009. Imperial Prince is Hunting a Witch -2 (Part One)

Ten holy zombies appeared before me.

The shoulders of the newly summoned zombies were slumped forward. They raised their heads slightly upwards and took in the sight of the surroundings. Then, their jaws dropped wide after spotting the zombie bear.

Each of their mouths opened so wide that the jawbones actually dislocated and their cheek skins almost tore up. And then...

- Kiiiiiieeeeeehk!!

As if the hymn of a second ago was nothing but a lie, they spat out a screech far more bizarre than that of a regular undead. Their muscles writhed and wriggled, the blood vessels puffing up on the soles of their feet pressed down on the ground.

The ten holy zombies crouched into a pouncing position, then they exploded forward by kicking the ground. They dug into the bear's defenses with astonishing a turn of speed.

They violently, speedily tore and sliced into the bear's fur and hide with their own sharp claws.

- Kku-ruk??

The zombie bear turned its head in a confused manner. The damaged hide on its body began to melt down.

- Kkiiiaaahk!!

The holy zombies opened their maws wide and pounced on the zombie bear, biting and tearing the monster to bits. Its thick hide was bitten through as the creature's rotting muscles were extended like melting cheese before finally being severed.

The ten holy zombies relentlessly ripped and devoured the undead bear. The hulking monster howled out every time the chewing and grating noises resounded out in the cave. Its large body tottered and it began to somewhat retreat.

"It's working."

I formed a faint little smile. I started believing that I might be able to survive this ordeal.

Not only could these holy zombies raise their speed and break into sprints, their physical strength was also on another level altogether from the others. Their attack capabilities were also far higher than regular zombies from what I could see.

Yes, this was the correct answer. As expected of the Necromancer profession, going for the numbers game was the best way.

Didn't the various 'tokusatsu' and dime-a-dozen RPGs amply demonstrate this? The dirtiness of five or more characters cracking open a can of whoopass on a boss monster! Now that's the truth folks. [1]

The numbers game didn't care whether you were a superhuman or not. That's why...!

The zombie bear suddenly raised its paw and smashed down at the holy zombies.

CRACK-!!

Accompanied by the sounds of something rupturing wide open, the upper torsos of two holy zombies got torn in half, and they flew away to crash into the rocky walls of the cave.

My expression froze right there and then. I shifted my gaze over towards the broken zombies that were smashed into the walls before looking back at the zombie bear.

The hulking creature smashed its paw down once more.

Its wide and heavy front paw smacked and ripped apart a hapless holy zombie's body like a piece of worn-out rag.

And then, while the zombies were doing their best to gnaw at the undead bear bit by bit, the dang thing simply flung its entire body at the rocky wall.

BOOM-!!

Three of the holy zombies that were clinging onto the bear were crushed flat and went splat in an instant.

Maybe it was now too annoyed to care, because the zombie bear simply ignored the rest that were still clinging onto its body, and began to march straight towards me.

I could only stare up dazedly at the approaching monster.

"...I'm screwed."

I had no freaking clue that this thing was so powerful. I mean, wasn't it way too overpowered even if it was a zombified bear?!

Whatever, I needed to get out of this place. This guy wasn't something I could fight head-on.

"I better start runni...!"

The zombie bear's eyes abruptly widened before quickly lowering its posture. Like a spring, it leapt up after kicking the ground. Even though it possessed such a large and heavy body, it was probably the quickest out of all the predators when it came to its ability to charge forward.

Huge, lengthy claws that I nearly mistook for actual scythes took a swift swipe at me.

Son of a...!

I immediately granted the blessing on the shovel. I tried to raise my only equipment up to defend myself, but the bear's paw struck me and my entire body tilted to the side.

BANG-!!

My hands ached. No, hang on a minute – it felt more like the impact force was akin to all of my bones popping out from their sockets instead.

"Uuuk...!"

A short scream leaked out from my lips, any semblance left of consciousness almost abandoning me. That attack just now, it was more than vicious enough to break the shovel and rip my body in half.

However...

A Rune letter was engraved on the shovel with a faint light oozing out from it.

[Divine Aura has activated.]

[Your equipment has been temporarily enhanced.]

What? Divine... What are you talking about?

My eyes nearly popped out from their holes after hearing the message resounding inside my head.

The shovel didn't break. Instead, I felt this wriggling sensation in my hands, the shovel's shaft feeling even more secure within my grip. On the other hand, the zombie bear's dangerous-looking claws developed big cracks before shattering into pieces.

Of course, it wasn't as if I managed to block out the entirety of the impact.

I did defend against the attack, but I still ended up crashing into the rocky wall of the cave, almost like some kind of a deflated ball. I vomited out blood as pain that could be compared to my whole body ripping apart tore through me.

What the hell? I survived?

I glanced down at the shovel. The shining Rune letter gradually disappeared. What was it again? The message definitely said [Divine Aura], didn't it?

Such a thing wasn't among the skillset provided in the game.

Hang on, now wasn't the time to sweat over something like this, was it?

I defended the attack with the shovel, but the intense, horrible pain from my innards made me wonder if all my internal organs had been destroyed or something.

"Euh-euh-euhk...."

I inadvertently leaked out a painful moan, my gaze shifted back to my front. I heard loud, thudding footsteps–the zombie bear was staggering towards me.

At this rate, I would die for sure.

I attempted to use the shovel as leverage to stand up, but I plopped down on the ground again when I tried to do so.

'Ah... I'm definitely screwed.'

I couldn't muster any strength in my legs.

"Damn it, if only my skill proficiency was higher!"

I should've at least meditated seriously and tried to absorb a lot more divinity or something while staying in the monastery. If I did that, I could've enjoyed a chance to overwhelm the zombie bear with the real numbers game.

The bear switched to walking on all four legs. Perhaps realizing that its target couldn't escape anymore, its gait became rather relaxed too. The creature soon stopped near my position and looked down at me, the corners of its lips arcing up.

Urgh, this crazy son of a....

I saw the creature's expression and realized the truth–the unknown Necromancer was busy controlling this very undead right now. The bastard must've been watching everything through the monster's eyes all along.

So... the kidnapped woman was definitely just bait, then?

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman was probably dead by now. My opponent probably only wanted to show everyone that the woman was kidnapped alive. After all, keeping someone alive wouldn't be much useful to a Necromancer.

If she was still alive, then she might end up becoming some sort of a guinea pig, most likely. Or, she's already been killed off and turned into another undead, used as a tool to lure more hapless villagers to their doom.

What a cheap and underhanded method it was. As expected of a Necromancer.

The zombie bear opened its maw wide.

What kind of nonsense was this? I couldn't be sure of whether this was a reincarnation or possession, but here I was, already hell-bound only after three months of living in this place.

Ah, ahh, dear Gaia! If you're watching, can't you help a poor man out for once? I mean, you're a Goddess, aren't you? The Goddess of love and mercy no less?

In that case, you can certainly show me some love and mercy by saving my butt, right?

A lovable grandson of the Holy Emperor is about to get killed, so are you really going to let just it happen?

All sorts of nonsensical stuff filled up my head. I should probably blame the fear of death on this one.

My complexion paled and I ended up muttering out the thoughts bubbling in my head, "Goddammit, there's no way I'd be rescued by reciting a dumb little prayer..."

- Kuuu-ooohhhh!

The zombie bear's wide-open mouth was about to pounce on me, but then...

But then, I saw it.

I saw a whitish object sneak out from behind the zombie bear.

No, hang on a minute, isn't that a person...?!

…Moreover, it's a girl?

She also happened to carry a kitchen knife too.