Chapter 15

"Distorted faces of fear... faces crying and pleading... faces filled with rage at injustice... faces despairing at the powerlessness of unfulfilled revenge... oh, they are all so hard to compare..."

With the delicate touch of one handling a work of art, the young man with silver hair sighed and gazed at each of the dead faces with a sigh.

He was slender and tall, with a delicate and ethereal appearance.

Perhaps because of this, despite the gruesome scene of him happily examining the corpses, it almost seemed like a beautiful painting.

The young man's name was Jean Diago.

He was a necromancer who adored corpses and was an internationally wanted dangerous criminal.

Not only did he resurrect corpses from graves as undead, but he had also killed many living people.

There were over a hundred known victims, but the actual number was likely even higher.

Jean himself didn't remember how many people he had killed.

"---!?"

Jean, who had been in high spirits, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

Then his lips began to tremble.

"What's wrong, Master Jean?"

"Lord...?"

"Are you alright, Master? Is there something wrong with your body...!?"

Noticing the change, three of the countless undead that Jean commanded, especially his "masterpieces," asked worriedly.

"Sou... one of the Nine Dead Generals has been defeated..."

Sou, whom Jean had specially traveled to an island nation in the East to resurrect as an undead.

Jean, despite being far away, sensed that Sou's soul had vanished.

"AAAAH! Why!?! Why!?!?"

Jean wept.

Tears streamed down his face as he let out a mournful cry.

"Sou! I can't even embrace your cold body, let alone see you! This shouldn't be possible!?"

"Master Jean..."

"AAAAH!"

For a while, Jean's loud voice echoed around.

Then,

"Ah, I feel much better~♪"

He realized he was smiling again.

As if nothing had happened, Jean said nonchalantly,

"Well, what's done is done. Besides, among the Nine Dead Generals, he was just the lowest rank. Next time, I'll look for a better body."

His favored undead asked, taken aback by Jean's casual words.

"But, shouldn't our bodies be able to regenerate infinitely with your power...?"

Jean shook his head.

"That's only if the spirit remains. It seems Sou's spirit was completely destroyed."

"Is such a thing possible...?"

"Almost impossible... I didn't think my magic could be broken like that."

Breaking Jean's powerful necromancy and destroying the spirit itself was no easy feat.

Moreover, Sou was a master of Eastern swordsmanship.

He had an excellent ability to sense the presence of enemies, making it difficult to ambush him.

Furthermore, he could use a technique called "Shrinking Ground" to close the distance instantly, and his strikes were almost impossible to avoid.

Defeating him in a frontal battle would be no easy task.

"The only ones who could do it might be the Holy Knights of the Melt Church. It seems a specially selected team of Holy Knights has been formed to try to eliminate me, and they are close by."

Jean speculated.

He had been attacked by the Holy Knights of the Melt Church several times before, but each time he had defeated them.

However, this time it seemed different.

"To defeat one of the Nine Dead Generals, even the lowest rank, created by my necromancy, is more impressive than I thought. But the other Nine Dead Generals won't be so easy to defeat. Besides, I have a secret weapon in development..."

Despite being at odds with a major religious organization, Jean laughed joyfully.

"Hehehe, I'm actually looking forward to it. Turning faithful Holy Knights into my undead and forcing them to commit acts against their god... the thought of it is so thrilling!"

...At this moment, he didn't realize that the loss of one of his masterpieces had nothing to do with the church, but was due to a certain undead.

◇ ◇ ◇

"It still won't regenerate..."

The long-haired undead's ashes, which he had been staring at for over two hours, showed no signs of revival.

Since the undead seemed dangerous if left alone, he had waited this long just in case... but it should be safe now, right?

"He boasted that he could withstand such burning... hahaha."

Thinking back to his confident declaration, he couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Well, it's time to leave. ...But what should I do with these?"

He looked at the countless bodies piled up in the basement.

Of course, they couldn't be saved, but it seemed cruel to leave them there.

"But... if I carry them outside, I'll definitely be suspected. Especially if it's discovered that they are undead, there's no way to clear my name."

He had borrowed clothes to look presentable.

He wanted to see if he could walk through the city without causing a commotion.

"...Forgive me."

He lightly apologized and decided to leave the bodies behind.

The woman who had escaped would likely report to the city guards, and they would be discovered soon.

When he left the abandoned house, it was already morning.

He walked through the quiet city in the cold early morning air.

"Someone... coming..."

A middle-aged man, presumably out for a morning walk, approached.

It's fine.

I'm dressed properly now.

I'm wearing a hat, so there's no way I'll be recognized as an undead. Who would imagine an undead walking in broad daylight?

He passed the man with tension.

"...?"

The man looked at him curiously for a moment but then passed by without incident.

Good, it worked!

He clenched his fist in relief.

He could walk through the city confidently.

As the sun rose, the city became more active.

There were more people on the streets.

He strode down the main street, passing many people without any of them stopping.

He had blended in completely with the crowd.

Maybe I can take off my hat?

White hair is rare but not unheard of, and red eyes are hardly noticeable in the daylight.

He was about to take off his hat when suddenly...

BOOM!

A deep rumble came from behind.

He turned to see the roofed carriage-like thing from before.

"It's moving...?"

There were no horses or driver.

Yet it was shaking and moving towards him.

"Amazing..."

VROOOM!!

Whoa, it suddenly made a noise!?

With a deafening sound, it stopped right in front of him.

A chubby man poked his head out and shouted.

"Hey, you're in the way! Move it!"

"Ah... s-sorry..."

He had apparently blocked the path.

He stepped aside.

At that moment, the man looked at his face and opened his eyes wide.

"White hair... and red eyes..."

Crap, he saw me!

But this is still within the range of what I expected.

He might think I look a bit unusual, but he shouldn't suspect I'm an undead.

"Is what was in today's newspaper true...?"

Huh? What's a newspaper...?

Despite his confusion, he tried to appear harmless and smiled.

Niiiiice.

"Th-this terrifying smile!? Just as the newspaper said..."

Suddenly, the man pointed something at him.

It was a small, L-shaped object.

BAM!

The next moment, a loud noise rang out, and a rock-like object hit him between the eyes.