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What was being shown in the giant screen was the current situation of Serende. 

I watch this with pastries that don’t fill up my stomach and a carbonated drink in its respective hands. 

Watching an important moment as if it is none of my business is pretty addicting.

“Is this how it feels to watch movies? I see, it certainly would serve as entertainment.” 

The ones who treat necromancy as forbidden are the Yugura Church and the world. Yugura himself didn’t treat it as forbidden. 

According to Yugura, there’s no point in categorizing something as forbidden when you can utilize it with just a bit of talent and effort. 

That said, there’s no doubt this magic is a threat. This has been proved by history. 

This spell shows its true power, not in the battlefield, but in places like urban areas that are packed with people. 

Even soldiers who are wary of being attacked are caught off-guard, so there’s a limited number of civilians who would be able to deal with an undead. 

“Ooh, this ain’t fit for children. Hahaha!” 

The undead are clad with the mana under the effects of necromancy. That mana brings back the dead as new undead. 

Hilmera unleashed the undead in all places of the city at the same time. 

The undead attacked the nearby humans, and created new undead. 

This cycle accelerated exponentially as the number of undead increased. 

The country of Serende fell into panic in less than an hour. It became a wonderful spectacle where you could hear screams from everywhere. 

This flow of events is the same as the time when Raheight destroyed Supine. 

Well, he is the one who set this up, so it can’t be helped that it would resemble that. 

“Raheight would have been watching with amusement if he were alive.” 

The one Raheight was actually trying to meet wasn’t Hilmera but her mother, Rosa Serende. 

A pitiful woman whose husband was killed by the current king of Serende, and her own daughter was made to compete for the throne with his children. 

Raheight made contact with her knowing that she couldn’t choose her means. 

But Raheight saw potential in Hilmera. 

Just what potential did you see from a 4 year old, you pervert? -is what I want to say, but he was actually right. 

Hilmera is the same kind of genius as Noderikutoranlis. 

She could see the whole picture in contrast to her mother who was desperate with revenge and self-preservation.

That’s why she didn’t hesitate in learning the ropes of necromancy from Raheight. 

“Well, she is still a child seeing that she went out of control because of her attachment to her brother though.” 

I would be dealing damage to myself if I were to point fingers at that too much, so let’s just leave it at just cheering for her. 

That said, letting the damage spread like this is vexing as someone who observes this world. 

Well, their neighboring country is Mejis, which specializes in purification magic, so it would end with just Serende being wiped out at worst. 

“Oh, they are beginning to evacuate the people. They are moving a lot faster compared to the time with Supine.” 

The soldiers of Serende showed movements a while after the ruckus in the city happened. 

Soldiers with big shields obstructed the movements of the undead, and the lightweight armor soldiers would guide the civilians to a safe location. 

The troublesome part about undead made from necromancy is their regeneration. 

The undead will constantly come back to life as long as there’s necromancy mana in their bodies, so they can’t be defeated by just slashing them or crushing them. 

The direct method would be to deal with the necromancy mana. 

You either erase the effect itself with purification magic, or use explosive power to swallow the mana itself. 

The prior requires you to have learned it beforehand, and the latter is way too demanding. 

That’s why it is impossible for the soldiers of Serende to wipe out the undead. 

This is the country that was the most wary of Mejis who favored Yugura. There’s barely any people from the Yugura Church who excel in purification magic.

But the matter of Supine must have left its print on their mind, it seems like there was someone who thought of a plan for when they get attacked by necromancy. 

This fast response wouldn’t make sense otherwise. 

“I acknowledge the ability, but…do you have a solution for the root problem?” 

Serende was renamed by Yugura, but their core is very different from the other major powers. 

It is a point that they excel over other countries, but it is possible that will be the reason for things to reach an irreversible point here. 

“The king of Serende won’t ask for the help of other countries. This hinges on how the prince will deal with things, I guess… Oh well, do your best.” 

The footage on the screen changes to showing the surroundings of that man. 

It should be about time for him to hear about the current situation. 

If I am going to watch someone, it really gotta be the protagonist of the story. 

◇◇

The city was strangely noisy, so Ekdoik and Dyuvuleori went out to check things. 

A subordinate of Nuphsa showed up at the time they were out. 

Undead showed up here and there in the country, attacked the people one after the other, increasing their numbers, and the damage is still spreading as we speak.

Nuphsa requested my cooperation to solve this matter. 

