NOVEL WEB Chapter 26: Arbitrary Declaration
===A Certain Female Holy Knight===
I chased after that white-haired undead even after I lost sight of him.
「Captain Limule?! Thank God you're safe!」
Along the way, I reunited with Porm, my vice captain, as we chased after that undead.
「Yeah, as you can see, I'm safe. I've let everyone to escape, preparing to die myself and yet…」
What was the use of my resolution? A self-mocking smile crept onto my lips. To think, even I was spared by that undead.
But then, Porm replied back with a serious look on her face.
「You're wrong. I was deeply moved by your gallant figure back then, Captain.」
「P-Please stop with such praise.」
Honestly… I felt quite embarrassed upon hearing such praise from my subordinate.
「Rather than that, can you tell me everyone's current condition?」
「Yes, everyone is safe. They're currently gathering in the nearby church.」
「I see.」
「So… what about "THAT" guy?」
Hearing Porm's question, my eyebrows creased. How should I answer her question?
「He escaped… Or maybe he thinks we're not even worthy to be killed by him personally.」
At that moment…
A huge tremor shook the ground at our feet. Feeling that, Porm and I raised our guard.
「What's happening? … Earthquake?」
「Captain! Over the-」
When I looked at the place where Porm's finger pointed at, I saw a blazing fire pillar rise into the sky.
The location wasn't that far from our current position.
It was close to the rampart.
We glanced at each other, and then we ran toward the location of the fire pillar.
We arrived in an open space close to the rampart.
And then, we discovered him right beside the blazing fire pillar.
The white-haired undead.
Beside me, Porm was already as pale as a sheet, so I shouted at that white-haired undead.
「F-FOUND YOU!」
Even though that guy turned around to glance at us, he escaped again as soon as he saw my face.
I could barely believe my eyes seeing him deftly jump over the tall rampart.
Such amazing leg strength.
「GUH! YOU'RE GOING TO ESCA-!」
「C-Captain! This is…」
「??!!」
Porm's hand held me back when I was about to go after that undead.
Upon a closer look, I saw a man right beneath Porm's feet.
「Was this man… killed by that undead?」
His neck was twisted at an extremely unnatural angle, clearly dead.
Just when I began to wonder why that undead suddenly killed a human, my mind drifted.
Nay, in the first place, that was how an undead supposed to be: a brutal killer.
There was no exception, even for that white-haired undead.
And yet, why was the corpse at our feet… smiling eerily like that?
「C-Captain! There's no mistake, this man, this man is the one we're looking for — the infamous necromancer, Jean Diego!」
「Yes, it's Jea-…. WHAT?」
I became even more surprised upon hearing Porm's remark.
This dead man was… Jean?
「Jean was killed by that white-haired undead?… What's the meaning of this?」
「I also have no idea. But if my guess is right, Jean was killed fighting that white-haired undead for some reason.」
Seeing the traces of battle, I was even more convinced.
Jean went all-out with his undead family, but it seemed they were all killed by that white-haired undead.
At that moment…
The citizens nearby started to gather upon hearing the commotion that happened.
「There was an extremely loud sound just now, but…」
「There's something burning too!」
「I-Is that a… corpse?」
Thus I told them.
「We're the Holy Knights of Saint Melt's Faith! There's a dangerous undead hiding around this place! Please leave this pla-… What's the matter?」
Before I realized it, everyone was focused on something behind me. I turned around immediately.
「WAH?」
There, I saw a ghost-like being floating behind me.
「Jean… Diego?!」
Jean Diego's corpse had become an undead with necromancy.
Reduced to a mere ghost, the brutal criminal spoke to us with a gleeful smile on his face.
『Bonjour, gentlemen! My name is Jean Diego! I guess most of you know me as the internationally wanted criminal. Does the name of the worst necromancer ring a bell to you?!』
HIs declaration caused a stir amongst the people who gathered in this place.
Of course, he didn't speak via his vocal cords. A ghost didn't have any.
His voice resounded within our minds — his spiritual voice, also known as a telepathic message.
「T-The one from the news?」
「The worst necromancer who slaughtered hundreds to create undead!」
「Could it be, he went as far as transforming his own corpse into an undead?!」
It seemed that Jean's name was already infamous amongst the common folk.
It was no wonder since every time his name appeared in the newspaper, it was always headlining.
『HAHAHA! It's an honor to hear that there are so many people who know about me! Well then, now it's time for me to deliver some extremely lovely news to you guys, lowly human beings!』
Suddenly, I felt an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, my fear was realized the moment Jean opened his mouth.
『Now, the biggest, worst calamity has finally appeared in the world! His name is No Life King! And just as you expected, he's also an undead like the current me! But, HE is the sovereign of all undead!』
「No Life… King?」
「Sovereign… of All Undead?」
「Worst… calamity?」
… Oh no!
I shuddered in fear.
「PORM!」
「YES!」
Porm and I wielded our holy spears and went to purify Jean's ghost immediately.
Jean's ghost didn't seem to care even after his ethereal body was bathed in holy light.
『The No Life King has only one goal — to create a kingdom of undead! Soon, humanity will perish! What awaits beyond this point is the world of undead!』
「S-SHUT UP! HOW ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?! HEY, DON'T LISTEN TO HIS NONSENSE!」
Despite our attempts to calm the situation… we were too late.
It had nothing to do with whether the matter was true or just the nonsensical rambling of a madman.
Just a few days ago, our religious organization issued a strict warning due to a certain, bloated article in the newspaper.
Worst calamity ― a crisis on the level in which humanity might perish.
The entire world would descend into panic if Jean's declaration was made known to the public.
For this reason, we had to be extra careful when handling this news, confirming the real situation such as the real threat of the monster before we made the announcement.
If it really was the worst calamity, then there was nothing we could do about it. The only thing humanity could do was pray desperately for one own's safety.
Thus, the thing we feared the most was being misled by fake information.
Jean's ethereal body was about to vanish as soon as he said those words.
『NOW, ENJOY THE SHORT LIFE YOU HAVE LEFT! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA-』
Vanished… while leaving behind such an ominous laugh.
「「「UWAAAAAA!」」」
The peanut gallery scrambled around in fear due to that declaration, even though we had no idea if it was even true.
「W-Wait a minute!」
No one listened to me when I called them to go back.
I wouldn't be so flustered if it was only one or two people, but there was no way the two of us could stop this many people.
With so many people hearing about this matter, the news would spread in no time.
「Jean, you bastard… dropping such bomb-like news in his last moments!」
「Was that just… nonsense?」
「Who knows, I can't answer that yet. But the world might fall into chaos due to that ba*stard's last words.」
We had yet to confirm whether that white-haired undead really was a dangerous existence. That was why we needed to investigate this matter.
After all, as someone who spoke with that white-haired undead, I knew that we could actually communicate with him.
But now that things had devolved to this point, it was already impossible to perform a secret investigation.
「… It can't be helped then. I'll contact headquarters to make an official announcement… Let's pray that this announcement is enough to suppress the panic.」
I looked at the rampart, the part where he leaped up to escape from us.
… The No Life King who wanted to turn this world into a world for undead, huh.
And yet, from my point of view, he didn't seem to be that kind of person.