Episode 53
""Kwooooooh!!"
Countless undead are glaring at me and howling.
As they do, the eerie aura unique to the undead and the holy aura emanating from the white armor they wear begin to mix together and rush toward me.
"Ugh... disgusting..."
Being hit by this aura that mixes incompatible heterogeneous things, I felt quite unpleasant.
When I thought carefully about why I felt so bad, it seems it's because my situation is exactly the same.
After all, I am a hero who must commit evil deeds.
'Can I win?'
Muttering inwardly with an uncertain expression as I surveyed the high-spirited undead, I began to assess their combat strength.
Judging by their armament and physique, most of the undead seemed to have been well-trained paladins.
If so, was this place a tomb where the Sun God Church's paladins were buried when they died?
'...The Church's mass cemetery should be above ground.'
But thinking about it, a mass cemetery of the Church that has maintained its name since 1000 years ago does exist prominently above ground. Then what exactly is this place that there are so many paladin corpses?
- Shuuuk!!
While I was lost in thought, some of the undead fired arrows at me.
"Kwooooooh!!!"
I tilted my head slightly to avoid them to minimize stamina consumption, and they started glaring at me and howling, perhaps frustrated.
'At least they don't seem to have much intelligence, thankfully.'
There are several types of undead.
The first type moves under direct commands from a necromancer, and can become stronger or weaker at the necromancer's discretion.
Of course, seeing them acting on their own since earlier, it seems there is no necromancer here.
The second type has high intelligence of its own and makes efficient judgments. In this case, it requires a lot of materials, time, and power consumption to create, but produces powerful undead accordingly.
However, to make such numerous creatures that way, at least an archmage would need to come. And an archmage wouldn't bother setting such a trap but would choose another method.
The third and final type targets its prey with quite low intelligence and high instinct, which is the type these creatures I'm facing now belong to.
Because of their low intelligence, they charge recklessly without setting up simple coordinated attacks, strategies, or formations, but they are persistent and cruel enough that they absolutely cannot be ignored.
"I need to buy time... time..."
Having finished assessing the enemy's combat strength, I slowly moved my feet sideways and started muttering.
My purpose right now is not to annihilate those creatures but to stall for time as much as possible.
That way, Perlotche can safely escape from here.
Earlier, when I spread out star mana to check, I found that if I open that door and leave this room, there's a passage that leads straight to the surface.
So even Perlotche, whose divine power has hit bottom, if she restores her body with the sunlight coming from her accessory while moving only forward, she will be able to escape this place sufficiently.
Of course, I don't know what's outside... but if she goes outside, she'll be able to receive sunlight, so she'll be able to handle that part herself.
""Kwooooooh!!""
After finishing my thoughts and staring quietly at them, they began to advance in unison.
The sight was like watching a swarm of ants targeting prey, and I made a slightly fed-up expression, then started tapping the 'Stone of Domination' in my pocket just in case.
But even after tapping until my fingers hurt, the undead just kept glaring at me and approaching. As expected, the 'Stone of Domination' doesn't seem to affect undead, who are already dead.
"Huaaap!"
Eventually pulling my hand from my pocket, I gripped the sword handle tightly again, took a deep breath, and swung the sword fiercely.
- Pajijijijing!
Along with the beautiful and shining star mana, a momentary flash flickered, and the front ranks of the approaching undead group began to fall powerlessly.
"Kueeek!!"
Of course, being undead, most of the fallen ones were still twitching, but knowing this would happen, I had aimed for their legs, so it was merely meaningless movement.
- Kwajik! Kwajijik!!
Like that, the ones writhing on the ground with their legs cut off began to be neutralized as they were trampled, shattered, and burst by the ones approaching from behind.
"Kueu... damn..."
Watching them with a satisfying expression, I felt pain like being stabbed in the chest with a knife and collapsed on the spot.
If I repeated this just a few more times, I could have reduced their numbers quite a bit, but the influence of 2 penalty stacks and 1 special penalty stack is apparently quite significant.
"Hah... hua..."
Sitting down and exhaling rough breaths, I struggled to my feet and straightened my sword.
"Should I engage in close combat?"
Recalling the anecdote of the first head of the Baiwork family, who legend says stood alone against a vast army, and the first Sword Saint, I thought about engaging in close combat with them for a moment, but soon realized that was a foolish thought.
Not in perfect condition but in this dying state, if I fight while surrounded by paladins who were clearly elite soldiers of the Sun God Church, isn't the outcome obvious?
Of course, being undead, their approaching speed and actions are quite slow... but there's no need to get hurt badly from reckless bravery.
