Chapter 140
Erich sensed the commotion outside and rose from his seat.
Pulling back the tent and stepping outside, he found King and Ceres, both wearing black masks, glaring at each other.
And then, both of them spoke at the same time.
"Heir! There is someone who has discovered my true identity!"
"Erich! There's someone blatantly suspicious here!"
Erich slowly glanced over the two. In this situation, it was obvious to anyone that the suspicious person was Shadow—King.
His form, clad in a black mask, radiated the air of someone who had just secretly slipped in.
However, from King's point of view, he couldn't help but be wary of Ceres, who had discovered his concealment.
With Mikhail, he had no choice but to let it go, but originally, these people absolutely couldn't allow their existence to be discovered.
'This is getting troublesome.'
King had always been by Erich's side, but Ceres had only recognized their existence recently, after she had gained her new sight.
An unexpectedly rapid increase in her level had brought about this situation.
At any rate, King slowly reached his hand toward his dagger.
At the same moment, Ceres's eyes lit up blue. In this tense standoff, Erich stepped forward.
"King, what kind of mess do you hope to get into by provoking the Tower Master?"
"... You're saying this woman is the Tower Master?"
King looked at Ceres under his mask, as if surprised. That was understandable, as not many knew that Ceres had become the Tower Master.
Since she had only been appointed temporarily by the Council of Mages, it wasn't widely known.
Erich calmed the two and spoke slowly.
"This is King... my subordinate. He is extremely averse to having his identity exposed, so he may have offended you. I assure you, he had no intent to harm."
"... But it looks like he's already drawn his sword, though?"
As Erich was speaking, King had already unsheathed all his daggers. With things like this, Erich's efforts at smooth mediation fell a bit flat.
"... Tsk. Put them away."
"Yes, heir."
Since these people had even moved against 'Mikhail' when he learned their identity, it was only natural that they'd try to silence Ceres as well.
Fortunately, it seemed King had learned a lesson from that incident.
Back during the Mikhail incident, it had taken a lot of authoritative persuasion, but now he relented rather easily.
Well, with Ceres now wielding the prestige of the Tower Master, she was the leader of a group. Not someone easy to take on.
Erich addressed the now-calm pair.
"For now, let's talk inside."
Erich brought them inside and thought, why did these two end up running into each other in front of my quarters?
'I can guess about King, but...'
He had no idea about Ceres. For what reason had she come to Erich? Soon, King spoke.
"... Are you telling me to make my report in front of this woman?"
"Do you dislike it?"
"If it's your order, I will obey."
King seemed somewhat uncomfortable. But Erich thought Ceres might actually be helpful in this situation.
'After all, the one we'll be facing might be better understood by a mage.'
If Erich's guess was correct, then a mage was the most effective opponent against their target.
The enemy was a dead purely made of magic.
Unlike necromancers who obtained magic through a human body, a lich was a creature created as a magical being from the start.
That difference could be observed simply by facing a lich.
Of course, Erich was probably the only one here who truly understood how frightening such a being was.
Soon, King spoke again.
"The enemy possessed a massive army of the dead. They are arming them as we speak."
"... So that's why they needed time. But did they just accept the dead so readily?"
"... I found that strange as well. The place was overrun with monsters that looked vicious to anyone, yet not a single person seemed to care."
At King's report, Ceres frowned. She, too, seemed to have an idea. King continued.
"If I had approached any closer, I might have been able to identify the one behind it, but an overwhelming sense of hallucination and dizziness started to hit me."
"... Hallucinations and dizziness. How did you deal with it?"
"I drank a medicine to clear my mind and chewed glass, using pain to break the illusion."
Erich nodded. As solutions went, it was excellent. He even felt compelled to praise King a bit.
'He even retreated without attacking. Seems he learned something from the Albrecht incident.'
He barely escaped from Albrecht with his life, and that was only luck.
Had he been injured or killed to the point he couldn't report, it would have been considered a failed mission.
King was managing risks in his own way.
'The real problem is the lich.'
If necromancers revived the dead and handled ice magic, liches were on another level.
They not only strengthened the dead but also had a power to weaken nearby forces.
