Chapter 46: 《Homunculus》 – (1)
(I)
Murky magical energy, resembling an endless abyss, surged and overflowed like waves.
The chaotic energy, which grew only in volume without order, finally formed into a magic circle as it touched the ground, enveloping the vast expanse of the “Desert of Silence.”
“I’m not a very patient person.”
Monsters are different from humans.
Strength is the only justice and rule they recognize, so overpowering them with sheer force from the beginning is much more effective than attempting persuasion through words.
“You don’t need anything other than your mouth to talk, right?”
Thus, I deliberately unleashed my magical energy without restraint and slowly approached the cactus monster step by step.
-…?!!
Though it had no sensory organs besides its mouth, the cactus monster visibly recoiled, far more than it had earlier.
If it were human, it would probably be breaking out in a cold sweat.
-What kind of magic…?! What trickery is this, vampire?!
“Oh.”
As if to maintain a shred of pride, the cactus monster let out a bizarre roar and launched an attack at me first.
-You’re not the only one who has lived for countless years!
“….”
The cactus monster plunged its green, tendril-like appendages into the sand. Sharp spikes began to shoot up fiercely from the ground.
“Right, if it’s a cactus, it should use skills like these.”
As expected of a cactus, it utilized a skill related to spikes.
I welcomed this new skill, which I hadn’t encountered in “Avalon’s Tower,” with a grin.
“…Black Blade.”
I stretched out my hand toward the spikes rising one after another from the soft sand and murmured.
In response, the shadows cast under the blazing sunlight reshaped themselves into blade-like forms and darted into the sand.
Like cutting octopus legs on a chopping board, the shadow blades violently swept through the sand, slicing the cactus monster’s numerous tendrils in half.
-Keeeeaaaaaargh!!
The cactus monster writhed in pain, letting out a grotesque scream as its tendrils were effortlessly severed.
-What have you done?! How did you cut my tendrilllllls!!
“….”
The cactus monster, which had boasted tendrils as thick and sturdy as steel, seemed visibly shaken by how easily they were decimated.
It quickly buried the remaining tendrils back into the sand.
-You and your underlings shall fall deep beneath the ground for eternity!!
“Hmm….”
I didn’t know what it was trying to do with its tendrils beneath the ground, but as the cactus monster shook its body a few times, the sand we were standing on began to split apart.
“M-Master! The ground!”
The sand, as if it were an antlion’s sand trap, began to collapse beneath us, trying to swallow us whole.
Tina furrowed her brow and shouted in alarm.
“So this is your home ground, huh….”
The cactus utilized the desert, its advantageous terrain, freely.
This “Desert of Silence” was its home ground, where it had lived for thousands of years—a place unfamiliar and hostile to any external life forms.
It seemed to think it could make up for the vast difference in power by leveraging the terrain.
It was much like how even the strongest soccer teams could collapse helplessly when playing at high-altitude stadiums on their opponent’s home turf.
In that sense, the cactus monster’s defiance and confidence were somewhat understandable.
“But there are a lot of corpses here…?”
However, the desert wasn’t advantageous solely to the cactus.
For hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years, this place had stood unchanged. How many tens of thousands of creatures must have died and buried their bones here?
“…It’s not a desert—it’s a graveyard.”
Beneath my feet, I could sense countless undead presences. Smiling faintly, I extended my hand forward.
Vrrrmmmm.
In response, the black magic circle already spread across the entire desert began to shimmer, emitting a mechanical-like hum.
“…Rise.”
…The most basic skill of a necromancer.
Raising the dead and turning them into skeletons.
Conveniently, buried beneath the sand at my and the cactus’s feet were hundreds of corpses.
Kyaaaaaargh!!
Keeeeeek!!
-W-what is this?!
Like zombies emerging from their graves, countless skeletons burst forth from the sand at the cactus monster’s feet.
Revived solely by my magical energy, they mindlessly charged toward the cactus to fulfill the command of their master.
-L-Lowly creatures, mere corpses dare to…!
The skeletons intertwined their bodies like a chain and began to bind the cactus monster, ensuring it couldn’t take a single step.
-Kieeeeeeek!! Kyaaaaaaa!!
The cactus flailed, even pulling out the roots it had planted in the sand to split the ground, but skeletons do not die.
There are exactly three ways to kill skeletons—undead in general.
Burn them with fire.
Use holy magic.
Or eliminate the one who resurrected them: me.
“….”
…But the cactus monster before me didn’t seem capable of accomplishing any of those three methods.
The only option left for it was to quietly succumb to the chain of bones restraining it.
-Ki… Kieeeek!! Do you even know who you’re dealing with?! I am the king of this land! Kneel before me!
“…Still not coming to your senses, huh.”
Even while completely restrained by the skeletons, the cactus monster continued to prattle on.
Raising my hand, I once again unleashed the shadow blades.
-K-Kyaaaaaargh!!
“….”
This time, the shadow blades utterly ravaged the cactus monster’s body.
Instead of blood, a repulsive green fluid burst forth, and the once-massive figure shattered into pieces, scattering fragments everywhere.
-Ki… Kieek….
Only its head, with its grotesque maw resembling shark’s teeth, remained intact and rolled to my feet.
-Ki… Kiek… I-I didn’t realize you were the vampire… No, Lord Elzerba….
The head, now reduced to just its teeth-filled maw, mumbled in a voice completely subdued.
-I had already learned of Lord Elzerba’s power through “memory,” but I thought I could win on this “Land of Creation”….
“…Idiot.”
Even if one holds an advantage in terrain, there are foes against whom such advantages are meaningless.
Arrogantly challenging me with such a flimsy justification—it was the height of foolishness.
-I have lost. Please… please spare me….
Succumbing to the overwhelming difference in power, the cactus monster began begging for its life.
It intentionally chose one of its most pleasant voices, out of the countless it possessed, to plead for mercy.
“Hmph.”
As expected, brute force was the best way to handle monsters.
Skipping negotiation and persuasion made everything so much simpler.
“…Fine.”
I raised one leg and stomped down hard on the cactus monster’s head.
“I’ll spare your life, but you have to tell me something.”
-W-what is it you wish to know…?
“Everything you know. What has happened over the past thousand years.”
-I-I understand….
At my command, the cactus monster started to chew its words and finally began recounting what had transpired in the past millennium.
Even if it couldn’t tell me everything I was curious about, it might still provide some key pieces of the puzzle.
…Its gentle tone gradually shifted, transforming into the kind voice of an unknown woman.
-W-well, I first learned of Lord Elzerba roughly a thousand years ago, through the memory of a certain shaman….
“A shaman…?”
-Yes, a shaman from the now-extinct priestly nation of “Tenma.”
“Tenma….”
Tenma.
One of the factions that had cooperated with the Hero, along with the theocratic state of Serion.
If it weren’t for the talismans thrown by Tenma’s young shaman, I could have easily broken that cursed silver chain.
Originally, I had planned to exact vengeance on them as well, but after peeking into the records of a certain shaman in the “Labyrinth of the Undying,” I learned that their nation had already been destroyed long ago.
The reason for their destruction was a preemptive strike by the Avilia Kingdom.
Even after exiting the labyrinth and pondering multiple times, I couldn’t grasp why the Avilia Kingdom would attack Tenma, an allied nation.
The cactus monster must have swallowed a surviving refugee from Tenma who somehow ended up in this desert.
And if that refugee was the shaman who directly witnessed my battle, it would explain how the cactus monster knew of me.
“…I know that much already. So, why did Tenma fall? Why did the Avilia Kingdom attack them?”
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot.
The moment curiosity struck, I immediately bombarded the cactus monster with a barrage of questions.
The cactus flinched a few times, as if swallowing something, before starting to answer.
-I-I’m only relying on this shaman’s memory for knowledge about Tenma, so I might not be completely accurate.
“That’s fine. Just tell me everything you know.”
To emphasize my impatience, I pressed down harder on its head with my foot.
Feeling the pain, the cactus monster hurriedly continued.
-The elves of Avilia… The Hero’s wife, who betrayed Lord Elzerba, and the leader of Tenma at the time, “Jacks,” had a major conflict.
“A conflict? Between those two? What kind of conflict?!”
The Hero’s wife, the elf, must be Lilianel.
But what could have caused her to clash with the leader of Tenma?
They shouldn’t have had any reason to be involved with each other—unless it was through me.
Could it have been an affair?
-W-well, it was because the elf from Avilia strongly demanded the transfer of forbidden sorcery from Tenma.
“Forbidden sorcery…?”
-Yes, a unique spell, the only one of its kind, created by the Tenma leader—once called a prodigy—by pushing his abilities to their absolute limit.
…The cactus monster’s voice grew sorrowful, as if reliving a painful memory.
-The spell of immortality, that is.
—
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