Chapter 132
Thick smoke spread in all directions. Within it, Laurenti's emaciated body gradually came into view.
– crackle –
Blue blood oozed from his cracked and wounded body. There was no longer that powerful energy he had possessed at first.
Only the wounds savagely torn open by Ceres' magic remained.
Blinking his white eyes, Laurenti's gaze—slowly regaining the look of an old mage—moved gently.
His eyes turned to his disciple, Ceres. She approached Laurenti with blue radiance shining from both her eyes.
The voice that came from Laurenti's lips this time, unlike before, was tinged with humanity.
"... Ceres."
A strained voice from Laurenti. Ceres responded to his words.
"... Oh sage of the Mage Tower, we were wrong and they were right."
"No, it's not the Mage Tower, I was wrong. Wasn't it you who opposed this from the beginning?"
As Laurenti replied, he coughed weakly, over and over. Each time he coughed, blood welled up from the hole in his chest.
Then, he spoke to his disciple, Ceres.
"Despite your expulsion, you've achieved a feat no mage could easily accomplish—Ceres."
Laurenti gazed steadily into Ceres' eyes. The blue in her gaze was something mages had longed for.
In the old mage's eyes, he could see exactly what Ceres' awakened sight was making possible.
For mages, it was their fate to inscribe mana into their very skin, again and again.
They handled a force resembling aura, called mana, but could never reach the level of a Swordmaster.
Thus, all mages had struggled endlessly—to master such power as their own.
Yet the one to achieve this feat was none other than his expelled disciple, Ceres. And she did it through 'eyes' that emulated the power of a Swordmaster...
The irony of it all made Laurenti wear a bitter smile. To this, Ceres replied,
"Perhaps we have neglected the world and the people outside the Mage Tower for too long."
"Indeed, so it seems."
Laurenti's eyes slowly closed. The answer to harnessing inner power—as they had sought—had lain not with mages, but elsewhere.
With swordsmen—the beings furthest from rational logic...
But Laurenti and Ceres, even so, their aspirations were not so different.
The only distinction was this: Laurenti sought the answer in the dead—those beings wrought by magic—and in the souls that moved them.
Ceres, on the other hand, sought it among humans, and nothing else.
But it was Ceres who discovered the answer in this situation, so Laurenti simply accepted it calmly.
– swish –
Just then. Laurenti opened his eyes quickly and grabbed Ceres' sleeve.
"Ceres, there was an existence inside that cannot be believed. To shape a soul is not something a human can do."
"... Are you saying there is someone in there who is not human?"
"There was something even greater than that. Ceres, return to the Mage Tower. There, share what you have gained."
Laurenti's last breath escaped him as he spoke urgently. The old mage poured his remaining life into this request, yet he could not continue.
Ceres gently placed her hand over the wrinkled eyelids of Laurenti, who had lost all radiance and stared into nothing with dead, white eyes.
When she swept down with her hand, Laurenti—having found peace—let his head fall.
At last, Ceres turned toward Erich.
"You said nothing good ever comes from becoming entangled with the dead."
"I did say that. But, as with most who have worked with those beings, the sage of the Mage Tower likely did not know his own fate."
Ceres nodded quietly. If she had stayed as she was, perhaps she too would have become just another necromancer by now.
Ceres released a quiet breath.
"My late master bids me return to the Mage Tower."
"That could be one way."
Ceres' eyes widened in puzzlement.
"Did you not think having a mage present would be helpful?"
"I did. But what lies beyond isn't a mere dead. The war about to begin will be a long one."
"... So, it won't end at the First Research Facility?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it. Perhaps returning to the Mage Tower and raising superior mages might prove more useful."
Erich spoke calmly, his gaze unwavering. It was as if Erich already knew what awaited beyond this point.
At length, Ceres stood up.
"I will not return to the Mage Tower. I intend to see the end of the dead here."
"That's not a bad idea either..."
Erich's gaze switched between the collapsed Laurenti and Ceres. Soon, having reached a conclusion, Erich spoke with a crooked smile.
"Or, we could make mages here as well."
"... Here?"
"A mage doesn't have to be inside a tower to be a mage, does she?"
– clack –
Erich responded while sheathing his sword. Ceres pondered a moment, then spoke.
"... True. Though first, we must resolve the matter of Albrecht."
"Indeed. First things first—Albrecht."
Erich's sharp gaze fixed on the distance. The nearly annihilated dead were sporadically heading somewhere. Erich's unit did not pursue the remnants of those creatures.
Now, a greater enemy awaited them.
***
Once ready, Erich's unit marched to First Research Facility. Along the way, they encountered remnants of the dead, but they were not a major threat.
A greater threat was the one Erich had in mind.
'The Lord of the Dead is here. But is he still?'
If Erich could take care of the Lord of the Dead here, his journey might end at this place.
His long-held goal—even before the regression—was to slay the Lord of the Dead. If he achieved this, it would conclude his objective.
However, Erich knew the Lord of the Dead all too well. Having played strategic battles with him for years as a commander, he knew the creature was not so easy.
If he tried to find him, the Lord would either be so well prepared that he could not be caught, or the Lord would likely have already left.
'If he's left, it's because there's somewhere even more important...'
Several possibilities for what the Lord of the Dead could be planning flitted through Erich's mind.
Yet, surely the Lord's highest priority would be to rebuild an army of immortals.
Starting from the Oongrim, weakening the Watch, and finally creating Albrecht's dead. Every clue pointed to this.
In the past, the Lord had raised an army vast enough to turn the white snowfields black—surely, he was up to the same again this time.
"Hm."
The Lord of the Dead was no mere monster. He was slippery and careful enough to orchestrate all of this from behind the scenes, never being discovered.
Moreover, considering his strategic maneuvers with Erich, his intelligence would be extremely high.
To call him simply 'a villain' would be a mistake—the Lord was not just frightening because of his own strength.
'The mastermind orchestrating everything from the shadows, moving Albrecht to set this all up.'
So, there was no way of knowing just what the Lord had planned for this place, but all Erich could do was be nervous and thoughtful.
Given all that had happened thus far, there was no way he would have left this place unprepared.
At last, the First Research Facility came into view.
"We've arrived. Form up the unit."
Frederick raised the horn and blew it lightly a couples of times. At this, the troops quickly prepared for battle.
Erich scanned around the research facility. For now, there were no dead in sight. Was Albrecht planning to meet his end here?
'He's not that much of a fool.'
He would not simply hole up here with Laurenti as a new necromancer. The fellow surely had something else in mind.
If Albrecht were so lacking, the Lord of the Dead would never have valued him so much.
Soon after, Barnes at the head led a recon squad forward, mostly composed of Erich's unit's security team members.
They drew their swords and pressed on swiftly. Upon reaching the research facility, they signaled back.
"All clear?"
Erich looked at Mikhail in silence. Mikhail opened his mouth.
"We have no choice but to go in and see for ourselves."
"As expected, right?"
Whatever was inside, Erich had to confirm it with his own eyes. With Hrung-ga, Frederick, Mikhail, and several officers, Erich advanced into the facility.
– squelch –
Frederick grimaced as he walked. Something wet and sticky squished underfoot.
"Damn it, what the hell is this?"
But while Frederick lit a torch, Erich recognized it by the smell. As soon as the torch was lit, the group's eyes widened.
"... What is this?"
The facility's walls were smeared with blood everywhere. Dead bodies of people were strewn all around.
The jaws of wandering dead were stained with blood.
– crunch! –
Barnes rushed and sliced through a dead's jaw. After dealing with the surrounding dead, they went deeper inside.
Erich deduced that Albrecht had killed everyone here.
'The reason Albrecht had to protect this place. And the reason the Lord of the Dead had to revisit here—that answer lies here.'
While Laurenti and Erich fought, the facility had been hastily sealed off. Every resident was killed, records were half-burned.
And when Erich entered further, he saw a gigantic chamber. Large and hollow, big enough to contain hundreds—thousands—of the dead.
Yet the traces left did not belong to the dead. Instead, there seemed to be shackles, as if something had been confined there. Erich lifted them.
– clank –
Giant shackles—large enough to fit five grown men's torsos. Erich murmured quietly,
"What on earth did they imprison here?"
Mikhail's eyes narrowed.
"Is this why Albrecht turned this place into a research facility? Or did he need to study something here? Yet the bastard Albrecht isn't even present."
As Mikhail said, even after nearly reaching the end of the facility, there was no sign of Albrecht. Only traces of experiments here and there.
Then Ceres spoke.
"This is a place even my master and I were never shown. I expected there to be more experimental zones, but that there was something like this..."
Indeed, as Ceres said, it felt unnatural. Until they entered, no one could have imagined such an enormous underground complex existed.
It made more sense to think the facility was built after discovering this space, rather than being constructed from scratch.
Then, at the far end of the chamber, Erich discovered evidence that something once had been embedded there.
"... A sword?"
On the great pedestal, it seemed a sword had been forced into it with brute strength. Erich gently stroked the spot.
Judging by the still-loose stone debris, someone had removed it only recently.
But instantly, Erich's eyes widened.
It was faint, but clear: a shimmer of light drifting, billowing like golden flame.
Erich had experienced this once before.
It was just like when he had witnessed that memory at the Barbarians' sanctuary.
After a moment's thought, Erich reached out his hand, as if he'd come to a decision.
'I have no choice but to check now.'
And at that instant—
Once again, hazy afterimages began to fill the space around them.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Hmmm, it seems the end for the fight against Albrecht...
It seems this isn't the end after all...
The watch still needs to fight Ungrim...
Will they fight Ungrim as the Mountain King, or as a Death Knight?
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】