Chapter 6

According to Dill, the former assassin, this eerie young man with white hair apparently muttered "kill" when he saw us.

It seems he has no intention of letting us go.

Still, who is this guy who is emitting such an overwhelming and terrifying aura that even we, gold-ranked adventurers, are intimidated? He looks like an ordinary young man except for his white hair and red eyes...

"...He must be an undead."

Gai, who is usually calm and composed, said this in a hoarse voice.

An undead, huh?

The undead I know include zombies that move with rotting flesh, skeletons reduced to bones, and ghosts that attack people as spirits.

Or, among higher-ranking undead, there are vampires and Dullahans, who appear as knights without heads.

However, the white-haired man in front of us doesn't seem to fit any of these categories.

If he were a vampire, he would have fangs and a paler face.

Moreover, undead are generally weak to sunlight, and some are even purified by it.

Higher-ranking undead are said to have resistance, but even so, it's rare for them to be active during the day.

"Most likely, a very high-ranking undead... but even I cannot fathom its true nature..."

Gai is an expert on undead.

For him to be so shaken by an undead that he says it's unfathomable...

But I have no intention of being killed quietly.

Fortunately, Gai has a purification spell that works against undead.

"...We'll draw his attention. Gai, prepare the spell in the meantime."

"...Understood."

I grip my favorite battle axe tightly.

It's a super-heavy weapon, but it has a special effect that makes it light when wielded by its owner, so even women and children can use it.

I channel my fighting spirit into the blade.

With this, I have the confidence to shatter even a solid wall with a serious strike.

No matter how high-ranking the undead is, it shouldn't survive a direct hit.

At that moment, the undead grinned eerily, as if to say, "Try it. Your attacks won't work."

...What a jerk!

Let's see what you've got!

"Roar!"

I let out a battle cry to shake off my fear and leaped at the undead.

As if to prove his earlier confidence, the undead didn't even move from his spot.

I swung my battle axe with all my might.

The super-heavy blade aimed for the undead's head—crack!

...What?

Despite having never chipped even after crushing countless monsters, my mithril alloy battle axe, which was further reinforced by my fighting spirit, shattered.

That's not all.

Despite the direct hit to the head, the undead was completely unharmed.

"Monster..."

Undead generally don't feel pain, so they continue to attack even if their limbs are severed.

Many also have high regenerative abilities, allowing them to heal from injuries.

However, this is the first time I've encountered an undead that can't even be damaged.

"Alec, fall back!"

Hanna's shout brought me back to my senses.

Right.

We're still in the middle of a battle.

I can't just stand here in shock.

"Meteor Fire!"

Just as I hastily jumped back, a ball of flame shot past like a meteor.

Boom!

The fireball hit the undead.

A pillar of fire rose high, and the heat alone was almost enough to burn me.

...Hanna, you've increased the power again.

And she's a magic swordsman.

She's clearly beyond the silver rank.

"...It's not working!"

But even Hanna's powerful magic didn't seem to affect the undead.

It remained unperturbed even as it was engulfed in flames.

When the flames subsided, the undead was completely unscathed.

Behind it, Dill had appeared.

He had used his highly skilled stealth to get behind the undead without even our party noticing.

Dill held a thick needle.

A concentrated strike from this needle can pierce even a dragon's scales, and it is coated with a potent poison.

This poison is effective even against large monsters.

I've seen Dill approach undetected and dispatch dangerous monsters with a single stab many times.

Of course, it's unclear whether the poison will affect the undead.

But will the needle even penetrate?

Aiming for the moment the undead turned around, Dill thrust the needle forward.

The tip of the needle aimed for the eye, which might be soft enough to pierce.

Crack!

But our hopes were dashed.

The needle broke.

"Wh-What...?"

This was clearly unexpected even for Dill.

At that moment, Gai ran in from behind, his staff glowing with the light of purification.

"Perish! Roar!"

A pillar of light descended upon the undead.

We watched with a prayer-like feeling.

If this doesn't work...

When the light subsided, we could hardly believe our eyes.

"...This... doesn't work..."

"Seriously... Gai's purification spell, which can even cleanse high-ranking undead, has no effect..."

"What... is this thing...?"

"...Despair."

There stood the undead, completely unharmed by the purification.

Our full-force attacks had no effect at all...

We have no options left.

From the moment we encountered this monster, our defeat was certain.

But what's strange is that despite being attacked so one-sidedly, the undead hasn't done anything to us.

Moreover, it's grinning eerily again.

Damn... It can kill us anytime it wants.

Or maybe it plans to inflict such pain that we'll wish for death and then kill us slowly for its enjoyment.

"Ah...!"

Hanna let out a strained scream, having had the same thought as me.

She must be prepared to die as an adventurer, but being toyed with by an undead is something she probably never imagined.

...I won't let that happen.

I made up my mind and reached into my pocket.

There, I found a magic bag, a magical item that can store many times its visible capacity.

It's very expensive, but it's extremely useful for adventuring, so I bought it even on credit.

In my right hand, I grasped a cold, fist-sized crystal.

"Last resort... I'll use this...!"

This crystal, discovered deep in a certain dungeon, contains a special magic.

When broken, it activates and releases its magic.

But the magic sealed within isn't ordinary.

According to the appraiser, it forcibly summons a monster from another world.

We don't know what kind of monster it will summon, nor can we control it.

It's a completely risky item.

I thought it was too dangerous to ever use, but I'm glad I kept it.

It might make the situation worse, but it's the only way to change the current situation.

Crack!

The crystal shattered at the undead's feet.

But by then, we were already running away with all our might, not even stopping to see what appeared.

"Roar!"

A terrifying battle cry echoed, and as I glanced back while running, I saw a red demon with a goat's lower body.

Its presence alone made it clear.

It was undoubtedly a high-ranking demon.

Fortunately, the demon was about to attack the undead.

If they fight, we can—

Boom!

The next moment, the demon's lower body exploded.

Wh-What the...!?