LS – Chapter 260: As such, hanging on

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◇◇

It all began with the conversation I had with Barastos in Torinde. 

Only incomplete undead were resurrected even with the Annihilation of Blue. 

In that case, the issue is whether it can be possible to revive undead that have their own will.

— “It should be possible in theory. But that’s not something I can do by myself.” (Blue)

To summarize this, Annihilation is an extension of necromancy. 

It is a power that brings back the souls with a far stronger curse, it is easier to draw the power of the person compared to normal necromancy, and it is apparently possible to increase their basic capabilities, too.

The 3 undead that served as Blue’s bodyguards would be that, but there was no will from them. They were simply fighting under set orders. 

Blue said it is because the souls that were called are not cooperative to begin with. 

— “If the person that is called stabilized the formation of the necromancy, I think they will be in a far more stable state. Well, that means the bare minimum requirement would be for it to be someone with knowledge in necromancy.” (Blue)

Comrade was listening to this from the side and told us about Dokora once we returned to Taizu. 

He said that maybe the man that learned necromancy using the observation record of Blue that Yugura left and even used it in actual combat would be able to fulfill those conditions. 

Dokora, who stopped being an anbu when he got involved with Raheight in Mejis, and fell to being a bandit. 

He said that maybe that man might lend us a hand. 

Blue was honestly not into the idea, but she must have been a bit bothered by the difference in skill between her and the Purple Demon Lord. 

The result is that they got the permission of Marito, dug out the place where Dokora was buried, and obtained his skull. 

And then, we used Annihilation and called Dokora back into this world as an undead. 

— “…I don’t know who the hell you are, but you called me back to this damn world. No, this is my just desserts, huh.” (Dokora)

Dokora maintained his sense of self just as Blue thought, and spoke to us in the same way as he would if he were alive. 

— “Sorry, but I don’t plan on becoming a convenient pawn. I want to claw my throat just talking like this here.” (Dokora)

His soul was not completely stable as an undead that was called back. Dokora told us that, even if he is compensating for it with his necromancy knowledge, it is pretty painful. He may not have the right to refuse, but he doesn’t want us to think he is cooperating. That’s why, if we are to use him as a tool of ours, we would be using him as an undead with no will. 

— “…Can we talk for a bit, Dokora?” 

— “You are…” (Dokora)

But Dokora’s state changed when Comrade spoke to him. 

Comrade was the person that took his life, but Dokora must have judged him as someone who is worth negotiating with. 

Comrade gave a simple explanation of what has happened until now and ended up making a single promise with him. 

— “We will call you only once more as an undead. I would like you to help those two out there if you feel like it. If you don’t, we will just use you as a regular undead. Whichever the case, we will rebury your bones somewhere where no one can reach it anymore.” 

— “You think I can trust that?” (Dokora)

— “Yeah. It is possible for you, right?” 

Dokora didn’t give a clear answer and Comrade had Blue undo the necromancy. 

I asked Comrade if we shouldn’t have done a more proper negotiation with him, but he simply laughed and said this was fine. 

◇◇

Dokora Ketta; I remember that man well. 

The man that I met when I was infiltrated in Mejis as a subordinate of the Scarlet Demon Lord. 

Ritial had me move under that Demon Lord in order to make him invade as preparation for the plan to take over the countries with Kuama as the center. 

If we could make the Scarlet Demon Lord judge that it is the time to resume the invasion by letting the humans realize that the Demon Lords have resurrected. 

I infiltrated the Yugura Church headquarters and did a lot of groundwork, but the only one that got an eye on me was Dokora. 

I thought he simply moved his gaze towards me since his job as an anbu required him to because I was investigating a variety of things, but to think he would suspect me to a degree where he would tail me when I headed to the Nether to meet the Scarlet Demon Lord. It was a miscalculation. 

I might have been assassinated if the Scarlet Demon Lord had not noticed. 

I tried to finish Dokora, but I could only take one arm of his, and he ended up escaping. 

But I was saved by his discretion. 

He must have judged that the current state of Mejis was dangerous since I was infiltrated in the grand church of the Yugura Church as if it were the most natural thing in the world. 

Dokora stole the book I was aiming for and disappeared from Mejis. 

What happened after that was…

“Now then, first!” (Dokora)

Dokora used magic and raised a cloud of dust from the ground. 

It seems to be a smokescreen, but is he planning on doing something? 

No, that’s not it. 

He is most likely using this to buy time and arrange the information. 

Buying time is exactly what I want, but I don’t want to be thrown into an unfavorable situation. 

I shot the undead up and had them detonate a number of times, but I don’t feel like it hit. 

