Fragment of the Undying King (3)
I finished my revenge and began cleaning up the aftermath.
First, I rallied the undead under my command and assessed the damage.
The undead that had fought alongside me against Malcolm were nearly annihilated, and those that had battled the group of dark mages resisting in the village had also suffered considerable damage—likely because the fighting had been fierce.
[···I think there were about five hundred, but is this all that remains?]
Of that great host of undead, the survivors numbered fewer than thirty.
We had faced barely a little over forty enemies, yet the damage we sustained was enormous.
If it had been only zombies and skeletons, that would be one thing, but hadn’t I even had some fairly high-ranking undead with me?
If Malcolm had not used the dark mages as scapegoats, the undead sent toward the village would have been wiped out.
‘Well, if that had been the case, I could have finished Malcolm off quicker and gone to help.’
After roughly gauging the damage, I examined Malcolm’s corpse.
If my forces had decreased, I simply needed to replenish them.
If they hadn’t been completely destroyed to the point of being unrecoverable, I should be able to salvage a fair number.
Above all, wasn’t the true charm of a necromancer turning the corpses of enemies slain in battle to one’s advantage and expanding one’s forces?
‘Hmm··· I wonder if this will go well.’
I had seen Malcolm summon undead a few times, but at best it had been nothing more than mass-producing low-rank undead.
Well, it couldn’t be helped—I had stolen all the high-ranking undead he had gathered until now.
In the end, I had never learned how to create undead using corpses.
If I tried recklessly and messed up, rendering the corpse unusable, I felt like I would cry tears of blood.
It didn’t seem like obtaining corpses of this high a quality would be easy going forward, either.
While examining him thus, I discovered something strange.
There was no soul in Malcolm’s corpse.
It was my first time examining a corpse like this since becoming a demilich, so I wondered if this was normal; but upon investigating more closely, I found the cause.
A red magic circle was engraved in Malcolm’s heart, and through it his soul had been artificially extracted.
‘Was his soul taken through something like a demon contract? Or perhaps the organization behind him took measures for security.’
It was a shame; I would have liked to obtain information through his soul.
I had never tried before, but if I had attempted this and that, I might have been able to salvage something.
‘Still, it’s a relief that the body seems usable.’
I looked away from Malcolm and glanced around, finding what I wanted.
The kind dark mage who had first taught me.
He had been stuffed in a corner, battered and torn everywhere, likely swept away by the shockwaves during the fierce battle, but he had miraculously retained his form.
‘This guy had his soul extracted too. But in this condition, I can still use him, right?’
Not only private tutoring, but even providing a practical training opportunity.
With a grateful heart, I attempted to create an undead.
I moved my dark mana using the knowledge of 「Dark Magic」 I had acquired so far, my experience observing undead, and the information about undead I had gained when resonating with the ‘Fragment of the Undying King.’
‘Connect the corpse with dark mana and synchronize, corrupt the remaining mana in the body and distort the physical information···. Scrape together fragments of lingering will···. Is this how it’s done?’
Soon, black flames enveloped the corpse and incinerated every part except the bones.
At first, it seemed to be going well.
Crack—! Crumble···
Cracks spread across the remaining bones in an instant, and they began to crumble apart.
[Uh··· sorry?]
I tossed out a light apology.
Still, thanks to that, I got the hang of it.
I immediately had the undead bring Zeraph’s corpse from the warehouse, sat before it, and attempted to create an undead once again.
Perhaps thanks to the ever-helpful ‘Zephy Chance,’ I fortunately succeeded this time.
A Skeleton Mage was completed.
My confidence grew from the success, but it was still too iffy to use Malcolm’s corpse.
I felt I would need to try a few more times before I could be sure.
‘Well, materials are lying all around, so I can practice plenty and try him last.’
I had the guy next to me lift Malcolm’s corpse, then stood up to look around the village.
Stagger—
My body tilted in an instant.
With one arm missing, it was uncomfortable to maintain balance.
‘I should take care of this problem first.’
I used the undead to find my right arm that had flown off during battle.
They searched high and low and found it quickly, but as expected, its condition was not good.
‘The upper arm is completely gone? I can’t use this.’
I can’t attach an elbow to a shoulder.
A true lich that had extracted and stored its core separately to obtain immortality would have gathered the bone dust and regenerated, but that was impossible for me.
While pondering, the remains of the Death Knight that had flown in and been smashed just before my fight with Malcolm caught my eye.
It looked completely destroyed and impossible to recycle.
Looking it over, the right arm piece was intact and its build was similar to mine.
‘I can just attach this instead!’
I quickly picked up the Death Knight’s right arm and pressed the severed surface against my shoulder.
And when I connected it using dark mana, just as I had synchronized with the fragment, black flames flared up and burned away all the flesh clinging to the mummy-like arm, leaving only bone.
Soon after, 「Super Regeneration」 activated, and my body connected with the Death Knight’s arm.
[Hmm··· it feels a bit awkward?]
I swung my newly attached arm around, then applied bone-manipulating dark magic to carefully adjust its size and find my balance.
[It’s fine now! Good as new!]
The color of the arm bone was a bit different, but I was very satisfied.
Perhaps because it was made of high-quality bone, there was little difference in moving dark mana compared to using my previous arm.
[Shall we go collect the spoils now?]
There was no one else in this village, and countless things still remained to be gathered.
I looked at the village and smiled contentedly.
***
Unfortunately, most of the undead that had fallen to Malcolm were beyond recovery.
I revived only those that could be revived and looked around the ruined village.
Undead were smashed and strewn about here and there, and I also saw a few corpses that appeared to be underlings.
They seemed to have been killed after failing to join their group immediately following the undead raid.
I approached, recovered any undead that could be restored, and turned the underlings’ corpses into new undead.
[So this time it’s a Skeleton Warrior?]
Taking the newly joined undead with me, I continued moving, looting nearby buildings for useful items.
I made undead whenever new corpses were discovered, but there were fewer than expected.
And only upon reaching the center of the village did I learn the reason.
[So they were all gathered here.]
A great battle had taken place here between both sides.
The remains of hundreds of undead lay strewn about, alongside a group of dark mages massacred together in one place.
I had been too focused on my fight with Malcolm to grasp the subsequent situation in detail, but it seemed they had banded together and held out, fighting in the alleys when the raid occurred.
Moreover, the dark mages were all equipped with robes and staves.
Seeing that the underlings each carried weapons, they must have prepared for battle and gathered immediately after the incident began.
[Uh··· but the number of undead seems a bit strange? Why are there so many?]
There were also quite a few undead that seemed to have stood and fought facing outward to protect the center.
[Aha, these are ones the dark mages had kept separately and summoned.]
Looking closely, there weren’t many high-ranking undead. Still, the numbers were considerable, so they must have been a great help in holding out.
And upon looking closer, I could confirm that among the underlings, there were a few who were exceptionally strong.
In particular, the one who had inflicted the most damage among them was the middle-aged man guarding the village entrance.
[I had thought he was quite a high level when I scanned the entire village, but I hadn’t expected him to be this strong.]
It seemed most of the high-ranking undead that had carried out the raid were destroyed by this man.
He was a warrior rather than a mage, so there must have been a difference between the amount of dark mana he possessed and his actual combat prowess.
[I could get into big trouble if I let my guard down based solely on the amount of dark mana···. I’ll have to be careful from now on.]
Fortunately, this man had been quite active, but after the dark mages were killed en masse by Malcolm, he hadn’t been able to hold out for long before falling.
[But now, you are my offering.]
I began turning them into undead one by one, starting with those who appeared to be of lower level.
The dark mages became Skeleton Mages, and the underlings became Elite Skeletons or Skeleton Warriors.
A few underlings I had my eye on became Skeleton Knights.
Working hard making undead like this, I realized that the lowest level among them was that of an Elite Skeleton.
I had been the weakest one in this village.
‘Whatever, I’m the strongest now. I’ll work these guys to the bone from now on.’
There was no special reason the newly created undead were all skeletons.
I had used the information stored in the fragment to produce undead, and perhaps bones had been offered as sacrifices the most—whether due to Malcolm’s taste—so that method was the most efficient.
Also, perhaps because I was originally a skeleton myself, making them in that lineage was certainly more comfortable.
‘A bit lacking in diversity, but it can’t be helped.’
Still, it felt like a waste to end the village gatekeeper as just a Skeleton Knight, so I put more effort into him.
I was planning to make Malcolm into a stronger entity anyway, so I strived to create the best undead based on my experience so far.
[Grrrk···]
A phlegmy, boiling sound came from the fallen corpse, then the deeply caved-in, loose head fell off with a thud.
Then the body slowly rose from its spot, picked up the fallen head, and tucked it under its arm.
[Oh, thank goodness it succeeded.]
The headless knight, a Dullahan, was born.
With most of the high-ranking undead wiped out, this Dullahan was now my greatest fighting force.
There were a few other Dullahans as well, but their condition wasn’t good.
Of course, that was only true for this very moment; the rankings would change soon.
Because it was now time for the long-awaited Malcolm.
Before that, I needed a moment to think.
Among the information I possessed, there weren’t many undead types suitable for mages.
It would be a waste to make Malcolm into a mere Skeleton Mage.
Ghost-type undead required a soul from the start, and the same went for a lich.
‘No, generally a lich is created when a mage falls and willingly becomes undead. I don’t have that kind of information to begin with.’
Malcolm hadn’t been wrong to complain and call me half-baked.
While worrying about whether there was a way, my right arm suddenly caught my eye.
A proper Death Knight was a top-tier entity among undead, retaining its ego, and its combat prowess was not so inferior even compared to a lich.
The ones I had briefly kept had been exposed to the fragment for a long time, drained of power, and lacked egos, but—
‘Of course, I can’t make Malcolm, a mage, into a Death Knight, but I feel like I could imitate something similar somehow···.’
The ‘Fragment of the Undying King’ contained information about Death Knights, and I had examined them several times since evolving into a demilich; plus, my current right arm was from a Death Knight.
[Alright, let’s do it.]
I sat down and placed my right hand on Malcolm’s corpse, focusing.
Through the knowledge I had gained, 「Wicked Wisdom」 whispered the method. The ‘Fragment of the Undying King’ in my heart lent me its power.
Black flames ignited on Malcolm’s body.
But unlike before, it didn’t leave only bones; instead, it seemed to evaporate just the moisture, drying him out mummy-like.
Success.
I hurriedly scraped together Malcolm’s lingering will and planted an ego.
The fragmented thoughts held no value as information, but by doing this, it would gain enough intelligence to judge for itself.
Soon, Malcolm floated up from that spot and stood upright.
And he raised two eyes flickering with blue spectral flames, looked at me, and then bowed his head.
[Your command.]
‘Ooh··· he talks!’
He was the first undead other than me who could speak, so I was momentarily moved.
‘He has an ego and can speak, so he needs a name···.’
I pondered for a moment, then realized there was no need to think about it.
[Your name is Malcolm. I’m counting on you. Listen well from now on, got it?]
Giving him a different name would only be confusing for no reason, and this name was likely an alias just like Zephy’s anyway, so I figured it didn’t matter.
He nodded.
Since his ego had only just been born, his answers were rather awkward for now, but they would gradually improve over time.
Thwack!
Because if not, he’d get hit by me.
[Answer me, punk.]
[···Yes.]
And so, I achieved my complete revenge, and Malcolm, who had killed me, became a ‘Death Wizard’ and my subordinate.
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