Chapter 502
Shoooaaahhh—
Shoaaah—
Undead soldiers kept crawling up endlessly from the sand.
When Simon glanced back, he saw the coachman and Lisa inside the carriage, trembling in terror.
“Erze!”
Thud!
Simon shouted as he kicked the face of a sand soldier.
“Protect the carriage!”
[Yes, yes~]
With a reply from somewhere, threads of spider silk wrapped around the carriage and horses. Then, in an instant, they were yanked high into the air, safely out of range of the undead soldiers’ attacks.
[Don’t worry about this side.]
“Thanks!”
Slash!
Beside Simon, Kajan’s strike shredded three undead soldiers at once. But from the severed flesh, new tissue began to regenerate again.
“How troublesome.”
Kajan muttered as he swung his arm again.
“Simon, don’t these regenerating undead remind you of something?”
“Yes.”
Simon’s expression hardened.
“The dungeon addicts who became immortal during the Gold Mine Dungeon incident.”
It wasn’t helping that this place was exactly where the Gold Mine Dungeon used to be, which only deepened his suspicion.
Thwack!
This time, Simon cut through an undead soldier’s chest with Impalement.
It was as if time itself had been frozen—no matter how much they slashed and tore, the undead would soon revert to their original form.
‘Too many!’
It was bad enough that they couldn’t be destroyed, but now their numbers had already exceeded a hundred.
Keeeaaaahhh!
As Simon dodged the thrust of a spear, his foot sank deep into the sand, throwing off his balance. An undead soldier immediately pounced, toppling him to the ground.
“Ugh!”
The undead soldier opened its jaws wide, aiming for his throat.
But Simon twisted his body calmly, kicked the creature off, and rose back to his feet.
“Watch out!”
Kajan’s urgent cry triggered Simon’s reflexes. A massive, mid-tier undead larger than the others was swinging its fist toward him.
“Feer!”
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
With a sound like grinding gears, Simon’s left arm was instantly encased in gleaming white bone. He clenched his fist and struck back against the incoming blow.
BOOM!!
The clash of their fists exploded like thunder.
Cracks split across the mid-tier undead’s arm, racing over its body until it crumbled apart.
Kiiiiieeehh!
But just as Simon thought he could breathe, more undead soldiers rushed him. He wiped sweat-soaked bangs from his forehead.
“What a nuisance.”
Clack-clack-clack!
This time, Feer’s bones fitted onto his right leg. Simon kicked out into empty air, releasing a shockwave so powerful that it blasted the undead away in all directions.
Clatter-clatter!
Now Feer’s bones extended to his left leg. With both legs empowered, Simon stomped into the ground and surged forward, his speed overwhelming the undead.
Even as he rampaged through enemy lines, Feer’s bones kept spreading across his body.
The Bone Armor fortified his chest, his limbs connected in bone plating, and Feer’s cloak took form upon his back.
[Boy! To your side!]
Undead soldiers charged at him with axes from the flank. Simon raised his right hand.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The bones snapped into place, forming a Bone Gauntlet. Into his palm dropped Feer’s weapon, the Greatsword of Destruction.
Gripping it tightly, Simon planted his right leg firmly, twisted his waist, and swung. His gaze and both arms followed the arc as the world spun with the blade.
SHHHHHHAAA!
A devastating slash carved a straight line, annihilating everything in its path.
The mid-tier undead was cleaved in half, its body flung apart before crashing to the ground with resounding thuds.
‘Haaah.’
Simon felt his emotions surging.
This overwhelming power flooding his whole body.
And the sensation of gripping the Greatsword of Destruction with Feer’s hand.
‘It’s the first time I’ve fought as Feon since second year.’
[Kehuhuhu! Indeed!]
More than anything, Feer’s will resonated stronger than ever.
[But now’s not the time to relax, boy!]
From the severed lower halves of the mid-tier undead, fresh flesh began to regrow again.
Simon sprinted across the heads of lesser undead soldiers, then slashed directly at the massive one with the Greatsword of Destruction.
SLASH!
The blade split its body cleanly in two. The mid-tier undead blackened, crumbling into ash on the ground.
‘As expected.’
The Greatsword of Destruction carried the effect of suppressing regeneration and healing. With it, even these immortal undead could be destroyed completely.
But the problem was that undead soldiers kept spawning nonstop.
Some even climbed toward Erzebet’s web, while Kajan was nearly buried under swarming enemies.
Slash! Slash!
Even as Simon swung and mowed them down, the undead multiplied faster than he could kill.
And then—
[Boy! At 10 o’clock, a large group of humans are approaching!]
As if things weren’t bad enough, dust clouds rose on the horizon. A cavalry unit charged in this direction.
“Yoyoyoyoyoyo!”
They carried a flag marked with a black wolf.
From their strange cries and chaotic charge, they could only be the thieves of the Ganes Guild.
‘Why now?!’
The worst-case scenario.
While already struggling with the undead, now they had to face the Ganes Guild as well.
At this rate, the coachman and Lisa in the carriage—and even Kajan—were in grave danger.
“Tch!”
Simon pushed forward, hacking through the undead to meet the oncoming riders.
The Ganes Guild cavalry closed the distance in seconds, hooves shaking the ground, neighs piercing the air.
Shing!
Simon lowered his stance, clutching the greatsword in resolve.
‘Before they close in, I’ll cut down their vanguard with a strike…!’
