Chapter Four: The Two Leaders (2|2)

One of the two leaders of the Gouz-Maise Gang, Lich Maise

This world had a power most referred to as "Superior Jobs."

Out of the thousands of jobs available to humanoid creatures, those were the ultimate peak — available only to a select few.

Superior Jobs allowed people to surpass the limits of their corporeal form.

One of the people who had a Superior Job was the Arch Wiseman

— the one they called the kingdom's guardian deity. His magic power was nothing short of divine. He could part the ground beneath and even bring down the heavens themselves.

However, in the war with Dryfe, the Arch Wiseman had been defeated by the King of Beasts — a Master and another owner of a Superior Job.

Though that had been nothing but a tragedy for the Kingdom of Altar, a number of people were glad that he was gone. After all — the throne of a Superior Job was exclusive to the one possessing it. With the kingdom's Arch Wiseman dying, the role of the Arch Wiseman became open for those wanting to take it.

I, too, was aiming for a Superior Job. However, it was a job completely unlike the Wiseman's.

The Superior Job I set my sights upon was at the apex of the Necromancer grouping. It was a job known as the King of Corpses.

Its power was far above the magic of common Necromancers... and beyond even the Necromancy of Liches — those who became undead themselves.

Anyone seated in the throne of corpses would be immortal, undying, and commanding power surpassing that of all the deceased. It was the only method to receive the undeath that only Masters had.

That was the King of Corpses.

I started leading the Gouz-Maise gang to further my efforts at

getting this Superior Job. The kidnapped children were there to help me practice my Necromancy. The money was necessary for me to get certain magic items and to bribe Caldina.

In that country, money was the start and the end of the conversation. Everything in Caldina had a price. A sufficiently-greased palm could even get their army to act in response to movements from Gideon's soldiers.

Since this place was near the border, that made the kingdom hesitant to attack us because it could provoke Caldina.

Also, with all the Conceal and Presence Manipulation magic items I'd bought from them, the kidnapping of materials had become significantly easier. Blessed with abundant ingredients and the perfect environment, I was able to study the path of Necromancy to my heart's content and slowly made my way towards the throne of the King of Corpses.

Getting this Superior Job required the fulfillment of several difficult conditions and then passing a certain test. I had learned the conditions by deciphering an ancient text describing the secret processes.

The first condition there was "Turn 5,000 years' worth of life into death," which I'd easily achieved by making this fortress my hideout and having the gang work for me. Since I focused on children — who were both easy to convert into undead and still had long, happy futures ahead of them — it all went extremely smoothly. I needed fewer than a hundred of them for this, but since the undead were a great asset, I continued on doing it.

The second condition — which I'd achieved, as well — was the creation of a Crystal of Resentment. It was made by forcing enormous amounts of fear — or grudge, to be more precise — into a Crystal of Purity — an item that cleansed the corruption of the

undead.

Gouz helped me a lot with this. The fear of the children he ate while they were still alive manifested in exquisite, sorrowful grudges.

Of course, the grudge I got from them when using the Anguish Circle to turn them into materials for the undead wasn't too bad, either.

The once-white crystal that had emitted an irritatingly divine light was now blackened to the very core.

With that, I'd had already fulfilled the conditions to become the King of Corpses. All that was left was going to Legendaria — the place where the job's throne was sealed — to clear the ordeal quest and make the title my own.

Both the fortress and the gang had outlived their use. Gideon would soon become crowded with some particularly pesky individuals. Before that happened, I planned to take Gouz — my only useful subordinate — with me, then destroy all the knowledge I might've left here and leave once and for all.

That was when a particularly reckless intruder sneaked into the fortress.

◆

"Die."

A moment after I spoke that word, I heard the sound of a man dropping to the laboratory floor. I couldn't see the look on his face, but the ground was drenched in his fresh blood.

Standing next to him was a child I'd magically controlled to slice open the man's throat.

An undead would've easily been recognized by the description over its head, I thought. In such cases, it's better to use them alive.

"So a child got you to let your guard down, huh?" I muttered. "What a fool you are."

I began rebuilding my scattered body. Once my horse-man skeleton came together, I re-equipped my robe. Then, skin and leather began covering my bones before expanding to fit the flesh inside.

A moment before, I had been nothing but bones, which was made possible by one of my Lich skills — Corpsification. To the man now lying on the ground, I'd probably looked like a standard set of skeletal remains.

I was undead and had Lich — a high-rank necromancer job — as my own. Having such trickery at my disposal was only natural.

"Oh? Y ou're still alive?" I said while looking down at the man. Although he'd lost so much blood that the stream from his neck had significantly weakened, he still seemed to have a pulse. In his right hand, he held a black halberd with a flag trailing from behind. I tried identifying it, but didn't get any results. That could only mean one thing: the weapon was an Embryo and the man was a Master.

"Y ou're still conscious, too?" I spoke again. "Well, it matters not. The dagger was coated in a Poison and Paralysis-causing fluid, specially concocted by yours truly. A Lich's poison is nothing to sniff at, either. Y ou'll die without being able to do anything about it."

