Chapter 83: The Ultimate on Against the Undead (01)

  'When did this happen... No, was it there from the start?'

  If someone approached from outside the mansion, they would undoubtedly hear the sound of bones rattling. The fact that skeletons suddenly appeared outside the door meant they had been hiding ihe mansion all along.

  Buzz-!

  Even though skeletons are a type of undead, they aren’t particurly strong. With the mana saber activated, a single swing was enough to slice through the waists of the three charging skeletons.

  - The mansion's servants...? Why do they look like this... -

  Looking at where the skeletons had emerged, I saw traces on the walls and floors, evidence of them bursting out.

  'Were they buried here in advance?'

  They probably weren’t skeletons to begin with. Most likely, they were corpses that had been transformed into skeletons by neantia. Before that, they were likely just ordinary dead bodies.

  Typically, wheing skeletons, you’d acquire sturdy boreat them with a special anti-decay coating, and then animate them. However, these skeletons were so decayed that even without the mana saber, simply stepping on their skulls would shatter them to dust.

  - Father... is calling me... -

  As if entranced by something, the ghostly noblewoman’s body began to levitate, floating toward the window.

  "Your father... Was he a neancer?"

  She didn’t respond. She just tinued floating, heading toward the window. Armed, I eled mana into my fingers and grabbed her thigh firmly.

  - Kyaaah?! -

  The moment my mana forcefully interfered with her soul, she gasped in shock. She looked down at my hand, covered in blue mana, grippihigh, and then at me. Her faint green eyes regaiheir crity as she desded back to the ground, nding in front of me.

  - What just happened? I suddenly heard my father calling me... And the servants, looking like... Ahh! -

  It was absurd to see a ghost scream in terror at the sight of skeletons.

  "Why are you ag surprised now? You’re from a family of caretakers. You must’ve dealt with corpses plenty of times."

  - But this is different! They’re not resting peacefully. They’re walking around after death... That’s just... It’s too much... -

  As if it were her own tragedy, she began to cry.

  - It’s wrong... It’s so pitiful... -

  "......"

  Ghosts usually linger in this world out of a desire to remain or leave behind some trace of their existence, often harming the living in the process.

  This ghostly noblewoman, however, hadn’t harmed me. And she retained her self-awareness. I had a vague idea why.

  It wasn’t because of a desire to live or stay in this world. Rather, she likely believed it was natural to find pead move on, uher ghosts who harbored animosity toward the living.

  Rustle, rustle...

  Before I could dwell on my thoughts any longer, I heard the sound of soil being disturbed, as if numerous hands were g at the ground. Hastily, I gathered my clothes, Shuru, and Molng.

  "Follow me. We’re moving."

  - Where to? I’ve lived in this room my whole life... -

  "You were just about to leave a moment ago. And staying here will get you killed."

  - I’m already dead, though? -

  Even as she said this, several zombies and skeletons were rising from the graves. I grabbed her hand and half-dragged her out of the room.

  - Wait, at least let me grab some clothes... -

  "There’s no time."

  As we desded the stairs to escape the mansion, the neantia in the air grew stronger, so potent it stung my nose.

  'This is some powerful neancy...'

  It felt as though the mansion itself had been structed for the purpose of neancy, with its mana flowing through the entire building, animating corpses effortlessly.

  So much so that it could resurrect the dead as undead naturally.

  'Neancers refer to it as the energy of the earth, don’t they?'

  There are pces where neantia gathers naturally—locations known to gee undead. These are where neancers frequently gather to colledead.

  Perhaps this graveyard was one of those pces, or maybe the abundance of death in the area distorted the terrain’s mana, causing a simir effect...

  'Or someone could have been sistently gathering neantia here.'

  Either way, the cause didn’t matter.

  g!

  Most of the undead were a skeletons, their flesh long sited away. Zombies with any remaining flesh were rare. Their dry, brittle bones were sile that I could crush them with a punch or kick. But breaking the bones wasn’t enough—they would just reassemble. I had to use the mana saber to disrupt the neantic rituals binding them.

  - Father... is calling me... -

  Holding the ghostly noblewoman’s hand in my left, I prevented her from wandering off. She seemed to be heading somewhere, guided by her father’s call. Using her as a pass, I followed her lead.

  "Nyaaa..."

  Terrified, Shuru hid in my bag, trembling under a pile of random items. Molng was ioo, proteg her.

  Crack!

  Although skeletons weren’t much of a threat, I couldn’t just leave them be. I sliced them apart with the mana saber as I advanced. Strangely, the fog grew thicker, and the temperature plummeted. My body, drenched i moments ago, now shivered as though submerged in icy water.

  'By now, the dawn should have broken... but it’s unnervingly dark. Did I misjudge the time?'

  - Hraaahhh... -

  The eerie wails of ghosts began to echo, and blurry apparitions revealed themselves, appearing as they had at the moment of their deaths, slowly drifting toward me.

  'Judging by their appearahey look like maids and servants.'

  Uhe ghostly noblewoman, eared unharmed, these spirits bore marks of violence. Parts of their faces and bodies seemed to have been torn apart by beasts. It was clear that they had likely been killed by undead creatures like zombies within the mansion.

  - Midy... this way... -

  - Midy... the master awaits you... -

  - Midy... Midy... -

  - We will serve you once again... -

  As they approached the ghostly noblewoman, they reached out, as if to touch her, and began draping the tattered remnants of their clothing over her body in an attempt to cover her.

  'Fighting them would be possible, but it’d be troublesome.'

  Sihey couldn’t be physically affected and moved as a swarm, they were practically invincible except for the parts touched by the mana saber. Worse still, if they were to ambush me from the ground or other hidden spots, it would bee an exhausting ordeal.

  'In that case, there’s a better way.'

  Bzzt—

  I activated the mana saber and poi at the ghostly noblewoman’s neck.

  "e any closer, and I’ll kill her."

  - My father is calling me... What? -

  The noblewoman, seemingly snapped out of her trance by the heat of the mana saber near her neck, turo me with a startled expression.

  - What are you doing...? -

  "Move aside."

  The hosts hesitated, seemingly unwilling to harm the noblewoman. They stepped back cautiously, allowio pass through safely.

  - Are you really a knight? -

  "This is how knights operate nowadays."

  Chivalry or not, effid minimizing casualties are what matter. My peers in the order were taught the same.

  - My father is nearby. -

  "It might be too te to ask now, but... was your father a practitioner of neancy?"

  - No, my father didn’t know neancy. -

  'Then what is this about?'

  - Actually, my mother was a neancer. But I was born te, and she must’ve already passed away by now... -

  "Then your father...?"

  - e here, my daughter... Lien. -

  Ahead of us stood a middle-aged nobleman’s ghost, dressed in luxurious clothing, arms outstretched as he called to his daughter.

  - My father... He’s calling me... -

  "e here, Lie our family be whole again..."

  Below him stood an old woman binding his neck with a bck rope.

  'A neancer.'

  The aura of neancy emarongly from her.

  The ghosts that had stepped aside earlier were now gathering around her, ah her feet y tless corpses.

  'Wait... is that old woman even alive?'

  Her skin g unnaturally to her bones, as if it had been forcibly stretched over a skeleton. Aside from her hair and eyes, the rest of her body was cealed by a robe, making her appear like a corpse unnaturally animated.

  "e, Lien. I’ve prepared a new body for you. I even dressed it in a lovely outfit."

  As her grating voice echoed, Lien seemed irresistibly drawn toward her.

  'A sacrificial altar with the body of a young woman... Is it identical to Lien’s?'

  A quice firmed that the body oar was identical to Lien’s ghostly form.

  ‘Could it have been crafted using homunculus teology?’ I enhanced my vision with mana to exami. No mana flowed through the body—an unmistakable sign that it was a genuine human corpse.

  - My body... it’s there... -

  It was the corpse of a noblewoman who had died decades ago.

  While other servants’ remains had decayed to mere bones, Lien’s body was unnaturally preserved, as if untouched by time.

  "e, my daughter. Let’s live together agai our family be whole once more."

  Lien tried to fly toward them again, but I refused to let go of her hand.

  "Why won’t you e? And why are you naked?"

  - Why is my daughter in such a state? And who is that man? -

  Notig me for the first time, the ghosts fixed their gaze on me. Casually, I waved my mana saber as a greeting.

  "Who are you?"

  "Before we talk, let me introduce myself. I am Ban, a member of the Order of Magical Knights."

  "Why are you holding my daughter? And why is her appearance like that?"

  "She’s a hostage. We received reports of illegal neancy here. As for her appearance... let’s just say there were... certain matters between a man and a woman."

  "You i...!"

  "What exactly is that body?"

  "It is my daughter’s body! A vessel t her soul back to life!"

  "The me ask you again."

  I pointed my mana saber threateningly at the neancer.

  "And what’s the cost?"

  Neancers increase death.

  But redug death—bringing someone back to life—was impossible.

  Even saints couldn’t resurrect the dead, let alone neancers. The plete revival of the deceased was a theoretical and practical impossibility.

  "The body is nearly revived! All that remains is to appease Death by another sacrifie, two, even a hundred lives!"

  - Mother...? -

  "If my daughter lives, it doesn’t matter if hundreds or thousands die!"

  Lien, shocked by her mother’s words, stopped fixating on her body.

  - That’s nht... -

  "......"

  She tightened her grip on my hand.

  - I’m already dead. I don’t belong in this world. -

  "If you ehat body, you might truly e back to life. I’m not an expert in neancy, but if this is some unknown magic, it might work."

  - But if I live, someone else must die, right? -

  Her mother had admitted as much, so it had to be true.

  - Sir Knight... -

  "Yes."

  - This... isn’t right. I may not know much about the world or retionships between men and women... but I know this is wrong. -

  "......"

  - Please... stop my mother from reviving me... -

  "Are you sure about this?"

  Lien nodded firmly.

  "Then stay back for a moment. This won’t take long."

  Rustle...

  The ground began to stir as skeletons that had been buried for turies emerged. Uhe brittle ones earlier, these were sturdier and radiated neantiergy. They wielded rusty fragments of bone as ons, charging toward me.

  "Lien... e to your mother...?"

  Behind her, an untable number of ghosts began to rise from the ground, all tered around the neancer. But I wasn’t afraid.

  Because I had something up my sleeve.

  ch.

  Reag into my bag, I grabbed a crumpled paper packet and held it tightly.

  ‘I apologize in advance, Your Holiness.’

  But holy, this thing doesn’t seem fit for human ption.

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