Answer me already!
“Are you the Necromancer?”
“Necromancer… How dare you compare me to such inferior beings— Ack!”
Without hesitation, I drove my sword into the monster’s head.
How dare it insult Necromancers in front of me?
Anyway.
“So you’re not a Necromancer. Then are you undead? Whatever. What matters is this: what happened to the people of House Merlin?”
“Heh heh, what if they’re all dead?”
“Then you die too.”
At my signal, the Minitons rushed in and swung their cheap maces.
Thud, thump! Crunch!
As merciless sounds rang out, the monster screamed.
Then—
Slaaash—!
[Watch out!]
I immediately raised my shield in front of me. Beyond it came a series of dull clatters, like hail striking the ground.
When I lowered the shield, the sight before me was fairly gruesome.
Zeke and Milo had managed to pull back, but Golgol and the Minitons lay scattered in pieces.
“This bastard…?”
“W-Wait! Listen to me! They’re not dead! Lina and the Merlin bloodline are unharmed! And I wasn’t the one who attacked those humans!”
[It is clearly an evil creature. There is no value in speaking with it.]
I agreed.
Still, I tipped my chin, indicating that it should keep talking.
“Go on, then.”
“Let’s… let’s make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes. I will hand over the two women, and you leave at once. If you promise that, we will not touch you any further.”
“First, where is the Death Knight?”
“There isn’t one. I made it up. But there is something far beyond a Death Knight. Please, believe me.”
“Hm, is that so?”
[It could be lying.]
‘Yes, it could.’
But I trusted my eyes—and the sincerity I saw in them.
Even if the other party was a monster, race and species were nothing but wrapping paper before the essence of the soul.
Still, I had one minimum condition.
“Bring the two of them here first.”
“What?”
“I said bring them here. Once I have them back, I’ll leave peacefully. Surely you’re not saying you can’t do that?”
“No… I was only surprised that you accepted so readily. Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“Th-Then… let’s make a contract.”
“A contract?”
“Yes. A contract in which each side stakes a portion of their soul. That way, we can trust each other.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Do you not trust me? Is that why you want to make one? If we trust each other, we don’t need a contract, do we?”
It was a personal belief of mine.
If people truly trusted each other, there was no need for contracts.
The other party might be a monster, but I firmly believed that through this unconditional trust, I would open a new horizon between humanity and monsters.
But perhaps the other party did not see it that way.
“You… You never intended to keep your promise from the start!”
“I said I would.”
“Then why refuse the contract?! It is a contract that harms neither side as long as we keep our promises!”
“If we keep our promises, we don’t need a contract.”
“What kind of wordplay is that—!”
“Golgol, bite.”
Golgol, having barely restored itself after being shattered, charged in with its Greatsword. The Minitons, who had recovered in a rush, followed behind.
“You bastard, this was your plan all along!”
“You’re the one who didn’t trust me! Sir Zeke, Milo! Beat him down!”
“You’ll regret this!”
The creature, slashed by Golgol and beaten by the Minitons, soon melted like a liquid monster and began to flee.
Even as it ran, it fired protruding spikes like a pufferfish, which was quite troublesome.
But—
“I’ll take the lead!”
I charged ahead with my shield held before me.
What about Golgol and the Minitons?
Why should I care?
They were undead, after all.
As long as my mana was plentiful, they could recover as many times as needed.
It was a one-sided pursuit!
Of course, I was not entirely without concern.
‘There’s no Death Knight… but there’s something even more monstrous?’
Still—
[It is best not to trust the words of an evil being.]
‘Hm, true.’
[That aside, it is truly bizarre. It does not appear to be undead… and I have never seen anything like it before.]
Neither have I.
I had never heard of an intelligent creature that could turn into a liquid monster like that.
But its identity did not matter.
What I had to do was clear.
‘Save the survivors, and destroy the minion of evil—!’
How far had we gone?
“Young Master, over there…”
At last, we arrived.
At the source of the fog.
***
The source of the fog was a cave.
“What will you do?”
“We have to go in.”
We had already watched the monster enter. Justice would not allow us to retreat now.
Of course, we had to watch out for traps.
“Tiktak.”
Tiktak!
Tiktak lined up the Minitons and sent them into the cave.
‘This is nice.’
If it had been Golgol or Tiktak, who possessed self-awareness, I would have felt bad using them as bait. But the Minitons were different.
If Golgol and Tiktak were elite undead, those guys were normal undead.
Ah, before that.
“Herben, stay outside with the soldiers. We need someone to guard the entrance. Milo, you too.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Please be careful.”
Zeke and I entered the cave.
Was it fortunate?
There were no traps.
We reached the end of the cave without much difficulty.
“You dog… You followed me all the way here.”
The monster, having transformed back into Lina’s appearance, ground its teeth at us.
Rather than answer, I calmly took in the scene.
[So this truly was a Necromancer’s laboratory. Though it is terribly wrecked.]
‘It seems so.’
[Then is that the cause of this fog?]
‘Yes, I think so.’
I stared silently at the gem in the center of the chamber, emitting a strange light.
To dispel the fog, I simply had to break it.
But there was a problem.
There were hostages.
‘That one is Lina… and that one must be House Merlin’s third child.’
So its earlier words had not been entirely false.
What should I do, then?
“Don’t come any closer. If you do…”
“No questions asked!”
[You lunatic!]
Ignoring its words, I immediately charged forward. Zeke, Golgol, and the Minitons followed as though escorting me.
[What if something happens to the hostages?!]
Ancestor shouted in alarm, but I saw it differently.
A hostage situation?
