.

He ran blindly, desperately.

Crack!

He collided with something hard, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“Ugh!”

He looked up, his eyes widening in horror.

Shattered bone fragments.

The remains of a skeleton.

“Aaaaaargh!”

He scrambled to his feet.

But…

As he turned to run again, he saw it.

He heard it.

“H-Help… Gah…”

A skeleton, its sword piercing through a female student’s chest.

He watched in horror as she died, her face contorted in agony.

And behind her, more bodies.

“A-Aaaaaargh!”

The nightmare had begun.

* * *

“Shh.”

I signaled for Camian and Annette, who had just regained consciousness, to be quiet.

Perhaps because they had experienced all sorts of things with me, they quickly closed their mouths, understanding my intention.

– Ghosts.

I wrote on the dirt floor.

– Ghosts?

They replied in writing as well.

– Yes, they’re fast and have sensitive hearing.

Ghosts.

Spectral undead.

They were far more dangerous than Skeletons and Zombies.

Not only were they stronger, but they could also fly because they didn’t have legs.

This allowed them to move much faster.

And as spirits, physical attacks were mostly ineffective against them.

They were tricky opponents in many ways.

But it was still a decent starting point.

It was definitely better than the Bone Dragons and Death Knights I had marked in the red areas, and even better than the Vampires in the same yellow area.

– Ghosts… What the hell happened…?

I interrupted Camian’s writing.

– It’ll take too long to explain in writing. Let’s talk after we’ve cleared the area.

Camian and Annette nodded in understanding.

I gave them one last piece of advice.

– Physical attacks won’t work on them. Don’t waste your energy on sword aura. Use these.

I took out several Holy Light scrolls from my bag and handed them to Camian.

Annette would be fine, as she had her Healing Song and was proficient in magic.

– …You have this many scrolls?

– I had some left over from the donation, dude.

I chuckled and continued writing.

– But they’re precious, so try to take out at least five, no, four with each scroll.

Holy Light was an area-of-effect magic.

It meant we could take out a group of undead with a single scroll if they were clustered together.

That way, we could conserve our scrolls.

– Got it.

– Okay, senior.

Camian and Annette nodded firmly.

– Then follow me.

I started moving.

* * *

Screech!

A piercing shriek.

The scream of a ghost.

It wasn’t just a scream.

It was an attack.

A wave of spiritual energy surged towards me.

If it hit, it would wreak havoc on my internal organs.

Internal injuries.

If you didn’t know, you would be caught off guard.

But I knew, so I dodged to the side before the wave even reached me.

The ghosts swarmed towards me, attracted by my movements.

Even undead weren’t completely devoid of emotions.

They were getting frustrated by my constant dodging and evading their attacks.

Screech!

Screech!

More ghostly screams.

“Yes, that’s it. That’s it. You’re all nicely clustered together.”

The moment they were in the perfect position, I grinned and tore a scroll.

A barrage of Holy Light shot out, engulfing the clustered ghosts.

Groan!

Roar!

The ghosts screamed in agony.

This time, it was a genuine scream of pain.

Their spectral bodies were melting away under the onslaught of Holy Light.

It was truly effective against undead.

I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction.

Roar!

Groan!

More agonizing screams echoed from afar.

Camian and Annette were doing well.

“Almost done. Let’s finish cleaning up quickly.”

I said, encouraging them with a bright smile.

And so, we eradicated every last ghost in the area.