Ch.131Demon Lord Maker – 6

“What a truly fascinating human.”

“Fascinating? In what way?”

After supplying Nika with mana and coming out, Durahan extended the helmet in his hand and looked me up and down. I wondered if his eyes were actually attached to that helmet.

It might be manageable to fight with a sword and spear simultaneously on the ground, but it would be difficult while on horseback.

“What kind of arrangement did the Demon Lord make for you to face the Succubus Queen at such close proximity and remain unaffected? Especially when she wasn’t hiding her power but was in heat and spraying pheromones everywhere?”

Judging by how firmly he believed that explanation, I could probably set aside any worries about being backstabbed. I had no such intentions either, so it was a mutually beneficial relationship.

“Endurance.”

“Endurance?”

“An essential virtue for becoming an honorable knight. Sometimes, to serve one’s lord, one must wait for an incredibly long time. It’s also necessary when one must willingly accept dishonor for the sake of true honor.”

“I see. Your words are truly righteous. To think someone with such genuine knightly virtue would serve the Demon Lord. Indeed, true rulers attract talent. He was truly born to reign.”

Durahan, who had expanded on my words of his own accord, leaped onto his ghost horse. Then he placed the helmet he was holding where his head should be.

Seeing him with a head for the first time felt somewhat strange yet awkward. Looking closely, I noticed it wasn’t completely attached but was floating with a very slight gap.

“Let us depart now. The sooner we complete this subjugation, the better.”

“Wait. What about me? You’re not expecting me to run after you, are you?”

I could keep up with a normal horse using physical enhancement. But I wasn’t confident about matching a ghost horse that was unaffected by terrain, twice as fast as a normal horse, and never tired.

Above all, running after them would consume an enormous amount of stamina. With tens or hundreds of thousands of undead to defeat ahead of us, I wanted to avoid such unnecessary energy expenditure.

“Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. Wait a moment.”

Durahan poked the ground right next to his ghost horse with his spear. A shadow emerged from where he had stabbed, rising and writhing. The shadows gathered together, changing shape.

The gathered shadows soon reformed into the shape of a ghost horse. The newly appeared ghost horse approached me, turned its body sideways, and slightly bent its legs.

“Can you ride it? If possible, use it to travel.”

“If possible? Are there specific conditions for riding?”

“There are. The first condition would naturally be becoming a ghost, but that’s beside the point for you. Of course, I could arrange that if you wish.”

“No thanks.”

As if I’d be crazy enough to agree to that.

“Anyway, if there’s a first condition, there must be a second. What’s the second condition?”

“You need to have killed enough humans to be acknowledged by the ghost horse. But since you’re human, being acknowledged is virtually…?”

As soon as I heard that, I leaped onto the ghost horse’s back. A cold, strange sensation that felt both alive and not alive ran along the inside of my thighs.

The ghost horse calmly stood up and positioned itself next to Durahan. After what seemed like a moment of hesitation, it slightly turned its head and even licked my hand. An eerie chill wrapped around my hand.

The very person who had created it was looking on with a “What’s going on?” expression.

“Virtually what?”

“I was going to say impossible, but it seems to be acknowledging you as its master instead. How remarkable. What have you been doing all this time?”

“Well, I have my ways.”

I evaded the question with a vague answer while inwardly giving a bitter smile. Although it happened in another world, it was true that I had killed enough people to make the Sword Saint release killing intent to test me the moment he saw me.

The karma accumulated on my soul remained unchanged even after crossing to another world, so it’s not particularly strange that the ghost horse would immediately recognize me as its master.

“It’s dishonorable to dig up a past someone doesn’t wish to speak of. I understand. Shall we depart for the Demon Lord’s castle now?”

“That’s the plan. But you’ll have to guide me, right?”

“Of course.”

After the ghost cavalry had completely left the succubus territory, I closed the gap we had escaped through. White flames shot up to the edge of the sky, engulfing the entire territory without any gaps.

As if watching this scene, the front of the helmet was facing in my direction.

“What?”

“Looking at you reminds me of the Sword Saint. I thought he was the only human I couldn’t defeat, but it seems I may need to reconsider.”

“Was the Sword Saint that strong?”

Of course, the current Sword Saint is plenty strong. But he clearly couldn’t match his prime, when he swept away demon forces and boldly stepped forward to kill the Demon Lord in the name of bringing peace to the continent.

“Twenty percent of demonkind died by the Sword Saint’s hand. Eight corps commanders were wiped out in total. The remaining corps commanders are all those who didn’t get their turn to fight back then. Had the Demon Lord’s expedition been delayed further, Astaroth, Raptarukus, and I would no longer exist.”

