Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 243

243: The Burned Oasis

The one who stood before our group of five was a single Imperial Guard. He raised his voice, though it was muffled by his unadorned cylindrical helmet.

“I do not believe there is any honor in this battle… but! If you have the pride of a knight, a warrior, then release your hostage and face me in single combat!”

“He’s talking about you.” Rebecca whispered, glancing at me.

“Am I the hostage?”

“Probably.”

“Liz, I know it’s useless, but please, treat me as a hostage.” I whispered to Liz, who I knew was nearby.

“Understood. —Drop your swords. Or this woman dies.”

Liz appeared, and, in a smooth motion, she restrained me from behind, pressing the blade of her large knife against my cheek. The cold steel made me shiver, and Liz immediately moved the blade away, so it wouldn’t cut me.

It had been a while since Liz had held a blade to my throat. And this was the second time I’d pretended to be a hostage, so I was used to it.

I remained silent, so as not to ruin the act, and, trying my best to suppress the joy I felt at being held by Liz, I put on a pleading expression.

The Imperial Guard froze.

“Coward…!”

Rebecca stepped forward and declared, “Drop your swords. I have no interest in a single human woman. I will spare her life, in exchange for the life of an Imperial Guard.”

“…I cannot. I am sorry, but you must die for the future of humanity. For the Empire, and for His Majesty the Emperor!”

His voice was bitter, but as the hostage who had been so casually discarded, I felt a wave of apathy. I didn’t care about the future of humanity. I wasn’t a citizen of the Empire.

—It was a rational, correct choice. But for the one who had been discarded, that didn’t matter.

“Why did we even try to negotiate her release?”

“Consider it a small kindness.” Rebecca whispered back.

I was reminded of the two knights in blue and red armor, the ones who had come to kill me. The first ones I had pretended to be a hostage for.

They, I think, had tried to save me, though that was probably because their lives hadn’t been on the line. While it had been an act, and they were still the enemy, I had been… happy.

Those people, after their bodies and belongings had been thoroughly examined, had all been given a non-undead treatment and buried in a cemetery on the outskirts of the capital. They were like nameless graves, but they had graves, and grave markers. The cost had been paid from my personal assets.

“What should we do?”

“Maintain the current situation.” I whispered to Liz. I wanted to be held by her a little longer.

“…I will challenge you to single combat.”

At the Imperial Guard’s words, Bridget glanced at me.

“I’ll leave it to you.” I whispered.

With this team, it probably wouldn’t be a problem. And if it was—we would intervene.

Bridget exchanged a look with Rebecca and Harken and nodded. I wondered what they had decided, but the three of them spoke in unison.

“““We refuse.”””

Bridget held her longsword in one hand, her posture alert, and gave orders to the other two.

“Harken, we’ll flank him. Rebecca, provide support.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Harken also raised his sword, and Rebecca sheathed her left-hand dagger and raised her wand.

“…So you are demons, after all. A race that does not understand honor, yet calls itself a knight.”

“I am sorry. I did not know that the pride of an Imperial Knight was to play at single combat. I apologize for my ignorance.”

“…………” The Imperial Guard fell silent. He had probably been hoping to disrupt our coordination with his taunts, but Bridget had won the war of words.

Bridget and Harken moved at the same time.

Bridget’s sword and the Imperial Guard’s sword clashed, and Harken’s sword and the Imperial Guard’s shield met, sending sparks flying.

And a blue-green will-o’-the-wisp appeared at the tip of Rebecca’s wand and flew, leaving a trail behind it.

“[Wisp Fire].”

The will-o’-the-wisp slipped through the slits of his visor and the gaps in his armor at his armpits, arms, and groin, and the Imperial Guard became a human torch.

“—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!” His screams were scorched.

Engulfed in the blue flames, his lungs burning, he screamed, probably to expel the flames, and swung his sword blindly, but Bridget easily parried his attacks.

It was probably about ten seconds. His screams suddenly stopped, and he collapsed to his knees.

