21 Dialogue with the Trade and Industry Department (1/2)

I walked through the quiet mansion where I could not feel any sign of the living.

The narrow corridor, illuminated by the holy light, was very eerie.

The hint of darkness grew stronger. The miasma was so thick that it would have choked anyone who was not used to it.

Holos Kamen is trying to do something. Senri couldn't tell if it was a last-ditch attempt to stop him, or something he had been preparing for a long time.

But she is up against a cunning necromancer. An evil sorcerer who has survived for a long time will have a trump card or two.

The miasma that has enveloped the entire house is slowly eroding the blessings that Senri and the others are wearing. The miasma that has enveloped the entire house is slowly chipping away at the blessings that Senri and the others have been wearing. It is no longer enough to invade the body, but it is now the enemy's body.

It was as if the entire world had been enveloped in darkness. Already, Senri's senses were not functioning properly.

She could tell that the undead were nearby, but she couldn't tell how many meters away they were. Normally, I can see clearly, but I feel as if I am blindfolded and deafened.

The only thing I can rely on in this situation is my senses. I just walked straight into the intense darkness.

There are several rooms, but no signs of life from within. Our first priority is Holos Kamen. He's probably waiting for you at the far end.

d*mn. Master Epe is right, it's a nasty necromancer. Maybe there will be some ...... vampires in there.

That's not ...... likely, I think. It is very unlikely that a cautious, second-rate necromancer would use a dangerous vampire. A ...... Lesser might, though.

”...... Just kidding. I'm kidding, Senri. You're being too serious.

Nevilla frowns and gives you a dumbfounded look.

But ............ yes. If, by any chance, vampires do appear, you might want to retreat.

Vampires are a special kind of undead. They have a number of weaknesses, but they also have very different abilities compared to their pre-mutation counterparts.

They have strong physical strength and the ability to regenerate completely even after losing much of their body. It has an intelligence beyond that of humans, but most of all, what makes it different from the undead is that it is highly resistant to magic.

And that's why smart necromancers don't turn their undead into vampires.

Vampires are highly resistant to sorcery. The same is true for necromancy.

Vampires who are raised by necromancers often kill their parents who created them.

They look down on people because of their superior abilities and are jealous of people because they have weaknesses that people do not have. Vampires with the ultimate power of death sometimes cannot even take orders, which should be absolute.

This monster is not something that humans can handle. Vampires can be called the most harmful of all the curses created by necromancers.

That is why the wiser necromancers who live longer do not create vampires.

The only necromancers who create vampires are either third class who are too stupid to realize that they are beyond their control, or first class necromancers who have the power and confidence to control even their own existence.

A vampire is a monster that can kill a third level knight single-handedly. If they show up in a battle against necromancers, it is recommended to retreat and rethink your strategy.

But don't worry about that. If you can control vampires, you should be more aggressive.

Since the undead are extremely vulnerable to sunlight, the timing of their use is crucial.

Just then, Senri's ears caught the sound of light footsteps coming from nowhere.

She stopped, looked up, and turned her clever eyes to the light. It wasn't her imagination.

”Wait, ...... is coming.

Lefley and the others had already stopped as well.

There were quite a few footsteps. The crunch of something hard scraping against metal.

At the sound, he imagined the enemy's identity, and his hand tightened on his sword.

Then it appeared from across the passage. Lefley clicks his tongue.

...... Scare Crimson Knights?

There are too many of them.

A lot of them.” The reddish bone knights rushed in with a high-pitched bang. There are too many of them to line up side by side in the narrow passage.

The Scare Crimson is a special kind of skeleton that has been blessed with darkness by a necromancer.

The strengthened and coated skeletons are resistant to the blessings of the Demise Knights, and they are fearsome beings that will attack you even after being purified.

Still, the power of light is great. If you use Soul Release with all your might, you will be able to penetrate and purify the blessings of darkness.

However, it was clear that the enemy's goal was to wear Senri and the others down.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it, but I'm going to try.

”Hey, Senri. I'm not going to use it.

”...... I know.

This is not yet the enemy's main mission.

In the event that you've got a lot of money, you're going to need to be able to pay for it. If you want to conserve your strength, you should kill them one by one.

Just then, I heard a door open behind me. The sound of countless footsteps came from behind me as well. Thelma raises her voice sharply.

”...... Oh, I'm trapped!

I didn't feel any sign of you. ...... Were you hiding behind a ward?

Countless Scare Crimson Knights emerge from the room you've just passed through. Their bodies are protected by metal armor, and their hands, wrapped in baskets, hold swords and shields.

It is probably the bones of a mercenary skilled in battle. There was a certain skill in the way he carried himself with both caution and vigor.

Thelma's silver arrow, aimed at the skull, was easily sliced away by the sword.

I'm sure there are individual differences, but I never thought I'd be able to put together such a large amount of warrior bones--

”Be careful.

Who do you think you're talking to?

Let's go!

Even if they are protected by armor and reinforced by the Dark Blessing, they are still undead.

A single blow from a blessed weapon can purify them. At Senri's words, his friends quickly dispersed.

Leaving his back to his companions, Senri aimed his shining sword at the bone knight attacking him from the front.

§§

The mace shattered the bone body with its armor, and the blessed arrows that entered the gap in the armor purified the evil being.

Although Senri and his men specialize in defeating the Dark Ones, they are not bad at fighting other people. The battle was in Senri's favor from start to finish.

The Scare Crimson Knights were powerful and skilled, but they didn't know how to retreat. He was controlled by the Necromancer, and that was his weakness.

None of his companions were seriously injured, and the number of knights he had already purified exceeded twenty. The floor was littered with the countless armor of the purified Red Bone Man knights.

I'm not sure how many there are.　How many of them are there?

”Shut up and kill them!

However, even at that stage, the number of enemies did not seem to have decreased.

The momentum of the bone knights attacking them was unstoppable, and the swords they were swinging while shattering the armor of their comrades were powerful enough to injure even the demise knights with enhanced physical abilities if they were taken seriously.

The miasma was slowly eroding the blessings. The expressions on the faces of my companions showed fatigue and a slight sense of conflict.

How many troops does the enemy have? Wouldn't it be better to return to the city and rebuild?

On the other hand, the enemy, being undead, has no worries.

”Don't be hasty!　Hey!

”......

You'll be able to find a lot more information on this subject in the following article.

I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. The blade pierced his armor, and the contents of the skeleton knight turned to dust and crumbled away.

You're on the edge. Blessing is not infinite, but neither is physical strength. The five of us are holding our own, but if even one of us collapses, we'll be at an even greater disadvantage.

Lefley and the others are worried about Senri's exhaustion. But Senri is also worried about his friends.

There is no time to make a decision. The Scare Crimson knight is not the same as the undead he fought in the forest.

If I cleanse the army with Soul Release here, how many more times can I use it?

Two?　Three?

I'm fine. I still have power.

”......

Lefley and the others didn't answer.

We have to do this. It's a shame to do what they want, but it's impossible to purify this many undead with the blessing of a third level knight.

I made up my mind, fought off the knight who thrust at me, and put the power of my blessing into my sword.

Just as he was about to unleash his power, Senri saw someone he didn't expect.

Blending in with the skeletal knights was a human woman. She wore a black slave badge around her neck and looked at him, pale.

The decision was instantaneous. She put an excessive amount of power into her sword and the light exploded.

”Soul Release!

My hands trembled with a tremendous sense of emptiness.

The excess of power that was contained in the sword became a dazzling radiance that passed through the narrow corridor. The Scare Crimson knights who touch the light turn to dust in an instant. Not even the blessings of darkness can protect them from the storm of light.

The light fades. The sound of falling armor and weapons echoes. Your knees threaten to shatter, but you hold on with all your strength in your dantian.

I open my purple eyes and check the situation.

Not a single Scare Crimson Knight was left in the corridor where there had been a staggering number of knights just now.

The only person standing in the corridor, which was littered with armor that had lost its contents, was the woman Senri had seen just before she had released the cleansing light.

In her right hand was a small knife, too weak compared to the weapons of the Scare Crimson knights.

Soul Release is a technique used against the undead. No matter how much power you put into it, it will not harm humans.

I knew that, but I still breathed a sigh of relief at the sight.

Thank God. .......

The woman had dark hair and a pale complexion. She was dark-haired and pale, and her body was not well-fleshed, as if she hadn't been eating well.

I wondered if she was a slave of Holos Kamen, since she was mixed in with the undead.

And that face was familiar. I remembered seeing her on the street just the other day and casting a healing spell on her because she didn't look well.

The woman looked dumbfounded, throwing her gaze from side to side. Senri took a slow deep breath to regulate his breathing, which could become ragged if he was not careful.

The darkness is still here. But this was the end for the Scare Crimson Knight.

I felt a heavy fatigue in my body. But not so much that he couldn't fight.