"...Tch, can't be helped."
Eventually giving up on close combat, I frowned and took a deep breath, beginning to gather the mana within my body.
If calculations are correct, although my insides will be in quite a mess, it should be possible to fire one more sword strike.
- Pajijijijing!!
"Kuaak!!"
Having sent a massive sword qi at them and cutting off the legs of numerous undead once more, I started rolling on the ground clutching my chest due to the terrible pain felt in my heart immediately after.
"Aheu..."
Rolling around enough to kick up quite a bit of dust for a while, I spat out the blood filling my mouth and stabbed my sword into the ground to support my body as I slowly started to stand up.
"Still, quite a lot reduced, huh?"
Even though I only swung twice, the undead had visibly decreased.
Though I desperately wanted to swing a few more times, I decided to restrain myself since now is the time to stall for time as much as possible, and I started moving stealthily toward the exit where Perlotche had run while lost in thought.
'...First, I'll go to that narrow passage and cut down the ones coming up, then escape outside when I reach my limit.'
Close combat in a wide space carries the risk of being surrounded and attacked from all sides, so giving up is obviously correct.
But if the direction enemies pour in from is limited to one direction, and I can face only a few enemies rather than many, the story changes.
If I head to the passage right now and secure a advantageous position, I'll be able to stall for quite a long time while cutting down the ones in front.
Of course, if that many creatures pour into the passage at once, no matter how much I cut them down, the piled corpses will eventually push out, but in this situation, it can't be helped.
The exit on the opposite side is blocked by creatures that look relatively strong even among the undead, and more and more of them are rising from the ground, eliminating the space in this room.
And I too intend to stall for time, not to sacrifice myself, so I must fight with an escape route behind me.
Of course, the undead pouring outside will be a problem... but recently, with monsters infiltrating the capital often, the Imperial Knight Order is constantly guarding the capital.
And as the Empire's elite soldiers, they will be able to easily subdue the undead that will be considerably weakened from receiving direct sunlight, even if it's mixed with holy power.
"Kwooooh!!!"
"...Persistent bastards."
Thinking that, I opened the door Perlotche had entered through, positioned myself in the middle of the long corridor, and locked the door.
Of course, I don't think that door will hold, but isn't it better than leaving it wide open?
- Kwajik!!
"Kueeeeek!!"
"Ha, damn."
I tried to buy a little time, but the door was effortlessly torn off by just one undead.
Thanks to that, I made an empty expression for a moment, then cut off the head of the undead that was turning the door into rags, and started observing their situation one last time.
"...Huh?"
But something is a bit strange.
"Krurk! Krrrr!"
"Kieek!"
Beyond the undead corps marching toward me making creepy sounds, the huge undead guarding the opposite entrance were communicating with each other and manipulating something.
"...What are they trying to do?"
I watched those suspicious actions for a moment and tried to step out of the passage to see what they were doing, but the undead corps had already reached right in front of me, so I frowned and went back into the passage.
"Kueeee!"
"...Where do you think you're going."
Standing in the position I had checked in advance, I drove my sword into the head of the first one entering the exit.
""Kwooooh!!""
Then five or six undead started pushing in while pushing the one with the sword embedded in it.
"The speed is slow but... the strength is disgustingly strong."
They were undead with quite slow speed, but their strength was as it was in life, so they started displaying tremendous power, and I, who was blocking the undead's advance using the one with the sword in its head as a shield, was driven to the point of almost getting cramps in my arm.
"Huap!!"
When three more undead joined in and I almost lost my center of gravity and fell, I gritted my teeth, pulled the sword from the head of the undead I was using as a shield, and started wildly slashing at the ones in front of me.
They were creatures with tremendous strength, but their speed was quite slow, so they couldn't block my attack in time, and the bodies of the undead whose heads flew off kept piling up.
"Kueuk."
But as expected, before long I started being pushed back.
Because too many undead were piling up in the passage, gradually eliminating the space where I could stand.
But I had to buy time somehow, so I frowned deeply and kept stabbing, cutting, and slashing at the pouring undead, but even that became useless as the neutralized undead piled up.
Whether by coincidence or a sudden increase in intelligence, the undead started pushing up the piled-up neutralized bodies and coming up the passage.
"Still, at this rate, it'll be hard for them to get outside too."
But because of that, it also became quite difficult for the undead to emerge to the surface, so I started slowly stepping backward thinking I could leave the aftermath to the Imperial Knight Order with peace of mind.
'Perlotche seems to have escaped safely. That's truly a relief.'