The Bleeding and Poison was draining his life, while Paralysis sealed all and any movement. Shame that he was a Master — I could've harvested a truly potent grudge from him if he hadn't been one.

Masters were a terrible source for grudges. When killed, they would simply come back to life three days later. Compared to tians, their fear of death and resentment towards their murderers was simply...

mediocre. Not only that — their absolute immortality made them live as though everything was just a game.

That was exactly how the party of Masters that'd attacked this place had been. My magic and Gouz's strength had been more than enough to take care of them, but since I hadn't even been able to turn their corpses into undead, they'd been absolutely useless to my Necromancy work. Masters irked me to no end. Their treatment of this world as a plaything, and the fact that they automatically had immortality... the one thing I had decided to make my life's work.

...Oh, that made me remember. The first party to come here had been comprised entirely of tians, and the grudges I'd collected by torturing them had been simply superb. Ah, the fun I'd had back then. Their corpses had become some excellent materials, too.

Turning tians into undead was extremely easy. I was rather intrigued by the idea of making undead out of Masters, as well, but for now, I had to make due with merely getting rid of them whenever they intruded.

By now, Gouz had probably taken care of this man's ally on the surface. All I had to do now was leave the fortress, go where I must, complete the ordeal, and become the King of Corpses.

"With that in mind, it's time to move out and head towards Legendaria," I muttered.

As I made my way towards the laboratory door, I noticed the materials... the children I'd put to sleep in the other room. I'd nearly forgotten.

"The gang act is over," I said. "Better kill all the children and turn them into materials for my undea... hm?"

The moment I said that, I saw the fingers of the man on the ground twitch a little bit. That small action — combined with the look on the side of his face — made me realize something.

"Did you actually come all the way here just to save the children?" I asked. "It wasn't for my treasure?"

He didn't say a word. Not like he could, considering his current condition, but his reaction was more than enough.

"Hah... hah... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I placed my hands on my belly and laughed out loud.

No other reaction was appropriate. How could I not laugh?

"Hahahahahah! An inhuman immortal? Going out of his way to save a few brats? Ghahahahahahah! Oh my, quite a heroic way to play you've found, Mister Master."

Thought you'd roleplay as some champion of justice, huh? I thought. The fact that this was where it had gotten him filled me with great bliss.

"Heheheh," I continued laughing. "All right, this is how it will go. I'll create some lovely little undead creatures, and you will watch it happen until the poison kills you. Who knows? Y ou might learn something. After all, I'm quite skilled at it, if I say so myself. But that is only natural, considering that I've already created hundreds of them!"

In response to my words, the man on the ground exuded some horrific, traumatic emotions.

Excellent, I thought. It appears that even a Master can be a good source when properly agitated. But even more than that, as one who will soon be the King of Corpses, I know now that I will thoroughly enjoy the freedom to look down on any and all immortal Masters.

"Now, then..." I said. "The children with thick-looking bones will be turned into Skeletons, while all the others will do fine as Zombies. Oh, but it might be a good idea to turn these pretty-looking ones into taxidermy pieces and sell them off somewhere. Despite appearances, my hands are quite dexterous, so I'm actually pretty decent at managing the finer details. Some men of culture value my work quite highly."

In response, I got more angry silence.

Ah, the joy, I thought. This is pure bliss.

I'd never have expected to have this much fun with a Master. His sorrow was like the perfect seasoning.

However, it was time to end it.

"Now, let's start with the brat that cut your neck!" I exclaimed. "First, I'll have him cut his own neck and—"

Suddenly, a gust of wind...

...followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.

"...What?" Confused, I looked to where the sound came from and saw something very familiar.

It was a left hand, covered in magic rings. Magic rings that had cost me a fortune.

Isn't that... my own left hand? I thought, stunned.

"If you... are..."

The man whose defeat was all but certain slowly spoke up. His right arm was raised in the air.

"If you... are not among the living..."

The blade of the halberd he held was emitting a noble, white gleam.

I recognized it. It was imbued with the bane of the undead — Purifying Silverlight.

"If you... lost sight of what it means to be a person..."

He slowly stood up and faced towards me. The neck wound that was surely there less than a minute ago had disappeared without a trace.

"If you... are the one responsible for that scene..."

His expression had neither the weariness of Poison, nor the heaviness of Paralysis.

"If you... claim that you will keep on doing it..."

The only real emotion on his face was in the light in his eyes — a blaze of pure rage.

"...then I will kill you."

It was the first time I had seen a Master — one of those immortal, inhuman beasts of undeath — make such an expression.

I couldn't articulate it completely, but what I felt was dread. Utter and unmatched dread.

My instincts were screaming, telling me only one thing:

Run! He is going to extinguish you.

"■■■■ — Abyssal Delusion!"

Dead Man's Bind!

I quickly used the most vile hexes I had at my disposal. They were two high-rank debuff spells — one was vocal and came accompanied by a chant, while the other came from the magic item on my right hand and didn't need any words.