They must have had Rakura cast a barrier. 

Then, should I take some other method? 

But it would be ill advised to take careless actions if this is a trap. 

“Don’t get so hasty, Raheight. It has been a while since I have fought in my style, so let me prepare.” 

The cloud of dust cleared up and Ekdoik and his group were visible again. 

It seems like there isn’t anyone hiding, but their respective expressions have changed. 

It is certain they were told something. 

“That said, it is weird that you are still one armed despite turning into an undead.” (Raheight)

“I dropped my arm in the Nether. Did you store it with love?” (Dokora)

“The monsters ate it with glee. It seemed like one arm wasn’t enough though.” (Raheight)

“If they ate it without leaving anything behind, there’s no doubt they showed it love.” (Dokora)

How should I make my move? 

Should I attack both them and the hostages hanging on the ceiling at the same time like before? 

No…the hostages hanging on the ceiling are not there? 

Where did he move them? 

“Searching for the hostages? If it is them, they.are.here.” (Dokora)

Dokora tapped his feet a few times on the floor. 

I see, that earth magic just now wasn’t only to raise a cloud of dust but also him digging a hole. 

He moved the hostages to the hole, left holes for air, and trapped them inside a cavity. 

They wouldn’t be affected by the detonating undead around with this method and don’t enter my vision, so it is harder for them to become attack targets. 

“Also, I used paralyzing magic on the hostages so that they won’t be able to move for several days. You won’t be able to move your soul there, you know?” (Dokora)

“You could end it immediately by just cutting their heads off instead of taking such troublesome methods. You are so kind.” (Raheight)

“It is not kindness. You would turn them into undead with the effect of the mana around if I were to kill them.” (Dokora)

There’s no mistake he has equal or more knowledge in necromancy than me. 

That said, I had a chance to face the Blue Demon Lord to begin with, so I didn’t think I would be able to get through this with just necromancy. 

“I don’t care about whatever you do. I would still be able to buy time anyways.” (Raheight)

“I have no intention of taking time. I will also prove to you that I am not kind either, okay?” (Dokora)

“I see, then let’s see what you—?!” (Raheight)

My body lost balance and fell to the ground. 

The undead around also fall in the same fashion. 

What just…! 

I learned the reason for the sharp pain running through my body. 

It is Rakura. 

Rakura has sliced off the legs of every undead along with me using a barrier as an attack. 

“My arm hurt, but my legs hurt quite a lot too, you know. Now then, Raheight, you did stuff so that we wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between an undead and a human. I tried to use detection magic, but I seriously can’t tell the difference between undead and human. But it is not like the hostages have become literal undead, right?” (Dokora)

Undead will regenerate as long as they are affected by the curse. Moreover, at quite the speed. 

Many undead have already finished regenerating and have begun getting up. 

“Come on, Ekdoik. You can see them well from above, right? The lazy bastard that still hasn’t gotten up despite everyone diligently getting up.” (Dokora)

“Yeah, found you, Raheight!” (Ekdoik)

I direct my gaze at the voice coming from above. 

I see Ekdoik hanging on the ceiling like a fish with his chains pierced on the ceiling. Not only that, there’s already several chains heading my way.

“!” 

I stab myself with the magic crystal I hid in my molar, and activate the spell. 

I move to the next body and fix my breathing while confirming my current location. 

I am one corner away from Ekdoik and the others. I could detonate the undead like this, but the hostages have already been retrieved.

“Are you not going to detonate them? Well, there’s no point and there’s the risk your location would be discovered if you were to send your wavelengths pointlessly.” 

“?!” 

I drew the knife I had hidden in my pocket and swung it at my back. But that arm was easily grabbed and was held down to the ground by the time I noticed. 

“You just moved, so of course you would want to confirm your surroundings, right? You went through the trouble of having the hostages act like undead, and yet, you moved your head like an idiot as if saying you are here…Raheight.” (Dokora)

Dokora’s body is that of an undead. That’s why he can move deep in with the shortest route by ignoring the threat of undead exploding. 

He must have jumped into the horde of undead the moment he gave the order to Ekdoik to search for this body. 

The undead around are not reacting to Dokora because I have only given the general order of ‘attack the living’, so the undead have not recognized Dokora as an enemy. 

I once again stab myself with the magic crystal in my molar and move bodies. 

And then, I immediately detonate the undead that were at my previous body. 

“…Don’t do something pointless! There’s no way an undead would die from mere explosions!” (Dokora)

I could hear the loud voice of Dokora not that far. 

Was there any sign of me switching bodies? Did he choose to protect the body that he seized? 

