Chapter 734
From the sky, a barrage of pitch-black meteors came pouring down. Lete hastily yanked on the reins.
“Hold on tight!”
The carriage veered sharply to the side. At that moment, a blazing fireball crashed down right beside the running carriage, and with a loud bang! the entire frame lurched violently.
“Kh!”
As if the carriage might overturn any second, Simon quickly pulled skeletons from subspace, transformed them into Bone Armor, and stuck them to the back of the collapsing carriage.
[Push!]
The combined strength of the Bone Armors burst forth, and with a heavy jolt, the carriage barely managed to stabilize. Lete pulled hard on the reins and shouted.
“Nice save!”
Simon straightened up and looked to the sky. The black meteors continued to fall relentlessly.
“We must have been spotted.”
“What do we do now?”
For Lete, the best she could do was keep running forward, dodging between trees. The blazing fireballs were striking all around. Though they narrowly avoided direct hits, flames were already spreading on the back of the carriage.
And right above them, another meteor was falling.
“Just jump, Lete!”
At Simon’s shout, Lete didn’t hesitate for even a moment. She let go of the reins and threw herself out.
Simon followed right after, leaping from the carriage as the pitch-black fireball slammed directly into it.
Fwoooosh!
The carriage was instantly consumed by flames, and the panicked horses snapped their harnesses and bolted.
The two rolled and tumbled down the steep grassy slope, only stopping once they reached flat ground.
Struggling to lift their heads, they saw the burning carriage continue to stagger forward, only to be swallowed whole by six more fireballs crashing down in succession, erasing every trace of it.
Ruuuumble!
Lete gasped for breath, wiping her lips.
“Nearly got killed, damn it!”
But Simon’s gaze was already fixed elsewhere. He raised a hand and pointed forward.
“Lete, look.”
“?”
As she focused on the open field ahead, her face drained of color. Something black was approaching across the empty plains.
“...a nightmare, that’s all undead.”
Kyaaaaaaah!
Kiiiiiiiii!
A horde of assorted undead were screaming as they charged. Behind them, men in black robes, necromancers, were advancing as well.
“A war is being fought.”
Simon muttered as he stood up.
“If we head toward the necromancers’ side, maybe we’ll find out where Father is.”
“Good idea, then I’ll—”
Kiiiiiiiing!
Kiiiiiiing!
In the sky, one after another, white magic circles unfolded, and pure-white crosses rained down upon the plains. The undead were crushed beneath them, or purified and scattered into dust by the radiance they emitted.
“Looks like priests are on the other side. I’ll head that way.”
“Alright.”
Simon unfolded a map.
“Let’s split up, investigate, and set a meeting point for later. Here.”
He pointed at a village within the Neutral Zone, a fair distance from their current location.
“Two days from now, at midnight, we’ll meet at a village called Pasonira. We’ll exchange everything we’ve learned and decide on our next move.”
“Got it. No matter what happens, we will meet there.”
Lete’s eyes grew serious.
“If one of us doesn’t show, the other will assume something happened, and come looking.”
“Right. Be careful, we don’t know who among the modern Executioners is here, or which side they’ve chosen.”
“I’ll be fine. You, be careful.”
The two locked eyes, nodded, then turned their backs to each other and ran.
On the battlefield, black magic and holy magic were colliding without pause.
Simon hid behind the thick trees of a jungle, following the necromancers’ side of the battle.
The priests’ holy magic hadn’t been able to halt the undead’s advance. Eventually, the undead reached the fortress the priests were defending.
A grand white wall came into view.
The undead shrieked as they tried to break or scale it, but the priests’ bombardments from atop the walls tore them down mercilessly.
Priests excelled not at attacking, but at defending.
Defense, recovery, blessings, and reinforcement.
When priests decided to hold their ground, a fortress they defended was extremely difficult for necromancers to breach. That truth was being displayed clearly now.
‘But surely they have something up their sleeve.’
Simon’s eyes weren’t on the undead storming the wall, but on the necromancers waiting behind them.
One necromancer stepped forward.
Where the others looked like seasoned veterans, the man striding into the center looked much younger. With both hands shoved into his pockets, he strolled with a cocky, delinquent gait.
His longish blue hair, scruffy beard, and a dashing black uniform hung carelessly over his shoulders, glittering with countless medals.
Simon’s eyes widened in shock as he realized who it was.
‘Father!’
It was Richard, in the days when he was Commander of the 7th Legion.
To have found him this soon—
“Commander.”
A necromancer bowed his head.
“The enemy’s resistance is fierce.”
“As expected.”
Richard smirked lazily, lips curling.
“They know if this falls, they’ll be cornered. But today, when she isn’t here, is our best chance to take this fortress.”
He pulled his hands from his pockets and slowly raised one toward the sky.
“Drop it.”
At his command, Simon’s head snapped up.
“?!”
From the heavens, grotesque biological sacs, writhing as if alive, began plummeting like comets. The sky was dotted with them.
“—Raise the barrier!”
At the priests’ cry, a divine ceiling spread above the fortress. The sacs crashed into it, erupting in thunderous explosions.
Ruuuuuumble!
Even from far away, trees shook violently at the impact. The sacs rained down, hammering the ceiling over and over, while the priests poured all their holiness into keeping it intact.
“Do they even have the luxury to look up there?”
Richard muttered with a grin, and clenched his fist.
This time it was the wall.
The undead below suddenly burst upward like fountains, and from beneath them crawled out horrific wyrm-shaped undead.
