Chapter 12

The next moment, the second-rank knight, Senli Sylvis, swung her sword directly at the oncoming darkness. “Photon Delete.” “?!” The light streaming from the blade turned into a streaking comet that engulfed the beam of black flames. It continued blowing away the unresisting fires and plunging forth until it obliterated half of the evil dragon’s body. Her strength left her. Exhaustion caused her head to sting. Her body nearly collapsed. But her eyes were glaring firmly at Horos Kamen. Photon Delete was a godlike art of Epe, Senli’s master and possessor of top-class strength even among the first-rank knights. The technique condensed a massive amount of blessing power, converted it into destructive power, then released it. It was simple but hid within it the possibility to send any denizen of the dark to their grave. The technique consisted of nothing more than brute force—but it was perfectly suited to Senli. The spent power was quickly replenished, and her body got a bit lighter. That was Senli’s physical constitution at work—the massive power stored within her, the power of her blessing that recovered immediately, which her master, Epe, had called a soul who reaches further heights. This was a blessing given to her by divinity, one bestowed upon her as an Ender Knight. The tragedy—the indignation—Senli experienced gave her strength. Power sprang forth again, as though in response to her feelings. She’d exhausted energy on the way here—but she had more than enough to blow away this necromancer. To date, Senli had never once run out of blessings in the middle of a fight. “Impossible…! That power—it’s his!” “My apologies, but I need you to die.” “Curse you… Don’t tell me you’re a first-rank knight?!” “I’m about to become one.” This was by no means revenge for Lou. Nor was it a venting of anger. This was the divine command passed down to Senli Sylvis, Ender Knight. The evil dragon, now missing half its body, had regained its physical form through Horos’s power. Once again, Senli gathered her blessing into her sword, then swung at the beast with more strength than usual. The evil dragon roared. A chill ran down Senli’s back at the intense presence of death. The entire world felt as if it were covered in darkness. Light and dark were opposing forces. The power of death, wielded by necromancers, had mental effects on the living. That power would normally have had no effect on the Ender Knights, who were protected by the strength of the light, but the dragon’s ferocity was too far beyond. If a normal human had been here, their instinctual terror would have prevented them from moving a muscle. …So strong. So beyond compare. She’d realized how massive Horos’s might was with a single glance. Right when he’d created the evil dragon, Senli understood that he was far stronger than any of the second-rank necromancers she’d fought thus far. Those fangs he’d used as catalysts were likely the fangs of a notably powerful dragon. But the might of any undead was heavily influenced by the strength of the caster. Senli had been on support duty for several first-rank necromancer hunts with Epe, but this man, who had an evil dragon to do his bidding, may have been even more powerful than some of them. Three times already, the dragon, its body destroyed, had stood firm before Senli and the others as though nothing had happened. The power of a blessing was the ideal force to bear against the power of darkness. But even then…a third-rank knight probably wouldn’t have been able to win. She doubted even a second-rank knight had a surefire chance. She could feel the deep-seated obsession of many years from the detestably enormous mana pouring from his old bones. It was strange, even, that he hadn’t yet become a first-rank necromancer. She gave her gratitude to the one who had sent them the letter that nullified the bounded field—thanks to that, they’d made it in time. Their strategy was already set in stone. Luphrey and the others were companions she’d been with for a long time. They didn’t need to exchange words. At Senli’s flanks were Luphrey and Nevira, wielding weapons made of sacred-silver to drive off demons as they took the attacks. Thelma aimed for Horos with her arrows. The quiet sorcerer, Adrian, softly incanted spells to put up a barrier that would prevent the dark from getting inside. Against an undead of this level, it was very difficult to deal effective damage with average abilities, even if you aimed for a weak point. Indeed, the arrows pointed at Horos were repelled by the shock wave that followed the evil dragon’s roars. Nevira and Luphrey sliced apart and pushed away its flinging tail and the sharp, shadowy tentacles extending from its body, but the dragon didn’t seem the least bit affected. And even with most of its body obliterated, it regenerated in an instant—via necromancy. The only one who could defeat them was Senli. Even with his mortal enemies before him, even with his dragon thrice blown apart, Horos still hadn’t dropped his haughty attitude. They had to defeat him before he turned into a first-rank necromancer, at any cost. They could win. They would win. Senli wasn’t alone. “Epe the Extinguisher, you old bastard… You would yet obstruct my road to domination?!” Horos screamed with rage, hiding himself behind the dragon. His cries made Senli remember what her master, Epe, had told her. Horos Kamen apparently had a longtime feud with Epe. He had cornered the necromancer several times, only to have him slip through his fingers at the last moment each time. Perhaps Epe had entrusted this conquest to Senli and the others because, though he still had strength remaining, the heroic