The Necromancer Who Was Despised

Although the king of Hector took on the title, the true leader was Quahar standing before me.

The king often appeared on the front lines, but that wasn’t always possible, and in cases like this, Quahar took charge.

The number of demon hunters visible was around five hundred.

It was a considerable number, neither too many nor too few.

However, their capabilities were impressive.

These were the ones who had endured against the Black Star for a long time, even turning the tables to hunt them.

It was impossible for them to be useless.

“I don’t plan on hesitating. Get everyone ready.”

Still, I didn’t have high expectations for them. Their past achievements were possible because they fought in their own way.

So, I thought of them as supporting roles for us.

“The target is here.”

I took out the map and placed it down, saying so.

Originally, it was a map with the location of the Black Star marked, but it was useless in this situation.

“The place where Solde is.”

That was the place I intended to attack.

“…I will follow your orders.”

Thanks to the powerful undead army, Quahar didn’t hesitate much and followed my orders, even though they had chosen a completely different method from what they usually did.

With the demon hunters joining us, our movements in the forest became much freer.

We rarely encountered monsters even when moving on a large scale, and when we did, it was usually just a few.

As a result, our movement speed increased, and we could move quite stealthily without frequently encountering monsters.

“It’s not like we’ll get caught.”

I agreed with Artina’s words.

It didn’t feel like we were in hostile territory.

I wondered how Solde’s face would change when we found him.

“I don’t even know what he looks like.”

The face of the high-ranking dark wizard from the Black Star that I remembered was… only the old man I saw in Tinos’s Rare.

Solde hadn’t changed his base.

It seemed like he didn’t even think about being attacked, and the atmosphere was relatively peaceful.

There was no hesitation.

I immediately gave the order to attack, and Solde’s base was swept away in an instant.

The monsters and dark wizards under Solde’s command struggled to survive, but it was futile.

The two elderly dark elves, who had been preparing magic, wore disappointed expressions, and the difference was overwhelming.

“…The quality of the undead is different. They’ve become stronger.”

Bert muttered to himself, looking at the golem crushing the troll’s head.

“It’s not that, but Solde seems to have abandoned his post.”

“…It seems so.”

As a leader, he should have had that much power. The Black Star wasn’t a group that could survive without power.

If they had power, they should have put up a decent resistance, but there was none.

I thought, “Did he abandon his post and flee?”

Here is the translated excerpt:

“…The monsters are coming!”

I quickly turned my head at the ‘warning’ from the demon hunters.

“…Was it a trap?”

It probably wasn’t. If it were a trap, Sold would have lost too much.

It just seemed like they were out of luck.

“It’s too easy, I thought.”

As a dark magician affiliated with the Black Star, it was unlikely that they would collapse so easily.

I quickly revived the dead and increased the size of my undead army.

Tinus’s brow furrowed, but it seemed manageable for now.

Among the swarming monsters, I caught sight of the crazed Orcs.

“…….”

It didn’t seem like words would get through to them.

But I could sense a strange energy emanating from them.

“Tinus, that……”

“…Yeah, it’s the energy of those damned giants.”

Though faint, it was palpable.

It seemed to be the reason the Orcs had gone mad.

The monsters that had been about to charge suddenly slowed down.

An ominous energy began to swirl on the battlefield.

“Finally, we get to see their faces.”

Just then, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere, and when I turned to look, I saw an old man with a familiar face that I had seen before.

“You, bastards…!”

I could see a furious young man.

◈ Black Star

The young man looked around at the undead I had newly created.

“You sons of bi*tches! I’ll never let you off! I’ll turn your bodies into Chimeras and make you beg for death!”

It was a face I had never seen before, but the voice was familiar.

The voice that the crow had spat out was now coming from the young man’s mouth.

With a voice that was completely at odds with his youthful appearance, he hurled curses at us.

“Stop it, Sold.”

“Shut up, Langtem! This isn’t your business right now…!”

“…Is that guy Sold?”

I didn’t expect the guy who had initially shown confidence and composure to lose control of his emotions like that.

“Is this place really that important?”

Although there were a considerable number of monsters and dark magicians, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

In reality, my undead couldn’t withstand them and were being trampled one-sidedly.

At this rate, even if they had a large number, it wouldn’t mean much…

“Was there someone important here?”

A family member, perhaps, or a cherished disciple.

If that were the case, I could understand their anger.

A young man, known as Langtem, who couldn’t control his rage, blocked the way.

The old man glared at him, clicking his tongue briefly.

“You should’ve been more careful. It’s not just your business. You should’ve at least lifted the curse, but…like this…”

“…Damn it!”

