Ch.44Chapter 44 – King of the Dead (1)

I was able to sleep well without any dreams, probably because I was exhausted from running around the day before.

‘Still waking up early, I see.’

Old habits die hard.

I got up from bed, slightly resenting my eyes for opening on their own.

In the end, yesterday’s ambush had failed.

I thought that even knowing where they were headed would have improved our situation considerably.

Carefully, I picked up the sword I had leaned against the corner of the wall.

Reminding myself that now I could only rely on my own skills, I cautiously put on my armor and weapons.

Perhaps due to nervousness, they felt a bit heavier today, even though I wore them regularly.

As I stepped outside my room, someone was waiting for me.

“Sera?”

“Oh, KC…”

This was a rare sight under normal circumstances.

Sera was never a morning person.

But it seemed she had woken up early to wait for me because she had something to give me.

“Please take these first.”

Sera handed me three small vials.

Looking at them closely, they appeared to be some kind of jelly.

“What are these?”

“They’re solidified holy water.”

“Holy water?”

“Yes. I asked Christina for some holy water and made them like this.”

I stared at the jelly-like holy water.

“I heard there were many monsters made of corpses in that ossuary, and Christina said she defeated them using holy water, so I made these.”

Sera pointed at my weapon as she spoke.

“Since they’re solidified, they won’t evaporate as quickly.”

“Hmm.”

I nodded at Sera’s words.

If what she said was true, these would be incredibly helpful in today’s raid.

Even if that monster appeared, with these I could keep landing effective hits until it fell.

“Thanks. How much do I owe you?”

“Oh, I got the holy water for free, so you don’t need to pay anything.”

That was even better news.

“I’ll put them to good use.”

“And, um, here’s this too.”

As I was about to put the holy water jelly in my pocket, Sera handed me something that looked like a small ball.

“What’s this?”

“The item you requested. You just need to bite into the whole thing.”

Judging by its size, it would definitely fit in my mouth.

“I mixed painkillers, antidotes, and various other things as you asked… I also added an energy booster just in case. You only said you wanted something to quickly and conveniently restore your body so you could keep fighting no matter what situation arose—is this okay?”

“This is more than enough.”

I had requested this item thinking I wouldn’t come out unscathed from fighting those test subjects.

At least now I had something resembling a recovery method.

“Thanks for your hard work. I’ll pay you when I get back.”

I turned to leave as it was time to go.

“KC?”

“Yes?”

Sera suddenly called out to me.

She seemed to want to say something but couldn’t get the words out.

“You have to go now, right?”

“Yes.”

“…Be careful.”

“I will.”

After saying that, I turned around.

After taking a few steps, Sera suddenly called out from behind me.

“If I think you might get hurt, I’ll come running to you, so come back in one piece!”

How would she know where to find me?

Perhaps she planned to ask Eve and have her lead the way.

I couldn’t help but smile slightly at Sera’s nonsense.

Thanks to her, my tension eased a bit.

“I’ll come back in one piece.”

I couldn’t guarantee it, but looking at her face, I felt I needed to say that.

+

After walking for quite some time, I reached the vicinity of the cemetery.

The entry teams had agreed to meet near the cemetery from the start.

Though “entry team” was just four people in total.

“Oh, you’re here, you’re here.”

Ludger, Aria, and Christina were waiting for me.

I hadn’t thought I was late, but they were already gathered.

“I must be quite late.”

“You’re before the appointed time. You’re not late.”

Ludger said with a smile.

“By the way, did your business go well?”

“I couldn’t finish it properly.”

When I answered Ludger like that, he made a sympathetic expression.

“Can’t be helped. I hope you finish it well after we complete today’s task.”

“Indeed.”

After finishing our brief conversation, Aria approached next, shaking her pink hair.

“I heard you learned archery~”

As she approached playfully, I glanced slightly at Ludger.

Apparently, he had told her himself, as he was pointing at himself.

“…I’m not terrible at it.”

“How good are you? Can you hit the target every time?”

She leaned in close as she asked, making me instinctively step back.

Ludger answered for me.

“Fifty-fifty.”

“Aww…”

Aria made a disappointed face.

