The Necromancer of the Mine (4)
Whoosh!
The torch Dunkel lit illuminated the dark mining tunnel.
Bloodstains and claw marks covered the walls everywhere.
The mine that had once supported the nearby villages had now become no different from a dungeon.
"I smell corpses."
"Yeah. Living corpses, at that."
As I answered, Dunkel moved to the front.
According to the map of the mine the village chief had given us, the path from the entrance was a single straight tunnel.
Further ahead, it branched out from a large central chamber.
Then, voices echoed from deep within the cave.
"Young master."
"Not just one or two, either."
As I spoke, I gathered demonic energy into my hand.
Most of the souls scattered throughout the mine were trapped inside zombies.
But after hearing haunting cries from every direction, I opened a summoning gate without hesitation.
[Answer my call. I grant you bodies with which to crush your enemies.]
The moment the short incantation ended, skeletons emerged from three summoning gates.
They looked furious enough to charge forward immediately.
The souls sacrificed within this mine.
"You're fighting undead with undead..."
"It's the most efficient method. Every enemy we defeat can become an ally."
Even after hearing that, Dunkel's uneasy expression did not ease.
"You said you'd trust me. Then trust me to the end."
After saying that to Dunkel, I ordered the three skeletons to take the lead.
Clank! Clank!
The skeletons formed tower shields that covered their upper bodies.
As if the zombies had heard their footsteps, grotesque cries gradually drew closer.
"Kiiiii..."
"Grrrraaaah...!"
Five of them.
The moment I confirmed the shambling zombies approaching us, I gave the skeletons their order.
"Charge."
At my command, the shield-bearing skeletons rushed forward all at once.
"S-Skeletons are charging...?!"
"Dalton's mercenaries said the same thing. Is that really so shocking?"
While answering the wide-eyed Dunkel, the skeletons slammed their shields mercilessly into the zombies.
Crunch!
"Kieeeek—!"
"Graaaah—!"
The shrieks of zombies and skeletons clashed together.
And from deeper within the mine, more zombie cries echoed back.
"Judging by the sound, approximately forty entities. We are heavily outnumbered."
"Including the ones we just smashed, that makes forty-five against five?"
Shrugging casually, I approached a zombie crawling with shattered legs and stretched out my hand.
Crackle—!
Black demonic energy seeped from my hand into the zombie's body, and blue flames wrapped around it just like before.
"Normally, I'd simply let you pass on peacefully, but circumstances don't allow it."
As I spoke to the blue spirits rising from the zombie corpses, they nodded as though they understood.
"We need to save the others who were brought here with you. I'm sorry, but I need your cooperation."
After saying that, I formed another hand seal and created five additional summoning gates.
"Young master... don't tell me...?"
"We convert subdued undead into allies. It's a basic tactic in battles between necromancers."
Even while answering Dunkel's astonishment, my hands continued drawing seals and runic characters.
Rumble...!
Alongside the original three skeletons leading the charge, five more rose to reinforce their formation.
"That makes forty against ten. A four-to-one difference. Manageable enough."
After saying that, I ordered them toward the central chamber.
"Dunkel, run!"
"Yes!"
Eight skeletons crushed the zombies blocking our way.
Following behind them deeper into the mine, I soon spotted a faint light ahead.
"Torches."
"Which means there's more than undead inside."
As I said that, one of the skeletons smashed through the four zombies guarding the entrance and burst straight into the chamber.
KWA-BOOM!
"To think low-grade undead like skeletons could move like this...!"
Dunkel stared in shock.
The skeletons moved in perfect synchronization as though they were a single being, constantly shifting formations in real time.
Compared to the villagers fighting zombies earlier, their movements were incomparably more refined.
Clatter—!
Eight shields interlocked, forming a hemispherical barricade.
Passing through the safe zone created by the skeletons, we entered the chamber and finally saw the mine in full view.
"T-This is...!"
"Far worse than I imagined. That bastard necromancer."
Saws, hammers, and countless tools and surgical instruments.
The necromancer's workshop, built over the course of two months, lined both walls with rows of "test subjects."