If it were just a matter of power differentials, it might not have been a big deal.
But the mental waves unleashed by a lich were a truly troublesome ability.
'They induce hallucinations, and even prevent you from staying sane.'
There were no exemptions—not even for swordmasters.
Having to face a powerful enemy in that state greatly increased the difficulty.
Whereas the frost exuded by the dead or necromancers could be countered with aura, there was no such counter for the lich.
The fact that a professional assassin, trained since birth, could barely hold out just by drinking medicine and chewing glass proved how dangerous a lich was.
Then Ceres spoke.
"... To think they'd cooperate with something like that."
"It's very possible the rebellion wasn't of their own volition."
"... What do you mean?"
"Liches are adept at blending hallucination, lies, and truth to manipulate others. I suspect the same trick played out this time."
"... Are you saying all of this is the work of a single monster?"
"Yes, most likely."
Erich's eyes narrowed. Of course, those fortress commanders must have harbored resentment for some time.
You can't just brainwash anyone out of nowhere with no basis.
If that had been possible, instead of others, he could have simply brainwashed Erich or August, and that would be the end of it.
But they didn't do that, which means even the lich's abilities had limits.
'... But if these rebels are different from those of the past.'
Could it be that the massive civil war at the Great Wall in the past was also instigated by it?
Was it eating away at the Watch's power all this time? Such thoughts crept in.
Perhaps August had the same suspicion.
'Even loyal fortress commanders joined the rebellion during that civil war. In that case, the commander must have been unable to trust anyone.'
That might explain why the commander, back then, raised the brand-new swordmaster Mikhail—who excelled at swordsmanship and had just awakened as a swordmaster—to the commander position.
He would have been the most likely candidate not to have fallen under enemy influence.
Of course, during that period, Erich had still performed exceptionally in the Watch, and these events were happening in response to August's expectations of him.
Unlike August's expectations, however, Grant, Richter, and Hern had not betrayed him. Who knew how deep the lich's reach went?
Günter, in particular, was a little suspicious.
He had been loyal to the Great Wall to the end, but there was no assurance that his changed self hadn't turned traitor now.
"... Hmph. I have a rough idea now. So, Ceres, why did you come?"
"I was about to say something similar."
"... Something similar?"
Ceres quietly opened up part of the tent where she stood. Outside, the night sky glittered.
"You probably can't see it, can you?"
Erich slowly closed and opened his eyes. Crimson flames flowed out around him. Even so, he sensed nothing.
"I can't see anything. What is it I'm supposed to see?"
"... Hmm."
― Snap!
Ceres snapped her fingers. Behind her, a blue shimmer shot up toward the sky. Immediately, Erich could understand what Ceres was trying to show.
Thick strands of power reflected off the blue shimmer Ceres gave off, radiating an ethereal light.
Judging from the form, the power branched out in all directions.
Erich had seen such power before.
'... The world tree Ceres had created?'
It was much smaller than this, but in principle, it was probably similar. At least it felt that way to Erich. His gaze turned toward where the strands thickened.
It pointed straight at the heart of the enemy's lair. Its implication was obvious.
"... The lich is spreading a force much like the world tree power you used, Ceres, only on a massive scale."
"Yes. It looked so dangerous that I came to warn you."
"... If that's the power brainwashing the troops, how do we break it?"
"Take out the caster, I suppose?"
"Eliminate the caster, huh..."
Erich nodded slowly. But there were many problems. How could he cut off the lich's head through that wave of psychic power?
Moreover, the lich itself was highly formidable in direct power. In other words, it was a monster without a weakness.
Suddenly, King, who had been listening silently, sprang up and kneeled again. The heavy sound echoed inside the tent.
"Please give us a chance, heir!"
"... You?"
"Yes, that's right. If it's assassination, we are the best at it."
Erich's eyes narrowed. Assassination, but that was against humans. Would it work against a lich? Erich couldn't be certain.
But he could feel a strange, determined resolve from King. The man seemed bent on atoning for some past mistake.
Erich fell into thought. Should he send King? Or save the manpower known as Shadow and try something else?
He didn't ponder long. Soon, Erich made up his mind and spoke.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
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