Chapter 82

"Indeed, that is quite nasty."

Lambert muttered as he looked at the risen corpse of the dragon, Laumpup. The monstrous head loomed over him, its mouth moving awkwardly. Unfocused eyes swirled around.

"Hehehe, hehehehehe! It's over! I've won! I don't know why you, an undead, were trying to protect this land, but with Laumpup here, this city will be destroyed! What a pity! Hehehehehe!"

On the opposite side, with Laumpup in between, Manji, astride the demonic horse Troy, laughed mockingly. From the beginning, the massacre in the city and the mass production of the undead were merely stepping stones for Manji to summon Laumpup using corpses as offerings and to annihilate the city in one fell swoop. The scale of Laumpup clearly exceeded what a small group could handle.

Killing Manji, the summoner, should make Laumpup disappear, but Manji had the demonic horse Troy as his means of escape. Moreover, the black summoner Lilith was still around. Lilith had already begun gathering the undead to this place. It was difficult to avoid the countless undead and Laumpup, and to kill Manji on Troy. First, he needed to break down Laumpup, the key to both offense and defense, before he could reach Manji.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

With a strange cry, Laumpup's eerie head lunged at Lambert. The ground behind where the Nightmare had just dodged was easily gouged. When Lambert turned around, he saw a baby's face, grinning with sand dripping from its mouth and its lips trembling.

"I never wanted to see you again!"

Laumpup pursued the Nightmare, which was carrying Lambert at high speed. It extended countless giant human arms with an extra joint, crawling forward. In front of it, a large number of undead, gathered by Lilith, blocked the way.

In Lambert's field of vision, a gaunt, middle-aged man with deep-set, worried eyes appeared. It was the illusion of Gailoff, the alchemist who had manipulated a country and caused the deaths of ten million people. Although Gailoff shouldn't have been there, surrounded by Gailoff's three spirits, Lambert felt as if he were facing him.

Lambert remembered the first time he saw Gailoff's face before killing him. Despite being a mass murderer and a war criminal, Gailoff had empty, lifeless eyes. At first, Lambert couldn't understand that this man was Gailoff. However, when the man's expression changed to a demonic smile, and the scene instantly turned into a hell, Lambert realized that this was the real Gailoff, not a decoy.

In an instant, Gailoff's illusion disappeared. Instead, Manji's laughter echoed from a distance.

"The tables have turned, Undead Knight! I, who have received the blessings of Lord Gailoff! I, who have inherited the will and power of Lord Gailoff, am invincible! I will rule the Western Vormilia continent in place of Lord Gailoff and transform the world into the underworld!"

Manji had absolute confidence in his own magic and Gailoff's book.

He was one of the Eight Sages of the 'Flute Demon,' but he had no loyalty to the organization. Manji, due to his bizarre appearance and upbringing, had never felt affection for others. The only exceptions were Gailoff, whom he admired and revered as a fellow necromancer, and the speechless corpses. He believed without doubt that with Gailoff's book, he was the pinnacle among the Eight Sages and would eventually become the leader of the organization.

"You claim to inherit Gailoff's will?"

Lambert readied his greatsword. The Nightmare charged into the crowd of undead. With one swing from Lambert, a dozen upper bodies of the undead flew into the air, and their lower halves were kicked away by the Nightmare. Laumpup, following behind, crushed the corpses and pursued them.

"You're overestimating yourself. You, who are merely manipulated by the book's curse and commit murders, have no right to claim to be Gailoff's successor."

"What!?"

Manji's face turned red with anger, but his mouth closed before he could utter a word. The dense miasma emitted by Lambert overwhelmed him. Sensing the overwhelming presence from the mysterious undead knight, Manji's anger subsided. His mouth remained tightly shut, and his body began to shiver involuntarily.

"You are not the one who controls magic and spirits. You are the one being controlled by them. You are just a commoner who has gained great power and is deluding yourself."

"Gr... u..."

He intended to retort, but no words came out. The laughter of the child, Lilith, seemed to mock him. After a moment of silence, Manji's stiffness finally eased. He convinced himself that his fear was just a delusion and looked at Laumpup, the great monstrosity, to reassure himself.

"Hurry, Laumpup! Crush him quickly!"

Laumpup raised its head again. The swirling eyes stopped and fixed on Lambert. The giant head trembled slightly, and its mouth chattered as it lunged straight at Lambert.

Laumpup's head caught Lambert. The heavily armored Lambert, clad in magical metal, was easily thrown. The headless horse, the Nightmare, was also flung into the air and fell to the ground on its side.

"Hehehehehe! As expected, Laumpup! Now, finish him quickly..."

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Laumpup opened its mouth wide, turned its upper body, and screamed. The terrible cry drowned out Manji's command and left him speechless. Manji then noticed a large, deep gash across Laumpup's left eye, inflicted by a crude blade. Manji's eyes widened in shock.

"L-Lumpup!? N-no way! It's a top-class spirit!? Why, why would it receive such a wound from a single human!?"

Lambert, who had fallen, got back up.

"Indeed, without my subordinates, dealing with Laumpup is not so simple. And... the Nightmare won't be able to run for a while. It's impossible to maintain distance and wait for an opening in this situation."

Despite receiving a powerful blow from Laumpup, the magical metal armor was not even scratched.

"Watch and wait, mere spectators. Once this one is finished, it will be your turn."

Manji could not respond to Lambert's words. The weight and presence of Lambert's words, which were not mere bluffs, were evident in the intense clash with Laumpup.

The wound, though not shallow, was just one strike. It was not enough to defeat Laumpup. There was no doubt that the advantage still lay with Laumpup. However, Manji had never considered that a spirit of Laumpup's caliber could be dealt with by an individual. His absolute faith in Laumpup was easily shattered by that single strike.