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 I'm not sure if it's a trap or not.

It's not a trap. ......

I thought for sure it was an ambush.

The wards aren't working. That means we have allies.

 He then folded the letter in his hand and carefully placed it in his pocket.

 The letter was an invitation. An invitation to Lord Horos' castle, from an unknown sender.
 It was understandable that Lefley was suspicious. But it dispelled any doubts he'd had before he'd come here.

 The Purgatorial Maze is a powerful technique.
 It has no physical barriers or other effects, but there is no better ward for blocking the way. As long as this ward is in effect, Senri and the others will never be able to reach the forest, even if a thousand people enter it, even if their destination is a hundred meters away.

 There is only one way through the wards.
 You must be guided by someone who knows the way. If there is someone who knows the way - a guide - this ward will lose its effect. This is the weakness of the warding, and also the reason why the technique called "Pujin Maze" is so powerful.

 And this technique would not work unless there was at least one guide outside the ward.

 But he was a collaborator of the necromancer. He knows that he is being hunted.
 He should be within a certain range around the wards, but it's nearly impossible to find a single guide in a short time.

 He thought the only way to find him was to physically blow up the entire forest. The deadline of one week that Senri had been given by Nevira was half for the purpose of investigating the guide, but it was also half for Senri himself to decide whether he was ready to blow up the forest.

 But there was no need to spread the damage unnecessarily.

 The letter sent to Senri was a simple map, but it certainly served as a guide.
 They could see that the wards in the forest were inviting them in.
 And that meant that there was an ally for Senri and the others in the necromancer's camp.

 Someone who understands them. That fact gives Senri strength.
 Senri Sylvis is a natural in the face of a battle with a second-rate necromancer of great power.

 There is no fear.

 Senri and his men are fully armed. A white cloak that mitigates all physical and magical attacks, and light armor of silver and white that covers the vital points of the human body. Amulets protect them from curses and mental contamination, and each carries a polished and sharpened weapon as they stare into the deep forest.

 One of the Knights of the End - Thelma, a blonde female knight who uses a bow as her weapon, quickly readies an arrow, takes aim and shoots at a moment's notice.
 The arrowhead, made of silver, the weakness of the undead, struck and pierced the head of a black owl perched on the branch of a tree.

Be careful. The other party must have countless undead with them.

"Huh. I'm sure you're not the only one. Senri, since when are you in a position to worry about us?

 Senri nodded at his companion's words and, as usual, transformed the blessing in his body into a more efficient form.
 Energy surged through his slender body, and his hand drew the holy silver sword at his waist.

 The positive energy that purged the darkness rose explosively, filling the surroundings with light. Then Senri and the Knights of the End began their assault on the stronghold of Khoros Kamen.




§ § § §


 The war begins. A war between darkness and light, life and death, positive and negative.
 Perhaps it was because she was undead, but even from inside the mansion, she could see a huge force of light approaching from far away.

 The size of it was nothing compared to what I felt when I first found the girls.
 This time, the Knights of the End is different from that time. They're coming to kill Lord and me.

 But my body wasn't trembling. This was determination. I will survive this, no matter what it costs, no matter what it takes.

 The only problem is-- Lord.

 Even though Lord felt the immense power of the light, he still didn't see the fear in his face.
 Is it because of his inner madness or because he still has a chance against this power?

 That's my only concern.

 Lord, my sorcerous master-slave, must ---- absolutely, positively die.
 As long as he's around, I'm not even allowed the freedom to survive, to sneak around and run away.

 The Lord opened the door of the mansion, stepped outside, raised the short staff in his hand, and shouted.

............ Ah, great incarnation of death, captive soul, now is the time to crawl out of the abyss and lure death. Now lay waste to all that lives. "Corpse Parade.

 Before I knew it, the carcasses of countless beasts had gathered in the large garden of the mansion.
 Wolves, bears. Monkeys. Ravens. Some of them I've killed and Lord has turned into the undead.

 Behind me, Luu's eyes widened to their fullest and he was breathing hard.
 His body was trembling, but his gaze was fixed on the myriad of Fleshwolves.

 The trees were rustling eerily. Even though the sun was shining, it felt as if night had fallen.

 The corpse of a night wolf in front of me creaked, and its otherwise strong body expanded. Its fangs changed in size, and both of its eyes lit up with a blood-red light.

 The change was over in seconds. You take a step back.

 The lord waves his staff like a conductor. The beasts roar as if to match him.



 An army of the dead. Such words came to my mind.

 I wondered how the undead I had now were going to compete with the Knights of the End.
 Strengthen. A necromancer can not only reanimate corpses, he can also strengthen them!

 The Lord's resurrected undead had been transformed.

 Bigger, stronger, more ferocious, and--more blasphemous. The power I felt from them was nothing compared to what I had felt before.
 Flesh and blood splattered from the overexertion, and a rotten smell wafted around. The sun was shining down on us, and the beasts were intent on killing us, as if they wanted to devour the sun.

