133 – Elder Lich, King of the Undead – 1
‘Why…… How… ….’
The strength left my hands, and my legs trembled against my will. New teardrops formed in the corners of my eyes without me realizing it. Leona’s mental state was heading towards the worst in real time.
He was the devil. A symbol of fear to mankind, and a being imprinted in Leona’s mind as a trauma.
The demon king he had encountered in the cave still remained strongly in his mind, and when he recalled the fear he felt at that time, he was able to recall it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday.
The reason I was able to survive at that time was entirely thanks to Mira and the Holy Sword. Leona couldn’t do anything. She could only watch, crying, as Mira lay dying and begged her to run away.
“Haa, haa, haa, haa…” ….”
Her breathing began to become heavier as she remembered the mummy’s diagonally split torso and the bright red blood. She tried to hold on to her sacred sword, which kept slipping, but the tip of her sword kept pointing towards her floor.
No. She must not be broken here. Because I am a warrior. Leona Brunhild is a hero. We must come to our senses and face the devil. You have to hold on.
That’s how it should be.
The fear imprinted in her instincts made Leona revert back to being a mere country girl rather than the warrior of light she was. Her terrified exhalation flowed from between her pale lips.
“Are you trembling, warrior?”
A voice she never wanted to hear at a moment like this penetrated her ears. Leona sat down after hearing the Demon King’s voice. She eventually lost strength in her legs. She couldn’t possibly stand up.
Leona tried to step back, struggling with her legs, but her legs were so weak that they simply slipped. He couldn’t push her body away at all and just blew the dust off her.
It was the exact moment when the Demon King took his first step towards the hero, who was not even an inch farther away than before.
“Hero!”
A royal guard rushed forward bravely.
However, the strike that used her body strengthening and mana at the same time was very easily blocked by the Demon King’s bare hands. Her pink eyes focused on the Royal Guard, who was struggling like a bug in her hands.
“You weak, insignificant, useless thing. “Did you think you could reach me?”
The one-sided slaughter continued. The magic sword dismantled the Royal Guard’s armor, which was said to be one of the finest items in the empire, without even using much effort. Severed arms and legs and fresh blood were splattered on the floor.
Ironically, it was after seeing her blood that Leona, who had been panicking and trying to run away, regained her senses.
‘What is it?’
I had a strange thought. The Demon King in front of me was clearly strong. His strength had already been proven when he slaughtered the Royal Guard with one hand so that they could not even resist.
However, I did not feel at all that it was an absolute and overwhelming being like when I encountered it in the cave.
At the time, it felt like a natural disaster that we couldn’t overcome no matter what we did, but now it felt like we could overcome it if we just put in the effort. It was something I couldn’t even imagine.
Once I sensed something strange, my disturbed breathing gradually began to return to normal. While Leona was doing this, the Demon King threw away the completely dismantled Royal Guard and took her steps.
Horribly, the Royal Guard survived with its size reduced by half. One of the demon tower lords, who was watching the demon king, used healing magic. The terrible screams slowly died down.
‘I might be able to do it.’
Leona fumbled and grabbed her holy sword again, which she had lost. Can do. Even if it doesn’t, you have to do it. Whether it is fake or real, you must believe that the hero Leona Brunhild is fake.
Because I no longer feel the same sense of fear as before.
“Hoo? Are you going to stand up again? “You don’t know the subject, warrior.”
The Demon King said sarcastically as he watched Leona slowly raise her body with the tip of her sword on the floor.
Leona recalled her mummy. She is the person who made her into both a warrior and a woman. She even fought against a real one called Mira, and Leona had to follow suit, so she didn’t have the slightest need to be scared by a fake like that.
“I won’t lose to a fake like you.”
“It’s fake… ….”
Upon hearing those words, the Demon King snorted and waved his arms. A dozen Royal Guards surrounding the area were cut down in one fell swoop. The magic tower owners urgently poured healing magic.
“Try again. “Do you still think leisure is fake?”
After stepping on the ground, demonic energy leaked out from both legs and ate the surrounding ground. Not only the atmosphere, but all existing organic matter was rotting away. The magic tower lords and royal guard couldn’t hold out any longer and retreated, chuckling.
Only Leona did not run away.
“Okay. It’s fake. “Because I don’t feel like I can’t win like when we met before.”
“Before?”
Leona was convinced when she saw the Demon King muttering doubtfully.
“You don’t know, do you?”
After gaining her confidence, Leona aimed her holy sword. If she is a real demon lord, she cannot be unaware. If she were a true demon lord, she would never be able to forget the fact that she met a warrior who was none other than anyone else.
Her holy sword took over her master’s will and began to shine brilliantly again. She had golden wings sprouting from her back, just like Leona’s when she took on Machvat.
The light shone. The magic tower owners who were suffering from demonic energy and the injured royal guard all recovered at the same time. Even the arms and legs that had been cut off grew new, a sight that could only be called a miracle.
“I will never lose to a fake like you.”
Soon, day came to the night world.
“How much more will you have to surprise me to be satisfied?”
“What am I?”
When I arrived in front of the half-decayed building that was once the Demon King’s Castle and was petting the ghost horse, Dullahan spoke in an absurd tone.
