CHAPTER 89. Do You Know Who I Am?
Ancient ruins, aboveground.
On a low hill, Solion wore a smile.
“Heh… hahaha. To think things would be resolved this easily…!”
A line of fresh blood was trickling down his throat, but the smile hanging on his lips was bright beyond compare.
How could it not be!
Tzzzz—
Far away, a wavering violet mass of light.
Sinister.
[Gaaaaaah…!]
[Aaah…!]
The evil spirits (邪靈) rose like heat haze only to be absorbed into the magic circle, becoming its driving force—and the more evil spirits were absorbed, the more violently the light of the magic circle swelled!
Whispering Scream
The curse he had painstakingly prepared for days had activated.
“You tried to catch me off guard, hmm? You thought you could cut my head off if you ambushed through the ancient specters?”
To be honest, it had been fairly chilling.
From a distance not even visible to the naked eye—an attack that flew in, piercing through those gaunt, dead trees?
An unexpected ambush.
No—unexpected wasn’t limited to the ambush.
“To think the masked man was a knight…!”
Based on the information gathered through evil spirits (邪靈), Solion had believed him to be nothing but a mage.
Their reason was scrambled and they couldn’t properly scout, but the traits they had delivered in fragments clearly pointed to the masked man being a mage.
And yet.
“You were a knight? Hahaha!”
Knight and mage.
What did it matter which one the intruder was?
Normally, it wouldn’t have mattered. Either way, he had to stop them.
But since what Solion had prepared was a curse, it mattered immensely.
The curse he’d prepared over the last few days.
Whispering Scream was a powerful curse, but it was also the kind that was easy to detect.
If the target were a mage sensitive to mana flow, there was no way they wouldn’t notice the trap.
“If I’d had a little more time… I could’ve concealed it more perfectly, but time was tight.”
So that was the problem.
How would he lure the masked man onto the magic circle?
Just in case, he’d drawn a wide magic circle centered on the ancient ruins. Even if the masked man noticed it, if he wanted to strike the ruins, he’d have no choice but to step on it.
But.
“Even that… wasn’t perfect. There were still insufficient parts.”
If the bastard slipped through the gaps in the magic circle?
He’d placed Undead in the empty spaces, but if it came to that, it could only become a headache.
And yet.
“This easily?”
“Hehahaha. Of course. How would a brainless swordsman distinguish a magic circle? Butchers who know nothing but chopping and cutting.”
Solion laughed, delighted to the core.
When he casually leaned back in midair, a pile of bones rose up from the ground.
A throne made of bone received his body.
“It seems I was… rather on edge because of the elders.”
Looking back, he’d been overly sensitive.
From what he’d spied via evil spirits, the detachment force that left the 4th Base Camp was only three.
One masked man, a fledgling mage, and a guide.
“The mage and the guide are trash… I only needed to deal with the masked man.”
It was the moment he felt pathetic for having fretted while creating the magic circle over the last few days.
To build the Whispering Scream magic circle, how many evil spirits had he consumed?
Because the deadline was tight, he couldn’t walk through the great forest with his own two feet, so he consumed evil spirits to draw the circle.
For each single stroke of the magic circle, he ground several evil spirits into it.
And that wasn’t all.
“To activate Whispering Scream… I ground down the evil spirits I’d collected my entire life and used them as the medium.”
How could his insides not burn?
But only for a moment.
Solion gave a soft chuckle and nodded to himself.
“Well, it can’t be helped. Yes, it can’t be helped.”
Yeah—who would be any different?
It was fine because things were going well, but if something had gone wrong—
“Even in death, I wouldn’t have been at peace.”
With his soul seized by those damned elders, he would’ve tasted pain beyond description. No—if that were all, it would’ve been better.
He could’ve been used as a mere evil spirit, and if things went wrong, he could’ve ended up in a state even worse than that.
In a situation like that, how could anyone afford leisure?
Even now, just thinking of that future he’d nearly faced made his spine go cold.
“Hoooo…!”
Solion let out a sigh half relief, half joy, and then chuckled.
Anyway.
“Now… there are no variables, right?”
He looked toward the distant place where the intruder was.
Evil spirits melting into the magic circle moment by moment. The swelling light growing fiercer.
Dudududu—!
The ancient specters stationed at the perimeter surged in to execute the intruder. There were so many it felt as if the entire great forest was stirring!
Of course, the masked man didn’t stay still.
Kwa-drddduk—!
…Kooong. Kkung!
Was he dealing with the ancient specters rushing him? As the bursting sounds rang out, gaunt trees toppled over with snapping cracks.
But.
“Go ahead, run wild. The curse isn’t finished yet.”
He might endure for now, but Whispering Scream revealed its true nature when all the evil spirits had melted in.