 There was no signal. All at once, the beasts rushed toward the forest. They easily climbed over the walls and disappeared into the black forest.

 The only ones left are the skeletal knights, who have been greatly and violently changed by the Lord's spell, and me, who hasn't changed at all.

I can at least buy us some time. The real thing will take time.

Aren't you going to strengthen me?

 That's a lot of power. I'd love to be enhanced, if it'll keep me sane.
 The Lord gives me a blank stare when I ask.

"...... That's just a pawn. Too much power can destroy you. You can't destroy the vessel of the King of the Dead.

 I see. ...... Apparently, there are no good stories.
 If it were that easy to strengthen me, Lord would have strengthened me long ago.

 However, I still have a lot to learn from Lord.
 A necromancer is an illegal entity. It's pointless to think about the future in this state, but without Lord, it will be hard to gather detailed information about necromancy.

 I'm so ...... sorry.

"They underestimate me. I'll show you. I've got the stuff. I have Huck to thank for that-- oh, and if we ever meet again, I'll make a great undead!

 Lord shouts. The deformed skeleton knights do not move, waiting for Lord's orders.

 The material ...... is that huge fang that you received from Huck. I didn't know what kind of tusk it was after all, but since he was so confident, it must be the tusk of a monster of some kind.

 I don't want to get involved in this anymore.

 I say to Lord, who is all alone and excited.

"Lord, before we fight, I need your gear - the black amulet, the shroud, and the machete.

"......m......

No one's going to use them anyway, right? We need ...... to fight.

 This was a gamble.
 Especially important was the Amulet of Shadows. It's probably quite valuable, even fooling the eyes of the Knights of the End.
 It is absolutely essential for a peaceful escape in the future.

 I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's had a bad experience.

...... is good. It's in my desk in the lab. End, come back to me as soon as you get it. That's an order. I'm in the hall.

Oh, okay. Thanks.

 I smiled, thanked him, and ran off alone toward the lab.


§§



 It's been less than a year since I came into this new life. I ran as fast as I could through my familiar house.
 The skeletal knights that were always patrolling the place were nowhere to be seen.

 The lab was unlocked. I've never been in this room alone before.
 I have to hurry. There's no time.

 Lord's lab is a mess. Unidentified potions, books, spare wands, unidentified bones. There are so many things I would have liked to mess with if I could have gotten in there alone. But I ignored them all and retrieved what I wanted from Lord's desk.

 An amulet of shadows, a cloak of black. Finally, he took out his familiar black-bladed machete and stopped.
 The cloak has the effect of reducing the effects of sunlight. The shadow amulet hid the negative vibes, but the machete - what about it?

 I wasn't given this machete when I went into town.
 It cuts through flesh and bone with ease, and no matter how many times I swing it, the blade never spills.

 Perhaps it is cursed?
 Since I've used it so many times, I'm pretty sure it doesn't affect my body. But--the Order of the Fallen can sense negative energy.

 My hesitation was short-lived.
 I don't need a weapon because I'm not going to fight. I'm not greedy.




 I have a trump card. A trump card that can be used to great effect.


 I had been watching for the right moment to cut it. It was fortunate for me that I didn't cut it during my first attack on Lord, that I didn't have to.



 I have a trump card.




 It's my birth name.




 Naming is an important act for sorcerers.
 They bind a person by name and make a pact with a spirit. That's why when the Lord resurrected me, he named me "End" first, when I should have been completely white.

 But I remembered the name before I was born.

 Some of the orders the Lord had given me had the power to compel me, and some did not.
 It wasn't until a few days after my resurrection that it occurred to me.

 I - who had been called by a different name for more than a decade before I was born, and who still had vivid memories of that time - was not the End.

 Since then, I've deliberately followed Lord's every command.
 Even though I failed to name myself, I am an undead created by the Lord. It's easy to divulge my birth name when ordered not to include it.

 I've been in hiding, hoping that one day, at the critical moment, I could betray the Lord.

 And that time has come.


 I'm the one who wrote the letter to Senri.
 It was a ...... gamble, using the paper and pen I had acquired in my dealings with Luu.
 There was a chance that I wouldn't be able to make a deal with Luu, and there was a chance that she would change her mind midway. There was also the possibility that the letter would not reach Senri, since it could not be given directly to her. There was also the possibility that even if the letter did reach her, she would not act immediately.

 But I won the bet. The letter reached Senri, who immediately led his men to kill the Lord.
 The Lord's ritual to create the King of the Dead didn't arrive in time.
 There were two miscalculations. Two miscalculations: Senri had not brought a first-class knight, and Lord had several other cards in his hand.


 The game wasn't over yet. I bet everything I had on Senri.
 If Senri lost here, I would be trapped by Lord again, never to be free again.

 But there's nothing I can do now but pray.


 I put on my cloak of shade and my amulet of shadows.
 I took a deep breath, an old habit of mine, and ran off in the opposite direction of the hall the Lord had mentioned.