I immediately agreed and headed to the residence that Nuphsa is using as a temporary base. 

“It is nice to see you have come. You could have abandoned us, saying it was none of your business.” (Nuphsa)

“If I could do that, I would have left this country a long time ago without tasting such bitter experiences.” 

The attack of undead this time around is obviously not the handiwork of Blue. 

The person herself has been making an extremely sour expression for a while now. 

As a Demon Lord who rules over the undead, this attack is practically like stealing her position, so it makes sense.

“I am confirming here just in case, but has Washekt taken shelter on your side…?” (Nuphsa)

“No contact from him?” 

“A little before the incident happened. But this was most likely not caused by Washekt.” (Nuphsa)

“Hilmera, huh.” 

Nuphsa nodded without saying a word.

Chisante and Yumis are under the surveillance of Nuphsa, so they can’t make any careless moves. 

It is possible that they ordered their subordinates to use necromancy as a desperate measure to create chaos. 

But I find it hard to believe that those two would leave so much power to their subordinates. 

Nuphsa and Washekt achieved their original objective of making Nuphsa the king. They wouldn’t do something that would be akin to evaporating all their efforts. 

Then, it would be Hilmera by process of elimination.

If we arrange the situation, it would mean that Hilmera was the first one Raheight made contact with. 

It means the deal with Chisante and Raheight was in order to hide the truth that she learned necromancy. 

“Princess Hilmera was aiming for this from the very beginning?” (Ilias)

“That’s not it, Ilias. Hilmera was trying her fullest to hide the fact that she made contact with Raheight. She didn’t have any intention to use it. The wish of Hilmera was to make Washekt the king. She herself must have been doing a lot in the shadows to make this happen.” 

But I was told 2 days ago from a subordinate of Washekt that Nuphsa will be the next king of Serende. 

In other words, she couldn’t make Washekt the king by normal means anymore. 

“Resident of Yugura’s planet, what do you think of Hilmera’s action?” (Nuphsa)

“Hilmera was extremely attached to Washekt. She wanted Washekt to get everything. She pretty much imprinted it into herself that this is what must happen. She probably wants to control Serende with deadly force and give it to Washekt.” 

“…You could analyze it that much, and yet, you couldn’t stop this situation from happening?” (Nuphsa)

“It was just one possibility of many. It wouldn’t be strange for any of you guys to be the one that made contact with Raheight after all.” 

Every member of the royal family had secrets, and they were desperately trying to hide them. 

I had to slice off their strength to protect them in order to reach the truth, and Chisante and Yumis ended up being the first ones in the priority list. 

It is true that there was interference from Hilmera when deciding the priorities. 

Hilmera being able to act better compared to the other siblings led to this result. 

“I can’t deny it. Also, I agree with the reason too. I told Washekt to keep her in place, but I underestimated how soft he was towards his little sister.” (Nuphsa)

“It should be better to assume that Washekt has been imprisoned in a safe location. I think he is fine, but…that could change if he tries to convince Hilmera carelessly.” 

“Resident of Yugura’s planet, I would like to request the rescue of Washekt and to incapacitate Hilmera. The soldiers that were in the faction of Chisante have their hands full with evacuating the civilians.” (Nuphsa)

“I don’t mind that, but…are you not going to run away? The one Hilmera wants to kill the most is you, right?” 

The objective of Hilmera is to paralyze the functions of Serende completely. 

Burn fear into the citizens, and take away their strength to oppose in order to control them with violence. 

It would be troubling for there to be someone who can rule over the people within them. 

There’s no doubt Hilmera plans on wiping all royalty aside from Washekt. Especially Nuphsa. She would try to kill him no matter what.

“Right. We got attacked by the horde of undead before the city fell into panic. I couldn’t rescue Father thanks to that.” (Nuphsa)

“So the Serende Castle has already been seized.” 

“I plan on continuing rescuing people like this. I can reduce the risk of the evacuating populace from getting attacked by staying here and taking command.” (Nuphsa)

Hilmera should also know that the one who is currently moving the soldiers of Serende is Nuphsa. 

If Nuphsa tried to escape from the capital, she would make the undead pursue him. 

When that happens, the citizens that are trying to evacuate by foot wouldn’t come out unscathed. There’s no way they would be able to escape while protecting the people with their limited military force. 

“Got it. Then, let’s move to action.” 

I head to the Serende Castle with Ilias, Wolfe, and Mix.