Fwaaah—
Just then, a white feather drifted down onto Simon’s shoulder.
[Hello?]
‘!’
Simon’s eyes widened, instantly halting his slash.
RUMMMMMMBLE!
Hundreds of horsemen stormed past him—straight into the undead soldiers.
Thud!
Crash!
They ignored Simon and Kajan entirely, focusing only on hacking down the undead.
Their swords severed undead necks, their slings crushed skulls like melons.
Hrrrhhhh!
The deafening noise of hooves and whinnies filled the battlefield. Simon turned in shock.
[Missed me?]
Among the cavalry, a single girl stood out.
Riding a white horse, sitting side-saddle, she led the thieves with a playful smile.
“Serne!”
Simon’s mouth dropped.
“What’s going on?! Why are you with the Ganes Guild…?!”
[It’s nothing big.]
Her voice came from the feather on his shoulder.
[I simply decided that guild… would be mine.]
Thud! Thwack!
Watching the bandits crush the undead soldiers, Simon let out a hollow laugh.
‘As if that’s something you can just “claim” for yourself.’
Still, thanks to them, he managed to catch his breath.
Simon pushed off the ground and rejoined the fight. Each time he split the regenerating undead with the Greatsword of Destruction, they fell into irreparable ruin.
“Hm~ Hmph~”
At the front of the charge, Serne sat on her horse, filing her nails as if bored. Feathers swirled around her, fighting in her stead, while even the horse she rode was being steered by a feather lodged in its nape.
“My Queen! We’ve just broken through their lines!”
The loyal thief captain, Karak, who had become her slave, reported. Without looking up from her nails, Serne replied casually:
“Circle around for another charge.”
“Yes!”
The cavalry veered aside to prepare for a second assault. The earlier charge had already shattered more than half of the undead, leaving the battlefield in ruins.
Just then, as the Ganes Guild prepared to strike again—
“M-My Queen! They’re coming!”
“?”
From the opposite side, a new dust cloud rose, backlit by the setting sun.
The banner of Tarados’ fief fluttered in the air.
“It’s Tarados’ lord’s soldiers!”
“Hmmm—”
Serne decided to set aside the undead for now and deal with these newcomers first. She ordered the thieves into formation and gave the signal to charge the Tarados soldiers.
Karak bellowed with zeal.
“Better this way! We’ll wipe out those lord’s soldiers I’ve always hated!”
“For our great Queen!”
The warhorses—beasts born of monster bloodlines—snorted fiercely as they galloped. The Tarados soldiers showed no sign of slowing either.
The distance between the two sides narrowed quickly.
“……”
Serne’s eyes glimmered with recognition.
She locked eyes with someone leading the Tarados soldiers.
“How tiresome~”
A faint smirk crossed her lips.
“Even here, we end up entangled.”
Muttering this, she raised her arm to signal.
On the Tarados side, a signal flag was also raised.
Just as the two forces seemed about to collide head-on—
RUMMMMBBLLEE!
Both suddenly turned their steeds, crashing together into the undead soldiers at the center.
Thud!
Boom!
Crunch!
Simon quickly leapt aside. On either flank, the two cavalry units crossed paths, trampling and obliterating the undead.
‘…Hah. What the hell is even happening?’
If Serne’s intervention wasn’t strange enough, now even the lord’s soldiers were helping him.
Simon turned his head.
Leading the Tarados cavalry was a knight clad in full plate armor, and beside him—a girl in a Keyzen uniform with crimson eyes.
There was no mistake.
‘Loraine!’
Mounted on horseback, she slashed her crimson-stained twin daggers. Even distant undead soldiers split apart under her blades.
Not to be outdone, Serne scattered her feathers into the sky, transforming them into a Dark Flare that rained fire down upon the battlefield.
As the immortal army was crushed in moments, Simon quietly dismissed Feer’s armor, gripping only the Greatsword of Destruction in his right hand.
“Simon! What’s going on?!”
Kajan rushed over and asked. Simon shrugged.
“Looks like Serne took over the Ganes Guild, and Loraine seized control of the fief soldiers.”
“…Why would they come to Tarados?”
“We’ll just have to go ask.”
At the most crucial moment, two formidable forces had arrived as reinforcements.
Two troublesome powers… now stood as allies.
Unbelievable.
Simon laughed and turned his head.
Now, the only enemy left was Executioners.
* * *
BOOM!
In the headquarters of Executioners’ Tarados branch, Nirti, the chief commander, smashed the armrest of her chair with her fist.
“Don’t spout nonsense!!”
She roared.
“Are you certain of this? That the entire Ganes Guild and Tarados’ regular army have fallen into the hands of students? Students!?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am.”
The Executioners’ subordinate bowed his head.
“Black Wolf Ganes is missing, and General Amin seems to have defected to Keyzen…”
Nirti pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.
“How can this be? They’re not even third-years, you said second-years?!”
“Y-Yes. We’ve just received the profiles of all involved.”
The man bowed again and spread out the documents.
“Kajan Edvalt, undefeated for two years. Serne Eindark, official heir of the Ivory Tower. Loraine Arkbold, daughter of Neftis. And—”
His voice lowered.
“Simon Follentia, Keyzen’s Student Council President.”
Nirti froze, as if struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
A hollow laugh slipped from her lips.
“…What is this? Did they come here to slay dragons?”
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters