My body, my consciousness, is tainted by the darkness.
　In the body that should have lost its pain, a terrible pain rushes in, as if the body is about to burst from within, as if something is trying to eat through the body.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

　The scream echoed through the forest. A scream echoes through the dense forest, and I recognize the voice as my own.

　Death is imminent. The terrible pain I hadn't felt in a long time made me understand that I was still as weak as I had been in life.

　The silver arrow falls from his hand. There is still pain in the palm of the hand that held it, but it doesn't matter at all.

　Terrible nausea. Pain. Lassitude. All kinds of pain assaulting my soul.
　I feel as if I'm being dragged into the depths of hell, the underworld.

"Your soul continues to fall toward the darkness.

　The words that Horos said to me before come back to my mind. I try to ease the pain by thinking desperately.
　I can't see up, down, left, right. I managed to cling to a nearby tree as I was about to fall.

　My heart, which had stopped beating, was now beating at an alarming rate. My breathing is ragged.
　Memories and knowledge that didn't belong to me poured into my brain. I slammed my head against the tree with all my might, over and over again, because I felt so sick.

　What ...... is this?

　I feel nauseous. I don't know what's going on. The only thing I know is that if I relax I'll die.
　The tree snaps. Blood pouring from my head. My knees shatter and I fall to the ground, but I crawl on all fours and hang on to the other trees.

　I use everything I have to stay sane.

　I remember what it was like on my sickbed. The pain getting stronger, little by little, and the strength slipping away.
　Days when the incessant pain didn't allow for sleep and every action led to pain. The loneliness of being obsessed only with life, with no sorcerer, no doctor, no one to help, and the regret of being able to do nothing but stare at myself as I slowly wore myself out and died.

　I'm changing. My body, my soul is transforming. I'm merging.
　Stronger, more vicious, more worthy of the King of the Dead.

　The Lord must have set this up. I don't understand what he's done to me without my knowledge.
　The memories, the knowledge, they are not mine. I must not accept it.

　In the midst of the pain that I can't resist, the thought that "it's not mine" suddenly crosses my mind.


　--Stupid ............ Why can't I swallow it?


　It's dark. There's no one here. I raise my head, letting out a hot breath.
　I'm not sure what to do. Unlike the wraith of a wraith, he was standing on two legs.

　I don't know why, but I knew that it was not an entity, not a soul, but just an illusion of my brain.

　It was not a conscious act.
　The pain was overridden by murderous intent and anger. I stood up and swung my arms over my head.
　He wasn't moving fast enough, and he didn't have time to extend his claws. But the blow easily cut through Lord's illusion.

　The illusion disappears.

　--What a mighty soul. ...... Hasn't he admitted defeat yet?

　It's as if you're being burned all over. The heat is especially in my head, my brain and my heart.
　I hear a voice from behind me. You turn and swing your arm sideways. Behind you stands the phantom of the road you've just wiped out.

　The illusion disappears. But a new one appears. Before I know it, my field of vision is filled with countless visions of Lord.
　Up, down, back, left, right. Some standing on the ground, some with their lower half buried in the ground, some flying through the air. Countless eyes, cunning and emotionless like snakes, looked down at me.

　I pounce on them in anger. Holos Kamen invades my brain.
　The will flowing in like a muddy stream is so strong that it could crush you if you're not careful.

　--There's, en, consciousness, too thick. I'm not sure what you're talking about.　No. ...... No. ......!　　I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that.

　I'm not sure what to do. I'll do my best, with all my might, to resist the spirit that's trying to swallow me.
　I will live. I'll live and I'll be free.

　--The vessel, the abyss, it's too deep!　How did you get here ...... end, I command you. Stop resisting!



　Lord's voice echoes in my brain, tormenting my spirit.

　End. It's ...... who?

　I scratch my chest. My heart is beating hard. It's not my imagination. My heart, it's beating. It's alive. It's got a pulse.
　I'm not a corpse. I'm being reborn as a more evil creature, a ...... unforgivable monster, one that transcends death.

　Oh, so this is the destination of the necromancer's curse!

　In the midst of the pain of not being able to think logically, I suddenly understood the true nature of the Necromancer.

　The destination of the curse they had created. Their goal, the King of the Dead. It's immortality.

　It's not about staying alive even when you're dead. It's complete "immortality" and "immortality" to live on.
　Death is only a process for them.
　They are experts at creating countless undead. It would have been much easier to just make themselves undead.

　But they didn't take that approach.
　Senri said. A first-class necromancer is a being who has turned himself into a special kind of undead.

　Before he knew it, Lord's vision had vanished. Instead, there was a large mass of darkness in front of him.
　A vision. Holos Kamen's face floating in the center of a great black haze.

　He's trying to eat me, trying to sink me into the depths of darkness.
　A voice echoes in my brain. A voice of anger, of confidence.

　--It's over!　I'll take that body!　I have the advantage!　You will live forever as a vessel for the ...... "King of the Dead"!

............

