Chapter 184: Our Neighborhood Archlich (4)

Undead had undeniable advantages in battle. But in everyday life? Most of those benefits diminished.

—And then there's the matter of supplies.

On the battlefield, reducing a massive supply corps to a handful of necromancers was incredibly beneficial. But in civilian life? Granaries existed in every village, but powerful necromancers capable of maintaining an undead workforce were rare. It made absolutely no sense to summon a rare necromancer just to kill off a bunch of workers and replace them with undead.

—That’s like calling a mage to cast Fireball when you could just use flint to start a fire.

It was simply far more practical to feed and work the living than to rely on undead labor.

—Even the fact that undead follow orders perfectly isn't a real advantage outside of war.

On the battlefield, no matter how strict military discipline was, there would always be deserters. After all, fear of death was one of the greatest fears a person could have. But in everyday life? If someone disobeyed, you just beat them until they complied.

—And even the undead's endurance isn't really an advantage.

Undead didn't tire, but the necromancer controlling them did. Unless they were in life-threatening situations, the living were just more efficient than the dead.

—If you keep them alive, you only need to feed them to put them to work. Why waste necromantic energy killing them first?

Listening to the conversation, Leven pointed out something odd.

—That’s not entirely true, is it? They could handle dangerous tasks that humans find difficult, right?

Undead still had their uses outside of war. Firefighting, mining, handling toxic substances. Leven was sure undead would still be useful in those areas.

Varos chuckled dryly.

—Ah, that's a very reasonable way of thinking for a human.

—What do you mean?

—It assumes that human life has value.

Risking death while putting out a fire? Let them burn. Risk of cave-ins in a mine? Let them be buried. That was how necromancers thought. When human lives were so abundant, why waste precious undead?

Karnak shrugged.

—From a necromancer's perspective, the most efficient solution is just throwing living humans into the grinder.

Feed them scraps, work them to the bone, and let them die. And when they died? Simply reanimate them as zombies and continue using them.

—And oddly enough, the resentment makes them even stronger. If we're talking efficiency, this is the best method.

That was why, in the early days of Karnak's Necropia Empire, there had been a fair number of living humans. Of course, after a few decades, they all died off.

—But of course, that was only in the past. I'm not planning to live like that anymore.

Serati felt strangely satisfied.

At least he’s making excuses now.

In any case, it wasn’t particularly surprising that Maloka had spared the people of Zestrad. The real issue was that they weren't spared out of any sense of morality.

—He’ll work them to death, then revive them as undead and keep using them.

If they wanted to save the people while they were still alive, they had to act quickly.

—That's why I volunteered to be the bait. I need to show myself immediately and lure Maloka out.

Everyone nodded in understanding.

Leven suddenly asked.

—But do we have a real chance of winning? The opponent is an archlich, after all.

Serati followed up with another question.

—Did you call for Demphis?

Demphis was certainly on Maloka's level. If they set him against the archlich, the remaining necromancers would be easy to take down.

Karnak shook his head.

—We can't use Demphis, not in this situation.

Demphis had an important mission: spreading the Twilight Church. Demphis needed to operate in secrecy, and if he got involved in this battle, the Black God's cultists would inevitably connect him to Karnak.

—Besides, there's no way he'd make it in time.

Right now, Demphis was operating deep in the Felmayer Kingdom, the largest of the Seven Kingdoms. It was quite a distance from the Kingdom of Eustil. Of course, as a ninth circle master, he could arrive in three days if he pushed himself. But an archlich wasn't exactly something that could wander around in broad daylight, was it?

—If a suspicious-looking skeleton started flying across the sky with giant black wings, people would love that, wouldn't they?

If he was spotted, panic would break out at the news of another archlich. That meant he had to avoid daylight, move discreetly at night to avoid priests, and take a roundabout route. That would take at least two weeks. They couldn't afford to delay for that long. By then, a third of the barony's people would already be undead.

—Of course, if we run out of options, we'll have to call him anyway, but...

This situation was different from the battle against Demphis. Karnak smiled.

—We have Commander Erantel, a purple knight, and Sir Theoderic, an eighth circle mage. Alius will be leading the order as well. And on top of that, we’ll be fighting too. With this much firepower, we have a real chance. If we lure Maloka properly, we can take him down.

Of course, Maloka wouldn't fall for just any bait. He had to be tricked into thinking it wasn't a trap. Or even if he suspected it, he had to believe he could handle it. And when it came to deception, Karnak was confident.

—Maloka doesn't know who I am, but I know who he is.

***

During the first attempt to reclaim Zestrad, the Eustil royal army hadn't considered the situation particularly dire. Cultists uprising was a common occurrence.

They assumed it was another minor disturbance and only sent a small force consisting of four aura users, twenty knights, and five hundred soldiers. Against an ordinary cultist faction, that would have been more than enough.

But they hadn't expected a legendary monster like an archlich to show up. The kingdom’s forces were wiped out without even putting up a fight. Most of the knights and soldiers were slaughtered. Worse, many of them were revived as undead and turned against their former allies.

