Book 2: 344

Book 2: Chapter 344

(TL: 9/10)

The cave Lukas and the others were staying in was quite far from the cave Snow was supposed to be in.

The fact that the nearby trees and grass were still alive was the best indicator of this fact.

The area around the cave with Snow, where Nix had gone wild, only had ashes and smoke left.

Although they were moving as fast as they could, they also made sure to remain careful. Nevertheless, Peran couldn’t help but open his mouth after a while.

“...that’s strange. I don’t see any undead.”

“The death energy in the forest is also thinner.”

As if he agreed, Torkunta added.

It was as they said.

Even after travelling for more than an hour, they hadn’t seen even a single undead.

At first, it could be said that they were expertly keeping their traces hidden. But this was different. As Torkunta said, even the unpleasant death energy that had drifted like fog in the forest was beginning to clear up.

The fact that they didn’t encounter any undead didn’t reassure them. On the contrary, it increased their vigilance and curiosity even more.

Nevertheless, they didn’t have time to carry out further investigations.

Deciding to move a bit more openly, they soon reached the point where they could see the river in the distance.

“I will use Fly to take you guys over.”

“Let me do it.”

Fwoosh.

Wings of red flames sprouted from Nix’s shoulders.

Peran, who had been thoroughly harassed by those wings, couldn’t help but flinch slightly.

When he saw this, Torkunta grinned widely and flapped his wings once again.

“Are you scared? That’s cute, it’s not like you.”

“I’m not scared.”

With a shake of his head, Peran denied those words.

Suddenly.

Lukas, who had been calmly looking at the river, suddenly frowned.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Something is flowing downstream.”

At those words, Peran and Torkunta turned to follow Lukas’ gaze.

After a while, their expressions changed.

“Those are...”

“Hmm.”

It was the corpses of the undead.

It was more than just one or two.

There were a lot. Too many to count. The undead, which they couldn’t find anywhere in the forest, were flowing along the river as though they had been placed there.

“...hnn.”

“What?”

When he heard Peran’s soft grunt, Lukas asked.

“There are sword marks on each of those corpses. It must have been Lady Snow’s doing.”

“Did she take care of all of these undead on her own...”

Lukas looked at the almost endless flow of undead corpses.

Peran nodded with a bright expression.

“Right. She is capable of something like this. Maybe she didn’t really need our help.”

“...”

“We should hurry. She might be in a situation where she is too heavily injured to move.”

...Was that really the case?

Lukas couldn’t make such optimistic assumptions like Peran.

It was his bad habit to always consider the worst when thinking about possibilities, but that wasn’t the only reason.

He had a strange feeling as though he was missing something...

“Those undead guys... are really rotten.”

Torkunta clenched his nose as he spoke with a disgusted expression.

“What?”

“I’m saying that at least dozens of hours have passed since they were returned to death. In other words, it’s been at least a few days since that woman named Snow killed them.”

“...!”

“I really hate Necromancers.”

“Hmm. If I remember correctly, we have been working with Diablo for about a year.”

“...”

Peran, who was walking ahead of them, glanced back at those words, but he didn’t interrupt their conversation.

Now that he thought about it, Lukas realised that he still hadn’t gotten the chance to have a proper conversation with Peran. But he didn’t think he would let it go.

This was true for both Peran and Lukas.

However, for now, their top priority was to check Snow’s safety, so both of them continued to keep their mouths shut for the time being.

“I thought he was a Black Wizard.”

“Necromancer, Black Wizard? Is there a difference?”

They were different. Very different.

Lukas didn’t hate black magic in itself.

Although it was different from magicology, it couldn’t be denied that it was a branch that had been derived from it.

Moreover, he always thought that their hidden desire, their quest for truth, and their obsession with mana was a commonality they shared with Wizards.

That was why he acknowledged Diablo.

In that past, although he had the body of a Lich, he mainly fought using black magic.

“Necromancy is different.”

“How is it different?”

“—because necromancy is the worst insult to the dead.”

This time, it was Peran, who was walking at the front, that responded.

Torkunta’s gaze turned to his back.

“It is far more unforgivable than digging up a corpse and beheading it. It is the greatest insult to the dead.”

“I don’t understand. Aren’t they already corpses? What pride is there to insult on flesh that can no longer move and simply waits for the day when they decay into nothingness.”

That was the view of Torkunta, who was a monster, a Drake, and a King.

Even after hearing these views that differed so greatly from his own, Peran didn’t get upset.

Instead, he continued to explain in a calm tone.

“Perhaps what you said isn’t entirely wrong. But what makes necromancy so terrible is the fact that reviving the dead inflicts indelible wounds on those who were close to them during their lives.”

It could be a lover, family member or friend.

Lukas listened in silence.

Surprisingly, Peran’s views were similar to his own.

Was it because the young man who admired ‘Lukas Trowman’ and sympathised with his ideal in the past still remained inside Peran?

Or...

...Suddenly, Torkunta looked over to Lukas and asked.

“Did that ever happen to you?”

“What?”

“Did anyone you know ever become an undead?”

“No.”

Although Lukas replied immediately, there was indeed a similar case to that.

The Green Dragon Isola.

Lukas recalled the scene of the Dragon, who had been his Master in the past, with just his head remaining, attached to the body of a sea serpent.

Of course, strictly speaking, that was a chimera instead of an undead, but Lukas still felt unbearable rage at the fact that someone had insulted his master’s body like that.

That’s why he wasn’t actually sure.

How he would feel if someone turned someone he knew personally into an undead.

“Ah.”

When he heard Peran’s soft exclamation, Lukas put aside his thoughts and looked ahead.

After a long while, the dark tunnel opened into a large cavern.

—An underground cave.

Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and there was an ankle deep pool of water on the ground.

But it was the mountain of hundreds or thousands of undead corpses that truly gained their attention at that moment.

“...that.”

In the meanwhile, Torkunta seemed to discover something else and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Turning his head, Peran followed his gaze.

“...Lady... Snow?”

His voice was muffled and cracked.

(TL: I was going to add another chapter after this, ya know 10/10. But ending it short just seems so funny to me. So, the mass release will end here at 9/10.

Also, I won’t post any chapters on the 2nd either, to give you more time to bask in my greatness ^-^.

But maybe, just maybe, I’ll also release another bunch of chapters on the 3rd too.

Happy April Fools ^-^.)