In an instant, the white wall was covered in slime, and the undead surged up its surface.
“Front! Hold the front!”
The priests fell into disarray. Part of the ceiling collapsed under the relentless bombardment of the sacs.
“With her gone, they’re nothing but rabble.”
Richard chuckled darkly.
He had planted a dummy elsewhere on another battlefield as a decoy.
While the dummy, clad in Feer’s Bone Armor, mimicked the commander’s techniques and dazzled the priests, Richard himself was here.
Since he hadn’t used a teleportation circle, there was no way they could detect and counter it.
“All troops, prepare to advance.”
Richard muttered under his breath as he spread both arms wide.
Clack!
Thud!
A massive undead exoskeleton, reminiscent of a giant beetle, enclosed Richard’s body without leaving a single gap. It adjusted seamlessly to his frame, becoming a colossal armor of the undead. From the chestplate, six white greatswords jutted outward.
Crunch!
Crack!
Other necromancers also began donning their Bone Armor or similar forms of protection, readying themselves for battle. Some cloaked themselves in blood, while others entered into hulking, venomous carcasses.
In an instant, twenty necromancers were fully prepared for combat.
“Spatial Leap magic circle is ready!”
Before them, the other necromancers unfolded the leap formation. Richard and the men stepped forward toward it.
“Chain Barrier curse prepared.”
“Anti-Holiness spell complete.”
Intricate lines connected all across their bodies. From within the monstrous shell, Richard’s voice resounded.
[You all see that crack above? In ten seconds we’ll launch and break through it. Once inside—]
9.
Richard counted the next number aloud.
[Eliminate every priest you come across.]
The countdown dropped rapidly.
6.
5.
4.
Simon swallowed hard as he waited. All the necromancers crouched low, bracing themselves to charge in through the magic circle.
2.
1.
Fwooooosh!
And just as Richard was about to give the command to charge, a blinding cross suddenly appeared in the sky above the fortress.
[Stop!]
Richard’s frantic shout echoed.
It was a cross so massive it defied description, greater even than the entire fortress itself.
The descending flesh sacs were purified before they could touch it, vanishing instantly. Even the undead clinging to the fortress walls were caught in its dazzling radiance, reduced to ashes or collapsing into dust.
An overwhelming force.
Kiiiing—
The helmet of Richard’s Bone Armor tilted back, revealing his dismayed face as he looked up toward the heavens.
“Damn it… so you were here all along.”
Wooooaaaaah—!
The morale of the priests, once cornered, soared to its peak.
The undead attacking the fortress walls evaporated quickly, and the supply of flesh sacs had reached its limit.
A necromancer at Richard’s side spoke urgently.
[Commander, give the order! An opportunity like this will never come again! If we just cloak ourselves in undead and break through somehow…]
But—
Richard flung open his undead suit completely and stepped down onto the ground. Scratching at his disheveled hair, he clicked his tongue and turned away.
[We retreat.]
“…What?”
[That thing can’t be breached.]
Richard shook his head slowly as he walked on. His legion-type undead followed behind, while the messengers hurriedly relayed the retreat order to the soldiers.
The hordes of undead clinging to the fortress walls also turned and withdrew.
—The vile necromancers are pulling back!
The priests shouted in triumph, proclaiming victory with cheers of fervent relief.
Simon, watching the scene, started moving again. He had to catch up with Richard quickly.
It seemed Richard was the commander of this front. Judging by his Ancient Undead scattered across the battlefield, he was leading an entire war himself. Since no one knew when or where he would vanish next, Simon had to make contact here and now.
But—
‘When I meet him… what do I even say?’
Simon wrestled with the thought as he walked forward. They would surely suspect him if he didn’t appear to be a necromancer, so he immediately donned the Dragonian.
It wouldn’t function properly without activating the summoning magic circle through Chaos, but it was enough to prove: I’m a necromancer.
“…Hm?”
The retreating necromancers noticed Simon wearing the Dragonian.
Fortunately, they didn’t block his way or threaten him.
“Never seen your face before.”
“State your affiliation!”
With his face still hidden by Drake’s helmet, Simon answered.
“I was sent from Keyzen. I carry a report for Commander Yona.”
“What? You suddenly show up and say that? To meet the commander you have to follow proper procedure…”
“Ooooh.”
At that moment, chills ran down Simon’s spine. A rough, furred hand had come to rest heavily on his shoulder.
“Nice suit you’ve got there.”
‘…They got my back?’
Simon stiffly turned his head. Behind him stood a strikingly handsome young man, idly stroking his short beard with a grin.
“You say you’ve got something to tell me? Who sent you?”
It was none other than Yona himself, in the prime of his youth, during his days as a Legion Commander. The sight made Simon gulp hard.
To hell with it.
Whatever happens, happens.
“Lady Neftis sent me!”
It was the truth.
The expressions of the other necromancers hardened immediately. Richard, too, wore the look of a son unwilling to be scolded by his elder.
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“Here.”
Simon revealed the hourglass-shaped artifact hanging around his neck.
“This item was given to me by Lady Neftis.”
Richard leaned forward, snatched the artifact, and inspected it thoroughly. The tension was so sharp Simon’s head felt like it might combust.
“Commander, this is suspicious.”
“No.”
Richard stepped back with his eyes closed.
“I can feel the power of time. That hag’s relic, no doubt.”
Simon exhaled a long, hidden sigh of relief.
“Well then, errand boy of the hag… what business brings you here?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Simon replied boldly.
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