“I thought you’d hit every shot. I guess the teacher is the problem.”

“That level in just a week is amazing, you know?”

Ludger and Aria started bickering with each other.

Leaving them to their squabble, I looked at Christina.

She was quietly saying a prayer.

As I approached slightly, she seemed to notice me and opened her eyes.

“Did you sleep well, benefactor?”

“Well, yes.”

I had actually slept less than usual, but there was no need to mention it.

I wasn’t feeling sleepy anyway.

“What about you, Christina?”

“I didn’t sleep well yesterday.”

Christina bowed her head as if embarrassed.

“Well, having to willingly enter a place with those golems would make anyone restless.”

I don’t particularly want to see those corpse golems again either.

“No, that’s not it.”

Christina shook her head in denial.

“Was there another reason?”

“I had a nightmare…”

“A nightmare?”

“You were…”

Christina stopped talking there and closed her mouth.

Cutting off mid-sentence only made me more curious.

But she seemed unwilling to continue, just shaking her head vigorously before looking at me.

“Today will be fine, right?”

Those transparent blue eyes looked at me.

They were so clear that I could see them trembling slightly with anxiety.

“Yes.”

I answered that way, feeling I shouldn’t make those eyes more anxious.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll continue with my prayers.”

Soon Christina closed her eyes again and began to pray.

I could see her lips moving slightly.

“May we return safely without incident.”

I turned away so as not to disturb Christina’s prayers.

+

While Christina was praying for a long time, Ludger and Aria finally ended their quarrel.

When the appointed time came, they stopped their argument as if on cue.

“Did you review the materials the guild provided? The strategy, I mean.”

“Yes. But is this really okay?”

The plan was for Ludger and Aria to handle things inside, saying they were enough, while the other religious orders would only fight outside.

I had various thoughts about this, but since those two had accepted it, I figured they must be sufficient, though I still felt a bit uneasy.

Ludger answered with a smile.

“You seem to be underestimating us both.”

“That’s right.”

The two of them patted my shoulder lightly as they spoke.

“Don’t worry. This big sister will lead the way.”

“Just follow Aria’s back closely and you’ll be fine.”

I nodded at Ludger’s words.

Then Aria added as if she just remembered something.

“Just don’t stare at my butt too much.”

What is she talking about?

I didn’t feel the need for more small talk, so I turned away.

“Hey, are you embarrassed? Hey, hey, hey?”

“Stop teasing him. Let’s get going.”

Ludger said as he drew his sword.

Following his lead, I pulled out the greatsword from my back.

Aria also wiped the smile off her face and took out her hammer, while Christina finished her prayer, opened her eyes, and put her hands together.

“Let’s go.”

Her voice was cold and sharp, completely different from her playful tone earlier.

Then Aria took a step forward.

The change was sudden.

There was a flash of light before my eyes, and her revealing outfit disappeared, replaced by what looked like a nun’s habit.

As Aria, now wearing a navy blue habit, waved her hand once more, white armor-like pieces appeared on her arms, legs, and chest.

Her transformation was complete when headgear materialized on her hood.

Aria, now suddenly armored, looked back.

“Keep up and don’t fall behind.”

She didn’t even wait for our response before kicking off the ground and starting to run.

As we hurriedly followed, I could see the source of her confidence.

Undead were pulverized just by Aria waving her hand as she ran.

When she swung her hammer, the ground would crater and undead would go flying.

Occasionally, ghouls would leap at her and cling to her body.

But she would grab them with annoyance and throw them at other zombie hordes, smashing the undead to pieces.

‘She’s like a tank.’

That was the thought that came to mind watching her crush enemies underfoot.

Aria rampaged through enemy lines, clearly demonstrating that no undead attack could harm her in the slightest.

“Could that armor be…?”

“That’s right. It’s a holy relic of the Hati Order.”

Ludger spoke as he ran alongside us.

“The wearer gains tremendous defense and strength.”

Even as Ludger finished his explanation, Aria continued to rampage through enemy lines.

And when I listened carefully, I could hear shouting in the distance.

“It seems the other adventurers and religious order members have started moving.”

“It is time.”

