Beyond the door lay a large room with a remarkably high ceiling, yet its state of decay was not much different from the outside. The paint on the interior walls was peeling off, and several of the tall stone pillars that reached up to the ceiling were broken, scattering debris across the floor. A faded red carpet, its fibers worn thin in places, was littered with the remnants of a chandelier that had fallen from above, now smashed to pieces.
It was a scene that highlighted the desolation of the ruined palace, yet there was no time for melancholy. The reason was the presence of someone seated on one of the two thrones placed side by side further inside.
The person seated on the throne to our left was a woman dressed in a jet-black dress with minimal decoration. Her face was covered by a veil, making it impossible to see. The dress appeared elegant and well-tailored, but it emanated an overall gloomy aura.
“Could it be… mourning clothes, perhaps?”
“Mourning clothes, huh? I see…”
Iris made what seemed to be an honest observation, but it was a fitting description. It was unclear who the mourning was for, but the clothing suggested it was appropriate to think so.
“Aah… is there someone there?”
The woman seated on the throne addressed us with a voice that was beautiful yet somehow sent shivers down my spine. Could she be someone we could communicate with? If so, it would be perfect if some negotiations were possible…
“No, I understand. You’ve come chasing after me, haven’t you? Sent by that dreadful Duke of Lichtenburg.”
“Lichtenburg… you say?”
It appeared we were mistaken for being under the command of someone from Lichtenburg, possibly a duke or a marquis. This misunderstanding needed to be cleared, but the name Lichtenburg did ring a bell. The name of the country where the city of Firth was located was the Kingdom of Lichtenburg.
(TN: the reason he said duke or marquis is because they’re pronounced the same way in Japanese. Koshaku.)
While it’s common for the names of a country and its ruling dynasty to be different, the Kingdom of Lichtenburg was ruled by the Lichtenburg dynasty if memory serves me right. The middle name…was it George Lichtenburg, or perhaps Georg? I only vaguely remember it because I just saw it on the bulletin board.
The difference is merely between the English and German pronunciations, so both could be correct. What matters is her reference to the “king” of Lichtenburg. Both a duke and marquis hold high noble ranks, but they are not kings. Yet she spoke as if they were ruling the kingdom… What could have happened? It can’t be anything good.
“Ah… there seems to be a misunderstanding, young lady. We have no affiliations with this Lichtenburg…”
“Ooh, how scary… how scary…! Protect me, Claude!”
The woman didn’t seem to care about my attempts at clarification at all and clung to the other throne in terror. Then we noticed something surprising: what we thought was an empty throne was now occupied by a skull, covered in cracks and wounds.
“Ogo…Ze…No, Maba…Gii…”
As the skull seemed to grind its teeth and utter incoherent words, a substance resembling death ash began to trickle from its eye sockets. When the substance reached the ground, it began to move as if by its own will before it piled up and headed for the back of the throne.
Even without understanding the full extent of what was happening, it was clear that this was no ordinary event. However, what followed was beyond my wildest imagination. The death ash-like substance returned from behind the throne and brought something with it. The problem was what it was bringing back.
“Those are… bones, right? But…”
“They’re too big…”
The object caught by the substance was a bone of enormous size. Thanks to my avatar, I was no stranger to bones, and I could tell that this was probably a femur. Could it be about two meters long? It wasn’t as large as the bones of the Titus, Lysandros, or Carolus that we had encountered before, but it clearly belonged to a creature of huge size.
Similarly, huge bones were rolled in. Among them were a skull that seemed capable of swallowing someone like Ruby in one gulp, rib bones that resembled large bows, and a pelvis the size of a desk. When put together, they seemed to form a figure approaching ten meters in height.
“No, no, what’s being carried along with them is even more dangerous!”
“It’s helmets… but you can slightly see inside through the damaged parts.”
“Eww…”
Along with the large bones, helmets of normal size but containing something inside were clattered in. Despite the heavy damage, the helmets bore the same design as the one of the stone statues on either side of the door. They were undoubtedly the helmets of the Septen Duchy’s Royal Guards. I guess that they belonged to the headless royal guards that wandered outside.
