#98
The Beginning of Change (2)
"Then we'll be on our way now, Grandmother."
"Oh my~ I'm just fine, so don't fret and get going. Be careful driving."
"Hahaha, yes, Grandmother. I'll come again next time."
"Oh, I told you there's no need."
The hospital visit concluded in a warm, harmonious atmosphere.
I left the hospital room with Taesan, a gentle smile spreading across my face.
"I'm relieved she seems to have gotten much better."
"Right? The doctors were really surprised too! She might be discharged soon!"
Taesan was making a fuss, seemingly overjoyed.
Perhaps because the doctor's prognosis had been extremely positive as well, he had been riding high on excitement ever since, with no sign of it dying down.
"They even said it was like some high-ranking cleric deliberately poured holy power into her for days on end. Where would a low-level public official like me have such connections? Even high-ranking officials would have trouble enjoying such luxury."
"...Right? Grandmother must have overcome it herself. Things like that happen sometimes, don't they?"
"Yeah, yeah! See, good things happen when you live right! Our grandmother lived her whole life without sin and worked hard—heaven was moved too!"
Letting the boy's excited chatter wash past me, I glanced back toward the hospital room.
'I'm glad it was effective. Things have been so busy over there lately that taking additional measures seemed impossible. But this is a satisfying enough result.'
Transforming into Heinrich via 「Individual Projection」 to use holy power wasn't a problem in itself, but if I didn't erect a barrier to block the energy through Hans or Heinz II, various troublesome situations could arise.
'It's not black mana, so holy power used for healing shouldn't be a big deal, but... if I draw unnecessary attention, it'll still be problematic.'
Since it wasn't a crime, it wouldn't lead to persistent tracking, but from the position of someone actively hiding his identity, even that was a burden.
It wasn't anyone else—he himself was the very 'Hahoe Mask' and 'Lord of the Blood Alliance' who had been stirring up Korea these days.
It was best not to take unnecessary risks.
"Oh right! What about that move you mentioned? Have you decided where you're going?"
"Ah, that? I wanted to live a bit more comfortably, so I bought a house in the suburbs. I'm planning to move soon."
"Ooh—Han Seonghyeon hit the big time! A detached house! But won't it be inconvenient if you get far from Seoul? Like for deliveries and stuff."
"Well, I'll have to bear with that much."
In truth, distance no longer held any meaning.
These days, he was personally carrying out the Hahoe Mask's duties using 「Individual Projection」 in place of Hans, who was swamped with work.
'I can now stay in a projected state for thirty minutes at a time. Besides, I'm thinking of keeping my old house instead of selling it.'
That place would become a base for smooth travel.
And so, busy days continued both on Earth and in Auterica.
***
In the Sharoti Kingdom located in the western part of the continent, within a forest in a certain viscount's territory.
A sudden calamity crashed down upon the territorial army that had sortied after receiving a report of anomalies.
A long two-handed sword held in one hand.
Thick black armor enveloping its entire body.
The red glow flickering around its eyes, and the dense black mana covering the surroundings.
That being possessed a power that oppressed all living things around it simply by existing.
Shhick— Swish!
"Kuhk!"
"S... sli... krrrk!"
With every step, clear footprints of death were carved, and with a single swing of the blade, at least one life perished.
"...Ugh, how can something like that..."
"Hiiik— It's no use! Run!"
"Y-you idiot! Where to?!"
Moreover, it was not alone.
The surroundings were already completely surrounded by a deathly legion that seemed to have crawled up from hell, with not even a crack to escape through.
"Ah, aah..."
Soldiers pouring out lamentations in despair.
There was... nothing they could do in this situation.
Eventually, after a brief time, not a single living soul remained in that place.
Given that the knights and mages leading the unit had lost their heads quite some time ago, it was only natural that ordinary soldiers had no way to cope.
[...Weak.]
The one who had annihilated a force numbering in the hundreds, the Death Knight, slowly looked around and spoke in a gloomy voice.
[But this won't be the end. The real challenge lies ahead.]
For now, the humans seemed unprepared due to the sudden appearance, but once their armies began to move in earnest, it would not be an easy fight.
Like that time when, no matter how fiercely they were trampled, they crawled back from the brink and ultimately forced them to have no choice but to slip into the border.
It was far too early to grow arrogant from cutting down mere cannon fodder like this; the army of the undead was not in such a good situation either.
By appearing scattered throughout the continent, they were causing great chaos to many nations, but in other words, the risk of being divided and destroyed had grown just as much.
'Because of that, I had wanted to move as quietly as possible until the situation was assessed.'
The Death Knight subtly turned its head to look at the undead legion hiding in the shadows of the surrounding trees.
Due to the very nature of their existence, they were not very suited for covert action.
The aura of death they naturally emanated stimulated the instincts of the living, and even the plants in places they briefly stayed withered and died, leaving far too many traces.
Hadn't the clash with the territorial army just occurred because of that?
And now that a battle had broken out, moving covertly was clearly out of the question.
In other words, from now on they needed to move while preparing for full-scale battle.
[These fellows are precious in our current situation, so it can't be helped.]
The Death Knight concentrated black mana into its two-handed sword and slowly headed toward the center of the mound of corpses.
Oooong—
With every step it took, dark energy explosively surged from its already lengthy blade.
And finally, standing at the center of the corpses, it plunged its two-handed sword—burning like a massive torch—straight into the ground.
Fwoooosh—!
Black flames that seemed to devour light spread out in an instant.
That ominous flame swept through the surroundings like a tidal wave, covering the human bodies strewn across the ground and incinerating everything except the equipment on their bodies and their bones.
And the corpses reduced to only bones...
