Now, the Northern Mountain Range, which has become the most forbidden place in Auterica, was nothing less than the Death Fortress, the stronghold of the dark.
Amidst the bustling activity, a woman suddenly sighed without realizing it.
“What on earth is this all of a sudden?”
She was Siana, the succubus of the Demon Tribe of the Demon Realm, who has unintentionally become a senior official in the army of the undead.
Stopping in her tracks, she slowly looked around and sighed deeply once more.
The Undying Castle was currently in a state of chaos.
The reason was that the Undead King, their ruler, had personally led the elite troops away to somewhere…
Naturally, the vacuum created by that was now returned to a few remaining senior officials, who were overwhelmed with work.
‘Ah— Olivia is so busy, I can barely see her face. With the others away, the duties just keep flooding in!’
Among the remaining senior officials in the Undying Castle were only she herself, Banshee Queen Olivia, and Archlich Dwell McKane, who controlled the lower undead.
It was practically an empty house compared to usual.
In this situation, if a Hero party were to invade, the chances of them being caught off guard were high, but Siana didn’t really worry about that.
‘There are plenty of throwaway assets. If such a situation really arises, I can just grab the essentials and get out of here.’
After all, the Undying Castle was merely symbolic; it was actually not that important of a structure.
As long as the Undead King was safe, they could easily recreate it anytime, anywhere.
However, if she negligently neglected her management, she might hear a thing or two from the king when he returned, so she needed to finish her assigned tasks quickly.
‘How did it come to this?’
This time, she managed to swallow her breath instead of letting out a sigh, shaking her head in disbelief.
Of course, it wasn’t bad being under the care of a handsome and charismatic superior, but she was displeased that she hadn’t made much personal progress lately due to focusing on the army of the undead.
‘I thought I could find it more easily by borrowing this power… Where on earth is it?’
It was a surprising remark, but there were circumstances behind the succubus Siana joining the secret organization known as the Oath of Reversal.
It was, of course, the revolutionaries who approached her first, but she had her own desires, which is why she joined them.
Naturally, she had reached out for help to Olivia, who was in charge of information, but seeing her so busy every day, Siana didn’t even dare to urge her.
How could she say anything more to someone dedicating herself solely to work without any rest?
“Ah—! How annoying! First, I need to finish what I’m assigned. Let’s wrap this up quickly and go relieve some stress.”
Finally, after shouting irritably, she began marching forward again.
She could bear it thanks to the former prince Simon, who was a toy to relieve her stress, but had he not been there, she might have run out of patience long ago.
‘In that case, I should have just gone along with them. I could have rampaged freely.’
Even though combat wasn’t her expertise, Siana’s strength was no slouch.
At the very least, she was confident that she would be much more helpful than most of the officers.
Of course, there were reasons why Undead King Hans left her behind.
Inside the Northern Mountain Range in the northeastern part of the Ion Continent.
On one side, a fierce battle for life and death among the undead was unfolding.
*
Boooom—!
With an earth-shaking explosion, a fierce storm swept through the surroundings, uprooting the roots of the flora.
The opposing forces collided repeatedly, shaking the area with thunderous flashes and roars.
It had only been a short time since the battle began, but the surrounding ground was already in a hopelessly devastated state.
Thanks to the deep mountainous location, it was fortunate, for if it were inhabited, they would have already wiped out a metropolis.
Yet even in such circumstances, Hans didn’t flinch as he directly stared down his formidable opponent, the Head of the Buncheon Society.
Though he didn’t have real eyes.
“How confident you are. You’ve certainly grown since the last time I saw you in Japan.”
Ha-ha-ha, but look who’s talking! You’re weaker than back then! Try harder!
“…Heh, if you’re saying that, then.”
In fact, both the Head of the Buncheon Society and Hans were not typical martial combatants, so their fight was oddly serene yet unbelievably flashy.
It was a land-grab battle over the areas of energy invading the surroundings.
Boom!
Large wings flapped, and the brilliant golden energy of the arrogant angel devoured the black darkness, while the evil Demon King’s obsidian abyss swiftly consumed that crimson light.
It resembled a chaos of light and darkness from ancient myth, a battle in which even the combatants felt merely abstract admiration for its far-reaching heights.
‘…I’m definitely at a disadvantage. If it weren’t for the officers’ assistance, I wouldn’t have been able to hold out this long.’
Amid this cataclysmic scenario, the elite undead specially selected to support Hans were being whittled down in real-time.
Screech!
Spread out! The moment we get swept away, it’s all over! Focus!
Magic formation complete, coordinate analysis, mana amplification complete. Activate!
Despite the storm ripping apart space and the torrents of holy power pouring down like rain, the resolute figures were willing to sacrifice their bodies for the king’s order, looking for any brief moment to create an opening.
In the past, when they clashed with the Head of the Buncheon Society in Japan, they had fallen into a trap and had to contend with the forces of spatial collapse in a dimension entirely separate from their own…
‘…Compared to that time, this is a much better situation.’
Of course, many factors contributed to this, such as the state of prior preparation and the difference in location, but the presence of the supporting subordinates was also crucial.
The undead had an extreme essence to their existence, which meant they had clear weaknesses, but on the contrary, they also possessed significant advantages.
Being the deceased, they held no fear of death and could tirelessly move without special sustenance—
Thump—
The death that spread throughout the area pulsed, resonating with the undead remnants scattered on the ground.
Whoosh—
Swish—!
Then the decayed remains already filled with death began gathering together, slowly regaining their original forms.
Undead that would have otherwise been unable to revive due to complete fragmentation were quickly restored using prepared substitutes for missing parts.
As if defying time itself.
