Chapter 128: Ruler of Death (1)

Abyss.

It was a secret society of dark mages located in the Alterius region, founded with the ambition of overthrowing the empire.

But as time passed, so did the purpose of the society change naturally.

Now, Abyss was moving for a greater ambition than toppling the empire.

The descent of a god who would look down on the world.

A grand undertaking that was more superior and noble than ruling a mere nation.

That was their goal.

The dark mages of Abyss were looking forward to the reaction of the lowly humans when the holy celestial god descended to the earth.

“Kerington. Where is Arcrosis?”

And there was one being who planted such a dream in them.

The necromancer king of the undead, Arcrosis.

He was only allowed to be summoned by the primal dark mage, and he was the ultimate necromancy that all dark mages longed for.

He came down to the continent himself and opened the way for the dark mages.

After Arcrosis appeared in Abyss, the dark mages of Abyss acquired a level of necromancy that was incomparable to before.

Just by his presence, such a change occurred.

Then what would happen if a being higher than him——the ‘evil god’ descended to the earth?

It was not an easy task for anyone to guess what would come next.

Because an irreversible cataclysm would occur in the whole world.

“Arcrosis is not here. I heard he is researching a connection channel with the abyss.”

Kerington, the leader of Abyss who was imagining the near future, spoke to Edella who was questioning him.

Edella, who was the only red spot in Abyss, had a very eccentric personality here.

In fact, most dark mages were like that, but Edella was especially different from others.

She showed an obsessive attitude towards Arcrosis after making a contract with him.

It was natural that everyone in Abyss found her annoying.

Of course, Arcrosis did not care about her attitude at all.

When he returned an answer after recalling what Arcrosis had left behind, Edella looked at Kerington with a doubtful face and said,

“The abyss?”

They say he’s looking for a way to bring the abyssal beasts to the surface. Of course, it seems like he hasn’t achieved anything yet… But how could we ever understand the will of the oldest demon?

Edella nodded as she listened to Kerington’s story.

As Kerington said, Arcrosis was a being of a different caliber from them.

Whatever he tried to do, a mere dark mage like her could not comprehend it.

Even if she stepped forward, it was impossible for her to help him.

“I see. He’s not in the abyss today either.”

“Do you have something to see Arcrosis for?”

“Is that even a question? Obviously, I want to learn necromancy from him.”

Kerington sighed at Edella’s snappy attitude.

No matter how talented she was in dark magic, there was an order to everything.

Besides, they had promised eternal life to Arcrosis.

Time was nothing but a trivial obstacle for the abyssal officers.

Tap. Tap.

Kerington tapped the floor with his staff and lectured Edella.

“Follow the order. You’re not the only one who gave your heart to Arcrosis.”

On the day they made a contract with Arcrosis,

their hearts stopped functioning.

The time granted to them also came to a halt.

They wore human skins, but their essence was closer to liches.

Kerington scolded her as he recalled the heartbeat he no longer felt, and Edella lowered her head with a dissatisfied face.

“That’s up to Arcrosis to decide.”

“Edella…!”

“Anyway, let me know when Arcrosis comes. The king of the undead would see that a genius like me has more value to teach.”

With that, Edella slammed the door and left the meeting room.

Thud.

The sound echoed in the cave as the door closed.

Kerington stared at the door that Edella had left through and furrowed his brow deeply.

He suppressed the anger that rose in his heart, and soon he looked at the altar with a rough sigh.

It was an altar dedicated to the god that Arcrosis had created himself.

“O great one. Please let that damned woman be struck by lightning and die soon.”

Kerington whispered his wish as he looked at the altar.

It would have some effect if he performed a ritual with a sacrifice, but what he was saying now was more like a complaint, so he didn’t bother to do that.

As he was about to get up from his seat after making his wish,

he felt something and shuddered.

“This is…”

Kerington’s sharp sense warned him of danger.

He felt a strange sensation from the magic link that connected him and looked at the closed door.

The magic bond that extended beyond the closed door was collapsing.

It was a phenomenon that only occurred when the necromantic magic used by a dark mage was dispelled.

“The undead are destroyed…?”

The undead that Kerington had created with his magic were destroyed.

The weather in Alterias was harsh, but not enough to easily damage the undead.

Besides, Kerington’s necromancy had improved since he met Arcrosis.

The undead he made were stronger and sturdier than before.

So there was only one thing that the destruction of his undead meant.

“Could it be… an intruder has come.”

There was an intruder nearby.

And someone who could easily take down the undead.

* * * * * *

At dawn, when the blizzard began to subside,

Van, a special investigator, advanced with a sharp gaze.

He saw a cave hidden in the darkness ahead.

Two huge undead were guarding the entrance of the cave.

As he faced the undead guarding the entrance, Van finally confirmed that he had reached the abyssal headquarters.

There was only one place in the snowstorm whre the undead would guard.

It was the abyssal headquarters where the dark mages lived.

“Get ready.”

It was the moment I had been waiting for so long. I had finally found the enemy’s headquarters.

Clang.

As soon as I confirmed the presence of the enemy, I quietly drew my sword.

The investigators who followed me also cautiously raised their swords.

It was a fight against a horde of dark mages.

It would surely be more difficult than the previous raids we had conducted.

“Yes.”

“Let’s take care of the undead at the entrance and then move inside.”

All the investigators looked at the cave entrance with tense expressions.

As I raised my sword, I started running towards the place where the undead were.

We had taken many rests and recovered our stamina before reaching this place.

Now we had to prove that our preparations were not in vain.

Pababababak!

My sword tip sparkled as I cut through the snow and moved forward.

The blue aura on my sword drew a clear trail in the air.

“First, these two.”

Thud. Thwack.

The two undead that were slashed by my sword fell to the ground.

That was the end of suppressing the sentries guarding the entrance.

After quickly taking down the enemy, I and the first-class investigators of Cloud entered the cave.

I checked on those who followed me and started going inside the cave.

“…”

There were candles lined up in the cave where we had entered after killing the undead.

The flickering candles lit up our sight, and there was a staircase leading down from the entrance.

The spiral staircase looked quite deep.

I measured the length of my sword and the width of the cave as I moved my steps towards the bottom of the staircase.

“Cloud is here! The investigators have appeared!”

“Skeleton soldiers! Stop them!”

As I went down the staircase with candles and searched around, I soon encountered the dark mages on the lower floor.

The dark mages who patrolled the cave had two undead each on their sides.

It was a typical combat style of dark mages to cope with unexpected attacks.

The dark mages who faced me immediately spread their hands and started preparing magic.

The undead were responsible for buying time while the dark mages prepared their magic.

The undead, armed with unknown weapons, blocked my way.

– Clank. Clank.

The eerie sound of undead echoed in the cave.

I had heard it many times while fighting against numerous dark mages, but it was still hard to get used to it.

I frowned and held my sword as I guarded against the wall.

Wasn’t it said that prepared mage’s territory was most dangerous?

It seemed that not only the dark mages in front of me but also the defense magic of their hideout was activated.

I could tell by the way the hands started to reach out from the cave walls.

“What a dreadful place.”

I uttered a short remark at the sight of the palms filling the walls.

But even then, my eyes were still focused on the movements of the enemies.

I moved my sword tip as I gauged the distance.

The silent swing cut through the two undead that blocked me.

These undead were not enough to steal the time of a special investigator.

Squeak. Thwack.

The dark mages who saw the undead split in half were horrified.

“Th, the skeleton soldiers…!”

“Quick, call for help! Cloud’s attack… Urgh!”

Of course, I had no reason to let the dark mage who tried to scream go.

The blue trail grazed the necks of the dark mages who were preparing magic.

The headless dark mages fell to the ground with a scream towards the sky.

They were the ones who contracted with demons, so they wouldn’t go to a good place even if they died.

I looked at the hands that started to come out of the wall after killing the dark mage.

“Did they bury the undead in the wall?”

It was an hideout where a bunch of dark mages who learned necromancy gathered.

It was natural to bury the undead to counter external invasions.

I was momentarily wary of the number of undead that looked more than I thought.

The investigators who came down from upstairs quickly joined me.

The investigators were also surprised to see the undead.

“Mr. Van, we’ll take care of this place.”

Maybe he guessed my thoughts.

My lieutenant hit the arm of an undead with his sword and spoke.

He meant not to waste time on the undead on the wall.

I looked back at my lieutenant and investigators, and then nodded and gave an order.

“Six of you stay here and block this place. You, follow me.”

It was an order for everyone except one investigator that I pointed out to deal with the undead here and move on.

The investigators who followed me were also first-class investigators recognized by Cloud.

They thought they could hold on somehow even if there were a few more undead.

I gave instructions to my subordinates and started moving forward again with my sword aimed.

It was a difficult situation to spend too much time on low or mid-level undead.

“Hoo…”

I adjusted my ragged breath and my footsteps echoed in the cave.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of footsteps echoing in a narrow space sounded clearer than outside the cave.

The various sounds that overlapped as if to announce my position made me frown.

“…”

The cave was a place where sound echoed well.

Even a small sound would resonate loudly.

It was hard to hide one’s presence in a cave where sound echoed easily like this.

By now, the commotion outside might have been reported to the abyssal officers.

“Mr. Van, something is wrong.”

“Yeah. It seems so.”

And as if to prove it, an unknown vibration came from the cave floor.

Thud—. Thud—. Thud—.

It felt like someone was hitting the floor with a huge hammer.

The vibration that came through my shoes was gradually increasing its intensity.

It meant that whoever was making the vibration was getting closer to us.

“Get ready.”

I raised my aura and lifted my sword as I looked ahead.

A huge shadow of an enemy was shining from behind the corner.

It wasn’t hard to guess what it was by looking at its shape alone.

Soon, a woman’s voice echoed from behind the corner.

“So you guys came to our hideout again?”

“Th, that’s…!”

As I saw what came out from behind the corner, my subordinate shouted in surprise.

The identity of the undead that came out with a huge rumble was a corpse golem.

A grotesque golem made by piling up countless corpses like rags.

There was a woman sitting on top of the golem that made me nauseous just by looking at it, wearing a big hat.

She was a slender woman compared to the huge golem.

“Hello? I’m Edella. The dark mage who will decorate your end.”

“Black Rose Edella…”

“You seem to know me, huh?”

Edella looked at me with a sinister smile as she heard my voice.

Black Rose Edella.

The wanted criminal that Cloud had been chasing for a long time revealed herself.