“And the Demon Lord overwhelmed such a Sword Saint head-on.”

“Yes. I witnessed the Sword Saint’s strength with my own eyes, and the Demon Lord’s strength as well. That’s why I find it even more impossible to believe he has passed away. I saw his might with my own two eyes—how could someone with such immense power possibly die?”

Hearing those words gave me certainty. Astaroth with the demon sword wasn’t as strong as Elishiere. He was disgustingly strong even at that level, but he couldn’t have matched Elishiere’s full power.

‘Did he bring the power but couldn’t fully manifest it?’

Or perhaps one’s abilities before wielding the demon sword affect what abilities can be manifested after becoming the Demon Lord.

Assuming that case, I briefly considered how strong the 1st Corps Commander beside me would become if he wielded the demon sword. I wasn’t certain, but I couldn’t think of any scenario where I could win without bringing out the Divine Spear.

“I’ll start increasing our speed now.”

The ghost horse began galloping, kicking off from the ground. I instinctively grabbed its mane but then slowly let go. My body wasn’t shaking at all.

It was a strange experience. Despite clearly galloping at full speed like a real horse, my body didn’t shake at all, and I felt no vibration. Moreover, I couldn’t hear the sound of hooves striking the ground.

“Is it fascinating?”

“Of course it’s fascinating. How often would a living human get to ride something like this?”

“I feel the same way. I never once thought a living human could ride a ghost horse. This must also be part of the Demon Lord’s arrangement.”

That habitual worship marked the end of our conversation. The ghost cavalry, numbering in the thousands including Durahan and myself, galloped on silently without making a sound.

Contemplating what weapon to use while on the ghost horse, I eventually put away Eternity and drew only the Dragon Fang Sword.

‘The Elder Lich would recognize Eternity.’

After all, he had come to the Academy with the Maker to kill me. Since we even fought briefly, he would remember Eternity, the weapon I used then.

There was no benefit in revealing my true identity.

‘…I don’t know what to do about this one.’

I glanced to the side. There was Durahan, riding his ghost horse with great determination, as if on his way to die honorably.

Perhaps because that detachable helmet was filled with nothing but honor and loyalty, I strangely felt no hostility despite him clearly being an enemy from a human perspective.

Somehow, I felt I understood why he had challenged the Hero to a duel instead of killing him outright.

It seemed least unsettling to reveal my identity as in the original work, give him time to recover if he was injured, and then defeat him in a fair one-on-one battle.

“Halt!”

At Durahan’s command, the entire cavalry stopped in place. There was no inertia whatsoever—an action only possible for ghosts. Wondering what was happening, I scanned ahead.

The horizon in front of us was writhing and approaching.

“Seems they’ve noticed us coming?”

Since the ground couldn’t move on its own, the cause was obvious. Somehow, that Elder Lich had realized we were heading toward the Demon Lord’s castle.

After observing the writhing horizon for a while, Durahan growled lowly.

“That traitor has set up proper defenses. It would be difficult to continue on ghost horses.”

The land over there wasn’t just writhing. A sea of rotting flesh like a swamp spread across the ground, with countless arms protruding from it.

As if they would grab the horses’ legs when they passed.

“We have no choice. We’ll have to go around…”

“I think it’s already too late for that.”

The same swamps of rotting flesh were rising from all sides—from both flanks, diagonally, and even from the path we had just traveled.

“Did you sense anything particular around us on the way here?”

“Nothing.”

“I didn’t feel anything either. Then there’s only one conclusion. He spread it so thinly and widely that we couldn’t detect it, and now he’s combining it all together on the spot.”

In other words, this swamp of rotting flesh and the countless arms rising from it formed a single undead entity, like a flesh golem.

This method was possible only for undead that could freely disassemble and recombine as long as flesh remained.

Suddenly, the nearest mass of rotting flesh began to rise in a rounded shape. Organs mimicking the eyes and mouth of a living creature formed on the front of the flesh mass.

“I’ve been waiting… First Corps Commander…”

A horribly distorted voice leaked from the mouth made of melting undead. Each time it spoke, pieces of flesh dropped off, but new flesh immediately grew to fill the gaps.

“And beside you is—”

—Whoosh!

White flames shot out and struck the undead’s face directly. The white fire completely incinerated the rotting flesh that had been defying the laws of life, leaving not even ashes behind.

“What’s the point in listening to that?”

I swung the Dragon Fang Sword through the air. A slash combined with demon sword techniques, surrounded by white flames, shot out as a white fiery meteor began to fall.

“We should be moving as much as possible in this time.”