Chapter 87: The Great Upheaval #1

Chapter 87: The Great Upheaval #1

One month later.

The laboratory had been completely transformed.

The orcs from the village had been deployed to renovate every small part of the facility, and it was now fully functional again.

“Welcome, Lady Estel! Warrior Orc, you are also welcome.”

As we entered the laboratory, Mark greeted us.

This guy had been newly appointed as the Director of Undead Research.

He was quite smart and responsible, no less than Jonathan, so I judged him capable enough to be entrusted with tasks.

“Feel free to look around. I did exactly as Lady Estel ordered. 100%! No, 120%, 200%! That’s how I’m when you entrust me with a task. I always exceed expectations.”

Mark, who was trailing behind me, chattered incessantly, spitting as he spoke.

This guy is great, except for his excessive need for self-display.

Well, I can overlook this much as a minor flaw.

“It’s much cleaner than I expected! Everything is white and sparkling. Mark, you did a great job.”

“Of course, Warrior Orc. Our laboratory places great emphasis on cleanliness. We must always maintain dust-free hygiene. Not only does it look good, but uncleanliness can also disrupt the production process.”

The laboratory floor gleamed with a polish so bright that our faces were reflected in it.

Indeed, subordinate skeletons were ceaselessly sweeping and polishing various parts of the laboratory.

Beside them, orcs in white lab coats were seriously reviewing data with charts. They even wore glasses, which seemed out of place.

They were the intellectual orcs, so to speak.

“Undead research and experiments are conducted on the first basement level. We are repeatedly testing under various conditions to produce superior undead.”

As we walked down the corridor, we observed the experimental scenes visible through the glass windows on either side.

A researcher orc was plucking a small piece of zombie flesh with tweezers and pouring a corrosive liquid on it.

The researcher orc, recognizing us, stopped what he was doing and quickly saluted.

“Keep up the good work. Continue what you were doing.”

Jonathan nodded.

“Warrior Orc, Lady Estel. Next, I will guide you to the second basement level, the undead production line.”

Mark led the way, and Jonathan and I followed behind him down the stairs.

The second basement level was much wider than the first.

The high-ceilinged, open space was filled with constantly moving conveyor belts and various large machines.

“First, this is the zombie production line.”

Clank, clank-

Zombies were constantly pouring out of the machines.

They assemble minced meat, bones, and internal organs into a vaguely human-like form, then drop a drop of necromancy reagent to bring it to life.

“They’re all dead? Aren’t these just corpses?”

Jonathan squinted and poked a zombie.

At that moment.

“Kyaak-!”

“Wh-whoa! This one!”

As Jonathan’s touch reached it, a completed zombie suddenly raised its upper body.

Jonathan, startled, hid behind me.

“Wahaha, Warrior Orc, you’re surprisingly timid. It’s okay. These are our zombies. They don’t attack orcs. Ah, and not Lady Estel either.”

“Damn it! You should have warned me they’d move when touched. I thought my heart was going to fall out.”

“I apologize. I didn’t realize the Warrior Orc would be so startled.”

Jonathan clutched his chest, his face flushing slightly with embarrassment.

“How many zombies have you made?”

“About two thousand so far. Our target production was fifteen hundred, so we’ve exceeded it. We can probably make about five hundred more. Just supply us with enough materials. We need a lot, a whole lot of animal carcasses.”

“Don’t worry about that. Our village brothers will keep hunting and sending them.”

Zombies are the weakest undead. They are slow and sluggish, and cannot even use weapons properly.

At best, they can only slowly approach, bite, and scratch with their fingernails.

However, their true strength lies not in individual power, but in overwhelming numbers. Though weak individually, their role as meat shields, overwhelming the enemy with sheer quantity, cannot be ignored.

‘If they absorb the enemy’s attacks, it means other core forces are preserved.’

We moved on to the next production line.

“Here, we make skeletons.”

Mark said, tapping a roaring machine.

“We make three types of skeletons. One is the warrior-type skeleton. It holds a sword in one hand and a wooden shield in the other. They are weaker than our orcs, but still somewhat useful. They are also used for minor chores around the laboratory.”

The skeleton production process uses only bones. The process involves thoroughly washing off fat and flesh attached to the bones, then grinding and refining them to enhance durability before creating them as skeletal soldiers.

“What about the other two?”

“They are the mage-type skeleton and the archer-type skeleton, Warrior Orc.”

From here on, the production process becomes more complex, and the costs increase significantly.

Even for mages, they can only hurl basic magic missiles, but they should never be underestimated.

Like zombies, these creatures are weak individually, but when gathered in large numbers, they can form a wide-ranging barrage by firing magic missiles simultaneously.

The same applies to skeleton archers. These undead ranged units will bombard enemies from a distance.

