Ch.70Chapter 70. The Fallen King’s Yearning

The Undead.

They were merely corpses that moved, but they became recognized as a threat in this world when one transcendent being appeared.

Starting by raising countless corpses of a fallen kingdom, extending its influence to target humanity and elevating itself to a “Great Calamity”… A being more terrifying and grotesque than the Demon Lord when it came to instilling fear in humanity.

“Everyone, have you been well during this time?”

As such a monarch rose from her coffin and greeted them, one knight stepped forward first and began to show his respect.

“Kuhehe, of course I’ve been well.”

White Knight of Plague – Blight.

Though he always maintained a playful and frivolous attitude, at this moment, his demeanor toward her contained something that could be called respect and loyalty.

“It would be strange not to be well, actually. As long as your power is maintained, we won’t be buried in the ground again. There may be plenty of those who perform divine miracles, but that’s only possible if they have the capability, isn’t it?”

“As you say, as long as you exist, we won’t disappear from this land.”

Gorgon Zola continued, also showing his respect as he picked up where the other left off.

Though he harbored desires to covet more than anyone and rule over others, he knew well that nothing could take precedence over his loyalty to the one before him.

“Some might say that leading these decaying bodies is blasphemous, but they too would understand if they became like us. That unfulfilled attachments are worth waking up for and refusing peace, even without warmth and reason.”

“So, Mother of all the dead, please do not hesitate to command us.”

Following them, the Red Knight of War, a former hero who had abandoned even his own name, bowed his head and continued speaking.

“The mere fact that we have escaped the soil that imprisoned us is reason enough for us to move for your sake.”

The sight of three knights showing their loyalty to her.

The Lord of Corpses showed a complicated expression at this sight, but since they also had expectations of her, she could not directly reveal her emotions.

“…Yes, then, I shall read your memories for a moment.”

The Four Knights felt a strange power flowing from her hands, probing their minds.

But that was merely a matter of sifting through the memories they possessed and extracting their contents.

Once this process was complete, she could know what they had experienced and share those echoes with other undead without having to listen to lengthy explanations.

“Red Knight and Dark Knight… It seems both of you are proceeding smoothly with the dungeon conquest as I instructed.”

She showed no hesitation in paying respect to her vassals whose memories she had read.

Respect for the dead must be present in mourning, and that was precisely what could be called the lingering attachment of her, a deceased person.

“Yes, we have recovered the corpses buried in the mausoleum and placed them in the sanctuary. Under your power, they will become our powerful allies.”

“We didn’t bother controlling the remaining dungeon. The foolish humans will eventually conquer the places we’ve swept through, but since we’ve planted your magical power there, those who breathe their last there will naturally join our forces.”

If an exploration team fails and is annihilated, they will automatically resurrect as undead and subsequently escape the dungeon to naturally join their forces.

The human side would notice this before long, but they still wouldn’t close the dungeons they had passed through.

No matter how many people die there and join the undead forces, the temptation of dungeons as vast treasure vaults would not be something they could easily shake off.

“Kuhehe, humans are such stubborn creatures. That’s why I need to turn them into the dead as soon as possible and recruit them to the graduate school I’ll establish to enlighten them with wisdom…”

-Crunch!

The Dark Knight was crushed by the Red Knight’s greatsword.

The Lord of Corpses turned her gaze away from him and looked at Blight, who was cackling beside her.

“White Knight. Your research has also progressed further.”

“Yes, just a little more. If I find a powerful body to test my research on, I’ll be able to fulfill your wishes more quickly and efficiently.”

“For that, there will be opportunities to act soon.”

“Yes~ Seeing the memories just shared, I think it’s quite appropriate. I’ll wait for orders to be issued. Uhyohoho~”

-Crunch!

The greatsword came down on Blight’s head as he burst into laughter.

With his head split in half, Blight restored only his mouth and vented his irritation toward the Red Knight.

“Hey, Red Knight, why did you stop beating that high school graduate and suddenly attack me again?”

“Shut up, Blight. How many times have I told you not to make such frivolous laughter in front of Mother!?”

“And it makes sense for you to use violence in front of the Lord? And you, crow! How many times have I told you not to call me that!”

The three knights began to fight, pointing their swords at each other.

The Lord of Corpses, accustomed to this sight, turned her attention to Briton IV, who had maintained his silence.

“…And finally, Azure Knight. It seems you failed in the operation to occupy the leadership of the Anti-Human Alliance.”

Flinch.

The moment Blight and Gorgon, who had been crushed by the Red Knight, widened their eyes.

Memories they hadn’t realized until now due to the commotion began to stand out at this moment.

That he, the first vassal of the Lord of Corpses, had failed an order given directly by the Lord herself. Was such a thing truly possible?

“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Briton IV continued with an apologetic attitude.

“After hearing your command, I engaged in all-out war with the Beastmen, but their resistance was stronger than imagined, and I was forced to retreat.”

“No, you did well. Even though we are dead, all who have been resurrected deserve respect… Excessive sacrifices in a reckless battle would be an insult to their deaths.”

Victory in battle is not everything.

Their goal is to “save” as many people as possible.

Sacrificing someone who needs to be saved for the sake of salvation is a decision that must be made with extreme caution.

“But while death is equal, life is not. That’s why some may take longer to enter rest, but even at this moment, the time of destruction is approaching.”

Yes, there is no hope left in this world.

Monsters born from dimensional distortions, undead, dungeons… Add to that vampires and beastmen, and even demons invading from other worlds.