Why such items had come here was a mystery. However, an unpleasant premonition was steadily growing.
“Is that a weapon? It’s huge, man!”
“Hey, a sword and a halberd… Could it be a style of fighting with two different weapons? Very interesting.”
The last items brought in were also weapons of considerable size. As Genjuro mentioned, there was a straight sword and a halberd. Both of them exceeded my height, but considering the size of the bones that had been collected, it seemed plausible that they could be wielded with one hand each.
Perhaps it was the special dual-wielding style that Genjuro often used. As time passed, the ashes of death seemed to have expelled everything it contained as there were no more additions and nothing new was brought forth.
“Oo…ooaaahhh!”
The first skull the woman had lifted let out a dull roar. Then the skull sank into the ashes, disappearing from view, and all the objects that had been brought together merged into one.
What appeared was, as anticipated, a huge skeleton. And its height, as expected, was about ten meters. It held a halberd in its right hand and a sword in its left, while a constant stream of death ash fell like sand from its mouth and all its joints.
If it were just a huge skeleton, neither I nor my companions, who were used to such sights, would find it particularly scary. However, this creature scared me more than any monster we had encountered before. The reason for this was its grotesque nature, namely the severed heads with helmets that were tightly packed into the skull and ribcage.
A large number of helmets protruded out from its half-open mouth, and the grating sound of the helmets rubbing against each other could be heard strangely loud every time it moved. The flowing death ash resembled a thin cloak which added a sense of fear and dignity to the atmosphere at the same time.
――――――――――
Name: Catherine Septen
Race: Undead Queen Lv52
Job: Queen Lv2
Skills:
- [Intelligence Enhancement]
- [Spirit Enhancement]
- [Staff Mastery]
- [Dark Magic]
- [Command]
- [Status Immunity]
- [Death Cannot Do Us Apart]
- [Queen’s Majesty]
- [Undead Queen’s Cursed Domain]
Name: Claude Jordan
Race: Cursed Skeleton Royal Guard Commander Lv100
Job: Royal Guard Commander Lv10
Skills:
- [Super Health Enhancement]
- [Super Strength Enhancement]
- [Super Defense Enhancement]
- [Super Dexterity Enhancement]
- [Guardian Sword Mastery]
- [Guardian Spear Axe Mastery]
- [???]
- [???]
- [???]
- [???
- [???]
- [???]
- [???]
- [???]
- [Light Weakness]
- [???]
- [Undying Loyalty]
- [Death Cannot Do Us Apart]
- [???]
――――――――――
“Ha?!”
“Le-Level 100…?!”
The woman in mourning clothes, Catherine Septen, seemed to have limited fighting power. At our current level, any one of us could defeat her, and she seemed considerably weaker than other monsters in the same level 50 range. Two of her skills, [Queen’s Majesty] and [Undead Queen’s Cursed Domain] as well as the joint skill [Death Cannot Do Us Apart] demanded our attention. However, her true power seemed to be lacking.
But Claude Jourdan was a different story. Frighteningly powerful. Level 100, you say? This was more than just a stronger opponent. The fact that most of the [Appraisal] results were hidden and unreadable meant a huge gap in our abilities. Direct confrontation was out of the question!
“Is this… an impossible game?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! This is exactly what we want!”
“Exactly. The greater the foe, the more glorious the moment of battle!”
While many of our companions hesitated upon hearing of an opponent at level 100, Jigoro and Genjuro charged in with enthusiasm. It seemed that the stronger the enemy, the happier they were.
Leaving them to their fate wasn’t an option for the rest of us. Well then, so be it!
“Follow them! We have no choice but to fight now! Eiji! Karl!”
“Boooooooooo! Here we go!”
“Guoooooooooon!”
Jigoro deftly dodged the sword, swinging with a speed one would not expect from such a massive figure, while Genjuro deftly parried the blows of the halberd that were too fast for my eyes to follow as he pressed forward. Their skill was, as always, profoundly remarkable.