Abyssal Delusion was a powerful hex that gave the affected the Death Sentence, Weakness, and Deterioration status effects, making them rot and become corpses while still alive. Dead Man's Bind was another spell with three debuffs — Binding, Curse, and Lethargy. Together, they gave a total of six particularly powerful status effects.

This combination had sent many of my enemies to their deaths. Anyone unlucky enough to receive it was rendered completely immobile.

"Ghaah!"

Y et he didn't stop. As though he'd reversed the effects of my hexes, he became more intimidating and horizontally swung his halberd — shining with Purifying Silverlight — towards me.

"Guh?!" I exclaimed. If I had been but a step closer, his attack would've split my torso.

I couldn't let that happen. Taking fatal damage from him was something I had to avoid at all costs.

I was a Lich — an undead master of magic. Most of my wounds would mend a moment after they'd happened. I could lose an arm or get my body split in half — no such damage was critical to me.

However, in this case, the mending didn't work at all. In fact, the arm he'd cut off had already turned to dust.

That was only natural. After all — he was wielding Purifying Silverlight. It was a gleam used only by a limited number of Paladins and Temple Knights — a light meant for the sole purpose of purging the undead. No matter how great of a Lich I was, I couldn't come back from a fatal attack by a weapon blessed with that loathsome shine.

The fear of death overwhelmed me. It was a feeling that had become alien to me over time. It was a feeling that would never again strike me once I became the King of Corpses. But here and now, it was raw. It shook my very being.

"Awaken Undead!" Using my Necromancy, I activated the undead monsters I'd stored in the barrel in this room.

Countless Skeleton Soldiers answered my call.

However, they meant little.

There was no chance of them winning against this aberration, but it mattered not. They only had to buy the time I needed to run away.

As the undead began charging at him, I turned around and left the laboratory. If I stayed any longer, I knew it would become my grave.

Then — as my breath became ragged — I ran towards the surface through the underground hallway. Once we Liches became undead, our hearts and lungs ceased their function and were replaced by a gathering of crystallized magic. Thus, physical lack of breath was something I should never have experienced again. And yet, I felt as though I was suffocating.

"Why is a Master...?!" Through my ragged breath, I voiced my dread. "Why is one of those immortal abominations... actually furious?"

This fear was unknown to me. The fear of that thing's emotion. The terror I felt towards that aberration.

Terror — that was the word. Having one of those abominations direct such pure killing intent and rage towards me was nothing short of terrifying. After all, that meant that an immortal, indestructible animal would be hunting me for all eternity.

I had to escape. Anywhere near that aberration was certain death, so I had to leave this fortress and run where he could never find me.

I had to do it — and I could do it.

Though I was a Lich, my Agility was greater than his, so it would be perfectly possible for me to distance myself from him.

Reaching the surface would mean regrouping with Gouz. Then, I'd simply have to make him fight the abomination while I made my escape.

"I can do it...!" Picturing that future made me relieved.

Due to me being a horse-man, the underground hallway's soundscape was dominated by the sound of my horse legs hitting the floor.

However, the sound soon mingled with another.

"...What?" I burst out.

Its source was approaching me from behind. Systematic, yet rough impacts on the ground — the sound was exactly the same as the ones coming from under my feet. It was the sound of a galloping horse.

"Gh...!"

Unable to bear the tension caused by the approaching sound, I turned around.

What I saw was far beyond my imagination. It was an artificial, silver horse, speeding through the underground hallway. And to the side of it was the abomination.

For some reason, he wasn't riding it. The aberration was holding the silver horse's reins with his right hand, scraping his leg armor across the ground. It was reminiscent of a Granvaloan water sport.

In his left hand, he was still holding the halberd as the flag flowing out of it fluttered wildly in the air.

Why isn't he using his Riding skill? I thought.

That way of riding it should soon break his legs and render them useless, right? But why doesn't it look like he's taking any damage?

The strange sight left me with several questions, but their answers didn't matter.

What mattered was the fact that he was still chasing me... and that the horse was faster than me, meaning that he would soon catch up.

"AAAAUUUGHHHHHHH!"

Disregarding my shame and reputation, I screamed in fear while running towards the surface as fast as I could.

On the surface, I would meet up with Gouz. He could buy me all the time I needed to run away.

"Awaken... AWAKEN UNDEAAAAD!" Not slowing down whatsoever, I activated the undead monsters I had buried in the walls for emergencies such as these.

They were called "High-End Skeleton Warriors." I had made these high-rank undead by using the corpses of skilled tians. They were the remains of the party Gouz and I had taken care of.

Six High-End Skeleton Warriors stood between me and him. Though turned undead, they had all been owners of high-rank jobs once, so there was a chance that...

"Out of our way!" two voices — his and another, feminine one —

said that at the same time. A moment later, the mass of silver went through the Skeletons and returned them all to dust.