Unlike the previous large-scale extermination where we took our time defeating monsters, this time the strategy was to eliminate as many as possible in a short period.

Many adventurers and combat personnel from religious orders had agreed to participate, both to block reinforcements from our side and to completely eliminate the threat.

The sounds of battle could be heard from all directions.

‘Could they be in there?’

I continued running while remaining vigilant for the Emiris Order test subjects I had missed last night.

Soon the entrance to the ossuary came into view.

“Let’s go straight in there!”

When Ludger shouted loudly, Aria maintained her momentum and headed straight for the ossuary.

“Christina, the entry signal!”

At Ludger’s direction, Christina immediately formed a hand sign and shot Holy Light into the sky.

As the bright golden light illuminated the sky, we jumped over the half-destroyed ossuary door and entered.

Inside, Aria, who had been running at the front, was waiting for us while leaning against the wall.

“Whew, at least we made it inside successfully. Right?”

Aria smiled while still in her armor.

Steam-like vapor was coming from her body.

“Ah, wearing this makes me so hot.”

“Hot?”

“It’s not just poor ventilation, it’s actually hot. That’s why I have to wear light clothing, you know.”

So that’s why she wears such revealing clothes, not just because she likes to.

But this wasn’t the time to discuss such trivial matters.

“Aria, do you sense anything? The nun said she felt a strange energy last time.”

“Yes, I feel it, old man.”

“Can you tell what it is?”

“No idea.”

Ludger sighed as Aria answered confidently.

“Aish, I didn’t expect much anyway.”

“Maybe I’ll know more if we get closer.”

“You’d better. Otherwise, I’ll give you a good smack.”

Ludger said this while stepping forward.

“I’ll take the lead from here. You said there were ghosts, right?”

“Yes.”

Christina replied.

“The nun will handle the weaker ghosts, and we’ll focus on eliminating the stronger ones, Aria…”

Ludger was about to give formation instructions, and we were about to move accordingly.

-THUD!

Before Ludger could finish giving instructions, a monster appeared from inside the ossuary.

It was the corpse golem I had seen before.

Aria frowned and said:

“Ugh. That’s disgusting.”

“Well, it’s not surprising that there would be a caster somewhere.”

Ludger and Aria prepared for battle.

Ludger had already switched to a greatsword and taken his stance.

“I didn’t expect them to station those guardians at the entrance.”

And it was quite effective.

The entrance was so narrow that just one of them blocking it made it impossible to get through.

It was an entrance blockade.

“If we can’t break through, we can’t get inside, right?”

“Then we just need to break through!”

The two of them kicked off the ground and lunged forward.

The golem also charged at us.

-“KYAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

“Wow, hearing a woman’s voice from that hulk is really creepy.”

Aria said this while swinging her hammer to hit the golem’s leg.

-CRACK!

-BOOM!

With the sound of breaking bones, the corpses attached to the golem’s leg disappeared.

Ludger had already swung his greatsword and cut off the monster’s arm.

Not to be outdone, I also rushed in and swung my greatsword.

-“KYAAAAAAAH!!!!”

It attacked me by swinging its remaining arm.

I lowered my stance to avoid the arm and stabbed its stomach.

Then I jumped into the air, putting my weight behind the greatsword.

My greatsword, enhanced by my body weight and gravity, fell like a guillotine on the enemy.

With a spray of blood, the golem’s arm was severed.

-“Kyaaaah….”

As if denying reality, the golem collapsed weakly.

Aria didn’t miss the opportunity and swung her hammer, blowing away the golem’s head.

Being made of corpses, the head twitched on its own for a moment, but soon stopped moving.

“That was easier than I expected…”

“Indeed.”

I answered Christina as I approached the golem.

Then I aimed for a similar area as before, inserted my sword, and stirred it around.

Soon I was able to extract a purple gem, just like last time.

“Is this it?”

“Yes. That strange energy is contained in this as well.”

At my words, Aria immediately reached out and took the purple gem.

After muttering to herself for a moment, she nodded and spoke.

“Now I understand why I couldn’t clearly identify the energy.”

“What is it?”

When Ludger asked, Aria looked at us.

There was no playfulness in her eyes.

