Chapter 682
His throat was burning.
His muscles creaked and screamed.
Simon was now experiencing the extreme battle that reduced his whole body to exhaustion.
He couldn’t tell how long he had been fighting, nor how many undead he had cut down.
[Can you still keep going.]
Even in this situation, the Grand Duke, a monster with stamina and mental strength beyond comprehension, still had steady breathing.
Despite having shot down several times more undead than Simon, she matched his pace and worried about him.
How could he whine in front of that? Simon, too, cried out in defiance.
“I’ll follow even if I die!”
Beyond the helmet, her smiling face came to mind.
[Hmph, but at least your eyes are first-class.]
Abyss.
He couldn’t tell how deep the hole was. They just kept descending endlessly, cutting down the last elite soldiers of the North Star.
—Screeeeee!
As he swung the Greatsword of Destruction madly downward, undead winged serpents came lunging at Simon from behind.
‘Tch!’
Simon twisted his waist, ready to send a sword strike to his rear.
[Keep moving, Commander!]
Faster than the undead, webs descended, and in the distance Erzebet’s arm was seen swinging.
The serpent undead were all shredded into pieces of flesh. Simon realized her webs were different from usual.
‘She’s laced in some Geheim!’
Simon looked upward and shouted.
“Thanks, Erze!”
[Ohoho! A reward shall be awaiting once the war is over!]
The performance of the Ancient Undead was astonishing. Whenever an enemy appeared, Erzebet would slash with her webs, and Akemius would fly in and slam them into the wall.
They followed behind Simon and the Grand Duke, determined to get the two of them to the place where the North Star awaited.
[Keep going!]
The Prince cried “Hidden Card Punch!” and sent a massive beast undead flying. Simon and the Grand Duke finally landed safely at the very bottom of the Abyss.
‘The ground.’
Simon longed for the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet.
[We are almost there! Let’s go!]
“Yes!”
Reaching the bottom of the Abyss, Simon and the Grand Duke charged forward. Her eyes shone from within her helmet.
[This is it, no doubt! The chamber of the North Star, passed down from our ancestors, I see the traces and features described in the tales!]
Her voice brimmed with vitality, with a touch of awe.
They had finally arrived.
The long war between the North Star and the Northern Grand Dukes, carried on for countless years, was now approaching its end.
[Increase your speed!]
“Yes!”
At the bottom of the Abyss, no further attacks came. They only had to follow the swollen veins upon the ground.
And at last.
Where all veins converged, they arrived before the chamber of the North Star.
“.......”
Everything was crimson red. The floor and walls pulsed as though alive, and before them a scarlet membrane hung like a curtain.
[Follow closely, with caution.]
The Grand Duke formed an arrow in her palm, then flicked it sharply in the air. With a shrring sound, the arrow became a spear in her grasp.
Clank.
Clank.
Her armor rattled as she moved. Simon raised the Greatsword of Destruction and followed.
Srrrk.
She pulled aside the red curtain and stepped in first.
Halt.
Her steps suddenly stopped. Simon immediately thrust his sword forward and rushed in.
But his feet also froze.
Both of their pupils shook wildly.
“What... is this?”
* * *
[Hahaha! No undead is anything before me, the Prince!]
After smashing countless of the North Star’s undead, the Legion’s Ancient Undead walked side by side.
Since no further attacks came after descending to the bottom of the Abyss, the mood was light.
[You fought quite well too, 2nd Legion.]
Herseba looked down as she spoke. Below, a blue rabbit hopped briskly about.
[Of course! Myong-myong!]
Though it looked like just a blue rabbit, it was the ace of the 2nd Legion, a powerful Ancient Undead.
Known as the Monster Cat of the Snowfields, the notorious vanguard, ‘Pluto’.
[You have it harder, myong! Always cleaning up after the young commander! If our Grand Duke fought with Darkness, you’d be much stronger, myong-myong!]
[Cease your nonsense.]
Akemius spoke coldly, but Pluto smiled nonchalantly.
[So serious over a joke, myong-myong!]
[The young master will become far greater. To reach this realm only a year and a half after becoming a necromancer, in another year and a half he shall be at the pinnacle.......]
[Wait a moment.]
Erzebet’s expression stiffened slightly.