While the two of them engaged the enemy, another pair, known for its high defensive capabilities, stepped forward. Eiji intercepted the halberd while Karl used his tail to block the sword.
“Buuuuuugaaaaaaaaa?!”
“Gugyaaaoooooo?!”
Eiji who was still clutching his shield was blasted away like a cannonball, while Karl spun downward in a tight spiral with the scale fragments of his tail flying like shrapnel. That such heavyweights and power fighters could be so effortlessly dispatched… such was the sheer power of someone with level 100!
Nenashi extended his vines, and aught Eiji while Mikelo who was floating nearby caught Karl. Had they not reacted quickly, Eiji might have managed, but Karl could have been seriously injured right at the beginning of the battle.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, thank you, Nenashi-san.”
“No need for thanks~~degozaru!”
“Grrrrrr…”
“Your fighting spirit is blazing. As expected of Isam-sama’s familiar.”
Neither Eiji nor Karl seemed to have any trouble fighting. Eiji quickly got to his feet and returned to the fight, while Cal flew and circled above Claude’s head in a threatening manner.
The command of the vanguard was taken by Usaji as usual, although they seemed to be struggling against the enemy. The attacks of Jigoro and the Genjuro landed, but they didn’t seem to be very effective. Nenashi’s attempts to restrain it were almost in vain; the creature would stop for a moment, only to tear through the vines in an instant.
Eiji was having a particularly hard time. While he was skilled enough to deflect attacks with his shield, a slight miscalculation in angle would disrupt his stance. It was clear that supporting the front alone was too much for him; Genjuro and the pair of Hanna and Roja had to step in with their weapons to fend off attacks.
We, the rearguard, did not stand idly by. We repeated our long-range attacks and supported with magic, throwable items, arrows, and enchantments. The only weakness I could discern from “Appraisal” was a [Light Weakness], but the death ash that enveloped the enemy acted as armor, reducing the effects of our attacks. The creature had its own means of countering its weaknesses, which was admirable but frustrating.
“The damage is overwhelmingly insufficient. It seems truly difficult to win by fighting head-on. It’s your turn now, Ruby.”
“My turn?”
Ruby looked puzzled at my words. She had temporarily fallen back to the rear to receive potions and other supplies that were running low from Shiitake.
Facing such an overwhelming enemy, we were in a dire situation that required a major turning point to break the stalemate. This was the strategy I had in mind. I told Ruby the plan in a hushed tone.
“I understand. I’ll give it a try.”
“You may fail, but please, just don’t die on us.”
“We can’t afford to lose even one of us!”
With those words, Ruby returned to the vanguard. The next challenge was to create an opening. It was difficult to decide what would be effective, but perhaps we could take advantage of the fact that the enemy was a Royal Guard.
“Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Stone Wall.”
“Eh?”
“!”
I cast the Stone Wall spell and created a barrier between Catherine and Claude. Catherine could only utter a stunned gasp, but Claude’s reaction was immediate. Ignoring Jigorou and the others in front of him, Claude swung his sword at the stone wall.
The Stone Wall that wasn’t even strengthened by spell adjustment was split with a single swing. However, this action created a critically dangerous opening.
“Don’t look down on me!”
“Even if you’re a guardian, turning your back is a bad judgment.”
Determined to settle their score with the giant Skeleton, Jigoro and his Genjuro launched a fierce attack. Although the damage was minimal due to the enemy’s high natural defense, it was obvious that its health was dwindling. It seems that this Claude guy really does not want his princess to be attacked. If that’s the case, it’s perfect for us.
“I’m scared, Claude!”
“Hey, how about you try fighting a bit on your own?”
“Ah…?!”
The moment Claude’s attention returned to Jigoro and the Genjuro was the moment we had been waiting for. Ruby, as planned, moved stealthily from behind and charged at Catherine.
Leave a Reply to MrTrixer Cancel reply