LS – Chapter 123: The one to corner next

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This is close to the defensive walls. I have come to a place that’s close to the campgrounds of the soldiers. 

I have finished preparations and have sent a warning letter to Archbishop Seraes. 

What’s left is to wait for the Blue Demon Lord to make her move. 

And so, I am currently checking the state of a certain device in the simple base that was made by mobilizing all the carpenters of Lilbe. 

“Haaah, this is a nice bath.” 

It is what I prepared for the use of the Blue Demon Lord; a giant wooden bath. 

It is not like I am messing around here. To be more precise, this is not a bathtub but a device that’s like one. 

It is around 10 meters long and it draws a gentle circle. 

I have prepared two sets of this a bit further apart from each other. 

The ones utilizing each one respectively are Ekdoik and Rakura. 

Of course, the two of them are not naked. They are wearing something similar to a yukie**.

The ones you wear for waterfalls. 

We are going to be on standby for a long time, so the temperature of the water is lukewarm. 

“Counselor-sama, is there no booze? When killing time in a bathtub, you really gotta have booze for company!” (Rakura)

“Choose between concentrating or lowering the water temperature to freezing cold.” 

“I am being threatened so naturally!” (Rakura)

Rakura is taking it easy, but Ekdoik is fearsomely serious here. 

It has been 1 hour since we got into the bath yet he hasn’t moved an inch after all. 

Rakura, your lax attitude is going to hinder his concentration, so be a bit more quiet. 

I ignore the complaining Rakura and enter the plain base. 

Mix was on standby inside, and offered me tea when she saw me enter. 

There’s several blank parchments left at the center of the table. And then, there’s a map of Kuama and the area around the border of the Kuama Nether spread on that very table. 

“How are Ekdoik-dono and Rakura-dono?” (Mix)

“Ekdoik is way too passionate, and Rakura is way too relaxed. I would like a midpoint, but there’s no choice but for me to complement that.” 

But it probably can’t be helped that Ekdoik is so worked up. 

I have already finished training him, so his reaction is a desirable one. 

Ilias and Wolfe will be acting separately. They are more likely doing warm up exercises. 

I drink the offered tea as I sit on the chair. 

When I did, Mix moved to the back and rubbed my shoulders. 

“There’s no need.” 

“So you say, but your shoulders are pretty stiff, Mister Friend. There’s no way I wouldn’t notice that you haven’t had a proper rest since coming to Kuama-desu zo!” (Mix)

“It is just deskwork. You guys will be moving your bodies more than me from here on, you know?” 

“No issues. We are trained for this after all!” (Mix)

“If we go there, I have also trained to have all-nighters. You could say I am in a better situation here since I can at least get some sleep.” 

“Then, let’s just say this is my warm up exercise for the coming job!” (Mix)

There’s no need to force her to stop here. It would be better to just let her do as she pleases. 

It honestly hurts a bit, but it certainly does feel like it works for stiff shoulders. 

Mix is good at holding back despite being strong. I feel like Ilias would dislocate my shoulders if she were to rub them. 

“That face of yours is saying Lady Ratzel would dislocate your shoulders if this were her, right?” (Mix)

“I am impressed, you can tell.” 

“Oh, so I nailed it. That’s nice!” (Mix)

“I don’t know what’s nice about that, but I think it really is impressive that you can read the faces of people.” 

“Hmph, it seems like the time I used to observe Mister Friend didn’t go to waste!” (Mix)

Was I being observed that much? I barely meet Mix at Taizu aside from when I am in the castle though… It would be better to not worry too much about it. 

“Massaging me too much makes me a bit sleepy. Please put a little bit more strength.” 

“Oh, is that so? I will put a bit more strength then.” (Mix)

“Ouch!” 

It feels so much as if she is treading that very thin line of not leaving permanent injuries. 

The strength of the people in this world really is weird, yup.

But this really woke me up. Things will be settled in a few hours, so I gotta keep my head in the game. 

