Chapter 462
[He is here right now.]
Simon, frozen like a statue, looked around quickly.
“Where, where is he?”
Feer silently extended his arm. A space beyond the ruins, shrouded in darkness, suddenly lit up.
And Simon saw it.
A large, rectangular, transparent coffin, containing a dripping mass of mud.
-Uuuuuuugh…
It writhed unnaturally, making strange, mournful sounds.
“This is….”
[The Plague Bringer, Kal.]
A sound of lament escaped Feer’s mouth.
[He was once the General of the 7th Legion, an Ancient Undead.]
Simon, with a tense expression, approached and touched the coffin. It only writhed; he could feel no thoughts or will within it.
“What happened to him?”
Simon’s voice trembled.
[When he was first discovered, he looked even more horrifying.]
While Simon had been on break, Feer and the Ancient Undeads had gone to assault the White Tomb Dungeon, the place where they suspected Kal would be hiding.
The White Tomb Dungeon was a place no adventurers, treasure hunters, or archaeologists knew how to enter. The Kingdom of Dresden had only been keeping it under watch because of the potential of the dungeon, but in reality, it was more of a nuisance.
But Feer knew how to enter.
[I was certain that the dungeon was Kal’s nest.]
One of Kal’s abilities was to turn dungeons into his lair. By entering a dungeon, he could devour the dungeon master as part of his own body and use that power to dominate the dungeon.
He also absorbed the vast energies within the dungeon to endlessly produce his highly poisonous undead minions.
Kal had expanded his power by moving from dungeon to dungeon, but he was defeated by Richard and Feer when they entered one of his dungeons. Eventually, through “Legionization”, he became one of the generals of the 7th Legion.
Years later, when Richard’s legion disbanded, Kal, craving freedom, sought a dungeon to inhabit, and that was the White Tomb Dungeon.
Having caught Kal once before, Feer knew not only that he would be in the White Tomb Dungeon but also knew how to access it.
[But that place was no longer a dungeon.]
From Feer’s hollow skull eyes, a dark blue, inky flame flared like a torch.
[It had become a human laboratory.]
Even to Feer, an Ancient Undead, it was a horrific sight.
Humans with blood-red eyes were manufacturing Kal’s clones like an assembly line, conducting all sorts of chemical experiments with his bodily substances. At the center, Kal, torn and tattered, was locked in a coffin, overworked.
The dungeon itself had become both a secret laboratory and a factory controlled by humans.
Kal’s ability to prevent outsiders from entering had backfired. This mysterious group had infiltrated the dungeon by some special method and used it as their secret base.
“Wait, I feel like I’ve heard of a similar case before.”
Simon touched his chin, thinking, and then spoke to Feer.
“I have a question after hearing this. The entrance to the White Tomb Dungeon was being guarded by the Kingdom of Dresden, right? How could so many people get inside?”
[I don’t have a clear guess about the entrance method either.]
Feer crossed his arms.
[The only ones who know how to enter Kal’s dungeon are Richard and me! They surely didn’t enter from the front; there must have been some way to bypass it.]
“……”
[Let me continue the story.]
In any case, Feer and the Ancient Undeads were certain Kal was alive and fought against the mysterious group.
They unleashed strange techniques and firepower that they had never seen before, but even that wasn’t enough against the four Ancient Undeads.
[Of course~ they were strong too.]
Erzebet said, poking Prince’s head.
[They almost killed Prince once.]
[Stop it!]
Prince, irritated, removed her hand from his head.
[As a result, we won that battle.]
Feer said.
[We wanted to capture those humans and extract information, but as the tide turned against them, they blew up their own brains and died!]
Simon shuddered at the story.
“Suicide…?”
[Yes, the key executives had already burned important documents and vanished somewhere.]
This time, Akemius spoke.
[Still, we were able to recover as many materials as possible, my lord. I’m sorry we could only bring this much.]
Next to Akemius was a mound of books and papers stacked like a small hill. Simon’s eyes widened.
“What? You brought so much!”
Simon rushed over to examine the books.
He flipped one open, then another, then yet another.
‘…I can’t read any of this.’
All the books were filled with characters that twisted and writhed like crawling maggots. No matter how many he examined, he couldn’t decipher them.
[What, what is this?]
Herseba flew over and landed on Simon’s shoulder. Her eyeball at the tip of her staff scanned the characters.
[Ah, this is…!]
