Chapter 6

No—that was impossible. The lord wasn’t undead. As a ghoul, I could clearly tell he was a living human being. At some point, the blood that had stuck to my nails, and the bloodstains spattered around, had disappeared. No, no, no—that’s impossible. I killed him—I know I did. He should be dead! “To think that, already, you truly possess…intelligence. No—you’ve had it for a while yet… Fascinating.” “!!” Not yet. It wasn’t over yet. With a cry, I thrusted my arm out with every last bit of strength. I aimed not for his head. This time, I aimed for his heart. All five nails easily pierced the lord’s frail back, through the robe, opening a huge hole in his body. I felt the sensation of warm blood on my palm, and there was the dull, gloppy sound of blood flowing. And then, once again, I heard the startlingly uncanny noise. From the lord, whose trunk had been pierced right before my eyes, came a voice—sounding wholly absent of anger, sounding actually impressed. “Piercing my head…was not the reason…I did not die. Still, that was clever. Very clever. I don’t know how long you have had intelligence for—but you were waiting patiently even after achieving your rank mutation, weren’t you? Vigilantly awaiting a chance to take my life? Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… I hadn’t expected much, but you seem to have been…a more wonderful specimen than I predicted… I’ll have to…give my thanks to Hak.” He was a monster. Even a ghoul like me would react after having its heart pierced. This couldn’t be happening. Was this…a true necromancer? I’d known I stood no chance in a fair fight. That was why I’d attacked now, when the timing couldn’t have been better. My heart felt on the verge of breaking, supported only by my hunger and desire to live. I pulled my arm out. The moment it exited, all that flesh and blood I knew had stuck to my arm vanished like mist. For a fraction of an instant, my thoughts were racing. What now? How do I kill a creature who could survive skull and heart injuries? Actually…wait. It wasn’t that he was living in spite of a fatal wound. It wasn’t an extreme recovery ability or anything like that. It was almost like he’d done something to somehow…make things seem as though the attack had never happened…? I couldn’t flee. I couldn’t even defend myself. I made the decision instantly: I’d keep trying until I could kill him. For the first time, before the lord, I roared. “Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!” I swiped upward with my nails. But right before the sharpened tips sliced his robe, I heard Lord Horos’s voice cut through my roar. “Stop.” The command penetrated me like a bolt of lightning. My arm spasmed, and the sudden stopping hit it hard. With crackling, spurting noises, my arm’s composition burst, and a dull pain assailed me. For all the loyalty with which my body had been moving, for all the freedom my flesh had displayed, no matter how hard I willed it, I couldn’t move any farther. It was over—I couldn’t win no matter what. The man before me… He was a monster. Someone as lowly as me couldn’t even compare. As I stood there without taking a step, as ordered, the lord slowly turned around. There was no rage in his expression. But there was a dark sense of pleasure spread across it. It was a vivid indication of the difference in our strength. For him, for the man in front of me who had been enraged by Lou’s false reports (which had actually been the truth), a rebellion launched during a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity wasn’t even enough to be angry about. If there’d been any threat to his life, the lord’s face would have changed a little. My one-in-a-million chance, my one-in-a-billion chance at a revolt had failed. Then, as if to torment me, the lord revealed his secret. “Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… End, you may be smart…but you know nothing of sorcery. You failed because you believed that I had…heh-heh…just one life. Ah yes, I grant you permission to speak.” “What…is going on?” I asked. I’d been trying to attack him the entire time, but my body wouldn’t move. It was locked in place like it was a boulder. A wide grin spread across the lord’s face as he slowly took a round silver stone from inside his robe. The stone had a mysterious sheen to it; I’d never seen anything like it before. It had probably been a smooth sphere in the past, but now it had a large crack. “Heh-heh-heh… You see, I have split my life into one hundred and twenty lives. What you killed amounted to naught more than two of those. For a subordinate like you to kill me, you would have needed to deal one hundred and twenty fatal blows in the span of an instant. That much is typical for first-rate necromancers.” The crack widened, and then the silver orb in the lord’s hand shattered. But I didn’t have time to watch it. One hundred and twenty lives…?! That couldn’t be true. No such concepts had been in any of the fairy tales I’d read during my lifetime. It was foul play, saying such a thing—but at the same time, the lord’s calm demeanor spoke to the truth of the matter. If his words were true…then I would never, ever beat him. I could kill him once or twice with a surprise attack, but killing all 120 of his lives wouldn’t be possible. My rebellion had been doomed from the outset. A powerful sense of regret washed over me. But I couldn’t have done anything. I hadn’t had any other option. I could’ve only chosen to do it slightly earlier or later. The important part…would happen now. What would become of me after this? How would the man before me judge this ghoul guilty of mutiny? As I glared at him, the lord smiled, then made his command. “However… I cannot tolerate continued attempts on my life. End, from this point on, I hereby forbid you to engage in all offensive activity toward me, as well as anything that may be disadvantageous for me.” I knew it—this is what it’s come to. But those words, which just a few minutes ago I would have rather died than listen to, came as a relief. They showed that, for the time being, he had no intention of killing me. And that reassuring reality caused me intractable despair. I had several new questions, but I discarded them for the moment. I couldn’t let myself get discouraged. What I needed right now…was an unbreakable will and deep, dark conviction. Horos Kamen. I will kill you. I will, no matter what it takes. Compared to the inescapable death I felt pressing down on me in life, you are but a triviality. I don’t care what I have to do or how many years or decades it takes—I will win back my freedom. “Heh-heh-heh… Such incredible determination. A will as black as night, unwaning even after sensing the unscalable difference in our power. The intelligence to hide it all, even after a rank mutation and attaining sentience. You are the true king of the dead I have so desired. My long-held wish stands poised to come true. The immortal killers, the Ender Knights, are at my doorstep, but… Heh-heh-heh, ha-ha-ha-ha…” The lord’s gaze shifted, and he cackled uproariously. His eyes shone brightly in the darkness. I could see Lou, who had been discarded just before being turned into an undead, curled up on the floor and trembling. “You will serve me, End—unconditionally, in spite of your wishes.” “Give me my freedom. I’ll obey your commands.” My rebellion was already out in the open. False submission would get me nowhere. And it was probably what the lord wanted, too. As I stared him down, he laughed with amusement, as I’d predicted. “Heh-heh-heh… For one who I heard died from illness, you are a ferocious man indeed! Well…fine, then. End, I give you permission to move.” “…Command me again.” “? I permit you to move.” My body, which had been frozen in place for some minutes now, immediately got its freedom back as soon as I heard those words. Without wasting a moment, I turned around and ran for the door as fast as I could. Without paying attention to the dull pain in my arm, I kicked off the floor with all my might, dashing up the stairs. From behind me came a frantic shout. “End, do not run!” “…” I hadn’t thought that would work. I knew it was doomed to fail from the beginning. But I still had to try. As I came to a stop, the lord sighed, approaching me. “So attentive, so guarded. But those are the proper qualities that a king of the dead should have.” And so, starting the next day, my life in captivity began—a life no different on the surface but one that bound my entire body with invisible chains.