“Alright, alright, this is where it gets serious. You can look forward to it. Until now, they were just minor undead.”

As we moved to the inner section, the facilities became more sophisticated, while the production scale decreased.

While the undead we saw earlier were mass-produced like factory goods, the undead in this section were like meticulously crafted luxury items.

As we arrived, one undead had just been newly created.

It was a warrior undead, heavily armored from head to toe. However, there was no head where it should have been on its neck.

Mark tapped the newly created undead on the shoulder.

“Dullahan. This one alone can easily handle ten skeleton warriors. It’s a monstrous creature.”

Dullahans are classified as intermediate undead and are the actual main force of the undead army.

While skeletons and zombies could be made with just corpses and simple necromancy, Dullahans require additional Bloodstones.

Carmilla’s diligently collected Bloodstones were now shining here.

“And over there is a Wraith. A ghost undead. Isn’t it terrifying, Warrior Orc?”

“Is there anything there? It’s blurry, so I can’t see well…”

“Heh heh, that’s right. It’s strange. It floats and flutters around. It sneaks behind the enemy and strangles their necks.”

With the addition of Dullahans and Wraiths, the undead army is difficult for ordinary armies to contend with.

From this point on, even the Empire would need to deploy experienced combat troops to deal with them.

“Mark. This isn’t the end, is it?”

I prompted, and Mark grinned, baring his teeth.

“That’s right. We still have a trump card. Follow me.”

“Is there still more?”

“Warrior Orc, you’ll be surprised. I’ll show you the masterpiece Lady Estel specially ordered.”

Mark led us to the innermost section of the production line.

Inside, researcher orcs were observing round cylindrical capsules. There were four capsules in total.

“Death Knights. We invested an enormous amount of resources. It almost bankrupted us. But it’s worth it.”

Inside the capsules, pale-skinned, muscular giants were floating in culture medium.

Beside them were displayed a giant mace and armor with a dark sheen.

The Mace Death Knight.

In addition to this, a Greatsword Death Knight, a Large Shield Death Knight, and a Whip Death Knight were prepared.

These are the four Heavenly Kings of the Death Knights, the current maximum strength of our undead army.

“We haven’t tested their combat power yet. Theoretically, one Death Knight can face five hundred skeleton warriors. But in reality, they are likely even stronger.”

“Magnificent! Ohh…”

Jonathan exclaimed softly in amazement.

“With this, we can defeat Carmilla too. They look strong just by looking at them! Well done, Mark!”

“Of course, I did well, but it’s all thanks to Lady Estel. I just made them as Lady Estel ordered.”

Mark shrugged.

The undead army development plan had finally begun in earnest.

The first opponent to test their might would naturally be Carmilla.

***

Around the same time.

Carmilla’s forces in the northern castle were not just idly playing around.

‘The Orc Slave Colony has rebelled against Lady Carmilla.’

The skeleton butler maintained a poker face, but rage boiled within him.

‘Ungrateful wretches who don’t even remember past kindness.’

We provided them with a place to live and occasionally supplied food so they wouldn’t starve to death.

Yet, they rose up in rebellion, repaying that kindness with enmity.

Of course, this is strictly from Carmilla’s perspective. It was somewhat distant from the orcs’ perspective, who were dying daily in the mines and being exploited.

‘Furthermore, they occupied the Lich’s laboratory and even made that monster their force…’

It was a continuous stream of bad news.

The necromancer who incited the orcs to rebel was clearly no ordinary person.

‘But our Carmilla’s forces haven’t remained stagnant with their old strength. We can win now.’

The opponent must have challenged Carmilla by relying on the power of the laboratory’s monster, Alice.

Of course, we had already anticipated that move.

Therefore, Carmilla launched a preemptive strike like lightning before the opponent could even react.

Speedy execution is always a valid strategy.

Alice’s current location has already been confirmed. Carmilla personally led the army to suppress them.

‘With Lady Carmilla’s power and the elite forces of our army following behind. There’s no way we can lose.’

We mobilized 90% of our available forces. No matter how strong the laboratory’s monster, this battle would not be easy.

However, since Carmilla led most of the forces, the defense of the main castle was inevitably weakened.

‘It’s okay. No problem. Since the enemy’s forces are all Alice anyway, they won’t have the capacity to target the main castle.’

The butler gazed at the distant sky from the empty watchtower of the castle.

He waited for his master to return with news of victory after crushing the insolent orcs and forcing the monster Alice to her knees.

But why did a corner of his heart feel strangely uneasy?

As an undead, the butler had no warm blood flowing through him. He had no beating heart. Yet, the source of this feeling of unease-

‘Don’t think useless thoughts! My master will surely win.’

The butler shook his head vigorously.