novelraw Chapter 127
Chapter 127
Ch.127 Once You Die, You’ll Have No Choice But to Become My Minion.
Upon hearing that the army of the dead had advanced right up to the Imperial Capital’s gates, soldiers scrambled onto the city walls.
Scarlet, Leah, Cecilia—the platinum-haired saint—and Auros stood atop the high watchtower, gazing intently at the swollen ranks of the dead, now bolstered even by lost spirits who had joined their ranks.
“There are so many…” Leah muttered.
Though she knew her magic alone might struggle to handle such overwhelming numbers, she wasn’t truly worried—because the golden dragon Auros stood beside her. Legends claimed his breath alone could easily obliterate an entire city, and that was no exaggeration.
‘Liches or whatever—they won’t stand a chance against a dragon… but the End of the World Serpent? If there are several creatures like that, it’ll be a pain…’
Unlike ordinary undead, the End of the World Serpent could nullify typical attacks. Leah had never faced anything like it before, so unease was understandable.
“Don’t worry. Creatures like the End of the World Serpent can still be damaged by divine power,” Cecilia reassured her.
Formless entities were infinitely vulnerable to divine energy. True, purging something as massive as the End of the World Serpent with divine power would take time—but it was possible.
Leah narrowed her eyes slightly at Cecilia’s words. After nearly dying the last time she’d faced the serpent, a flicker of anxiety was only natural.
‘Tch. We’re allies now, so I’ll just have to bear with it.’
She swallowed the sharp retort she wanted to make, thinking ahead—past even the defeat of the King of the Dead.
“I’ll leave the wraiths to you, Saintess,” Auros declared.
Cecilia nodded firmly, her expression resolute. “Don’t worry.”
No sooner had she spoken than an immense surge of magical energy erupted from within the enemy ranks.
“D-d-danger! That level of magic—it’s a Meteor!” Leah cried out, eyes wide at the dozens of meteors hurtling toward them.
Her face paled—but then, from Auros’s body, a colossal wave of magic burst forth, instantly suppressing the enemy’s magical output.
“Indeed… the sheer number of liches is rather irritating,” Auros remarked calmly.
In life, the magic emitted by liches could rival even that of a Demon King—but here, Auros, Lord of Dragons, effortlessly overpowered it all. Leah couldn’t help but feel awe.
‘Is this… a living embodiment of magic itself?’
Anyone who wielded mana would be stunned by such transcendent power.
Leah gasped as Auros effortlessly canceled the liches’ spells with his Wordless Window—a technique so refined it bordered on divine.
Auros turned to Leah with mild reproach. “What are you waiting for? Cast your spell already! Or do you expect this old dragon to do all the attacking himself?”
He spoke to her as though she were his granddaughter from next door—warm, yet teasing. Leah flinched, then straightened her shoulders.
“Yes! I’ll attack right away!”
Her short crimson hair began to ripple as a torrent of red magic surged from her body. Slowly, she levitated, radiating intense heat.
Raising her hand high, she shouted, “Meteor!”
A massive meteor plummeted from the sky, crashing into the enemy ranks with a deafening explosion.
—BOOOOM!
A shockwave and gale-force winds rocked the earth, and a blinding flash of light engulfed the world—then vanished as quickly as it came.
“Did it hit?”
Dust swirled thickly, obscuring vision after such a devastating strike. Everyone assumed Leah’s magic had struck true and inflicted massive damage.
But…
As the dust slowly cleared, a translucent violet barrier shimmered into view.
“Huh? It blocked it?”
Leah had never—never in her life—seen her Meteor spell blocked before. Meteor was her signature spell; even demonkind had been obliterated by it.
“It seems there are quite a few liches present,” Auros observed.
Even a genius mage like Leah couldn’t easily overcome an army of hundreds of liches—each having studied magic for centuries.
As if signaling that the skirmish had only just begun, hordes of ghouls now charged toward the walls.
“Ghouls! Hold the line!”
The sight of human-shaped ghouls leaping with grotesque agility sent chills down spines.
On the walls, priests and holy knights clasped hands and knelt in prayer.
—“O Divine One! Save us!”
Their sweet hymns soon summoned a golden light that enveloped the walls, forming a sacred barrier.
Ghouls surged over the barrier—only to melt upon contact. The soldiers’ morale soared.
—“Whoa! The undead are melting!”
—“If you’re dead, stay dead!”
—“Praise the Divine!”
Scarlet watched the enemy formation carefully.
Normally, losing the vanguard would crush morale—whether for demons or humans, for all living beings possessed emotion.
But…
‘They show no emotion. No reaction at all.’
Either this was precisely what they’d expected—or they truly felt nothing.
‘Is this what it means… to have no soul?’
They feared no death—the most basic instinct of any living thing.
That lack of fear unnerved Scarlet more than anything. It meant she, too, could become like them upon death.
And not just her—her family as well.
‘I’ll never let that happen.’
“But… what should we do now? Should I cast another Meteor?” Leah asked sheepishly, scratching her cheek after her spell had been nullified.
Auros studied the enemy calmly. “It seems both sides are still probing each other. Let’s observe a while longer.”
After all, the opening clash had only just begun.
***
“Hmm? There’s someone among them who can bind the liches’ magic?”
The King—surveying his own army’s assault on the Imperial Capital—tilted his head.
“A dragon… and a high-tier one at that.”
He smirked with Selena’s face. “Heh heh… Should I go deal with him myself? Or perhaps…”
If he stepped in personally, the Adversaries might appear. Though he possessed infinite regression, he had no desire to trouble himself unnecessarily.
He stared toward the enemy walls, lost in thought.
“Heh heh… They’ve declared a sanctuary, have they? Then how about this?”
With a wave of his hand, black wyverns rose from the ranks of the dead, soaring high into the sky.
These were monsters once commanded by a Demon King his army had encountered during its march—now subjugated by the King’s own authority.
As former Demon King’s minions, they were immune to divine power.
(Though his elite troops were also immune—that was his hidden trump card.)
“Now, let’s see what you can really do.”
The wyverns unleashed streams of acid breath upon the walls—
—“Aaah!”
—“Crossbowmen! Quick! Intercept them!”
—“Cast spells, you slow-witted mages!”
Chaos erupted instantly atop the walls.
‘Is this all they’ve got? They’re too weak.’
True, the enemy hadn’t shown their full strength yet—but panicking over mere wyverns felt disappointingly trivial.
This was his vendetta, after all.
He didn’t want them to fall so easily.
—SCREEE!
A massive bolt fired from a giant ballista struck a wyvern clean through, felling it. Meanwhile, a gray-haired woman had already appeared atop the wall, hurling daggers with lethal precision, dropping wyvern after wyvern.
“Oh? So the current Hero is a woman?”
Though speed was his forte, Scarlet’s movements were astonishingly swift and graceful—beyond belief.
“A new type… different from the previous Hero.”
Roy—back when he was still alive—had once dueled a former Hero. That one had wielded a greatsword.
But this Hero used daggers—throwing them, only for them to reappear in her hand moments later.
‘Has the Holy Sword changed form? How curious.’
It had been Hans who first suggested to Scarlet—then still learning swordsmanship—that she try daggers instead.
Though the Holy Sword had originally been a longsword, she’d successfully reshaped it into a dagger at Hans’s suggestion—and ever since, she’d truly flourished as a Hero.
—THUD!
Seeing Scarlet appear and vanish unpredictably along the eastern and western walls, the King’s lips curled into a smile.
“Oh ho! So that’s your game? Very well. I’ll indulge you a little longer.”
He pointed a finger at Scarlet—and from his army emerged knights clad in black plate armor, riding ghostly black steeds as they charged the walls.
—“Enemies! Kill them!”
—“W-wait! Those are Death Knights?!”
The ghostly steeds scaled the walls as if climbing flat ground, Death Knights surging upward with terrifying speed.
Scarlet leapt from the battlements, dagger in hand, launching herself at the nearest knight.
Midair, the black knight swung a mace hard enough to shatter her skull—but she ducked, evading just in time.
Then—
She drove her dagger—infused with blue aura—into the gap between his helmet and armor.
—SPLUT!
Knight and steed vanished, leaving only black mist behind.
As Scarlet landed and steadied herself, Death Knights already surrounded her.
At that moment—
Golden-armored knights dropped from the walls.
—“Hero! We’ve come to aid you!”
—“Thank you, Sir Taylor!”
Seeing the imperial knights join the fray, the King’s eyes gleamed with delight.
“Heh heh… So the Golden Knights still exist? How delightful! How very delightful!”
It had been over a thousand years since his death.
Yet here they were—the very knights who had once spearheaded his own demise.
This little diversion was starting to seem worth his time.
Roy pulled a black staff from his spatial bag and shouted, “Teleport!”
***
Scarlet frowned as a stunningly beautiful woman suddenly appeared before her.
The stranger held a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, smiling as brightly as if out for a leisurely stroll.
“Who are you?” Scarlet demanded.
The beauty’s lips parted slightly—then spoke in a deep, gravelly voice that could only belong to an old man.
“I am the King of All the Dead. A pleasure to meet you, Hero of this age… and Golden Knights.”
Everyone winced. That voice—harsh, ancient—was unmistakable. They’d all heard it before.
“I’ll finish you right here! Leah!”
“I’m ready! Hellfire!”
From the distant watchtower, black flames erupted from Leah’s hands, surging toward the King—
“Blink.”
In an instant, his form blurred—and the attack missed completely.
“Heh heh… So you’re a Gift-bearer? Quite a vicious Gift you’ve got.”
Grinning, the King aimed his staff at the stone watchtower. “But you’re impertinent! Meteor!”
A giant meteor began to plummet from the sky as his staff glowed—
“Dispel.”
Auros stepped forward, instantly unraveling the spell.
“Dragon—so you’re here,” the King said coldly.
“I am. King of the Dead,” Auros replied, their gazes locking like blades.
“You seem like a rather ancient dragon. How about joining my ranks?”
Auros scoffed. “And what makes you think you could make me your minion?”
The King smiled. “You may have your will now—but once you die, you’ll have no choice but to become my servant.”
At those words, Auros’s white eyebrows twitched.
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