This crushing defeat forced the kingdom to take the threat seriously. The second reclamation force was much larger and better prepared. A specialized unit of mages and priests was formed specifically to counter Maloka's magic and necromancy. Only warriors experienced in fighting undead were selected. This time, their numbers reached a thousand strong.

And yet, they still lost. They had known their opponent was an archlich, but they hadn't fully grasped just how powerful an archlich truly was. Maloka's overwhelming power forced the Eustil army into yet another retreat.

However, they fared better than the first attempt. This time, they didn't get completely wiped out. They had managed to retreat in somewhat decent order.

But a loss was a loss. After two consecutive defeats, the kingdom finally acknowledged the scale of the threat. This time, they assembled a force capable of actually killing an archlich.

This third army included Commander Erantel, a purple knight, Theoderic, an eighth circle mage, the

heroes

of the King's Order, who had made a name for themselves fighting the Black God’s cult.

With everything in place, the third Zestrad reclamation force departed from Derath City and headed north.

***

A force of fifteen hundred soldiers marched across the desolate plains, heading toward the Zestrad Barony. Karnak and his group were positioned near the center of the formation.

"I kept saying I wanted to go home," Karnak muttered, clicking his tongue as he scanned the surroundings. "But I didn't think I'd be returning like this."

They hadn't reached the barony yet, but seeing his homeland in the distance stirred strange feelings within him.

Beside him, Varos, who was guiding his horse, let out a wry chuckle. "It feels even stranger to hear people calling us heroes."

"Well, we have taken out a lot of cultists. Still, I can't say I feel comfortable with it either," Karnak chimed in.

Lapicel nodded from behind them. "You're both so humble. Even after saving so many people, you still feel awkward being called heroes."

Serati forced a smile. "Ye-Yeah, I guess so."

But her true thoughts were completely different.

Calm down. Keep it together. You can't lose it in front of the kid.

While she struggled to maintain her composure, the reclamation force steadily advanced northward.

Suddenly, Karnak narrowed his eyes and gazed beyond the plains. "They should be showing up around now."

Leven, puzzled, turned to him. "How do you know that?"

"Just look at the weather," Karnak answered him.

Although it was technically spring, the sky was covered in thick clouds, and the wind carried a biting chill. The ideal time for necromancy was, of course, the dead of night when the sun was absent, but overcast conditions like these worked just as well.

"This is perfect weather for controlling undead," Karnak explained.

As if on cue, a cry rang out from the front ranks.

"Enemy attack! We're under attack!"

"All troops, prepare for battle!"

***

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Against the backdrop of a gray sky, a sinister figure in a billowing black robe floated in the air. "Fools! Have you come to throw away your pathetic lives once more?"

The ninth circle archmage hovered in the open. He was met with the standard response from the reclamation force.

"Archers! Loose your arrows!"

In an instant, dozens of arrows rained down upon Maloka. Had he been a normal ninth circle master, this barrage might have been a real threat. No matter how powerful a mage was, the human body was still fragile. But Maloka was no mere human.

"

Hmph.

"

He ignored the arrows piercing through his skeletal form and merely raised his golden staff. A moment later, a cascade of explosions erupted across the battlefield. A deafening roar echoed as flames and black smoke engulfed parts of the formation.

"

Gaaah!

"

"Da-Damn that monster!"

Then, a streak of light shot toward Maloka.

Hmm?

It carried enough power that he couldn't dismiss it outright.

He swiftly conjured a veil of darkness to block the attack. Even so, the impact sent a powerful shockwave through the air.

"An eighth circle spell? Looks like we've got some decent fighters this time."

Sure enough, in the distance, he spotted a middle-aged man radiating immense mana. At the same time, various aura-infused blades flared across the battlefield. Red, blue, and even purple energy flickered through the ranks.

Aura users surged forward, shattering the advancing undead. The reclamation force quickly regained their momentum. The knights and soldiers swiftly pressed forward. The tide of battle began to shift.

"Push them back!"

"Don't let up!"

Among the chaos, one particularly unusual mage stood out. "I shall become the one to atone for the sins of darkness!"

As soon as he cast his spell, portions of the undead army turned against their own ranks, shackled by radiant chains. The very technique necromancers used to manipulate the corpses of their enemies was now being used against them.

"That must be Karnak."

There was no doubt. The spell was Redeemer of Necromancy. It was one of the anti-necromancy spells spread from the Azure Silver Tower to even the mages of the empire.

So he's finally shown himself.

Maloka lowered his golden staff.

There’s no need to waste my strength fighting here.

***

The undead army began retreating beyond the plains. It was the first victory for the reclamation force. Knights and soldiers erupted into cheers.

"

Wooooah!

"

"We won!"

But in truth, it wasn't something to celebrate just yet. The true strength of the enemy lay in Maloka and his subordinate necromancers. As long as they remained intact—and as long as they had enough corpses—the overall power of their forces wouldn't diminish at all.

Even so, their initial objective had been achieved. Watching the undead forces withdraw, Karnak smirked coldly.

"This should be enough for Maloka to recognize me."

Now that Karnak had shown his face, it was finally time for him to make his move.