The hesitation to attack hostages disappeared after this guy joined. They have switched from saving them without injuring them to saving them even if they injure them. 

“Also, also, I don’t do pointless things.” (Dokora)

“?!” 

There’s way too much difference in our physical techniques to do a knife attack. It would just be a repeat of before. 

I unleash crystals on the surroundings to clear it away faster than I could confirm the location of Dokora with my sight. 

I checked my surroundings after that and there was Dokora standing on top of the protruded crystals. 

I had a little bit of time to think, but he got here way too fast. 

“No need to make that face. I will tell you. I know that you can immediately move bodies with your soul, so I observed you from nearby to analyze how your soul moving worked. The result was that I confirmed something similar to mana wavelengths when you moved.” (Dokora)

So he read that I wouldn’t retaliate but abandon the body and move to another one.

“I don’t hate guys that learn. But I now know a variety of your weaknesses. Your movements before all the way until you activate magic are bad compared to the time when you took my arm. The quality of the mana doesn’t match that of your soul, right? Meaning that your combat power isn’t that big of a deal unless it is a body that you have tinkered carefully beforehand.” (Dokora)

The eyes peeking from the mask were observing me scrutinously. 

Eyes different from that man who would use them to comprehend others; eyes different from those given to an Illegitimate. They are the perceptive eyes peculiar to those who have innate talent and have managed to make full use of them through hard work in combat. 

A careless big technique would create openings. 

I cast several crystals at concentrated points to keep him back. 

They were attacks imbued with purification magic, but Dokora avoided them without any issues. 

“That goes for you too. You move awfully well compared to that time.” (Raheight)

“I can use mana strengthening in ways that shouldn’t be done normally thanks to being an undead after all. Not needing to protect your own body really is relaxing.” (Dokora)

Undead repeatedly regenerate themselves. That allows them to do actions that don’t need to take into consideration the burden on their bodies. 

So an undead who has a sense of self can use a self-destructive battle style over and over. 

I myself can also push the body of someone else, but I didn’t think about doing it. 

There’s a limit to how strong you can get from overexerting yourself after all. 

“Well, well, isn’t it great that you dropped to being an undead?” (Raheight) 

“Ha, even if it is a body that was created through my own bones as a catalyst, my soul is not stable. It feels like I am drinking deadly poison for the heart without end, you know? That’s why I want to finish this quickly.” (Dokora)

“Figures. A soul in the times when it is not stable puts a burden on the spirit.” (Raheight)

There’s not that much of a burden in moving a soul when the necessary procedures are made. 

But moving while omitting that procedure brings about pain that surpasses your average torture. 

You could say it is in a state that’s no different from becoming an undead.

The pain of searching for a body I can possess in that state feels as if I am scraping away at my lifespan. 

“So you have experienced something like that while alive. My condolences. And yet, you still use necromancy. You really are a piece of trash.” (Dokora)

“I unfortunately could only raise my talent in that area.” (Raheight)

Dokora isn’t showing any signs of retaliating. 

He is playing around with the knife he is holding and observing me. 

“I heard just now…that you were the one who destroyed Supine.” (Dokora)

“What about it?” (Raheight)

“Supine was my hometown. Don’t you have way too many connections with me?! You should have let me settle scores before I died!” (Dokora)

“Oh, that’s a shame. Please do your best if you want to take revenge.” (Raheight)

I would like to get him violent to shake his mind if possible. 

Such methods might be effective against an undead in an unstable state, but…

“I don’t really hold much emotions towards that place. It was far from a happy life after all. But…I will have you pay for using Heyd and having him die.” (Dokora)

“Are you talking about the incompetent fool that only likes to kill and doesn’t try to see the bigger picture at all?” (Raheight)

“I won’t deny the incompetent part, but I have drunk with him a number of times and have laughed together. I didn’t have that many pals, so I gotta get revenge for the few I had, you know.” (Dokora)

I can’t tell just how serious this guy is from his voice. 

But I don’t feel he has been shaken by my words at all. 

There’s no mistake he is an anbu even if rotten, huh. 

“Dokora, don’t act too much by yourself!” (Ekdoik)

“Shut up. You are just slow, Ekdoik.” (Dokora)

Ekdoik has also come, huh. 

Judging from the time he took, he must have evacuated the body just now to below the ground. 

…The mana in this body will run out soon. 

It is time to move to the next body. 

But if what Dokora said just now is true, he will be able to read where I will move next. 

I will end up having to fight in the last body at this rate… When that happens, that happens. I would still be able to buy time with that. 

“Ooh, smiling boldly there. That’s the face of someone thinking everything is going well. I shall give you a bit of a problem then. Rakura and the Blue Demon Lord are nowhere to be seen for a while now. Where do you think they have gone to?” (Dokora)

“?!” 

