chapter 0
0. Death Knight met a saint.
0.
As always, a familiar smell crossed her nose.
Every time I wake up, my surroundings are full of smells. The smell of blood, the smell of rotting corpses, the smell of burning flesh, and so on.
It was inevitable. Where he wakes up has always been a battlefield. Or, just before a war breaks out, a situation where death just happens. Anything else is a similar situation. An idyllic scene of slaughter, where blood and flesh run rampant.
That was his hometown. Because of this, the situation was very familiar to him. Everywhere you can see corpses and dying creatures abound, and crows are delighted to discover their prey. Soon after, a group of rats appeared and gnawed at one corpse’s fingers. Where there are only mice, wildcats hide and prowl among corpses to catch and eat them, and black eagles roam the air from above to catch and eat them. Each other eats each other and strengthens each other’s vitality.
Paradoxically, the scene of death is the place where life moves most strongly.
As it was the usual sight, he skillfully took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of death and life and blood.
Since it is the same scene as always, it must be the same purpose.
He thought so and moved his body little by little. I was able to do it subconsciously because taking deep breaths had already gotten me tired of it, but I couldn’t get used to moving my body after waking up no matter how many times I tried. Adapting to the situation that woke you up always required a period of time. No, hundreds of times, or thousands of times. I don’t remember very well. Because it wasn’t that important.
What is the purpose this time? He recalled the purpose he had most recently awakened from.
We ask you to join us in the great battle between life and death. If you are, you will be able to release them from their bondage from that life and lead them to their death.’
Necromancer Blitod. He was a man whose purpose was to lead creatures from all realms out of life and into death. He believed that death was not the end but the beginning of eternity. It was a purpose that he had no choice but to be interested in at the time, and the conditions he received were satisfactory, so he signed a contract with the man faster than expected.
Standing on the front lines, he sent all the lives in front of him to death as Blitodd demanded. He led finite life to eternal death. They cut his throat, broke his heart, and sometimes crushed his body. He was always the first to charge and the last to walk out. It was an indispensable result for him to decorate the beginning and the end. Because he was the only one standing on the battlefield.
It was as simple as breathing, an act that had been repeated to the point of boredom even before that. Smooth days of blood and flesh. When he returned from his war alone, Blitoud clapped his hands and handed him champagne as a congratulatory gesture. After drinking champagne and walking alone looking at the sky and the ground, he returns to Blitod’s side. It was that simple. Looking back, it was a very satisfying process.
He took a slow breath.
Blitod. Oh, he was such a madman.
Unknowingly, the great war that only Blitod insisted on left only creatures on the scale of a small kingdom. As before, he was preparing for a war of his own. However, Blitod stopped him.
‘I’ll do it this time.’
Seeing a look he had never shown before, he looked at Blitod without saying anything. He always went to war and Blitod just watched it. The White Bone Corps he raised up was a spectator of war. Is it because the man wanted to participate in the end in the absurd situation that the person who actually started the war was turned into a spectator? He thought it was a reasonable reason.
And, Blytodd, oh really, that madman took his last life by hand, just as he said. When half the life of the remaining creatures was harvested, the man uttered a maddening noise.
‘This is enough! Finally got together! I am the ruler of the undead! I have enough life force to reach the Arch Reach!’
Hearing Blitodd’s cheers, he felt an emptiness beyond absurdity.
What Blitod ultimately pursued was immortality. He, who claimed to lead from life to death, was absurdly obsessed with life the most. He asked quietly. Isn’t the claim different from the first one? This is called a breach of contract. Blythod laughed maniacally. No, he might have laughed because he was really crazy.
‘Anyway, you only have to accept the conditions you asked for. Don’t worry. It will definitely give I got here thanks to you, and I can’t forget that.’
Sounds absurd. That madman was ignoring the conditions of his existence. If he performed a rough contract like this, who would wake him up next time? Maybe there is no one Walking on land, submerged in water, kicking the air, and looking at the stars. Feel the world For him who wakes up from time to time, this was the way of existence. It gives me goosebumps at the thought that I might never be able to do this again.
Quietly and politely told the necromancer.
This is a clear breach of contract. I strongly demand that the bar that I claimed at the beginning be realized right away.
‘That’s so noisy, you can just stay still and eat what you want and go.’
Now he couldn’t stand it any longer. Then he murmured that he had no choice but to fulfill it by force.
‘Ha, I have to do a bit of shit. You gave me advice because of the affection we had together during that time. What are you saying? Then give it a try, bastard-!’
The necromancer, no, the Ark Lich Blitod, rushed at him.
‘Crazy bastard! Do you think you can beat me and my white bone army?! Thankfully, all the lives you killed were absorbed into my legion! At most, a bastard playing alone doesn’t even know the subject-!’
He stretched out the fist of his left hand. And he destroyed Blitod’s heart.
‘…… What the fuck?’
Then he stretched out the fist of his right hand. The shape of Blitod that he was holding was greatly distorted.
‘Wait a minute! Let’s talk, let’s talk… ! Huh? Ooh, you were our friend… ? Hey hey!! There’s a bond we’ve been together all this time… !!’
I hit him with a shield. Blitod’s form was shattered.
‘This fucking bastard… ! Yes, laugh to your heart’s content for now. I see you’ve been staying for a long time and can’t judge the situation properly, but I’m already an arch-rich. You bastard who can’t even find a life vessel can’t kill me!’
He thrust his spear through the air where Blitod was. Lightly twisted the life that Blitod was holding at the end of the spear. Blitod’s life fulfilled the claim that Blitod had preached at the beginning.
‘No… what the fuck… ?’
He thought as he closed the window. Blitod was always too talkative. It’s a bit quieter now.
As he finished his memories, he finished adjusting to the situation. He opens his eyes and opens his ears. In the space of extinction full of death, he insists on existence. It was as expected. Bodies and flesh abound. Death was everywhere.
…… Not everywhere.
He looked down at the woman standing in front of him. She is a petite woman. Her long, voluminous, pale golden hair has a sheen to it, perhaps because she is well-groomed. Her skin is as clean as if it had never experienced burning. The quality of the fabric she was wearing was top notch even at first glance. It looked completely unsuitable for a battlefield, at least for death.
The woman looked up at him, shaking her body. Bathed in her moonlight, her bright figure shines like pure white. As the light alone, tearing through all darkness, she existed. And he could see Tears fell from her red and blue eyes.
“I am Saint Ecilia! I woke you up! I will ask you for a formal contract! Please, please my…… Become an escort knight!!!”
The woman who identified herself as a saint screamed plaintively, with her light blonde hair fluttering in the moonlight. And he thought
‘But I’m a Death Knight.’