Sold glared at the old man for a moment, then spat out a curse and turned his head away.

It seemed the old man shared the same opinion as the young man, making it difficult to argue back.

Looking at the reaction, it seemed my speculation was wrong.

“Damn it. My slaves…”

“Slaves…?”

“Hmph. You’ve been calling them that, and now you don’t even have any applicants. The rumors have spread, and no one wants to work for you…You’ve been treating them like slaves, and now you’re actually getting punished for it.”

“……”

It seemed like he was indeed a master. However, his treatment of them was far from good.

“I’ve heard there are black magicians who use their apprentices as experiment subjects…”

He seemed to be one of those kinds of people.

Other black magicians probably wouldn’t want to take him as an apprentice either.

“It seems ‘lave’ refers to an apprentice. And you’ve been putting curses on them, too.”

“That’s right. I said the number was high, but the quality was low, and it seems that’s the reason.”

“You’re doing this right in front of the enemy’s base? Are you insane?”

“Is our kingdom…that pathetic?”

Even Bert shook his head at Sold’s foolish actions, and Quhar, the leader of the demon hunters, seemed to feel humiliated.

In the end, when Sold fell silent, old man Akachi looked at us, or rather, at me, and opened his mouth.

“I knew it would take a long time…but honestly, when I heard Sold’s words, I knew it was a lie.”

“…You’re quite perceptive. You were far away, and you even had interference set up.”

“Cl. The person I contracted with isn’t ordinary, so it’s not like I was blinded by a mere sacred object.”

Sacred object.

He seemed to know about the mother I possessed, too.

I wondered who he had contracted with, but…there was no way to guess.

I could only speculate that it was one of the demon kings.

“‘Not revealing your name.'”

“If we can get you, our hidden life will come to an end. What do you say?”

The old man smiled deeply.

“It’s a sacrifice for the future of black magicians. It won’t be that painful.”

“…Nonsense.”

I felt a sudden chill.

Sold, who treated his apprentices like that, was talking about sacrificing himself for black magicians…

It was absurd.

“Cl. Black magicians are always selfish. I’m the same.”

“This goes beyond selfishness. Isn’t it more fitting for you to submit to me? Maybe. If you beg for magic, I might give it to you.”

“Ah. You’ll provide magic if I become your slave? Indeed. That’s a very black magician-like response.”

It seemed they were used to black magicians sticking together and living like that, so whenever something didn’t go their way, they would start talking about black magicians.

I won’t provide any commentary or interpretation. Here is the translated excerpt:

I didn’t feel the value of conversation.

What’s this, do they want to force me to take the blame and make excuses for them?

In the end, they’ll just sacrifice me for their own desires and try to restrain me, while they try to justify themselves.

“It’s all about getting what they want, no matter what.”

To do so, they’ve joined hands with the Empire and are trying to take me out of the picture.

When did the Dark Mages start justifying themselves?

“Do they think I’ll be swayed?”

No, that’s not it.

Usually, people try to justify themselves to assert their legitimacy…

“…So, you want to bring in more leaders of the Black Star, huh? It seems like it’s too much for the three of you to handle.”

“…….”

It seemed to have hit the mark.

It was amusing.

They’d rather stimulate others’ desires or provoke them.

“If they knew about my existence, there would be more than a few who would come after me.”

Are there people who know about me and are taking a cautious approach?

I’m not sure.

But at least, I can infer what they want from their behavior.

“It seems like there are people listening in or recording somewhere.”

“You, you don’t have confidence in winning, do you? You’re not even sure if you can win, are you?”

Looking at how far we’ve come, I thought I had some confidence, but now I’m filled with doubts.

It’s strange that they’re trying to justify themselves so late in the game.

I’ll look at him with confidence, and he just laughs.

“What are we? Talking about you? That’s ridiculous!”

“Then stop talking and show me what you can do. From the start, didn’t you plan to use me like an artifact, no matter what I said?”

I shut Sold’s mouth with a simple gesture.

His gaze turned to the old man, who remained silent as ever.

And…

-What are you going to do, Akachi?

The atmosphere was strange and unsettling.

“…Is this a Specter? You’re not a crow, are you?

The situation was similar to when Sold suddenly appeared.

But this time, it was a Specter, an undead creature.

It seemed to be a proxy for someone’s will, like Sold’s crow.

“…Leader.”

-I’m trying my best, but it’s not enough to satisfy the Black Star. You’re special, but you can’t compensate for everything on your own.

“That’s something we can research and find a way…!”

-No, I know. You don’t have eyes as good as your contractor’s, but you know that much. It’s better to summon the Demon King instead.