Let’s be ready to switch my emotions at a moment’s notice. There’s no need to show mercy to the opponent this time around. 

Allow me to attack without restraint.

“Muuh, you are making an evil face again, Mister Friend. Will it get fixed if I rub your face?” (Mix)

“That hurts.” 

◇◇

The Kuama Nether’s surroundings are divided by tall mountain ranges and deep cliffs, restricting several means of transportation.

However, there’s one area that’s connected with level ground. 

Everyone can tell this is the best route the mindless undead could take to invade from the Nether.

But there’s a giant defensive wall towering that place constructed by humanity for long years, and is holding back the march of the undead completely. 

I am currently watching the state of the wall from a mountain range that has a good view by using farsight magic, and there’s no signs of the undead being able to breach through the walls. 

They indeed are covering the ground completely, and the only order given to them was a simple one of: ‘Move forward and kill the humans’.

Due to this, they are showing a reaction to the humans on top of the walls, but they are mindlessly walking forward without trying to destroy it. 

They use other undead as footholds, getting up, and are slowly climbing the walls, but they get hit by the humans in the process and fall. 

Once their numbers accumulate, a large amount of them are wiped with wide range purification magic, and they would also blow away the dust piling up with explosion magic. 

The whole soil at that place has most likely been switched with the dust of undead. 

In a few more centuries or maybe a millenia, they might not manage to blow the dust away, and the undead would be able to get over the walls without issues, but that’s way too much time. 

In the first place, their numbers should run out after so many years. 

The Blue Demon Lord at my side is looking down at this sight without showing any emotions, as if finding this boring. 

“Blue Demon Lord-sama, you going out of your way to come out of the palace to be here must be in order to progress the situation, right?” 

“That’s right. I actually just want to stay in the palace though… Aah, I want to die…” (Blue)

So the defensive walls will be breached soon enough just like the Blue Demon Lord said.

And we are currently in that first step. 

I have already drawn that method inside my mind, but is it really possible to break through with that?

“Allow me to ask this bluntly, but you plan on creating high rank undead, right, Blue Demon Lord-sama?” 

“That’s right. If it is not possible to break through with low rank undead, just use better ones.” (Blue)

So it really was that. The Blue Demon Lord said that it takes time to create good quality undead. 

This looks like a foolish march, but this is most likely preparation for that.

But even if she creates high rank undead, there’s decently skilled people in Kuama. 

Even if she manages to prepare a Unique undead, it wouldn’t be able to break through alone. 

“Will it really go that smoothly?” 

“There’s 2 methods to create high rank undead. First is the method of using the soul of a great warrior to create an undead of a great warrior. The undead of an originally strong person normally has high basic capabilities even if they are slightly inferior and their minds are corrupted. But it wouldn’t be too reliable to just create one, so it is recommended to mix a special ritual to prepare a special body as an undead -is what Yugura said.” (Blue)

The undead that are created from necromancy retain some will. Their minds are contaminated to a degree where you can’t communicate with them, but there are individuals that can perform human-like actions thanks to that will.

They can’t do complicated actions, but they can at least do something like stabbing the sword or spear in their hand on their enemy. 

If the quality of the soul is high from the beginning, they can use even more advanced techniques. 

However, no such trend can be seen from the undead charging onto the walls. 

In other words, they are just low rank undead. 

“Are you going to be using the one other method here?” 

“Yes, it should be possible to create a Unique Undead with this method, but…even if I were to bring a way too strong soul from a great warrior, their will is going to be too strong, making it troubling to control. If it were someone that served me in their past life, it would have been possible, but I had no acquaintances that were great warriors.” (Blue)

“Just Yugura, I guess.” 

“That’s not called a great warrior.” (Blue)

“Even though he is called a hero?” 

“He called himself that. There’s a limit to frauds.” (Blue)

Both Demon Lords really don’t think well of Yugura. 

He is the one who killed them, so you could say this is natural though. 