Of course, before then, the intruder could try to come directly for Solion…
“Ridiculous!”
What was Whispering Scream?
Using evil spirits (邪靈) as a medium, its power grew in proportion to the number offered as sacrifice.
Already, no small number of evil spirits had melted into the magic circle—so by now, that bastard was probably alive without truly being alive.
The whispering of hundreds of specters would be seducing his ears, and hallucinations he couldn’t ignore would be flickering before his eyes.
In that situation, could he keep a clear mind and come in?
Dying while flailing like that was the only choice left to him!
So….
“What remains is the fledgling mage and the pathfinder. Hahaha! Truly… pathetic. Muspellun, is your situation that bad? Or did you trust that masked man so much?”
Which one it was, Solion couldn’t know. Maybe it was both.
But.
“What does it matter either way? The outcome is already decided.”
An already decided outcome.
Tap, tap.
Solion’s fingers lightly drummed the bone armrest. A hollow sound echoed softly.
“Destrow will arrive. And then it will go out into the world and bring calamity.”
Just imagining it was delightful.
Destrow, commanding this many ancient specters.
Even before fully waking from the seal, it commanded this many—so how terrible would the calamity be once it awakened and arrived?
That was exactly why Solion couldn’t stop the laughter leaking out from him.
“All of it… will be my achievement!”
The stronger awakened Destrow was, the greater his achievement became.
“Elder… would be impossible, but I might seize an executive position.”
A rise in standing within Salvatium.
It wasn’t just a different nameplate on his chest.
The moment he rose to an executive seat, enormous rewards would pour in from the council of elders.
If he fully digested those rewards, he might even achieve a second 탈각 (脱却)!
“Heh… hahaha. Hahahaha…”
Solion, who had been trembling in fear of the council’s punishment just moments ago, was now laughing as he imagined sweet rewards.
And that wasn’t all.
“He’s… holding out well, isn’t he?”
Did he still have room to spare?
Kkung, kku-ung—!
The masked man raged, scorching the great forest to ruin. Solion couldn’t see that rampage with his own eyes, but the momentum didn’t falter at all.
“Maybe… he’s a knight on the verge of the wall of transcendence.”
So why wouldn’t this be enjoyable?
“I was heartbroken to lose Shine von Lehmann…”
It was inferior, but a knight’s corpse worth replacing her had rolled right in front of him.
No—more than just the knight before him.
“If luck is good, I might even get Muspellun. Well, that’s only if luck is truly good.”
It didn’t have to be Muspellun.
The 4th Base Camp—most gathered there were mercenaries worse than worms, but among them were a few with skills worth using.
Even if he took only a few, he wouldn’t regret it much.
There was only one regrettable point.
“Haha. To think there’s no alcohol at a moment like this.”
No drink to raise a toast.
Anyway.
“……”
Solion gently closed his eyes.
As if listening to pleasant music, his lips curved softly. His head bobbed in leisure.
[Kieeeek…!]
[Aaah…!]
The sound of evil spirits being ground down into the magic circle echoed, and the great trees of the Hamelin Great Forest toppled helplessly—thud, thud.
And in the background, the occasional cries of the ancient specters.
Dududu—
The constant stamp of feet rushing in also couldn’t be ignored.
To an ordinary person, it would be a horrifying, spine-chilling situation, but…
“Sweet.”
Solion savored it all as if appreciating a sweet symphony.
A moment beyond perfect.
“Truly… huh?”
It was then that Solion sensed something strange.
…Kkung, kkung.
Combat sounds drifting faintly from a distance.
But why?
Kkung! Kkung!
It felt like they were getting closer.
Not just the screams of evil spirits, but even the cries of the ancient specters!
No—definitely closer.
Slice, spurt—!
And now, a cutting sound that hadn’t been audible before was faintly ringing at the edge of his hearing.
“…?”
Solion opened the eyes he’d kept gently closed and stared ahead.
For a moment.
“…!”
His eyes widened.
“How…?”
The intruder was definitely closer.
No—he was still drawing closer, even now.
Not simply raging mindlessly, but as if he clearly recognized who he needed to cut down and was advancing for that purpose.
“He’s… withstanding Whispering Scream?”
Before that thought could settle—
Snap!
Solion flicked his finger immediately.
Withstanding Whispering Scream was impossible. But after sensing something off, he couldn’t remain idle.
As a result.
[……!]
Paaat—!
Evil spirits were shredded into the magic circle without even leaving a dying scream. In an instant, every evil spirit melted into the magic circle.
At the same time, Whispering Scream’s momentum surged.
“This should be enough.”
Only then did Solion lean his body back against the backrest. No—he tried to.
Thud—!
A shadow leapt high, blotting out the sun.
“…?”