Clack!
Rattle clack—!
Hundreds of skeletons creaked and slowly rose to their feet.
From ordinary skeletons numbering in the hundreds to skeleton knights and mages, they were incorporated into the army of the undead as new troops.
The Death Knight looked over the increased forces and slowly nodded.
The humans' levels had been low, so that was the limit, but now was not the time to be picky.
[...Good. If I continue increasing our numbers like this...]
At that moment.
[Well, it seems I'm a step too late.]
A gloomy voice suddenly rang out, cutting off his words and echoing through the area.
At the same time, the ominous aura beginning to emanate from the sky was so overwhelming that even the Death Knight could not help but tense up.
'This is...'
He knew very well what this aura was.
Of course he did—was this not the aura of the being to whom he had sworn loyalty before hiding in the border?
The Death Knight slowly raised his head toward the source of the aura.
In the center of the dark sky, there was the being he had anticipated, draped in a darkness deeper than pitch black.
The incarnation of death, the final destination of all life—the Immortal King.
[Karam—]
At that moment, a strange wave spread out from the Immortal King floating in the air.
That resonance naturally burrowed into the body of the Death Knight, Karam, standing on the ground, and...
The contract from three hundred years ago was renewed and overlaid anew.
[Aah...]
He let out a cry of admiration as the Immortal King's black mana flooded into his body.
The emptiness that had filled his emotions since awakening was swept away by that overwhelming power of death.
The connection that had grown faint when the previous Immortal King fell grew strong once more, and Karam trembled as he finally regained the strength of his prime.
'As expected, His Majesty never wanes even after several generations.'
Naturally, that was the only way it could be.
For the Immortal King was death itself, the end of this world!
Thud!
With their master-servant bond reestablished, Karam planted his sword in the ground and knelt on the spot, paying homage to the King.
[Allow me to greet you anew, my liege. I am called Karam.]
Hans, floating in the sky, quietly looked down at the Death Knight displaying a vassal's courtesy, and the undead following suit to prostrate themselves all at once.
Hans slowly descended from the air and stood before him, his eyes gleaming.
'Karam, huh? He's a bigger shot than I thought.'
The other undead besides him were beings who could be subjugated with merely the 「Eye of the Abyss」, so there was no need to pay them separate attention.
Only the highest-ranking undead like Entrasio and Karam required a renewal of the contract.
Among them, Karam was a special entity—he was no mere Death Knight.
An all-rounder commander who possessed combat prowess exceeding the Master level, the leadership to lead numerous legions, and even the necromancy to create undead.
He was a 'Death Knight Lord.'
'If we really had to assign a rank... he'd be a single-digit number. One of the closest confidants in charge of a portion of the army of the undead.'
There had never been a leisurely ranking system established while conquering the continent in the first place, so there was no strictly defined hierarchy.
But there was bound to be implicit influence within the faction based on the Immortal King's personal trust and abilities.
In that regard, Karam, who had led a portion of the army of the undead to invade the continent separately from the main force, was not only a top executive but also a major figure who appeared in the continent's history books.
To have encountered such a being by chance and taken him under his command.
It was like picking up a lump of gold while passing by.
[I hadn't expected to meet you like this, Karam. But it seems you've caused quite a commotion.]
[My apologies. It so happened that the place I first escaped to was near human settlements. I tried to move as covertly as possible, but it seems I was discovered midway.]
[What has already happened cannot be helped. But now is the time to solidify our forces and gather strength. For now, you should return with me.]
[I shall obey your command.]
Thus, Hans was able to gather several hundred undead, including Karam, into the subspace.
In the midst of that, his eyes caught sight of skeletons wearing armor engraved with the coat of arms of the local viscount, mixed into the crowd.
...They were victims who had only recently become undead.
'The damage seems greater than I thought.'
He was expanding his territory and gathering the army of the undead centered around the Talia Kingdom, but it was impossible to mitigate all the damage before it occurred.
Although the Sharoti Kingdom was a western nation neighboring Talia, this region wasn't even directly adjacent, making matters worse.
'I hadn't thought things would unfold like this.'
The aftermath of the Abyss opening due to the Oath Against Heaven was having a greater effect than anticipated.
Undead that had been drifting at the boundary were appearing simultaneously in various places, throwing the continent into chaos.
'This is not good. The unnecessary damage is growing...'
The army of the undead, which was virtually 'his own,' was also being meaninglessly expended.
'This is all because of those Oath Against Heaven bastards.'
He needed to find and crush them, but he had been too busy moving to handle this situation to track them down yet.
Thanks to that, he had gained the boon of recruiting a few more executives like the original dragon Entrasio and Death Knight Lord Karam, but...
'This won't do. I need to resolve this more quickly. I hadn't wanted to use this method...'
No, come to think of it, this method might be more efficient.
Not only could he locate the army of the undead more quickly, but there would be other ancillary effects as well.
'There may be unexpected side effects, but... I'll have to bear them.'
As Hans focused his mind, terribly dense black mana began to gradually expand its range around him.
Hoooo—
That dark, heavy, sticky aura took on a specific structure, weaving the mystery Hans desired—
—and the presence generated in the process weighed down on the space and spread outward.
After a brief moment, black magic was finally activated.
Oooooong—!
A wave of black mana spread in all directions, crossing forests, territories, and nations.
At this level, there was no way to avoid the attention of the Church now.
No, not just the Church—anyone above a certain level would be able to feel it.
[Hear me, my children—!]
I am right here.
[This body is right here.]
That the Immortal King existed.
And to the proclamation of the Immortal King that spread to all undead existing in the western continent—
From every corner, responses began to return.