Chapter 42: The Sage is Prevented from Returning

After taking the materials from the magic workshop, I transferred the prototype weapons, and the magic cannons on the outer wall, to my capital city.

I put them somewhere in the castle that no one enters, so I'm sure it wouldn't cause any problems.

I also brought along the documents as well.

With this, I had all the information I needed, and also obtained new methods to strengthen the Demon Lord's army.

Next, I transferred to the castle that towered over the center of the Imperial capital.

There, I killed the emperor and the nobles of the pro-war faction.

I knew their faces and names from the information we’d gathered previously.

Although I met with some resistance, it was within expectations.

None of the people who fought back were capable enough to be called a hero.

Maybe such a person had already been killed during the Demon Lord army’s previous invasion. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

I basically just waited at my castle and listened to the war situation, but I still repeatedly heard that the enemy had been overrun.

With Grom and Henry leading the fray, it was no wonder that was the case.

It would be impossible for someone to compete with them, unless they were out of the ordinary themselves.

The elimination of the pro-war faction would be an unexpected loss for the Empire, but it would not be a problem so long as the moderate and neutral factions became proportionally larger.

After that, the policies of the entire empire would naturally change.

In the first place, the current condition of the empire meant it was unable to wage war on other countries.

If we were to continue our invasion after destroying the Imperial capital, it would come across as a false show of power.

No matter how it turned out, the Empire would be quiet for a while.

This should be more than enough.

“If you have learned your lesson, do not defy me again.”

I told this to the people I had left alive, and walked out of the castle.

It was up to them whether or not to heed my threat.

There is nothing wrong with opposing the Demon Lord.

However, it is not okay to bring down other countries in the process.

I won't let you create internal conflict between humans.

If they make plans to do something evil in the future, I would not mind destroying the empire.

Other nations would swarm to absorb the remains of the dismembered empire.

Depending on the situation, I will consider taking such actions.

Even so, I don't want to destroy them without a second thought, so I can only hope they will act in accordance with my ideals.

At any rate, I have now fulfilled all my objectives in the Imperial Capital.

All I had to do now was join the Demon Lord's army, which was waiting for me in a nearby city.

Now that they had occupied the city, we would establish a new national border.

Although it would take a bit of work, it was not that troublesome.

Basically, all I needed to do was continue applying the methods that we have been using so far in the kingdom.

I'll think about how to handle the territory we've taken later.

I will probably leave it mostly alone for the time being.

Although it would be troublesome if they attempted an unnecessary rebellion, so we should gather up all the men first.

Thinking about my future plans, I brought all the undead roaming around the city to a halt.

The Imperial City has been inflicted with more than enough damage.

Any more and it would be completely destroyed.

I probed with my perception magic, and found that most of the survivors had taken refuge in several places in the Imperial Capital.

It seemed that they were hiding in sturdy buildings, and had successfully survived the undead.

Comparing the number of survivors with the number of undead, a majority of the Imperial City's population had been sacrificed.

It was the perfect situation.

Depending on how they act, they may be able to recover their population if they cooperate with other territories in the empire.

I was about to return to the capital with the undead in tow, but I stopped myself just in time.

I sensed the presence of an undead that was still rampaging.

It was not listening to my orders, and was slaughtering those who had survived.

What the hell is going on?

I couldn't help but wonder.

This wasn’t something that had ever happened before.

From what I could tell, that rampaging undead was one that had been turned by my hands.

Perhaps my control was not absolute.

The remaining ego of that individual must be resisting my control.

It seemed that they had such a strong will that they could bypass my orders.

That was all I could think of.

Anyway, I couldn't just leave it there.

There was no one in the Imperial City who could stop that undead from running amok.

After all, most of the soldiers had also joined the ranks of the undead.

I used transfer magic to rush to the scene.

It was at a fountain plaza in the Imperial Capital.

As I had sensed from my perception magic, the individual in question was in a bloody rage.

He was wearing vermilion full-body armor, and had purple lightning surging all over his body.

One of the most distinctive features of this undead was that he has no head.

He was a headless knight – a Dullahan.

The Dullahan was carrying an axe for chopping wood.

He chopped off the head of anyone who failed to escape.

Next, he grabbed the rolling head and placed it on his neck.

“……”

The Dullahan, having gained a temporary head, suddenly calmed down, stopping in place.

However, when the head wobbled and fell, he roared and started moving again.

This time, he cut off the head of a loitering ghoul and placed it as if it were his own head.

Perhaps unable to understand his situation, his temper immediately flared when the head fell, and he resumed his killing spree.

None of these actions made any sense.

Moreover, he was killing the living and the undead indiscriminately.

There were countless heads scattered around the square.

However, I didn’t care about Dullahan's eccentricities.

I was more interested in his appearance.

His equipment looked familiar, as was the noisily flashing purple lightning.

I could only think of one person who fit that description.

There is no doubt. That's the Doldar the Thunderbolt.

It seems that, when Doldar was killed by me, he was accidentally turned into an undead.

When I cut off his head, my miasma must have flowed into his body and transformed him.

Of course, this was not a phenomenon that could happen easily.

In addition to Doldar's own nature, my aspect as an immortal must have been too strong.

I seemed to have influenced him even though he was supposed to be dead.

While I was guessing, Doldar slew another person.

Then he set their head down as if it were his own.

The head belonged to a middle-aged man with a beard.

He looked vaguely like Doldar before he died.

I threw a fireball at Doldar.

Doldar swung with his axe with surprising agility, putting out the incoming fireball.

His blade was imbued with lightning magic.

His fake head slowly turned toward me, eyes an electrifying blue.

They were the kind of eyes that vividly reminded me of him when he was alive.

“My head…give me…my head…back.”

Doldar borrowed the other person's mouth to speak.

Its blank face asserted his indignation.

“My head…is somewhere…”

Hearing these words, I understood the reason for Doldar's actions.

He was looking for his lost head.

That's why he was taking the heads of others.

It was extremely annoying, but I couldn't blame him for it, because I was the cause of his actions.

"Your head is gone. It no longer exists."

I told him.

It was not provocation, but a fact.

Doldar's head has been burned to dust by the miasma flames.

No matter how hard he searched, he would never find it.

The moment I spoke, the purple lighting cloaking Doldar intensified.

Its glow was so bright that it blinded my eyes.

The wood-cutting axe creaked as it was subjected to the torrent of magic power.

If I took that slash head-on, it would mean bad news.

It was powerful enough I could tell that at a glance.

Even if he was no longer human, the former great pirate still possessed a strong fighting spirit.

—He's coming.

The moment I realised that, Doldar ran forward.

His movements exceeded the maximum speed he’d displayed before his death.

If I didn't have magic to reinforce my physical strength and improve my dynamic vision, I would never have been able to see him coming.

With the force of a storm, Doldar raised his axe and attacked.