135 – Elder Lich, King of the Undead – 3
ㅡHow do you feel, child?
“Uh…… “Isn’t that amazing?”
-hehehe. I’m glad you like it. Hold on tight so it doesn’t fall.
A voice filled with love and dripping with honey flowed into my head. The director asked how I was doing in a very friendly tone and slowly increased his pace.
As I sat propped up in the middle of the dragon’s back and faced the rapidly passing clouds and cold wind, I was once again reminded of how big Mahbat was.
The chairman himself declared that he was insignificant compared to Mach Bat, so I wondered just how big Mach Bat was. Even when I saw him from afar, he seemed like a really bad guy.
I slowly brushed the scales near his thighs, each one bigger than my palm. There was no particular response.
I patted one of the scales of a dragon the size of a house. “What are you doing?!” There was no way I would react the same way, so this was normal. Otherwise, he would have been in a strange situation from the moment he got on his back.
‘Am I the first human to ride on a dragon’s back?’
Common sense suggests that there is no way a dragon would give up its back to just anyone, much less a human. Meligor is the first dragon to stand on the human side. Meligor will probably be the last.
“Have you ever picked up someone else besides me?”
ㅡOh my, are you jealous? You’re cute, kid. Don’t worry. In reality, this is the child’s first time.
“Practically, huh?”
-There was a time when I tried to give Eres a ride. At first, I was excited, but as soon as it rose into the sky, I was scared and started crying and making a fuss, so I had to come down right away. It is said that this is the first time a child has been carried in the sky like this.
It was difficult to react carelessly to an old story, especially one involving a daughter who was raised as if she were her own child but died tragically. I closed my mouth, leaving only one brief word: “Is that so?”
The chairman was grinning to himself after strangely misinterpreting the intention of my question, but it was too late to make excuses now.
“How do you plan to find the Life Vessel?”
I asked a question to change the topic. A very cheerful voice flowed into my head.
ㅡWhat does your child think a life vessel is?
“Isn’t this the source of life for the Elder Lich? So, as long as the Life Vessel is intact, the body can be revived intact no matter how many times it is broken.”
ㅡThat’s right. You know it well. Since you used the expression that a child is the source of life, think about it a little more carefully. Don’t our dragons also have an organ that can be called the source of life?
“…… By no means are you talking about Dragon Heart…….”
ㅡIt is the correct answer. Since both are fundamentally the same concept, Dragon Heart and Life Vessel instinctively view the other as a competitor and try to devour it. He plans to take advantage of that.
Dragon Heart and Life Vessel are fundamentally the same concept. It was an unexpected fact. So, did the Elder Lich participate in turning the dragon’s corpse into undead? Because it was a kind of rivalry.
“Is there a possibility that the chairman will be eaten in reverse?”
ㅡhehehe. You’re worrying too much. Just as dragons are a superior race to the Elder Lich, the Dragon Heart is also a superior organ to the Life Vessel. If I were to be eaten in return, I would have to pull out my own heart and offer it up, so you don’t have to worry.
“I’m glad that’s the case.”
ㅡI’m glad you’re worried, kid. I’m going to pick up the pace now, so hold on tight.
The passing scenery accelerated even further. The wind around my body became stronger. Even the red glowing clouds were passing by at an incredible speed.
How long had it passed before that the sky turned bright red? It was a signal that we had begun to enter the center of the demon world in earnest. The chairman’s voice flowed into my head.
ㅡThe number of corpses looking at the sky is slowly increasing.
I carefully moved my body and looked down. Even though body strengthening was used, all that was attached to the ground appeared to be smaller than the size of millet.
It was so small and passed by so quickly that I couldn’t even tell what was what.
“Is this a good sign?”
ㅡI guess we should say that half of it is like that. Not only does it mean that it has noticed us, but it also means that this direction is correct. Ignore the things on the ground. These are things that would never reach me anyway.
Well, the imperial palace was flying at a height that made it look like a small dot, and it was safe to say that ordinary undead who couldn’t use magic had no means of attacking it.
ㅡSo why don’t you release other things?
Immediately after the voice rang out, something appeared in front of us. I narrowed my eyes. An undead wyvern was coming towards us, flapping its rotten wings.
I don’t know how much was sent out, but it wasn’t enough to fill the front, but also diagonally on both sides. Even as a rough guess, it seemed like it would be well over a thousand.
ㅡIt looks like we have to fight at least once. What will you do, child? Would you like to handle it yourself? Or will you leave it to me? If you go a little further, your breath will reach you. You won’t get close enough to avoid the breath, so it may take some time…….
“I will handle it. Chairman, please focus on your flight. “We have to get there before he runs away with the Life Vessel.”
ㅡYou can do whatever the child wants. I can also grant you even more favors.
“I understand. Then… ….”
ㅡCan you wait for a moment? It will be uncomfortable to use magic from behind, so come up to your head. That would be better for securing visibility.
“Yes? “There’s no need to do that.”
I didn’t plan on taking too long anyway. Do I think I’m crazy enough to beat down all those wyverns one by one? We need to finish it off at once with wide-area annihilation magic.
ㅡ…… Are you sure you don’t need it?