I had the others deal with the undead in the city. 

I have judged that I should be able to manage with Ilias and Wolfe, who excel in pure battle power, and Mix as a scout when it comes to just breaking through the horde of undead. 

The number of undead keeps increasing even now. It is only a matter of time before they can’t do anything about the undead.

The threat of the undead stays even when the one who used necromancy is defeated, so we must get rid of the undead themselves. 

In that case, I need Ekdoik and Rakura, who excel in group battles, to fight in the city. 

“It seems like there has been damage on a large scale already… Is it not possible to do something with the power of Blue-dono?” (Mix)

“It is not like they have been tinkered in a way that they would self-destruct like the time with Raheight, so I think I can incapacitate the undead if I overwrite the necromancy. But if I do that to all of them at the same time, I would need to cover this whole Serende with my mana…” (Blue)

“Sounds like it would create a lot of irreversible effects.” (Mix)

“There’s no need for a second Kuama Nether, so I will go through them one by one.” (Blue)

The power of Annihilation that is the superior version of necromancy has the ability to cover a wide area. 

It is an impregnable power that can show the power of necromancy instantly within the range that her mana can reach, but that also makes it inflexible, so it is hard to use it in scenarios where she is fighting to protect others. 

“Counselor-sama, what about asking for reinforcements from Mejis…?” (Rakura)

“Please do. I am not qualified to say this, but even if so…” (Nuphsa)

Nuphsa lowered his head faster than I could answer. 

In this current situation when there’s no knowing if the king of Serende is alive, Nuphsa lowering his head means that Serende itself is lowering its head. 

There’s no way Nuphsa doesn’t understand the meaning of asking for the help of a neighboring country they took distance from as a potential enemy. 

Nuphsa judged that doing this was the best option despite that, and acted without hesitation.

“G-Got it!” (Rakura)

“I want you to explain the situation to Haakudoku and Masetta after contacting Mejis, Rakura. We will leave the coordination with Mejis to Masetta-san. Blue and Melia, group up with Ekdoik who is already fighting together with Belard. Purple, use the devils that are on standby at the borders to support the people who are evacuating. Dyuvuleori, I would like you to also fight the undead once you have secured her own safety.” 

I decide the roles of everyone and we move to action. 

The sky is bright even though the sun has already sunk.

Fires are happening because of the panic, and that is dyeing the sky red. 

The soldiers would normally be the ones who would extinguish the fires, but they have their hands full with evacuating the people, and the fires are spreading more and more. 

The face of Ilias I saw from the corner of my eye was grim. She is probably stuck between a rock and a hard place; between her desire to go rescue the people at once and her duty to do what must be done. 

“Let’s hurry. This won’t end unless we stop Hilmera.” 

“…Yeah.” (Ilias)

Ilias carried me and began running. 

Making her concentrate on her objective is effective in distracting her from her unease, but this isn’t exclusive to just them. 

Even I, who am trying to make a calm decision here, am on the verge of having my feelings shaken. I am desperately trying to distract myself.

No, it is a bit different. I am trying to hold it back…the me who has been trying to return since this happened. 

I understand that I should be switching, and yet, I have a feeling like something irreversible will happen if I do switch.

◇◇

“Oi oi, what happened…?” 

I was wondering why the outside was so strangely noisy, but to think undead are attacking people. 

Since when did this place become the Kuama Nether…?

I feel like the Blue Demon Lord would frown at me if I were to complain about this, so let’s be careful. 

The movements of the undead are not that threatening in itself. 

Their superhuman strength that ignores the limits of the body is something to watch out for, but it is the same as the attacks of beasts who have lost all sense of self. 

Simple attacks with no feints at all wouldn’t hit no matter how much they try. 

“That said, I am not enough to kill them all…” 

I tried to smash their heads with my tonfas, but they would regenerate right after and begin moving again. 

I might be able to destroy them to a degree where they can’t regenerate anymore if I use my trump card, but…I am already on the verge of running out of mana from just dealing with the undead that are within my vision, damn it.

“Concentrate on stopping their movements, Haakudoku! I will finish them!” (Masetta)

Masetta used purification magic on the undead that I tripped. 

The stabbed undead crumbled without regenerating.

“Hey, can’t you imbue that to my weapon?” (Haaku)

“It would be difficult to make it reach their insides with a blunt weapon! Do you want to jam those things inside places like their stomach and their mouths every single instance?!” (Masetta)

“…Alright, I’ll leave it to you!” (Haaku)

My weapons stink just from smacking them. I would need to throw these guys away if I were to do that. 