“This contains black magic, necromancy, and even holy power.”

“What?”

Christina stepped forward in surprise.

“Holy power is opposite to those other forces you just mentioned?”

“That’s why the energy feels strange. What you said is common sense.”

Aria examined the gem as she spoke.

“Forces that shouldn’t mix are mixed, so the energy felt strange.”

Aria tapped her helmet a few times as if she had a headache, then said:

“What kind of person could make something like this?”

Naturally, no one could answer.

After examining the gem a bit more, Aria seemed to find nothing else to analyze and handed it to Ludger.

“This definitely needs to be investigated. Something will come of it.”

“I’ll keep it safe.”

There seemed to be nothing more to gain here.

We crossed over the golem’s remains and entered deeper into the ossuary.

We advanced cautiously, quiet like before, alert for whatever might appear.

Christina had mentioned that even though she couldn’t see them last time, the place was full of ghosts.

Therefore, this area was designated for Christina to handle the combat.

But there was an anomaly.

“This is strange.”

Christina said.

“What is it?”

“Well, benefactor. There are fewer ghost-type monsters than last time.”

Ludger and Aria turned around at Christina’s words.

“Maybe you just eliminated a lot of them last time?”

“That doesn’t make sense. The zombies outside have increased so much, but the ghosts haven’t—that’s what’s strange.”

Everyone was silent for a moment.

Come to think of it, does it make sense that zombies increased dramatically while ghosts decreased?

“Usually when undead increase, ghosts increase too.”

As if answering my doubt, Aria narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“There might be something inside.”

At her words, everyone tensed up and continued walking.

We prepared ourselves to counter whatever might appear.

And as we descended, we noticed another strange thing.

“It feels colder here…”

“I don’t think the actual temperature has dropped.”

Christina and I exchanged words.

While I was wearing layers under my armor, Christina only had her nun’s habit.

Perhaps because of this, she was starting to shiver.

Ludger and Aria narrowed their eyes further and said nothing.

‘I’m getting a bad feeling about going deeper.’

It’s getting colder and more unsettling.

That’s when it happened.

“Ah, that’s!”

Another corpse golem like the one at the entrance appeared.

Just as I was about to prepare for battle, forgetting that uneasy feeling from before—

The corpse golem collapsed.

“What?”

Ludger relaxed his stance, looking bewildered.

But only for a moment; he drew his weapon again, more alert than before.

“…I didn’t expect something of this caliber to be here.”

“Indeed.”

Not just Ludger, but Aria also seemed to have detected something, showing a highly cautious demeanor.

This was completely different from her usual self.

“…Carefully, let’s head inside.”

At Ludger’s direction, we drew our weapons and moved carefully.

One step, one step.

And when we reached the place where we couldn’t enter before because of all the golems, we could see someone wearing a tattered robe standing there.

As we approached cautiously, the robed figure turned its head.

-Clatter

“Who’s there?”

A hoarse voice accompanied that strange sound.

It was a chilling voice that made me feel uncomfortable.

‘A man?’

Judging by his build, manner of speech, and voice, that’s what I thought.

Meanwhile, the robed man who had discovered us spoke:

“I didn’t expect visitors here.”

The robed man casually walked toward us and raised one hand.

‘Is he greeting us?’

I was slightly taken aback, but couldn’t let my guard down.

The closer this man approached, the colder it felt.

‘No. The temperature hasn’t dropped.’

I clearly felt cold, but now I realized it wasn’t due to the temperature.

An inexplicable fear emanated from the man in front of me.

“Who are you?”

Aria stood in front and asked.

The robed man answered:

“I’m just a traveler, wandering wherever my feet take me…”

“Let’s stop with the lies.”

This time it was Ludger.

“You’re not human, are you?”

“……..”

The man’s actions and words stopped, as if Ludger had hit the mark.

“Are you responsible for all of this?”

“I merely came here to resolve this situation.”

“Do you expect us to believe that?”

Aria stepped forward.

With a sharper expression than before, she pointed her hammer at him.

“Reveal yourself, lich.”

After hesitating, the man soon removed the hood of his robe.

I could hear Christina gasping beside me.

The face beneath the robe was nothing but a skull.