Today is the final installment of Chapter 5, The Unusual Necromancer. From here on, Chapter 6 is
planned to unfold.
In this chapter, Damon gains companions. And very troublesome
companions at that. Damon’s adventures with his new companions will begin.
Since Chapter 5 has ended, I intend to go on hiatus for a while. I’m thinking about a week or so. During that time,
I plan to rest completely without thinking about anything, so even after the hiatus ends, daily updates will probably be difficult……
Then please look forward to Chapter 6, Troublesome Companions.^^
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Pupils as pitch-black as the color of his body swept around the underground cavern. But
all he could see was darkness.
Having only just awakened, there was no way he could distinguish objects. However, the Black Dragon
Russelent did not grow impatient, and leisurely waited until every sense in his body had awakened.
The creature known as a dragon had a biological cycle vastly different from ordinary living beings. Since they slept for
as long as five hundred years, they could not wake and immediately move about like humans or other creatures.
They had to spend at least three months preparing to awaken, and it took a full day after that
for their bodies to return completely to normal.
Of course, during that time, they could only be exposed in a thoroughly defenseless state to outside threats. That was
why dragons had their guardians keep flawless watch over their lairs. Not even guardians were allowed into the place where they slept. Only after isolating their sleeping chambers
completely from the world, in the truest sense of the phrase, could they sleep in peace……
Until sensation returned to his body, Russelent passed the time with one thought or another.
Russelent was a dragon who had already surpassed the Wyrm class. Through five hundred years of sleep, he had entered his peak
as a full-fledged adult dragon. Russelent, who was also the faithful confidant of the Red Dragon Verkis, was
the first among the dragons who had entered their sleep cycle to awaken.
Generally speaking, dragons’ periods of sleep were fairly consistent. Whether they were aged dragons or still
young dragons, there was almost no difference. Almost all dragons had to sleep for a full
five hundred years.
If there was a difference in the length of sleep, there was certainly a fitting reason for it. In the case of
Verkis, who had awakened in the middle of his sleep, he would have to sleep for even longer.
As an exception, however, Russelent had awakened exactly five years ahead of schedule.
Because he had entered his sleep cycle a little earlier than the other dragons.
The War Against Humanity, in which more than half of all dragons had participated. Because he had suffered a grievous
wound in that battle, Russelent had been forced to enter his sleep cycle earlier than planned.
It was because of a wound inflicted by a human Sword Master.
It was an internal injury that had reached deep into his bones, so even healing it with magic had its limits, and he could do nothing
until it healed naturally. No matter how bellicose Russelent was, he could no longer participate in battle.
Since there was no treatment better for healing wounds than sleep, he was the first to enter the sleep cycle.
That was precisely why Russelent had opened his eyes so early.
As his memories began to return, a light of fury appeared in Russelent’s enormous eyes.
It was pure rage toward the beings who had wounded him.
“Grrr. Those detestable humans……”
Of course, the Sword Master who had wounded him had immediately departed this world by Russelent’s own hand. The target
of the rage Russelent now unleashed was the beings known as humans, to whom that Sword Master had belonged.
And the opportunity for revenge was just about to unfold.
“Once Arcadia is conquered, the beings known as humans will be erased from the world. In five years, the invasion of Arcadia
will begin……”
Thinking this and that, Russelent counted the moments until his body recovered.
“Shall I go out now?”
After a day had passed and his body had returned to normal, Russelent hurried his preparations to leave. To return to his lair,
which was located a short distance away, he had to rely solely on spatial movement. The place where he had slept was
completely isolated from the outside, and in addition, all manner of interference magic circles had been installed
to prevent anyone from warping in from the outside.
Even Russelent himself could not so much as attempt spatial movement unless he dispelled the interference magic circles.
Thus Russelent first gathered the surrounding mana and invoked Dispel.
Tssssss.
A dazzling sphere of light formed in midair. Soon the sphere shot out a fierce radiance and vanished,
and immediately afterward, all the activation conditions of the magic circles disappeared. Sensing that, Russelent promptly
executed Teleport.
Flash.
A magic circle seemed to appear for an instant around Russelent’s body, then disappeared while emitting
a dense flash of light. Of course, nothing remained in the place where the flash had vanished.
“Have you returned, my lord?”
When he returned to the lair, the guardians made up of goblins and stone golems respectfully
greeted Russelent. Though, in truth, the lair was located close enough that one might say he could trip and land on it.
Russelent’s lair was a cave bored into the middle of a stone mountain made of solid granite.
Since he had blocked off the end of the cave and used it as a bedroom, it was not much to look at. Compared to the lairs of
Verkis or Kranus, which were practically plastered in gold and silver, it could be described as worlds apart.
However, befitting a Black Dragon of simple temperament, he paid almost no attention to decorating his lair.
Even among dragons, differences in temperament and taste were distinct depending on their type.
“You are……”
Russelent’s gaze stopped on the goblin standing at the very front. Barely over one meter tall,
with a long nose and ears, the goblin could not even dare look at Russelent and had his head
bowed. Seeing that he wore the most ornate attire, he seemed to be the one elected as their leader.