Simon quickly looked at her.
“Herseba! Can you understand what it says?”
[No, I can’t.]
Simon, annoyed, pushed her off and then raised her back up sharply. Her body twirled midair.
“I’m not in the mood to joke around.”
[Your expression is serious, boy! Do you have any guesses?]
“Yes.”
Simon closed the book with a sigh.
“Lately, there have been an unusually large number of incidents like this. People somehow taking over dungeons and doing bad things inside.”
He thought of a nameless dungeon that Sillage was said to have been dispatched to in the second semester of the first year.
Its entrance had been blocked by the Blood Ring, and all sorts of criminals had crowded in.
How did they manage to claim the dungeon as their own? Simply sealing the dungeon master wouldn’t have been enough.
And the recent ‘Ice Dragon Karisa’ incident with Lete in the Holy Federation. Even though the dungeon master Karisa roamed outside the dungeon, the dungeon remained intact.
Lastly, the mysterious group that took over Kal’s dungeon and experimented on him.
“These three cases must be connected somehow.”
The Blood Heaven Cult and Sillage.
The Mizenashi family and the Ice Dragon Karisa.
And the experiment group occupying Kal’s dungeon.
It’s curious.
“We need to investigate more thoroughly. Mobilize the legion’s resources to track and investigate continuously.”
Erzebet made a small “hmph—” sound and smiled.
[Interesting. It seems like something troublesome is involved, doesn’t it?]
Prince leapt up.
[Those who did this to our comrade Kal! We will never forgive them!]
Akemius bowed politely and said.
[Could this be related to Magnus’ 5th Legion?]
“No, it’s not.”
Simon answered immediately.
“Magnus would have taken Kal, but he wouldn’t have used him as a test subject like this.”
At that moment, Herseba, who had been lost in thought, spoke.
[Hey, kid! Think about it this way.]
“Go on, Herseba.”
[They captured Kal and experimented on him until he was torn to shreds, right? Every experiment has a purpose. What do you think that purpose was?]
Simon crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
“They probably wanted to artificially activate Kal’s abilities. Ancient Undeads are the most mysterious beings in this world. Using his clones made of extreme poison…”
[They aren’t clones.]
Herseba’s eyes sparkled.
[What if the first goal of the research was his ability to turn dungeons into his nest itself?]
“……!”
A shiver ran down Simon’s arm as he suddenly raised his head.
“That’s right! That research had already succeeded! That’s why humans were able to occupy the dungeon from within!”
[I see.]
And the most mysterious thing: how this strange group was able to enter a dungeon controlled by Kal.
Thinking about it, Simon recalled the battle with Sillage at the end of the first year.
Back then, Simon trapped Sillage in Herseba’s dungeon, but Sillage opened a blood-red portal to call the Blood Heaven Cult believers into the dungeon.
“The Blood Heaven Cult can travel freely between dungeons! They create holes in space using special portal techniques!”
Prince tilted his head.
[Wait, so the Blood Heaven Cult is still around? Did they do this too?]
“No. There must be someone linking the Blood Heaven Cult and the Mizenashi family.”
Simon tried to interpret the materials Akemius had collected, but it wasn’t easy.
The language system was far beyond anything on the continent.
After examining the documents a little longer, dawn broke.
Simon now had to prepare for his first class.
“I’ll be at school, so contact me if you find anything. Ah! What will we do about Kal?”
Simon spoke to the undead wriggling behind the glass wall.
[For now, we’ll take time to investigate a bit more!]
Feer said.
[Kal now is closer to a corpse than an Ancient Undead, but his poison is still useful. We’ll figure out another method.]
“Yes.”
[And now, catch this, boy!]
Feer tossed Simon a new clone he had carved from his own bones. It was shaped like a skull badge.
[It’s a way to contact me!]
Simon fiddled with Feer’s clone and laughed. It was small and cute.
“Somehow, your designs keep getting cuter every semester.”
Kuhahaha! Feer laughed joyfully.
[If it were clumsy, people would suspect it was an artifact! I’ve learned the students’ ‘preferences’!]
Simon pinned Feer’s clone to his uniform.
[I have something for you too, young master.]
This time, Akemius approached and handed him something: five black feathers.
“What’s this?”
[Just like what Feer gave you, these are like parts of me. Carry them on your person. Wherever you are on the continent, if you’re in danger, I will fly to the place where these feathers are at any time.]