The chairman’s voice became desperate. Strangely enough, it was a voice that seemed to touch a little bit of guilt. Well, okay. It’s true that if you’re on the back, you have to guess where you’re going because of the neck and wings.
I don’t know why he did that, but there was no harm in listening. He pulled himself up using magic and landed between the chairman’s horns.
ㅡUgh… ….
“Why are you doing this?”
ㅡIt’s nothing. hehehe, a child is stepping on my head. It feels strange, but it also makes my heart pound.
Treading on someone, was it really necessary to use that expression? I shakily set my feet again. Perhaps because its body was so large, the empty space between both horns was more than enough for me to fit in.
As I raised my horn for a moment while moving at an angle that did not obscure the diagonal direction, an urgent voice rang out.
ㅡHey?!
“Oh, I’m sorry. Without even realizing it. “Now that I think about it, I probably shouldn’t touch the horns.”
He quickly handed me an apple.
I thought it would be okay for me to touch it because it was much taller than me and seemed to be fine even in the headwind. It seemed that the dragon here was no different from the horned races of other creations.
Laura, I was curious as to how she planned the settings. Since the novel was written with a focus on interest, most of the settings were made up on the spot. Is this one of them?
ㅡGwae, it’s okay. I’m sorry. That’s because I was a little surprised. Now that you’ve prepared your mind, you can touch it as much as you want. As long as it’s a child…….
“Uh…… Yes. All right.”
The wide spread wyverns fixed their feet in a place that could be seen at a glance and prepared their magic. Mana rapidly drained from the body, and a large magic circle appeared in the air. Blue paint mixed into the red sky.
I inserted the magic I created into the magic that was completed in this world. Thousands of existing magic formulas and newly added magic formulas interlocked like gears.
ㅡWide-area annihilation magic. Eternal Flame – White Flame.
The white sun rose in the red sky.
The white light from the sun suddenly appeared and the nearby wyverns sublimated without leaving even a handful of flesh behind. That number was roughly half of them.
Of course, the other half was not unharmed. Those that managed to avoid sublimation were covered in white flame and burned themselves into firewood, and before they could fall, they were reduced to a handful of ashes and scattered in the air.
The same was true for the things at the very edge that were neither sublimated by the white flame nor burned by the fire. They simply turned white from the extended heat and fell endlessly toward the ground.
ㅡThat’s great, kid.
The chairman smiled happily as he passed directly above the white sun.
ㅡAs the chairman of the academy the child attends, the child’s…… Even as a guardian. It’s magic that I can’t help but praise. Are you okay? Mana exhaustion didn’t occur?
“Yes. “I’m fine.”
I answered by shooting and killing the few animals at the very end that had barely survived the massacre. They exploded without even making a sound.
If my body had suffered mana exhaustion after just using a single wide-area annihilation spell, I wouldn’t have been able to come this far.
“That won’t be the end.”
ㅡI guess so. I agree. Compared to the number saved, it was embarrassing to even call it an advance team?!
As I leaned back against the horn, the voice in my head suddenly became louder. For no reason, he hugged the horn with his right arm, pretending to support his body against the wind.
ㅡYou never know when the next enemy will come! Why not get ready for battle instead, child?
“… ….”
ㅡAi?!
Is it because they are really sensitive, or is it because they are embarrassed by the fact that their horns are touched? Seeing this reaction made me even more curious.
‘Would you allow me to touch you even when I am in human form?’
I also asked what this meant.
It landed on the ground blazing with flames.
It was originally a land of rotten flesh, foul smells, and a swamp of corpses filled with undead, but because the director poured out his breath over several hours, it turned into a barren land with a completely different meaning.
-This should be enough. For now.
The chairman still looked like a dragon. The reason was that it was embarrassing to show polymorphing.
There was also a practical reason that it would be easier to retreat if something went wrong in the form of a dragon. I hope that doesn’t happen, though.
“I wish I could end it here.”
-I wish I could do that. The sooner we end this, the less human damage will be done.
As he said, the Elder Lich poured undead into ‘all’ borders between humans and demons, and thanks to this, enormous damage was being inflicted on the front lines where there were no warriors, swordsmen, or Dullahan.
No matter how much those three could fly and crawl, they couldn’t defend all the borders at the same time. Even if the two left after clearing an area, they were forced into a war of attrition as new undead appeared immediately.
Even the Sword Saint said that he couldn’t come up with any effective measures other than clearing one area as quickly as possible and moving on to the next area as quickly as possible, so that’s all.
The magic barrier was useless. For some reason, the barrier was neutralized by being summoned from inside rather than outside.
‘He’s not a corps commander for nothing.’
This was the reason why the emperor so easily allowed an agreement with the commander of the Demon King’s army. At a time when every single one of the troops was lacking, it was as if that amount of power had been rolled in just for the sake of it.
“But where is the Life Vessel…?” … ?”
-They’re coming over there.
“Yes?”
I turned my head. From a distance, an army of undead could be seen approaching, covering the horizon in numbers. I’ve seen that look so many times that I wasn’t really surprised. What was important was the guy in the lead.
A beautiful woman who could not be considered an undead, but looked like a living demon to anyone’s eyes, was wearing only a cloak, sitting on a throne made of bones led by an undead, leading an army of rotten corpses.