The halberd in his left hand and the hooves of the man-made horse ended my undead in a blink of an eye. I then noticed that not just the halberd, but the entire body of the steed was shining with the Silverlight.

"Aaagh?!"

That was no living horse — it was a piece of equipment. Emitting the Silverlight and galloping at a great speed, it pulverized all and any undead that touched it.

It didn't matter if the undead were high-rank. The thing was the bane of all undead. It was a silver bullet that brought forth the ultimate end.

"GGGHAAAHHHHH!"

Completely desperate, I used the moment my undead monsters had bought me to climb up the stairs leading to the surface. With the Master being dragged by the horse, he couldn't get up the stairs properly. It ought to affect his speed.

A moment before he could catch up, I ran up the stairs and escaped to the surface.

"GOUZ! GOOUUUZ!" I screamed while dashing through the fortress.

Once I ran through the hallway on the first floor and could see the gates of the fortress, I was overcome with relief. That was because I saw Gouz's face.

A moment later, that relief changed into despair.

That was because Gouz's face... was the only thing there.

I couldn't grasp what had happened, but Gouz's dismembered head

— completely frozen — was impaled on the gate.

Wh-Where did his brawny body go? I asked myself. It was nowhere in sight. All I could see were pieces of frozen meat, scattered all over the area outside the gate. Two of those pieces — placed close to each other — looked much like Gouz's feet.

Right next to them stood an anomaly looking much like an anthropomorphized church made of ice — an enemy of my kind if I ever saw one.

"Choose your fate, sinner," spoke the anomaly. "Which end do you desire? Hell, or Divine Retribution?"

I instantly understood what it was talking about.

It was telling me to choose to meet my end, either at the hands of the icy anomaly or the silver aberration.

"No!" I shouted. "This is not happening!"

I can't die here! I've come so far! And now, when the throne of the King of Corpses is within arms reach, I...

"Why...?!" I voiced my despair yet again. "What...?!"

What did I do to deserve this?!

"Very well," the anomaly spoke again. "Divine punishment it is."

It then pointed an icy blade towards something behind me.

I turned around and saw the silver aberration. The abomination had caught up with me.

A sound thick with dread escaped my mouth. I could no longer run or hide.

Th-There must be something I can do! I thought. Don't I have a teleportation magic item on me? No?! I should have something! I just...!

"Huh...?" As I dug through the inventory in my robe, my fingers touched something that made me gasp. I slowly took it out. It was a pitch black, crystalline object that emitted no light whatsoever — a Crystal of Resentment.

"No..." I said in despair. I held the obsidian-like object in my hand. It was an item without which I had no hope of becoming the King of Corpses. Creating it had required me to lead the Gouz-Maise Gang and spend nearly a year sacrificing a great number of children.

However, aside from being the condition for becoming the King of Corpses, the crystal was also the ultimate medium for the Necromancer grouping's magic. Using it here was painful, but...

"If I die... it will have all been for naught!" I screamed.

I had to pick between dying and using the Crystal to survive, so I gladly picked the latter. If I didn't, the time and effort I'd dedicated to my cause would've all gone to waste. I simply had to survive and do it all over again in some other town. After all — the time, the work I was willing to dedicate and the sacrifices were endless.

As long as I'm alive, I can restart as many times as I have to! I thought. Indeed — I cannot let myself die here! Dying to this accidental encounter is unacceptable!

"Y OU DISGUSTING, MONSTROUS CURS!" I roared while filling the Crystal of Resentment — my greatest treasure — with great amounts of magic. "YOU MONSTERS WILL NOT TAKE MY LIFE FROM ME!"

After reforming the wicked feelings within the crystal to pure destructive energy, I released it all towards the abomination, fully aware that it would destroy the fortress, as well. After all, it was the strongest offensive magic skill any Lich could have.

"DEADLY MIXEEERRRR!"

With great dread and frenzy overwhelming me, I unleashed the most powerful attack I'd ever cast. It was great enough to instantly eradicate a Pure-Dragon. There was simply no way for him to survive it.

"Counter Absorption."

And yet...

"Ah...? Ugh...? Eahhh...?" Confusion escaped my mouth in the form of strange sounds. The magic I'd dedicated my entire being to was blocked by a barrier of light he created before it. "Th-This cannot be!"

The shock made me lose my footing and fall to the ground. A moment later, the abomination was right in front of me.

"Ghah?! N-No!"

The moment I attempted to stand up and run away in fear, his halberd — still emitting a silver gleam — penetrated my torso and pinned me to the spot.

"GY Y AAAHH!"

I was unable to move — both due to the halberd piercing me and the pain caused by Silverlight — and the aberration stood before me.

"Stop... running," it hissed through its ragged breath.

"W-Wait!" I said. "I won't run! Y ou caught me!"

Escape was impossible at this point, but I still had to survive, even if it meant begging for my life.

"L-Let's make a deal!" I spoke in a panic. "M-Money! I'll give you money! I still have lots of it! 70,000,000 lir, to be precise! It's yours! Take it all, but please, let me go!"

The aberration said nothing.

Yes! I thought. He reacted to my offer! I don't care if I have to give him all my coins! I have already sacrificed my Crystal of Resentment! Money is a small price to pay for survival!

"Hhaaahh..." He sighed and extended his right palm towards me.

Excellent! It worked!

"Khah! Hahahah!" I laughed. "G-Give me a moment. I'll just take it all out of the inventory, so—"

"Y our life is payment enough," he said, cutting my words short.

"Eh?"

As confusion overtook me, his open hand changed into a fist, and the bracer on it began to emit that painfully-familiar silver light.

I heard my own skull crack and squelch. And then I was gone.

◇◇◇

Paladin Ray Starling

The headless corpse of the Lich became dust and began to crumble.

At the same time, my body quickly became too heavy for me to stand properly and I dropped to the ground before I could do anything to soften my fall.

"Looks like... it's over," I forced out a mutter. My status window displayed Poison, Paralysis, Death Sentence, Weakness, Deterioration, and a number of other debuffs. There were so many that keeping track of them all seemed like a fool's errand.

However, the fact that the status effects I'd gotten from my opponent had come back left me with no doubt that he was defeated.

"Like a Flag Flying the Reversal." That was the unique skill that Nemesis had gained with her second form — The Flag Halberd. It reversed all the debuffs given to me by hostile creatures. On the flip side, that meant that it would stop the moment the relevant hostiles were dead. The return of his debuffs was the ultimate proof of his death.

The moment after he'd manipulated the child into slicing my neck, I'd made Nemesis go from her greatsword form into The Flag Halberd and activated the Reversal. Thus my reaction to the debuffs displayed in my status window. Once the skill was active, Bleeding began to increase my bloodflow, Poison healed me, and Paralysis upped my physical abilities.

The damage I'd gotten from the surprise attack had been healed by the reversed Poison while I was still on the ground. Once that effect had closed the wound on my neck, the Bleeding status effect had completely disappeared.

Later, when he'd hit me with those debuff spells, I'd turned them all into buffs, as well. Though I'd felt that some of them didn't seem like they got reversed, it was clear that I was under no negative effects.

He'd ended up greatly buffing me and reversing the power balance.

He'd also had the problem of compatibility. The Purifying Silverlight was a skill meant for purging undead, and that was exactly what a Lich was. Also, Silver had been a great help in catching up to him when he'd run away.

Of course, I still didn't have the Riding skill. So I hadn't been riding him, per se. I'd merely let Silver gallop towards the Lich while I held on to him, letting my feet get dragged along the floor.

It hadn't been too different from one of those generic Western flick scenes where people got pulled around while tied to horses. In that state, my feet had gotten continuously damaged, but I'd been able to cover it with the healing from the reversed Poison.

Once on the surface, I'd blocked his final spell with Counter Absorption. Though it was far more powerful than Gardranda's flames, we had somehow been able to handle it.

For a moment, I'd thought the debuffs would make me collapse, but after the attack had been done, Nemesis had quickly changed back to The Flag Halberd and re-activated the Reversal, letting me come out of it unscathed. Then I'd pinned him with down with my weapon and ended his life with my fist.

This whole battle had been extremely dangerous to me. I had only managed due to the convergence of several very specific circumstances. This wasn't a feat I'd be repeating any time soon.

"...I got really lucky here," I said.

"I know all the reasons why we emerged victorious, but even I can't help but think the same," Nemesis agreed.

Perhaps fate itself helped me hunt down and punish the scumbag who toyed with the lives of countless children, I thought.

I silently looked at my hand. The sensation I'd felt when I'd pulverized his head was still there. Either due to him being undead or because of my Silverlight, it had felt much like shattering a withered tree, but it'd been there nonetheless.

Though he was a piece of filth beyond any redemption, he was also the first tian I'd killed.

If I — being a Maiden's Master — felt as strongly about this world as I did about reality, this killing might cause me pain.

"I have nothing against such considerations, but you should leave it for later," said Nemesis.

"Nemesis?" I asked, slightly puzzled. She had already returned to her human form and was looking down at me.

She pointed at one part of the status window — specifically, the Death Sentence debuff. Upon further inspection, I noticed that it had a counter next to it, saying "362 seconds."

Is this one of those debuffs that kills you when the counter reaches 0? I thought.

"So, Master, do you happen to have any anti-debuff medicine?" she asked.

"I've got some Antidotes for poisons, but I never expected to get a debuff like this," I said.

This is bad... Really bad. At this rate, I'll get the death penalty.

Hugo was here, the children were safe, and the gang was eliminated, so I didn't have to worry about any of that. However, dying would mean missing the time we'd agreed on with Marie. I didn't like that scenario at all.

"Curse you, you wretched horse zombie!" shouted Nemesis. "Y ou just had to leave us with this parting gift!"

"...Crap," I muttered. Due to all the debuffs on me, only my mouth worked properly, so I couldn't even hold my head in despair.

