Chapter 24 “Attack on the Capital” – (3)
(I)
“It’s changed a lot….”
When I was outside, it was too dark to notice, but once I entered the second citadel, I could clearly see the difference. The royal capital had grown to a size incomparable to what it was when I was here, and the landscape had transformed into something far more sophisticated.
While there didn’t seem to be drastic changes in the way people lived, the refined beauty of the city’s appearance was enough to bring a smile to the faces of those strolling along the streets.
Streetlamps illuminated by magic stones.
A grand fountain in the square, adorned with an angelic statue.
Well-paved roads, lined with evergreens, decorating the streets.
On weekends, families would surely come out for outings, couples would confess their love to one another, and the innocent laughter of children would fill the air.
At least, that is what it should have been.
But now, it was filled with the undead.
— “R-Run for your lives!”
— “Undead! Skeletons! Everyone, evacuate!”
— “Head for the first wall!”
— “Aaaahh!”
“….”
Screams erupted from all around.
The army of 100,000 skeleton soldiers I had summoned poured into the city like a tidal wave, and the people scattered, fleeing in sheer panic.
— “S-Stop them!”
— “We cannot let them pass…! Guaaah!”
The city guards tried to hold their ground in the alleyways, desperately attempting to halt the advance of the skeleton soldiers. But they were swept aside, unable to even delay them for a minute.
Pillars of fire erupted across the city, and the scattered blood painted the night sky red. My undead army, having already taken the third citadel, now claimed the second as we tightened our grip around the royal capital.
-“St-Stop! Vampire!”
“Huh?”
As we neared the first wall, a lone figure blocked our path. Not a fresh wave of reinforcements, but a woman, bloodied and in tatters, standing alone to face us.
Golden hair.
Eyes filled with unwavering determination.
A long sword barely held in her trembling hands.
It was ‘Maiden Alice,’ the female knight who had led the soldiers in the third citadel.
“…Are you here to fight?”
I asked, glancing at her, who seemed barely able to stand. She did not respond with words but stared at me with sharp, defiant eyes.
I found her intriguing as she stood there, neither attacking nor fleeing, simply glaring at me. Then, suddenly, she threw her sword aside.
-“I-I’m sorry….”
And then she knelt, bowing her head to me.
-“We were wrong to recklessly block your way. I apologize for interfering with whatever your purpose is.”
“….”
The female knight, despite holding the honorable title of ‘knight,’ now knelt at my feet, lowering her head in a gesture of humility.
-“If you tell us your purpose, we will do everything in our power to assist you. I am a companion of the Hero, so I can also ask him to cooperate with your cause.”
“….”
-“If it’s necessary, I will even offer my life.”
“….”
-“So please… please, stop this slaughter. Spare my subordinates, spare the citizens….”
Seeing this once-proud knight, who was always arrogant and looked down on others, trembling as she bowed her head, I felt a strange sensation. It seemed she had realized she was no match for me and, driven by her duty to protect her people, had cast aside all pride.
Though this female knight was willing to offer her life in exchange for halting my invasion, I looked down at her coldly.
“Your life?”
-“Y-Yes… if you spare my men, I’ll offer my life….”
“…And who are you?”
-“…What?”
Her expression froze at my question. She slowly lifted her head, hurriedly speaking.
-“W-Well, I’m the commander! The Supreme Commander of the capital’s forces, appointed by His Excellency. I lead the city’s military right now…!”
“And what of it?”
-“…What?”
“I don’t see how your life is worth sparing all those soldiers.”
Indeed, in history and films, there were often stories of mercy being granted at the request of an enemy commander. But I didn’t feel the need for that now.
Whether she was the Supreme Commander or an enemy leader, if she wasn’t the ‘Lilianel’ I was looking for, the lives of everyone in the capital seemed as insignificant as scraps of paper to me.
And besides, it was far too late to back down now.
“Tina?”
“Yes, Master.”
I called for Tina, who had been following closely behind me. She stepped forward, drawing her massive cleaver-like sword. Seeing this, the female knight’s face crumbled, and she began banging her head against the ground in desperation.
-“Oh, no! Please, I beg of you, pull your soldiers back!”
“Sorry, but it’s too late for that now.”
Unlike others who had foolishly raged against me, this female knight was willing to set aside her pride to save her subordinates. That was admirable.
However, just listening to her plea and calling off all my Skeleton Soldiers to suddenly resolve everything peacefully felt impossible. I had been sealed away for a thousand years, and that time was too bitter and unjust to simply forget.
“Do you think this is unfair? If you have complaints, take them up with your ancestors.”
-“A-Ancestors…?”
“Yes. Your ancestors from a thousand years ago and that damned Lilianel Greenfield.”
I remembered the humans who raised their torches high and cried out for my destruction. They murdered my friend, falsely accused me, and mocked me as I lay shackled in chains—the hero and his comrades.
Thinking of them only fueled my rage. Their actions, burned into my memory like trauma, haunted me like a never-ending PTSD.
“…Tina.”
-“N-No! Vampire, please have mercy on the humans… Khhhh!”
“…”
The female knight, who had clung to my leg in desperation, met her end when Tina’s greatsword cleaved her head from her body. As her severed head rolled across the ground, a single tear fell from her eyes.
I stared coldly at her final moments.
“Alfred, take the head.”
“Understood, Mistress.”
I commanded Alfred to retrieve the severed head. After all, the knight had claimed to be their commander, and a companion of the hero. It might prove useful later to provoke the hero with it.
“Sigh…”
I let out a long sigh.
Some might say I was being cruel, but I was not a hero. I was not a champion of justice, nor was I a symbol of absolute good.
I had once fought on their side, but in the end, they betrayed me. There was no reason for me to follow their whims anymore.
I had given them a chance, but they had thrown it away.
Now, they would reap what they had sown.
“…Let’s go.”
Resolving myself once again, I advanced toward the royal palace, where Lilianel Greenfield awaited me at Fortress No. 1.
*****************
(II)
As I neared the outer walls of Fortress No. 1, the Skeleton Soldiers who had arrived ahead of me parted to either side, creating a path as if to welcome a queen.
“That’s…”
But what caught my attention more than the obedient soldiers was a large white flag, hung conspicuously above the fortress gates.
“Pfft.”
I burst out laughing.
The white flag, a symbol of unconditional surrender, was now on full display. It was laughable how they always came to their senses only after taking a beating.
When they had first heard of Ermaile’s fall, why hadn’t they surrendered then? Did they truly believe that with their highly trained royal soldiers, they could defeat me?
I sneered at their incompetence and belated attempts to salvage the situation.
Well, from Lilianel’s perspective, trembling in fear inside the fortress, it made sense to resist until the very end. Even I could understand their desperate struggle for survival.
“…
“Screech.”
…And after a moment, the gates opened.
Through the gap of the gate, cast in shadows, a woman with plum-colored hair dressed in a black gown emerged, leading a group of people who resembled nobility.
Without hesitation, they knelt before me, lowering their heads. The woman with plum-colored hair, appearing to be their leader, cried out to me.
—”W-We are the ‘Ten Council,’ the leaders of Avilia Kingdom’s internal affairs. We humbly surrender to the noble ‘Progenitor Vampire.'”
“…”
Like the white flag hanging above, they too declared their intention to surrender. Yet, instead of responding, I carefully observed them.
The king was nothing more than a puppet, and since they claimed to manage internal affairs, these must be the real power holders of this kingdom.
They called themselves the Ten Council, which should mean there are ten of them, but only nine nobles stand before me. Moreover, the kingdom’s highest authority, the Prime Minister, Lilianel Greenfield, was absent.
Confirming the absence of that green-haired elf, the veins in my forehead pulsed with anger.
What? Did she run away?
No, I haven’t received any reports that anyone had escaped the First Fortress, which was completely surrounded by my army of skeleton soldiers from the Second Fortress.
So, are these people hiding her?
Is it possible that, as Prime Minister, they’re shielding her from the certain death that would await her if she were caught by me?
…Suddenly, a surge of fury welled up within me.
—”I-I am Mizael, a minister of the kingdom. We promise to cease all hostilities and provide any support we can offer. Please, we beg you, quell your anger…”
“Anger?”
At her words, I let out a sharp, derisive laugh.
If you cared about my mood, you should’ve dragged your damned Prime Minister out here and made her kneel.
“Enter.”
Still fuming over Lilianel’s absence, I grimaced as I gestured for them to move inside the wide-open gates.
—”Kyaaaaaa!!”
—”Nooooo!!”
The skeleton soldiers once again surged forward like a wave into the First Fortress. It wasn’t long before the horrific sounds of slaughter echoed, their victims’ screams blending with the noise of their weapons slashing through flesh.
—”W-We surrendered, so why… why is this happening…?”
Seeing their plea for mercy immediately disregarded, the faces of the ‘Ten Council’ nobles turned pale with terror. I approached the woman who had introduced herself as Mizael and grabbed her by the collar.
—”Kyahhh!!”
Mizael shrieked, trembling like a leaf in the wind. My eyes blazed with fury as I demanded an answer from her.
“Shut up. Where’s Lilianel?”
—”L-Lilianel? You mean the Prime Minister?”
“Yes, tell me now. Before I kill every last one of you.”
—”Ugh…!!”
I tightened my grip on her collar with anger.
Lilianel Greenfield.
The woman who, along with the first hero, Vellius, betrayed me and killed my friend, Sophie—I’ve come all the way to this capital to meet her. If she’s not here, all my efforts will have been in vain.
Grinding my teeth, I repeated my demand. Mizael, trembling uncontrollably, raised a shaking hand to point at the massive palace inside the First Fortress.
—”T-The Prime Minister… she… she’s unwell… inside the palace…”
“…”
—”Khuh!”
After hearing the Prime Minister’s location, I let go of Mizael, dropping her roughly to the ground.
Fine. As long as she’s inside, that’s all that matters.
Surrounded by skeleton soldiers, there’s no way she could escape now.
With a cold, piercing gaze, I addressed the groveling nobles before me.
“Lead the way if you don’t want to die.”
*************
(III)
“Th-this is Prime Minister Lilianel’s room. She hasn’t allowed any visitors due to her poor health…”
“…”
The nobles who managed the kingdom’s affairs led me to Lilianel’s room. Her chamber was located on the second floor of the palace, at the end of a long corridor that was thick with the stench of night-blooming flowers.
The odor was so overwhelming that it drowned out the pleasant scent of the potted flowers scattered along the hallway. This alone told me how decadent Lilianel’s lifestyle had become.
“Hah.”
Someone had been sealed for a thousand years, shedding blood and tears, while someone else had been living a vile life, wasting away in the arms of men. If Vellius Varius were watching from the heavens, he’d be pounding the ground in fury.
“If she’s not here, you’re all dead.”
— “Y-yes, understood…”
After a sharp warning to the nobles, I placed my hand on the door to Lilianel’s room. Now that the moment had come to finally confront her, I wondered how I should handle it, how I could make her suffer the most.
But it didn’t really matter.
One thing was for certain—she would not die a peaceful death.
“…”
…I opened the door and stepped inside.
Immediately, I was greeted by a room that was cleaner than expected, yet filled with a stifling mix of sweat and the pungent scent of night-blooming flowers. The chamber was dim, with no lanterns lit, only the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains illuminating the elf’s quarters.
“…”
I turned my head, scanning for Lilianel.
With her arrogant nature, I had expected her to be brazenly seated in plain sight, but perhaps a thousand years had changed her, or maybe not.
“Ah.”
After looking around, I finally noticed a pair of pointed ears poking out from a small gap between the bed and the wall in the corner of the room.
I smiled and nodded toward Alfred.
“Alfred?”
“Yes, my lord… ‘Telekinesis.’”
Upon my command, Alfred activated his telekinetic magic, drawing Lilianel, who was hiding in the corner, out into the open. Helpless under the power of my commander’s immense magic, the green-haired elf floated toward us without resistance.
-“Kyaaaaaaaah!!”
“…”
The elf let out a pathetic scream as she was pulled before me. She thrashed around, but there was no escaping Alfred’s restraint.
Green hair.
Emerald eyes.
An enticing figure that could entrance anyone.
…It was unmistakably Lilianel from my memories.
“…How have you been?”
It had been a full thousand years since I last saw her.
A thousand years of dreaming of this moment.
The day I had longed for while shedding tears of blood every single day.
With a face twisted in madness, I took a step toward Lilianel.
-“He-heeek…”
…Lilianel was trembling, her head turned away to avoid my gaze.
“It’s been a long time. You didn’t miss me?”
A rush of emotions exploded in my chest. So many conflicting feelings swirled within me that I didn’t know what expression to make. My mind, overwhelmed, led my lips to curl into a twisted grin.
“…Look me in the eye.”
I grabbed her face, forcing her to turn her head so our eyes could meet. My fiery red eyes bored into hers.
-“I-I’m sorry…”
Lilianel mumbled through a stream of tears.
…And that’s when I felt something was off.
“What the…”
The sensation in my hand as it pressed against her cheek felt wrong. My expression hardened, and I absentmindedly released my grip on her face.
“What… What is this?”
I staggered back, muttering to myself as I looked at Lilianel—or rather, the person pretending to be her.
“Who… who are you?”
…In this world, based on Avalon’s Tower, every living being, regardless of their nature or strength, possessed something called “mana.”
Each individual’s mana was unique, much like fingerprints in our world, and it was used as a means of identification.
Unlike physical appearances or fingerprints, which could be forged or erased, mana could not be altered. Even after receiving a blood transfusion, an individual’s mana would soon reassert itself, which is why personal identification relied heavily on it.
Those capable of manipulating mana, like S-rank adventurers or grand mages, were able to sense the mana around them and use it to identify the people nearby.
…And as a Necromancer Lord, this applied to me as well.
I could easily distinguish the mana of the people around me, including whether they were mages or not, and could use that information to deduce their identity.
“Damn it, who are you…”
…And right now, the mana I sensed from this woman was screaming that she was not Lilianel.
While her appearance was an exact match for the Lilianel I remembered, and her mana was strikingly similar—close enough that a less experienced individual might have been fooled—this was not her.
Lilianel’s mana had always carried a strange impurity, a certain weight to it that was now missing. Most of all, this mana was far too fresh, far too vibrant.
It wasn’t the kind of power I expected from someone claiming to have a thousand-year-old magic.
Even though the difference was small, it was enough to tell that this woman wasn’t Lilianel.
-“I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I was just following orders…”
“…”
-“I was just told to take her place temporarily, I-I didn’t mean any harm…”
On top of that, this fake Lilianel—this woman I’d never met—was already revealing her identity out of sheer desperation. Hearing her confession made my eyes tremble.
“W-what do you mean, ‘take her place’…?”
-“The Prime minister came to me, I think it was four or five days ago, and suddenly asked me to take her place for a month… that I wouldn’t need to do any work…”
“Haha…”
“M-Master!”
A bitter laugh escaped me. A sudden wave of pain gripped my head, and I stumbled, clutching it tightly. Tina quickly rushed to support me.
“Taking her place…?”
She had someone pose as her?
Since four days ago?
Four days ago… That was just around the time my seal was lifted.
Could it be that she somehow received information ahead of time and ran away?
Did she anticipate that I’d come looking for her?
That damned witch…
Of course, I knew something had been too easy.
It was too easy to capture someone as cunning as Lilianel.
A woman who would kill even her own friends without a second thought couldn’t have been caught so easily, so effortlessly.
Even after a thousand years, she was still mocking me. The thought filled me with rage, and the anger that I had barely been containing began to surge.
“Hah.”
Just realizing that “Lilianel isn’t here” was enough to trigger a black magic circle to automatically spread beneath my feet, and an ominous, overwhelming dark energy radiated outwards, suffocatingly thick, even affecting me.
-“Guh…”
The moment that foul energy touched her, Lilianel’s stand-in collapsed, unconscious. My face twisted with rage as I turned to the nobles standing outside the room—members of the so-called “Ten Nobles.”
The moment they saw me, they immediately dropped to their knees, bowing their heads to the ground.
— “W-we didn’t know anything!”
— “W-we swear! We really didn’t know! We thought she was simply ill!”
— “We have no idea where she went or when!”
“…”
Even before I said a word, they were already tripping over themselves to justify their ignorance, veins bulging in their necks as they desperately tried to explain. My rising fury caused cracks to spread across the walls, and I finally spoke, my voice chillingly cold.
“You all…”
— “Y-yes!!”
The nobles trembled violently, pressing their foreheads even deeper into the ground. My eyes flared red with seething anger, and I glared at them fiercely, black sparks crackling from the sheer overflow of my dark energy.
“Within three hours, find out where Lilianel went.”
— “W-what? Three hours? I understand your urgency, but surely that’s too short a time, w-we need more details—…ugh!!”
“Shut up and find her.”
I crushed the head of the noble who dared to talk back to me. His blood and brain matter splattered across the room, staining the other nobles’ clothes and faces.
— “Aaaaah! We’ll find her, we swear!!”
Mizael, the leader of the nobles, screamed in horror as she smashed her head into the floor in terror. Grinding my teeth in fury, I growled at them.
“You better find her. No excuses.”
Originally, my plan had been to exact my revenge by destroying Ermaile, the capital, and Lilianel. That should have sufficed.
But now, my mind had changed.
Ermaile and its capital wouldn’t be enough.
“Before I erase your entire kingdom from the map.”
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