Chapter 95
Ch.95 Y-you mean… we have to fight them?
The dead would surely rise soon.
“We must hurry to the Old Continent—no time to waste!”
I shouted as I dashed toward the cabin.
“Cecilia?! Scarlet! Mia! Selena?! Nekhuf, where are you?!”
Running through the corridor calling for her, passengers in the cabins frowned at me.
What? So what? Every second counts right now!
Ignoring their glares, I kept shouting—and then:
“What is it?! What’s wrong?!”
My companions gathered in the hallway, startled.
“The King of the Dead has resurrected! We must get to the Imperial Palace immediately!”
“What?!”
Amid their shock, I turned to Leah:
“Use your Fly spell to teleport me, Scarlet, and Mia straight to the capital!”
Arriving by ship would be too late.
We needed to reach the capital as fast as humanly possible.
“Ah… okay! Just a moment! Pipi…!”
She rushed into her room, hugged the phoenix, and said,
“Everyone, hurry outside!”
As soon as we stepped out, the group gasped.
“Good heavens! It’s broad daylight—yet the sky’s pitch black!”
“Incredible… It’s as dark as night…”
The unnaturally blackened sky clearly signaled something dire.
While everyone stood stunned by the bizarre phenomenon, I urged Leah:
“Hurry! We’re running out of time—go now!”
Anyone killed by the undead would become a servant of Roy, the God of Death.
We had to reach the capital before casualties mounted!
“Don’t worry!”
Leah stretched her hand into the air—and her staff materialized.
“But who exactly should I take?”
“Just take whoever you can—but I and Cecilia must be included.”
She nodded and cast:
“Fly!”
As our bodies slowly lifted into the air—
—What’s going on?
—Why’s the sky so dark? Wait… is that a red-haired mage?!
—Isn’t that the Hero Party?
—Looks like it!
In an instant, we shot toward the capital at high speed.
“Look over there!”
A gray figure hovered above the capital.
That… was a ghost.
“What is that?!”
“Eeek! Master—it’s a ghost! A real ghost!”
As the ghost rapidly closed in—
“Divine Light!”
Brilliant holy energy burst from my palm.
The light flared—and faded.
The ghost vanished instantly, leaving everyone wide-eyed.
“W-what was that?!”
“Those things can’t be harmed without divine power.”
If you have divine power, they’re easy.
Without it? You’re in for a world of pain.
—Thud.
The moment we landed, I cast holy magic on everyone.
“Holy Breath!”
Divine Light settled over us in an instant.
Now we were safe.
—Screeeech!
What is that?
—Gahhh!
Chaos erupted the moment we reached the harbor.
As ghosts descended from the sky, people scattered in panic. I barked orders:
“Cecilia—go straight to the Papal Palace, get Holy Knights, and head to the Imperial Palace! Scarlet, stay glued to Cecilia!”
“Yes! Understood!”
Scarlet and Cecilia nodded grimly—
—and in a blur, their forms vanished.
“What about me?”
“Get the Arbiter’s Armor and the Sword Saint’s blade from your spatial bag.”
“J-just a sec!”
Leah waved her hand—and pieces of the Arbiter’s Armor appeared midair.
—Clack!
As I opened the chestplate to put it on and began assembling the parts—
“Help Mia and Leah too.”
“Right.”
They stepped forward to assist me.
The armor was powerful—but putting it on or taking it off alone was a nightmare.
Once fully equipped, I declared:
“Now, we head to the cemetery.”
Gripping the Sword Saint’s blade, I kicked off the ground—and surged forward with unnatural speed and power.
“Whoa?!”
Leah and Mia gaped in astonishment.
Seriously? Now’s not the time to gawk!
“What are you waiting for? Follow me!”
“Got it!”
They caught up in an instant.
I’d already imbued us all with holy magic via the Goddess’s Wedding Ring.
“What’s this?”
As they examined their glowing bodies while running, I tossed off a reply:
“It’s… the power of the gods.”
Ahead loomed the cemetery—an eerie, desolate place.
Normally, it resembled a serene park—but not today.
This was where the DLC ‘King of the Dead’ truly began.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Mia murmured.
I frowned. “Do you have a friend buried here?”
“No? Didn’t you tell me you were buried here and asked me to come?”
“Oh…”
I finally remembered what I’d said before leaving.
Mia stared at me with a blank, scrutinizing gaze—until Leah asked, puzzled:
“So this is where you tricked us into thinking you were buried?”
Panicking that I might pay for past sins, I snapped:
“This isn’t the time for jokes!”
The moment the words left my mouth—a wail rose from the earth.
[Let us out… let us out!]
[Aaaaargh!]
Screams of anguish and the chilling cries of the dead tore through the air.
“W-what is this?!”
“It’s only the beginning…”
Ordinary corpses in the cemetery weren’t the real threat—regular undead would take ages to claw their way out of coffins and soil.
The true danger was…
—BOOM!
The ground shook with a deafening crash.
“Follow me!”
We charged into the cemetery—where several graves had been torn open, and skeletons prowled.
“Be careful—they’re no ordinary undead.”
[Aaaargh!]
Gray bones clattered—some towering, others small.
[Eeek!]
[B-bones?!]
[Run!]
[O Lord…]
People fled in terror at the unnatural sight.
“Fireball!”
Leah launched a spell at a skeleton—
—Whoosh!
—but it dodged effortlessly.
—BOOM!
The fireball missed and shattered a nearby tombstone, scattering shrapnel everywhere.
Leah’s eyes widened. “Huh? It dodged?!”
“These are heroes from a past age. Not at their peak, perhaps—but still formidable.”
—Click-clack…
The skeleton mocked her by clacking its jaw. Leah’s face twisted in fury.
“You little pile of bones?!”
Her short hair floated weightlessly in the air—just as a small skeleton reached for her.
“Huh?”
Her hair fell limply.
“Dispel? You’re telling me that skeleton can cast Dispel? Ha…”
She scoffed in disbelief.
That skeleton was likely a high-tier mage in life.
Since there was no need for the girls to fight here, I stepped forward—but Mia beat me to it.
“So they really were heroes.”
She took a step ahead and commanded:
“Salamander, Sylph! Burn every last one of these dead!”
Instantly, a fire spirit and an air spirit appeared—a flaming lizard and a translucent girl-shaped wisp.
—Hmph…
The lizard exhaled dismissively—
—WHOOSH!
—and a torrent of flame surged forward…
—but hit an invisible barrier and fizzled out.
A shield?
In that instant—
—Swish!
A sharp sound split the air—
—CRACK!
—and something shattered the shield.
Scorching heat instantly incinerated the skeletons.
“Hmph. Not as impressive as I thought,” Mia said calmly, bow in hand.
“You broke the shield with Formless Strike?”
“Of course. Breaking shields with magic is inefficient. Formless Strike works better.”
Formless Strike was an elven technique—a blend of physical and magical damage, perfect for piercing barriers.
“Well… anyway, let’s hurry to the funeral hall.”
At the cemetery’s center stood the funeral hall—usually reserved for heroes of great deeds.
But beneath it lurked the event’s boss.
“Wait… don’t tell me… the catacombs?!” Leah asked, horrified.
“Right? But think of how many corpses are down there…”
Unfortunately, she was correct.
“Aren’t the catacombs different from this place?”
Leah and Mia’s faces paled.
“I heard there are tens of thousands—no, hundreds of thousands of bodies down there!”
“If that many skeletons break loose…”
No one could finish the sentence.
It would mean the capital’s doom.
“Don’t worry. You think I’d come unprepared?”
“But… what about the entrance? I heard it connects to the Julian Mountains!”
“Heh heh. Already sealed. The only way into the catacombs… is through here.”
With that, I led my party into the funeral hall.
***
‘Catacomb’ refers to an underground burial complex.
Before the Empire built this cemetery, bodies were dumped into abandoned mine shafts—so many that no one knew the exact count.
Only then could skeletons endlessly respawn.
“Light Ball.”
Leah conjured a glowing orb—and shivered.
“Brr… it’s creepy down here.”
Thanks to her spell, the area brightened. I pressed forward:
“Stay alert. This dungeon is enormous and labyrinthine.”
It connected to the distant Julian Mountains—but fortunately, unlike other dungeons, it didn’t reset.
I’d memorized the rough path to the boss room.
“Eep! Look at that!”
A tower built entirely of human bones and skulls.
Ah—now I remembered this.
“This… who would do such a thing…?”
Mia couldn’t speak for a moment.
Her face twisted in disgust.
“How utterly cruel. Who could commit such an atrocity?”
“This is… one of the catacomb’s decorations.”
In-game, I’d assumed it was just for atmosphere—
“But seriously… why build this?”
Could it be some ancient ceremonial relic?
Mia cautiously touched a bone and grimaced.
“These are real bones.”
“Ugh… what sick taste.”
Leah clicked her tongue in revulsion.
“Alright, enough gawking—let’s move. If we’re late, they might break through the sealed entrance.”
My plan: seal all catacomb entrances, then eliminate the boss monster.
If left unchecked, it could breach the barriers.
“But… who are ‘they’?”
“Oh? The previous generation’s heroes.”
“W-wait—previous heroes?! Hold on—if they’re the former heroes, then…?”
“Yeah. They’re buried here, remember?”
I said it casually—but Leah and Mia froze.
“The previous heroes… I thought they were all mummified… so that means…”
“Right. Unlike regular undead, they didn’t decay.”
They were genuinely powerful.
The Hero Party that died fighting the Demon King to save the world.
Out of respect, the old emperor had their bodies recovered, wounds stitched, mummified, and entombed here.
“Y-you mean… we have to fight them?!”
“Exactly.”
Leah and Mia paled.
“Wait a minute! This isn’t a joke! They’d crush us without breaking a sweat!”
She was right.
In the game, that party was even stronger than the current Demon King-slaying heroes—so overpowered that the community exploded in outrage:
‘How could the heroes who defeated the Demon King be weaker than the ones who died to him?!’
Especially since the Demon King, upon defeat, would revive in hell and launch another invasion.
“Eh? But you guys defeated the Demon King and lived—so no worries!”
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