Nemesis began rummaging through my inventory to see if I had something that could help me. Silver — who I still hadn't called back — was looking down at me in a somewhat worried manner.

"Y ou should drink this." Something hard was pushed against my jaw.

I looked and saw Hugo — who'd just jumped out of... what I could only describe as a see-through ice robot with a Magingear inside — pushing a potion against my mouth.

Once I gulped down the contents, my body became so light that it felt as though the debuffs were never there.

He followed it up with another potion. Once I drank that one, I looked at the status window and saw that all the status effects were gone.

"I'm healed!" I cried.

"Indeed you are!" said Nemesis. "Y ou have our thanks, Hugo!"

"Y ou're welcome," he smiled.

"What was this medicine, anyway?" I asked.

"An Elixir and a curse-removing High Spirit Water," he said.

"And you didn't mind giving them to me?" I asked.

"Not at all. After all, they came out of the inventory of the one I defeated." Hugo pointed at the ox head hanging on the gate.

I looked at that general direction and saw a number of items lying around the remains.

Some of them were bottles, just like the one I'd just drunk from.

"Why are the items scattered like that?" I asked.

"His inventory broke with my attack," answered Hugo. "I, uh... might've overdone it."

That made me remember the tutorial, when Cheshire had said that this was just about what happened when an inventory shattered. Though the power of the release often left the contents break, it was the easiest way to take the possessions of others. Due to that, some bad guys chose to attack rich people and spread their items all over the place.

The other ways to take someone's items were the Bandit grouping's Steal skill — which directly stole the items from people's inventories — and the Burglar grouping's Plunder skill — which switched the ownership of the taken items to the user. When I'd learned that, I had

wondered why these two skills were in different job groupings despite not being that different.

"Hm? Is that a...?"

I noticed the inventory of the Lich I'd defeated peeking out from under his robe. While mine had the shape of a bag, his was a black, cube-like box.

In his last moments, he had been reaching into it to take his money and buy me off. So, by breaking that, I could probably get the money and some of the rare items he owned, but...

"I don't feel like touching the stuff left behind by that freak," I said.

His life was more than enough for me. Also, it was easy for me to imagine how he'd come to have those riches, and that didn't make them look attractive at all.

"I share the sentiment," said Nemesis. "That money is so dirty that simply picking it up might sully our hearts."

"I understand," said Hugo. "Feel free to leave it there, then. Someone will come across and take it eventually."

"True," I nodded.

Though, with the defeat of the Gouz-Maise Gang, this fortress was now as abandoned as it had been before they'd made it their hideout. It was uncertain if anyone would ever set foot here again.

Then again, reporting this event to the Adventurers' Guild would probably cause them to launch an investigation. It might be a good idea to tell them to gather any treasure the scumbags had left behind. Perhaps the money would become cleaner if it was used for the good of society... and those who'd suffered due to the gang's vile deeds.

"Oh yeah, Hugo," I said. That thought reminded me of something. "I encountered some kidnapped children in the dungeon. Eight of

them are still alive. From what I can tell, they've been put to sleep via magic. I'd like us to band up and carry them outside, so... Wait, where's Cyco?"

We were done with everything here, and yet she was nowhere in sight.

I recall her leaving her party slot before the battle began, but she wasn't showing up at all anymore, so... did she get the death penalty?

"Cyco's fine," said Hugo. "Give me a moment. Cyco, come here... Y eah, it's fine."

He said that while facing the Magingear clad in armor that looked much like an icy church. A moment later, the armor scattered into countless white and blue light particles.

Without the frozen armor, the Magingear collapsed, making Hugo say something about getting a spare one from some "leader." However, Nemesis and I were more interested in where the light particles were heading. They all gathered in one spot and took a humanoid form.

"Hellooo."

It was the Master clad in white — Cyco. However, she no longer had the proof of Masterhood — the crest on her left hand.

Also, the way she'd changed shape was like a differently-colored version of Nemesis' shapeshifting.

"I see," said Nemesis. "So Cyco and I... are birds of a feather."

"Y es," she nodded. "My real name is Cocytus."

"Birds of a feather...?" I raised an eyebrow. "So she's actually a..."

...Type Maiden Embryo — the same as Nemesis. And Hugo was her Master.

"But didn't she have a crest on her left hand before?" I asked.

"It was there because of Crest Disguise — a skill unique to Type Maiden Embryos," answered Hugo. "It makes their hands and status displays look like those of a Master."

"I had no idea such a skill existed..." I said, slightly surprised.

"They get it after a while of fighting in their human forms," he said.

During my entire play time, I had yet to let Nemesis fight on her own. Obviously, I didn't have it.

"What use is that skill, anyway?" I asked.

"Y ou'd be surprised," said Hugo. "Due to them being unique and unpredictable, Embryos are powerful wild cards. With Crest Disguise, you can make it seem like there are more Masters — and thus, Embryos — than it appears."

So you can use it for bluffing, huh? I thought. I feel like it might have other uses, too, so perhaps we should learn that skill ourselves.