“And so…the one other method has something to do with the invasion happening right now?” 

“That’s right. If there’s no soul of a great warrior, you have no choice but to use the souls of the dead around, but you can’t create undead that are much stronger. That’s why you gather them…in a single spot…all at once… It is about time.” (Blue)

The Blue Demon Lord raised her hand and directed it at the walls. 

I felt an ice cold mana wave a second later. 

◇◇

“…What’s that?” 

It took a while to notice that abnormality at first because they were shooting purification magic without any rest. 

But the strangeness of that was slowly spreading through everyone.

The undead close to the defensive walls suddenly stopped moving after chills ran down for a second. 

The guys that were moving around, reacting to us, were not moving at all as if they had returned to being corpses. 

The unwieldy bodies couldn’t stand straight and collapsed one after the other. 

I remember the message of Archbishop Seraes: ‘If there’s any change, be careful’.

Is this that change? 

There was no specific explanation and the only one who got that order was the commander. 

I was simply given the order to contact them if I were to notice a change as a high ranked cleric.

But with this, there’s not even the need to contact him myself. This is a change anyone would notice.

The people around began growing noisy about how the undead have stopped moving. 

The guys that were coming endlessly over and over despite casting so much purification magic on them have stopped abruptly. That’s beyond weird. 

This must be some sort of omen…

“O-Oi, what’s that…?” 

I reacted to the voice of the soldier and confirm with farsight magic just like them. 

There’s only the dredges of undead at that place…or not. 

Only the undead there…no, only the dredges of the undead there are moving weirdly. 

That’s not the movement of mindless undead, but more like…they are being controlled by magic.

The dredges of the undead around -their dust- were beginning to gather in one spot.

The amount of undead dredges defeated by purification magic is quite a lot, and they are all…

“This is…a bad joke, right…?” 

It is not only the dredges. Even the dirt around was mixing with it and forming a single creature. 

It is in the form of a person in fetal position, moreover, an incredibly gigantic one…

“A-All units, unleash your purification magic at that location! That’s an undead! If that thing finishes shaping up, it will become even bigger than the walls!” 

Everyone heard the shout of their commander and began to attack all at once as if the oil in their sense of danger had been ignited.

It is currently just in the shape of a person curled up. 

But if that were to move… Fear rushed onto me. I have never seen a monster like that before. 

Countless undead are trying to become one, but is such outrageousness allowed?!

If a monster like that were to move, a wall like this would be…! 

The slight fatigue I had was blown away in an instant. I unleash the strongest purification spell I had with all of the mana I can muster. 

With something that big, there’s no need to aim. Prioritize power over precision.

The shot spells landed. 

When they did, the places where it landed turned to dust just like the normal undead.

It is working. The size itself may be abnormal, but that’s an undead. 

The purification spells of the others landed one after the other, and the undead was visibly crumbling. 

“Alright, looking good! Press on without re—” 

Chills ran down again. 

A few moments after, the crumbled spots began to recover at high speed and returned to shaping itself. 

Purification magic isn’t working?! There’s an undead like that?! 

Even Unique rank devils can be defeated with purification magic, you know?! 

Everyone noticed this, yet continued shooting their magic. 

But it is not enough. We can’t defeat that way too gigantic undead in one go, and can’t surpass its recovery speed. 

The giant undead finally began moving. It slowly placed a hand on the ground. 

The surroundings shake greatly at that instant. Most people lost their balance with just that.

It is by no means moving fast. 

An ill old man slowly getting up would be faster than this. 

But the ground is shaking just from that undead doing anything. 

And then, a giant shadow covered the walls. 

The giant undead standing up already had its head above the biggest walls that humanity has constructed. 

◇◇

“I can see it with the naked eye all the way over here with that size.” 

I muttered this as I looked at the finished giant undead. 

Just how far do you think we are here? Just how much fear are the soldiers at the walls being assailed with when witnessing this right in front of their faces?

“It seemed as if it was regenerating just a little while ago though?” 

