Chapter 5 Vessel for a King After making sure nobody was around, I jumped down from the tree. I’d been perched up there for a few hours, and my body felt just a little bit stiff. Stretching out my back muscles, I headed for the remains of the mansion. It had been utterly destroyed. The roof and walls had turned to rubble, lacking both the presence of the undead and the living. Still, even if it had somehow survived, I couldn’t have stayed there forever. I didn’t even have the time to bask in the victory. This was a necromancer’s base. The Ender Knights had withdrawn for now, but once they recovered their stamina, they would come back to deal with the mansion—possibly as soon as tomorrow. In the fairy tales, they always put necromancer hideouts to the torch. So what do I need to do now? I was a ghoul. I didn’t know what luxury was—any lifestyle would be better than my previous life, and as long as I had fresh meat, I was confident I could survive. Unlike regular undead, I didn’t intend to attack humans. But I would probably need to avoid any contact with them. The one thing I knew for sure was that I had to get out of this forest quickly. The Ender Knights didn’t know the meaning of mercy. If they were to somehow find me, my annihilation would be swift. …But I still had a promise to keep before I fled. I found Lou’s corpse buried under a pile of rubble where a hallway had once been. Miraculously, the body didn’t have any grievous wounds. The silver arrow stuck in her chest, meant to purify darkness, had probably been the cause of death. I wiped the trickle of blood from her lips. Her face was tranquil; it almost looked like she was just sleeping. I wondered if she’d ever made such a peaceful expression in her lifetime. The only faces she had put on around me, at least, were of anger or fright. The corpse whetted my appetite. It smelled so fragrant. For a ghoul, human corpses were delicacies. But I wasn’t going to eat her. I’d never eat a human. “Even now… I’m a man who keeps his promises. You don’t need to worry.” I gripped the silver arrow. White smoke rose from my hand, and a sharp pain shot through me, the kind I hadn’t felt for a long time, at least not since becoming an undead. But I ignored the pain and yanked the arrow out, tossing it to the side before hoisting Lou’s corpse. She’d never been that big to begin with, but her corpse was incredibly light. I couldn’t tell if it was because she was missing something that made her human or if my arms were simply that strong. Her soul probably wasn’t here any longer, either. Lou had been fated to die. She’d foreseen as much herself, and if she hadn’t died here, she would have died in some other place without fanfare. She’d lacked the strength to live. But neither had she the courage to die. She had been altogether weak. That was why I’d known what she was looking for. When Lou had heard my proposal, she’d cried. She’d called me a monster for correctly guessing what she, a weakling, wished for. She’d had a chance. I’d offered to rescue her, and there might have indeed been a way to save her. I couldn’t have done anything since, in reality, the lord had kept her close at hand until the final moments, but when I’d offered to bring her to town, she’d had the option to agree. But she wasn’t even strong enough to do that. Ah, how out of our control this world was—that one who had already died would cling to life so dearly he would return from the grave, yet she should lose that motivation to live at all. I spoke to the one who had lost her life, who now slumbered with a somehow relieved expression. “As promised…I’ll make you a grave. And I’ll even pray for you, so you can rest in peace. See? It was a good thing you made that pact with me.” Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to spend finding the perfect place for her grave. It was all I could do to bring her beyond the mansion’s fences. I hadn’t promised a specific location, though, so she probably wouldn’t mind. Lou would’ve understood that I wasn’t the type of person to care much about graves. I understood her feelings as a weak person, but I by no means empathized with them. I chose a spot outside the fence that at least had good sunlight, then got to digging. It was fortunate Lou’s body was small. Using a piece of destroyed wood from the mansion, I was luckily able to dig a hole more than big enough to fit her in, with stamina to spare, and I laid her body in it. I placed a flower I picked nearby in her hand and held it to her chest. Unfortunately, there was no time to cremate her. Still, with the evil necromancer dead, I probably didn’t have to worry about her being resurrected. “Sorry about this. I don’t really know the proper way to bury people… I was buried once myself, but I don’t remember it. Oh—I should take this off.” I grabbed the proof of her enslavement around her neck and ripped it off. The magical collar that had bound her in life came off easily, perhaps because its wearer had passed away. A white mark remained where the collar had been. I wondered if removing the collar would let Lou’s soul go free. Making excuses to myself, I began carefully filling in the dirt over her body. There was no tombstone. She didn’t even have a funeral—just a single undead to pray for her. It seemed a terrible end. But even a burial like this was far better than the lord making her into an undead and forcing her to work after her death. Her legs were covered first and then her body, leaving only the face. I wavered on what to say to send her off, but in the end, I spoke the way I usually did. “You were luckier than the lord, Lou. You had someone to make you a grave. I suppose the lord got what was coming to him, though…” I finished filling in the grave, covering her face before pounding in the dirt. Then I stood up, but one thing gave me a slight tinge of sorrow. Above all, even if I got it in my mind for some reason to visit her grave in the future, I wouldn’t know where she’d been buried. I needed to get out of here quickly, but the dead Lou might grow angry with me, claiming this wasn’t a proper grave. If she told me I’d broken our promise after I’d done all this, I wouldn’t be able to look her in the eye. For a moment, I vacillated, but remembered I had something good to use, and so I returned to the mansion. The silver arrow. I’d pulled it out of her not long ago; now I brought it over, bearing the pain, and stuck it into the ground where Lou was buried. Silver was said to ward off evil. It wasn’t a cross, but if I made it a cross, I might not ever be able to come back to visit if I mutated into a vampire and had crosses added to my list of weaknesses. I also took the opportunity to bring over a large, relatively pretty stone from the mansion’s rubble, and into it I carved her name. “…Looks lonely with just the first name.” There was space left. But I didn’t know Lou’s last name. Giving up, I appended my own last name to it. Better than making it Kamen. I wasn’t sure if I spelled her first name right, either; I hoped she’d understand anyway. Finally, satisfied with my work, as a last act, I put my hands together and prayed. She was probably the first person to have an undead pray for her after their death. Please—let Lou rest in peace. “What……are you doing?” “?!” It was a voice I never should have heard. I ended my prayer and stood up slowly. The tips of my fingers shook. It felt like a knife was being held to my neck. I turned around and prayed once more, not for Lou’s sake but for my own. There was Senli, who had left with her companions not long ago, watching me with those sharp eyes of hers. It was completely unexpected. I could sense positive energy, but that didn’t mean I could perfectly detect even minuscule amounts of it. It was just like not being able to hear soft sounds without listening carefully—I could miss it if I was preoccupied with something else. Senli had collapsed earlier, and not even half a day later, she was back. How could I have predicted that? I’d let my guard down. I’d thought that even if they ultimately did come back to clean things up, I would have the night to spare. Those violet eyes seemed to draw me in as she watched me. Her features were impassive, and if my heart could still move, it might have stopped then out of sheer despair. “You…” In the span of a moment, I racked my brain. First, I checked whether Senli’s companions were present. The other four Ender Knights weren’t here. That was good news. Next, I confirmed the difference in our strength. Senli was exhausted from the battle with the lord. However, the positive energy stored within her had recovered quite a bit since she’d left. It was far from fully replenished, and while her blessing must have had a limit…she was a monster, pure and true. She was a little dirty, but she had no major wounds. And besides, considering how she’d endured throughout the battle with the lord, even if she’d been about to die in the midst of that fight, she probably would have awakened to more. That was basically how the necromancers in the stories were destined to be defeated. Lastly, I tried to imagine what she thought of me. I’d already been seen in town with Lou, who had in all likelihood been killed by the Ender Knights. It seemed extremely obvious that Senli would consider me an enemy because of that. Senli’s eyes were fixed on me. But for just a sliver of a moment, I saw her gaze shift to the sun shining in the sky. Only lower-level undead could be active in the sunlight. It wasn’t affecting me, and yet I also wasn’t giving in to instinct and attacking her—she was probably wavering on whether to assume I was undead. My negative energy was hidden, so I wouldn’t look like an undead at a glance—at least, I thought. I clenched my right hand, which was still burning with pain from touching the silver arrow. Blessed silver arrows were a weakness of all undead, and ghouls were no exception. They were weak enough that they wouldn’t kill one without striking a vital area, but not only had this one blocked my regenerative abilities and left a scar, there was still white smoke billowing from the burn wound. There was no point in hiding it now. Senli would have to notice. And even if I had been human, the Knights would have put me down as well for being one of the Lord’s companions. The Ender Knights were all offense, so much so that a few children’s tales had scenes where they mercilessly slaughtered people who were under a necromancer’s control. I didn’t know why Senli had returned on her own. But if I ran, I’d be killed. If I attacked her, I’d be killed then, too. Neither of those options would spare my life. Which meant…I’d just have to persuade her. If I were her, I wouldn’t let me go, but she wasn’t me. And most importantly, when I saw her in town, she wasn’t like the other third-rank knights, either. She had something the other third ranks didn’t: mercy. She had tried to save Lou and me, even though it might have been because she’d convinced herself that we were humans. I could say one thing for certain. If another third-rank knight had come instead of Senli, I would have already been dead. Both third-rank and second-rank knights were equally lethal and invincible to me, so it was actually good fortune that the one to come had been Senli. She was different. Compared to the ferocious Ender Knights who appeared in the fairy tales, she was deeply compassionate. And that was an opportunity. Endeavoring to remain calm, I constructed a sad sort of expression and looked at Lou’s grave. “Before she died, Lou asked me…to build her a grave. I was praying so she could rest in peace.” “……Right.” Senli’s response was curt, but I saw just a hint of sorrow flash through her eyes. Her tone was less formal—maybe this was the real her. I still couldn’t let down my guard, but it appeared she didn’t intend to wipe me out right away. I’d try a friendly approach. Show her my humanity. I still hadn’t acted like a typical undead in front of her. “Um…… Senli, was it? Why did you come here?” Her silver hair blew gently in the breeze. Senli was silent for a few moments as she looked at the grave, then she finally spoke. “………I came to retrieve her remains. I thought I’d bury her in town.” That was…not what I’d expected to hear. “I see…… I suppose this was unnecessary, then.” That was the truth. If I hadn’t made Lou a grave, I would have gotten out of here before Senli arrived. Lou obviously would’ve been happier resting in a pretty grave in town than getting one built in the middle of the forest like this. One couldn’t blame me—it was a promise, after all—but I hadn’t thought the Ender Knights were such a commendable organization. I stayed silent to prevent my irritation from showing. Senli drew nearer, coming to my side, looking down at the grave. The scent of her pale, soft-looking neck spurred my appetite. It wouldn’t take more than a second to extend my claws, swing my arm, and grab it. But that wasn’t an option. I couldn’t give her an excuse to attack me, even though being an undead was excuse enough already. “Were you…her friend?” she asked me. Friend? Lou would’ve been angry to hear that. We weren’t anything like friends. At the end, we made a promise and joined forces, but if anything, we’d been enemies since the very beginning. I held a hand to my face, then said in a despondent tone to match hers, “No… We were…family.” “……” Let that stir her heart. Let that evoke her sympathy—this compassionate angel of death’s sympathy. It could work. I hadn’t died yet. I could do this. I’d use whatever makeshift means were available to me. Fortunately, I didn’t need to keep up appearances. I felt weird saying it about myself, but I was a much more pathetic person than I had been in life. “But now she’s finally at peace,” I said. “She wouldn’t have had any future, even if she’d stayed Horos’s slave. Deep down, she wished for death. I didn’t have it in me to save her. You and your friends did, Senli.” “That isn’t…,” muttered Senli, not batting an eye when I mentioned her by name. Her expression hadn’t shifted almost at all, making it hard to read—but there was little doubt that she was emotional. I’d just hedged my bet. Time was not on my side. The longer Senli was out here, the higher the chance her Ender Knights companions would come looking for her. Pointing at myself and heaving a big sigh, I said, “Sure is inconvenient having an undead body at a time like this. I feel so sad, but I can’t cry.” “?! You… So you were…!” Her eyes full of conviction, Senli swiftly took a step away from me to put me within striking distance. I was as good as dead even if she hadn’t drawn her sword yet. But I didn’t panic. I’d do this carefully. To show I meant her no harm, I managed to smile, spread my hands, and put them up for her. “Yes, I’m…a ghoul. But for some reason… I still have my memories from my lifetime.” “………Huh?” Senli’s expression, which hadn’t changed much at all until now, shifted. She gazed at me in wonderment, eyes devoid of hostility. The lord had never once suspected that I retained the memories from my life. And, judging by the look on Senli’s face, this was a considerably rare occurrence. I’d won. That which had pierced Lou’s breast was an arrow. Senli’s weapon was a sword. She couldn’t slay humans who evoked pity. Even if I had a monster’s body, I had the intelligence and reason from being a human. She couldn’t kill me. Even if nobody else criticized her for it, she empathized with others too much. As an Ender Knight, being that soft was a fatal flaw. Her combat abilities were tremendous, but she had far too much of her humanity. I didn’t need to exaggerate. I would simply tell her exactly what had happened. After taking a dramatically deep breath for emphasis, I began my story of the sad, pathetic End. Senli listened to my tale silently, her face emotionless. But all throughout it, waves of confusion roiled within her amethyst-like eyes. I didn’t harbor a grudge. What I’d had in my lifetime was agony and hopelessness. Without any room to make real efforts, my short life ended with me clinging to it. That I’d been able to awaken again and retain my memories even after becoming an undead…was a miracle. I didn’t know the reason. It hadn’t been my intention to come back as an undead. Still, I’d been fortunate. Fortunate that I could stand on my own two feet once more, that I could run through the forests like I had. What, precisely, was the difference between an undead who didn’t attack people—who had no need to attack people—and a human? I was trying to get Senli to answer that question for me. I added story after story, recalling the tale of a cheerful swindler who had appeared in a comedy I read long ago. “Ah. Then the letter…” “Lou helped me. Horos Kamen was plotting to conduct a terrible ritual. If it went much longer, he may have commanded me to attack the living. I wanted to avoid that at all costs. It was good luck that you and the Ender Knights had come to a nearby town. I retained my humanity thanks to that.” “……” I chose my words carefully, giving her further reasons to spare me. Senli lowered her eyes, almost like she was trying to hide her indecision. I hadn’t lied to her once. I’d never assaulted a person—because I’d almost never been out of the forest. I didn’t want to attack people—because I didn’t want to make enemies of the Knights. But if it had been essential to my continued survival, I probably would have discarded my hesitation and become a monster who did attack humans. I was logical. A monster with human logic and intelligence. Objectively, that made me a truly dreadful monster. If I were one of the Knights, I’d never allow me to live. What irony it was—in a sense, I, an undead being, might have been more of a fit for the Knights than Senli and her abundant talents. “Fortunately, nobody lives in this forest. I plan to carry out the rest of my life in peace, watching over Lou’s grave. I can hunt animals for food, so that’s what I’ve been doing.” “…I see.” “Is that bad?” The sun had begun to set without my realizing it. A beautiful scarlet washed over Lou’s simple grave. I waited for her answer. The wound on my hand from gripping the silver arrow had already healed. Night was my time—the time for the undead. Ghouls were weak, so the dark wouldn’t strengthen me very much, but it was far better than daytime. Senli vacillated. Each second, each minute felt like ten minutes. Patiently, I awaited a response with a smile. Patient was all I could be anyway. If I fled now, Senli would give chase. And the legs of a low-rank undead wouldn’t match Senli, who had easily blown away a dragon and killed the lord 120 times. Not even at night. She didn’t realize it, but she was essentially holding her sword to my throat right now. Eventually, she looked back up. There was no hesitation in her eyes. She had intelligent eyes, and unlike her dispassionate voice, they held compassion. “……All right. I’ve never met an undead with their previous memories intact, but… End, you’re