A gaping hole had been blown through the carriage wall. irin trembled, staring at the man in the skull armor. ’What in the world is he?’ she wondered, terrified, as he turned toward her.
He approached without hesitation and reached for her. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist, and her feet were lifted from the floor. She belatedly realized he was carrying her, tucked unceremoniously under his arm.
’Ugh! What is this hold? How humiliating!’
She wanted to scream, but the imnse pressure emanating from him kept her from uttering a sound. ’Maybe it’s best not to resist.’ The man glanced down to check on her, then leaped from the speeding carriage.
"Aaaah!"
The speed was dizzying, the surrounding scenery blurring into streaks of color. Then, with a soft thud, his feet landed on the dirt. irin cautiously opened her eyes.
Ahead, she saw the old man who had been thrown from the carriage crawling on the ground. Blood poured from his nose and mouth, and one of his legs was bent at an unnatural angle. He trembled as he pushed himself up.
"Grrrgh! Damn it! Who the hell are you! Who sent you!" Javier roared.
The man didn’t answer. He slowly lowered his stance and set irin on the ground. Then, he raised the white greatsword in his right hand and shifted his body to the side as a vicious killing intent flowed from his entire being.
’How dare he...!’ Javier fud. Though retired, Javier had been a necromancer of great infamy in his day. He slamd his staff onto the ground with a resounding thud, and skeletons poured out from a Subspace.
irin, still on the ground, lifted her head. They were all dium-sized skeletons, each standing over ten feet tall and wielding a massive spear. There were more than twenty of them—a necromancer capable of commanding at least a platoon.
’That perverted old man... he really is sothing else!’
A white sword strike drew a clean line through the air. A fierce wind swept past, and in an instant, all the skeletons tumbled to the ground.
"......Huh?"
A bewildered sound escaped Javier’s lips. irin stared at the man, her eyes wide with shock.
’Wh-What just happened?’
He casually rested the greatsword on his shoulder and began walking toward Javier, whose face, a mask of panic, quickly extended an arm. ’Restore!’ But the fallen skeletons remained still. He tried again and again, but it was no use. The skeletons only clattered slightly, refusing to rise.
’His sword must be enchanted with so strange black magic. To think he’s this strong!’
It had been a mistake to send all his main summons, the at Golems, to Manus’s side. He never imagined a battle would break out here. He had no choice. He had to use his last resort. Reaching inside his clothes, he activated the Jet-Black magic circle drawn on his chest.
"Agh, ugh—!"
Javier clutched his throat and staggered, then began to vomit strange pieces of flesh. His body shriveled like a mummy as the flesh he spat out grew larger and larger, feeding on him for nourishnt.
irin’s face twisted in horror. ’What has he been raising inside his body?!’
It was a grotesque abomination of what looked like internal organs. It was over ten feet long, its limbs bulging with pulsating clumps of viscera.
’GRRRRAAAWR!’
The creature let out a monstrous roar. Its entire body turned pitch black with Jet-Black, and sharp bones protruded from both its arms.
"Look out!" irin shouted. "That thing can’t move! You don’t have to fight it, just get away from—!"
The man swung his greatsword. A white line appeared from the creature’s shoulder to its waist. Its upper body, cleanly severed, slid off at an angle.
’I-In a single blow?!’
irin’s pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck. The man reversed his grip on the greatsword and lowered his stance.
A left slash, a right slash, then a spinning diagonal cut. Countless lines were carved into the monster’s body. With a series of sickening cracks, the creature dissolved into innurable pieces of flesh that rained to the ground.
"Whoa...." irin trembled with awe. It was overwhelming strength. He had dispatched a monster—one a professional necromancer had sacrificed his life to create—as if it were a re toy.
’Who in the world is this person?’
The man once again rested the greatsword on his shoulder and looked at her. irin flinched. The re sight of the skull helt, blue smoke swirling from its eye socket, was enough to spark terror in her. He exuded the aura of sothing utterly inhuman. As he approached, she squeezed her eyes shut and whipped her head away.
’Damn it! Why have I suddenly beco such a coward?’
Of course, the overwhelming pressure he exuded was terrifying, but until now, she had always thought of her Kizen uniform as an invincible suit of armor. Within the Dark Alliance, no one would dare touch a student wearing it. But that notion had just been shattered by Javier. She had nearly been subjected to sothing vile—worse, she could have ended up as a corpse sold off for parts. Deathland was a place where common sense didn’t apply; being a Kizen student didn’t make you invincible.
There was no telling what this man would do next. The thought was paralyzing.
’This again?!’
