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The Yggdra Principality is currently in the midst of reconstruction.
The cause of it all was the incident involving the Undead King Fabian several months ago. An ancient undead sealed deep within the great forest seeped into the world in an incomplete form and unleashed an army of the dead across the forest. Even now, the principality is still occupied with clearing soil and processing remains in the aftermath.
Undead King Fabian is an ancient monster who, over a thousand years ago, was sealed in the depths of imaginary space in a mutual strike with the first Saint, Maricia.
The remnants of the former Demon King’s army secretly constructed four towers around the great forest in order to revive their master. By gathering magical power, they prepared a ritual to tear open the seal of the imaginary space and bring Fabian back into the world in his complete form.
With all four towers, he would fully revive. With three, half. With two, a fraction. With one, only enough to crack the imaginary space, the scale of revival was proportional to the number of towers.
However, when the ritual was about to be carried out, three of the four towers had already been destroyed.
The culprit was Hein, a motherlover boy living in the Guynes Empire.
He rampaged as he pleased and then left, but he did not destroy the final remaining tower. It was not a matter of power, but of interest.
At that last tower, a Dullahan Lord named Kasparius offered up his entire existence, converting himself into magical power, which activated it and finally managed to crack the imaginary space.
Thus, Fabian was forced to crawl into the world at a pitiful one-tenth of his full strength.
Even so, the Undead King was still the Undead King.
The hordes of the dead did not cease. The full-force blades of ordinary soldiers rusted away with ease, and human bodies decayed rapidly even within steel armor, turning into stains upon the earth.
Warned by Eira, a war maiden and descendant of Saint Maricia, the Yggdra Principality staked its survival on the battle. They mobilized the principality’s knights led directly by Marshal Vargas, the Adventurers’ Guild led by the Celestial Knight Webster, and even reinforcements from the Guynes Empire in the form of the Caliste Ducal House’s puppet army. Together, they launched an assault deep into the great forest against the Undead King’s main force.
The allied forces fought well.
Even so, the tide of battle was gradually turning against them.
That balance suddenly collapsed.
At one moment, Fabian looked up at the sky and froze under an overwhelming pressure, as if seized by a gigantic hand. Seizing that opening, Eira, who had charged alone into the enemy’s main force, pierced his chest with her silver spear.
In the end, Fabian rapidly weathered away from his feet and vanished.
Thus, the Yggdra Principality officially records that the Undead King Fabian was defeated after the valiant efforts of the allied forces.
Well, a victory is a victory.
However, the damage to the principality was immense. Many knights died, part of the forest withered, and countless corpses of fallen undead were left scattered across the land. The work of collecting, burning, and purifying them began the moment the battle ended, and it continues even now.
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Just as that was happening, an unaware hero was about to step into that very forest.
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Once you cross the Orkenstein mountain range and step into the great forest, the scenery changes completely.
I’ve been to forests a few times before, but this one really is something else.
Every single tree, every single leaf feels filled with good mana.
Walking beside me, Lisette, true to her role as an apothecary, kept stopping to look at the plants growing on the ground, crouching down or tilting her head in thought.
From what I’ve heard, she seems to be quite a skilled apothecary. If she had been there in the previous battle, would it have made things a little easier?
「The vegetation changes completely once you cross Orkenstein」
「Is that so?」
「It’s completely different from the coniferous forests on the Empire’s side. The humidity is on another level, and the humus layer is much thicker… there are many medicinal herbs that only grow in places like this」
Lisette smiled softly.
Ever since we met in the carriage, she has been strangely attentive. For some reason, she has taken it upon herself to act as my travel companion.
We were supposed to part ways at the town of Forzem, but she said, 「My master’s workshop is along the road to Yggdra, so may I accompany you until then?」. As soon as we arrived, she greeted her master, replenished her medicines within a few hours, and came back saying, 「Now then, let us go」.
Even when I told her the place we were heading to was dangerous and she should reconsider, she wouldn’t listen. Well, she’s a girl. If undead appear, she’ll probably get scared and run. When that happens, I can escort her back to town and then head into the forest again.
That’s what I thought, but—
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「Azel-san, please be careful around here. Look, here」
Lisette pointed at the ground. One spot looked strangely black.
—I can feel a miasma. I should probably cleanse it.
Just as I thought that…
「Corpse poison」 Lisette muttered.
「Corpse poison?」
「It’s the toxin that seeps out from decaying undead bodies. If you just step on it, you’ll be fine, but if you touch it with bare hands, you’ll need an antidote」
I see, so this kind of miasma is called corpse poison. Or rather, I guess I’ve been calling anything that seems bad miasma…
As I was thinking I should probably learn the proper terms, Lisette took out a small bottle from her pack and sprinkled something over the soil. The moment the white powder touched the ground, the blackness began to fade.
「It’s purification salt that has been blessed. Just a temporary measure」
I was impressed.
It felt like experience, or perhaps familiarity, she looked slender, but she might be more trained than she appeared.
If I were to defeat the Undead King, the surroundings would likely be contaminated with miasma, no, corpse poison. If she were with me, she might be able to help purify the land.
As I was thinking that—
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「Hey, you there!」
I turned toward the voice and saw a group of three pushing through the undergrowth toward us. The man in front was large, with a red cloth wrapped around his head, carrying a greatsword slung across his back. The two behind him had a bow and a staff. A mage and an archer. A well-balanced party.
「Adventurers」
I muttered.
「They might be from the Yggdra guild」
The man with the greatsword approached and raised a hand cheerfully.
「Hey there, you two. Coming all the way into the middle of the great forest, this isn’t just sightseeing, right? Where are you headed?」
「To Yggdrasil」
「Oh, that’s a long way. It’ll take another two days from here. So what business do you have there?」
「What business… well, let’s see. To defeat the Undead King who’s about to revive, would that surprise you?」
Lisette stared at me with wide eyes. I hadn’t told her that was the reason I came. Saying it so honestly was a kind of gamble. They might laugh at me for being reckless, but if they were willing to lend their strength, I intended to accept it without hesitation.
Even though I’ve been regaining my strength, defeating the Undead King alone would still be difficult. In fact, in the era before I defeated the Demon King, the Undead King was the one known as the Demon King.
I might even have to prepare myself for a mutual strike, like Saintess Maricia…
The man with the greatsword stared at me blankly. The archer and the mage exchanged glances. What was that about?
「No, listen, kid. The Undead King’s already dead」
「What?」
「…You didn’t know?」
「This is the first I’ve heard of it…」
「I see… well, I appreciate the thought. It was really bad out there, you know. Everywhere you looked, creepy zombies」
「…Who killed it?」
Could it be—
That guy appeared in my mind. Hein. The Hein of this era is quite different from the one I knew. The miasma around him is intense, but somehow… it feels soft. Not sharp or piercing. I wouldn’t call him a good guy, but I can’t simply call him a bad one either.
However, contrary to my expectation, the name the archer woman spoke was one I did not recognize.
「Eira-sama」
Eira?
I had never heard that name.
「You don’t know? Saintess Eira-sama. A true saintess who carries the blood of Maricia-sama」
A saintess, huh.
No, that’s not right. The saintess isn’t this person called Eira. The current saintess is Serena. Serena Ira Fafnir. The mark of a saintess is granted by the gods, not inherited by blood.
Still, if this Eira is a descendant of Saintess Maricia, then it wouldn’t be strange for her to possess strong power to purge evil.
「I see… then I’d like to meet this Eira person」
When I said that, the adventurers looked troubled.
「Hmm… I wouldn’t really recommend that」
「Why not?」
「She’s kind of… strange. You know about the Heavenly Church, right?」
「Yeah, God Arne’s…」
「Eira-sama used to be a devout follower too. But after defeating the Undead King, something changed about her…」
Changed?
This was starting to smell suspicious.
「What do you mean, changed?」
「It seems like she abandoned her faith in the Heavenly Church. She started some strange religion. She worships something called the ‘God in Black’. And not just that, she’s been trying to spread it to others—」
The God in Black, huh.
Could it be connected to the Demon King…?
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