certainly a rational person. In which case, there won’t be any issues…I think.” The last part of her sentence sounded slightly doubtful. But the rest of it was firm and resolved. She probably intended to persuade her companions. She was righteous, and kindhearted, to the end. I sighed in relief, then looked down at the grave. “Thank goodness… I’m sure Lou is happy, too.” “……I’ll come again tomorrow. If there’s anything you need, tell me, and I’ll bring it.” “I couldn’t impose on you like that. But I suppose… If you find any flowers for Lou, I’d like you to bring them. This forest doesn’t seem to have much in the way of flowers.” “……All right. I promise I’ll bring some…so wait right here.” Senli nodded deeply. What a radiant individual. It seemed to me that her soul was the purest out of all the people I’d met, even in my lifetime. She had faith in people. You couldn’t become like her by living normally. She was a little different from the Ender Knights I’d admired, but even from an outsider’s perspective, her nature was noble. Which was why it pained me very much to trick such a purehearted girl. The sky changed to dusk. After offering a prayer at Lou’s grave, Senli headed off toward the forest’s exit. I’d probably never see her again. As soon as she was gone, I was going to get out of the forest myself. Her silvery hair fluttered behind her. I called out to her one last time. I still had one particular question, and maybe Senli, as an Ender Knight, would know the answer. “Senli—by the way, Horos Kamen mentioned something. He said he would create the king of the dead. Not that it matters anymore, but do you know what that means?” Senli stopped dead in her tracks. Without turning around, she replied casually, “A king of the dead…refers to a first-rank necromancer who has transformed himself into a special kind of undead through forbidden magic. Horos Kamen was human. I destroyed him. This issue is…no longer relevant.” After waiting for Senli’s presence to vanish completely, I immediately got moving. I needed to hurry. Senli had chosen to let me go. She’d accepted my proposal to spend the rest of my days in this forest. Her words had been sincere. I hadn’t known her for long, but it was clear she wasn’t the type to tell lies. However, she probably wouldn’t be able to persuade her companions. Of course she wouldn’t. I had memories from my lifetime, but I was undeniably still a monster. The Ender Knights made it their divine mission to subjugate the denizens of the dark, and they would never overlook me. As someone who had admired to them so much, I knew all about them. It wasn’t that the other knights were cruel. Senli was just abnormal. Would she keep quiet about me to her companions? No, that was impossible, too. She was no fool, but she was far too trusting. Even if she did stay quiet, what would her fellow knights think when she came back without the remains she’d gone to collect? If they asked her, she would probably tell them. And then she’d beg their compassion for my sake. Just as I had begged her. They would doubtlessly come to kill me. The entire group would come to slaughter me, the unsightly creature who had taken advantage of their princess’s emotions and deceived her. I didn’t want anyone’s acknowledgment or acceptance. I was already a monster who lived in the dark. A monster who ate raw flesh—and one who would, if he lived long enough, suck blood as well. My wish hadn’t changed. My wish was simply to live. Survival and freedom. I would seek further purpose later. I left Lou’s grave and headed for the mansion’s remains. My objective was the billhook I hadn’t taken with me when I’d fled. There would be time before Senli reached town. I could extend my nails, but I’d likely still need a weapon. Whether I wielded it or not, that billhook was like a keepsake of the lord. Something special. Come to think of it, Senli had said a king of the dead was a necromancer who had transformed into an undead. Maybe the lord had procured the Cloak of Perpetual Night and the Amulet of Shadow for himself. Laboring to overturn the rubble where the lord’s laboratory had been, I eventually found the jet-black billhook. On the way, I located gear for the trip, including a bag. By that time, the mantle of night had fallen over the forest. Only the silvery moon illuminated the world. I could see in the dark. My vision was unobstructed. The night was my time. I wouldn’t know where to go without a map, but I had to get as far away from here as possible. I’d done something bad to Senli. But I’d had to. I…couldn’t have faith in people like she could. As I started walking in the opposite direction from where Senli left—from nowhere, I heard someone call my name. “End… The time has finally come, vessel of the king of the dead.” The dim voice sounded like it was echoing out of the pit of hell. Something cold ran down my spine. I immediately pulled the billhook from my waist and took stock of my surroundings. There it was, floating in midair. I bit my tongue to drive off the terror welling up. Blocking the silvery moon was that familiar face looking down on me. I gasped. It wasn’t possible. Horos Kamen had been destroyed—by Senli’s hand. He’d used everything at his disposal. He’d even created an evil dragon. And then he’d slipped away into the light so easily. But that was definitely Horos Kamen floating in the air. He was a pale blue, and his outline shimmered slightly, but everything about him, from the staff that had been broken and burned with holy power to the robe that had disappeared along with his body, was precisely Horos. His presence, however, was so thin—so unbelievably weak from the viewpoint of someone who had known him during his lifetime. The lord folded his arms and spoke pompously. His voice didn’t come out as physical sound, but I was distinctly aware of what he said. “I cannot believe…that I…my flesh…would be destroyed… But the fragment of my soul I prepared ahead of time like this has proven itself useful…” “……” He was on the verge of death. Recovering my calm, I firmly gripped the billhook and got my bearings. This was the lord’s final provision. While fighting Senli, he had, beyond a shadow of a doubt, been at full strength. I didn’t know if this was his soul or if he’d resurrected as a spirit, but he was nothing more than a vestige of his former self now. How circumspect necromancers were. He’d fooled Senli and the Ender Knights, all full of experience—a fearsome mage indeed. Could I…beat him? The problem was whether his special authority over me remained. If it did, then I… No… I would win. I hardened my determination as I coolly watched the lord. If not, then what would using the Ender Knights to destroy him have even been for? I’d cleverly avoided Horos without doing anything myself until now. I supposed I’d have to finish things on my own. Fine, then. I’ll do it. I opened my eyes and looked up at him. A thought flashed through my mind: the information Senli had given me earlier about the king of the dead. I mulled over everything the lord had said and done thus far… He’d called me the vessel for the king of the dead. Yes—a vessel! Even an idiot would catch on. If Senli’s words were true, the lord’s goal was to— “My lord… You’re all right?” “End, I embedded my final soul within you. I needed to do so for the ritual. It is truly fortunate that you survived.” Embedded…within me. Does that mean he’s still alive? The lord didn’t sound like he suspected me at all. Apparently, he hadn’t overheard the conversation I’d had with Senli. Perhaps he’d been sleeping until night, when his power would increase. If he still didn’t know I had my memories from my life, I still had a chance. “Wait… Then why did you try to use me in the fight against the Ender Knights? What if I had died?” “? You seem to be…misunderstanding something. I never…wanted to use you…in the fight.” “……” That was…unexpected. But when I thought about it, he’d never given me an instruction like that. His final order to me was to return to the hall. Maybe after that, he was going to command me to hide somewhere. Still, it made no difference to me. Either way, I’d made my decision. The lord would die here, for sure this time. And I wouldn’t make him a grave. “We will conduct the ritual—the birth of the king of the dead… Hmph… I still have one concern. This will be different from my original plan, but there is no choice… My life…is like a remnant now. Heh-heh-heh…” The lord, even now, laughed as though he were invincible. I steadied my breath. I’d probably only have one chance. Suspended majestically in the dark of night, the lord gave his arrogant command. “End, your body…is a masterpiece. My soul is the final key… When my long-held desire at last comes to fruition, you will become a king to overwhelm all who stand with the light. End, I will not allow resistance—cease moving.” I froze at the lord’s order. Horos Kamen’s movements were slow. He hadn’t ever used any spirit-type undead, so I’d never seen a wraith before, but I had some idea of what they were, if the encyclopedia I’d read was correct. Horos emitted a pale-blue light as he descended near me. What would become of me the moment he touched me? It was terrifying to think about. But I didn’t shrink away. My hands weren’t even trembling. Because that moment…would never come. Horos drew within a meter of me—within striking distance. I tightened my hand around the billhook. He wasn’t wary of me. This would be easy. And then, I put all my strength into