Fragments of the Immortal King (3)
I finished my revenge and started cleaning up.
First, he summoned the undead under his command and checked the damage.
The undead that had fought alongside Malcolm were almost completely annihilated, and those that had fought against the group of warlocks resisting in the village also suffered considerable casualties as the fighting was fierce.
[···I think there were about 500, but is this all that’s left?]
Of the many undead, there were less than thirty left.
We were dealing with people who were just over forty years old, and the damage they inflicted was enormous.
If there were only zombies and skeletons, then that would be fine, but weren’t there also some high-level undead?
If Malcolm hadn’t sacrificed the warlocks, the undead that had gone towards the village would have been annihilated.
‘Well, if that were the case, I could have dealt with Malcolm sooner and gone to help.’
I roughly assessed the damage and examined Malcolm’s body.
If your troops are low, just replenish them.
If they weren’t completely destroyed beyond recovery, some number might be salvageable.
Above all, isn’t the fun of being a necromancer to increase your troops by using the corpses of enemies who died in battle?
‘Hmm… I don’t know if it’ll work.’
I’ve seen Malcolm summon the undead a few times, but at best, he’s just mass-produced low-level undead.
Well, I guess I couldn’t help it since I took all the high-level undead that I had collected so far.
After all, I have never learned how to create undead using corpses.
I felt like I would shed tears of blood if I tried it recklessly and something went wrong and the corpse became unusable.
It didn’t seem like it would be easy to find a corpse of this high standard in the future.
As I was looking into it, I discovered something strange.
Malcolm’s body had no soul.
This was my first time examining a corpse like this since becoming a demilich, so I wondered if this was the case, so I investigated further and discovered the cause.
A red magic circle was engraved on Malcolm’s heart, and his soul was artificially extracted through this.
‘Did he have his soul stolen through some kind of devil contract? Or maybe it was done by a secret organization for security reasons.’
It would have been nice to be able to get information through the soul, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
I’ve never tried it, but if I tried here and there, I could probably come up with something.
‘At least the body seems usable, so that’s fortunate.’
I took my eyes off Malcolm and looked around, and found what I was looking for.
The kind warlock who first taught me.
It was in a corner, in a tattered state, as if it had been pushed around by the aftermath of a fierce battle, but it managed to maintain its shape.
‘This guy’s soul was ripped out too. But I guess I can still use it to this extent?’
Not only private tutoring, but also practical training opportunities are provided.
I tried making undead with a grateful heart.
He used the knowledge of “black magic” he had acquired so far, his experience observing the undead, and the information about the undead he had gained when resonating with the “Fragment of the Immortal King” to move his black magic.
‘After connecting the corpse and the black magic, synchronizing them, contaminating the remaining magic in the body and altering the body information… Gathering the fragments of thoughts… Is that how it’s done?’
Soon black flames enveloped the corpse, burning every part except the bones.
So at first it seemed like things were going well.
Poke—! Passus···
Cracks spread momentarily through the remaining bones, and they began to crumble apart.
[Uh… sorry?]
I threw out a word of apology.
Still, thanks to that I was able to get the feel of it.
I immediately ordered the undead to bring me the corpse of Zerap that was in the warehouse, and sat down in front of it to try creating the undead once again.
Fortunately, I was able to succeed this time thanks to the help of ‘Zephyr Chance’, which is always helpful.
The Skeleton Mage has been completed.
I was confident of my success, but I was already a bit hesitant about using Malcolm’s body.
I thought I needed to try it a few more times to be sure.
‘Well, since the materials are spread out, I guess I can try it at the end after practicing enough.’
I got up from my seat to look around the town after having the guy next to me carry Malcolm’s body.
Tilting—
My body tilted momentarily.
It’s hard to keep your balance because you’re missing one arm.
‘Shouldn’t we solve this problem first?’
I used the undead to retrieve my right arm that had been blown away during battle.
I searched through it thoroughly and was able to find it quickly, but the condition wasn’t very good.
‘The upper arm part is completely gone. This is useless.’
Because you can’t put your elbow on your shoulder.
If he was a true lich who had obtained immortality by extracting and storing the source separately, he would have gathered the bone dust and regenerated, but in any case, it was impossible for him.
As I was thinking about it, the remains of the Death Knight that had flown in and been destroyed just before the fight with Malcolm came into view.
It was so completely destroyed that it seemed impossible to recycle.
After looking around, I found that the right arm part was intact and the physique was similar to mine.
‘I guess I can just stick this on instead!’
He quickly picked up the Death Knight’s right arm and attached the cross-section to his shoulder.
And as he connected with the fragments as if he was synchronizing with them using black magic, black flames rose up and burned all the flesh attached to his mummy-like arm, leaving only bones.
Immediately afterwards, “Super Recovery” was activated, connecting my body and the Death Knight’s arm.
[Um… It’s a little awkward?]
I swung my newly attached arm around, then used my black magic to manipulate bones to carefully adjust its size and balance it.
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[It’s okay now! It’s perfect!]
I was very satisfied, even though the color of the arm bones was a little different.
Perhaps because he was using good quality bones, there was no difference in moving his black magic compared to when he used his previous arm.
[Now, shall we go and collect the loot?]
I was the only one in this town, and there were still countless things to take care of.
I looked out at the village and smiled contentedly.
***
Unfortunately, most of the undead that Malcolm defeated were unable to recover.
I looked around the broken village, saving as much as I could.
Undead were lying around, smashed to pieces, and several corpses that appeared to be servants were also visible.
It seemed like they were the ones who were defeated and couldn’t join the party right after the undead’s attack.
Undead that could be recovered by approaching them were retrieved, and the corpses of the servants were turned into new undead.
[This time it’s a skeleton warrior.]
We continued to move, taking the newly joined undead with us and raiding nearby buildings to collect useful items.
Every time a new corpse was discovered, I made it into an undead, but there weren’t as many as I thought.
And it was only when we reached the center of town that we could find out the cause.
[They’re all gathered here.]
A major battle took place here between the two sides.
The remains of hundreds of undead were scattered around, and a group of warlocks were massacred together.
I was so focused on the fight with Malcolm that I didn’t pay attention to the details of what happened afterwards, but it seemed like they banded together and fought through the alleys after the attack.
Besides, all the warlocks were equipped with robes and wands.
The servants also each have weapons, so they must have gathered and prepared for battle right after the incident.
[Uh… But the number of undead is a bit strange. Why are there so many?]
And there were quite a few undead that seemed to have fought while standing in the direction of protecting the center.
[Aha, these are things that the warlocks had separately and then summoned.]
Looking closely, there weren’t that many upper-level undead. Still, there were quite a few of them, so they must have been a great help in holding out.
And upon closer inspection, we were able to confirm that among the servants, there were some who were particularly strong.
In particular, the one who caused the most damage was a middle-aged man guarding the village entrance.
[I thought it was quite a lot when I scanned the entire village, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.]
Most of the higher undead that had attacked seemed to have been destroyed by this man.
Since he was a warrior, unlike a magician, there must have been a difference in the amount of black magic he possessed and his fighting power.
[If you let your guard down just by looking at the amount of black magic, you could be in big trouble… I have to be careful in the future.]
Fortunately, this gentleman was quite active, but after the warlocks were all killed by Malcolm, he seemed to have collapsed before he could hold out long.
[But now it is my sacrifice.]
I made those who seemed low level into undead one by one.
Warlocks became skeleton mages, and their minions became elite skeletons or skeleton warriors.
Some of the servants I had my eye on became skeleton knights.
After working so hard to create undead, I realized that the lowest level of them is the elite skeleton.
I was the weakest person in this town.
‘Okay, I’m the strongest now. From now on, I’ll let these guys do whatever they want.’
There was no special reason why the newly created undead were only skeletons.
Using the information stored in the fragments, they created undead. It may have been Malcolm’s taste, but the most common sacrifices were skeletons, so they were the most efficient.
Also, since I came from a skeleton background, it was definitely easier to create something from that lineage.
‘It’s a bit lacking in diversity, but there’s nothing we can do about it.’
However, I felt it was a shame to end the village gatekeeper as a skeleton knight, so I put a little more effort into it.
Since I plan to make Malcolm a stronger entity anyway, I tried to create the best undead based on my experience so far.
[Grrrrrr···]
A gurgling sound came from the fallen corpse, and the hollow, dangling neck suddenly fell off.
Then, the body rose from the seat, picked up the fallen head, and tucked it under his side.
[Oh, fortunately it worked.]
The headless knight, Durahan, was born.
With most of the higher undead now swept away, this Dullahan was the best force I had.
There are a few other Dullahans, but they are not in good condition.
Of course, that’s only for now, and the rankings will change soon.
Now it was Malcolm’s long-awaited turn.
Before that, I needed some time to think.
Of the information I had, there weren’t many undead suitable for wizards.
Malcolm is just a skeleton mage, it’s a shame.
Ghosts had to have a soul to be created, and the same goes for Lich.
‘No, usually, a lich is created when a wizard becomes corrupted and voluntarily becomes undead. I don’t have any information about it in the first place.’
It wasn’t for nothing that Malcolm criticized me for being half-baked.
While I was wondering if there was a way, my right arm suddenly caught my eye.
A proper Death Knight is the highest level of undead, with a remaining ego and a fighting ability that is not inferior to that of a Lich.
The guys I had with me for a while were exposed to the debris for a long time, and their powers were drained and their egos were gone.
‘Of course, we can’t make Malcolm, who is a wizard, into a Death Knight, but maybe we can somehow imitate him…’
There was information about Death Knight in ‘Fragments of the Immortal King’, and I looked at it a few times after evolving into Demilich, and now my right arm also belongs to a Death Knight.
[Okay, let’s do it.]
He sat down on the mat, placed his right hand on Malcolm’s body, and concentrated.
Through the knowledge gained so far, “Evil Wisdom” whispers a method. The “Fragment of the Immortal King” in the heart lends its power.
Black flames burned through Malcolm’s body.
But unlike before, it didn’t leave behind only bones, and dried up like a mummy as if only the moisture had evaporated.
It was a success.
I quickly gathered up Malcolm’s remaining thoughts and planted my ego.
Fragmented thoughts have no value as information, but this will give you the intelligence to make your own judgments.
Soon Malcolm rose from his spot and stood in his place.
Then the blue-flowered lady looked at me with her twinkling eyes, then lowered her head.
[Order.]
‘Oh… I’m telling you!’
This was the first time I’d seen an undead talking, so I was momentarily moved.
‘If you have a self and can speak, you must have a name···.’
After thinking about it for a while, I soon realized that there was no need to think about it.
[Your name is Malcolm. Please take care of me. Listen to me from now on, okay?]
I thought that giving it a different name would only cause confusion, and since this name was probably an alias like Zephyr in the first place, I thought it wouldn’t matter.
Nod
It may be difficult to answer now since the ego has only just formed, but it will get better as time goes by.
puck!
Otherwise it will hit me.
[Answer me, Inma.]
[···yes.]
So I achieved all my revenge, and Malcolm, who killed me, became my subordinate and became the ‘Death Wizard’.
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