She blushed. Once again, she was tucked under his arm and lifted into the air as he kicked off the ground, soaring into the sky. irin’s scream echoed through the air.
---
irin was whisked away, completely disoriented. The scenery flew by in a blur, and the harsh headwind made it difficult to keep her eyes open.
"Uhh...?"
The speed gradually decreased, and the man landed softly on the ground. irin quickly opened her eyes and looked around. She didn’t recognize her surroundings, but in the distance, she could see a path leading to the sewer.
The man set her down and gestured with his hand. ’He wants to turn around?’ It didn’t seem like she had a choice. She pushed herself up and knelt, turning her back to him.
The man moved his greatsword.
The blade cut through the ropes. He then lightly poked the back of her hand with the tip of the greatsword, and a magic circle shattered. That must have been the curse. Her core reactivated, and Jet-Black began to circulate through her body once more.
Now free, irin looked up at the man with a bewildered expression. ’Is he... just saving , with no strings attached?’ Without a second thought, the man turned his back, his cloak fluttering behind him.
"W-Wait!" irin shot to her feet and shouted. "Thank you for saving my life! If it’s alright, I’d really like to repay your kindness!"
The man stopped, turning only his head to look back. His gaze was as intimidating as ever, but she mustered her courage and placed a hand on her chest.
"I am irin Villenne, a student of Kizen and a mber of the Ivory Tower. Whatever you desire..."
[Return to your friends.]
irin was startled to hear his voice for the first ti. It was a low, cold tone that didn’t sound quite human.
[Two of them are down in the sewer.]
"Oh...!"
Her teammates. Were they all okay? But he said two. What about the other one?
[One of the boys was captured like you,] he said. [But he escaped on his own and entered the sewer. He should arrive in a few hours.]
Escaped on his own, as if it were nothing. ’That has to be Simon,’ irin thought. Just then, the man started walking again.
A sense of urgency washed over her. Was he just going to leave? She had to know sothing, anything, about him.
"Your na!" she called out, raising her voice. "Please, at least tell your na! I’m begging you!"
The man stopped, silent. Then, without turning around, he gave a short reply.
[Pion.]
He straightened his knees and shot into the sky. As she watched him disappear into the darkness, irin clasped her hands together, her face flushed with excitent.
’...Will I be able to see you again?’
Her heart pounded as she watched his figure disappear into the darkness.
---
Simon, running through the trees, took off Pier’s skull helt and slung it over his back. He then let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Phew, I thought I was going to get caught!"
[Hehehe! Good work, boy!]
It had all started after Prince had kidnapped irin. Simon went to interrogate the humans Pier had captured at the mansion. Making them talk wasn’t difficult. An expert in intimidation, Pier created a terrifying atmosphere by tapping their necks with his sword, and they quickly confessed. They revealed they were employees of a retired necromancer nad Javier and were involved in a large-scale corpse supply business.
When Simon asked if they had seen a female student in a Kizen uniform, they shook their heads. They did say, however, that if the girl was handed over from Prince to Javier, she would be put in a carriage and sent to a nearby campsite. The mansion, they added, was about to beco a warzone.
"What do you an, a warzone?"
At this question, the captives hesitated. After a brief mont of Pier’s "sword dance," they trembled and revealed the details of a new, undisclosed plot. Javier was maintaining a cooperative relationship with both of Deathland’s reigning Ancient Undead, Prince and Manus. His ultimate goal was to have Manus eliminate Prince, then eliminate Manus himself to claim Prince’s ‘Crown.’
After learning the full story, Simon’s top priority was still rescuing irin. He figured that rather than heading straight for the mansion, his chances of success would be higher if he infiltrated it during the war between Prince and Manus. In the anti, Simon decided to check out the campsite the captives had ntioned. He swapped his Kizen uniform for the captives’ clothes and headed toward Javier’s camp. On the way, he spotted a lone carriage heading for that very location. He attacked it without hesitation and rescued irin in the nick of ti.
[Hehehe! But tell , boy!] Pier said. [What was that ‘Pion’ about when the girl asked for your na?]
At the question, Simon blushed and cleared his throat.
"Ah, well... at first, I was going to say Pier, but I thought it might complicate things. So I just mixed Pier and my na, Simon, and ca up with Pion."
[Hehehehehe!]
"Enough about that. Let’s hurry to the mansion!"
The war between Prince and Manus. From Simon’s perspective, this was a stroke of luck. He saw it as a chance to acquire the third Ancient Undead, who had so far been uncooperative about joining his Legion.
Simon looked up and saw the mansion burning beyond the trees.
"Looks like the war has already started."
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