The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness

Chapter 23: The Apparition

Impossible. Horus Carmon met his demise at Senri’s hands.

After exhausting all possible hands, and putting up a resistance by creating an Evil Dragon, he disappeared rather easily into the light.

And yet, it was beyond doubt Horus Carmon who was suspended in space. Pallid, his silhouette glowing ever so slightly, right from the staff that was supposed to have been reduced to ashes to the robe that disappeared along with him, it was Horus Carmon himself.

However, anyone who knew him would be able to tell that his presence was unbelievably weak.

I have never seen him float in the air for one.

The Lord crossed his arms and put on airs as he spoke. His voice sounded fainter than usual, but I was able to hear it just fine.

“To think my body would perish… But the fragment of my soul that I had stowed away is certainly proving to be useful…”

“…”

He is dying. I regained my composure, fixed my grip on the machete and assessed the current situation.

This must be the Lord’s final card. He certainly looked like he was using all of his power in the battle against Senri.

I do not know if he came back as a spirit or that is a part of his soul, but it is no more than a remnant of his original self.

How cautious necromancers are! How terrifying that he was able to completely deceive the experienced Senri and the other Death Knights.

Can I… win? The problem is whether he still has control over me. Should that still remain, I—.

No, I should win.

I calmly observed the Lord as I steeled my resolve.

Why else did I make use of the Death Knights to bring about his destruction if not for this?

I shall do it myself, I decided. I suppose fate wants me to put an end to this myself.

Fine, so it shall be.

I looked up at the Lord, eyes wide. The information that I heard about the ‘The King of the Undead’ from Senri earlier filled my thoughts.

The Lord’s speech and conduct until now. He referred to me as a vessel of ‘The King of the Undead’. Right! The vessel!

Even an imbecile would be able to make sense of the current situation. If what Senri said was true, the Lord’s objective is—.

“Lord!… You were alright.”

“End! I had implanted the last fragment of my soul in you. That was necessary for the ritual to succeed. It’s fortunate that you managed to survive.”

It… was in me. So, that is why he is still alive.

Judging from his behavior, it did not look like the Lord suspected me. It would seem he did not listen to the conversation between me and Senri.

Maybe he was asleep, gathering his strength until night fell. If so, I still have a chance.

“Wait a minute… then why did you try to use me against the battle with the Death Knights? You wouldn’t like me dead I should think?”

“? Looks like there’s been a misunderstanding. I never intended to use you, the vessel of the King of the Undead in the battle.”

“…”

That… was unexpected.

Now that I think about it, he had certainly never given me any such instructions. The very last order from him was for me to return to the hall, after which he might have intended to give me some sort of instructions that would help me conceal myself.

Not that it matters. My decision remains unchanged.

The Lord… has to die for sure this time.

“I shall conduct the ritual. The birth of the King of the Undead… hmph… there is something I’m concerned about. Things are going a little different from what I had in mind, but it can’t be helped… I am, but a remnant of my original self. Kekekek…”

The Lord daringly laughs even at this juncture. I breathed in deeply. I am afraid I only have one chance at this.

In the dead of the night, audaciously suspended in air, the Lord arrogantly issued his command.

“End! Your body is a great masterpiece. My soul is the last piece of the puzzle… the moment my dearest wish is fulfilled, you will have become a King with overwhelming power beyond any of the beings of light. End, I will not allow any resistance on your part. Stop!”

I came to a stop upon the Lord’s order.

Horus Carmon’s movements were slow. He has never used a spirit-type undead, so I have never seen a wraith, but if the description in the books were correct, I imagine it would look something like him.

Horus emitted a pale blue light as he descended towards me. I wonder what would happen the moment he touches me.

How terrifying. But I was not scared. Nor were my hands shaking.

I will… never let that happen.

Horus got close as one meter away from me. He will enter my range of attack.

I gripped the machete hard. He was not on his guard. It should be easy.

I gathered all of my strength, riding on my past experiences, swung the machete towards his neck to deliver the final blow.

“!!?”

There was no resistance. There was really no resistance. The momentum had me spin around once after which I stumbled to a stop.

The machete certainly passed through the neck. However, the Lord was still right there. The head that I was sure that I had severed was still connected to his body and the Lord was stroking his neck with a disappointed look on his face.

“Hmph… have I become too weak? To think that my command didn’t work… and that you would pretend that it did. I really can’t let my guard down around you.”

My attack was strong. It was a blow that was capable of smashing a beast’s skull into pieces and cutting through flesh and bone.

I had already recovered from the damage I received from the silver arrow. I did not falter either.

I swung the machete at the calm Lord, not stopping for breath. The Lord did not even bother to defend himself.

I slashed diagonally, vertically, horizontally. I used any and all sorts of attacks. However, none of it had any effect.

Almost as if I was attacking something that did not exist. The Lord’s body scattered for a moment when attacked, but soon returned to its original form.

“It’s pointless. Completely futile, End. You have a good head. And you’re daring and wary as well… however you don’t possess enough knowledge. No attacks… will work against me now.”

I attacked his face and it scattered, but I could still hear his voice. I could see no semblance of pain in his expression.

Smart. Gutsy. Wary. But ignorant.

He had hit the nail right in the head. I rushed headlong and recklessly attacked the Lord. There was no pause in my attacks as I have no need to breathe or feel fatigue.

I realized that my attacks were not going through after the very first blow. The reason I keep at it is to buy some time to organize my thoughts.

It is true that I am ignorant of many things but I read the books on undead.

The type of undead that has maximum resistance against physical attacks. Wraith. Even with no corporeal body, it can bring harm to humans, although it is only just made of soul. As I had first thought, the Lord right now… must be something closer to a Wraith.

I found it rather surprising that physical attacks had no effect whatsoever. However, I am not done.

I shall unearth the memories.

Wraiths may have excellent resistance towards physical attacks, but since they do not possess a corporeal body, they are more susceptible to attacks of positive energy and magic than the other undead.

The reason why the Lord used skeleton-type and other undead with real bodies, but never spirit-type undead in the battle against the Death Knights, must be because they would not pose much of a threat to them.

I, on the other hand, cannot use magic, nor can I manipulate positive energy.

Should I ask Senri for help? That is impossible. The town is too far away and the first class knight is also there. I do not wish to die just yet.

The continuous full-power attacks made my bones creak and my muscles ache. But that does not matter. I feel no fatigue and my regeneration power should be able to catch up with my speed.

I slowly fell back as I dispersed the Lord, who wishes to control me even after dying.

“Stop your futile resistance, End! Accept your raison d’etre!”

He has to have his own way until the very end. We will never see eye to eye.

It was already hopeless when I found out that he still has command over me. And he uses words like ‘vessel’, meaning it is highly likely I will lose control over my body. Come to think of it, maybe the reason why he did not try to let me acquire any knowledge might have been because it was unnecessary to do so.

I… am merely a vessel, what is inside the vessel is of no concern to him.

What he needed was a sturdy vessel with limitless capabilities as he intended to take residence in it himself.

Perhaps my instincts had sensed the Lord’s objective and the truth behind ‘The King of the Undead’.

There were several clues. As far as the Lord was concerned, my will was merely meaningless.

I shall not surrender nonetheless. I could feel my survival instincts flare up. I felt no fear. Only… wrath.

I shall kill him. Come hell or high water. And make sure to completely wipe him out of existence. I shall make happen that which even a second-class knight was unable to accomplish.

Horus Carmon. Your dearest wish will come to end right here and now. You will… be killed by the vessel.

Amongst the volley of blows and slashes the Lord still advanced towards me.

Looks like my physical attacks cannot serve to buy me even an extra second. The only reason he has not already descended upon me is probably his curiosity as a necromancer which makes him observe me instead.

“Gone mad from fear?… No matter. I only need the vessel that shows rare compatibility with death energy. I am the strongest, ‘The King of the Undead’!”

Even as I slashed through his eyes or his nose, the Lord observed me. I could still hear his voice despite slashing his neck. I slashed through every possible part of his body, but the Lord showed no signs of worry.

It is true. He is the strongest. Cunning, arrogant, an unpardonable existence, a dark mage. He deserved to be killed by Senri.

I have not been frantically attacking the Lord without any thought. Nor have I gone mad.

… Thinking is my forte. Pondering over things and enduring pain were the only things I was allowed in my previous life when I was sick in bed.

Maybe the Lord had eventually gotten bored of observing me, for he swiftly swooped down on me. The moonlight illuminated his hideousness.

I leapt to the side, evading him and dropped the machete that I had been swinging with all my might. The Lord looked surprised.

“Horus Carmon! Your weakness is… your shortsightedness.”

“What?!”

That is the reason you were deceived by me. That is why you did not realize that Roux had made a deal with me. That is why you lost to Senri.

To Horus Carmon, the world revolves around himself.

Do you know where we are now? Did you really think I was simply retreating aimlessly?

The gravestone engraved with Roux’s name in big letters. The unearthed soil that had hardened.

It… is the grave of your slave.

It is true that I have no means of using positive energy or magic.

However, there is something that can harm an undead here.

Something I had thrust into the grave in lieu of a cross, I firmly grabbed the arrow that was completely made of silver from shaft to head, and pulled it out. Intense jolts of pain shot out of the palm that had only just healed, and the sound of something melting echoed through the woods.

Weapons made of silver work even on wraiths as it is the universal weakness of the undead. And, although it is not capable of killing me, it would be quite damaging to a wraith with no physical body.

He must have realized what I held in my hand. The Lord’s eyes grew wide and he flew towards me like the wind.

However, it was too late.

He was certainly fast, I would not have been able to do much in my previous life, but it is not impossible to me now as a ghoul.

The flying arrow hit the Lord, who rushed in head first, right between the eyebrows.

The screams that he had not uttered even when he was attacked by Senri, echoed through the woods in the dead of the night.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!—–”

“… is that what you thought would happen?”

“?!”

The Lord remained the same. Neither did he vanish nor did he show any signs of anguish.

With the holy arrow pierced halfway through his head, the Lord sounded as if he found me pitiful.

Those bony hands drew closer and closer. The cloudy, dark eyes peered into mine. I had no way to stop him.

“I told you. You have no knowledge pertaining to magic. I’m not just a simple wraith. The source of my existence is in you. Unless that is destroyed, I am invincible. And wraith aren’t impervious to all physical attacks. You should have realized the truth when the ‘Blood Ruler’ had no effect.”

“…”

“How pitiful! Well, rest easy. Your vessel will serve to become the greatest ‘King of the Undead’ ever.”

“… Die!”

To the words dripping with the desire to kill, the Lord frowned as if he had heard an absurd joke.

“I’m already dead. And, so are you.”

I never would have imagined that Horus Carmon ever had a funny bone in his body.

Horus’ spirit slipped into me.

My vision flickered and my consciousness was pervaded by something dark like a muddy stream.