“We are ghosts, so it’s natural that we don’t get tired. “But even though you are human, you don’t look tired at all.”
It was not an unusual reaction. She used magic swordsmanship non-stop for a day from morning to evening, but instead of being exhausted, all she did was that her breathing became a little more difficult. She must have been wondering what the hell was going on.
As someone who had committed crimes in the past world, I should have been surprised in a slightly different sense. In the sense that my body is slowly returning to that time.
“Hmm, it would be difficult to explain my strength in words. Understood.”
I didn’t say anything, but Dullahan convinced himself and got off the ghost horse. The ghostly cavalry lined up behind us melted away like morning mist, absorbed into the Dullahan’s body and disappeared.
“Aren’t you going to fight with your subordinates?”
“Do you mean to move the cavalry inside the castle?”
“What about getting off the horse?”
“It is impossible.”
I’m not sure if it’s really impossible to get off or if there’s no intention to get off, but I don’t think it would mean much either way if they were that determined. I opened the gate and went inside.
Despite the legions of undead we encountered on the way here, there was actually nothing much inside the castle.
“This traitor…… ! How dare you destroy the Demon King’s fortress…… !”
Except for the fact that Dullahan was extremely angry when he saw the Demon King Castle covered in rotten flesh. Dullahan went on a rampage, saying he would grind up the bones and scatter them in the goblin barn.
“Hurry! “We can’t let him defile the Demon Lord’s fortress any longer!”
“Yes. Okay.”
Elisier would have been happy to see this place destroyed, saying it looked good.
We followed the enraged Dullahan towards the place where the throne was located inside, and even though we walked for a long time, we did not encounter a single undead. Not only was there no enemy, not even a small sound could be heard.
“It’s so quiet that it’s annoying.”
“Yes.”
The tens of thousands of death knights, skyscraper-sized death worms, and uncountable numbers of undead that we encountered on the plains felt like lies. I wonder if even the Dullahan would have calmed down again.
It was an ominous sign for us. It probably means there’s something up there.
“That’s right. “Now that I’m asking, do you know the location of the Life Vessel?”
“I don’t know.”
“…… So how to kill him? “You didn’t come here without knowing how to kill him, right?”
“I only ran after honor!”
“My honor is such a mess, I’ll be lucky if I don’t end up dying.”
I did it just in case, but it was the same. He asked me to put everything else aside and come here right away, so I wondered if he had something else in mind, but that wasn’t the case at all.
At this point, the question arose as to how the Elder Lich should die. There’s no way he would have left the Life Vessel in the same place he found it. Should I take out a real light spear and burn it to death?
Durahan paid no heed to my reprimand and marched forward, shouting honor. I sighed and followed along. Instead of trying to take advantage of everything, I should have given it some rein.
ㅡQuaaang!
“You bastard! “If you have any loyalty left, face death obediently!”
After kicking down the door and breaking it down, Dullahan walked inside with great strides, and I followed right behind with my dragon sword drawn. In the distance, an Elder Lich was sitting on a throne made of bones.
“Are you here?” … 1St Corps Commander…… And the person next to me is a human…? … This is surprising…… To bring a mere human into the devil’s castle…….”
“What a human! “Unlike a traitor like you, he knows honor!”
“I know honor…… ? Is it…… Was it you who went around killing demons in the eastern end…? … I didn’t know you were human…….”
Giggle, he laughed, rattling his bones.
“You can think of the reason you came here to talk to me…… ? You know that as long as the Life Vessel exists, I will never die…….”
No. It’s just that he barged in.
“Bullsh*t! There is no need to talk about disloyalty! How dare you call the devil king!”
“It’s a true name…” … Interesting…… Would you believe me if I showed you proof that the Demon King is dead, Commander of the 1st Corps…? … ?”
‘Evidence? ‘What evidence?’
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Some nonsense came out of nowhere. Even though he hid in human society, he was alive and well, so this is proof that he is dead?
“Look…… Your loyalty is meaningless anymore…… If this is not proof of that, then what is…….”
The Elder Lich raised his bony right hand and pulled something out of the air. As the object in his hand gave off a sinister force, the Dullahan’s body stiffened.
What was in that hand was a magic sword.
The magic sword’s unique energy slowly flowed out. The body surrounded by armor began to tremble. I couldn’t hold the tip of my sword or my helmet properly.
‘I knew it would be like that. It will appear again sometime…… ?’
Unlike the Dullahan, who seemed to have completely lost his mind, I was waiting to see when it would appear again, so I paused before realizing that I knew it would happen.
Somehow it was a bit different from the magic swords I had seen.
The overall feel is similar, but even if you look a little carefully, you can immediately see that there is a difference from the original. The magic sword in his hand was much fainter.
‘Look at this.’
Are they trying to catch us now? I realized his intention and laughed inwardly.
‘I did use my brain.’
If Dullahan, who is as much as a corps commander in the Demon King’s army, reacts like that, it would be almost impossible to distinguish them from ordinary demons. That’s why the Elder Lich proudly brought it out like that.
What that guy didn’t think of was that the person who had picked up the knowledge about the demon sword not only from the possessors but also from the demon king himself was here.