“Ah, thank you.”
Even though he already had Feer’s clone, Simon pocketed the feathers, thinking they might come in handy someday.
[…Feer gives badges, Akemius gives feathers, Prince gives rings.]
Erzebet’s footsteps clacked on the floor as she approached.
[I can’t lose! I need to leave something of myself with the commander too!]
Simon took a step back, sensing something ominous.
“What are you planning now?”
[Hehe!]
Erzebet spread her arms wide and jumped forward.
[I’ll leave a kiss mark on the commander’s graceful neck…!]
Simon swiftly stepped on the darkness beneath him and lifted off, leaving her hugging empty air and collapsing.
“That’s too much!!”
“I’ll come back later!”
And so, Simon parted ways with the Ancient Undeads. He decided to leave Herseba in the subspace for now, as she found it too cramped.
When he had entered, the moonlight had been shining, but when he came out, sunlight was streaming in.
* * *
‘Too late!’
By the time Simon reached the dorm, everyone was already running toward the school.
“Simon!”
As Simon entered the dorm room, Toto jumped up.
“I thought you went ahead already!”
“I just had something to take care of and came back. Let’s hurry, we don’t have much time.”
Simon quickly gathered a few belongings, threw on his coat, and ran down the stairs. They were almost the last of the second-year students leaving the dorm.
“Don’t run inside!!”
Headmistress Margaret’s shout echoed. Startled, Simon and Toto tiptoed out of the building.
“Ah, my heart nearly jumped out!”
Toto murmured, clutching his chest.
‘Hmm.’
Simon thought fast about how to reach the campus quickly.
The distance from the Summoning Department to the campus was quite far. Even if they ran now, they would be late.
No wonder some of the students ahead were riding makeshift summons as they ran.
“Toto! Anything we can use?”
Toto shook his head, pouting.
“Something big enough to carry both of us…”
“Leave it to me.”
Simon pulled a golem core from the pocket dimension and dropped it to the ground. Toto jumped in surprise.
“What are you going to do with a golem?”
“It won’t take long. Just wait a moment.”
Simon stretched out his hand.
<Summon Golem>
Shhraaaak!
Responding to Simon’s darkness, the surrounding sand, clay, and rocks began slapping together around the golem core.
‘It’s been a while since I used this technique.’
The gathered soil and sand were molded smoothly with darkness into a wide, streamlined body. The golem had no arms or legs; instead, wheels were attached, and an engine at the back was powered by darkness.
From above, it looked like a large mudboard sculpted into a streamlined shape.
Simon leapt onto it.
“Toto! Hold on tight!”
“Okay!”
Toto climbed on and grabbed Simon’s waist. No sooner had he done so than the sound of flowing darkness filled the air, and the golem board shot forward.
“Whaaaah!”
The speed was incredible. The scenery blurred as it rushed past.
Simon laughed, clutching his windblown hair, while Toto clung to him, squealing, “Aaaah! Aaaah!”
The golem board quickly overtook other students, each surprised by the sight.
“We’ll go straight to the campus at this speed!”
“Ahh, Simon! Too fast!”
* * *
The two arrived safely in front of their classroom.
“Ughhh.”
Toto’s hair was a mess, and he stumbled as he walked.
Simon put his hands in his pockets and smiled nonchalantly.
“You okay?”
“Ugh… I don’t think so. My stomach suddenly…”
Gurgle.
Gurgle.
Whatever he had eaten yesterday had begun to rebel. Toto shuffled forward, clutching his stomach.
“I… I’ll stop by the restroom first, go on ahead!”
“Got it.”
Five minutes before class started, Simon strolled casually to the classroom door.
And as he opened it—
Whooosh—
A cool breeze blew in. There, standing, was a girl with black hair flowing in the wind.
She stared out the window with a blank expression.
‘Loraine?’
For a moment, Simon thought he had mistaken the class. He had expected Dick, Maelyn, and Kamibarez to greet him.
But it wasn’t them.
It was a new semester. A new class. New studies. New lectures awaited.
This was now his class.
Amid the awkward air of the first day, Simon stepped forward.
“Ah.”
The black-haired girl finally looked at him. Her expression softened, a welcoming smile appearing.
“Hello, Simon.”
“Hello, Loraine.”
Simon returned her smile.
This time, he thought, it was his turn to speak.
“Mind if I sit next to you?”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters