Chapter 124
Simon’s party climbed onto a rooftop to escape the approaching zombies.
But the danger wasn’t over yet. The zombies, having spotted them, rushed toward the building and began climbing its walls.
To be precise, it wasn’t so much climbing as it was stacking, zombies at the bottom pressed tightly against the wall while others climbed on top of them, forming a mound of flesh. Dick, watching the scene, let out a hollow laugh.
“Tsk, this is gonna haunt my dreams for a week.”
A scene that stirred an extreme and primal fear.
All the undead present howled for their lives. The only thing they could rely on was their comrades at their side.
“Let’s move again.”
In the end, the four of them barely got any rest before leaping off the rooftop in their Bone Armor. As they landed over the wall into an alley, the zombies on the ground immediately gave chase.
“Was this place always this brutal?”
Maelyn said, panting.
“I thought we’d just be avoiding a few stray zombies while gathering materials!”
Simon was equally confused. It was strange how such a large number of zombies were obsessively chasing only them.
Was some unnatural force at work?
Just then, while running along the carriage road, Simon spotted something like a lid. It was the only thing on the road that had a slightly different color.
“Guys! Hold on a sec!”
Simon ran over and grabbed the handle of the lid, lifting it. The stench of the sewer hit them immediately, and a ladder leading downward came into view.
“Simon! Are you seriously thinking of going down there?”
Simon looked back. The wave of zombies charging like a living hill was getting closer.
“Zombies are coming from all directions. I think it might be better to just drop straight down.”
Dick shrugged.
“Will that even work? Feels like the zombies will follow us right in.”
“We distract them each in our own way, then slip in here while their attention is diverted. What do you think?”
Maelyn immediately nodded.
“I’m in! I can at least block their vision with some flame!”
“Oh! I heard zombies are sensitive to sound!”
“Then this is perfect.”
Dick pulled out an instrument-shaped music box from subspace.
“It was a prototype I was planning to sell, but can’t be helped.”
With practiced hands, Dick wound up the spring and released it. The music box started playing loudly.
“You got more?”
Simon summoned three skeletons and asked. Dick matched the number and took out two more music boxes.
“We don’t have much time!”
Kamibarez was holding back the approaching zombies by rapid-firing Bloodshots.
“I’m blocking their view!”
Maelyn swung her arm, casting dark flame around them like a wall. Smoke rose with the fire, completely hiding them.
‘We’re counting on you!’
Clack!
Clatter clack!
The skeletons holding music boxes burst through the flames and scattered in three directions. The zombies, reacting to the loud music, split off toward the three sounds.
Now’s the time!
The four quickly descended into the sewer. Simon, who was last in, closed the lid with a clunk! so it made a sound.
As soon as the lid shut, pitch darkness enveloped them. The only thing Simon could feel was the texture of the old ladder he was gripping tightly with all his strength.
“Everyone okay?”
“Yes!”
They waited a moment for their eyes to adjust, then pulled out a lantern from subspace.
Now they could see better. Simon was at the top, with Kamibarez, Maelyn, and Dick lined up beneath him on the ladder.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy zombie footsteps echoed above. The ceiling trembled and terrible howls rang out.
With only the ceiling separating them, the four held their breath, tense with fear.
Then, after a while...
“...Are they gone?”
Silence returned. Maybe the zombies had wandered elsewhere. The footsteps stopped too. Only then did everyone finally sigh in relief.
“Now we have two choices.”
Dick said, regaining his usual tone.
“Go up, or go down. Either way has its risks.”
“Hmm.”
Maelyn frowned in thought, then her eyes met Dick’s.
“Hey!!”
Suddenly, she blushed furiously and grabbed her skirt.
“Where are you looking!!”
“Ah. Busted.”
“Busted?! I’ll kill you! Seriously, just die!”
“Ack! Hey! Hey! My nose! You hit my nose!”
Maelyn began furiously kicking Dick’s face while holding her skirt down. Eventually, Dick descended lower to get out of her reach.
“Wow! She’s really trying to kill me! It’s pitch dark, how can you even see a silhouette!”