"Anyway, now that we're all here, we should go to the dungeon and take the children back to the light of day," I said.

"Agreed," nodded Hugo.

Nemesis, Hugo, Cyco, and I all began making our way towards the fortress' dungeon.

With there being four of us and with me having Silver, there was a chance that we could take them all in one trip. Also, with the Lich being dead, the children might've woken up from his spell, so we had to hurry up and calm them down.

◆◆◆

The surroundings of the abandoned fortress.

"...Are they gone?" a voice asked.

"Y eah, they went in the fortress."

In the forest surrounding the abandoned fortress, in an area that had even denser foliage than the route taken by Hugo's Marshall II, there were five suspicious-looking men.

"I didn't expect the bosses to get beaten," said one of them.

These were the remnants of the Gouz-Maise Gang, and the very same five men that Ray and Hugo had encountered back in Gideon.

After Ray and Cyco had beaten them up and handed them over to the guards, some of their allies had jumped out and rescued them before they could be jailed.

After that, they'd followed the gang's carriages from a considerable distance — just to make sure that they weren't followed — and when they'd reached the fortress, they'd found their hideout and fellow gang members being completely destroyed.

They'd been lucky that they were in a place where Cyco's Enemy Detect skill couldn't reach them. Thus, they'd been able to hide it out and survive the massacre.

"What now?" asked one of them.

"What do you mean, 'what' — we're getting outta here!" answered another. "We can't do shit against monsters that can kill our bosses, who were pretty damn monster-like themselves."

"Crap, that means that we have to leave all the treasure behind." One of the men — specifically, the one that'd gotten punched by Ray

— clicked his tongue in frustration. "...Oh, wait." He seemed to have just gotten an idea. "Y eah, that's what we should do!"

He nodded, completely satisfied with himself.

"The hell's got into you?" The other men looked at him, completely confused.

"They're in the fortress now, right?" he spoke up. "So it's a good time for us to take all the money and items the bosses left behind! Also, we can easily take the brats in them carriages there. We can use them to get the ransom money or just sell them somewhere in Caldina. Or maybe we can buy our way into some other local gangs!"

"Oh, man!" another man cried.

"That's an idea I can get behind!"

Their fellow gang member's suggestion made the other men turn joyous.

"There's no better time than now, then..." said one.

"Y eah!" howled another. "Let's get the items and the brats and get the hell out!"

They then split up. Some began gathering the items, while the others linked the living horses to the carriages with the children.

However, one of them — the one that'd suggested that they do what they were doing — was tilting his head near Maise's corpse, which was nothing but dust now.

"What's up with you?" asked another man.

"Boss Maise's inventory isn't broken," he answered. It was the very same inventory that Ray and Hugo had decided not to break.

"Huuhh? Break it, then, retard," the other man said. "All of us who had Plunder have already croaked, so that's the only thing we can do here."

As was natural for a band of brigands, the gang had people with Steal and Plunder skills. However, all of them had died to Hugo's

Marshall II.

"True that," the man nodded. "Guess I'll do just that, then."

The man took out a dagger and — with great force — pierced through the inventory. Naturally, it broke and released its contents all over the area.

"Whooaaaahhhh! Get a load of all these coins!"

"Seriously! I don't think we even have to be bandits anymore! We can live like nobles with this!"

"We have the brats, too, so maybe we should start being Slave Dealers!"

"Good idea!"

The money Maise had left behind made them all imagine a bright future. They were surrounded by great riches. Just as Maise had said to Ray, the amount he'd had on him was over 70,000,000 lir. Of course, there were many rare gems, equipment pieces, and materials, as well.

With all of this, they could easily make all their dreams come true. Their futures would become even more secure after the next step. Every man was thinking it at this point. Every man wanted to kill the others and make all of the riches their exclusive property.

However... that was completely impossible.

"Huh?" one spoke in confusion. "What's this?"

He picked up an item that was lying on the ground. From its outline alone, it looked much like a hen's egg. However, it was dark red in color and had a single area on it that looked much like an eyelid.

At first glance, it didn't look too different from the materials owned

by Maise the Lich, but the man holding it wouldn't have said the same.

He had a high level Identification skill and could identify just about every item he came across, but he didn't get any results for the egg-like object. It confused him, for he'd never had any problems identifying materials or monster eggs. However, it was obvious that he couldn't see what the thing in his hand was. After all, it wasn't an item, a monster, or any other living creature, for that matter.

It was nothing but a curse.

"Awakening."

A voice rang out from every inch of the shell as the egg opened its "eyelid."

"Eee!"

It surprised the man into attempting to throw it away, but the egg seemed to be stuck to his fingers like a strong vacuum.

"What?"

"What's wrong?"

The other men called out to the one who'd screamed — their faces still grinning due to the great amount of coin in their hands.

If they'd had the mind to realize that something was wrong and run away, the man with the egg in his hand would've been the only one to die.

However, that was hopeless. Anyone with that amount of sensitivity to danger would've never touched the belongings of Maise in the first place.

Maise had been among the greatest users of Necromancy in the Kingdom of Altar. Not only was he extremely thorough in his work

towards becoming the King of Corpses — he was also a man who made use of people in a way most couldn't fathom.

He was the type of person to discard his most precious Crystal of Resentment — a necessity in becoming the King of Corpses — just to survive. He also hadn't hesitated to try prolonging his life by trying to buy off Ray with all the riches he'd amassed.

If a man with such an attachment to life were to be killed and had his treasure taken away...

Just what would he do?

Just how far would he go?

The men were defeated the moment they didn't consider those questions.

"Destruction of inventory: confirmed," said the egg. "Search: Lich Maise's Magical Wavelength... No response. Termination of Lich Maise: Confirmed. Assumption: plundering by hostiles. Invoking final spell — Undead Grudge Construction."

Once the voice had finished speaking, the fingers of the man touching the egg were sucked into it. Much like sewage going down a drain, his body began falling into the egg, his body cracking and spurting out blood as his form was compressed.

"AUGH!! UuGgh!! EeuGH!!"

Leaving only his completely inhuman screams, the thing that was once a man disappeared into the object.

The egg gained in size, becoming about as large as the egg of an ostrich.

"EEEEEK!"

"WH-WHAT THE HELL?!"

The spectacle made the other men panic, and they turned around and attempted to run away.

A moment later, the egg released pipes reminiscent of blood vessels and forced them into the backs of three out of four men that tried to escape. And — as if drinking juice through a straw — the egg began sucking the men into itself.

"GHHHY ! JAUHGHH! EIHH!"

"EGGH... UGHAAAHH!!"

"ASSHHDIEDEAAAGAUGHH!!!"

Experiencing pain beyond their imagination, the men disappeared while speaking words that didn't belong in the realm of the sane.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

The only survivor — the one who'd suggested they take the riches to begin with — dropped to the ground in fear and tried backing away while wetting himself. He thought the egg would launch a pipe at him, as well, but for some reason, it didn't happen. Instead, the egg began extending pipes towards the corpses surrounding the area.

The remains were numerous. All of them belonged to the Gouz-Maise Gang members who'd lost their lives in the battle against the Marshall II. The pipes reached into the pieces of meat scattered by cannon shots, the body halves split by knives, the corpses crushed by the robot's frame, and the head of Gouz hanging on the gate.

That wasn't all — the egg's surface also grew a funnel-like organ that began absorbing something invisible — the grudges — from both the air and the ground beneath. And — though his body had already become dust — that also included the regrets, hatred, and sorrow of Maise the Lich. All the flesh and grudge it'd gathered made the egg expand once more.

It was now an orb that seemed to mix the size of a gas tank and the

fragility of a balloon. The scene before his eyes put the last survivor of the Gouz-Maise Gang into a complete stupor.

Soon enough, the orb cracked.

A moment later, it broke and birthed a beast too foul. A beast too hideous.

It was the ultimate result of the Gouz-Maise Gang and all they had done.

It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say that this creature — this gathering of villainous flesh and emotion — was like a being straight out of hell. The corpses of hundreds were linked together like a jigsaw puzzle, forming the shape of an ox-headed horse-man.

Instead of blood, the only thing flowing through its veins was ill will, malicious grudges.

The gathering of the deceased showed nothing but disdain for all living creatures and moved only with the dark intention to make the whole world as dead as they were.

And, of course, the first target of its grudge was...

"Ah... Eh... Aahh?" ...the last survivor of the Gouz-Maise Gang.

The abomination's cadaverous hands grabbed hold of the man. Then it switched to holding him by the arms — with only its thumbs and index fingers — before beginning to pull on them. The action was so slow that it almost seemed gentle.

"AGH! AAGHY AAAAAHHHH!"

Slowly, surely... like a child toying with an insect... it continued pulling until one of the man's arms was torn from his body. Then it did exactly the same with the legs. And when the man was left with only one limb, the ox-headed horse-man opened its large mouth.

Though the pain he was in drove the man to the edge of insanity, he still had enough mind to understand why the creature was doing what it did. After all, he'd seen it happen many times during his days with the Gouz-Maise Gang.

"Ahaha... am I the... dessert...?"

Torn apart like an insect, the man was finally pulled into the ox's mouth and crushed by the countless, lethal fangs there.

And so, the Gouz-Maise Gang became one. Literally as one, they all composed a single being of hatred.

While the metaphorical sense might've been noble and grand, what was actually happening here was nothing short of vomit-inducing.

It was the birth of the most hideous undead.

◆◆◆

[Non-player announcement]

[Discovered a monster that meets the conditions to be recognized as a Unique Boss Monster]

[Confirmed that no similar specimens have existed prior]

[Informed the control AI managing UBMs]

[Received approval from the control AI managing UBMs]

[Recognizing target as UBM]

[Strengthening the target's ability and providing it with the upon-death special reward function]

[Granting the target Epic status. Granting the target the name of "Revenant Ox-Horse, Gouz-Maise"]