Backlit by the sun, Solion could only make out a silhouette, but he could grasp the general shape.
Black armor. A blade that wavered ominously.
“A Dea…th Knight?”
The moment he realized that—
“…Ghk!”
Solion threw himself sideways in panic.
Rolling on the ground in a pathetic sprawl, Solion scrambled into a stance—just as a sword stabbed down where he’d been sitting.
Boom—!
Amid the roar.
“H-how…?”
Solion stared at the intruder with a bewildered gaze.
[What do you mean, how? First time seeing a Death Knight?]
A single glow shimmered inside the helmet. The voice was light, almost playful, but Solion couldn’t possibly stay calm.
“Shine… von Lehmann?”
No—to be exact…
The first Death Knight created using ‘Shine von Lehmann’ as the material.
Though he had neglected it compared to the other Death Knights because of its performance, Solion could never fail to recognize it.
How could he?
It was the masterpiece he had poured the greatest time, effort, and devotion of his entire life into.
“H-how in the world…?”
Solion sat on his rear, staring up at Shine like an idiot.
Questions stormed his mind.
Why was that Death Knight here? Wasn’t it destroyed? Then was the intruder he’d mistaken as the masked man actually that Death Knight? …And so on.
In a situation that had strayed from prediction from one to ten—
[You’re asking how?]
Shine casually rested the sword on her shoulder.
[If you mean how I endured the curse… I don’t know that either.]
“…?”
[It’s just—when the armor flashes, the curse goes fwoosh! and burns up. Like now.]
Just as she said.
The aura of the curse surged endlessly toward Shine. But the moment the armor flashed and something like a barrier formed—
Fwoosh…!
The curse aura burned away, scattering weakly.
“…Ah!”
Only then did something occur to Solion.
Why he had neglected Shine von Lehmann—the Death Knight he had built with such care.
“I… put in too many functions.”
The efficiency didn’t come out.
Defensive magic of all kinds, elemental resistances, other basic necromancy, and even auxiliary abilities a ‘Death Knight’ was supposed to have.
So even if the base material was excellent, would the output come out? No. It wouldn’t.
The barrier shimmering around Shine’s body right now was also one of the functions he had installed back then.
Memories resurfaced vividly.
- Curse immunity, 256 stacks. Heh, with this, you’ll be able to endure any curse with ease.
Curse immunity he had painstakingly installed in case a forbidden mage ever targeted another forbidden mage.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect immunity.
But.
- Any curse spell… you should be able to endure it once with ease.
And yet.
“That once—of all times—happens to be now…! Ngh!”
Solion clenched his trembling fist tight. And a voice came to his ear.
[Hey.]
“……”
[Your Death Knight’s pretty damn good.]
“Y-you…!”
[Ah, of course, I meant I’m pretty damn good. Because that Death Knight is me.]
That was when Solion’s grief-stricken scream rang out.
“I-I’ll kill you! How dare you disgrace me—!”
Shine chuckled right after.
[I’m already dead, though.]
Already dead—so what did it even mean to “kill” her again? It was nothing but laughable.
But.
[…Huh.]
What followed was not laughable in the slightest.
Grrrrrrrr—!
A massive Subspace opened behind Solion. No—was that Subspace?
It felt far more sinister.
And figures walked out from beyond it.
Clink, clink.
At the front were two Death Knights mounted on ghost horses. Behind them followed Undead that looked extraordinary at a glance.
“Rather… this is perfect. I need to put you back in my grasp. And then… that masked man will be easy, too.”
If a Death Knight with reason intact commanded an army of the dead, what was there to fear?
As Solion glared at Shine with bloodshot eyes—
[You’re dreaming a futile dream.]
Shine laughed calmly.
[Do you know who I am?]
Death Knights? Hundreds of Undead?
Fine. She’d admit it.
They weren’t ordinary.
Not only the Death Knights, but each of the hundreds of Undead had a sharp momentum, like trained knights.
But.
[I’m Shine von Lehmann. Do you think I’d lose to trash like that?]
“Hah! Then try—!”
At that supremely arrogant voice, Solion laughed—then tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand the situation.
Because.
Whoosh—
Shine’s body was moving away.
She hadn’t turned around. As if stepping backward—no, at a ferocious speed—she kept her gaze fixed on Solion as she retreated.
But what flipped Solion’s insides wasn’t the mismatch between words and actions.
[Go on. Come in.]
“You dog-like…!”
Even in that moment, her voice was arrogant to the extreme. The momentum was utterly infuriating.
“Kill her! Mince her to pieces!”
Perhaps she read that emotion.
Hiiiiiing—!
Led by the Death Knights on ghost horses, hundreds of Undead surged after Shine with fierce momentum.
The game of chase had begun.