“And why were you looking at that silhouette, you filthy commoner!”
While the two bickered noisily, Kamibarez let out a small sigh and looked up at Simon.
“What should we do, Simon?”
“Let’s go down. There’s no point staying here like this, and even if we go up now, zombies might still be nearby.”
The other two agreed with Simon’s decision. Carefully, the four descended the ladder and stepped onto the sewer floor.
There was nothing special.
A dark, endless tunnel stretched out before them. The distinct stench of the sewer and ammonia stung their noses. Beside the walking path, black, foul-smelling water trickled along the canal.
“Hmph, this might be better actually.”
Maelyn crossed her arms.
“Doesn’t look like there are any materials left to find up there. Let’s just follow this sewer straight into the depths of Deathland!”
Dick shook his head.
“Eh, seriously? There were that many zombies just at the entrance. If we go deeper, we might end up in a real zombie den.”
She smirked slightly.
“Scared?”
“Ahem! Who’s scared! I just mean let’s not act on impulse and make rational decisions!”
Dick and Maelyn both turned to Simon, clearly asking, ‘You agree with me, right?’
Simon thought for a moment before answering.
“Maelyn is right. The materials close to camp have probably already been picked clean.”
There was Class C who entered before Class A, and according to the upperclassmen, all students who took Professor Aron’s Summonology class last year and the year before had come to Deathland. The camp location had always been the same.
“So we have to go deeper?”
Kamibarez asked, and Simon nodded.
“Yeah. That’s why they gave us twelve hours for this practical and made us move in teams. I think it’s because getting the materials won’t be easy.”
Dick clicked his tongue and nodded.
“Tch, makes sense.”
“If we all work together, we’ll be fine!”
And so, the four aligned on a plan.
Simon and his teammates continued walking through the sewer, searching for another way to the surface.
Simon glanced at their faces. Maybe they’d been so shaken by the zombie ambush earlier that now they were calmly chatting, steeled in resolve.
‘Feer.’
Simon pressed Feer’s fragment and spoke in his mind.
‘What do you think?’
[Kuhuhu! Who knows. Zombies are such outliers among the undead that it’s hard to say anything definitive just from their behavior!]
‘Hmm.’
[But well, we can at least make a guess or two, can’t we?]
Feer’s fragment curled its lips into a grin.
[Prince, former General of the Legion! He could be behind the zombies’ movements!]
‘I think so too. Tell me more about Prince’s abilities and personality.’
As if waiting for this moment, Feer began to explain.
[Prince’s core ability is the 'Crown'.]
‘The Crown?’
[When he wears the crown, he can control undead of the same type as him, in other words, zombies!]
Simon nodded. It was a downgraded version of a General’s ability, limited only to zombies.
[The difference from a true Legion General is that Prince can control zombies even if they haven’t undergone 'legionization'! With that ability, he could truly rule like a king in Deathland, where over 90% of the undead are zombies! That’s why I wanted to come here myself.]
‘I understand. Then let me ask this instead, do you think Prince is friendly toward the Legion?’
Feer took a moment to respond.
[I’m not sure. Back during Richard’s Legion days, Prince was a loyal moderate. He seemed to revere the Commander.]
‘Ah.’
[But as you know, the Legion didn’t end well. What Prince is thinking now, we won’t know until we meet him.]
If this large-scale zombie attack really was orchestrated by Prince, and if it was because he recognized Simon as a Legion Commander…
Then Simon might have to defeat Prince by force.
“Simon!”
Simon flinched and looked to his side. Kamibarez was smiling brightly.
“What were you thinking so deeply about?”
“Mm. Nothing really. Did someone say something?”
Dick suddenly thrust his head forward.
“What do you think about Maelyn’s violence, who turned an innocent person’s face into jerky just because he happened to be beneath her?”
“...Please die. Please, the moment we return to Keyzen, get run over by a carriage and die.”
And so, they walked again for quite some time.
Just as their legs started aching, and they thought the sewer stench might permanently numb their noses—
“A ladder!”
They finally found a route leading back to the surface. Unlike the others, this ladder was still in good condition.
“Let’s go.”
