Chapter 27

"Don't glare at me like that, it's scary. We both served the Regios Kingdom, and we were betrayed and killed, weren't we?"

Dormilion said this and then deliberately shrugged his shoulders.

"Together?"

"Of course, together! If either of us had been missing, the Regios Kingdom would have been the one to fall in the war to unify the eight countries! But, but, that ungrateful, stupid princess came to take our heads as soon as she was done with us!"

"Don't lump me in with you."

In response to Dormilion's passionate speech about his own achievements, Lambert replied calmly.

Lambert's words were filled with murderous intent, but Dormilion continued to chatter on without a care.

"Same, same. If you weren't expected to be a fighting force, you would have been sent to me much earlier, wouldn't you? Isn't that right? You were attacked by the princess with Glyph only after the Maculas Kingdom was almost ready to surrender, right? See, it's the same!"

"His Highness was concerned that the remnants of other royal families would use my name to start another war. If that happened, tens of thousands of soldiers would die again. To prevent further casualties and advance the governance, it was necessary. I will not tolerate any contempt for His Highness."

The Regios Kingdom had forced other countries to surrender in the war to unify the eight countries, advancing the unification of the western part of the Warlimia continent.

However, there were also signs of unrest among the remnants of the royal families and nobles of the other countries that had come under the Regios Kingdom's control.

Aurelia's secrets and Lambert's existence, who might have gained even more popular support than the king, could have been a significant vulnerability for them.

As a king who should prioritize the throne and the people's livelihood over emotions, Aurelia's decision might have been reasonable given the situation she saw.

Lambert had come to this conclusion during his life as an undead and had convinced himself of it.

"I am at peace with my death. You are just evil, Dormilion."

But Dormilion did not falter at all in response to Lambert's words.

He still had a creepy smile on his adorable face.

"No, if that were true, you wouldn't have become an undead. Lambert, you are not a loyal subject at all. You are an embodiment of dirty desires, jealousy, and lingering attachments. You saw an unrealistic dream, were betrayed just before it came true, and still hallucinate about the stupid princess. That's why you are bound to this world."

"No, I'm not."

"You are. I can say this with certainty because I have studied the undead for a long time and have observed you closely."

Just as Lambert was about to speak, Dormilion continued, interrupting him.

"Besides, if you really thought that, you could have just silently killed me without making excuses. Just like last time."

"That's a good idea."

The moment Dormilion said this with a smug look, raising his index finger, a greatsword was released from Lambert's hand.

At the instant Dormilion slightly closed his eyes, the greatsword, contrary to its appearance, cut through the air at an incredible speed and struck his lower abdomen with a loud noise.

Dormilion's small body flew backward and was slammed into the wall.

His body was impaled on the sword, and his limbs hung limply.

His abdomen was crushed, and black liquid flowed from his mouth and nose.

"Ha, hahaha. You're angry, angry, so angry! It hit a nerve, didn't it!"

Dormilion's face lifted sharply, and he laughed, clenching his teeth to stop the flow of liquid.

His chin was soaked black, and an unknown liquid dripped from it.

Lambert ran to close the distance and struck Dormilion's face with his armored hand.

The sound of a neck breaking echoed.

The lifeless face hung limply.

But this was not enough to feel secure against Dormilion.

Lambert turned his body and kicked Dormilion's head.

Dormilion's body twisted and fell to the ground, the sword slipping out.

The missed kick shook the wall and created a large hole.

Dormilion crawled away from Lambert, dragging his broken neck, and then stood up.

He grabbed his head with his arm and put it back in place, then twisted his mouth into a smirk.

"Ow, that hurt. I thought I died three times."

"Monster, you should have lost your sense of pain long ago."

"That's a shame, I still have it. I don't mind pain."

Dormilion poked his chest, creating a hole in his clothes, and then scratched and gouged his flesh with his nails, digging deep.

He had a blissful expression for a moment, but then quickly pulled his fingers out as if nothing had happened and returned to his usual expression.

"Well, are you calm now? It's time to admit it. You hate Aurelia, don't you? That's why you became an undead. You're trying to avoid facing that fact, so you've come up with all sorts of other reasons and are now here to kill me again. I can see it clearly, your feelings."

Lambert pulled the greatsword from the wall, readied it, and charged at Dormilion.

Dormilion seemed to pay no attention to Lambert's attack stance.

He slowly blinked and then stretched his arms out to the sides.

"Let's be friends, since we're so alike. Let's lick each other's wounds here forever. I can fulfill your wishes within my power. In exchange, become my knight and protect me. How about it? Isn't it wonderful? I really like you. People often say I'm hard to tell if I'm joking or serious, so maybe you didn't understand. Should I say more? I'm not good with words. Your current appearance is quite to my liking. Take off your helmet and show me your face better."

Lambert completely ignored Dormilion's words and swung the greatsword at his head.

Dormilion tried to dodge but couldn't avoid the direct hit to his head.

Dormilion was thrown back and hit the wall, but he stood up calmly.

Despite being struck by Lambert's greatsword, Dormilion's head showed no significant injuries.

His body had a large hole in the abdomen, and his limbs were twisted and broken, but his head was only dripping liquid from his mouth.

Overall, there was no significant change in Dormilion's condition, and it didn't look like he had taken much damage.

(I put a lot of force into that...)

"Ow, that hurts, hurts. I'm happy you're paying attention, but can't you see it's futile? I'm immortal. My body has been reinforced with magic for two hundred years..."

"That's an obvious weakness. If you were truly immortal, there would be no need to make your head so hard."

"…Hehe, you figured it out?"

Lambert had a vague sense that his core as an undead was in the center of his skull.

If Dormilion was a similar existence to an undead, it was likely that his core was in his head.

Considering that the rest of Dormilion's body below the neck was weaker than his head, the answer became clear.

"But even knowing that, I'm still saying I'm immortal. If you want to hurt my head, you'll need to hit it with that greatsword about a hundred more times. I won't just stand still, and I haven't neglected to protect my weakness."

With that, Dormilion did a backflip and disappeared into the hole the Fresh Golem had created.

Lambert readied his sword and jumped into the hole to pursue Dormilion.

But Dormilion was already gone.

"Well, if that's your attitude, that's fine. I know you're stubborn. It's okay, I'm loyal, so I don't mind your attitude."

Dormilion's voice echoed through the corridor.

Lambert concentrated his senses to prepare for traps and ran in the direction of the voice.

"I'll crush your body, tear it apart, seal your soul, and play with it as I please forever. Come on, I'll show you everything, the culmination of two hundred years."