[It seems something has gone wrong in the North Star’s chamber.]
[Let’s go!]
Led by the Prince, the Ancient Undead ran. They too pulled aside the scarlet membrane and entered the chamber of the North Star.
Past Simon and the Grand Duke, who stood frozen, they beheld the scene.
[Ah!]
The chamber of the North Star.
Where the North Star should have been, there was only a ‘giant hunk of flesh’, sagging as though drained of strength.
An unmoving corpse.
Its skin sagged and its color had faded, showing it had been lifeless for a long time.
[What is this.]
Prince’s voice trembled.
[The North Star... is already dead?]
The Grand Duke barely steadied herself and removed her helmet. Then she approached, kneeling on one knee, and examined it closely.
“This shell is indeed the North Star. Exactly as our ancestors described.”
Her voice quivered.
“If the North Star is already dead, then what have we been fighting all this time?”
‘......Grand Duke.’
Simon thought he had never seen her so shaken.
Of course.
All truths and common sense they had known were being denied outright.
[Let me see for myself!]
Shrrrkkk!
Feer detached from Simon’s body and stepped forward.
[Jin, step back.]
From the 2nd Legion, Hate stepped up. The two Masters slowly circled the unmoving North Star, inspecting it.
[Hm!]
Feer gave a meaningful smile.
[This is certainly the North Star, but the most important thing is missing!]
“The most important thing?”
[The Core.]
Headless Hate straightened, speaking in a woman’s voice.
[Only the undead core is gone. There are no signs of it being shattered or destroyed.]
[Krrhhrh! Exactly!]
Feer folded his arms and looked to the Grand Duke.
[So don’t shrink back just because you saw an empty shell, woman! The opponent the North has fought until now is surely the North Star.]
The Grand Duke silently rose.
“Do not jest. Who said I shrank back.”
[Krrhhrhrh!]
Simon sank into thought.
Two possibilities came to mind in this situation.
First, the North Star moved its dwelling to lure them into a trap.
Second, someone had stolen the North Star’s Core, and using its power, had been attacking the North.
The second case, he didn’t even know if it was realistically possible. It was closer to delusion.
The most plausible was the first.
[But the notion that the North Star deliberately moved its place makes no sense either!]
Feer spoke as he ran his hand along the wall of the North Star’s chamber.
[The North Star is an undead whose body is fixed to its nest! It must have been here for at least a thousand years! But to abandon such a perfectly established nest just to lure the northern army, which may or may not even come, into a trap? That makes no sense! With that energy, it would have been better off creating more undead troops.]
“Then what are you saying?”
[There must have been unavoidable circumstances forcing it to move. The reason, only the North Star would know.]
Erzebet shrugged.
[Whatever the case, that’s fine. But then where exactly is the North Star now?]
[.......]
“.......”
No one could answer.
The true location of the North Star that had moved.
At the very least, it was certain to be somewhere within Frost Field, but they could not scour the vast Frost Field completely.
“Feer, can’t you get some information from that shell of the North Star?”
At Simon’s question, Feer scratched at his skull.
[Krrhrh! With just a shell and no Core, it’s impossible! The other undead are only under control, so we can’t extract any information from them!]
This time Hate spoke.
[Only hive entities directly linked to the main body could yield information. Jin.]
“Then it must be the Three Brothers.”
The Prince suddenly jumped to his feet.
[There’s still that Chronos, or whatever he’s called! That guy spoke well, and seemed clever too! We have to chase him down right away!]
[But how do you know where he fled to?]
As everyone fell into deep thought, Simon raised his hand.
“I think Grayson is calling me through thought. One moment.”
[Oh! The third has already recovered?]
Simon opened his subspace.
Through the link of thought, Grayson’s condition still seemed poor.
Of course.
She had been a servant of the North Star, then transformed into Simon’s undead and legionized. Her entire body had undergone a complete reconstruction. It would take considerable time to recover.
But then.
Kkirurururuk—
From the subspace, a crow undead Simon had never seen before flew out.
It landed on the ground, pacing about, then flapped its wings and perched on Simon’s shoulder.
“Did Grayson send this?”
Simon asked as he connected his thoughts to the crow.
At that moment.
‘!’