　Strong. I don't know how many years you've lived, but even a fragment of the Lord's soul is mighty. There was a strong delusion and accumulated power there.
　This turn of events must have been unexpected for Lord to be defeated by Senri. This ritual was an unavoidable measure, and if the original ritual had taken place, ...... what would have happened to me?

　The road jumps up into the air. It covers the moon, the sky, the world, and comes down on us.

　The hand moves. Was it a monster instinct, or was it a mind that didn't want to die that moved the body?
　The fingertips didn't go to the road, they went into my own mouth - tearing my lips wide open. I don't care about the pain now.

　The look on Lord's face in the darkness stunned me. I smile wide with my ripped mouth. The pain vanishes from my consciousness for a moment.

　The King of the Dead will be ...... me. I'm sorry, but you're going to be my bread and butter, Lord.

　You're the first person I'm gonna eat.

　With a gaping maw, I plunge into the darkness. I bit down on its throat with my open mouth.
　It had no taste. It was a vision I was having, insubstantial.

　But a terrible scream echoed through my brain.



　------ --Oh...



　I see. So this is what a real scream looks like .......

　While I was admiring this strange feeling, the voice disappeared. All that was left in the forest at night was silence.

　The power drained from my limbs and my body rolled on the ground. The pain that had been tormenting my whole body had vanished completely.
　The voice that had been echoing in my brain was no longer there.



§§




　A round moon was shining in the night sky. It must be almost dawn.
　As the cold wind caressed my body, I lay down on the ground and looked up at the sky to check the situation.

　There was no other kind of consciousness in my head. Lord's soul, which had tried to dominate me as a foreign object, had, in fact, been devoured and taken in by me. I felt refreshed.

　I can't remember the knowledge and memories I was supposed to have merged with. Maybe my instincts are telling me it's dangerous.
　Lord's experiences and memories are much longer and denser than mine. It's not surprising that my consciousness is overwritten by the recall. It would be best not to try to force myself to remember.

　Having calmed down a bit, I put my hands on the ground and try to stand up, but fail.
　For a moment, you don't know what's going on, but then you cling to a nearby tree and stand up again with all your strength.

　I can't ...... get any strength into my limbs. Your consciousness becomes distant for a moment. The fatigue that you haven't felt in a long time stretches over your entire body.



　Apparently, ...... is not out of the woods yet.

　I felt my body, myself, transforming. Perhaps a rank mutation had occurred.
　Perhaps I've fulfilled the conditions by taking in the souls that fell into the Darkness of the Road, or perhaps it's a trick that's been imprinted on me, but right now I'm not a ghoul. But I'm also not the Dark Stalker who was supposed to mutate next. It's supposed to turn my body black, but my skin is still the same color.

　I'll think about the details later. My energy, which I thought I still had, was completely depleted.
　This situation is similar to the first time I tasted hunger after mutating into a werewolf.

　I wipe the blood from my forehead and take a deep breath.
　I don't have enough strength. Can I really defeat the Hexenbiest of this forest in this state?　Or will I be able to survive long enough to be able to find them in the first place?

　No, we have to try. We've eaten the lord and master.
　I did everything I could. I've sacrificed so much to be here.

　All I had to do now, besides eat, was find a place to stay out of the sun before dawn.
　I'm sure I have more weaknesses now that I've mutated from a werewolf. Whatever I've mutated into, sunlight can be deadly.

　The pain didn't give me time to worry, but my resistance to Lord seemed to last for hours, and I didn't have much time before the sun came up.
　Lord had provided me with a shroud to protect me from the sun, but I shouldn't put too much faith in it. The undead would be much more of a threat if such a thing could negate the effects of sunlight.

　It's an inconvenient body. But it makes me feel alive. It's not a bad feeling.

　With each step, I move my too-unreliable body and walk carefully, feeling the hardness of the ground.
　And then I remembered that I had dropped my machete.

　It's better to retrieve it. It would make it easier for me to hunt my prey even in my weak condition.

　I paused to turn around. Just then, a silver light crossed a few centimeters in front of me.

"......a......?

　The sound of wind.
　After a delay, a violent pain explodes in my left leg, tearing my limb off, and I roll over.
　I bite down on the pain and look at my leg. There was an arrow in my left knee that hadn't been there before.

　A silver arrow. It had gone completely through flesh and bone, and white smoke was rising.
　I try to pull it out, but my hands are shaking with pain and exhaustion, and I can't move.

　In the midst of my confusion, I hear a familiar, coarse voice.


"Oh, thank God. Oh, good. There's still some ...... stuff left. d*mn it, you're taking up too much of my time!

Hey, relax. You're the one who cheated on my princess, aren't you?

You're the one who cheated on my princess, aren't you? "Lesser vampire. ...... The rest of Horus' crew escaped. I've heard of ghouls, but ...... Senri doesn't have enough experience to be first class.


"What ...... is the late ......!

　I asked, forcing my voice to come out.
　A few meters away. The man who once suspected me of being undead in the city looked at me as if I were garbage as I rolled over in a heap.




"Why?　Did you just say why?　There's only one reason why we, the Knights of the End, are here. To kill monsters.