Cutting down the ones in front as much as possible and delaying their march, I eventually arrived at what appears to be the door leading to the surface.
Seeing the door slightly open, fortunately, it seems Perlotche safely escaped outside.
"Euryaat!!"
"Kieeeeek!!"
Having confirmed Perlotche's safety, I smiled with relief and stopped right in front of the exit and started slashing again to slow down the undead's escape as much as possible.
If I pile up as many neutralized bodies at the entrance like this, even strong undead will only be able to come out one by one.
In my heart, I want to cut them down on the surface too and completely resolve the situation, but if I did that, my lifespan wouldn't remain, so unfortunately, I'll have to stop at creating this obstacle.
- Kiiik...
Having created a barrier of undead through slashing for a while, I clutched my still-burning heart, took out a black robe from my bosom, and carefully opened the door.
"Ha..."
Staring blankly for a moment at the scene that unfolded as soon as I opened the door, I carefully closed the door and gulped.
"...Shit."
I just understood everything that had been happening below.
.
A few minutes before Frey opened the door leading to the surface and gained some realization,
"Is he going like that?"
Irina Philiard, who had been hiding behind the door with a magic circle using a stealth magic scroll, peeked her head out and watched Frey heading to the passage avoiding the undead group.
"It's strange... really strange..."
Soon after Frey completely disappeared into the passage, Irina started muttering with a disturbed expression.
"Why does Frey do good deeds only after committing evil acts?"
She became certain about Frey's good deeds two months ago.
After the 'Commoner Dormitory Raid Incident', no matter how much she investigated, no information was gathered due to status differences and lack of funds, Irina Philiard eventually headed to the 'Ashen Forest'.
After the Dark Golem was destroyed on that day's event, all the monsters and dangerous monsters inside migrated en masse somewhere, making this possible.
Of course, despite that, the Ashen Forest was not an easy place. Because rugged natural environment and wild beasts that took the place of monsters were lurking everywhere.
But Irina gathered all the money she had to buy magic scrolls, even submitted a leave of absence to the Academy, and devoted herself to the investigation while camping in the Ashen Forest.
Her obsession of having to find the answer whenever a problem arises shone through.
"H-Here is...!"
After searching through the Ashen Forest for a month, Irina was able to find decisive information.
While investigating diligently as usual, when sudden heavy rain started pouring, she entered a cave that was particularly noticeable to avoid the rain, and realized what kind of place this was.
"There are traces and blood drawn on the surrounding stones, and I can feel the sparkling mana that Riana used... then is this place perhaps...?"
When she was threatened by an unidentified man with an eyepatch, Irina had struggled to escape.
Those memories are still so vivid that they appear in her dreams, so noticing the traces of her own struggling was as easy as eating cold porridge.
Moreover, thanks to the mana detection ability that grew instead of mana exhaustion, Irina, who was feeling mana identical to the form Riana and Frey used from deep in the cave, gulped and started rummaging through her backpack.
'Surely there was a woman's scream then. So, if inside was a place where slaves were raised...'
Soon taking out attack scrolls she bought even giving up a month's worth of food expenses, Irina quietly entered the cave, quietly taking a deep breath expecting a terrible scene to unfold before her eyes...
"...Hah?"
But looking at the situation that unfolded before her eyes, she could only let out an empty breath.
Because there, instead of sex slaves or torture devices, were the corpses of monsters that had become skin and bones.
- Shaaa...
And between the bodies of such monsters, sparkling mana was still shining.
".....!"
Watching that scene absentmindedly, Irina looked down when something caught her foot and was startled.
"A corpse...?"
Because there was a woman's body with her neck cut.
Fortunately, as she was a battle mage who had made a name for herself across the continent, she slightly frowned and started examining the woman's head next to the body.
"...She's smiling."
Whether because of the sparkling mana or the chilly cave, the woman who had maintained a relatively intact state until then was smiling so peacefully that it was hard to say she was a dead person with her neck cut.
If this woman was really Frey's sex slave and was killed while trying to escape, such an expression would never appear.
Moreover, the dried blood stains at the cave entrance continued all the way to the body, and a large amount of blood stains had fallen next to the body.
Seeing that, the person who brought me here and ended this woman's life would be Riana... that is, Frey, who has a tendency to vomit blood after attacking.
"Student! You mustn't enter that forest!!"
"It's okay, I've made all preparations."
"Tch! Last time a whole village was burned by the monsters in that forest! If only the dead people remained in the village, the living must have all been dragged to the lair... and you still want to go?"
