abcnovels
Chapter 129
Chapter 129
Chapter 129
The war had begun.
Skeleton troops led by the former Empire's sword master and current Ancient Undead 'Manus' were rushing into Prince's mansion.
Prince's zombies, who dominated Death Land, couldn't help but struggle. The losses from the battle against Pier earlier accounted for some of that, but there was a much bigger problem at hand.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Manus' side had a new undead entity at the front lines. The 'Meat Golem', Javiers masterpiece.
It had short legs and its torso bulged out like a roly-poly, a small head sitting on top of it.
Its most distinct feature was that the whole body was covered with a solid, bouncy biological shell.
[Guhhhhhhhh!]
[Bwoooooh!]
The zombies couldnt scratch or bite through that shell, and not for a lack of trying.
The meat golems trampled the zombies and swung their long arms. The dense formation only made them easier targets as hordes flew away like toys every punch.
There were a total of 16 meat golems. With this many giant monsters pushing through the front lines, it was impossible to fight them with zombies alone.
[Dammit!]
Prince watched the scene through a window in the mansion, gnashing his teeth.
That modified meat golem simplified all other functions and focused on strengthening the shell. In fact, it was an undead entity born only to deal with zombies.
He didn't know whose work it was, but he was irritated.
[Guwoooooooh.]
[I know that already!]
After lashing out at the zombie, Prince strode forward and looked at his main body sitting on the throne.
It was a withered corpse with a crown on its head.
Prince was also wearing a crown, but this was just an imitation of his abilities. The crown on the main body emitted a brilliant light as if to prove it was the real thing.
'I can never hand over the crown.'
Prince turned to his zombie subordinates.
[Simon will arrive soon. When he arrives, bind him in chains and chuck him in the underground prison. He wont be able to act foolishly. He still thinks the girl is being held hostage.]
[Guhhhhh.]
Click.
Prince opened the window he was looking out of.
He gave his main body one last look before flinging himself out of the mansion.
* * *
Swoosh.
Manus looked down at the battlefield.
It was satisfying. Although his allies were behind in headcount, the war was in his favor as long as he had the meat golems, which were impervious to zombie attacks.
'Still, the zombies aggression is threatening.'
In fact, a horde of zombies was trying to squeeze into a gap between two golems.
Manus slowly walked to that side and brought his hands to the sword at his waist.
Shiing!
The moment Manus drew his sword, a single slash of his passed through the zombies.
That was all. With the horrific sound of flesh getting sliced, blood spurted out in all directions and the zombies collapsed to the ground, severed at the waist.
Clap clap clap!
"Whew, as expected! As expected!"
"Brilliantly done, Sir Manus!"
Behind Manus, two of Javier's men clapped their hands and browned their noses.
[The war has begun, where is Javier?]
"Looks like theres been a small complication!"
"But he'll be back soon!"
[Hmph.]
Manus never really liked Javier, but he had no choice but to acknowledge his skill.
It was Javier who developed the meat golems and figured out how to pass through Prince's barrier. The timing for the invasion of the mansion was also excellent.
He aimed precisely where Prince was unsettled.
Grab!
Manus tore at his face.
[Whats happened to you, Javier?]
Javier's whole body was drained like a mummy. He quietly chanted an incantation.
{Life Drain}
The subordinates screamed and struggled when the magic circle on his palm was activated. Soon, their bodies gradually withered like mummies and Javier returned to his original form.
"Burrrp! Phew, that's the good stuff."
As Javier shook out his hands, the two mummies fell to the ground.
[Did you really have to absorb all their life forces? They are your subordinates.]
Asked Manus disapprovingly.
"I actually brought them around, giving them salaries with this in mind."
When he hit the ground with the staff in his hand, the two men's skins cracked open, and skeletons came out from within.
As if it were obvious, Javier opened his subspace and deposited the skeletons.
[Hm.]
It wasn't a very nice sight, even for Manus, who was undead.
"Sorry for being late. I got disturbed by a strange guy, you see."
Said Javier as he brushed off the dust from his clothes.
[Nothing would have changed. But please focus on the war from now on.]
"No problem. How's the situation?"
[It's going just as we expected.]
Moving Prince's main body to another location takes a lot of time and effort.
The zombie prince would most likely fight till the end to protect the mansion, so it was their victory if they could enter the mansion, pushing the zombies away.
"Of course, there's no way the zombie prince would just sit there and watch."
After squinting his eyes and scanning the battlefield, Javier said,
"Hohoho, there he comes!"
* * *
* * *
Prince arrived on the battlefield.
Even before arriving on the battlefield, his targets were decided.
The meat golems.
He had to defeat them all no matter what to have even a chance to win.
[Haaaaaaah!]
Prince charged in and thrust his fist into the abdomen of the front-most golem.
Thuuuuuuuuuuump!
His fist sunk into the flesh, and the meat golem's belly wobbled like jello.
'Shock absorption?'
Thud!
He took the meat golem's counterattack. It didn't hurt, but it did make Prince angrier.
[How dare you, you filthy unrotting flesh!]
He changed targets immediately. This time he climbed up the golem's torso and aimed for its head. He quickly had it held between both his legs and twisted.
Crunch!
The meat golem let out a painful scream and Prince raised his fist.
Poow! Wham! Crush! Thud!
The meat golem's face was distorted and covered in blood from the ruthless attack. It staggered back a few steps before its enormous body fell to the ground.
[Now.]
Prince ordered the zombies to charge.
[Guwoooooooooooooh!]
[Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!]
The hordes of zombies that had been blocked by the meat golems finally burst through like a breaking dam and started attacking Manus' main troops of skeletons.
Prince felt like he could breathe a little bit on the battlefield now.
'Next.'
There were 15 meat golems left.
It was a mind-boggling amount, but he had to beat them all regardless.
Prince ran toward the second meat golem. He climbed up to its head again, dodging its attacks.
'I'll end you quickly.'
The moment he raised his fist
Shiing.
The sound of a swinging sword rang in his ears. Prince suddenly felt his vision going
Up?
He turned his eyes and looked down. He saw the battlefield entangled with zombies and meat golems, and most importantly, he saw his own body riding a meat golem.
His body had no neck.
[!]
The whole world turned gray, and his vision felt like it got sucked inside himself.
Prince woke up inside the mansion. He was back in his body.
'What? What just killed me?'
The ability of the Ancient Undead Prince.
He has up to nine regenerable 'lives'. He was able to recover one a week if he focused only on rest for the entire time.
One of those important lives had been lost in vain.
'Dammit!'
He had to return to the battlefield.
Prince stared out the window and turned one of the zombies on the battlefield into him.
zzzzzzzzzzz-PANG!
Darker than normal jet-black fell like lightning and wrapped around the zombie's body, soon turning it into Prince. After quickly returning to the battlefield, he raised his head.
He saw the meat golem and the zombie's bodyonce his own bodyfalling from it.
And a small distance from that location
Clack.
He saw a skeleton wearing a cloth with a red flower pattern on it putting his sword back into a sheath.
It was that bastard.
[Manus!!]
Prince rushed in out of fury. Manus also spotted him, grabbed the handle of his sword, and lowered his stance.
'It's fine. He can't cut me yet. I was just careless earlier and didn't cover myself in jet-black.'
At the same time as Manus' sword slash flew at him, Prince raised his arms in a guard.
Slaaaaaaaaaash!
[!]
A fountain of black blood flooded out from a large gash in his arms.
The wound was deep. Despite strengthening his arms with jet-black, they almost fell off.
[Are you surprised?]
Manus opened his mouth in a stance where he sent out a slash.
[In the battle decades ago, I couldn't cut you. After that defeat, I radically changed my ways.]
[You!]
Manus' blade was stained with jet-black.
[I stopped obsessing over the old swordsmanship, and I stopped trying to imitate auras with jet-black. I admitted it. That jet-black is superior to aura. I focused on maximizing the sword's cutting power with the jet-black's power. The outcome is the wound you're suffering right now.]
The flames in Manus' eye sockets flickered.
[Now, I can cut you.]
[Don't be so cocky just because you got one of my lives, you worthless piece of trash!!]
As Manus swung his sword, Prince once again took up a guard.
Slice.
But this time, a thin line appeared on his left forearm, and it fell off.
[Kuaaaaaaah!]
Despite losing one of his arms, Prince continued his charge.
It was faster for Prince to grab hold of Manus sword with his bare hand than it was for Manus to swing it again. His hand dripped with blood, but Prince pulled back his fist, trying to bring the sword with it.
But his hand didnt budge.
He didnt have the strength of his left arm after the previous attack.
It was a mistake Prince often made due to the nature of his ability to use the body of another entity.
[Your tactics havent changed in decades, huh?]
[You bastard!]
Prince opened his mouth and tried to bite Manus.
[Kuhugh!]
But this time, his whole body lost strength like a lie. Prince went down on one knee.
Behind him was a red magic circle that looked like it was drawn with blood, and a single rose had taken root in Prince's body and grown.
"Your body has a strong immunity to curses."
Prince looked back and his eyes widened.
"So I've been honing my hemomancy, and it's looking very successful."
[Javier!! You betrayed me!]
"Betrayed, you say? I was never on your side from the beginning. We were merely in a business relationship, weren't we?"
Javier curled open his hand with a sickening smile. The rose grew in size, further draining Prince's strength from his body.
[Javier!!!]
As Prince weakened, Manus pulled the sword from Princes tight grip, severing Princes fingers in the process.
[And now]
Manus' sword cut Prince's neck once more.
[there are seven]
Prince's world blurred, and his vision reversed. When he came to his senses, he was back in the main body at the mansion.
'Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!'
He needed time to think.
Prince didn't head straight to the battlefield this time but stormed down to the nearby zombies guarding his body. Slowly, his gray vision regained color.
'Dammit!! Seven left? It's actually six!'
It was painful to lose a precious life for nothing because of those Legion bastards.
'What should I do now? Can I destroy all the meat golems while avoiding those two? Even at the cost of all six lives?'
[Gwooooh.]
Reported a zombie who had come up to Prince. A deep frown formed on Princes face.
[Intruder? What are you talking about? I just came back from dealing with Manus! I'm pissed off, and you keep on!]
Baaaaaaaaaang!
Not even able to finish his words, the door to the room was smashed open.
Before the dust settled, all Prince could see was a figures legs walking forward.
Tap. Tap.
Seeing the figure of a man appearing from the thick dust, Prince's eyes went bloodshot.
"I know life is hard, but don't make that face, Prince."
Prince wondered if there was a time when the saying misfortunes never come singly was as apt as it was now.
Simon, wearing Pier's bone armor, was entering the room.
[Kugh!]
"Prince."
Simon smiled mischievously and pointed his greatsword at the zombie before him.
"How many lives do you have left now?"