Simon took the lead and climbed up the ladder.
Dick, next in line, called out “Ladies first” like a noble and gave a grand bow, only to have Maelyn yank at his hair several times. But it wasn’t anything serious.
After Simon, Dick climbed up, followed by the girls.
Click.
Simon, who reached the top, pushed against the ceiling with force. The sky came into view, and a cool breeze brushed against them.
Simon climbed out and reached down to help his teammates up.
“Woooow.”
Kamibarez, the last to climb up, let out a small exclamation.
“It’s so beautiful!”
The place they emerged from was a large, luxurious mansion garden.
There were no zombies in sight. As if someone had maintained it, the flowers and trees were properly in bloom. After spending hours in the sewer, the scent of flowers made their noses sing with joy.
“To think a place like this existed in Deathland…”
It felt beautiful, but the performance evaluation came first, not sightseeing.
“Let’s search around here.”
“Yeah.”
The four began searching around the garden.
[Boy.]
Then Feer spoke up.
[I sense traces of a large-scale barrier in this place.]
‘Huh? What kind of barrier?’
[Concealment. It’s deactivated now, but it seems there was someone who wanted to hide this place.]
“Kyaaaa!”
As Simon focused on Feer’s voice, a sudden scream from Kamibarez rang out.
“What happened? Kami!”
The three of them rushed over to her.
“Th-there…!”
There was a person collapsed in the garden.
No one dared to approach immediately, but Simon strode over and examined the body. Judging by the clothes, she appeared to be a maid who had worked in the mansion.
“She’s already dead. Long ago.”
A world where nothing decays.
Though she had stopped breathing, the corpse was preserved without rotting. That made it all the more eerie.
“It’s better not to look…”
“Don’t underestimate me, Simon.”
Maelyn stepped forward, her eyes firm.
“I’m a necromancer too.”
Dick and Kamibarez also took a step forward. Maelyn boldly crouched by the corpse and opened her clothes to examine the state.
“She meets the conditions for summoning listed in the textbook. If I turn her into a zombie, at least we won’t get a zero… but, it still feels lacking.”
“Let’s keep looking.”
They spread out and resumed searching the area.
This time, Dick called everyone over.
“At this point, we’re guaranteed an A+.”
Behind the mansion was the corpse of a man who appeared to be a guard. He was huge, almost two meters tall, and his whole body was packed with muscle, as though he’d been thoroughly trained.
“In terms of physique, he’s perfect.”
“Yeah.”
But everyone’s faces showed hesitation.
And for good reason. Up to now, they had only used undead that had already been magically treated by someone else.
Now, they would have to create a zombie themselves from a fresh corpse right in front of them.
What made so many students and seniors say that the experience in Deathland was tough… probably wasn’t the zombies’ attacks.
“I’ll do it.”
As Simon rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward, Maelyn’s expression hardened.
“Hey, wait a second! I can do it too!”
“I’m better than you in Summonology. Even for zombie summoning spells, I got a higher evaluation.”
Maelyn’s mouth shut tight as he brought up grades.
Simon took a deep breath and knelt in front of the corpse. He placed his palm on the body.
‘This person is already dead. Don’t get too emotional about it.’
The core value of being a necromancer was practicality.
A necromancer had to make use of anything, even the corpse of the dead, if it meant winning in battle.
Simon summoned Darkness and began drawing a magic circle on the corpse’s chest.
‘Hoo.’
Skeletons and zombies were both considered low-tier undead. But even in Keyzen and other necromancer schools, most Summonology professors focused on skeletons in their lectures.
Nowadays, in an era of peace, some schools even avoided zombies entirely for the students’ emotional well-being, or only showed them monster-based zombies.
But Aron was different.
He brought first-year, first-semester students to Deathland and made them raise zombies themselves. According to his educational philosophy, that was what a necromancer should do.
Understand the fundamentals.
Confront them.
Awaken.
Just as a surgeon who cannot perform dissection will not survive, for a necromancer, this too was inevitable.
Simon infused the magic circle with Darkness.
Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!
Finally, a black magic circle activated on the corpse’s chest.
Superb.