Chapter 129: Episode 129

The war had begun.

The skeleton army led by Manus—a former swordmaster of the Empire and now an Ancient Undead—was flooding toward Prince’s mansion.

Prince’s zombies, which had once dominated Deathland, were struggling. The damage from the previous battle with Pier was a factor, but a much bigger problem loomed.

Manus’s side had deployed a new type of undead at the forefront: Javier’s masterpiece, the ‘Meat Golem.’ It had short legs and a bulbous, roly-poly-like torso, with a small head on top. Its most notable feature was the tough yet elastic biological shell covering its entire body.

The zombies’ teeth and claws were useless against this hide. No matter how much they clawed, they only produced a scratching sound. The Meat Golems trampled over the zombies, swinging their long arms. With a single swing, a dozen densely packed zombies were sent flying like toys.

There were sixteen Meat Golems in total. With so many large monsters pushing from the front line, the zombies alone stood no chance.

[……Damn it!]

Prince watched from the mansion, grinding his teeth. Those modified Meat Golems had all their other functions streamlined to focus solely on strengthening their shells. They were undead born for the sole purpose of fighting zombies. He didn’t know who had created them, but it was infuriating.

[I know!] Prince snapped irritably at a zombie who groaned, then strode over to look at his true body sitting on the throne. It was a withered corpse, and on its head sat a crown. Prince also wore a crown, but it was merely a replica created by his ability. The crown on his true body, however, emitted a brilliant light that proved its authenticity.

’I can never let them take the crown.’

Prince looked back at his subordinate zombies.

[Simon will be here soon. When he arrives, bind him tightly with chains and throw him in the dungeon. He won’t do anything rash as long as he thinks that woman is being held hostage.]

Prince opened a window. He gave his true body one last look, then launched himself out of the mansion.

—

Manus looked down upon the battlefield, satisfied. Although his forces were outnumbered, the tide of battle was in their favor as long as they had the Meat Golems, which were immune to zombie attacks.

’Still, the zombies’ aggression remains a threat.’

Indeed, swarms of zombies were trying to squeeze through the gaps between the Meat Golems. Manus slowly walked in that direction, his hand on the sword at his waist.

The moment Manus drew his sword, a single strike cut a clean line through the enemy ranks. That was all it took. With a sickening sound of tearing flesh and a spray of blood, the zombies collapsed, severed at the waist.

“A-Amazing! As expected!”

“Incredible, Lord Manus!”

Behind Manus, two of Javier’s subordinates were clapping enthusiastically, fawning over him.

[The war has begun, yet where is Javier?]

“It seems a small problem has arisen!”

“But he should be back soon!”

[Hmph.]

He wasn’t a particularly likable human, but even Manus had to acknowledge Javier’s resourcefulness. Not only had he developed the Meat Golems, but he had also figured out how to bypass Prince’s barrier. The timing of the invasion was also perfect, precisely targeting a moment of chaos for Prince.

Speak of the devil. Javier suddenly appeared from behind and grabbed the heads of his two subordinates. Manus frowned.

[What is the meaning of this, Javier?]

Javier’s entire body was shriveled like a mummy. He quietly chanted an incantation.

’Life Drain.’

As the magic circle on his palm activated, his subordinates screamed horribly and struggled. As their bodies shriveled into mummies, Javier slowly returned to his original form.

“Gah! Hah, that’s better.”

Javier released his grip, and two mummified corpses fell to the ground with a thud.

[Was it necessary to drain all their life force? They were your subordinates,] Manus asked, his tone disapproving.

“I kept them on the payroll precisely for this purpose.”

He struck the ground with his staff. The skin of the two men split open, and skeletons emerged from within. Javier nonchalantly opened a Subspace and collected them.

[Hmph.]

Even for Manus, an undead himself, it was not a pleasant sight.

“Sorry I’m late. I was held up by some strange fellow,” Javier said, dusting off his clothes.

[It doesn’t matter. From now on, please focus on the war.]

“Of course. How goes the battle?”

[It is proceeding exactly as we predicted.]

Moving Prince’s true body would require a great deal of time and effort. The zombie prince would likely fight to the end to protect his mansion. Once they pushed back the zombies and entered, victory would be theirs.

“Of course, the zombie prince won’t just stand by and watch,” Javier said, narrowing his eyes as he surveyed the battlefield. “Heh heh, here he comes!”

—

Prince arrived on the battlefield. Even before he got there, his objective was clear: the Meat Golems. He had to destroy all of them to have any chance of winning.

[Hiyaaa!]

Prince charged forward at full speed and slammed his fist into the abdomen of the first Meat Golem he saw.

The point of impact caved in, and the Meat Golem’s belly rippled like water.

’Impact absorption?’

He took the Meat Golem’s counterattack head-on. It didn’t hurt, but deep anger flared on Prince’s face.

[A worthless patchwork creature!]

He immediately changed his approach. This time, he climbed up the Meat Golem’s body and aimed for its head. He clamped his legs firmly around its neck and twisted. With the sound of its neck snapping, the Meat Golem let out a pained roar.

Prince raised his fist high.

Under the merciless barrage, the Meat Golem’s face was beaten to a bloody pulp. The massive body swayed, then collapsed.

[Now,] Prince ordered his zombies to charge.

The zombie horde, which had been blocked by the Meat Golems, finally broke through like a burst dam and poured out to attack Manus’s main skeleton force. It finally felt like the tide of battle was turning, if only slightly.

’Next.’

Fifteen Meat Golems remained. The number was mind-numbing, but he had no choice. Prince ran toward the second Meat Golem. Once again, he dodged its attacks and climbed up to its head.

’I’ll end this quickly.’

Just as he raised his fist, the sound of a swinging sword echoed in his ear.

Prince suddenly felt his vision rise high into the air. He rolled his eyes down. He could see the battlefield—a tangled mess of zombies and Meat Golems—and, more importantly, his own body atop a Meat Golem. A body with no head.

Prince was stunned as the world turned gray and his vision inverted. When Prince opened his eyes, he was inside the mansion, back in his true body.

’What? What just hit me?’

The ability of the Ancient Undead, Prince. He possessed a maximum of nine regenerable ‘lives.’ He could recover one about once a week if he focused on resting. But now, one of those precious lives had been lost so meaninglessly.

’Damn it!’

He had to return to the battlefield. Prince stared out the window and possessed one of the zombies on the battlefield.

Pitch black Jet-Black fell like lightning, enveloping the zombie’s body and transforming it into Prince. Returning to the battlefield, he lifted his head. He saw the Meat Golem, and the headless body that had been his only a moment ago was falling from its shoulders. And a short distance away, a skeleton wearing cloth adorned with a red flower pattern was sheathing its sword.

It was him.

[Manus!!]

Prince charged, enraged. Manus spotted him, grabbed the hilt of his sword, and lowered his stance.

’It’s fine. He can’t cut me. I was careless before and didn’t cover my body in Jet-Black. That’s the only reason he got me.’

As Manus’s sword strike flew toward him, Prince raised both arms in a defensive posture.

Prince gasped as a large gash appeared on his arm, spraying a fountain of black blood. The wound was deep. Even though he had reinforced his arm with Jet-Black, it had been nearly severed.

[Surprised?] Manus said, holding his sword in a downward slash. [In our battle decades ago, I could not cut you. After experiencing that defeat, I have changed many of my ways.]

[You…!]

Manus’s sword blade was stained pitch-black with Jet-Black.

[I stopped clinging to old swordsmanship and trying to imitate aura with Jet-Black. I accepted it: Jet-Black is superior to aura. I focused on using its power to enhance my sword’s cutting ability to the extreme. The result is the wound you now bear.]

Manus’s eyes flashed.

[I can cut you now.]

[Don’t get cocky just because you took one of my lives! You piece of trash!!]

As Manus swung his sword, Prince once again raised his arms to guard. But this time, a thin line appeared on his left forearm.

[Aaaaargh!]

Despite losing an arm, Prince didn’t stop his charge. He was faster to grab Manus’s sword with his bare hand than Manus was to swing again. Blood gushed from his hand, but Prince pulled the sword toward himself and threw a punch.

But the punch never landed. His left arm was gone. It was a common confusion he experienced due to his ability to inhabit other bodies.

[Your tactics haven’t changed one bit in decades.]

[You bastard!]

Prince opened his mouth wide, trying to bite Manus.

A choking sound escaped Prince. This time, the strength drained from his body as if by magic. Prince collapsed to one knee. Behind him, a red magic circle, as if drawn in blood, had appeared. A single rose had taken root in his body and was growing.

“Your body possesses a powerful immunity to curses.”

Prince turned around, his pupils widening.

“So I tried honing my blood-flow techniques,” Javier said with a smirk. “It seems to have been a great success.”

[Javier!! You betrayed me!]

“Betrayal? I was never on your side to begin with. We were merely in a business relationship, were we not?” Javier smiled slyly and extended his hand. As the rose grew larger, strength drained from Prince’s body.

[Javier!!!]

As Prince weakened, Manus forcibly pulled his sword free, severing Prince’s fingers in the process.

[With this,]

Manus’s sword strike once again cut across Prince’s neck.

[Seven remain.]

Prince’s world blurred, and his vision inverted. When he came to, he was back in his true body in the mansion.

’Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

He needed time to think. This time, Prince didn’t immediately return to the battlefield. Instead, he possessed a nearby zombie that was guarding his true body. Color returned to his gray vision.

’Damn it!!’

Seven left? No, it was actually six. It was agonizing to have lost one of his precious lives so meaninglessly to that Legion bastard. What should he do now? Could he destroy all the Meat Golems while avoiding those two, even if he used up all six of his remaining lives?

Just then, a zombie approached Prince and reported. Prince’s face contorted in a furious scowl.

[An intruder? I just came from fighting Manus! What are you talking about? I’m about to explode, so stop…!]

Before he could finish, the door to the room was blown apart with a deafening roar. An outstretched leg was visible through the doorway.

As a figure emerged from the thick dust, Prince’s eyes turned bloodshot.

“Even when life gets tough, you should try to cheer up, Prince.”

The expression ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’ had never been more appropriate. Simon, clad in Pier’s Bone Armor, was walking into the room.

[Grrr…!]

“Prince.” Simon offered a crooked smile and aimed his greatsword. “How many lives do you have left?”

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