By the time the duke and his knights arrived at the gate, the commotion on the main road had already gotten close enough to be audible. Human screams and the howls of the undead were being carried on the wind. Several fires had broken out as well, and glowing red lights could be seen here and there, scorching the night sky. Luckily, none of them were very large, but as the undead rampage made it hard for anyone to come and put out the fire, there was a chance the night wind might spread the glowing embers and create a conflagration large enough to set the entire town ablaze.
“Time is of the essence! Eliminate the undead wandering the town, and extinguish as many of those fires as you can! A few of you head to the cemetery as well! If the undead really are coming from there, there’s a good chance the ringleader of the operation is there too!”
Astrid nodded. “We’re in agreement, but our soldiers alone simply won’t be enough. Father, you fly to the royal palace by wyvern and get His Majesty to send his royal guards. In the meantime I’ll use my own wyvern to fly to the cemetery to search for the culprit.”
“Good idea. Just be careful, Astrid. If the enemy is capable of this much, there probably aren’t just one or two necromancers.”
“Don’t worry. I’m aware. Clau, you mind the house while I’m gone.”
“Leave it to me!” Claudia answered with a big nod.
“Hee hee hee hee! That voice... That stance! It seems you really have made a full recovery, little girl!”
Hearing a familiar voice, Astrid turned around. There, before her eyes, was an old man sitting against the mansion wall with a biwa in his hand. Seeing him grin in amusement despite the gravity of the situation, the duke scowled. His daughters, who both knew the man, just looked puzzled.
“Mister? What are you doing here?” Claudia asked, almost reflexively.
“Clau. Who is this man?” her father asked.
“Er...I met him at the public cemetery. He’s always there, playing his songs so the dead can pass on.”
“The cemetery? I see. So I suppose that makes you the old man who came here to escape from the cemetery; the one my guard mentioned.”
“Hee hee, that’s right. But to be more accurate, I didn’t escape; I came here to attack. It was a mistake for you to let me in here assuming I was fleeing, Pascal Zimm Dragonaut.”
At that moment, the old man plucked his biwa loudly, and an abnormal noise reached the duke’s ears. He grimaced, and not just because the stranger had addressed him without any honorifics. The soldiers around him, however, seemed much more upset by the old man’s rudeness and surrounded the newcomer with angry glares. But the old man didn’t even seem to register them as a threat, because his attitude didn’t change.
Astrid unconsciously reached for her sword. “Attack? Attack us, you mean? Would I be correct in assuming that you’re the one behind this?”
“You would indeed, Astrid Dragonaut. My job is to soothe malevolent gods and vengeful spirits with my music, helping them to pass on. But at the same time, my job is to agitate calm gods and contaminate the peacefully sleeping dead with curses. The undead you see taking over the capital right now... That’s all my handiwork.”
Duke Dragonaut regarded the man with a stern glare. “Preposterous. However skilled you may be, you expect me to believe a single person was able to break the barrier around the cemetery? I realize a vagabond musician like you has to lie now and then for theatrics, but even so, there’s a time and place. And what you said just now could very well land you in prison.”
“Hee hee hee! Barrier, he says! A barrier! Right, yes, there was a decent amount of mana gathered there, now that I recall. But in the end, that was set up by the priests of the continent. A hundred or so priests at Level 20 or 30 can’t stop me. I’m Level 73, you know?”
“Have you gone mad?!”
“Hee hee hee hee hee! In the end, the Raikou of legend, Pascal Zimm Dragonaut, is nothing special, huh? He can’t even recognize that someone much more powerful than him is right before his eyes. If someone like that is the strongest the kingdom has to offer, Kanaria’s as good as done for!”
It was not the duke himself who exploded with rage at that statement, but everyone else around him. They didn’t try to cut the decrepit old man down, of course, but they seemed more than willing to give him a beating as they all raised their swords still in their scabbards. In response, the old man’s lip curled, and he plucked a shrill note on his lute. Suddenly...
“GAAHHH!”
The soldiers all screamed, covering their hands with their ears, then collapsed on the spot. The old man plucked his instrument several more times, sending convulsions through the collapsed soldiers with each strum even though they were still covering their ears. Soon after, dark red liquid sprayed from their ears.
Having confirmed that the old man was their enemy, the duke and Astrid simultaneously took action. Astrid was Level 37 and the duke Level 49. They both slashed at the old man with the intent to kill, but...
“Rise, impregnable fortress! Fortress!” A black wall rose up around the old man to protect him, fully repelling both their attacks.
The duke cried out in astonishment. “F-Fortification?! It can’t be! That’s a Category 8 spell!”
“And he even omitted the incantation,” Astrid muttered grimly.
“Hee hee hee, did you not hear what I said the first time? There’s someone standing in front of you that’s far stronger than you both. Even siccing your precious wyverns on me wouldn’t give me a scratch.”
He strummed his lute so furiously that it looked like he was trying to snap the strings. Yet, in direct contrast to his cacophonous performance, his tone to everyone present was soft and gentle.
“This is my requiem to you all. A gift of death from me to you. Enjoy it to your heart’s content.”
His mana was increasing rapidly by the second, swelling into a ghastly aura. Astrid and the others had to grit their teeth just to endure his power. And in the meantime, they heard his voice resound loud and clear.
“Shinsou Reiki! Cry and scream, Shizuka!”