knight leader had grown old, and he wanted to entrust his mission to the next generation of Ender Knights. She focused her eyes and mind. Rallying her strength, she put all her heart into her sword. Her companions were desperately fending off the dragon’s attacks. Senli unleashed her power anew. “Photon Delete!” The torrent of light she focused her mind on and fired had been given the attribute of destruction, and it was far more enormous than the previous ones. It pierced the evil dragon like it was made of paper and continued on, engulfing Horos behind it. The light disappeared. Photon Delete converted blessings into destructive energy to deal damage to the undead as well as other living creatures. One could call the technique the pinnacle of blessing-based attacks. Epe, her master and the technique’s developer, was said to have used this power to destroy an entire castle. But Horos Kamen’s evil presence didn’t vanish. Senli’s companions were still alert, too. Horos, who should have certainly been blown away, floated calmly in midair. His robe wasn’t even frayed. The Knights should have dealt enough damage to the dragon that even an undead wouldn’t be able to regenerate fully…yet the creature did exactly that. Breathing roughly, Nevira spat. “Soul Transference… Dammit, what a pain!” It was one of a necromancer’s arcane secrets—splitting up and relocating one’s soul to defy death. As long as they didn’t kill the lord, his evil dragon would revive as many times as it needed to. But Horos wasn’t immortal. They just had to destroy every one of his partitioned souls. The necromancer was clearly exhausted. Controlling the dragon and reviving it must have been draining enormous reserves of mana from him. Senli felt her heart race. Her fatigue from firing her blessing so many times had filled her body with a mysterious sense of elation. This would be a battle of attrition. Senli caught her breath, storing new power in her sword, her expression unchanging. “I’m fine. I’ll destroy him until he’s no more.” “Don’t patronize me, you toddling child!” Horos took something from an inside pocket and scattered it around himself. In his hand were small, decaying white fangs. When they hit the ground, in less time than it took to blink, they changed into skeletons wearing helmets and armor. This was an ancient spell called Dragon-Fang Soldier. These beings weren’t undead, but rather they were a type of golem. Was it a countermeasure specifically for the Ender Knights? The evil dragon, with its gargantuan frame, charged at them while the waves of golems attacked from the flanks. The creatures were after Senli. But they weren’t worth being afraid of. Her companions stepped out in front of her to intercept the assault. Senli left her fellow knights to contain their opponents, then calmly stepped back before spurring her heavy body onward, focusing on accumulating power. Brilliant lights, strong enough to blot out the sun, flashed many times. My body shuddered with instinctual fear just from hearing those angry roars foretelling death shaking the forest. Light blew away the mansion, and overflowing darkness devastated the world. It certainly wasn’t a battle I could even think about joining—it was the kind they sang about in legends. I sat hidden atop a large tree growing very close to the mansion in the woods behind it, observing the fight. Necromancers could sense the locations of their subordinate undead. The ability didn’t seem to be very precise, but the lord might have noticed if I got too far, so there wasn’t any way I could leave the mansion. Not until the lord died anyway. The monster the lord had created was a massive, pitch-black dragon. Those fangs must have been the catalysts. Its veiny body was like darkness itself. Its tail extended like a shadow, easily wrecking the mansion, and the black flames it unleashed from its oral cavity engulfed the surroundings like a tidal wave, incinerating them. The monster was a stark difference from the undead I’d seen the lord control in the past. If I’d known about this ploy of his ahead of time, I would’ve been a little more prudent about all this. But that jet-black giant was easily obliterated by light of such quantity it would make one shiver. If it had been me, I’d have died a hundred times just from a graze. I was sure of it—that was how massive the positive energy was that wiped out the dark breath, incinerated most of the dragon’s body, engulfed the lord standing behind it, and continued on without stopping, shooting by a few meters past the tree in which I’d concealed myself. A single, petite young woman had done all that—Senli. She didn’t retreat from the giant dragon that could swallow up the entire world; instead, she swung her sword. The positive energy housed within her decreased with every blast but then returned to her right away, as though it was being resupplied somehow. She was the very picture of a hero. The lord was impenetrable, and yet so was she. And if a second-rank knight could do this, how powerful was a first-rank knight? Most of the evil dragon’s body was blown away—but in an instant, it regenerated, reverting to normal. The lord, who had supposedly disappeared into the light, stood there as well, perfectly unharmed. His angry shouts overlapped with the roars of Senli’s companions. I couldn’t tell who was dominating the battle. I was weak. I was by far the weakest out of all those here right now. Both the dragon’s tail and a strike from the light would reduce me to rubble. My newly gained regenerative and physical abilities from becoming a ghoul would not avail me. But even watching it, I was calm. I’d come to terms with my weakness long ago. This was…the only thing I could have done. And my decision had been right. Even now, having invited the fierce assault, they were on even footing. If I’d given the lord any more time to prepare, he might have easily put down Senli. The Ender Knights were the strongest. That was my sense of them, at least, having read about their exploits in fairy tales so many times while bedridden. According to my plan, Senli’s group should have been able to kill the lord more easily. He may have possessed 120 lives, but the Knights were supposed to be accustomed to fighting against necromancers like him. Senli and the others used subtle combinations to oppose the dragon-controlling lord. She struck, and her teammates supported her. And that wasn’t how I’d imagined one of the Ender Knights’ battles to go. I pulled the front of the Cloak of Perpetual Night around me more tightly and gripped the Amulet of Shadow. I hadn’t bet on the lord. I’d bet on Senli. I’d done everything I could to ensure Senli’s victory. I’d decided it would be easier to run from the Ender Knights than the crafty lord, who had several facets of authority over me, not least of which were his absolute commands. I figured that with me as a ghoul, still able to operate in the sunlight, still possessing intelligence, still able to hide my negative presence with the amulet, I could shake off the Knights. I’d risked it all. If the lord was to win here, he would have doubts about me, since I hadn’t returned to him right away like he’d ordered. I would have to trust that he was exhausted and attack him before he realized the command hadn’t worked. The din never ceased. The mansion I’d spent almost a year in after becoming an undead was crumbling to the ground. It was being ruined by flames, light, blades, and draconic strikes. As I stared, without making a sound, I remembered my promise to Lou. The sun had reached its zenith. At last, the time had come. The evil dragon let out a roar. The ground quaked, the air shook, and it almost seemed like cracks had run through the earth. Dark energy gathered and glowed, so deep it could drag you into its abyss at a mere glance. There was a tenacity behind it. This is how he planned to end things. Senli and the others were already wounded all over. It didn’t seem like something they could withstand. As I sucked in my breath, I heard a voice slicing through the darkness. “Haaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” “?!” For the first time, Senli had let out a cry. Her silvery sword gleamed. Light clashed with light. The battle was over. It wasn’t even a contest. The light that burst from her sword was so enormous, it was like a second sun—it enveloped the darkness and burned the evil dragon away. It was a miracle. The dragon had attacked with all its might, but Senli’s voice had life in it. There was no way she could have been able to control such a giant power after firing energy so many times in succession. But she had. The dragon, which had immediately spread its wings out wide as if to protect the lord, disappeared, reduced to dust. The light vanished, and atop the mountain of rubble, a kneeling Senli and her worn-out comrades remained. And… “That’s absurd… How could you still…? That much power… Im…possible…” The lord groaned, his eyes opened wide. There was no sign of the evil dragon reviving. The lord’s body began turning to dust, starting from his toes. Had he used up all 120 lives? The staff fell from his hand, and as it began to disappear, he looked at it dumbly. There was no fear in his expression. Without crying out or wailing, the lord was, right up until the end, like the necromancers I’d always envisioned. Senli, breathing raggedly, watched their enemy with sharp eyes as he disappeared. Her silvery bangs stuck to the sweat on her forehead. Even her power must have been spent, because the blessing bursting from her before had now dried up so much that even I might be able to defeat her. “It’s…over.” “Such regret. If my wish had been granted, the likes of you would be… If it had been…night… Ah…” And so, without cursing Senli, the one who had brought him to destruction, or even looking at her directly, the lord, with surprising ease, vanished. Nothing remained—it was like everything had been an illusion. His robe had turned to dust with his body, and the only evidence of his existence was the staff that had fallen to the ground. I shuddered. I’d won. I’d won my gamble. The lord was my savior and mortal enemy. A great foe I couldn’t have ever destroyed myself. There was no sense of accomplishment. Nor any particular grudge. Perhaps that was why I felt, paired with relief, a faint sense of loneliness. I’d been the one who survived. Now there was nobody who could bind me. Senli and the other Ender Knights were exhausted. But I didn’t intend to attack them. Then Senli fell, as though a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cut. One of her companions supported her, giving a wry grin. The presence of companions. That was the major difference between the lord and Senli’s group. The lord had had subordinates but never companions. I wondered what the battle would’ve been like if he’d had any. No… I wouldn’t answer that. The lord had used everything he had, always sticking to his convictions, and he had lost. It wasn’t my place to say anything. One of the Knights picked up the staff the lord had left behind, then broke it clean in two before incinerating it with light. Supporting one another, Senli’s party made their way away from the mansion grounds. I saw them off from where I was, not moving a muscle. I never took my eyes off them for a moment until they were long gone.