Chapter 132
Chapter 132
[Charge.]
Simon gave an absolute order with the power of the crown. A group of zombies rose like a huge wave and flooded in toward Manus.
'Glory'
Manus raised his sword to dark sky painted with red clouds. No sunlight came through, but that was his ritual.
'to the Empire!'
Manus tightneed his grip on his sword. Drawing a graceful line through the air, he brought his sword down.
Sssshhhhing!
The approaching wave was split vertially in half, and zombies flew in all directions.
[Guooooooooh!]
[Kieeeeh!]
Waves of zombies gathered formed the second, the third wave. Each time, Manus swung his sword and cut them down.
The power to calm the waves with a single blow proved his reputation as a swordmaster.
Shiiiing!
But when he slashed down the fourth wave, the fifth wavecarrying Simon on its creststruck from behind.
[!]
Manus quickly slashed down the fifth wave, but Simon, riding on top of it, crashed down like a meteorite with his greatsword.
Manus hastily raised his sword over his head.
Claaaaaaang!
The two blades clashed head-on.
The ground cracked beneath them and the wind screamed. The hordes of zombies behind Simon and the skeleton troops behind Manus were blasted away by the impact alone.
'Kugh!'
Simon let out a smirk admist this battle of strength.
'This guy is outrageously strong.'
[Excellent!]
As though Manus was thinking the same thing, his boney skull grinned.
The swords still meeting in the middle, Manus exquisitely twisted his blade at an angle to send Simon's greatsword barrelling upwards.
"!"
His strength was being diverted.
Before Manus could take advantage of this opening, Simon rolled up through the air as jet-black exploded beneath both his legs. Manus looked back and swung his sword, but Simon also shot out a slash.
Pow!!
When the two great energies collided, it seemed as though space itself was being distorted.
As soon as Simon landed on the ground, Manus caught up to him and swung once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two exchanged roles of attacker and defender countless times. White and black lines crisscrossed one after another, almost forming a dense embroidery in the air.
Sparks flew from the twos trance-like state
"Kugh!'
It was daunting. Even wearing Pier, Simon was pushed back by the harsh difference in swordsmanship.
[Necromancers have no weaknesses. They're excellent in every way. However, that too can be a weakness.]
Slaaaash!
Simon winced in fright. In moments, his left shoulder had been cut open, and a fountain of blood was gushing out. The strike was aimed precisely at a gap between Pier's Bone Armor.
'He even slashed through the Kizen's school uniform!'
Simon quickly stepped back.
[I devoted my soul to the sword and polished it for my entire life. Being good at everything means being equally bad at everything. Youre a jack of all trades, but a master of none.]
""
A seriousness entered Simon's gaze.
Although he could let the things Manus said to go in one ear and out the other, it seemed clear that Pier's strength alone wouldn't be enough. Manus was definitely a swordmaster.
Nonetheless,
"Alright, then. Here's a question."
Simon was relaxed.
"Why do you think you guys went extinct?
[!]
Manus gripped the handle of his sword with a look of indignation. Simon smiled and took a huge step back, jumping into the waves of zombies.
It wasnt the obvious statement that the necromancers are trendy and knights are old-fashioned.
Simon's golden eyes gleamed.
"You're wrong. Being good at everything"
He raised an open hand in the air.
"That just means we're strong."
* * *
* * *
[Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!]
[Guooooooooooooh!]
Tens of thousands of zombies roared out. It was no longer just the zombies in the mansion. Zombies from outside joined, increasing the numbers severalfold.
[Wait, Boy! Holding onto more thoughts is going too far! You're already at the limit!]
"Then I'll gladly overcome the limit."
Now nobody could stop Simon. Filled with a sense of elation and elevation, Simon balled his raised hand into a fist.
The crown's golden light surged like an explosion and wrapped around Simon. His eyes glistened with trembling concentration.
One more time.
[Follow me.]
Simon's dark-blue jet-black flooded over the zombies' bodies like flame, not smoke. The undead roared endlessly, praising and worshiping the new king.
Once again, an absolute order was given to all the zombies in the area. It was a simple, yet extraordinarily powerful command.
[Bring me his head.]
With that command, the zombies moved in perfect order.
Zombies climbed on top of other zombies and others started climbing on top of them. It was no longer a mere wave, but a tsunami.
Manus looked around himself in bewilderment.
He had instantly become surrounded by tsunamis of zombies. The skeleton subordinates near him couldn't even be found anymore.
[Kugh!]
