The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness

Looks like the mage who’s been sending Skeletons over has lost their patience. Are they telling us to come out or are they planning to forcefully bury the underpass?

We ask for the permission from Mister Lazar and the guys, who haven’t noticed anything, and go upstairs together. They would only be a hindrance since they had troubles even with ‘Black Bone’. Their presence wouldn’t make much difference, so it would be better if they stayed where they had less likelihood of dying.

The closer we get to the surface, the greater the shaking becomes. Senri says.

“It’s most likely a Skeleton Giant.”

“Do Black Bones get bigger when they evolve?”

“Wrong. It’s made from the bones of the giants. It’s stronger than Black Bone.”

Giants, as their name implies, are a minority race that look like humans, but are said to be several times larger. Because of their size, they have their unique culture and rarely appear in human towns. Of course, I’ve never met them, but from what I’ve heard, all of them are excellent warriors. They’re much bigger than humans so they must be strong.

However, I see… things like them exist too…

It’s a race known for their herculean strength. I don’t intend to compare strengths upfront, but I’m slightly interested in which one’s stronger, them or the Lesser Vampires.

We run through the dungeon and go outside. At that moment, the ground shakes extremely violently.

“Kh?!” My eyes open wide. I didn’t have to look for it. It was just huge. It looked like Skeleton with golden bones. But each of its bones were much thicker than my torso and shone with dull light in darkness. I couldn’t see it fully with a single glance, as its eye sockets, from where sinister red light was spilling, kept looking down at me from above the partially-destroyed ceiling. Demon King Rainel was huge, but he was always walking on four legs and he pretty much never stood up on his hind legs so this thing here should have advantage in pure height.

In addition―― my opponent wasn’t alone. There was only a single big one, but I could feel the presence of multiple Skeletons around. It was not just ten or twenty.

“A Black Bone is here too.”

“It’s an all-out war, huh?”

Maybe they haven’t charged in despite having gathered so many troops because they have great discipline. But even so, this amount of fighting power is too much no matter how I think about it. Mister Lazar and the guys wouldn’t be able to hold off even the 10th of them.

…No, did they gather this big of an army because I repelled Black Bones prior? If so, I did something horrendous to these guys.

The Skeleton Giant doesn’t roar. It’s just quietly looking down on us. It’s the first time I’ve seen a giant, but as its name suggested, it’s awfully huge. It’s very intimidating even with a hollow bone body. I gave up on comparing my strength with it. No matter what, our physiques are too different. How are you supposed to fight with Skeleton this big? If Skeleton of this size had an appropriate size sword and swung it generously, this half-destroyed castle wouldn’t stand a chance. No, it looks like it could destroy the castle wall with a single punch.

But it’s fine. The enemy is huge, so it doesn’t have maneuverability. And, with my jumping power, I should easily reach its head. It’s armored but because of its size, it’s full of openings. I’ll cut its neck bones. I just have to break it first before it breaks anything.

It’s a good opportunity to show my power to Senri.

I lick my lips at the sign of a strong enemy I haven’t faced in a long while and say to Senri.

“Senri, I’ll take on the big guy.”

“Photon Delete.”

☠

“I wanted to fight…”

“I’m sorry, but that was the best solution.”

Senri replies somewhat apologetically to my words. And her expression makes my heart bleed even more.

It has a terrific power no matter how many times I see it. The beam of light that Senri released blew off the Skeleton Giant without letting it do anything. It wasn’t even a battle anymore. If that light was directed at me, even I, having gotten stronger as a Lesser Vampire, would be vanquished in a single blow. Even I could probably, maybe, definitely defeat Skeleton Giant but it would most likely be impossible to defeat it in one hit. In the battle against the undead, Senri is the closest to being invincible.

The most terrifying thing is that Photon Delete isn’t Senri’s original creation, but rather Epeé’s specialty. Even though I’ll have no chances of winning against Epeé, as expected, I’m doomed for the fate of always running away.

Contrary to my dejected self, the mercenary bunch were in high spirits for some reason. Maybe they’re happy that we annihilated all the undead. They’re sure easygoing despite the fact that they’d be killed if we weren’t here.

“Cheer up, Baron. If you’re so narrow-minded, your wife will leave you.”

“Even I have my own pride…”

Well, I knew that Senri could defeat Skeleton Giant, but even so, this is just too much. Just where should I put down my raised fist?

“Well, cheer up. You defeated a big-shot. If we report it, we’ll get extra money. We lucked out, so I’ll treat you to a drink.”

“Why, thank you…”

Please choose a place that doesn’t serve garlic. I’ll empty out your wallet, don’t you underestimate a vampire’s power.

Just as my thoughts went this far, a sudden question appeared in my mind.

Mister Lazar and the others can’t be called strong mercenaries even as flattery. They can defeat Skeletons, but they lose to Black Bone and would most likely flee without being able to do anything against Skeleton Giant.

But ―― they’re definitely not weak mercenaries either. They have enough skills to defeat monsters that appear on the highway and they have spent way longer than me fighting with their swords. ‘Dessend’ is a peaceful town. There hasn’t been a war in a long time, so the level of visiting mercenaries must’ve naturally fallen. “… Mister Lazar, when mercenaries here exterminate the undead ―― does anybody end up dead?”

“Dead…? Nah, nobody seems to have died on the mercenary side. To start with, usually only weak undead appear. Usually… we are just unlucky.”

Mister Lazar says while frowning.

As expected… huh. Mister Lazar and the co are mercenaries, and because they don’t have much ability, they must have carefully selected their job. It would be good if being ‘unlucky’ was enough to wrap up this situation…

Senri also seems as though she’s not convinced. Something’s strange. Everything’s strange. We can’t withdraw. I know we can handle it. The power of crystal is too alluring for us to go without confirming anything.