Russelent immediately grasped the situation.
“Are you the one commanding the guardians?”
At Russelent’s words, the goblin bowed his head with an utterly intimidated expression. His formulaic
manner of speech came out together with the characteristic squeaking pitch of a goblin.
“It is an honor to behold Lord Russelent. Exactly fifteen years ago, I received from the previous
chief the duty of managing Lord Russelent’s lair. I swear that I shall serve you with the utmost loyalty from now on.”
“Good.”
Russelent nodded as if satisfied. The guardian chief he had known
must already be dead, without even bones remaining.
Ordinarily, dragons often appointed goblins as guardian chiefs. Medium-sized monsters or stone golems with poor intelligence
had absolutely no ability to manage a lair.
Though their stamina and strength were weak, goblins possessed exceptional intelligence. Enough to handle, without difficulty,
the inflow and outflow of treasure or the command of guardians.
Of course, there were also eccentric dragons like Verkis, who made a lich his guardian chief,
but most dragons used goblins as their guardian chiefs.
Naturally, this was something goblins could only welcome. Because they were so weak,
most goblins always lived under the danger of being hunted by higher-ranking monsters.
Aside from the toxins secreted within their bodies, they had no power with which to resist.
Thus countless goblins had to live arduously while risking being hunted by ogres,
by trolls, or even by orcs.
But if they entered the service of a dragon as guardians, their position changed completely. Under the dragon’s strict
protection, they could move with a single gesture the medium-sized monsters that had been predators until then.
For a goblin, it was truly an irresistible condition.
Therefore, unlike medium-sized monsters who were captured by dragons and made into guardians,
goblins often came to the lair on their own feet and petitioned to be made guardians.
Of course, only the clever ones among them would be chosen.
But even there, a clear limit existed. Though it was fairly long, the lifespan of a goblin was only
about eighty years. If one considered the overwhelmingly long lifespan of dragons, it was an extremely short
lifespan indeed.
Because of this, the goblins serving as guardians, when their chief’s lifespan came to an end,
selected a successor on their own. The aged chief passed on all his knowledge
to the young goblin who had become the new chief, then departed the world. That procedure had continued
whether the dragon was involved or not. Therefore, to Russelent, who had awakened from
five hundred long years of sleep, the current guardian chief could not help but be unfamiliar.
Recalling that fact, Russelent, as if nothing had happened, showered the goblin with questions in his usual manner.
“Truvenia has now fallen completely into the hands of the orcs, I suppose?”
“That is correct. Humans have almost disappeared from Truvenia, and only a very small number
remain as slaves to the orcs.”
A bitter smile appeared at the corners of Russelent’s mouth.
“They are using humans as slaves? Interesting. Then I could drag a few here and make them
playthings.”
Russelent was now recalling the peculiar amusement of the Red Dragon Verkis. Capturing humans
and, through biological experiments, discovering just what their limits were. At first, he had considered it merely
a somewhat peculiar hobby, but now Russelent too was becoming assimilated into it.
Especially since he had suffered a grievous wound from a human Sword Master, Russelent could only feel
even greater hostility toward humans. Looking over the stone golems lined up in a row, Russelent’s eyes
gleamed.
“This works out well. I had nothing to pass the time with during the five years until the other dragons awaken anyway.”
At the thought of dragging human slaves over and immediately venting his anger on them, Russelent’s heart
was gradually swelling with anticipation. The goblin watching him cautiously opened his mouth.
“Um…… Lord Russelent.”
“What is it?”
“There is currently a messenger waiting for Lord Russelent. For now, I have had him wait in another room, but……”
A light of doubt passed through Russelent’s eyes. A messenger? Was there still a dragon
awake?
“A messenger? Where did he come from?”
The goblin answered without the slightest hesitation.
“It is a being named Gedenhyde, the guardian chief of Lord Verkis. He came here already a month
ago and has been waiting for Lord Russelent to awaken.”
“Gedenhyde……”
Of course, there was no way Russelent would not know Gedenhyde. The dragon he respected and followed most
was none other than Verkis, and he had seen Verkis’s guardian chief, Gedenhyde, several times already.
An amused expression passed across Russelent’s face.
“A lich is indeed worthy of being made a guardian chief. Not just five hundred years, but even after several thousand years,
he would not die. It is a good thing to be able to keep seeing the same face.”
At those words, the goblins trembled faintly. If by any chance Russelent, like Verkis,
were to make a lich his new guardian chief, they would instantly become useless beings.
In the worst case, they might once again have to live hiding deep inside caves,
fearing that they would be hunted by medium-sized monsters. Russelent, who had entered the Wyrm class, had more than enough ability
to create a lich. Whether he knew their feelings or not, Russelent leisurely gave an order.
“Bring him here. I will meet him.”
“Understood.”
The goblins bowed their heads without another word. Even if that were to happen, they had to obey
a dragon’s command thoroughly. For that was their fate……