‘That only works if you can talk things through.’
Even if it had hostages, what could it do if a fight started before it could carry out its threat?
Of course, if it were a cold, cruel psychopath, it would not panic even in this situation and would dispose of the hostages immediately. Fortunately, this monster was far from composed.
“You bastard…!”
It repeatedly transformed its body into liquid, avoiding our attacks.
It formed spikes and attacked us in the process, but unfortunately for it, they did not prove very effective against us.
I had my shield, and Zeke was far too capable a knight to fall for such simple attacks.
What about the others?
Golgol!
Golgol fully made use of the advantages of being undead, taking attacks it could endure head-on while continuing its assault.
But how should I put it?
[Hm, this is a poor matchup.]
‘Exactly.’
We were slashing at it mercilessly, but it felt as though we could not land a truly effective blow.
Like liquid, it endlessly regenerated its upper body.
‘Hm. Then what if we use Aura?’
Aura was usually an all-purpose technique in a world like this.
“Sir Zeke, would Aura work?”
“It would be effective against spectral undead, but that is not undead, as far as I can tell. It likely will not have much effect. I can try if you order it…”
“No, it’s fine.”
Why waste strength unnecessarily?
For now, let us keep fighting.
It did not seem entirely meaningless.
Look at it now.
“…Y-You…”
The creature, which had been thrashing like a freshly caught fish just moments ago, had slowed down and was speaking less.
Of course, my stamina would probably run out before its did.
‘Who am I?’
A Necromancer.
And it was common knowledge that a Necromancer’s undead possessed effectively endless stamina as long as mana remained.
“Sir Zeke, let’s rest for a moment.”
“Hm, yes.”
Leaving Golgol and Tiktak to auto-hunt, we stepped back and tended to the hostages.
Fortunately, neither was in mortal danger.
At the same time, I considered the monster’s identity.
“What on earth is it?”
“I’m not sure. I have never heard of such a being… Could it have been created through Necromancy?”
“I don’t think so.”
A being created through Necromancy would inevitably carry the aura of death.
But the monster before us felt completely clean.
Then what was it?
As I continued pondering, the battle gradually drew to an end.
“M-Me… Me, ending up like this— Ah, after finally obtaining this opportunity—”
Having exhausted its strength, the creature sobbed as it lay limp in liquid form.
I wanted to ask what it was, but it did not appear capable of conversation, so I simply gave the order.
“Golgol, Tiktak, finish it.”
Golgol!
Tiktak!
The two undead mercilessly butchered the monster.
Until it could no longer restore its body.
How much time had passed?
“Did we get it?”
After uttering those magic words, I waited for a while. Yet, in defiance of their absolute nature, the creature remained silent.
We had defeated it.
“Good work, Young Master.”
“It was nothing.”
Actually, it had been close.
I did not have much mana left.
Anyway.
‘Now I should finish this.’
Without hesitation, I shattered the gem at the center of the chamber.
As a fellow Necromancer, I was certainly curious about it, but I could not exactly carry around something so ominous.
Then—
Crunch!
As the gem shattered, the energy blanketing the area faded. This chamber, which had felt like someone else’s messy studio apartment, became a little more comfortable.
But—
‘Is the Necromancer not going to show up after all?’
Breaking the gem should have drawn them out, shouldn’t it?
Was that psychopath who had been a candidate to become my teacher truly the master of this chamber? Had this entire incident occurred because bold Ren and Vilheim had failed to clean up properly?
Hm, I did not know.
I could ask Ren about the details after returning to the territory.
“Then, let’s return—”
[Hm, Descendant. Look over there.]
“Pardon?”
I looked in the direction Ancestor pointed—more precisely, at the spot where the dead monster’s liquid had pooled.
[There is something there.]
“There is something… Hm, you’re right.”
Just as Ancestor said, something was submerged in the puddle.
I had Golgol lift it out.
It was a gem.
A pitch-black, jet-black gem.
‘What is this?’
It was not a Soul Stone… but neither did it feel like the purple gem I had used to create Tiktak.
As I examined the gem closely in confusion, Zeke spoke.
“Hm, Young Master. May I take a look at it?”
“Ah, yes.”
Zeke accepted the gem from me and examined it for a moment, then let out a breath.
As if he had realized something.
“What is it?”
“This… is a Demon Core.”
“A Demon Core? What is that?”
Zeke answered my question.
“It is the heart of a demon. I am certain. I have seen demon hunters carrying them.”
“What?”
This world… was one where demons existed?
Then that thing we had seen earlier was a demon?
At that moment—
[Descendant, something is approaching—!]
“Pardon? What—”
“Young Master!”
Before I could react, Zeke threw himself over me, shielding me with his body. Something passed through the spot where we had been standing just moments ago.
What was that?
I did not know.
But one thing was certain.
‘…I almost died.’
Then what had passed us by?
I raised my head and looked at the attacker.
Its identity was—
“A Dark Elf?”
Black skin and pointed ears. It looked exactly like a Dark Elf, but it was Ancestor who corrected me.
[No, it is a demon. And a very high-ranking one at that…]
‘Damn.’
[Something felt strange. That demon earlier was not weak, but it was not strong enough to wipe out Merlin’s forces. There was more than one demon.]
I had no idea what was going on.
But one thing was certain.
We were screwed.
“…”
The demon that looked like a Dark Elf watched us with indifferent eyes, then raised the cheap iron sword in its hand.
An indescribable sense of danger made every hair on my body stand on end.
Ancestor shouted.
[Descendant, give me control of Golgol’s body, quickly—!]
The demon’s sword split through space.