The blood of Nordic warriors crossed dimensions and pounded within my heart.
“Y-Young Master!”
[You lunatic, are you at it again?!]
But Ancestor, I can’t hold it in!
How dare a vile Necromancer nest in our territory?!
Of course, I love Necromancy. That is to say, I’m not prejudiced against it.
But considering the disasters that happen when a Necromancer loses his mind, I simply couldn’t bring myself to like these bastards.
Just look at this.
Grrr, urr.
Grrrraah—
Countless zombies. Zombies, zombies!
“How dare you lay hands on the common folk of our territory!”
I unleashed my rage through violence, wildly swinging my shield and sword.
A little-known fact: a shield is also an excellent blunt weapon.
Thud, crunch!
The zombies struck by the edge of the shield collapsed one after another.
Was it answering my rage?
Golgoloool—!
Golgol let out a resounding roar(?) and swung its Greatsword.
“Rest for the dead!”
“Rest!”
At my cry, Zeke and Milo echoed me. The two of them swept through the zombies like wolves among sheep.
The Minitons and soldiers did not stand idle either.
“Join in and finish them off!”
Tiktak!
The soldiers took out the maces they carried as secondary weapons and smashed the heads of the fallen zombies.
The Minitons kept pace with them, maces in hand.
It was a veritable festival of merciless violence!
But it was not enough.
“Where is the evil Necromancer—?!”
[You said there wasn’t one!]
I knew. But I needed a target to vent this anger on.
I wanted to eliminate the true culprit behind this situation, not the zombies who were merely victims!
Of course, I had not suddenly snapped and become a Nordic Viking.
It was a way of drawing their attention. The more undead gathered here, the safer the survivors of House Merlin would be.
“Rest for the dead—!”
“Rest!”
“Death to the evil Necromancer—!”
“Death!”
Possessed by the spirit of Crusaders joining a holy war, we advanced through the fog while crying out for justice.
Zombies, skeletons, and the like kept appearing along the way, but there was no obstacle capable of stopping this overwhelming violence.
How long had we gone on like that?
Something suddenly leaped from deep within the darkness.
“Young Master—!”
At the same time, Zeke stepped in front of me and swung his sword.
Clang—!
A spark flashed in midair along with a sound unlike the previous collisions.
The sudden attack could have caught him off guard, but Zeke was indeed an experienced knight.
“Hah!”
Rather than panic, he swung his sword again and delivered a righteous slash to the attacker.
Then—
Thud—!
The attacker fell, split in half.
Without even taking time to identify it, Zeke immediately readied his sword again and brought it down on its head.
Crunch!
Only then did I realize what the attacker was.
“This is…”
For a brief, very brief moment, I wondered whether we had cut down a survivor of House Merlin. Fortunately, that was not the case.
The thing before us was unmistakably undead.
But what was it?
‘A monster…? No, a beast?’
It had a hunched back like an imaginary werewolf, abnormally long arms, and knees that bent backward like a mountain goat’s.
Its skin was the strangest part.
Ash gray… and clearly hard-looking at a glance.
Herben was once again the one who gave us the answer.
“Hmm, Young Master. This is a ghoul.”
“A ghoul!”
“I’m afraid… things will not be easy from here on.”
His words proved true.
Grrrr…
Kikik, kik—!
From beyond the fog came cries very similar to those of wild beasts.
And once again, there were not just one or two of them.
There had to be dozens!
“Damn—!”
“So many ghouls!”
Milo and the soldiers cried out uneasily.
I understood.
These creatures were on an entirely different level from the pathetic undead we had fought until now.
They possessed enough strength to deflect Zeke’s sword—a man who had once been Sir Balt’s rival—even if only once.
Yet my blood only boiled hotter.
“You damned Necromancer!”
Just how many residents had he killed?!
What a psychopath!
“Rest for the dead—!”
“R-Rest!”
“Louder! Rest for the deaaaaad—!”
“Reeeest—!”
I immediately kicked off the ground and charged at the ghouls.
There was no fear.
Only pity.
***
Clang! Screeeech!
Crunch!
Sticky ghoul slime splashed across my face.
It was truly disgusting.
But more than that discomfort, the sense of noble duty sleeping deep within my heart cried out louder.
It urged me to grant rest to those pitiful common folk.
Block, then thrust.
“Reeeest—!”
[Behind you! Watch your back!]
Actively using Ancestor as my third eye, I butchered the ghouls in every direction.
At the same time, I could feel that I had grown stronger.
After all, if I were still at the level I had been during the territorial war, I would not have been able to slaughter ghouls this easily.
It was all thanks to Golgol’s bloody efforts.
“Thanks For GoalGoal!”
Perhaps sensing my feelings, Golgol swung its Greatsword even more enthusiastically.
At this point, everyone except Golgol and me had to devote themselves entirely to supporting the two of us.
How much time had passed?
“Huff, huff—!”
I caught my breath and looked around.
It was devastation in the literal sense.
Butchered ghouls and the slime leaking from them had drenched the surroundings.
“Please report our current status.”
“There are no casualties. Heh heh, you may take pride in this. In all my life, I, Herben, have experienced few battles as valiant as this one.”
It was praise that made my shoulders rise, but I calmly settled myself.
This was not a situation where I could simply be pleased.
[The situation is more serious than I thought.]
‘Exactly.’
Zombies and skeletons… How many had we cut down?
The number we had slain here alone probably exceeded the population of an entire village.
