NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: I Met the Necromancer
Note : The other undeads in this chapter is the prim example of how an undead should act, which also the public knowledge and common sense about undead. Definitely not like Zion.
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===A Certain Undead With Communication Disorder===
I was doing my best to talk to her, but I then realized that my tongue was frozen stiff.
As a result, I could barely endure the unpleasant silence between us.
And the one who broke the unpleasant silence was the other party.
「A-Are you an enemy of humanity?」
「Ch-…」
I wanted to say "No(Chigau)," but my words were cut short before I could speak.
F*UUUUUUUCK.
I only wanted to say that I was not a dangerous existence.
But my already abysmal communication skills hit an all-time low when I tried talking to a woman.
In the middle of my confusion, it seemed that the female Holy Knight had finally lost her patience.
「You… Do you understand my words?」
U-UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!
EVEN AN UNDEAD LIKE ME WOULD BE SHOCKED IF YOU MISUNDERSTOOD LIKE THAT.
In addition, the other party was a young woman.
「EH! W… WAIT! I STILL HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU―」
Unable to endure the situation, I ended up running away from that place.
―I didn't say anything at all.
I couldn't even answer her question.
Why? Because I couldn't even speak properly.
「THIS CURSED COMMUNICATION POWER OF MINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」
I dashed at full speed toward the downtown area while screaming at the top of my lungs.
I ignored the people who turned around to stare as if wondering, "what the f*uck is with that dude?"
After running for a long time…
I noticed that I was approaching the ramparts that surrounded the city.
The area in the vicinity of the ramparts was devoid of buildings, perhaps to be further away in case of a siege.
「… Eh? Is this the…. presence of an undead?」
I unintentionally put up my guard when I sensed a similar presence close by.
I mean, the only undeads I met so far were those good-for-nothing scums.
Moreover, they most likely belonged to a group.
Soon enough, I saw several figures come from the front.
There were five of them:
A silver-haired youth with doll-like features, a big man that look like a tiger-type therianthrope, a bewitching woman who wore clothing that exposed the majority of her brown skin, a midget with an impish smile on his face, and an unidentified fella whose entire body was wrapped in bandages.
「Um? Are you an undead?」
The silver-haired youth saw through my identity at once.
He was the only living human amongst those undeads. Everyone else aside from him was undead.
「That attire… You're quite intelligent, huh.」
I frowned upon hearing a remark that felt as if he was appraising me like merchandise.
Who the hell was this guy… I had no idea about this guy, but his attitude was simply repulsing.
「But I can't feel magical power at all from him. Just a small fry, huh―Tiger.」
「Yes!」
「I'll leave his disposal to you.」
The one called Tiger was that tiger-type therianthrope.
「Really? Hehehe, then I'll feast on his flesh.」
He spoke while the drool dripped down from his sharp teeth.
Oh no, was this guy… the same type as that terrifying (in a psychological sense) giant undead?
The bewitching woman snorted in disgust.
「To think that you'd eat something undead. How could you eat such an unappetizing meal?」
「Hehehe, like it matters for us. We lost our sense of taste the moment we became undead. It's not like we need it anyways. We died easily from poison when we were alive, but after becoming undead, I can eat everything that I couldn't before.」
「You masochistic bas*tard.」
Fuuh… it seemed he was going to eat me in a literal sense, not sexual.
Thank God.
「Then, let's dig i~n.」
The tigerman grabbed onto my body with his thick and muscular hands. In his vice grip, he proceeded to take a large bite of my head.
BAKIN!
「ARGH?」
Resulted in his fangs being broken to pieces.
「Ah? Hey, what's the meaning of this? Why did my fangs suddenly break?」
The tigerman showed a dumbfounded look on his face.
His broken fangs regrew once again.
「Ahahaha! Now you're telling me that the gross-feeder Tiger is failing to eat his prey!」
「S-Shut up! This small fry just got lucky! These fangs of mine can crush a human skull like peanuts.」
After refuting the laughing woman, the tigerman looked at my face from point blank range.
「Be a good boy and get eaten by me. Though I look forward to hearing a living human scream when I munch on their skull, unfortunately, the undead can't feel pain. Resistance is futile. 」
Ha~h, another fella with a few screws loose in his brain.
I had already guessed from his tone that this tigerman loved to eat living humans.
Yup, we should grill him.
Since we weren't indoors, it was probably safe to use fire magic.
「Fireball.」
「HA-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!」
「「「TIGER?!」」」
The tigerman undead was burned thoroughly by my fireball.
It didn't take a long time for my fireball to burn his flesh until only his bones remained, and those said bones turned into ashes.
「Tiger was reduced to ashes in an instant… What kind of powerful magic is this?」
「Wait a minute… this is strange. Tiger hasn't… resurrected?」
While the bewitching woman and the midget youth were visibly surprised by that, the silver-haired man's eyes opened wide. His lips quivered.
「Tiger's spirit body… was annihilated?」
「JEAN-SAMA.」
「A-Are you okay, Jean-sama?」
… I had a faint guess about him already, but it turned out he really was Jean, the necromancer.
He literally offered himself on a silver platter.
Contrary to my happiness, that Jean guy glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
「SO IT WAS YOU! THE BAST*ARD WHO KILLED MY FAMILY!」
Then he picked at the tigerman's ashes while crying.
「OOH, TIGER! MY MOST IMPORTANT FAMILY! I THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE GOING TO ACCOMPANY ME FOREVER! THIS SUDDEN SEPARATION IS JUST… UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」
… Eh?
Should I… feel bad for this guy?
Like he*ll, that a*ss hole was the one who wanted to eat me. This was legitimate SELF-DEFENSE.
Yup, I was super innocent.
「TIGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER, TIGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!」
But for that guy to cry so much for that a*ss hole, even I feel ba―
「Yup, that's the end of sad ti~me♪ Tiger? Who's that? Do we have someone with that name? I must've forgotten about that guy, ri~ght.」
―Eh?
「Yup, I'm a man who only looks to the future. The past is in the past. It's not even worth it to remember such a thing. Now that my memory is spotless, I'll live my life in the present.」
No, no, no, no, wasn't that change in attitude way too fast?!
I mean, what were those tears just now?!
I was enlightened—of what in the he*ll was happening inside this dangerous-looking guy.
「Nevertheless, I was so convinced that those Holy Knights were the ones who killed my family. To think that they were killed by another undead. Don't tell me, you have the power to kill your kin?」
Jean, who was rambling senselessly, looked at me with a curious look in his eyes.
「Anyhow, I want you to become my family no matter what. That's why, Rino, Mirura, seal that guy's movement.」
「U-Understood!」
「… Roger.」
The one named Rino was that shorty undead. Mirura seemed to be the one whose entire body was wrapped in bandages.
Based on his low voice, that bandaged fella was a man.
「Golem Hand!」
The ground under my feet trembled as soon as that shorty shouted.
Just when I was wondering what was about to happen, an arm-like thing sprung up from the ground, grabbing my feet.
「… Bind.」
The bandaged man fired some of the bandages that were twined around his body.
That bandage projectile twined around my upper-half, as if it had its own life.
「Ahahaha! Can't move, can ya! I can't never get enough of the moment you pull at a human's feet until they tear apart at the crotch!」
The shorty laughed delightfully as he spoke.
… Yup, another piece of shi*t.
BAKINBAKIN!
When I tried to move my feet by force, I discovered that freeing my feet from those earthen hands was far easier than I expected.
「WHAT THE?! I-IMPOSSIBLE?! DESTROYED… SO EASILY? NOT EVEN MINOTAURS CAN BREAK FREE FROM IT. JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT GUY?!」
The shorty shouted with his eyes opened wide.
When I tried to break free from the bandage that sealed my upper-half, it suddenly expanded by itself.
「… Resistance is futile. My bandages are elastic.」
It seemed this bandage could expand forever.
Well, I guess burning it was my only choice
I used a fireball on myself.
Thus, the bandage melted easily.
Naturally, the flame still didn't work on me.
「Im… possible.」