"Aah... aaaaah..."
"Kill me... please kill me..."
Only now could we clearly hear the screams that had previously been drowned out by the zombies' shrieks.
The voices came from the necromancer's "subjects" hanging on the walls.
Their stomachs had been cut open, yet they were somehow still alive.
"Young master... what in the world is this...?!"
"To create powerful thralls through necromancy, you need high-quality bodies."
I spat the words out while surveying the horrific sights hanging around us.
Someone had lost an arm.
Another had lost a leg.
One was missing a heart.
Another, their organs.
Every single subject hanging from the walls was alive despite having vital body parts removed.
"Oh my. I didn't expect you to find this place so quickly~"
A voice slithered through the cave like a serpent crawling across stone.
Turning my head, I saw a red-haired woman slowly emerging from one of the tunnels.
"And to think it's a fellow practitioner of necromancy. What a delightful surprise."
"Fellow practitioner?"
"Oh dear, how rude of me. Perhaps that sounded unpleasant to the young master of Leinrant?"
Smiling toward me, the red-haired woman lifted the hem of her robe as though curtseying in a grand dress.
Her exaggerated movements looked almost theatrical, as though mocking the fact that I had walked into this place myself.
"I am the necromancer, Pale."
An imperial-style greeting, the insignia of the Imperial Army, and the robe she wore.
The moment I sensed the mana woven into the fabric, suspicion turned into certainty.
"You enchanted that robe. Only the Imperial Guard is permitted equipment like that."
Infusing soft materials with mana instead of metal armor was an exclusive specialty of the Empire.
That confirmed it.
The necromancer Pale belonged to the Empire.
"Oh my, sharp eyes."
Pale's eyes narrowed at my observation.
A sinister light flickered faintly within her pupils.
Killing intent.
"Look at those eyes. Must've been sensitive information."
"Very sensitive. Absolutely no one can know I'm from the Empire."
At Pale's answer, Dunkel barked angrily,
"Why would the Empire do something like this?!"
"Something like this?"
Pale tilted her head innocently as though she truly didn't understand.
Dunkel's expression darkened even further.
"You turned Northerners into undead, and that still wasn't enough? You committed atrocities like this too?!"
As he shouted, Dunkel pointed toward the mutilated test subjects hanging on the walls.
"Why in the world is the Empire targeting the North...?!"
"Ahh, so that's what you were talking about."
But the only response Dunkel received was a lazy sneer.
"Weak things get played with. What other reason would there be?"
Her tone was casual, as though she were commenting on the weather.
"W-What...?"
While mocking the speechless Dunkel, Pale slowly raised her hand.
THUD—!
Heavy footsteps echoed through the cavern.
This was on an entirely different level from the zombies we had heard until now.
"That sound..."
As the corpses and experiments scattered throughout the cavern flashed through my mind, Pale's voice followed.
"You know what it is, don't you, Young Master Klein?"
As expected, she had been watching through the zombies.
With an ecstatic expression, as though admiring her masterpiece, Pale spoke proudly.
"My greatest creation is about to make its debut~!"
The moment Pale finished speaking, a monstrous roar shook the entire cave.
"GWOOOOOOOOOOO—!"
Together with dozens of undead, a monster burst into view.
"Now that you know I'm from the Empire, I can't let either of you leave alive."
Pale's voice dripped with intoxicated triumph.
A gigantic body over five meters tall.
Immense strength capable of ripping up entire minecart rails and wielding them as clubs.
And dozens of eyes embedded across its face.
"This is insane...!"
Dunkel widened his eyes as the creature strode toward us.
"Go on, Cyclops! Crush every last one of them!"
At her command, the five-meter giant and the undead charged all at once.
"With this, the bloodline of Leinrant will become my next experiment...!"
"You think I'll let you?"
The greed in Pale's eyes shone openly now that she had revealed her true intentions.
Cutting off her excited rambling, I shouted,
"Dunkel!"
"Yes!"
But Dunkel was still a knight commander-level warrior.