A ‘scene’ began to unfold in his mind.
It was hazy, like a black-and-white film.
‘This is...?’
The view overlooked the Abyss.
To be precise, it was the perspective of a bird flying high above.
Flap!
The view shifted with movement, and the sound of harsh winds filled his ears.
‘The Abyss, that’s where we are now.’
The Abyss crawled with undead. This seemed to be a moment before the Northern army and the 7th Legion had entered.
‘Where are you going?’
The bird flew farther north, beyond the Abyss.
It crossed several mountain ranges, and finally.
‘!’
Another Abyss came into sight.
Simon doubted his eyes.
This new Abyss, which must have been where the North Star had moved, had ten gaping holes.
‘That must be the real one.’
Chzzzt!
Chk!
The view changed.
It was back to a bird flying near the old Abyss. In the distance, humans were climbing the mountains.
‘Ah, that’s us!’
He saw the Northern army, and the 7th Legion too.
From afar, Simon could see the Grand Duke and himself.
It was from a relatively recent memory.
Flap—
After showing the Northern army, the bird flew again.
It flew southwest for a long distance, then.
Tok.
It landed on a lone tree in a snowy field.
‘Why is it showing me this?’
As Simon wondered from the bird’s perspective.
Thud!
‘Wha!’
Suddenly a massive arm shot out, grabbing the bird. The tree was ripped from the ground, the earth upheaved, and a giant body emerged.
Cold sweat ran down Simon’s spine.
‘That’s...!’
A giant.
An undead giant, one that looked strikingly similar to the Third of the brothers Simon had faced.
Sss—
The giant stuffed the bird into its mouth, and the vision cut off. The crunching sound and chilling sensation crawled down his body.
A moment later.
The perspective shifted to another bird, farther away.
The giant had devoured the bird, then sank back into the snow, but the shifting snow trail revealed its general direction.
And the direction it was heading.
‘No way!’
The vision ended.
Once again, Simon saw the Grand Duke and the Ancient Undead around him.
“Arrogant one! What did you see!”
The Grand Duke asked urgently.
Simon, panting, steadied his breath and spoke.
“I found the location of the new Abyss. And also.”
“And also?”
Simon looked at the Grand Duke, his voice tense.
“One of the Three Brothers, an undead entity, is heading to Bilkenos.”
At those words, everyone’s faces froze.
* * *
“Here, try this too, outsider miss.”
“Yes, thank you!”
This was Bilkenos.
Kamibarez, who had quickly adapted to the North, was now seated and happily munching on snacks.
Though northerners were known for their wariness of outsiders, strangely, they were different around Kamibarez.
It wasn’t simply her outward appearance.
They said truly kind people exude such an aura even when doing nothing. After exchanging a few words with her, northerners found themselves unconsciously lowering their guard.
“It’s delicious!”
She flapped her wings in delight after eating the snack.
“Thank you! Northerners are all so kind!”
“I’m glad it suits your taste!”
The warriors, who had been tense until hearing her verdict, finally clapped their hands.
These burly, muscular warriors fumbled nervously over the actions of a girl who barely reached their chests.
Kamibarez swung her legs back and forth, then gazed quietly at the sky.
‘I wish Simon would come back soon.’
Her special class had ended early, so she could have returned to Keyzen right away, but she decided to stop by the North to leave together with Simon.
Her attendants had received permission from above, and when the blizzard calmed, they opened a teleportation circle to the North.
They couldn’t go directly to Bilkenos due to the blizzard. Kamibarez arrived at a nearby city, rented a merchant’s wagon, and came here.
She had even bought regional specialties from the province she had visited during her special class, as gifts for Simon.
“If you’ve nowhere to stay, come into the castle.”
Steward Godrick spoke, arms crossed.
“The inns are all full during emergencies. We’ve prepared shelters within the castle, so you’ll stay there.”
“Thank you!”
Whoooosh—
Her violet hair swayed in the wind. Finishing her sandwich, she hopped down from her chair. Sniffing, she turned her head.
“What is it?”
“Um.”
She stretched out her hand.
“Is that a common monster of the North?”
At the edge of Bilkenos’s castle wall.
“!!”
A massive face was staring down at them from above the ramparts.
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