"So many people died, huh."
"But we also killed a lot of Demonkin."
"Our comrades died, but at least we survived!"
A corpse lay listening to the Hero's Party's chatter.
He was the man once called the continent's strongest Necromancer.
The wasteland that had been a battlefield just moments ago was full of corpses besides his own, and vultures and maggots were already lively at work.
"...Ah, the Necromancer's dead."
"Eh, when did he die?"
"He was the rearguard, but he kept going to the front..."
If the corpse could argue back, he might have said:
'For a Necromancer, the real game starts after death!'
'With the resurrection sorcery I cast in advance, I will return as the physically strongest Necromancer, a Lich!'
'It's a Forbidden Spell, so I kept it secret till now, but once I've revived you're not gonna say "Forbidden Spell, so die again," right!?'
The corpse stayed motionless on the ground.
It would take a little while before the resurrection spell triggered.
But his senses were already coming back, and he could hear the Hero's Party's voices.
If they carried him back like this, the plan was for the resurrection to finish by the time they reached the royal capital.
"What do we do with the Necromancer?"
"He's fought with us this whole time. We should take him back to the capital."
"But, he's kinda gross, isn't he."
Eh.
"Ah, I get it. His eyes? His aura? There's just something slimy about him."
"Even so, if we bring him back, it'll be a state funeral."
"...What do I even say at the funeral? There's nothing to praise, really."
"...."
"...Should we pretend we didn't notice and just leave him?"
"Pretending not to notice is cruel. —We lost sight of the Necromancer during the fight. His whereabouts are still unknown."
"Ah, yes, who knows where he went... But in such a fierce battle, surely he's dead!"
"Honestly, with a specialty in dark magic, he's basically closer to the Demonkin. Plus, his healing overlaps with mine."
"Even his undead attacks... once they mix with enemy Undead troops, you can't tell who's friend or foe."
"And he stinks, too."
The Hero's Party left.
Now down to one guy and two girls, they flirted unbelievably as they trampled over enemy and ally corpses.
Caw, caw.
Fwooo-wheeewwww...
Woof, woof.
Squeak, squeak. Squeak!
"...Don't just... leave me behind."
Awakened by a mouse's kiss, the Necromancer muttered in a voice heavy with grudges.
In truth, it was only his natural voice. His poor enunciation always made it sound like he was cursing.
His flesh began to peel, his meat to wither.
Reincarnation, the reinforced resurrection ritual.
A Forbidden Spell among Forbidden Spells, mastered only after mastering both necromancy and healing arts.
Even bringing back the dead was blasphemy against the gods, but this spell transformed the revived into the origin of deathly sorcery itself, a being called a Lich.
That fleshless, skinless form would drive the sanity from any who saw it.
In today's terms: "Lose weight just by dying!? Necromancer's simple and forbidden diet hack!"
"—Ahh, the sky is so high."
Now nothing but bones, the Necromancer gazed up at the vast blue sky.
Vultures circled, and crows gave way to them.
The sunlight dimmed through thin clouds, leaving the ground faintly gloomy.
He pulled his tattered cloak together in front.
His body should no longer feel cold, yet the passing wind somehow felt chilling.
By the way, the cloak wasn't torn from fierce battles.
He just never cared about clothes, so all he wore ended up ragged.
It matched his skeleton look now, but back when he was human, he only looked like a fat vagrant.
"Haaah!? L-Lich-sama!?"
A sudden voice from behind made him turn.
There stood a pale-skinned, faintly transparent woman.
Probably a Ghost-type monster.
Beautiful, voluptuous, and translucent.
"Lich-sama! You've revived!?"
"?"
"Don't you remember...? Well, maybe not. I may now lead the Ghost corps as one of the Six Demon Generals, but back when you helped me, I was only a Wisp Ghost... a low-rank spirit. I had no individuality, and was even more see-through than now."
"..."
"You've just revived, your mind must be hazy. Anyway, please, come with me. We must report your return to the Demon King-sama."
At the words "Demon King," his body stiffened.
Humans and Demonkin were at war.
And he had been on the human side, a member of the Hero's Party.
It seemed they mistook him for a monster ally...
His body might have become monstrous, but his heart was still human.
"No, I'm—"
"If you've returned, you'll be busy. All the research notes and facilities you used, we kept exactly as they were, by your command."
"...Research notes?"
"Yes."
"...Facilities?"
"Yes."
"The research and facilities of the origin of Necromancers, the Lich?"
"Yes... that's right...?"
"...Let's go!"
"Yes!"
His heart was still human.
But he thought:
Are humans really that great?
Is humanity's survival really worth risking my life for?
More important than research?
No.
Absolutely not!
Nothing in this world is more important than research!
"Honestly, don't you think Heroes are super annoying? I was already feeling like humans don't respect necromancy and just don't get it."
"Indeed, humanity underestimates necromancy far too much, Lich-sama! ...Though for someone just revived, you sure know a lot about current events."
"Before dying, I saw it all."
"Amazing! As expected of Lich-sama!"
He walked away with the Ghost woman, flirting unbelievably.
And so humanity lost its strongest necromancer.
How that fact would shake the war between man and demon... would soon become clear.