Ekdoik appearing somewhat late because he was retrieving a hostage isn’t strange. 

But why is it that it doesn’t seem like Rakura and the Blue Demon Lord are coming here? 

Could it be…

“Yeah, there’s one right? A favorite body of yours that you planned on getting to when you escape.” (Dokora)

Dokora is an anbu. 

It shouldn’t be difficult for him to use invisibility magic on others. 

Rakura and the Blue Demon Lord have already gone ahead and are trying to seize my body?! 

This is bad. I have made it so that I can immediately move to the bodies of the hostages here, but that also limits my movement distance.

I won’t be able to escape in a stable state from the underground ruins unless I use my original body. 

My original body will become the last destination once I run out of hostages anyways. 

If they seize my original body before that, I most likely will already be in a state where I won’t be able to take my own life when I return to it. 

“…Do you think you can find it easily?” (Raheight)

“Who knows. You know what they say: a woman’s intuition is sharp. But there’s no need to find it immediately, you know. It is fine to just find it before you return to your original body anyways.” (Dokora)

Even if I successfully buy time, there’s no point if I don’t get the method to construct the resurrection magic from Nektohal and escape from the underground ruins. 

If i were to get caught alive…we are talking about that resident of Yugura’s planet…

Let’s change plans. 

It should be safe to assume using the hostages won’t be effective anymore against Dokora. 

I should return to my original body and continue detonating all the undead remotely. 

If need be, I can just bury this completely. I may not be able to kill them all, but it should buy time. 

It is possible that they might escape since they won’t be in vision, and it is possible they will regroup with the teams in the other routes, but…I don’t have the leeway to choose the means. 

Even if Rakura and the others went ahead, my body shouldn’t have been found yet. 

It is now or never. 

I activate the spell and move to my original body. 

I need a certain degree of time before I can move in my original body, but… Alright, nothing seems off in my body that I am slowly getting back the sensation of. 

“…Hn.” 

My body can move. 

I will use detection magic before leaving this place—no, I might get found if Rakura and the others are nearby. 

I perk up my ears and confirm the situation physically. 

I feel no presence. It seems like it is okay. 

I can still be found with detection magic even if unconscious. 

I can just hide in an airtight space if I want to completely hide my own mana from the mana of detection magic without using magic seal stones. 

For example; this stone coffin. 

It would take time to open all the coffins to find me. 

And I would be able to tell how their search is going if they were to go around destroying the coffins to find me. 

It is perfect to hide my body. 

I cast soundproof magic on the lid and open it slowly. 

There’s no one from what I can feel with my 5 senses.

It is possible that what Dokora said was a bluff in order to bring me back to my original body. 

If he can detect the direction in which my soul heads to, he will most likely show up in this place soon enough. 

I take out a magic crystal resembling ice. 

It is an inferior version of a communication crystal. It only shines remotely to send a signal, but it is effective enough in this situation. 

“Still no call from Nektohal, huh.” (Raheight)

I can take refuge from here on…but there would be no point if the people that are trying to get in the way of Nektohal reach the lower layer.

Looks like I really do have to buy some more time. 

I will detonate all the undead at once even if there’s the risk of this location being discovered…

“There’s no sound of explosions…?” (Raheight)

I have made it so that the undead would immediately explode the moment the necromancy is tinkered with.

The mana wavelength that I sent should have been enough to detonate them. 

I have tested it out a number of times, so it is not like there’s an issue with the distance. 

There’s no point in thinking about the reason why. 

It is enough to just judge it as Dokora and the others having done something. 

What I should be thinking about is how to buy time from here on. 

I have a grasp of the enemy forces already. 

But I probably would only be able to win upfront against the Blue Demon Lord who isn’t using her Annihilation. 

That said, Dokora was called back by the Blue Demon Lord, so if I consider that as being the strength of the Blue Demon Lord, then I don’t have a chance in winning against anyone. 

“…But well, I have already experienced predicaments like this one.” (Raheight)

I have not gained victories in proper manners to begin with. 

I have given up on becoming strong normally a long time ago thanks to my warped talent. 

I noticed that my mana weaving sense can only specialize in affecting souls, and my talent in other magic hit their limit pretty quickly. 

If I had a talent as an Illegitimate like Arcreal’s that enhances other talents, I might have ended up a more decent person… Nope, wouldn’t have happened. 

Even if given or not, the core of people doesn’t change. My present self is the answer in itself. 

“Let’s struggle at least. I have only been praised in how hard I am to kill after all.” (Raheight)

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