“It is an undead too after all. Of course it will. It can regenerate as many times as I want just by willing it, until it reaches the other side of the wall.” (Blue)

I remember the recast of necromancy that was shown to me on a low rank undead in the palace. 

Are you telling me that this has been applied to that gigantic undead on the same level? 

Something like that…even if a force of nature of the same strength as a Demon Lord were to be standing there, they wouldn’t be able to stop it. 

“With this, the walls will fall and the giant undead will begin its invasion to Kuama?” (Raheight) 

“What are you saying? If you have secured the level ground, normal undead are just fine for the following part. No matter how big it is, just how long do you think it would take to destroy a single city or castle?” (Blue)

Her gaze was far ahead of the giant undead. There was an even more countless undead army marching forward. 

Moreover, they were all armed and orderly like an actual army. 

The low rank undead attacking the defensive walls were holding weapons, but they were all really coarse ones. 

Compared to that, the undead that were soldiers may be a little bit better than the low rank undead, but their appearance is a whole lot better. 

You could say this is fitting for an army of a Demon Lord.

In the case this Demon Lord continued creating enemies in her desire for death, just how much of a threat would she grow to be? 

It is scary in a different meaning from the Scarlet Demon Lord. But with this…the plan should progress smoothly.

“This is truly wonderful. I am beyond impressed.” (Raheight) 

“I don’t need your flattery. What I need is a way to kill me. Aah, I want to die…” (Blue)

“—I shall grant you that method.” 

Killing intent for an instant. I barely managed to react to it and retreat to the offensive. When I did, countless chains rained on the place I was. 

These chains…there’s no doubt about it.

“Well well, it has been a while, Ekdoik.” (Raheight) 

At the end of those chains, there’s the adventurer that I sent to Taizu before, Ekdoik. 

“So you are still in the appearance of a child, Raheight.” (Ekdoik)

“Humans are unexpectedly kind to me in this appearance, you see.” (Raheight)

Just how did he learn about this place? It would be really difficult for me to deal with him as I am now. 

No, more importantly, is the Blue Demon Lord okay? It looked as if she didn’t even react to the attack just now though. 

When I looked at the Blue Demon Lord, there were 3 undead around her, and they all protected the Blue Demon Lord.

They are armed to the teeth, and they were clearly different from the average undead. 

Unique rank undead. She really did leave the highest quality by her side. 

“Your acquaintance, Raheight?” (Blue)

“Well, yeah. He was an ally of mine before.” (Raheight) 

“We are unfortunately enemies as of present though. Allow me to introduce myself to the Blue Demon Lord. My name is Ekdoik Salf. The one who came to finish you.” (Ekdoik)

“I see. I went out of my way to come from afar and move stealthily, and yet, there really were hindrances, huh… I want to die… How did you learn of this place?” (Blue)

“I have no intention of telling you…or taking my sweet time talking with you!” (Ekdoik)

Countless chains were deployed and attacked the 5 recognized as enemies at the same time.

I of course have no leeway to help out the Blue Demon Lord, and she most likely has no intention of helping me out either. 

I activated the crystal magic that I set beforehand, made a crystal rise as a footstool, and jumped far back with the force of it. 

“Blue Demon Lord-sama, this body unfortunately can’t provide proper assistance. I will be making my swift retreat here, so please face him without worries.” (Raheight)

“That means you are pushing everything to me and running away, right? Such a pain… Aah, I want to die…” (Blue)

Ekdoik reacted to me, who showed signs of escaping and tried to chase, but he was distracted from avoiding the attacks of the oncoming Unique Undead.

It is not like the Blue Demon Lord was being considerate with me here, but I shall use this opportunity. 

I made a crystal appear at the highest speed and moved away from the place using the force of it. 

Ekdoik is a troublesome opponent, but he is facing that Blue Demon Lord. Reinforcements will most likely come soon after.

…To think the resident of Yugura’s planet has come to this land. What a pain.

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