Indeed, the Undead King, who dominated death, and the undead subjects who rejected it allowed for such a reversal of life.
‘This method can only be used if a part of the body remains intact.’
Because of that, despite consistently reviving his subordinates throughout the battle, the completely eliminated numbers were gradually increasing.
Hans was trying to stop complete annihilation by leveraging the death from the Abyss, but…
“Ugh, they sure are tough like cockroaches.”
The problem was that the opponent was no fool either.
With that brief remark, a beam of light tore through the heavens and plunged directly into the spot where the liches were gathered.
Boooom—!
The beam, seemingly crafted with great care, fell over a substantial area.
It was predictable what would have happened to the undead swept away without being able to react.
Among those caught up in it was Archlich Kelepha, one of the senior officials, but there was no room for regret.
‘After all, I was prepared for casualties.’
Right now, achieving the objective was the priority.
Taking advantage of the opponent’s momentary distraction, Hans swiftly moved his energy to seal that movement.
Roar—!
Awwooo—!
Simultaneously, two revengeful black rays descended from the sky.
Boom—!
The Death Breath unleashed from the Bone Dragon Entrasio and Heratos, concentrated with overwhelming death energy, engulfed the tied-down Head of the Buncheon Society and slammed into the ground.
“…Tsk, filthy.”
However, even that massive attack brimming with energy didn’t inflict significant damage on the opponent.
Bang—
With the fierce sound of the wind bursting out, the dusty air surrounding them was instantly scattered.
He brushed off the residue of black death from his pristine wings, as though this was nothing to him.
‘Indeed, is this insufficient?’
No matter the energy constraints, the advantage of attribute superiority could not be easily ignored.
Whether it was in the form of external influence or whatever, the opponent was a user of holy power, so some level of damage was to be expected.
‘But this attack isn’t solely about destructive power.’
The immense death energy condensed within the Death Breath.
Due to its aftermath, the area was already filled with a viscous black energy.
A battlefield more favorable to Hans was being created.
“But it’s interesting.”
As the battle resumed more fiercely, having exchanged several blows in an unavoidable situation right after hitting a distant mountain peak and causing a landslide, the Head of the Buncheon Society voiced his curiosity.
“You were well-prepared since you first came here, but how did you know I was coming? Or was this your base from the start?”
Certainly, from his perspective, it was a puzzling matter.
He had quietly infiltrated without any hints or signs, which is surprising considering he had torn through the seal of the Abyss.
Such might have been the more intuitive techniques learned from traversing multiple worlds.
However, it was clear that it had been exposed immediately upon entering the surface of Auterica.
‘Besides, there would be hardly any instances of leading such a force specifically to welcome an intrusion.’
By his words, it seemed that this was a rare occurrence indeed.
Well… how could one predict that the saint, favored by the Holy God, would not only sense the intrusion but that all factions would be ready to receive him.
Hahaha— well? I just happened to discover it while preparing for a hunt. Quite the lucky coincidence, wouldn’t you say? Hoo-hoo!
Of course, there was no intention to clarify that question even a bit.
Hans smirked as he spread his arms wide.
“…Tsk, fine. Well, it doesn’t matter much. Let’s slowly wrap this up as I’m getting accustomed to the constraints of this world.”
His attitude seemed to irk the opponent as the pressure emanating from him began to rise.
Growwwww—
While it mattered little to Hans, it proved quite burdensome for the elite undead under his command.
About a third of their forces had been completely lost and could not revive, and most of the remainder had already undergone multiple revivals, thus suffering significant strain.
Indeed, the Bone Dragon Heratos had been half-destroyed to the extent that it could barely move and had to rushed back to Hans’s heart for revival.
Considering that most of them were elite survivors from the Great War, they had suffered more significant losses than one might expect.
If further losses were sustained, it would raise a red flag for the continued existence of the “Army of the Undead”—
‘Let’s see… this should be enough…’
The Undead King Hans carefully gauged his opponent through the Eye of the Abyss.
Though his rank was too high for detailed information, the rough condition was enough to check.
‘…Good, he’s definitely not in a normal state. His energy recovery rate is significantly lower. He seems to be accumulating quite a bit of fatigue.’
This was, of course, an expected result.
How could one be unscathed after the high-level forces poured upon him?
Furthermore, the damage Hans had sustained had already surpassed the level of being pierced through the heart by Heinrich’s Holy Sword.
However, if they continued to engage under these circumstances, it would ultimately lead to their defeat, and now they no longer needed to go that far.
Your personality is more impatient than I expected. How about we have a little chat?
“Ha! You’re joking. Is that now?”
Heh-heh, well, I wouldn’t force you if you don’t want to. Though I’ve probably kept you too long, anyway.
With the words laced with ambiguous meanings, perhaps sensing something strange, the Head of the Buncheon Society raised his eyebrows suspiciously.
Whoosh—
At that moment, with a sudden powerful wind, the scattered undead and their debris transformed into black smoke, being sucked into Hans’s embrace in an instant.
It was an emergency recovery spell made solely for him.
“Ha, are you planning to run away again?”
Run away… well, I don’t know.
“I told you. I’m finishing things here and returning to Earth. Do you think I’ll let you slip away again?”
As soon as his words ended, a strange energy began to slither and seal the surrounding space.
Though still incomplete due to the death energy lying around, it was only a matter of time if they didn’t actively respond.
Furthermore, as if aware of the “Summoning Release” from last time, the degree of sealing was beyond what he had imagined.
Heh-heh— I think you’ve misunderstood something.
However, there was one correction to be made.
This wasn’t running away.
Yes, what this was… was simply…
Entity Convergence
Just letting the guests waiting in the back come through briefly.
A warm consideration for busy modern individuals.
