Chapter 663
“What else? Just blow this guy up with Corpse Explosion.”
Prince jumped in shock at those words.
[What? Don’t tell me you’re going to use Corpse Explosion on me? Are you insane?]
Simon, flustered, added,
“M-Milord, I think that might be going a bit too far.”
“What’s the problem?”
The Grand Duke crossed her arms and spoke indifferently.
“It’s not like you’re sacrificing the main body. You’ve got nine lives that can revive, and even lost ones regenerate over time. Especially that massive Darkness condensed in the zombie’s body. No matter how you look at it, it’s perfect for Corpse Explosion.”
“……”
Now that he thought about it, she had a point?
When Simon’s eyes wandered uneasily, Prince jumped again.
[Hey! Simon! You too?]
Prince shook Simon’s collar up and down furiously. Feer’s clone attached to Simon’s clothes chuckled, “kekeke”.
[Feer, don’t you dare say anything!]
Prince quickly cut him off and glared at Simon with wide eyes.
[I’m not doing it! No way! No way! Let me make this crystal clear, I will never do a Corpse Explosion!]
‘Stubborn, huh.’
Simon sneaked a glance at the Grand Duke, who jerked her chin as if to say, You’ve got the Ancient Undead, persuade him somehow.
‘Ah, this is the kind of thing Serne is good at.’
After a moment of thought, Simon cleared his throat.
The important thing was “childlike wonder”.
And “coolness”.
This guy’s mental age was stuck at that of a seven-year-old. Living that way for centuries twisted into the form of the current Prince.
To talk to him, Simon had to lower himself entirely to that level.
With exaggerated gestures, Simon waved his arms around.
“Hey, Prince. Imagine big fluffy clouds in your head.”
[What? What are you talking about all of a sudden!]
Prince didn’t let down his guard, but his eyes rolled upward.
He seemed to be thinking.
“What if there were clouds not in the sky, but on the ground?”
[Clouds on the ground?]
“Of course. They suddenly surge up and sweep everything away.”
[Oh! That sounds kinda cool!]
“That’s what an explosion is. Don’t you think explosions are the ultimate dream of a real man?”
[No way!]
Prince immediately caught on and shrieked.
[Actually, that’s not cool at all!]
‘……You’re only quick on the uptake at times like this.’
Simon kept trying to persuade him again and again.
Just once, okay? Just one time, and if you still hate it, I’ll never make you do it again.
When we get back, I’ll take you to the toy shop in Langerstine! How about that?
A true hero appears like the wind, then disappears like the wind…
Simon wasn’t sure exactly what kind of “coolness” Prince was obsessed with, so he focused on quantity over quality. But no matter what carrot he dangled, Prince stubbornly shook his head.
[Not doing it!]
Of course, Simon could always use Absolute Order to force a Corpse Explosion.
But that was the worst-case scenario. If Prince got emotionally scarred, he might never answer Simon’s summons again.
He had to secure Prince’s consent first.
“Prince.”
Simon sighed inwardly and spoke gently.
“You can come back no matter how many times you die. You don’t even fear death, so why do you hate Corpse Explosion so much?”
[Fighting and dying because I had no choice is one thing! But being forced to go boom from the start? That’s totally different!]
Prince yelled.
[And dying hurts! More than that, it’s not cool at all!]
“Huh?”
[A hero has to survive till the end and shine! Blowing up and disappearing first isn’t cool at all!]
Simon finally caught on. He crouched in front of Prince and rattled off his words like flowing water.
“A truly cool hero is one who sacrifices himself for his comrades.”
[Not cool at all, I said!]
“And then those comrades, on the verge of despair, suddenly see him revive out of nowhere! Don’t you think that’s the real kind of hero?”
By now, Simon himself was fixated on “Prince’s Corpse Explosion”. He was relentless. Giving up wasn’t in his nature.
As the persuasion dragged on, the Grand Duke waited nearby while doing her personal training.
After several hours of persuasion—
[…Just once.]
With promises of unlimited toy store access, delivery from Toy Deathland, and playtime whenever he wanted, Simon finally pried out Prince’s reluctant consent.
“Milord! Then now……”
Simon turned with a bright smile—only to see the Grand Duke who had been doing push-ups vanish. Looking back, she was standing far away.
-Do it.
She mouthed the words. Simon gave a bitter smile and looked back at Prince.
“Here we go!”
Simon raised his hand. Prince clenched his fists tightly, his face tense.
“……”
[…]
After a moment of hesitation, Simon slowly lowered his raised hand.
“But… how exactly do I do it?”
[You idiot!]
Prince shouted with an exasperated look.
[Just cast Corpse Explosion on the zombie I’m possessing!]
“I tried that just now. Doesn’t work.”
Simon could explode any zombie—summoned or legion-type. The problem was, once Prince possessed the zombie, Simon lost all ownership and control over it.
It didn’t feel like the zombie vanished, but only Prince’s will could be sensed.
“You fool. Your stupidity flares up again.”
The Grand Duke suddenly flashed next to him.
“Of course the standard Corpse Explosion formula won’t work. You’ll need to reconfigure it for legion-use. Think of it as overlaying it directly on Prince’s body.”
“…Overlaying it.”
“Of course, there’s no way you can whip up a formula like that instantly. Just be satisfied with gaining a new task for now, and next we—”
Vrrrrm!