Masses with thousands of eyes approached him, shaking the earth as they moved.
Manus swung his sword in fright over and over again.
However, every time zombies fell to his sword, the zombies behind flooded in to fill the gaps. No matter how many times they fell, their ferocious march didn't waver.
[Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!]
The waves soon descended on Manus.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrumble!
Manus jumped up over wave after wave, but eventually got caught up in one.
In a blink, Manus was covered by zombies, and only his arm was visible in the gaps between the terrible chunks of flesh. But soon even that disappeared from sight.
After a while, a mountain of zombies had formed on top of Manus on the ground. And a boy watched this scene with blank eyes.
'How is this possible?'
Prince couldn't help but be stunned by scene before him.
So this was true usage of the crown.
It was the first time Prince saw zombies become conscripted and have their physical abilities greatly enhanced after Simon donned the crown.
'Is that bastard really human?'
Pier was stunned as well.
[Kuhehe! It's good that you neutralized him, Boy.]
He moved his gaze.
[But you can't kill him like this. What will you do n......]
Piers voice trailed off.
Simon was looking strange. He seemed to be properly controlling his power despite wearing the crown, but now Simon's eyes seemed to be losing all focus.
[Hey, Boy!]
He was intoxicated with the power.
His reactions slowed from processing too many thoughts, and his rationality was about to burn away to make space for it all.
Pier hurriedly detached from Simon as Bone Armor and returned to his original form. He then tried to remove the crown, but it wouldn't budge.
The crown and Simon were rejecting it.
But even in the midst of this, Simon was steadily moving. With his thoughts, he was holding the zombies back. The huge mountain of zombies had now become a hill.
'This guy!'
Simon's rationality didn't burn away.
At this point, he had never concentrated so much in his life. It was just that his body couldn't react properly, time ticking by extremely slowly for him as he calculated.
'What kind of magic circle is he formulating?'
'!!!!'
After checking the magic circle, Pier's jaw dropped.
He constantly checked on Simon's school life, and he couldnt have learned this.
He wouldn't have come across it anywhere.
'No, he didn't learn it.'
He didn't acquire it through concepts or knowledge.
He gained the insight naturally.
A way to get rid of Manus as he was crushed beneath zombies.
The product of that thought was seen in the magic circle drawn on Simon's right arm.
The dark spell might already exist somewhere, but at this moment, Simon was undoubtedly creating dark magic himself.
"Phewww."
Simon stretched out his right arm. Towards the very place where hundreds of zombies were concentrated.
Manus was flailing on the ground, trying to somehow escape. Hordes of zombies rose and fell above him like the tides.
The flames in Pier's eye sockets shone brightly.
'There's no mistake.'
That dark spell was the symbol of necromancers during the 100-Year War.
The worst fear.
The spell of the zombiemancer that puts all others to shame.
[Corpse]
Simon slowly turned his right hand.
[Explosion.]
The world turned completely white. The last thing Pier saw was the cores of the countless zombies covering Manus burning with a dark-blue jet-black. Then
Kaboooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!
It was an indescribably massive explosion.
The destruction, created by zombies making their cores overheat and burning their own bodies, swept away everything around them.
Unable to control the power, the force surged upward, forming the shape of a giant mushroom.
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrumble!
The surrounding trees were uprooted and zombies shot through the sky. All the windows in the mansion shattered, and the walls collapsed in on themselves.
'I swear.'
Prince just remained agape.
'I have no other words than he's insane.'
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, only Manus skull remained.
As expected of a swordmaster. He tried to defend himself by concentrating his jet-black into his skull, but it seemed to have ultimately failed.
When Simon approached and checked it, Manus' thoughts had already disappeared.
"Rest in peace, swordmaster."
Simon left those words and placed Manus' skull in his subspace.
[Hey! Boy!]
Pier went up to him.
[Are you really alright?! How did you perform corpse explos.....]
Simon stumbled and fell into Piers side.
Thud.
The crown fell to the ground, making the dark-blue jet-black that once overflowed from the zombies' remains begin to gradually fade.
"Hehe! Pier did I do well?"
[Such a reckless guy.]
Then, Prince approached with a stunned expression.
"I told you, didn't I?"
Simon grinned.
"That I'll show you how I'll win."
[Who the hell are]
However, Simon never heard Prince finish that sentence. He lost consciousness and slumped deeper into Piers side.
[In any case, you're such a high-maintenance Commander!]
Saying that, Pier hoisted Simon onto his shoulders, but his face was filled with more pride than even the happiest of mothers.