Rosaria had only just confirmed Theo’s survival and felt relief when she was faced with an awkward request.
“Are you really going to urinate in that?”
Canon looked at her with a face that showed complete disbelief.
Urinating into a skull bowl in the middle of a dungeon where monsters roamed and not even in a proper toilet. It was an act that didn’t suit a noble lady of her status in the slightest.
Even as her maid, it was something Canon found extremely difficult to accept.
“This Bone Dragon won’t go down with ordinary attacks. There’s no other way.”
“Then let’s just go get water from the carriage.”
“By the time we do that, it’ll be too late.”
“If I run, I can be back within ten minutes—”
“Would you really leave me behind?”
Without her guard, Rosaria would be defenseless.
Leaving her in a castle with a Bone Dragon roaming around…no one would be surprised if she died while they were gone.
And so—
“I have no choice but to pee here.”
Rosaria set down the skeleton’s skull and squatted.
It was to make holy water.
After making absolutely sure she was out of sight, she lowered her underwear and steeled her resolve.
Trickle…
A clear liquid began to flow, gradually filling the skull bowl.
A strange mix of relief from relieving herself and deep embarrassment washed over her.
It felt like she had broken some sacred taboo.
Rosaria finished her business, feeling a thrill similar to when she used to sneak out behind her strict father’s back as a child.
Next, she held the skull firmly to keep it from spilling and began to chant an incantation.
Magic seeped into the golden liquid, and a holy light began to spread.
The holy water was complete.
“All that’s left is to deliver this…”
Rosaria cautiously peeked out from behind the pillar.
It was a chaotic battle with no room to catch a breath.
It seemed impossible to deliver the skull bowl under such conditions.
“Please leave it to me.”
Canon stepped forward.
Having trained in combat alongside her maid duties, she was more than capable.
She would be able to charge into the heart of that chaotic battlefield and safely deliver the holy water.
***
“Sir Theo, the holy water is ready!”
At Rosaria’s shout, I turned to see Canon standing beside me, holding the skull.
That must be the holy water made from urine.
I had made yet another ridiculous request from her.
I left the fight to Rox for a moment and retreated.
At a halfway point, I received the skull from Canon.
“There’s no more holy water to spare. Don’t fail.”
Whether it was because her bladder was already empty or because she simply had no intention of helping even if it were full, she gave a cold, definitive warning.
In any case, everything was ready.
In my hand was the urine—no, the holy water—upon which the fate of a grand revenge depended.
I absolutely could not spill it.
“Rox, hold out for five more seconds!”
“Got it!”
Though he had already been battered and worn from the long battle, his spirit remained unbroken.
He struck the dragon’s side with his hammer, squeezing out the last of his strength.
The ribs shattered, but the magic circle on the floor glowed, restoring the wound.
The Elder Lich let out a sneering laugh.
With one hand casting a healing spell, he sat on his throne, watching the battle as if it were mere entertainment.
“So you’re letting your summon do all the work while you sit back and enjoy the spoils, huh?”
If only the bone dragon were gone, there’d be nothing left to stand in the way.
I quickly closed the distance, using the broken pillar’s fragments as stepping stones to leap forward.
Carefully, so as not to spill even a single drop of the precious holy water, I hurled the skull bowl at the bone dragon.
“Take this!”
Golden liquid splashed across its forehead.
Along with the shattered skull fragments, the holy water scattered in all directions.
Crack!
Black smoke rose as cracks formed in the crystal.
“Sir Theo did it!”
Rosaria cheered.
The bone dragon let out a monstrous cry and collapsed.
Then it turned black as it burned, crumbled to ashes, and scattered like dust in the wind.
“No way! The triple-layered protection spell was broken?!”
The Elder Lich sprang up from his throne in disbelief.
“Lady Rosaria is a candidate for sainthood. She’s a natural enemy to the undead.”
No skeleton soldiers, no death knights, and no bone dragon remained.
Only the Elder Lich was left.
The end was near.
“Return my body. Do that, and I will not hold your betrayal against you.”
Perhaps because he had once been a knight, Crowin remained merciful.
If it were me, I wouldn’t have been so forgiving.
“Silence! Don’t get cocky just because you took down my summon!”
As the Elder Lich extended his hand, a chilling mist began to swirl.
At the center, a chunk of ice formed and shot toward Crowin.
A block of ice flew through the air.
But Rox’s hammer shattered it to pieces.
“A skull that doesn’t know how to repent.”
The Elder Lich immediately created another chunk of ice.
Rox either dodged them or smashed them with his hammer as he closed the distance to the lich.
Then, in front of the throne, he transformed his hammer into a sword.
Without giving the lich a chance to evade, Rox severed the Elder Lich’s right arm, sending it flying through the air.
“Gah, you brat…!”
The lich tried to raise his left arm without backing down, but at this range, he couldn’t counterattack.
Rox sliced off his left arm.
“When someone offers you mercy, you should accept it.”
Next was the left leg. Then the right leg.
And finally, he cut off the lich’s head, dismembering him completely.
Even so, the Elder Lich did not die.
“I could have opened the gates of the underworld…”
He muttered bitterly. His jawbone quivered with resentment.
Crowin approached the pitiful skeleton that was now indistinguishable from a common skeleton soldier.
“A long time ago, there was someone who managed to do just that.”
He lowered himself to eye level and began to speak.
“That man believed he could rule the world. He said that if he turned all the dead into allies, his era would come. But… it didn’t happen.”
A bitter smile appeared on Crowin’s lips.