At that moment, a dark-blue circle appeared in front of Simon’s palm. Countless formulas engraved themselves, expanding into three dimensions.
“If I overlay it… something like this?”
He instantly grasped the core concept and quickly drew a magic circle tailored for Prince. Grand Duke’s eyes widened.
Her expression said, What in the world…
“What’s wrong?”
“No. Nothing at all.”
Prince stomped the ground furiously.
[Why are you trying so hard! Do you really want to blow me up that badly?]
He sounded genuinely hurt.
Either way, it was temporary, but Simon managed to create a special Corpse Explosion magic circle for Prince. He affixed it to Prince’s body and prepared to activate it.
“Here we go!”
Simon stepped back as far as possible and opened his palm.
Shraaaaaaang!
The circle he had created was already beyond the scale and complexity of a normal magic circle. Nine circles interlocked and rotated tightly together. The Grand Duke observed from even farther away this time.
‘Corpse…!’
Simon slowly clenched his fist.
Kiiiiiiiiing!
Light burst from Prince’s body. Each time Simon clenched his fist, the glow grew brighter.
Sweat rolled down Simon’s forehead, his raised arm trembling.
‘Corpse…!!’
Prince squeezed his eyes shut. His body glowed more and more.
‘Explo…!’
[This is too scary! No! No! No!]
Suddenly, Prince threw a tantrum.
The growing light began to fade. Simon’s clenched hand was forced open.
“Prince!”
[I said it’s scary!]
Simon tried to trigger the circle by clenching his fist again, but Prince’s will refused the explosion.
‘Damn!’
Their wills collided furiously. But the black magic was already cast. At this rate, Simon risked Darkness backlash.
“Just once, please!”
Shouting, Simon forced his fist closed.
“Explosion!”
Prince’s body flashed brilliantly. He squeezed his eyes shut.
[…]
Moments later—
He opened his eyes.
[What the—?]
Prince looked down at his body.
[I’m fine? Nothing happened?]
Fwoosh—
As he said that, his body suddenly scattered like black smoke. What remained after he vanished was only pitch-black debris, like crumbled charcoal.
“…Failure.”
Simon lowered his hand in disappointment. The Grand Duke flashed to his side again.
‘Impressive nonetheless. To pull this much off on the first attempt…’
Simon quickly summoned another zombie and called Prince back.
Once again, a black bolt fell, and the zombie transformed into Prince.
[Ugh, what was that? Felt gross!]
Prince immediately grumbled upon appearing.
“What do you think went wrong?”
Simon asked. The Grand Duke rested her hand on her chin and thought deeply.
“It seems the conditions still aren’t fully met.”
“Huh?”
“The formula needs improvement, but the biggest problem is that your will and Prince’s will are clashing.”
She also turned her head toward Simon.
“When the will of a Legion Commander and an Ancient Undead collide, no matter what kind of black magic you use, the outcome won’t be good.”
In the end, the greatest task was clear.
Prince had to accept Corpse Explosion on his own.
‘At least I’ve got a clue now.’
Simon clenched his fist tightly.
Just as Prince, worried that Simon might try Corpse Explosion again, was about to sneak away—
“Want to play a snowball fight with me tonight?”
[Wha—really? Sure!]
Thankfully, he was simple-minded.
* * *
The training-cum-live battles in the North continued.
This time Simon learned how to split his troops and make two armies fight simultaneously. Having tightened the encirclement around enemy undead with his own forces, Simon widened his eyes.
“Gourmet! Now!”
The newly acquired named undead of the North, Gourmet, charged savagely and swept the clustered enemy lines with its lone massive foreleg.
“Encircle them!”
Srrrk! Shrrrk-shrrrk!
Herseba’s mummies wrapped their bandages around another named monster’s arm. This time it was a rampaging mid-large snow monster, named “One-Eye”.
“Prince!”
[Here I go!]
Prince stomped the ground and leapt, striking the named monster square in the face. With a loud thud, the creature collapsed in a single blow.
The cleanup of the stragglers was simple.
[Hahaha! Did you see that? You saw, right? I’m strong even without Corpse Explosion!]
“I said I know already.”
Simon smiled and asked Feer for help. Feer placed his hand on One-Eye’s Core.
Soon the undead was assimilated into the legion, and the giant body rose. Simon lifted his palm.
Sss—
One-Eye lowered its head and pressed its forehead to Simon’s hand.
“Good boy.”
Simon stroked its soft fur with a smile.
–Grrr!
Not to be outdone, the veteran named Undead Gourmet also pushed its face forward. Simon patted Gourmet’s head as well.
Two named undead already.
‘My forces are getting strong fast. At this rate, I could even form a whole named unit in the North.’
“Milord!”
Just then, a northern messenger was rushing toward them.
Since Simon had to act as the Grand Duke, he quickly flipped down his helmet and turned.
Then he activated the distortion magic the Grand Duke had personally placed on the helmet and spoke.
[What is it?]
“There’s a council meeting. You must return to Bilkenos at once!”
[Understood. What’s the subject of the meeting?]
The messenger answered at once.
“Our spies have discovered the location of the Three Brothers.”
‘At last!’
Sooner than expected, the decisive moment had come.
And at the same time—
‘The moment to use Prince’s Corpse Explosion in real battle!’
Prince, sensing it like a ghost, jumped in alarm.
[Hey! Stop looking at me like that!]
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters