Chapter 434 – 434. The Fall of the Kingdom of Rendir (2)
“Necromancer… Is it?”
“… Okay.”
It was Riod who answered Gerard’s mysterious question, which he did not yet understand.
It sounds like a magician who handles the souls of the dead, which has only been heard in words, and it sounded like he could artificially create and control the undead.
Gerard frowned.
“Does such a person exist?”
Undead literally means a being that is not dead, but not alive either.
Most of the time, when a human dies, the mana in the body of the corpse is contaminated and activates the corpse that has already died and decayed.
So, when a person dies on the continent, two methods are used to prevent the person’s body from becoming undead.
The first is to formally hire a temple priest, pay a reasonable price, and receive a prayer of purification through divine power.
The second is to burn the corpse whole so that it does not exist.
The first method is a method often used by those related to the deceased when the person related to the deceased is a nobleman because it costs a lot to hire a priest to perform the ancestral rite.
On the other hand, in the case of people with no connections or commoners without extra funds, they were forced to use the second method.
“… It’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”
The existence of the undead was familiar to Gerard, but the existence of a necromancer who artificially created and manipulated the undead was unfamiliar.
That’s right.
The reason why the black magic called necromancy itself disappeared while being treated as a minor among the black magics is because about 300 years ago in the past, Eunhyeon ended her desperate struggle with Mediah and erased all traces of the black magic called necromancy from the continent.
So that there will never again be a situation in which necromancy appears in this world and threatens humans.
“… Shit.”
“…”
However, Eun-hyeon couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the fact that even that effort at that time was in vain and the necromancer appeared again in this world.
From far away, Mediah’s voice, who was enjoying this situation and laughing, lingered in Eunhyun’s ears as an auditory hallucination.
No matter how much he killed, time passed, and no matter how much he tried to deny it, he felt that the shadow of that woman, the queen of the dead, was approaching him.
“If my older brother is so irritable… It is very rare.”
Gerard hardened his face when he saw the expression of Eunhyun, who sincerely hated Mediah and necromancer.
It was not only Gerard who was aware of the seriousness of the situation, but also Riot, Illyana, and Eleanor, who had personally experienced the necromancy.
Eunhyun, who was not afraid at all when fighting an ancient demon, calmly suggested a strategy and provided a breakthrough, made Eunhyun aware that making such an expression was a very serious thing.
“Very annoying.”
There is no such thing as intelligence among the undead.
This is because the soul does not exist in the human body upon death.
However, the undead created by necromancer is a completely different matter.
“Because they have souls.”
Poor souls who have no place to go and have lost their freedom due to being subordinated to the magician through necromancy.
The undead thus created are naturally subordinate to the necromancer and must feel the misery of following his orders even after death.
“There is no need for supplementation. You don’t even have to rest with sleep. Even if their arms and legs are cut off and their heads cut off, the undead created by the necromancer’s necromantic art cannot disobey the necromancer’s orders.”
The feeling of having to get rid of the undead while listening to the cries of the souls begging to stop and be annihilated was truly the worst.
Fighting a necromancer is like dealing with a small to large army.
“Oh, sorry.”
While continuing her explanation, Eunhyeon belatedly realized Theresia’s existence and hurriedly stopped her words and apologized.
He was forced to explain, but it was not something he would say in front of a pregnant woman.
“… It’s okay.”
Theresia, who had hardened her face at the story so terrible, said she was all right, but she couldn’t help her pale complexion.
Riod immediately spoke to Illyana, who was sitting next to Eunhyun.
“Illyana. I want her to help Theresia out of her.”
“… Good.”
Like Theresia, Illyana, who had been listening to the uncomfortable story, glanced at Eunhyun.
Illyana nodded her head, receiving Eunhyun’s glance at her asking for a favor.
In fact, this story is not very pleasant to hear from her own point of view.
Perhaps it was more of the consideration that Riod, upon hearing the news of Illyana’s conception, allowed Eun-hyeon, who had not yet heard of it, to leave this room with her wife while keeping her secret.
“I will help too.”
Together with Illyana, Eleanor rose from her seat to support Theresia.
The three women’s team left all at once, and only the three men’s team remained in the drawing room.
“Let’s talk again. Eunhyeon, do you think now that Raynan and the necromancer formed a cooperative relationship and destroyed the kingdom of Rendir?”
“That’s right. From the information I came across through Heilang, the information of the necromancer is certain.”
The stories of the refugees from the Kingdom of Rendir who crossed the border of the Kingdom of Pernias were all the same.
‘The undead appeared all at once from the outside and attacked the territory, and in the end I had no choice but to run away.’
Not only did they come from one territory, but the testimonies of refugees who fled from many territories are common.
It could never be a coincidence that multiple territories were attacked by the undead at the same time.
It led to the conviction that someone was manipulating the undead behind the scenes, and the only person who could use necromancy on this continent was a man named Marius, whom Eunhyeon and Riod, and Illyana and Eleanor had met before.
“… Like you said, it’s really annoying. I understand that Raynan isn’t alone in his problem.”
What really matters is who Raynan is allied with.
“However… Is it really possible for the two of you to overthrow the state alone?”
“It won’t be easy. But there’s no guarantee that it’s impossible. Furthermore… The assumption that the two of you are alone is meaningless at all.”
The rebellion of the kingdom of Rendir occurred simultaneously in many territories and the capital.
It means that Raynan has planted spies everywhere and has been thoroughly preparing to bring down the kingdom.
There is already a group of people helping him.
“In the first place, it wasn’t enough to have a partnership with the necromancer, we also joined hands with the vampire, so there’s nothing strange about having a different hand.”
“… Yes.”
Gerard agreed with a puzzled expression on his face.
“What on earth is that bastard trying to do by destroying the kingdom… You want to become a king?”
“No. It’s not like that.”
Eunhyeon suddenly ruled out the possibility that Gerard had thought of.
“If I had intended to stage a coup and take over the kingdom, I wouldn’t have joined hands with a necromancer or a vampire.”
Vampires who feed on human blood, and necromancers who use human bodies to create an army of death.
What is connected in common is human death.
There is no point in taking the position of a king after killing all the people.
A king can be a king because there are people who support him.
How on earth can he rule as a king in a place where all humans are slaughtered, treated as food by vampires, and the corpses left over are transformed into undead?
“This is just… It’s just a matter of resentment. Maybe Raynon… It must be just an idea to exterminate humans.”
Raynan, who simply throws humans as food for vampires and turns them into undead, has no expectations of humans.
“Ah…”
Gerard let out a small sigh as if he had guessed something.
When she met Raynan, the warped hatred for humans, for this world, in his eyes was real.
He really saw no hope in this world.
That’s why I decided to break it.
“What are you planning to do?”
“…”
Riod asked about Eun-hyeon’s plans for the future.
Eunhyun was lost in thought.
“I should prepare.”
“Preparation?”
“Preparation for War.”
This is not a fight with Raynan.
Presumably, alien beings such as necromancers and vampires, only Raynan was sandwiched between them.
“… Right.”
Liod, who understood Eunhyun’s words, nodded slightly.
He also had to make a commitment.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Are you really okay?”
Inside her carriage, Eleanor, who was wearing a banquet dress with pure white lace, put on her neat tuxedo and asked as she looked at Eun-hyeon who was accompanying her.
“Of course. So, did you think I would send you alone?”
“Well, if you’re following me, I’m happy…”
Eleanor had thought that Eun-hyeon would have mixed feelings about the news of her former colleague from her corrupt past, who had destroyed the kingdom of Rendir.
Illyana didn’t like noisy banquets, and she didn’t accompany Eun-hyeon in the future, probably because she was hiding her meeting from Eun-hyeon.
Like Erindo Iliana, who she had participated in the cleanup operation with, she did not like to be in the spotlight at such a banquet, so she did not announce her intention to attend the banquet.
This time, she was going to attend a banquet to honor the meritorious service of the participants in the vampire eradication mission alone.
“Honestly, Mediana, the story of Raynon is a very troublesome problem, but I will prepare properly.”
Responding to that problem has already been thought out and will take time.
Eun-hyeon prioritized being an escort for Eleanor’s banquet rather than a problem that could not be solved by leaving immediately.
“How can I send you alone? I am your husband.”
In general, when a woman from an aristocratic family participates in such a banquet, an escort is bound to accompany it.
Moreover, for a married woman to attend such a banquet with her husband in many ways not very good looking.
It was regrettable, but Eun-hyeon gladly followed Eleanor’s accompaniment, which was difficult to ask Eun-hyeon, who thought she had complicated feelings, to attend the banquet with.
Eleanor smiled happily as she felt that this time she wanted to give back her in some form to Eleanor, who had played a very large role in her place.
“… Thank you.”
Eleanor smiled as if she was glad that she was able to spend time alone with Eun-hyeon for the first time in a long time.
Eunhyun said while slowly sweeping her beautiful blonde hair that was neatly arranged.
“This job has been really hard. It must have been Kangshin’s first try, but thank you so much for trusting me and giving it a try.”
“Because it was your request. Furthermore… I couldn’t hesitate because you told me I could do it.”
Eleanor lifted the face buried in Eun-hyeon’s chest, who was sitting next to her, and she said while staring at Eun-hyeon’s face.
“Long time… Can I get a reward from you?”
“…”
Eun-hyeon immediately understood the meaning of what her wife said.
“Of course.”
Eun-hyeon caressed Eleanor’s cheek with one of her hands and lifted her chin to meet Eleanor’s gaze, who was looking up at herself.
As she slowly brought her face to her, Eleanor’s eyes, which were looking up at her with anticipation, slowly closed.
Eventually, the two exchanged affection, overlapping each other’s lips.
