Chapter 1469

“GAAAHHH!!!”

Aris screamed, “Agh! Shuneria!”

“Don’t just stand there! Could you hurry up and save me?!”

Shuneria fled from the undead chasing her with speed and strength far beyond ordinary zombies and ghouls, having reached a noticeably faster pace than before.

Aris took a stance and swung her sword. A flash of white light sparked once, sending the heads of the undead flying.

“Haah. Haah. I feel like I’m going to die...”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Nope. Focus. Here they come again.”

Davey had ordered them to break through the constantly swarming undead and reach the destination. Meanwhile, he paid no mind to the undead and simply kept his gaze fixed straight ahead.

“What do you think he’s looking at?”

“How should I know?” Shuneria replied. She then spotted the quadrupedal undead charging toward them with beastlike speed. “Ah! They're coming!”

Aris charged forward alongside her in a flash of light. Perhaps due to the excessive training, she ultimately made a mistake and slipped, creating an opening. One undead quickly slipped through that gap and attacked her.

Thud!!!

However, the attack didn’t affect her.

The undead managed to land the blow, but the thin layer of energy surrounding her completely nullified any damage.

Davey scolded, “Aris... you just let yourself take enough potential damage to kill you.”

“Ugh. T-that...”

“Do you want to make excuses after you die?”

His tone, which was somehow colder than before, made Aris flinch. She then cut down the undead trying to slash her into pieces. “Sorry...”

“Focus up. I didn’t teach you so that you can fight for me.”

Aris knew that, of course. She was able to recognize how much consideration he had given her. Hence, she felt both grateful and sorry toward him.

She grabbed her sword again and began to focus.

Meanwhile, Davey frowned, sensing a familiar presence. He said to the empty air, “Jeo-Seung.”

[Yes.]

When Davey called the grim reaper who governed souls, he only answered with his voice instead of also appearing in person.

“Go find one soul for me.”

[Which soul should I look for?]

“Nyx, the Giant Lich. I want Nyx’s soul.”

He then severed his connection with Jeo-Seung without hesitation, then reached his hand toward the massive energy body hidden within a barrier.

[Break]

Shatter!!

The earth was dug up, and a shimmering orb that was being purely refined shattered. Once it broke apart, the surrounding undead lost their strength and collapsed.

Aris looked at Davey in confusion. Knowing him, she knew he wasn't the type to let things end so easily.

“Huh? Davey?”

“We’re moving locations.”

Though they wanted to ask more questions, they couldn't bring themselves to do so. It was clear that he was irritated with something.

* * *

The mysterious black-scaled dragon Gargantia Netzach appeared out of the blue on the continent, causing an astonishingly massive amount of damage. After taking over a small kingdom, he revealed his identity. He then swiftly encroached his power on the entire nation.

Black thunderclouds covered the sky, while the earth churned and boiled, turning into a land of death. It didn't take long for the kingdom’s capital to be completely assimilated.

It was a minor kingdom, its royal palace essentially captured and claimed overnight. It felt like a crisis greater than any undead army the continent had faced in the past. The Immortal King was undervalued by Tionis because Davey O'Rowane handled him too easily, but a 9th Circle necromancer was certainly not a common threat.

The kingdom Netzach occupied was none other than the Ahm Kingdom. His fiendish influence also extended to other nations. Some betrayed and followed him, and others became his hands and feet as undead.

The chancellor of the Ahm Kingdom was among them, and certainly not the only one who became an undead. As soon as Gargantia made the kingdom his, he killed and slaughtered all the nobles there, starting with the royal family.

In a way, they could consider it fortunate that Prince Gulom had survived at all. Yet, the massacre of the rest of the royal family and the court nobles was a tragic outcome.

“He wants you, Illyna,” Sullivan solemnly cautioned her.

“I still have to go,” she resolutely responded. “It’s safe to assume there are no more survivors in the Ahm Kingdom in the place he has settled. So, it shouldn't be a situation where foreign personnel can't enter.”

“That may be true, at least politically.”

With the ruler who would've opposed uninvited guests entering his territory now dead, the land was practically ownerless. Of course, the Ahm Kingdom itself hadn’t collapsed, but any royalty who might appear would face tremendous hardship.

Sullivan shouted, “Are you saying you're going to offer free meat to the enemy right now?!”

“I am not just a mere slab of meat!” she shot back.

While Sullivan and Illyna debated, Perserque glanced over at two people who were analyzing a map spread out before them.

Rinne and Reina. Originally, Heins had no reason to join the warfront, but Gargantia had planted his followers in a number of nations and threatened indiscriminate attacks unless they followed his demands before the deadline.

Their opponent was a 9th Circle mage. If he set his mind to causing chaos, he could cause an enormous number of casualties. Therefore, even the Rowane family had no means of stopping them from joining the fight.

That was why some suggested asking Davey O'Rowane to intervene, but Perserque immediately shot down the idea.

She’d told them not to mention him despite knowing he was likely already moving, as he wasn’t somebody who would just play around. He’d even messaged her about it.

- I’ll take care of all the tricks he’s hidden. Let me know when you’re really struggling. I’ll come right away, regardless of where you are.

That much was something only Davey could do.

“All the nations are currently advancing from multiple directions to surround the royal palace and wipe out the enemy.”

“But the enemy is a necromancer.”

Necromancers grew stronger the more enemies they faced, reinforcing their armies with the corpses of their foes. For such a being, a war of attrition was perfectly in their wheelhouse.

“Right. That is why I requested we mount a guerrilla war, but the fact that the opponent is a 9th Circle mage seems to be causing some hesitation.”

The enemy wasn't just any normal necromancer, instead having reached an exceptionally high rank. On top of that, there was a high chance he'd already encroached one royal palace and turned everyone inside into undead. That number wouldn't be easy to penetrate, even with a small elite force.

Thus, Illyna proposed using herself as bait to enter the palace and take Gargantia's head. After all, he had specifically demanded her presence.

However, Sullivan strongly opposed the plan. Perserque naturally wasn't optimistic about it either.

Gargantia was, simply put, a lunatic with nothing to lose. While he had supposedly lost interest in human wars, there was no guarantee that having Illyna was all he wanted.

Moreover, his subjugation wasn’t the only important thing.

“I'm sure those four are still alive.”

The three noble ladies and one prince caught in his spatial warp magic.

Lady Rune Bertas, Prince Khrones, Laura Mel, and finally Eosha Patrick.

Evangeline stepped forward and volunteered to move and rescue them. Some objected, arguing that Evangeline was still just a child and shouldn't be allowed to go. But with Rinne and Killer Rabbit both assigned to protect her, they ultimately couldn't find any further objections.

The problem was that no one knew exactly where the hostages had been spatially warped.

“Rinne determines the need for a human who knows the internal topography well.”

Hearing the suggestion, Evangeline looked at Perserque, who said, “And there is someone who knows the Ahm Kingdom very well.”

Evangeline immediately frowned in disgust. “Ugh. Prince Gulom...”

Perserque sighed at the reaction. “We can’t exactly ask him to draw a map, can we?”

That much was true. Given that he was unlikely to be able to create a proper map, and that there was no time for it, they would have to take him along to act as a guide.

“Can’t we just contact him through a communication crystal?” Evangeline hopefully suggested. “We could get directions on the spot, like a video call.”

Her opinion was valid, but Reina shook her head. “If the opponent is presumed to be a 9th Circle necromancer, magical signal jamming could be an issue, couldn't it?”

“It surely would be,” someone else added.

In the end, taking him along was the only option they had.

“Will he cooperate?” Perserque sighed, as she wasn’t sure herself.

They went and asked Prince Gulom to join the rescue team, but they weren't going to get the response they were looking for.

Even in the middle of all the chaos, he was living in luxury at the Pallan Imperial Palace under the excuse that he was a victim. He sat arrogantly as servants waited on him, only to panic when Evangeline came to see him.

He immediately recoiled, screaming, “W-what nonsense!!! Are you planning to take me to that land of the dead?!”

“You’re the only one who can do it. Are you going to guide us or not?”

“A-absolutely not!! I don't want to die!”

Having to sit through his pathetic behavior and ridiculous pride, Evangeline's patience quickly began to wear down. She shot back, “That's where your family is, isn't it?”

He was speechless.

“Damn, you’re really pissing me off. Hey! Four people were kidnapped because of what you did.” Evangeline glanced around and irritably asked, ‘You got that part?”

He just trembled again.

“I said we’ll protect you! Even if you’re a jerk, you can rely on our protection. So what’s the problem?”

“Ugh. Uuugh... H-how dare you be so disrespectful to m-me...”

Evangeline slammed her hand on the table, shattering it into pieces.

THUD!!!

Just as she was about to grab him by the collar, Rinne restrained her, blocking her arm and declaring, “Rinne will activate high-level negotiation skills.”

“Rinne?”

The golem stepped onto the shattered table expressionlessly. She then summoned a crowbar in one hand, rested it on her shoulder, and tapped it lightly with her hand.

“Rinne requests you to either follow us... or have your head busted open right here.”

“Y-you crazy bitch!! Do you even know who I am?!”

“The prince of a ruined kingdom. The Ahm Kingdom is currently ownerless due to Gargantia. Rinne analyzes that all royal family power has been disintegrated.” She pushed the crowbar toward his face without a hint of hesitation.

“Heeek!!!”

“Rinne reminds you to remember that no one will take note even if your head splits open here, under the pretext of your trolling.”

She was essentially telling him to choose between dying on the spot or guiding them, as no one would be willing to protect him otherwise.

Rinne lifted the crowbar higher as Prince Golum trembled and stayed silent.

“Five.

“Four.

“Three...”

It was highly unlikely that a coward like him would cling to his pride when threatened so brutally.

Realizing she was serious, he hurriedly shrieked, “O-okay!! P-please don't kill me!”

“Our job is to sneak in and rescue the hostages while the allied forces attack the Ahm Kingdom to buy time,” Evangeline icily informed him. “Understood?”

He couldn't help but mutter, “T-this humiliation...”

Rinne slammed her crowbar onto the ground right next to him.

BOOM!!

“Oops. Rinne reports that her hand slipped.”

He turned pale, so frightened he even got the hiccups.

“Isn’t that something Dad used to do?” Evangeline curiously asked her.

“Rinne rates Lord Davey’s threat capacity highly.”

Evangeline didn't know how to respond to that. The girl had indeed learned a lot from Davey.

The operation swiftly commenced.

The outline of the plan was simple to follow. The allied forces of each nation all advanced and besieged the occupied capital of the Ahm Kingdom.

The enemy paid no attention to the advancing troops, making it unlikely he'd feel threatened enough to kill the hostages. Naturally, Illyna and Perserque participated to draw his attention.

Perhaps because Illyna was nearby, it almost seemed as though Gargantia was willing to abandon everything else just to reveal himself and greet her.

Of course, Illyna looked utterly disgusted by him.

Gargantia seemed completely unconcerned about and dismissive of the possibility of being defeated or failing to capture Illyna.

Naturally, the battle didn't begin right away. The allied forces planned to rescue the hostages first, so instead of charging in, they spent their time gathering information.

True to his arrogant nature, Gargantia paid little attention to the allied forces themselves.

During the process, Perserque cast her magic and began to interfere with his senses. Taking advantage of that opening, Evangeline entered the royal palace while following Prince Golum’s guidance.

At the very least, if Evangeline got caught and were to fully manifest, she might not be able to kill him, but she wouldn't lose either.

“T-this is it.” Prince Golum, his face pale with terror, led Rinne, Reina, and Evangeline through a hidden passage.

A Swordmaster and a mage accompanied them, but both were complaining about the pain caused by the strange scent that had spread throughout the palace.

“It’s difficult to use magic. What in the world is this...”

“It feels like the mana in me is twisting and knotting.”

Rinne, Reina, and Evangeline were the only ones who seemed relatively unaffected. Prince Golum, who had almost no mana, looked similarly fine.

Yet, he was, of course, a downright nuisance every step of the way.

“Heek!!”

When he screamed at the sight of the half-decayed undead maids wandering the hallway, Rinne punched him in the stomach without hesitation, leaving him kneeling there gasping for air.

The maids reacted to the noise, yet, having become undead and perhaps not possessing their full strength anymore, they failed to see through the invisibility spell and find the intruders.

“Phew. Seems like the 5th Circle Invisibility spell seems to work on them.”

“That annoying bastard, seriously...”

As Evangeline openly expressed her annoyance, Prince Golum straightened his posture, seeming as if about to arrogantly clear his throat.

In a hushed tone, she threatened, “You do that, you die."

He swallowed his pride and stayed quiet.

The infiltration itself went smoothly.

For whatever reason, Gargantia dropped his troops and started a sword fight with Illyna as soon as she and the allied forces arrived.

Naturally, no matter how furiously he fought, he was no match for Illyna; he was decapitated and reduced to dust before long. Thanks to his immortality, though, he reappeared in the palace not long after and returned for the fight.

His immortality shook the morale of the allied forces, but Illyna, who demonstrated the power to overwhelm him, managed to keep that morale up regardless.

Meanwhile, Gargantia seemed completely addicted to the near-death feeling Illyna gave him. Every time he returned to fight her again, he looked at her with utter ecstasy.

Evangeline, hearing about those developments outside, walked down the secret underground passage with a look of disgust. She turned and asked the sniveling boy, “Are there any traps?”

“T-traps? No. This is a refuge built by the royal family of the Ahm Kingdom. Unless there's some extraordinary circumstance, the traps would never activate—”

Flit!!!

The moment he, who was forced to walk ahead, stepped on the floor, the wall opened, and a thick ballista bolt shot toward his face.

Boom!!

The moment he became completely stiff with terror, Rinne reached out and easily snatched the ballista bolt, which was larger than her hand.

“Rinne analyzes you as useless.”

“W-waaahhh!”

Enduring his girlish scream, Evangeline sighed. “I seriously hate him...”

She honestly wanted to beat him to a pulp, but the fact that he was the only one who could guide them rendered her full of impotent rage.

“Hurry up and guide us,” she impatiently commanded, “Before my patience runs out.”

Hearing her sharp warning, he nodded frantically.

At that moment, unexpected people descended, rendering them speechless.

They were assassins.

But.

“They aren’t undead?”

They were clearly living people.

One of them asked, “Are you Davey O'Rowane's daughter?”

“Who are you people? Why are you following that monster’s orders?”

There weren’t just a few, but a multitude of living people present before them.

They spoke, filled with killing intent.

“There are plenty of people who hate Heins and will do anything to bring it pain, even if it means turning their backs on the world.”

They were beings who had voluntarily joined Gargantia.

They could hardly be understood.

* * *

The River of Souls.

It was a place currently under the management of Woochi, a member of the Hall of Heroes. Jeo-Seung and some other souls under him were the ones who purified the souls of reincarnation flowing into the river.

“Here it is.”

However, most of the souls that entered the River of Souls had different purification periods.

“I had a hard time finding it. I thought it had already been destroyed. Never did I expect to find it. It seems the goddess must've recovered it, but...” Jeo-Seung explained in a weary tone.

Yet, Davey simply waved him off. That was because Aris and Shuneria were still waiting in the forest, so he had no intention of wasting time with him.

He roughly tore out the soul being purified in the River of Souls. Pulling it out during purification would severely damage the soul, but he couldn't care less. It didn't matter to him even if the soul were to be torn apart.

After that, he shoved the soul into the soul stone that Aeria had condensed her power to create, returned to Middle Earth, and activated the soul stone.

Massive energy flowed from the stone, and a skeleton with a giant body—a lich—rose before him, exhaling frost.

[Aah... The stench of this air is disgusting.]

It had been a while since Davey had heard the lich speak.

“Lich Nyx.”

[You?!]

Seeing Davey, the one who’d killed him, enraged First Lich Nyx. But Davey simply snapped his fingers and blocked off the surroundings. “We can both agree that you and I aren’t exactly on good terms, right?”

[You! How dare you, you... Cough?!]

Davey punched his soul once.

The power, incomparable to when he’d fought Nyx in the past, overloaded his soul.

[Kuaaa!!! What in the world?]

“I did a lot of farming while you were sleeping, man. Do you know what I mean?”

[Shut up!!! Hellfi—]

[Dispel]

The First Lich Nyx frantically channeled his magic. Even though only his soul remained, he was the heretic Nyx, who had resurrected himself several times as a lich, so he could still cast magic surprisingly well.

Of course, that would've only been the case if Davey hadn't dispelled it.

[D-Damned Dispel!!!]

He trembled and spat with resentment, as if remembering his past fight with him.

[How in the world did you dispel it?!]

“Whatever man, just be careful not to be annihilated this time.”

[Shut up! I experienced death because of that strange arrow, but now that I've been resurrected, Nobody can kill—GUAAA!!!]

Davey closed in and casually swung his fist, which had a black aura swirling around it. The punch that completely crushed Nyx’s immortal ability made the lich’s eyes flicker wildly.

“I have a few things to ask you,” Davey told him. “That’s why I resurrected you.”

Of course, it was only that Nyx’s soul had been extracted, not outright resurrected, but Lich Nyx didn’t know what had happened to him.