Chapter 507
Gold Mine Dungeon, Basement Level 3.
Simon was walking while gasping for breath.
His heart throbbed painfully, and sweat poured down his forehead like rain. Around him, fragments of undead—irreparably broken—squirmed weakly.
‘I tried to conserve stamina in my own way…’
The result was a total failure.
He had smashed through everything in his path.
At this rate, he thought, he might exhaust himself before even facing the boss of this place—Nirti.
[Khhuhuh! Soldiers of the undying undead… They’ve managed to create something halfway useful here!]
Feer was observing the scattered undead. As the legion’s master, he seemed interested.
[I find them pathetic. Undying? More like dungeon-made toys, nothing more.]
Herseba let out a hollow laugh, clearly uninterested.
“We’re short on time. Let’s keep moving.”
Simon held the greatsword in his right hand and carried Herseba in his left as he moved forward.
At that moment, Feer sensed a presence and spoke.
[Boy! New enemies ahead.]
Simon blinked. Because of the thick mist and darkness that blanketed the third floor, it was difficult to make out what lay ahead.
But since it was Feer speaking, it could be trusted.
[Undying soldiers. At a glance, at least several hundred.]
‘Persistent, aren’t they?’
Nirti had prepared layered defenses. Of course, with Feer’s and the Legion Commander’s power, Simon could break through, but the stamina drain would be severe.
[And, to the right passage.]
At those words, Simon turned his head right. Beside the central road that led to Nirti’s laboratory, another path stretched away.
[I sense countless thoughts from there as well!]
‘Is this an attempt at a diversionary assault?’
If they attacked from both front and rear simultaneously, it would be troublesome.
So, leaving the army of undead in the front for now, Simon slipped into the side passage.
And there, he saw—
‘……!’
A horrifying sight.
—Kiiiiii!
—Gigigigik!
Inside the cages, undead villagers and various monster undead writhed together. They appeared to be failed experiments, gathered here because they couldn’t be controlled.
When they saw a living being, they grew agitated, thrusting their bloodshot eyes and hands through the bars, convulsing wildly.
‘So they plan to incinerate them.’
Turning his head, Simon saw, in the distance, a crematorium blazing with fire.
[I don’t like this, kid.]
The staff Herseba hopped onto Simon’s shoulder.
[Maybe it’s because I’m a Lich now, but seeing undead treated like this, experimented on carelessly, then discarded like trash—it pisses me off.]
“……”
Simon stroked his chin, pondering, his eyes flashing with a strange gleam.
“I just thought of something good.”
Then, he began to cough deliberately. Herseba’s expression stiffened.
[Don’t tell me you’re going to sing that weird song again?]
* * *
Chiik—Chik—
Basement Level 3 of the dungeon, where Simon was.
Masked men of the Executioners were guarding the passage alongside undead soldiers. One of them spoke into a communication crystal.
“Lady Nirti! A necromancer from Keyzen has reached the third floor.”
—One man?
“Yes.”
—Our experiment is nearly complete. Stop him by any means necessary.
“Understood.”
Chiik—
The communication cut off. The man pocketed the crystal. Around him stood more than a dozen masked comrades.
“Astonishing. I thought with the undead soldiers here, we could hold out for three days.”
“There’s no way he can break through this alone.”
“Indeed. The fool rushed in too quickly.”
Step—Step—
Footsteps echoed on the stone floor. Someone was approaching.
“He’s here.”
Out of the darkness emerged a man whose entire body was encased in a massive Bone Armor, face hidden behind a skull helm.
In his hands were a white greatsword and a staff.
The Executioners’ members drew their weapons, while behind them the undead soldiers growled lowly.
“You’ve shown admirable courage making it this far, but do you really think you can face us all alone?”
[Alone?]
A heavy voice rolled out from Simon’s mouth.
[What kind of delusional nonsense are you spouting?]
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Following the footsteps Simon had made earlier, countless more echoed from the darkness behind him.
‘Impossible! Did he have hidden reinforcements?’
Moments later, bursting out of the shadows, came over a thousand failed undead experiments—escaped from their cages and the crematorium.
“O-Our undead?!”
[Der König ist Zurück――!!]
As Simon raised his greatsword and gave the command to charge, the failed undead shrieked and hurled themselves at the very ones who had turned them into abominations. Simon too rushed forward at the front, his cloak billowing.
“Stop them!”
The Executioners’ men and the undead soldiers advanced. The two armies clashed head-on at the center of the passage.
* * *
Boom—
Thud—
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang—!
Though loud noises echoed ceaselessly beyond the door, the inside of this chamber remained quiet.
Tarados Branch, Research Director Nirti’s laboratory.
“It’s almost finished.”
Before her, a monster was cocooned into the dungeon wall. Tendril-like nerves seemed to feed into it from the entire dungeon. Nirti injected it with drugs and cast black magic.
“Just a little more.”
She looked at the numbers displayed on a magic circle in the air and finally smiled with satisfaction.
“Just a little more, and I’ll have the masterpiece of my lifetime…!”
[Masterpiece?]
Kwoooaaang!
The door was kicked violently open.
The intruder smelled of blood. His entire body was clad in Bone Armor, his face hidden by a skull helmet.
[You must be Nirti.]
“…Impressive. To have reached this far in just a few hours.”
Behind the open door, the masked members of the Executioners and their undead lay sprawled on the floor, unable to stop him.
“Utterly useless trash.”
The undead writhed, attempting to follow into the laboratory, but when Nirti snapped her fingers—thud!—the door slammed shut.
“More importantly, what are you? With that level of ability, you’re clearly not a student. And yet… there’s no one like you in the profiles I acquired.”
