Undead (2)
A week passed in the warehouse.
Tap tap! Tap tap—!
“Aaaaah— I can’t stand this—!”
The ideas and methods weren’t wrong.
Thanks to my experience with using the “Avatar,” I finally managed to move the undead after several trials and errors.
Swish swish—
I sat slumped, blankly watching a zombie flail its limbs and dance in front of me.
Yeah, the only undead I could control was one lousy zombie.
To control multiple undead, the total amount of “Black Magic” in my body was ridiculously low.
I scraped together everything I had left after accounting for the minimum strength needed to maintain my physical form, and still, the weakest zombie was my limit.
Well, an elite wasn’t worth much at the end of the day; it was just a skeleton.
It wasn’t even the commander type, and it certainly couldn’t use magic.
Maybe because of “Mana Affinity,” I was gradually absorbing more energy from my surroundings, but at this rate, it was hopeless.
‘If I were a Skeleton Mage, I wouldn’t have to worry like this.’
As I lamented aimlessly and deliberated on other options, I noticed something.
Skitter skitter—
A now-familiar little mouse scurried over to the skeletons and began nibbling at one of their toes.
‘That little guy is persistent… Wait? This could work!’
Watching it intently, I brightly eyed my chance and slowly approached the preoccupied mouse.
*
The only undead I could move was one zombie.
But the zombies here were of no help in this situation.
So what kind of help could a zombie provide?
Skitter skitter— Sizzle—!
I stared down at the thrashing mouse between my finger bones.
It was surprisingly quick-witted for something that had lived carefree in a lush environment.
I thought I’d catch it easily while it was unguarded, but before I could get close, it noticed and made a mad dash, leading to quite the struggle.
I blocked the mouse hole and even deployed “Life Detection,” throwing my body along with the zombie in pursuit.
‘When I thought I had it tackled with my whole body, it slipped right out between my ribs, and my heart was shattered.’
Eventually, I managed to ambush it from the direction it was fleeing towards and barely caught it.
I unintentionally practiced switching control targets quickly, which improved my undead control skills.
‘I’m sorry. I won’t forget your sacrifice, Alfred.’
With a name I arbitrarily assigned, I jabbed my finger bone filled with “Black Magic” into the mouse’s lower jaw.
The sharp tip of my finger bone sank deep.
The struggling Alfred slowly ceased its movements, but I continued to inject “Black Magic” without withdrawing my finger.
And… its halted body began to wiggle again.
I cautiously set Alfred down on the ground and focused my mind on the little creature circling around me.
‘Since I specifically infected it and it’s a smaller creature, controlling it seems much easier and the connection is smoother.’
Now, I had a splendid companion.
I decided to send it out when the next door opened.
*
The opportunity came soon.
Click, creak—
“Ugh— how tedious. Why do I have to do this every time?”
As luck would have it, this time it was the grumpy Zephy’s turn to enter the warehouse.
Before he could notice, I released Alfred, who had been waiting in the shadows by the entrance.
Being absent-minded, he was rambling just as always, unaware of what scurried past his feet.
“Seriously, I’ll get back at that old man later…”
Leaving the grumbling fool behind, Alfred cautiously slipped into the shadows.
The way I controlled Alfred was different from how Zephy controlled me.
Perhaps because we were both undead, and I had adapted the way I used “Avatar,” the connection was stronger, allowing for some degree of sensory sharing.
It wasn’t perfect like an avatar, but it was enough for information gathering.
While Alfred was busily wandering around, unfortunately, not much information was gathered.
All I found were pathways that likely led to other warehouses and exits outside.
And those were still uncertain because…
Of course, all the doors were closed, so I couldn’t check.
‘Ah, this means I can’t get outside. Well, it is a somewhat secretive place, so it makes sense that just one door wouldn’t lead straight out.’
But I had my helper, Zephy, who always lent a hand whenever I was in a bind.
“I’m not some talent that deserves to waste away in a place like this. It’s the useless ones with backers that act all high and mighty…”
Just then, I saw Zephy glance around the warehouse I was in.
Alfred cautiously followed him in the shadows.
Even while heading towards another warehouse, Zephy continued to grumble endlessly.
‘Does that guy ever get tired? By the way, what’s in that other warehouse? Are there more undead?’
Click—
As he opened the door to the basement warehouse, Alfred quickly followed him in.
I was curious about what was inside, and for once, the nonstop grumbling from Zephy quieted down as he began to inspect the interior.
Actually, the moment I stepped inside, I figured it out naturally.
I understood why he was behaving like that.
‘This place is…?’
The room was packed with undead, yet their presence was barely felt.
Something in the center of the warehouse was emanating an overwhelming aura.
‘…What the heck is that?’
Alfred, being just a zombie mouse, couldn’t get close enough to check.
I instinctively felt it.
Just getting close would mean having everything stripped away by ‘that.’
I waited, hiding near the entrance, watching Zephy examine the interior with a serious look.
‘That’s what they want.’
Surrounded by undead, I couldn’t tell what they were doing, nor could I ascertain their purpose.
But isn’t it only natural to interfere with the bad guys’ plans?
‘For now, I’ll observe the situation a bit more. The ‘Zephy Chance’ has not yet ended.’
After rummaging around for something, he quickly exited the warehouse.
“Ugh, I always feel drained every time I step in there. I can’t believe I…”
Following behind, I went toward the exit as I sensed him starting to gear up again.
The exit did not have the typical locking mechanism I had seen thus far.
Whooo—
As Zephy placed his palm on it, strange markings appeared and the door opened smoothly.
‘Huh, this means I can’t just walk out like that?’
I was startled for a moment but hurried to follow him outside.
“Oh, you made it out? Good job.”
“Yeah. I feel drained every time I go in there. When will the maturation end? Did you learn anything?”
In front of the door sat a young man behind a desk, doing something.
He was one who had also been visiting the warehouse regularly.
He was probably guarding the entrance to the pathway.
“Who knows, maybe soon? Lately, the Master has been sticking to it every day. Today’s the day he couldn’t come because he was communicating with the higher-ups.”
“Right, I want to finish up quickly and get out of here. I’m sick of this ‘Fragment of the Undead King’ nonsense.”
“I can relate. We have to check on that warehouse daily.”
Hiding Alfred beneath the desk while eavesdropping on the conversation, I wholeheartedly cheered for Zephy again.
“Hey, isn’t it a little funny that we’re guarding this place like this? There’s a barrier not just on this door but one that encircles the entire building and village. Who could sneak in here?”
“Well, you have to prepare for the unexpected. It can’t be helped, right?”
“Unexpected? When you’re alive and breathing, there’s no way to dodge these layers of barriers, right? Unless they’re corpses or something?”
Laughing, Zephy then strolled off, claiming he needed a break.
‘That guy, could he be a decent fellow if you got to know him? Some would think he’s going out of his way to help.’
Anyway, I considered this operation, “Night Whispers to Mice,” a great success.
I silently thanked Zephy for his cooperation and stealthily left the building.
Outside, it was already night, making it easier to move around.
Alfred darted through the darkness of the night, racing around the village.
Most of the buildings were locked up, but Alfred, using its expertise, found small mouse holes and successfully infiltrated.
However, I didn’t gather more information than what I got from Zephy.
The gain was that there were about forty of them, and most weren’t actual black mages but just lackeys.
Feeling quite satisfied with the decent haul, I was moving along when—
Thwomp—!
A black spike erupted from the ground, piercing Alfred’s body.
Hmm… So it was just a mouse, huh?
The voice of the village chief, no, the black mage Malcolm, came through.
‘Crap, I’ve been discovered?’
“Undead? I don’t sense any black magic… Is this some naturally occurring entity from Black Magic? Where did it come from?”
As Malcolm approached, I subtly severed my connection with Alfred.
‘He hasn’t noticed my presence yet. So, let’s proceed slowly… and naturally.’
“It’s strangely full of black magic. It doesn’t seem like it’s caused by magic. Where is there such a heavy exposure to black magic…?”
In the fading connection, I could hear Malcolm stop mid-sentence, exhaling a frustrated sigh.
“There’s only one place overflowing with black magic around here. Right, today’s warehouse overseer was Zephy.”
Zephy, I’m sorry for your help!
Wham—!
*
The connection was severed entirely.
It was clear Alfred had been completely destroyed by Malcolm.
I took a moment to mourn for Alfred, who had fought valiantly and met a heroic end today.
‘Alfred! I will avenge you. Watch over me from there!’
Alfred’s enemy is Malcolm. That’s what I decided.
I forced myself to ignore the pangs of conscience and organized the information I had gained.
‘Zephy’s real name is Geraph.’
Hmm, that was a useless bit of info.
‘What they want is the ‘Fragment of the Undead King’ that’s maturing in the adjacent warehouse, and Malcolm is keeping a close eye on it. The undead aren’t affected by the barrier.’
What the baddies were planning with the ‘Fragment of the Undead King’ wasn’t that important.
I just needed to come up with all sorts of ways to mess with them.
‘If I can manage to outsmart Malcolm, I might figure something out…’
Yeah, it was all about how to make a plan work.
‘Wait for it… Alfred’s nemesis!’
*
Geraph wasn’t in a good mood.
His irritation stemmed not only from being the warehouse overseer yesterday but also from getting scolded by his master for not managing it properly.
‘Who would have thought a mouse would crawl out of there!’
It was unfair.
Due to “heavy mismanagement,” he’d been assigned to take care of the warehouse alone for some time.
The person guarding the entrance, Huyan, was punished to keep watch at the entrance for the same duration.
‘What a dirty world! Who could afford to be pitiful without backers? And what’s the big deal about one little rat crawling out?’
Geraph seethed silently, unable to vent his anger.
He felt uneasy considering that his master could show up at any moment.
Clang! Creak— Slam!
Geraph walked angrily toward the warehouse, opening the door with great irritation before storming inside.
As he closed the door behind him, he didn’t just rush through but scanned thoroughly with fire in his eyes.
“Hey! You’ve all been slacking! Get in line, you idiots!”
He yelled at the skeletons lined up, venting his frustrations.
“What’s up? Why are you all like this! Hey! Stand straight!”
He yelled at a zombie standing crooked, one of its ankles missing.
But it staggered and couldn’t properly obey his commands, causing him to kick it in anger.
“Yeah? You think you’re funny? Huh? You’re not doing it right!”
After venting his frustrations for a bit, Geraph finally paused, looking around.
Everyone here obeyed his orders without question.
It felt satisfying.
This was the world as it should be.
He glared at the staggering zombie, looking completely dissatisfied, and decided to move on.
“Hmm? Is that who I think it is? That arrogant guy from before?”
Spotting a familiar figure, Geraph chuckled and approached the standing zombie, poking its shoulder with his staff.
“Hey, repeat what you said last time. Come on!”
The zombie, looking like a man in his early twenties, stood there without any reaction, merely swaying from being poked.
“Why aren’t you speaking? Ah! I pulled out your tongue, huh? Hehe.”
Geraph’s face twisted into a grin.
He had been feeling stressed lately, and a good outlet finally came along, didn’t it?
“Hah— I miss those times. Back when I hunted down those villagers one by one.”
Thud! Whack!
He kicked the zombie, mumbling like a madman.
“Especially you were the loudest. You babbled back, I remember. What did you say? You wouldn’t let me touch your family?”
Crack
Somewhere, a faint sound of teeth grinding could be heard, but Geraph was too absorbed in his own world to notice. He continued to mock his opponent.
“Heh, I paid special attention to you. Watching the faces of your family wailing in front of you was pure art.”
He reminisced while unleashing his stress on the zombie.
The young man’s eyes filled with hatred, bleeding tears while being trampled by the undead—it was a vivid memory.
Recalling the thrill he felt back then, Geraph twisted his mouth into a smile.
“But what will you do now? Where are those family members you cherished while you’re just standing here…”
Crack—!
With a chilling sound, blood spurted everywhere.
A skeleton had quietly crept up behind Geraph, grabbing one shoulder while biting down on his neck.
“Guh—! What the hell is this?!”
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, his magic barrier shattered.
But that allowed him a split second to pivot away and avoid completely losing his neck.
Thud!
Geraph immediately released a torrent of black magic, shaking off the skeleton that had been clinging to him.
He quickly pressed a hand against the gushing wound as he backed off, searching for his assailant.
“A skeleton? Why is this happening suddenly?”
But there was no time to dwell in shock.
The skeleton that had fallen back quickly sprang back up and lunged at him again.
“Ugh… Stop! Stop it!”
The skeleton ignored Geraph’s orders, charging forward as if it couldn’t hear him.
Caught completely off guard, he had sustained an injury, but he, too, was a black mage.
Seeing the adversary was undead, he reflexively used his commands, but even if it didn’t work, he had plenty of ways to respond.
As long as there was only one skeleton in front of him.
Crack—!
Just as he was about to use his magic, something shoved its way into his mouth, causing excruciating pain in his throat.
Another zombie had crept up behind him, forcing its hand into Geraph’s mouth while biting into the opposite side of his neck.
With no magic barrier and a lethal attack landing, his mind started to slow as his preparation for the spell was cancelled.
In a panic, Geraph found himself locking eyes with the dead-eyed gaze he’d just mocked moments before.
The very zombie he’d been laughing at.
In those last moments, he would not allow himself to be ignored.
The magic release was not a technique one could use consecutively, and now there was a skeleton lunging at him, jaws wide open.
Fear rose in Geraph’s eyes.
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