that billhook, every last bit of the experience I’d gained, using everything to mow it through him. “?!” No resistance. Too little resistance. My swing sent me spinning around; I stomped on the ground to stop myself. The billhook had pierced the lord’s neck. But the lord was still there. His head, which I should have lopped off, was still attached, and there was a dissatisfied expression on it. “Hmph… My power…has weakened too much, for my commands not to affect you… And to think you would pretend they had—truly, you are a man I must always be on guard against.” My strikes were powerful. They easily split open the thick skulls of magical beasts, cut through bones and all. The damage from the silver arrow had already healed, too. I didn’t falter for a second. Without stopping to breathe, I swung the billhook several times at the stoic lord. He didn’t even resist. A cut slantwise from the shoulder. A cut slantwise back to the shoulder. A lengthwise slash. I repeatedly struck from every direction, each blow lethal. But none of them met any resistance. It was like I was attacking something that didn’t even exist. The lord’s body would disperse for a moment when hit, but it would immediately go back to normal. “It won’t work. It is futile, End. You are smart. You have nerve, and you are vigilant…but you lack knowledge. Right now, attacks…will have no effect on me.” I slashed at his face, but his voice didn’t stop. His expression didn’t show any pain, either. I lacked knowledge. Those words certainly hit their mark. I stepped in firmly and lashed out at the lord. There was almost no gap between my strikes, since I didn’t need to breathe, nor did I grow tired. I knew after the first strike that my attacks wouldn’t work. My rapid succession of blows was to buy time for me to think. He was right—I didn’t have much knowledge, but I’d read that undead encyclopedia. An undead with high resistance to physical attacks, one without a physical body, one who harmed humans as only a soul… The lord was probably close to that right now—as I’d first thought. I hadn’t foreseen physical attacks being so ineffectual, but this wasn’t over yet. I dug through my memories. Wraiths had high resistance, but on the other hand, since they lacked physical bodies, they were extremely vulnerable to positive energy even compared to other undead. They were weak against magical attacks as well. The lord had set flesh and bone against the Ender Knights, but he hadn’t used souls—likely because they wouldn’t be opponents the Knights would struggle with. But I couldn’t use magic, nor could I use positive energy. Could I seek Senli’s help? No, that wouldn’t be possible. It was too far to town, and a first-rank knight was there. It would be beyond suicidal. During my full-power series of attacks, my bones creaked, and my flesh cried out in pain. But that wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t too much that my regeneration wouldn’t catch up. I slowly backed away, all the while slashing at the lord who was trying to control me even after death. “Cease this pointless struggle, End. This…is why you were born.” A selfish man right to the end. As I thought, we wouldn’t understand each other. We never would have, just because he had the authority to command me. He used words like vessel—in all likelihood, my consciousness would vanish. Come to think of it, maybe the reason he never gave me any knowledge was because he didn’t need to. I was the vessel. Not its contents. What he needed was a strongly built, highly talented vessel. He planned to be that vessel’s contents. Perhaps deep down I had surmised the truth behind the lord’s objective: the king of the dead. There had been hints. As far as the lord was concerned, what I wanted might as well have been nonexistent. But I wouldn’t lose. I could feel my survival instinct flaring up. There was no fear. There was only…anger. I would kill him. Absolutely and thoroughly. I would be the one to kill this being that not even a second-rank knight could defeat. Horos Kamen, your “long-held desire” ends here…and you will be destroyed by the very vessel you sought to use. Even as the slashing tempest sliced endlessly at the lord, he advanced forward. Physically, my attacks couldn’t even stall him for a moment. But he still hadn’t jumped at me—perhaps his curiosity as a necromancer got the best of him, and he’d chosen to observe me instead? “Your mind is lost to fear… But no matter. All I need is the vessel and its exceptional aptitude for the power of death. It has been so long…but I, and only I, shall be the most powerful king of the dead.” I cut his eyes. Then his nose. And yet the lord’s attention was still on me. I cut his throat. His voice still reached me. I sliced up every part of him, and yet I could see no panic in him. He was the strongest. Truly the most powerful. Shrewd and haughty—a dark sorcerer the world wouldn’t tolerate. It was only natural he’d be done in by Senli. Still, I wasn’t exactly attacking him mindlessly, without any sort of plan. And I hadn’t lost control, either. …I was good at thinking. Thinking and enduring pain were the only things permitted to me in those days I spent bedridden. Finally, apparently bored with his observation, the lord swooped down. The moon illuminated his eerie features. I leaped aside to avoid him, then dropped the billhook I’d been swinging. The lord’s eyes opened wide. “Horos Kamen. Your weakness…is your lack of perspective.” “What?!” That was how I’d deceived him. That was why he didn’t notice the change Lou had undergone. That was why he’d lost to Senli. The only one in Horos Kamen’s world was Horos Kamen. Didn’t he realize where we were? Did he really believe I would thoughtlessly retreat? The large stone engraved with Lou’s name—the spot where the soil had been dug up, then packed back in. This is where your slave is buried. Indeed, I had no way of using positive energy. I couldn’t utilize magic, either. However…this place held a weakness of the undead. I tightly grabbed the arrow I’d stuck in the ground in place of a cross, all of it made of silver from shaft to head, and pulled it out. Intense pain once again shot through my palm, which had finally healed—accompanied by the sound of something dissolving in the night. Silver weapons were a weakness of all the undead, including wraiths. And even if it couldn’t completely kill me, it would be highly effective on a wraith without a physical form. The lord had probably realized what I was holding. His eyes went wide, and he launched himself at me, fast as the wind. But he was too late. He was quick—too quick for me to react had I still been a live human being—but now that I was a ghoul, his speed wasn’t even an obstacle. I thrust out the silver arrow, piercing the lord’s brow as he flew at me headfirst. He screamed into the dark night—a scream that not even Senli’s attacks had coaxed out of him. “Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—!! “…Is that what you thought I’d say?” “?!” The lord hadn’t changed at all. He’d neither disappeared nor shown even a hint of pain. With the arrow, packed with destructive power, buried halfway into his forehead, the lord spoke to me in a somehow pitying tone. His bony fingertips approached me. His clouded black eyes peered into mine. I couldn’t stop them. “That was why…I said…you had no knowledge. I am not…a simple wraith. My foundation…has been embedded within you. As long as it remains intact, I am immortal. Wraith-type undead do not have perfect resistance to the physical. You should have realized that when Bloodruler didn’t affect me.” “…” “How pathetic. But rest easy. Your vessel will become the most powerful king of the dead.” “…Die,” I growled murderously. Horos frowned like he’d just heard a bad joke. “We’re already dead, you and I.” Never thought the lord had a sense of humor. Horos’s spirit form overlapped with my body. My vision flickered, and something dark black, like a muddy river, flowed into my consciousness. My body and mind were being corrupted with darkness. My body should have lost its sense of pain, and yet agony racked me, as though I were bursting apart from within, as though something were devouring me inside out. “Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” A scream echoed through the dark forest. A moment later, I realized it was mine. Death was close at hand. This incredible pain, which I hadn’t felt for a long time, forced me to understand that I was still weak, just as I had been in life. The silver arrow slipped from my sweaty palm. The wound wasn’t healed yet, but that didn’t matter to me whatsoever. I felt devastating nausea. Pain. Lethargy. Suffering of all kinds assaulted my very soul. I even felt like my feet were being tugged down into the pit of hell—into the netherworld. Your soul…continues to fall toward the dark. Something Horos had once said came to mind again. By desperately focusing on it, I eased the pain a tiny bit. I didn’t know left from right, up from down. I managed to grab and cling to a tree nearby to prevent myself from falling. My heart, which was supposed to have stopped, beat with a fierce rhythm. My breathing was out of control. Memories and knowledge that weren’t my own flowed into my mind. They made me feel the sickest I’d ever experienced. I rammed my head as hard as I could into the tree, over and over. What…is this? I wanted to throw up. I didn’t understand what was happening, save for just one thing—if I let go, I would die. The tree snapped. Blood flowed from my head. I dropped to a knee and fell to the ground, but then I crawled over to cling to another tree. I used everything I had to keep my sanity. I remembered my time bedridden. How the pain had gotten stronger, little by little, as my strength had grown weaker. The unending torture hadn’t even let me sleep, in those days when every action was accompanied by agony. The isolation of holding on just to live as none of the sorcerers or doctors could help me—and the mortification of being able to do nothing but watch myself slowly exhaust and die. I was changing. My body—my soul was shifting. It was fusing into something more tenacious, more wicked…more suitable for the king of the dead. The lord must have done something to me before. Ignorant, I didn’t know what it had been. The memories streaming into me, the knowledge—they didn’t belong to me. And I could not allow myself to accept them. As the suffering I could do nothing about continued, I suddenly noticed a thought that didn’t belong to me cross my mind. —Impossible… Why isn’t it consuming him? It was dark. Nobody was around. My breathing was hot and ragged as I looked up. The lord was standing before me. Unlike his wraith form earlier, he was now standing on two feet. For some reason, I realized that it wasn’t his physical form, nor was it his soul. It was just an illusion my mind was showing me. It wasn’t something I’d done consciously. I overwrote the pain with bloodlust and rage. My body rose up, and I swung my arm high over my head. It didn’t get any actual speed, nor did I have the capacity to extend my claws. But the strike easily split apart the illusion of the lord. His apparition vanished. —What a tenacious soul… He still won’t admit defeat? My whole body felt like it was on fire, especially my head—no, my mind—and my heart. I heard a voice from behind, then swung my arm in that direction. The lord’s illusion was standing there again—the one I thought I’d just blown away. The illusion vanished. But something new appeared in its place. Suddenly, my vison was filled with countless images of the lord. Above, below, in front of me, behind me, to the left and right. Some stood on the ground, others were half buried in it, while yet others flew through the air. Innumerable eyes, impassive and crafty as a snake’s, looked down on me. I attacked them out of anger. Horos Kamen was intruding on my mind. His will flowed into me like a filthy river, so strong that if I wasn’t constantly vigilant, it would crush me. —Im…possible… His consciousness…too dense…for a paltry soul…that died of sickness… Is this…his noble blood…? No… It cannot be…!! He…could never…possibly…resist me!! No matter how many of the lord’s illusions I felled, they showed no signs of abating. With all my might, with my second life hanging in the balance, I fought against the soul trying to engulf me. I would live. I would live—and then gain my freedom. —This vessel’s…abyss…is far too deep! How did it get this deep…? End, this is an order! Cease your resistance! The lord’s voice echoed in my brain, tormenting my mind. End…? Who is End? I clawed at my stomach. My heart was pounding. It wasn’t just my imagination. My heart was moving. Alive. With a pulse. Not a corpse. I was being reborn into an even more wicked creature… Into an abominable monster, one who had transcended even death. Ah… Is this where the necromancer’s curse, his objective, leads?! The pain was so terrible I couldn’t think straight, but even then, I suddenly understood what necromancers were truly after. Where the curse that gave me life would lead. Their goal, the king of the dead, was…immortality. Not to keep living even as a corpse but to keep existing as a living being. Perfect immortality and invincibility. For necromancers, death was no more than part of the process. They created countless undead—they were experts on them. If they only wanted to make themselves into undead creatures, it would have been easier. But the lord hadn’t opted for that method. Senli had said that first-rank necromancers were beings who had transformed themselves into “special” undead. At some point, the lord’s illusions had vanished. In their place was a large ball of darkness in front of me. It was a different illusion. Horos Kamen’s face was protruding from the center of the huge black mass of mist. He was trying to devour me—trying to send me plummeting into the pit of darkness. His voice echoed in my mind. One filled with anger and confidence. —It is over! I will take that body! I have the upper hand! You…will live forever, as the vessel of the king of the dead! “Urgh, hah, hah, ahhhh, aahh…” He was strong. I didn’t know how many years he’d lived, but even a fragment of his soul was this powerful. Obsession and delusion joined that strength. The lord hadn’t expected this development—him losing to Senli. This ritual was supposed to have been a last resort. If he’d performed the ritual he’d originally planned…what would have become of me? The lord jumped high into the air. His dark specter covering up the moon, the sky, the whole world, before plummeting toward me. My hand moved. Was that my instinct as a monstrous being, or was it my soul moving my body because it didn’t want to die? My fingertips weren’t aimed at the lord, but instead inside my own mouth—and I sliced a deep cut in my lips. The pain was trivial at this point. Floating in the dark, the lord took on a dumbstruck expression. I gave a big grin with my sliced lips. The agony vanished from my mind for a moment. The one to become the king of the dead…will be me. Sorry, but you’re the one who will be devoured for my sake. You will be…the first human I’ve ever eaten. I dove into the dark mass before me, opening my sliced mouth as wide as it could go, and took a bite. The darkness didn’t taste like anything. It was the visions I’d been seeing—it didn’t have a physical form. But a tremendous scream reverberated in my mind. —Ah__________________aaah______ So that…was what a true scream sounded like. While I was busy being strangely impressed, the voice faded. Silence was the only thing left in the night forest. The strength fled my limbs, and my body slumped to the ground. The pain that had been assaulting me vanished without a trace. The voice ringing in my mind was no more. The round moon shone in the night sky. It was probably almost dawn. As a cold breeze caressed my faceup body on the ground, I assessed the situation. There were no other beings inside my head. The lord’s soul, that foreign body that had tried to dominate me, had instead been devoured—if not whole, then the important parts of it—and incorporated into me. It felt refreshing. The knowledge and memories that would have fused with me—I couldn’t recall them. Maybe my instincts had decided they were too dangerous and contained them. The lord’s experience and memories were far longer and far denser than mine. If I were to remember them, they could well overwrite my own thoughts. I was probably better served not trying to force myself to dredge them up. Now that I’d calmed down a little, I put a hand on the ground and tried to stand but failed. For a moment, I didn’t know what had happened. But then, as I clung to a nearby tree once again, I put all my strength into it and stood. But no—I couldn’t move my limbs at all. My mind grew distant for a moment. I hadn’t felt exhaustion in a long time, and now it weighed my body down. It seemed…I still wasn’t out of the woods yet. I could sense that my body, my very self, had changed. I’d probably experienced a rank mutation. Had I fulfilled the conditions for it by taking in the lord’s corrupted soul? Or was it something he’d engraved upon me beforehand? At present…I wasn’t a ghoul. But for all that, I wasn’t a darkstalker—the next mutation I was supposed to have—either. My flesh was supposed to darken if that had happened, but it was still the same as before. I’d think about the details later. I was completely sapped of energy. It reminded me of when I’d mutated into a ghoul and first felt hunger. I wiped the blood dripping down my forehead and took a deep breath. I didn’t have enough power. Could I even beat the magical beasts in the forest like this? Would I even survive long enough to be able to see any? No—I had to. I’d eaten the lord, my master. I’d used every means available to me. And at the end of all that sacrifice, I was here. For the moment, aside from food, I would need to search for a place away from sunlight before dawn broke. Having mutated from a ghoul, I would have more weaknesses, too. Whatever I’d mutated into, the sunlight could be a lethal weapon. I didn’t have a spare moment to pay any attention to the pain I was in, but my fight against the lord seemed to have taken a significant amount of time. It wouldn’t be long before the sun rose. I had the Cloak of Perpetual Night that the lord had gotten for me, but I couldn’t afford to overstate its effects. If a thing like that could nullify the sunlight’s effects, the undead would be more of a threat. My body was an inconvenience. But that only meant I felt truly alive. And it wasn’t a bad feeling. One step at a time, I moved my incredibly unsteady body, feeling the firmness of the ground under my feet as I proceeded carefully. And then I remembered I’d dropped the billhook nearby. I…should probably get that. Even in this powerless state, hunting monsters would be easy with that in hand. I turned, then stopped for a moment. A silver arrow a few centimeters across whipped past me. “…Huh…?” A whooshing sound. A moment later, intense pain shot through my left leg. It felt like it had been torn off. I fell to the ground. Clamping down on the agony, I desperately looked at my leg. An arrow was stuck into my knee—one that hadn’t been there a moment ago. A silver arrow. It had pierced all the way through flesh and bone, and white smoke rose from it. I tried to pull it out, but my hands, shaking from the pain and exhaustion, wouldn’t move. My mind was in utter chaos when my ears picked up a familiar, rough voice. “Ah, that’s good. You’re still around…you monster. You’re a real piece of work!” “Oh, calm down. So you’re the one who deceived our princess, aren’t you?” “Those wounds… And those eyes—a lesser vampire, eh? I heard you were a ghoul… Guess Senli lacks the experience to be a first rank.” “Wh…why…?!” I managed to squeeze out. A few meters ahead was the blue-haired man who had suspected me of being an undead back in Enge. He watched me as I writhed as though he’d seen fresh garbage. “Why? Did you just ask why? There’s only one reason the Ender Knights would show up. To slay monsters.” Damn—dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit. I didn’t have any strength. The silver arrow was lodged in my left leg, and the wound was actively being corroded by its holy power. Even if I’d managed to stand, any quick motions would have been impossible. In the darkness, wrapped in great holy power, the Ender Knights slowly approached. There were four of them, all third ranks. The lord had told me that I couldn’t fight them until I became a vampire. And I knew how much of a monster the lord was—he’d fought all five, including Senli, for hours. My heart, now finally beating, thumped at a quick rhythm in my ears. I heard a voice from above me. “Seriously… It was quite a surprise when stubborn Senli, the one who came back here insisting on bringing the remains back, returned empty-handed.” “Senli may be strong, but she’s far too soft. She looks cold, but she’s honest to a fault—and terrible at keeping secrets. So she makes mistakes like this once in a while. And that’s what we’re there for.” I gave a yelp and crawled away, trying to put distance between us. I needed to stall for time. I needed to pretend to be weak. There was no chance I would win. The four Knights were altogether too strong. The hopelessness in the situation brought my calmness back. But could I give up here after coming so far? I had to think of something. To search for a way out. It was frustrating. If only I could replenish my power, I could have at least managed to flee. Opening my eyes, my body trembling, I looked at my enemies. Seen from up close, the third-rank knights were literally angels of death. Senli wasn’t with them. These were weaker than her but more guarded—four true third-rank knights. They were more than able to annihilate me. They were overwhelming and thorough. I didn’t know if I could beat so much as a single one of them, even if I was at full power. I couldn’t do anything. And I couldn’t surprise them, not with four in their group. The next silver arrow pierced my right leg. I’d seen it coming, but since my body wouldn’t move right, I couldn’t get out of the way. And having one safe leg wouldn’t have gotten me out of this dilemma anyway. It was fine. I didn’t need my legs. What I needed was to lure them into making a mistake. I let out a cry at the burning pain. A cry to evoke sympathy. But the eyes of the blond female knight who had shot me remained chillingly cold-blooded, unlike Senli, and didn’t waver at all. Everything about this…had been unexpected. Was I cursed or something? Senli’s appearance earlier was a surprise. The defeated lord trying to consume me—also unexpected. And the Knights coming here before dawn had even broken… This was much earlier than anything I’d anticipated. I’d predicted any lies from Senli would be revealed. But I’d figured they would at least wait for morning to send a kill team for me. Night was the time of the undead. Once again, I assumed they’d choose daybreak. A naive assumption. I didn’t have the time to be lying around. I should have gotten away from this place, even if I had to crawl, even if I had to abandon everything I carried. The four of them were exhausted. Their clothing was rumpled, and the power surrounding them was far from full. However, and while they weren’t as strong as Senli, they had more than enough positive energy to destroy me. Resistance…would be futile. The moment I tried to attack them in return, they would utterly annihilate me. And everything I’d gained—a body, my freedom—would be for naught. Think. Just think. Think of the best method to take now. The Ender Knights split up to surround me as I got on my hands and knees. They had no holes in their guards. But they didn’t consider me a powerful enemy, either. If they had, they would have destroyed me with an endless series of attacks, without even giving me a chance to crawl on all fours. I couldn’t give them an excuse to attack me. With my power dried up, I might have been able to inflict a perfect strike against an undefended point, but it wasn’t possible to defeat the ones in front of me. I needed to stall for time, if only for an extra second. Even if everything turned out to be futile…that would be best. The wounds on my legs were slowly getting bigger. It would’ve been a little better even as a ghoul. The strengthening that came from the rank mutation was working against me. I gazed pleadingly up at the approaching male Ender Knight. It was the man who had suspected me of being an undead in Enge. I remembered Senli calling him Nevira. I desperately appealed to him. I made my voice tremble even more than I had with Senli. “Pant, pant… I… I have my…memories…from my life.” “Yeah, seems like it. Heard from Senli. Sounds unbelievable, but you were apparently digging a grave, eh? Not desecrating one—but making one. Never heard of a monster who did that.” “And… And I’ve never attacked…humans, either. And I don’t…intend to!” “Right… So?” Perfection—the man before me was a perfect Ender Knight. The very picture of the cold-blooded, powerful knights I had envisioned. His brow didn’t even twitch. But incredible hostility assailed my body. He was angry. I didn’t know what I’d done, but I’d earned his wrath. In the Ender Knights’ eyes, monsters were monsters, whether they attacked people or not. And for people tasked with protecting the world, that was the correct mindset. “Senli said—” “Don’t say her name, you fucking monster!!” “…?!” His face twisted like a demon’s. His eyes opened wide, and his lips quivered. The hand on his mace gripped it so hard it went white. The man holding a sword, who had closed in on me from the side—and the woman with the bow, and the man with the staff… They all looked down at me, aggravated. I could tell that even the littlest thing would set them off. “Did…? Did she…sell me out…?” “If she could do that, we wouldn’t be struggling so much. She covered for you until the end. But we aren’t as soft as she is.” Thank goodness. Those words saved me in a very small way. I’d had faith in the depth of her compassion. Sure, I’d taken advantage of it, but I’d still trusted in it. Even if it hadn’t helped at all, it was always difficult to be betrayed by something you believed in. I couldn’t think of a way out of this situation. No weapons, either. For an instant, Nevira, who had come right up to me, softened his expression. And then he held out his left hand, the one not on his mace, as if to try to help me up. “I sympathize with your plight. You woke up and found you were a monster—not even nightmares go that far. Isn’t that right?” His left hand was filled with the power of light. Strong light. If I touched it, I’d probably be purified immediately. He was doing it on purpose. As I hesitated to reach out, Nevira gave a vicious smirk, then grabbed my left hand and pulled me up until my feet were in the air. “But you cheated her—took advantage of her weakness. And that will leave a scar that will never heal. I don’t like that spoiled second rank, but she is still our boss.” White smoke billowed from my left arm. My body spasmed in agony, my back craning over as far as it could go. My spine began making creaking noises. A monstrous scream escaped—I couldn’t believe it was my own. You could wrap positive energy around yourself to use for defense as well. And that was a very direct power that could hurt the undead. My right hand shuddered. Nevira was at point-blank range. I could reach him from here, but no matter how hard I pushed, my arm wouldn’t move at all. It was like the strength was draining out of the arm the man was touching. Well, it probably wasn’t draining out, strictly speaking. It was being filled in—my impossibly large abyss was being filled in and was on its way to zero. “It will be a deep wound. She’s accustomed to tragedy, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt her. From now on, in every tragedy, she will remember you. And that might turn into a major weakness someday. You’re every bit the monster Horos was, to hurt someone protected by such a powerful blessing.” “…You could…just let me…be! I… I don’t wish for anything!” I eked out an appeal. A sincere appeal. All I wanted to do was survive. I wasn’t going to cause any trouble for people. Nor did I have any grudges. But…they all still came to kill me. My vision narrowed, and I desperately looked up. “We’d never let a monster go!” Nevira declared. “…You may be harmless now, but eventually, you will kill someone.” “And we’re here on our master’s orders. Hey, do you want to know why Senli isn’t here?” The female knight spoke to me next as I was on the verge of death. While aiming a nocked silver arrow at me—as if to torture out of me a reason to kill me. “Our master, you see,” she continued, “listened to Senli’s plea. He smiled and said All right, I’ll overlook it. Senli’s so stubborn, they never would have come to terms. But she knew he was lying. Or at least, she wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth. You see, right about now…she’s waiting for the master to leave the building.” “Which was pointless, too,” added Nevira. “The master sent us, telling us to make sure we destroyed you. Didn’t think he’d send us here before day broke…but from another point of view, this will be a good experience for Senli. Something she would have had to experience eventually to become a first-rank knight.” My foes—the woman with bow and the man with the sword—were impenetrable. The same probably went for the man behind me holding a staff, who had been quiet this whole time. Did they think my life was worthless or something? What ways did I have to recover from this? Senli coming to rescue me? That was unthinkable. Even if she came, I’d be dead by the time she arrived. And even if she were to show up to save me right now, Nevira would kill me without a second thought before she could interfere. This man before me had that kind of resolve: the resolve to kill me even if Senli hated him for it. I didn’t feel hungry, but I was awfully thirsty. The man holding the sword had called me a lesser vampire earlier. If that was true, then what I needed now…was blood. It was so close and yet so incredibly far away. Even if I craned my neck, I wouldn’t reach Nevira, the person closest to me. And I had no idea what would happen if I dug my fangs into any of the Knights, with all the positive power wrapped around them. The male knight gripping the sword carefully approached me and tore off the Cloak of Perpetual Night. Then, spotting the Amulet of Shadow around my neck, he yanked the chain off, held it up, and cursed. “So this is why we couldn’t sense your negative presence.” “A treasure of Horos’s… Blast. Without that, we never would have let you leave town…” If I hadn’t had it, the lord never would have sent me to town to begin with. As for the bag, I’d already lost it somewhere during the battle with the lord’s ghost. After inspecting my possessions, Nevira threw me violently to the ground. Was he going to let me live? For an instant, I had an impossible hope—but the Ender Knight shattered it. “Only one mission left now. Killing you. But…,” said Nevira in a low voice as I crawled miserably along the ground, enduring the pain and curling up. His mace was aimed at me. His eyes sparkled golden as they looked down at me. And then, after bringing his face mere centimeters away from mine, he said: “Apologize. And I’ll give you a quick death.” This was…truly one who called forth the end. An angel of death. Far more relentless than the ones who appeared in fairy tales—and far more realistic. They were enemies, those who opposed humanity’s foes. And I was one of those foes. They probably had families back at home, too. People they cared deeply about. And as far as those people were concerned, their beloved knights were without a doubt steadfast, dependable individuals. …But still… I didn’t want to die. “I don’t…want to die… I just don’t…want to die!!” My lamentation echoed through the darkness. The shout came from my soul, even if it would cause further brutality. Nevira and the other knights didn’t become indignant. They just looked down at me as I writhed on the ground like a caterpillar, as though they were watching something beyond praying for. “…Ugh. Are you out of your mind? You haven’t even fought back… You’re too pathetic. How were you Horos Kamen’s underling? I can’t blame Senli for letting her emotions get the better of her. Weaklings are her mortal enemies.” “Nevira, make sure to finish him off. Master’s orders.” “I’m getting there, dammit! I’m not like her!!” I was going to die. I was going to be killed. No rescue would come. Killed by a mystery illness in life, then killed by the Ender Knights just when I thought I’d gained freedom. Surrounded, unable to resist, trampled by overwhelming might. Tears began to flow. Tears of blood. As my vision narrowed, I desperately looked up at my enemies. My body didn’t move. I couldn’t even think clearly through the pain. An opening—I needed an opening. I didn’t know if they had a weakness, but I had to find one. I had to struggle until the very last moment. And if I died…I’d come back to haunt them. “Don’t you dare look at me like that!! How can you still make that face after all this?! Dammit!!” Nevira began kicking me. Each time, positive energy flooded into me with the impact. I didn’t even cry out anymore. I could feel the positive power bringing my existence steadily closer to zero. Even in this situation, Nevira didn’t give me the easy opening of raising his leg up. He was used to this. My bones snapped, my flesh tore, and I lay on the ground like a corpse. He grabbed my hair and forced my face up to his. He peered into my eyes, his own filled with intense cruelty. “…Fine, then. This is my last act of compassion—I’ll give you time to regret this.” “…Nevira?! You can’t—” “I’ll teach you that purification by the Ender Knights is salvation. What did you say your name was? Doesn’t matter. Do you know what the most painful way for an undead to die is?” My body didn’t even have the strength to tremble anymore as I heard Nevira’s deep, intimidating voice in my mind. Suddenly, a dull impact shot through my left shoulder. Nevira had, at some point, grabbed a short sword and rammed it into the ground. He reached out, then lifted something up. It was…my left arm. Nevira squeezed it, purifying it instantly. It turned into dust and vanished. …Fine. I’ll give you an arm. I can’t even move. My left arm is nothing— “Sunlight. We weaken you to the point where your regeneration won’t work, and then very slowly, we use the sunlight to fill in your abyss. You’ll be in unendurable agony until the moment you die. Even the most wicked of undead start crying moments into it. We call it the sunsentence. It’s so cruel we only ever use it to make examples of undead, but…” Sunlight. Even as a resistant ghoul, I’d felt a tingling pain after being in it for too long. How much damage would it do to me now? As my consciousness wavered, I managed a dry, hoarse voice. “Ah—ah…… How…frightening…” “You’ll have time to repent. Time to regret. Consider this your punishment for deceiving Senli and trying to live after death!” It was anger. Nevira was angry with me, and he was trying to dispel it. He was attempting to torture me. Despite what he said, this act was an emotional one, like a personal grudge. That was the first actual emotion I’d seen in Nevira that was unbecoming of an Ender Knight. But that was fine. Perfectly fine. Shallow breaths escaped my lips. If they wanted to kill me slowly, I’d welcome it with open arms. No matter how much it hurt, no matter how humiliating it was, I would endure. If it gave me a chance to survive even another moment, a chance to flee, what was a little pain? Nevira looked down at me as I lay unresisting—but desperately clinging to sanity—and narrowed his eyes. A dull impact shot through my right shoulder. “Do you still think you can survive? Well, you can’t. We’ll give you time but not freedom.” Nevira lifted up my severed right arm and turned it to dust, right in front of me, as I stared dumbfounded. “The only thing we’ll leave of you…is your head. That’s all you’ll need in order to repent, isn’t it? Oh right. And just for you, I’ll put your head next to the grave you dug.” I…couldn’t move. Of course I couldn’t—I didn’t have anything left below the neck. The Ender Knights, more specifically, Nevira, had mercilessly dismembered my body. Purposely not using his silver sword, he’d lopped off my arms, clipped off my legs, carved up my body, chopped off everything below the neck, and purified it all. I didn’t understand how I was still alive. I had no energy, nor could I regenerate. The intense pain and the freezing chill throbbing in the back of my head indicated that I was dying. The nighttime forest was quiet. The Ender Knights were already gone. This isolation was probably part of their sentence. All I could see from my vantage point atop Lou’s grave were the remains of the lord’s mansion. I couldn’t do anything anymore. I couldn’t fight, nor could I flee. The only things I had were pain and hopelessness. It was just like my past life. Ah… What a terrifying thought. My mind desperately ran in circles. And then I suddenly heard a voice on the wind, my hearing now restored. “How pathetic you are, End…” “?! …You’re still…here…?” It was the lord’s voice. He was so stubborn I would have laughed, had I the body and the strength to do so. The illusion of Horos Kamen stood before me scowling. “Did you…come…to get…me? Unfortunately…there’s nothing left…of me…but a head!” “Fool. I haven’t the power to do so, now that you’ve consumed me! I’m a mere vestige of a vestige now.” “Do they have vestiges…of vestiges…of vestiges, too?” “End, you will die. If you had given your body to me, nothing like this would have ever happened.” But that would have been like dying in itself. No different than now. He must really not have had any strength, because I didn’t sense him trying to do anything to me. If only he could’ve saved me, the hopeless illusion that he was. But he was someone to talk to. Even if I was hallucinating his image and voice, that was enough. “Why…have I not…died yet? I don’t…have a heart.” The heart was supposed to be a vampire’s weakness. It wasn’t natural that I could survive this long without one. I was grateful for it, of course, but… The lord frowned at me like a teacher might at a poor student, and answered, “Vampires die when stabbed in the heart with a wooden stake; it’s part of their curse. If you’re not stabbed, you won’t immediately die.” “Ha… Ha-ha… What on earth? What kind of strange creature defies all logic?!” Not dying even after losing everything below the neck? That was absolutely absurd. If the world allowed that, then all tearing out my heart did was remove a weakness. The lord snorted. “But a heart is still the source of a vampire’s strength. Without it, you lose most of your abilities. That goes for you as well, even as a lesser one.” “I never…had strength to begin with.” Even after being reborn, I’d been utterly weak. The only ones weaker than me that I’d met had been Lou and Hak, who was a noncombatant. Of course, on my sickbed, I’d been far weaker than either of them. The lord didn’t answer that. Instead, he continued disinterestedly: “The lesser vampire is a preparatory step toward becoming a vampire—a pupa, if you will. You lack most of the abilities of a vampire, but so, too, do you lack most of their weaknesses. You won’t turn to ash immediately upon contact with sunlight.” “O-oh… That’s…great.” “But that means your suffering will be extended. Your power is dried up, and you cannot regenerate. Your soul will be ruined by the sunlight, and you will die very slowly. Your abyss is deep—likely far deeper than what the Knights believed, but…it will not be possible to survive for long. Upon the dawn, you will have only an hour left.” “What…should I do?” I quite literally didn’t have a leg to stand on. The only thing I could move was my mouth—and it was possible I’d lose the capacity even to do that. Despite the fact that I’d devoured him, the lord didn’t so much as frown at my question. His answer came immediately. “There is nothing to be done. There is nothing a lesser vampire whose power is exhausted can do.” I see… Then this is the end. The lord’s illusion vanished. His words began to convince me. Which meant……from here on, it would be a battle of attrition. I’d fight the pain. I’d keep my wits about me. I’d resist death. The same as I’d done on my deathbed. The only difference now was that I was just a head. That marked the beginning of my final battle. The dark sky brightened, and a faint light began to illuminate my surroundings. The first thing I felt was a pain like I was sunburned. It started at the crown of my head, then changed into a fiery heat as it spread to take over my entire face. Right after receiving the sentence, I’d thought I’d have some leeway. That this would be a lot better than dying. But I quickly realized that had been a misunderstanding. The positive power crept into what little remained of my body, burning it, scorching my very thoughts. And with only a head, I couldn’t even writhe in pain. It felt like the sun had been shining directly on me for dozens of hours continually. Little by little, bit by bit, the pain was trying to kill me. Trying to make me a corpse again. I opened my eyes as wide as they could go and desperately endured the pain. My restlessness grew a little at a time, as though with the ticking of the second hand on a clock. That plus a powerful terror and a hopelessness attacked me, the likes of which I hadn’t even felt with the Ender Knights right before my eyes. My instincts screamed warnings at the coming of the sun, my mortal enemy. It had only just begun to peek over the horizon, and it had done this to me. It was a wonder I hadn’t been obliterated yet. My abyss was filling in. I was returning to zero. To nothingness. There was nothing I could do anymore. Dark and light battled within me. I just kept on steeling myself against the agony. The light illuminating the grave was getting stronger, a little at a time. Suddenly, a question crossed my mind. The lord had said one hour. But an hour had passed a while ago. How long could I hold on for, then? How long could I endure? How long…would I have to endure? And…was there any meaning in it? I now understood why Nevira, and the Ender Knights, had called this the most agonizing death for an undead. Leaving me here hadn’t been a slipup. This…was torture. Pain assaulted me—a punishment of the sun itself, endpoint unknown. Powerlessness. Death’s footsteps. The further an undead got from death, the less they could withstand this sentence. Because the enemies were no longer present, they couldn’t let go of their last hope. Their minds would die before their bodies. My throat kept getting dryer. I cried at the scorching-hot pain. I desperately sucked in breaths to keep conscious. If I accepted death, it was over. I knew that because I’d managed to live on for several years after contracting the strange illness. As I weakened, withstood the pain, and clung to life, the doctors had called me a miracle. And the pity they’d had at the start turned to shock. Everyone—the doctors, my family, the sorcerers—thought I would die immediately. But I’d survived. Ultimately, I’d passed away, but I’d never given up on living, right up to the very end. Whipping my breaking heart back into shape, I steeled myself again. I wouldn’t give up this time, either. I’d already died once. Died, then been miraculously resurrected with my memories intact. This was nothing—this agony, this despair—and I would never resign myself. I looked up, glaring desperately at that hateful sun. I was a dead man. The vessel of the king of the dead, in whom Horos Kamen had seen promise. This would not destroy me. I didn’t scream. I could distract myself from the pain if I made noise, but it would expend stamina. It was a skill I’d developed in life. I simply stayed quiet, my thoughts burning, fighting against the pain as it threatened to drop the curtain of darkness over my mind. I had no chance of winning. I had no plan. What I sought was…a second miracle. How much time had passed, I wondered? The sun got higher and higher in the sky, and the light shining on me increased my pain little by little. I burned it into my eyes so I would never forget it. It was radiant. Painful. Terrifying. And…beautiful. I’d once loved the morning, the light of the sun—and now it was trying to drive me out of this world. It was no use—I couldn’t win. I’d be destroyed. My soul would vanish. It hurt. My face, with the sun shining on it—what had become of it? The light was too strong for me to see anymore. Everything burned, like I was engulfed in the fires of hell itself. …I don’t…want to die. I gave a silent scream. And the very moment I felt my mind begin to plummet, my head was suddenly picked up. At first, I thought my soul had ascended to heaven. But I quickly realized that wasn’t correct. They said a soul corrupted by a necromancer would never be able to go to heaven. The overwhelming light in my vision was dampened, replaced by silvery-white hair right in front of me. A pair of familiar violet eyes, blankly amazed, came into view. I opened my lips. What came out was a single, broken word. “…Sen…li…” “______!! ______!! ______!!” “I can’t…hear…” I couldn’t hear her. My tongue was burned. It was sheer luck that my eyes were still okay. This was my limit. I…was about to die. Almost all the negative energy I’d accumulated now lay buried. I couldn’t even bear a tiny bit of sunlight anymore. In my hazy consciousness, I simply groped for threads of survival. What should I do? How would I be saved? How would I most effectively incite someone like Senli, her weakness unbefitting of an Ender Knight, this young woman who had compassion to act? I had no strength. I couldn’t move. I barely had any time to exchange words. My actions were extremely limited. And so, for the briefest moment, I managed to move my tongue, causing intense, dry pain to shoot through me, and said my final words. “Th………ank………y………you……” Senli’s hands, which had been gently holding my head up, trembled. This was my limit. I was at death’s door. But after confirming that successful reaction, I was relieved. Senli was tenderhearted and smart. She put her all into whatever she did; she’d mastered her incredible powers; she was stubborn; and according to Nevira, she was the kind of person who would feel shock over the death of a passing undead like me. They—Nevira and the others—should have destroyed me. They shouldn’t have given in to their anger and passed this sentence. They shouldn’t have given me time to repent. They should have destroyed me, completely and utterly. And now they would lose—that which they truly held dear. The hesitation lasted only a moment. Feeling a sense of floating, slightly chilled hair touched my forehead. I couldn’t see any longer. Couldn’t see in front of me. But the smooth softness of lips touching me was no illusion. The sweet scent of skin momentarily blew away the agony and despair. My tongue, which hadn’t been able to move, reached out and tasted that skin. The intense pleasure became a shock, jolting me awake again. My dried-up power recovered a tiny bit.
Chapter 13
70 min read