But even if humanity somehow manages to stop all of that, they won’t be able to stop the being that is the cause of these phenomena.

The entity known as the “Foreign God” that once descended upon this land but ascended and disappeared for some reason…

“In a world destined for destruction, to save as many people as possible, we must not let our plans falter…”

“…You’re about to begin, aren’t you?”

“Yes, if this plan succeeds, we can save many more people.”

The goal is to destroy intelligent beings, including humanity, more quickly before the promised time comes, and to bring as many people as possible into their forces.

After recalling such a grand ideal at this moment, the Lord of Corpses quietly closed her eyes and spoke softly to them.

“I’d like the three of you, except for the Azure Knight, to withdraw for now. I’ll share what’s needed with him later.”

“Yes, then…”

After showing respect, the Red Knight grabbed Blight and Gorgon by the scruff of their necks and dragged them away.

Left alone at the altar, Briton IV faced the Lord of Corpses sitting in her coffin.

“…Name.”

No, when they were alone, he should call her Gwen, not Lord.

“Do you remember your name?”

Gwen Hwibar.

As her clouded eyes turned toward him, Briton IV quietly bowed his head and answered.

“I am Briton IV…”

“Yes, you were the greatest king.”

“A powerless leader who couldn’t prevent the fall of this land.”

“You did your best. It’s just that the calamity that befell this land was beyond what mere humans could handle.”

As if chasing such reminiscence toward that being, Gwen’s hand began to extend toward Briton IV.

“Forgive me for reviving you. But if I didn’t do this, I would forget you.”

“…Gwen.”

“Even in this body, I cherish the glorious days I spent with you. If I fail to recall you as my foundation amidst the memories of the dead that weigh on me even now, I will become a monster who has lost faith.”

“……”

“So I remember you even at this moment. All to preserve the traditions and history that humanity left behind in a ruined world, and to show that our beautiful lives existed…”

Slender fingers moved up along the armor, gradually flowing upward.

Eventually, they wrapped around the skeletal head with neither flesh nor blood, and began to pull it toward her.

“…Don’t worry, my lord.”

His head lowered with the gentle pull. At the end, he felt cold lips touching his clenched teeth.

“Although I feel myself disappearing into the lingering attachments of the dead even at this moment, forgetting my love for you will be the final moment.”

No, surely it must have been so.

For a ghost who can now only recall sensations as memories, all that is permitted is the sole fact that he once shared passionate love with her.

“So don’t lose yourself either.”

Similarly recalling such memories and reinforcing her mission, she laid her decaying body in the coffin and prepared to fall asleep once more.

“Remember that the purpose for which all living beings live is to leave their traces on this earth. And…”

Even as she felt her consciousness fading, she wanted to teach him that love for him had existed.

And hoping that it would be eternal.

“To follow such teachings of yours, please forgive me for desecrating your dignified end.”

“……”

-Click.

Quietly closing the coffin, Briton IV gazed down at it for a while.

Then, kneeling before the coffin, he looked up at the ceiling pierced above the altar and began to retrace his memories.

‘I am the king of Briton.’

He was a king, a husband to a woman, a father with children, and a leader who did his best to govern his people.

But despite such efforts, the prosperous kingdom collapsed under a silently approaching calamity, and finally entered the path of destruction, and he too met his death.

Originally, that should have been the end of his life.

Not knowing what those who remembered him would do to preserve his traces in his absence.

‘The calamity has spread beyond this land.’

The calamity that extends beyond the fallen kingdom to the world continues to eat away at the world even at this moment, but no one can be certain that anyone can stop it.

So in the end, nothing will remain.

No history, no foundation, no one’s memories…

‘So we must preserve.’

We must strive to preserve even a little of this world’s beauty, someone’s life.

That ideology was what he knew best, having always emphasized the importance of life. However…

‘Is it truly permissible to remove what exists in order to preserve it?’

Do we truly have the right to disgrace and seize the lives of the living in order to preserve the stories they would write?

Is filling the world with mere moving taxidermies truly something that can be forgiven by heaven?

“…Hyoseong Woo.”

As days passed where respect for the dead gradually turned into skepticism, the fallen king felt it evolving into a longing for the living.

Among them, the owner of the name that still couldn’t be forgotten must have had something they wanted to achieve, which is why they carried out that desperate resistance that came to mind when the Four Knights shared their memories earlier.

“I envy you more with each passing day.”

Yes, death is…

No matter how beautiful the journey until that moment, it is inferior to the desperate struggle of a feeble living being…

****

And, as time passed, in the great forest located in the northern mountains of the Empire.

-Boom!!

When an explosion echoed at the entrance of the bandit fortress established on a hill there, the bandits guarding the front were pushed inside and fell to the ground.

“Keh! W-what’s going on…”

“Call the boss right now! We can’t handle this guy on our own!”

The terrified voices of the bandits guarding the entrance. Other bandits, puzzled by this, began to express their confusion as they looked at him.

“What do you mean we can’t handle him on our own? Who is this guy anyway?”

“He’s the one making a name for himself these days. Hyoseong Woo, the Hero Slayer…”

-Boom!!

The attacker swept through the surroundings as if provoked by their commotion.

Then, clearing the smoke with his spear, he increased the output of the magical power flickering on his armor and spear and said,

“Not Hero Slayer Hyoseong Woo. Hero Hunter Hyoseong Woo, you damned fools.”

Hero Hunter.

A veteran adventurer who recently advanced to a high rank after being recognized for his achievements in capturing those designated as “Fallen Heroes” by the Empire over the course of three months.