Liz, having confirmed this, released me.

“…Rebecca, you’re that strong?”

“…So? Our Master is a very slow learner, so I will say it again. —I am, after all, the former seventh in command of the Undead Army.” Rebecca sighed, her expression one of exasperation.

“The Living Dead Princess, the Walking Army, the Will-o’-the-Wisp of the Battlefield… my multiple titles are not just for show, and as you can see, I am one of the oldest veterans. I would appreciate it if you would learn that.”

And yet, the Imperial Guard was the elite of the Empire. While they were feared as a group, they were not to be underestimated as individuals.

“Didn’t the Imperial Guard’s armor have… counter-magic enchantments?”

“Most magic barriers are weak against persistent magic. And since this is an undead flame, heat resistance alone is not enough to protect against it. It is true that you can resist mana absorption by focusing your mind… but that is only for a short time. If you can continue to be burned, without losing your focus, and still kill me, then it is no problem.”

“That’s impossible, right?”

“It’s not impossible. Those two, for example.”

“Because I am undead.”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to try it.” Harken and Bridget were being modest, but it was true that they might have been able to handle it.

In other words, in that situation, you would have to fight two opponents, without losing your focus, while continuing to channel mana into your counter-magic enchantments, and cut them all down.

Yeah, impossible.

“But… are you alright, Rebecca?”

“What?”

“You said you had a bad fuel economy. And since undead consume mana when they use magic… you’re not good at offensive magic. To use a spell that can burn an Imperial Guard to a crisp…”

“…Ah, this is necromancy… a type of summoning magic. I’m not using much of my own mana, just for basic control.”

“Huh?” I didn’t quite understand what she was saying.

“To put it simply, I’m burning the souls of those who have died in pain and hatred. …Like the one who just died there.”

A will-o’-the-wisp, which had emerged from the Imperial Guard’s corpse, silently burning with a blue-green flame, joined the will-o’-the-wisp burning at the tip of her wand, and after glowing a little brighter, it returned to its usual, slow burn. I had seen this with the Liverit Grizzly, too.

“And today, there is a bountiful harvest.” As she spoke, several will-o’-the-wisps flew, leaving trails behind them, and gathered at the tip of her wand. She looked like a conductor, conducting a beautiful symphony.

“Well, I can’t just keep accumulating this much. So I’ll be a little more… flamboyant… today.”

The scorched corpse slowly rose. A forced, pseudo-undead servitude. An undead without a will of its own was like a doll, but for that very reason, it would obey its master’s commands.

I had suspected the origin of her title, the Walking Army, but now I finally understood. She was, literally, a one-woman army.

—There was a legend about Rebecca. That she had once destroyed a nation.

According to her, it was a ‘small city-state.’ This was necromancy. This was a necromancer.

It was no wonder the human nations had forbidden it. And if she didn’t have any self-restraint, then perhaps this world itself—

“…Don’t overestimate me. The more I create, the harder they are to control, and against the Holy Knights, it’s a pitiful sight.”

Rebecca’s words, at a perfect timing, as if she had read my mind, were a sharp reminder.

“I am just a necromancer.”

“…Yes. And I am just a human.” I nodded.

“No, in your case, I’m a little suspicious.”

“It’s just your imagination.”

My heart, which had been tense, relaxed a little. I looked at Bridget.

“I’m sorry, Bridget. No one-on-one duel again.”

“It was our choice. Don’t worry about it. …If he had been a little more concerned about the hostage, I might have accepted.”

She must have been confident she could win. The Imperial Guard were a formidable force, but that was when they were a thousand strong. That said, if anyone on our side were to be injured—or killed—it was expected that it would be by an Imperial Guard, so it was a relief to have one less threat to worry about.

“So, what now? If the ideal is to annihilate them, then we should continue our search.”

“Yes.” I nodded at Bridget. And I looked at everyone and declared.

“Leave no one alive. Today, we will wipe this city off the map.”