“Alive?”
“Its system is still operating. It’s like an ancient magical apparatus…”
“I’ll go keep watch, then.” Regina shrugged, sighing.
She knew Riselia’s personality well enough.
“Yeah, please.”
Regina waved and went back down the corridor. She wasn’t good with boredom. Taking independent action during a ruin investigation was reckless, but unlike Riselia, she had the power of a Void-slaying Holy Sword. She’d be fine.
Riselia worked on her analysis device and began deciphering the ancient letters. A similar text structure should exist in the database. Riselia wondered what could be beyond this barrier. She found herself surprisingly drawn to it. But the moment her fingers brushed against the inscription…
A spark of magical energy flashed.
“Huh…?”
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
The heavy stone door sluggishly opened before her.
“…It opened?!” Riselia’s eyes widened as she illuminated the interior with her light.
What’s that…?
Embedded into the rock was a massive, eerily luminescent black crystal the likes of which Riselia had never seen before. Her device let out a high-pitched warning sound.
A mana reaction…?
The mana-detecting tool was displaying errors.
It was a counter stop—a freeze in the program because a theoretically impossible figure had been input.
“Oh, come on—don’t break on me now…,” Riselia whispered as she approached the crystal.
As she did, she noticed a human figure inside it, sealed in darkness.
“…N-no way… How?!”
She held her breath for a moment and then peered into the crystal again. There really was someone trapped in there.
I have to save them…!
Riselia drew a pistol from her holster.
Bang, bang, ba-bang!
…Why is it so loud…?
An unpleasant sound echoed outside the casket…
The Undead King—Leonis Death Magnus—stirred from sleep. He was in the Grand Mausoleum, located beneath the legendary undead capital of Necrozoa. Frozen time began to move, and the Undead King’s soul, sealed within the casket, awoke.
Has it been a thousand years already…?
Bang, bang, bang!
As he peered into the darkness, thoughts began circulating through his mind. He had been entirely unconscious while sealed inside the casket. For him, time had not advanced since that day the undead army was defeated by the heroes of mankind and his capital of Necrozoa, the last fortress of his army, fell.
Bang, bang, bang!
It seems the ritual of reincarnation was successful…
Leonis tried clenching his fingers in the darkness. He was still a bit numb, but he could definitely feel his limbs. Even the Undead King couldn’t maintain his body for a thousand years without a supply of mana. And so he had employed a secret art of undeath to suspend his soul and had used this casket to reincarnate his form—
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
…Grrrrrrrrr, I demand silence!
The Undead King Leonis practically shouted the thought, annoyed at having been consistently interrupted while he was thinking.
What is that noise anyway?
Apparently, someone was beating on his casket.
What manner of scoundrel would dare disturb the Undead King’s slumber?
The Grand Mausoleum was sealed below the earth with a powerful barrier, so it was hard to imagine it could be easily discovered. It had been one thousand years, though, and there was no saying what manner of disaster or cataclysm could have struck in that time.
But the crypt was completely shut away by an anti-magic wall…
Leonis concentrated on the noise outside the casket. Whatever dastard was trying to destroy the casket was apparently saying something.
It seems to be the human tongue. Hmm…
After one thousand years, a language’s syntax was bound to change somewhat. Extending his fingers into the darkness, he chanted a language analysis spell, and a light flashed before him. Even after reincarnation, this body of flesh was capable of using magic without any trouble.
“This can’t be normal rock if it deflects bullets this easily. Guess I’ll try an anti-material round next…”
He didn’t quite understand everything they were saying, but it seemed they were out to destroy the casket.
…Foolish grave robbers, it seems, Leonis concluded.
It went without saying that his casket was impervious to most conventional forms of magic. Regardless, he would have to punish this scoundrel.
—Behold the revived form of the Undead King. Die with the image burned into your eyes!
Leonis extended his hand, and…
Crrrrrrrrrrrrrack!
The dark-crystal casket shattered with an ear-numbing sound, loosing a powerful shock wave that knocked back the figure who had stood at Leonis’s coffin.
“………”
Having been revived after a millennium of slumber, the Undead King looked around, lording over it all. The atmosphere of the underground Grand Mausoleum hadn’t changed one bit. The air was completely still, thick with the presence of death.
“…Aah… Nnng…!”
Leonis’s gaze fell to the person before him, who was crouched down and moaning in pain. The shock wave hadn’t been his intended punishment for this insolent grave robber, of course. He would exact his vengeance starting now, and he planned to give them an ample taste of terror for the newly resurrected Undead King, and—
“…?!”
The moment he took a step forward, Leonis’s eyes widened.
There was a source of light lying on the ground, illuminating the shape of…a girl. She looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old. Her hair was a shining shade of silver, and her eyes were ice blue. Her skin was the color of virgin snow. Overall, her beauty matched that of the high elves.
No… Have even the high elves ever known a girl of such beauty? Her loveliness was like the chiseled artistry of a goddess’s statue. Watching her with a mystified look on his face, Leonis stood frozen, his breath held.
He needed to punish this brazen thief… But the thought evaporated like mist. The girl was wearing a kind of garb that Leonis had never seen before. It was like the uniform of a light cavalry soldier, except its basic tone was dark blue, and it had a skirt attached. Suffice to say, she certainly didn’t look to be any kind of robber.
“Wh-what…?” She raised her voice, looking up at Leonis.
Rather than fear, her voice was full of surprise.
…Right. I must hand down punishment…
He cleared his throat, but then…
“…What… What’s a kid doing here?” she asked.
“…Pardon?” Leonis returned with his own query despite himself.
What does she mean by “kid”…?
Furrowing his brow, the Undead King looked down at his limbs.
“…What?!” His eyes widened in shock.
I-impossible…!
Small, undependable hands. Soft, unblemished skin. The physique beneath his black robe was like that of a small child… No, it wasn’t like that of a child. The Undead King Leonis Death Magnus found himself inhabiting the form of a ten-year-old boy.
…Could the ritual of reincarnation have failed somehow?!
The spell of reincarnation was a twelfth-order spell of the highest caliber and had several variations to it.
One involved rebirth by transferring one’s soul to another vessel. Another involved creating a new vessel by way of magic and fixing one’s soul in it. Yet another was to return one’s body to a past state and restructure it. That was the method Leonis had chosen.
He had elected to restore his damaged body to its prime, using that as the vessel for his soul. Not unlike a phoenix reborn from within the flames.
But why do I look like this…?
He had prepared the spell to restructure his body into that of the Undead King. So why had it reverted to this despicable shape—the form he’d had when he was still known as the Hero Leonis? His dark robe felt loose. Compared to the body he’d had when he was the Undead King, this one felt far less reliable.
“Erm…”
Apparently relieved that the one who appeared before her was a young boy, the silver-haired girl adjusted the hem of her skirt and slowly rose to her feet. She kneeled in front of Leonis and peered intently into his face before looking again at the shattered pieces of the dark-crystal casket.
“Why were you inside that thing?”
“…W-well, that’s…”
With those ice-blue eyes gazing straight at him, his heart skipped a beat.
…Ugh, this is why I loathe the flesh of a human body…
“Did the Voids abduct you?” she asked.
“…Voids?” Leonis frowned. That was an unfamiliar word.
“…I see. Your memories must be jumbled because of the shock…”
And inspired by whatever unknown urge might’ve struck her, the young woman suddenly took Leonis’s body in a tight embrace.
“…!”
“…Everything will be all right.”
“Wh-what, what are you…?!”
“Your big sister will keep you safe.”
“S-stop it… Mmm, nnng, mmmf!”
Squish.
The Undead King’s face was being pressed against a pair of soft, supple fruits—the plump chest of a young woman. The tips of her silvery locks tickled his cheeks, and her dainty fingers gently brushed through his hair.
…!
This was quite a disrespectful manner with which to treat the Undead King who had reigned over the capital of Necrozoa. But for some reason, Leonis couldn’t (or rather wouldn’t) resist her hold on him. His heart was beating fast at these long-forgotten feelings he had once known as a human being. The sensation of her embrace was simply too pleasant.
…Huh…?
A sudden spell of dizziness came over him. Nestled in the soft, cushion-like embrace of a woman’s bosom, the Undead King Leonis’s consciousness sank into darkness…
…Hmm, I see. These have dried grapes kneaded into them.
Sitting atop the stone altar of the Grand Mausoleum, Leonis was stuffing his face with the hard biscuits the silver-haired girl handed him.
They’re reminiscent of the portable foodstuffs the elves would carry, except they were drier than these.
He’d discarded his sense of taste eons ago, but the experience of eating wasn’t all that bad.
“…Mmm, nng, aagh…”
A lump of a biscuit got stuck in his throat, and Leonis started coughing and beating his chest.
This body truly is an incorrigible thing. To think I’d lose consciousness out of hunger…, Leonis thought, bitterly.
Yes, Leonis had fainted because of mere hunger… It was actually quite dangerous. The strongest Dark Lord passing out because of an empty stomach was an unimaginable blunder.
He’d never dreamed he’d reincarnate into his human body, so he had prepared no food or water. He hated to admit it, but…
Leonis raised his head, looking at the girl sitting a short distance away from him.
…This woman may well have just saved my life.
Normally, this would be an accomplishment great enough to warrant awarding her the highest honor he could bequeath, the Bone Medal. Said girl had her hand pressed against her earring and seemed to be speaking to someone.
“I’ve discovered a child refugee in the ruin. Requesting confirmation.”
“—Roger… I’ll cross-reference the refugee lists.”