Recalling the tragic incident she heard from a local native who tried to stop her before entering here, Irina was able to confirm her belief only after discovering the bodies of people mixed among the monsters and a family photo in the woman's bosom.
'He didn't capture a sex slave... he helped the woman take revenge.'
Frey commits evil deeds against someone, then does good deeds without anyone knowing.
That was the secret of Frey that she barely found after a month of investigation.
"Just now too, he threatened Perlotche and deliberately let her escape, then blocked the undead alone... my conviction was right after all."
And that conviction was solidified once again as Frey showed the same behavior this time.
'But why on earth does he do that?'
Irina, who became completely certain about Frey like that, still couldn't figure out the reason.
Of course, if she asked Frey directly, she would know right away, but there must be some reason why he goes to such trouble to hide his good deeds.
Whether he changed due to a variable occurring during one regression, or whether he has always been that way, approaching him without even grasping the reason is too dangerous.
Since Frey was that vicious, there might be some malice hidden even in those kind actions, or there might be some reason why his kind actions must not be discovered.
Therefore, the time is still not...
- Kugwagwang!!
"Heue!?"
Irina, who had been lost in thought for a while, opened her eyes wide and screamed at the sudden roar.
"Stooooop it!!!"
Peeking her head out to see what on earth was happening, she saw Frey with bloodshot eyes spewing blood from his mouth and rushing out of the passage.
As a result, the undead that had entered the passage were literally turned into mush and pushed out en masse, and thanks to that, Frey also suffered significant injuries from being stabbed and scratched by such undead, but he started charging at the giant undead without caring at all.
"Huaaaaaap!!!"
Soon when he swung his sword with all his might, the leg of one of the two giant undead that was manipulating something flew off.
"Kwooooooh!!"
"Uaaaaaa!!"
Frey, trembling with blood flowing from his eyes, stomped on the leg of the undead that started manipulating something even faster and started twisting with all his might.
"S-Something seems wrong..."
Watching that scene blankly, Irina urgently started gathering flames in her hand.
"Diiiiie!!"
Meanwhile, Frey, who was twisting the sword with all his might, eventually cut off the undead's leg and destroyed whatever they were manipulating.
"D-Damn..."
He, who had brought down a massive amount of undead and two giant undead with unbelievable explosive power, seemed to have reached his limit.
Because he, who had poured out all his strength, knelt powerless and collapsed on the spot.
"No... I can't end it here..."
Making a despairing expression when his body no longer had strength, he soon took something out from his bosom, and Irina, who somehow felt an ominous feeling from it, eventually breathed fire from her hand and intervened in that situation.
- Kugwagwang!!
"Kieek!!"
When Irina breathed fire from her hand, the undead around Frey started burning.
"W-Who..."
Frey, who was asking with difficulty while putting what was in his hand back into his bosom, slowly closed his eyes thinking he was being protected unconsciously and soon lost consciousness when Irina picked him up.
- Kugwagwang!
"Kueeee!!"
Irina, holding Frey and firing flames, headed to the exit through the door Frey had pierced through when she was on the verge of depleting the mana she had gathered for a week.
"Kueeeee!!"
"Get lost!!"
Soon feeding the undead that started following closely behind her last Fireball, Irina took out the attack scroll she had kept in her pocket for any eventuality and opened the door...
"...Hah."
She was able to find out why Frey had desperately returned.
"Please evacuate all the children in the orphanage!! Right now!!!"
"Saintess... please stop being stubborn. If you keep doing that..."
"If you don't evacuate immediately, I'll use 'Sun God's Protection' and destroy the orphanage myself!!!"
"S-Sun God's Protection...?"
Beyond Perlotche, who is shouting at the Pope and paladins blocking her way even while pale-faced and collapsed on the ground gasping,
- Peng! Pwabwng!!
- Puuuu! Puu!
Because a joyful party was being held with firecrackers and trumpet sounds at the Sun God Church's orphanage.
'No way... that magic circle on the ceiling was...'
Irina, frozen for a moment at the terrible situation that would have occurred if not for Frey, sweating cold sweat, felt a presence behind her and urgently looked back.
"Kueeek!!"
"S-Shit!"
Seeing the undead that had approached right behind her, Irina urgently tore the attack scroll she was holding,
- Pajijijijik!
"H-Huh!?"
She felt a familiar sensation she had experienced during the practical evaluation incident and disappeared as light together with Frey.
And then, a brief silence flowed.
"Kueeeeee!!"
"W-What!?"
"Undead! Undead have appeared!!"
Until the curtain rose on the 'Holy Undead Knight Incident' that would turn the Empire and the Sun God Church upside down.