Chak.
Simon didn’t answer. He simply leveled the tip of his greatsword at her.
[Stop the undead outside.]
“That’s not a request I can honor.”
As he spoke with her, Simon’s eyes were already sweeping the room.
An enormous laboratory. Countless experimental chimeras floated in containment tubes—hundreds, no, over a thousand in total.
If all of those were imbued with the property of undeath and unleashed… The thought alone was horrific.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?”
Nirti traced her finger in the air.
“This chamber used to be the dungeon master’s quarters. Now, it’s my laboratory.”
Clang!
One of the tubes shattered. With a heavy impact, something landed in front of Simon.
‘Huge!’
His eyes sharpened with caution.
It was a mid-sized monster, but grotesque beyond words—stitched together from who knew how many creatures. Human faces protruded from its body, each twisted in unbearable pain.
“I’m rather busy, so that one will entertain you in my place.”
Without even turning back, Nirti resumed her experiments. Simon attempted to rush her, but a brown arm sprouting from the chimera’s back swung toward him.
Whoosh!
Simon jerked his head aside to dodge. Next came a green orc’s arm, then one covered in reptilian scales.
‘No openings!’
Forced to create distance, Simon saw ten arms simultaneously conjure spheres of Darkness in their palms and hurl them.
[Tch!]
He slashed the air with the Greatsword of Destruction, each strike splitting apart the orbs, which exploded in bursts of black flame.
—Kyaaaaaaak!
—Uuuuuugh!
The faces embedded in the chimera’s flesh screamed in agony. Mismatched organisms forced together caused constant stress on the undead body, tumors and necrotic growths swelling and bursting in a grotesque cycle.
In that instant, the voice of Professor Grerion, who taught Summon Materials Science, echoed in Simon’s mind.
—When I spoke of this class as “Chimera Design Theory”, some students grew fearful. I understand. Chimera evokes an image of forbidden research, or ruthless disregard for life. But the truth is the opposite.
Tap!
Simon kicked off the floor, charging forward.
—Chimera design fosters personality formation. The more you study, the more you realize the dignity of life.
—You begin to see how each organism is exquisitely crafted. How it adapts to its environment, what develops, what regresses. Why an organ exists, how it functions. Life refines itself to the limit through competition and evolution!
—As you design chimeras, you marvel at every detail. You shiver at the thought: “Can I truly combine two already perfect beings?” Doubt becomes inevitable!
Simon leapt, dodging the monster’s arms, sometimes stepping on them, twisting in midair, Darkness flaring beneath his feet to shift direction or brake suddenly, carving out a gap.
—Chimera design is necromancers’ answer to the priests’ doctrine of divine creation!
[Nirti!!]
Simon soared upward, eyes widening as he spotted the chimera’s “center line”—its most vital seam.
—A chimera is not a brutish jumble of parts forced together to drag out performance. That’s not a chimera.
[Everything you’ve made—]
The Greatsword of Destruction swung down toward the seam.
—It’s nothing but a hodgepodge!
[—is just a hodgepodge!!]
Shhhrrrk!!
With a single strike, a long gash split open across the monster’s chest, spilling entrails as it toppled.
Krrrk!
One strike was enough. Even with the undying properties, once its center line was severed by the Greatsword of Destruction, regeneration was impossible.
‘Thank you, Professor Grerion!’
Regripping his sword, Simon strode forward as the hulking body crashed down, twitching faintly behind him.
“What?! Unit 2109 already?”
Nirti turned back, syringe still in hand, her face ice cold.
“And what did you just say? That my chimera is a hodgepodge?”
[That’s right. What you’re making isn’t a chimera at all.]
Simon’s gaze blazed.
[You owe me an answer. Why you committed such atrocities here in Tarados.]
“An answer, is it?”
She hurled her tools aside and thrust her hand toward the magic circle binding the wall-mounted monster.
Wuuuung!
The monster’s eyes snapped open, and with a roar it unleashed a straight beam of blinding light.
“!”
Simon dove aside, the beam gouging the ground, leaving it glowing red-hot before exploding a moment later.
“Did you know?”
Nirti said, releasing the creature’s seal.
“This monster is in fact the master of the Gold Mine Dungeon itself. If you truly want to save your friends and the villagers, you’ll have to defeat it.”
Even without her words, Simon could feel it. With each step it took, the very dungeon floor quaked as if alive.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiing!
Cloak fluttering, Simon evaded another beam, countering with a slash of the Greatsword of Destruction. The strike cleaved into the dungeon master’s shoulder.
Krrrkkk!
But the flesh instantly regenerated.
“Of course! It has the power of undead too!”
The dungeon master’s thigh bulged, veins writhing, before it stomped forward and charged like a boulder.
“Kill him! Then we’ll complete the final experiment!”
But Simon only grinned.
“Now, Herseba!”
He hurled Herseba. The staff erupted with torrents of sand, engulfing the charging dungeon master completely.
Swaaaaaah—!
<Herseba Original – World of Sand>
In an instant, both Herseba and the dungeon master vanished without a trace.
Nirti’s eyes widened.
“H-How…?”
[A dungeon master with undead properties, what happens if you forcibly transplant it to another space?]
Such a being could never defeat Herseba and Akemius.
Simon was certain of it.
And Nirti, having seen this technique—banishing a dungeon master—finally opened her mouth in disbelief.
“…No way. You… You’re the one who destroyed Sillage and the Blood Heaven Cult?”
Simon didn’t answer. Instead, vast waves of Darkness surged from his body.
[Here and now—we finish this, Nirti.]
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time