“Haakudoku, move the location little by little! We have to secure the area when fighting undead!” (Masetta)

“Gotcha!” (Haaku)

The undead that have crumbled apparently can resurrect with the mana of the other nearby undead or something like that. 

That’s why you need to control the battlefield by not fighting other undead in the same place where you defeated undead. 

The Blue Demon Lord said that she can resurrect the purified undead immediately. Necromancy is seriously bad news. 

“I am sure Representative-san has grasped the situation and began moving! We have to secure this place and group up with them…!” (Masetta)

“True. But just when I got better and thought I would be able to rampage, my opponents are dead people… It doesn’t feel right…” (Haaku)

There’s no help from Serende here. 

The outside is being attacked by undead, so of course they would prioritize the people who can run away with their own legs. 

And when they have the leeway, they will finally come here… Is it possible to make some wiggle room here? 

I crush the posture of the undead in front of me with a front kick, grab the undead coming from behind me with my right arm devil, and throw it to the other undead.

Not fearing injuries is pretty awesome, but not avoiding attacks just makes you an idiot. 

This is the perfect opportunity to do some exercise after recovering! 

“Do this properly, okay?! There’s a lot of people here who can’t run away too!” (Masetta)

“Gotcha. The grannies and gramps here were talk partners and looked after me here. They would be able to move better if they became undead, but I wouldn’t be able to hear interesting stories from them anymore!” (Haaku)

I step to the front so that Masetta is not targeted and rampage while drawing the attention of the surrounding undead. 

Instinct-sama would yawn at blockheads like this—?! 

“?!” 

The head of an undead passed by my side all of a sudden. 

I reacted late because of how sudden it was, and I hurriedly looked back. Masetta had casted a barrier on the fly and protected herself from the head that flew her way. 

I was relieved, but I immediately faced the front and directed my gaze at the one deep within the horde of undead. 

“I thought I wouldn’t get dirty if I am touching fresh undead, but the skin was already rotting. I couldn’t throw it like I wanted.” 

An enemy. Most likely a comrade of the group that caused this. 

I use detection magic without hesitation. 

They looked like a cute girl that I would want to invite out, but it seems like it was a man. 

“M-Murshto-san?” (Masetta)

“Heya there, Masetta. Also, nice to meet you, Haakudoku.” (Murshto)

The man called Murshto smiled with his cute face. 

Masetta did talk about this before that there was a weird guy that is the bodyguard of a princess and is head over heels in love with Brother. 

It is rare to meet a man that looks so much like a woman, but most of all, this guy…

“…It would be boorish to ask what’s your business. Anyone would be able to tell with you oozing killing intent. It seems like your objective is us, but…I don’t remember doing anything to be hated over…probably.” (Haaku)

“Just in case.” (Murshto)

“…Hah?” (Haaku)

“That man spoke about you before, you see. He said your brain isn’t that good, but you are a man that betrays his expectations in the good sense of the word and can be trusted. That’s why I have come here just in case to crush you.” (Murshto)

By ‘that man’…is he referring to Brother? 

He is praising me here, but it is an evaluation that’s hard to be happy about. 

Oi, more like, did he come here to crush me just because Brother’s evaluation of me was high? 

There’s no doubt about it. This guy is the same kind of lunatic as Girista. 

He looks like a straightlaced knight like Sis, but he isn’t hiding the atmosphere peculiar to those of weirdos at all. 

“Masetta, I will deal with this guy. Please interject a whole ton.” (Haaku)

“Isn’t that normally the part where you say ‘don’t get involved’?!” (Masetta)

“It would be the case if it were a normal fight or a deathmatch, but…this guy is an Illegitimate of Yugura.” (Haaku)

“! …I see. Got it.” (Masetta)

I don’t know what talent he has, but I was certain of at least that much. 

I think it is a talent related to defense, but…it is kind of strange. 

I can tell he is a dangerous guy just from the fact that Instinct-sama is warning me, but what Instinct-sama is warning me about isn’t the talent as an Illegitimate…? 

It is not the feeling of when I am dealing with dangerous Illegitimate like Wolfe and Arcreal, it is more like when I am dealing with someone that’s dangerous just as they are like Sis…

Anyways, he is someone I must defeat here. 

It is me feeling this and not Instinct-sama. 

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