“This land belongs to the living. There’s no stage for those who’ve died once. It’s an ambition too grand for the undead.”
For some reason, it sounded like he was telling the story to himself.
It was a regretful lament.
“…No. It’s because I was weak.”
The Elder Lich remained unchanged to the very end.
“You failed because you were weak. It wasn’t an impossible dream! And yet you waste your time siding with humans and chatting away… You’re a disgrace to the undead!”
Far from being moved, he shouted in fury.
Even Rox seemed fed up with the sight.
“Sir Crowin, you can’t fix people…or skeletons. Please, just let him go now.”
He probably saw himself in the subordinate who had betrayed him, and that’s why he’d tried to forgive.
Even so, there were limits.
If he showed any more mercy here, it was clear the same mistakes would only be repeated, not redeemed.
“If nothing else, I’ll send him off with my own blood.”
Blood began to pour from Crowin’s neck.
It dripped down and pooled into a wet, sticky puddle on the floor.
“I’ve placed a curse to nullify his immortality. Stain your blade with this blood and strike him down.”
At his master’s command, Rox did exactly as he was told.
He dipped his blade into the blood flowing from Crowin’s neck, then placed the edge of the sword on the Elder Lich’s crown.
“I’ll end this here. For the sake of my parents.”
The enemy who had invaded their village to steal the Dullahan’s body.
Rox had waited a long time for this moment.
“Haha! So you’re the survivor from that village. I was wondering who you were. How admirable, chasing me for ten years!”
“Yeah. I fought, gathered information, and even did business to make money when I had to. It’s been a fulfilling life.”
Everything had been for today.
He had run this whole way without any guarantee that his efforts would bear fruit.
“Living for revenge alone….how pitiful! That won’t bring your family back! Shall I revive them as undead, if their souls still linger in the underworld? Hahaha!”
Rox clenched his teeth.
The sword turned back into a hammer—
Smash!
The Elder Lich’s skull was completely obliterated, crushed beyond recognition.
Still holding the hammer in his finishing stance, Rox panted heavily.
I gently patted his shoulder.
“Well done.”
Crowin might have thought differently, but in this world, there were some beings who didn’t deserve mercy.
After everything was over, perhaps it would all feel meaningless.
But that was a good thing.
Because at least it was better than failing at revenge.
“Hyup.”
Rox turned the hammer back into a sword and slung it over his back.
Was he thinking the same thing?
The serious mood from just moments ago had vanished. It was replaced by a surprisingly refreshed expression.
“Let’s go home.”
***
Surprisingly, the zombies continued to move even after the Elder Lich was dead.
With their summoner gone, they were now free but had nowhere to go.
Even if they made it to the surface, they would just be hunted by humans.
So the docile, non-aggressive ones remained in the City of the Dead.
Kindly enough, they even waved at us as we left the castle.
“It feels strange to have a body again after so long.”
A forest near a nameless village.
Crowin rotated his arms as if loosening his shoulders after stepping down from the carriage.
Full plate armor covering his entire body.
We’d only ever seen his head until now, so we hadn’t realized, but he actually looked quite impressive.
“Unlike you, I can’t go where humans live. I’ll have to say goodbye here.”
He could no longer hide inside a box.
If a Dullahan appeared, people would be terrified.
That was why we had decided to part ways near the village.
“What will you two do now?”
“I plan to keep working as a traveling merchant. It’s what I’ve been doing anyway, and there are still places I want to visit.”
Rox glanced briefly at Crowin.
Judging by the look in his eyes, it seemed like something he had planned for a while.
“Where are you thinking of going?”
“Another continent. I heard there’s a village somewhere where humans and monsters live together.”
“Then you’ll need to take a ship.”
“Loaded up with local specialties, you know. I might even make a decent profit from it.”
Coexistence.
It’s a dream hard to realize in this country, but it seems hope still remains.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise to hand over the treasure.”
Crowin apologized.
The City of the Dead had once been his dwelling place.
So he thought there would still be some treasure left, but reality was different.
There was a warehouse, yes. But it was filled with nothing but useless, discarded magic stones.
It seemed he had exhausted the treasures to open the gates of the underworld.
However, it wasn’t a complete loss.
“This is enough for me.”
I took out a bracelet from my pouch.
It was a magical item worn by the Elder Lich.
It could concentrate magical power even without a staff or wand.
Not suitable for Fran to use, but its rarity was undeniable.
It was exactly the kind of reward I’d wanted.
“Oh, sorry, but could I ask you one more favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“Could you share a bit of your blood?”
I pulled out a glass bottle.
It was the container I had used for holy water.
“My blood, you mean?”
“Dullahan blood is hard to come by. I think a witch friend of mine would really like it.”
“Fufu, if it’s for something like that, I’ll gladly give you some.”
Crowin took the bottle, filled it with his own blood, and handed it back to me.
“Let’s meet again sometime!”
At the moment of farewell, Rox gave his final goodbye.
It didn’t seem like he would be heading to another continent anytime soon, but finding him wouldn’t be difficult.
He just had to go to the village where the Dullahan lived.
“Sir Theo, were you close with the witch?”
“Yes, she’s my childhood friend. A witch who runs a magic item shop.”
“Childhood friend…”
Rosaria trailed off, then clenched her fists tightly.
“I-I won’t lose!”
“Huh?”
“I’ll stay by your side, Sir Theo! I’ll definitely make you mine!”
She shouted that with blazing eyes.
Behind her, Canon was shaking her head in disbelief.
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