Even this made it difficult to estimate the number of victims, but now there were ghouls as well!
No, ghouls were not all.
[There will surely be something stronger than them.]
Ghouls alone were shocking. What could possibly exist beyond them?
No! Before that, just how many people had been sacrificed?!
“What will you do? It would not be shameful to retreat now, Young Master. It may be better to contact the territory and wait for the First Young Master or Sir Balt…”
“No, we cannot do that.”
This was no longer simply a matter of whether we could save House Merlin’s third child.
I knew instinctively.
This damned fog would consume our territory from within.
I could not bear to imagine it spreading and spreading until it swallowed our territory whole.
Therefore—
“We continue.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
I had gone wild just moments ago, but I was not particularly exhausted.
I still had plenty of strength left.
More than anything—
‘I can feel it.’
Was it a Necromancer’s intuition?
I could sense where this fog came from, and what had to be done to remove it.
‘There is a center.’
The moment we reached the center, I would naturally know.
Of course, I had not forgotten the survivors of House Merlin.
We had to save them as well.
“…Young Master, I will take the lead from now on.”
“Yes, please do.”
With Zeke at the vanguard, we advanced, slaughtering the ghouls, zombies, and skeletons that emerged from the fog.
How long had we gone on like that?
“Rest for the dead—!”
“Rest!”
“Death to the vile Necromancer—!”
“Death!”
As we advanced amid those sacred cries, a silhouette stood in our way.
“H-Help me!”
“An undead?!”
[No, you lunatic!]
I had been about to charge with my sword drawn, but barely managed to calm down.
Just as Ancestor said, the other party was not undead.
A person… somewhat disheveled, but unmistakably a living person.
“Who are you?”
“I-I… I am Lina, attendant to Lady Ellie of House Merlin.”
“Lina? More importantly, Ellie of House Merlin means…”
[She must be the Count’s third child. More importantly, shouldn’t you calm that girl down?]
I nodded at Ancestor’s words and offered her a warm smile.
“I see. I am Ktun of Palaon. More importantly, is Lady Ellie safe?”
“Ah—! The lady! The lady is in danger! Lady Ellie is… Ahh, what do I do?!”
The attendant called Lina stamped her feet, at a complete loss.
What in the world had happened?
“First, please calm down and explain the situation.”
“Y-Yes… W-Well…”
Lina somehow collected herself and told us what had happened.
***
When the story ended—
We all let out sighs, as though no one had gone first.
“Good grief.”
“What in the…”
It was hard to believe.
What was it again?
To sum it up, this was what had happened.
“So you heard our voices while you were hiding with Lady Ellie.”
“Yes! And not long afterward, some knight came looking for us. So we naturally thought he was part of the rescue party, but…”
He was not.
The inside of the knight’s helmet, which had approached through the fog, had been empty.
“It was nothing but darkness. And an unknown light flickered inside it. It was absolutely, absolutely not human.”
So—
“Are you saying that knight took Lady Ellie?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right. That is exactly what happened. Please, please save my lady.”
“Of course we will save her. But first…”
“E-Excuse me, Young Master? I am sorry to interrupt, but I have something urgent to tell you.”
“Ah, yes.”
After asking Lina for her understanding, I stepped aside with Herben.
Once we were far enough away that Lina could not hear us, Herben spoke.
“This is dangerous. Judging from the story, there is a high probability that it is a Death Knight. If it truly is a Death Knight, it is a monster we cannot handle on our own.”
Right. That was why the soldiers had sighed earlier.
According to Lina, there was a Death Knight here—that monster.
But—
“I will not act recklessly. Let us finish speaking with Miss Lina first.”
“Hmm… Understood. Please make a wise choice.”
I returned to Lina.
Then I asked.
“Miss Lina, please answer in as much detail as possible. When the procession was first attacked, do you remember what kinds of undead appeared?”
“Y-Yes… I remember. Skeletons, zombies, and things that looked like monsters…”
“They would have been ghouls.”
“Yes! They were ghouls!”
“Hmm. Did you not see any other kinds of creatures?”
“Uh… Ah! Now that I think about it, I believe there were knights mixed in as well! There was more than one or two!”
“Were they like the knight who took Lady Ellie earlier?”
“Yes!”
“Hmm, I see.”
I nodded.
Then Herben approached again and whispered.
“This is dangerous. I never imagined there would be more than one Death Knight. We really should wait for Sir Balt and the First Young Master…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
Then I smiled at Lina.
“Miss Lina, you need not worry anymore. After all, the dead have no worries.”
“Ahh, thank you! Thank you so— Huh?”
What do you mean, “thank you”?
“Golgol!”
Golgol!
Golgol let out a booming cry and swung its Greatsword to split Lina’s head.
“Y-Young Master?!”
“What is this?!”
Zeke, Milo, Herben, and the soldiers were all shocked, but only Ancestor and I remained calm.
That was because we had noticed.
“That is not a person. Look over there.”
“Pardon? No…”
“Gasp! What is that?!”
The thing claiming to be “Lina” went limp after being split in half, then soon fused back together.
As its body restored itself, a voice emerged.
“H-How did you notice…?”
“You weren’t surprised when you saw Golgol, were you?”
It was only natural to be startled by the slightest thing after being frightened by a snake, yet after being traumatized by a Necromancer, it had not even been startled by a skeleton?
[Well done, my descendant! You truly are my bloodline!]
Begone! What kind of insult is that?!
Anyway—
“Now, talk. What are you?”
Are you a minion of evil?