He instantly stepped forward and infused his sword with mana before slashing upward at the Cyclops.
KWA-BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted, forcing the Cyclops several steps backward.
"Oh my?"
Explosive Swordsmanship.
Dunkel's signature technique, which condensed mana into a single point before detonating it into a shockwave.
Seeing it unfold before her eyes, even Pale frowned in surprise.
"He may look mild, but he's the commander of the Crimson Carriage Knights."
"The Crimson Carriage...? Don't tell me, Duke Douglas's...!"
Unease flickered across Pale's face.
The instant I noticed it, I grinned mockingly at her.
"A third-rate necromancer like you? He could kill you with his eyes closed!"
Crunch!
The thin layer of composure surrounding Pale shattered from that single sentence.
Knight commander level.
Just remembering the weight carried by that title made Pale grit her teeth and issue orders to the undead.
"All of you, charge! Overwhelm them with numbers and tear off all their limbs!"
The undead surged forward at Pale's command.
BOOM! KABOOM!
Dunkel relentlessly pressured the Cyclops with continuous shockwaves.
After confirming the undead rushing toward him, I gripped one of the stakes I had crafted back in the village.
"The Church's Sun Cross? What is that supposed to...?"
A small blackened stake.
The moment Pale saw it, her face twisted into a frown.
"You don't know what a Black Stake is? Then you seriously need to relearn necromancy from the beginning."
THUNK!
With a short sneer, I slammed the black stake into the ground.
The origin of what the Church referred to as holy relics, sacred icons, and holy water.
An object created by combining three materials symbolizing body, form, and soul.
As I poured demonic energy into the black stake, I smiled at Pale.
"You're completely fucked, you piece of trash."
The moment I said that, the stake embedded in the ground shot upward and exploded.
BWOOOOONG—!
The black stake crumbled into ash and vanished as an enormous pressure wave shook the entire mine.
RUMBLEEEEE—!
KRAAAAAASH—!
The sound was so violent that entire sections of the mine collapsed under the tremors.
"Cough! So it was just a shockwave? You think something like this can stop my undead—!"
Pale forced herself upright while speaking—
then froze.
"...Huh?"
The dozens of undead she had summoned had vanished without a trace.
THUD—!
Not just the hundreds of zombies.
Even the skeletons I had summoned among them.
Even the Cyclops obeying Pale's commands.
The souls were ripped out from every undead body, and the empty husks turned white before scattering into dust.
"W-What...? How...?"
"Feels like you should be worrying about something else right now."
I interrupted Pale's dazed muttering.
Still staring blankly at me, Pale suddenly found Dunkel's sword pressed against her throat.
"From this moment onward, your person is detained under the authority of Leinrant Ducal House. Any resistance will—"
"Interrogation? You think I'll submit quietly?"
Cutting off Dunkel, Pale bit down on something hidden inside her mouth.
Crack!
"Damn it, poison in her mouth...!"
Dunkel hurriedly grabbed her jaw, but it was already too late.
Black blood spilled from Pale's lips as she laughed at both of us.
"Go ahead... dig all you want. You'll never... learn anyth—!"
Her breath stopped there.
"Damn it!"
BANG!
Fury filling his face, Dunkel slammed his fist into the ground while glaring at her lifeless corpse.
Like a lizard severing its tail, it was a perfectly executed cleanup.
The Empire had clearly trained her thoroughly.
"At this point, we're back to square one. Even if we bring back her robes and insignia..."
"They'll just claim they were stolen, forged, or captured. They can make up endless excuses."
As I answered Dunkel, I looked down at Pale's limp corpse.
"She thought that once she died, we'd never learn anything. She probably assumed that even if necromancy was used on her, she'd only become a mindless zombie."
Though my voice remained flat, a bright smile spread across my face.
"That's why I told you."
I bit my finger, drawing blood.
Mixed with black demonic energy, the blood glowed crimson as it formed a Gate of Return and a Binding Seal.
"You really need to relearn necromancy."
The red magic circle slowly expanded beneath Pale's corpse.
"Because necromancy isn't limited to creating zombies."