The Necromancer Who Was Despised

If there had been no possibility, we wouldn’t have come this far.

But at the same time, the danger was great.

I knew that the Red Ogre’s power was not to be underestimated.

Tinus would actively participate, but… it wouldn’t be easy.

We had finished our discussion with the two forces cooperating with us, and soon, Griant came to find me.

“This is about the contents provided by the Hectio side.”

Most of it was as discussed, but one thing was unexpected.

“…Undead gear?”

“Yes. I said I would provide gear for the undead.”

“…You’re going to give us this much?”

He was going to provide gear that could arm nearly ten thousand troops.

“They must have emptied their storage.”

It was somewhat managed, but there could be some that weren’t in good condition.

Honestly, it didn’t matter.

It was better than nothing, and even if the undead used gear that wasn’t in great condition, no one would complain.

‘…In a world where most territorial wars are fought by mercenaries, having ten thousand units of gear ready is….’

It was clear that Hectio was different from other kingdoms in many ways.

It wasn’t prepared for war with other countries. With the Great Forest right in front of them, they couldn’t fight other countries.

In other words, Hectio was cautious about the Great Forest….

‘Hectio’s quick response had a reason.’

They had been cautious to this extent, so they were able to respond like this now.

If they hadn’t prepared like this and been cautious about the Great Forest….

‘It would have been a great chaos.’

It was terrifying. Perhaps the Akachi side’s attack would have destroyed the kingdom.

They wouldn’t have been able to prepare a quick counterattack like this either.

“Good. If they’re giving it to us, we should take it.”

Undead typically came equipped with basic gear when created.

Depending on the level of the undead or the necromancer’s skills, it varied, but most undead didn’t fight barehanded.

Even a simple skeleton warrior would carry a bone-made sword and shield.

Of course, if the level was low, there would be those who couldn’t even wield a proper sword, but that wasn’t me.

It was obvious that the gear they were born with was inferior to properly crafted gear.

It was easy to assume that a steel sword would be stronger than a bone sword.

I didn’t continue to use my old gear for nothing.

The same went for Death Knights.

So, even if they just provided gear, it would greatly increase our combat power, making Hectio’s actions very welcome.

‘I need to raise several undead.’

It would be a bit of a hassle to adjust their numbers, but it was worth it.

However, I needed to reduce the number of high-level undead. I had to actively utilize commander-type undead.

The selection process wouldn’t be easy.

Meanwhile, Tinos was busy moving around.

He was making two into Liches and preparing them separately.

The Orcs were exchanging information with the Beast Hunters and providing as much information as possible, and they were completing the map together.

The priests from the Heavenly Temple had arrived, and the recruited Beast Hunters and reserve personnel received short training, and I was roaming the Monster Forest, increasing the number of corpses.

The kingdom couldn’t even provide corpses, but they didn’t have a Master-level necromancer who could control the primal spirits, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Instead, I hunted as many Orcs as possible, and the Beast Hunters acted as guides for us.

If I was going to use gear, it was better to use ours.

We prepared ourselves and broke through the entrance, and when the day of departure arrived, the king made a promise to support us forever if our expedition was successful.

I didn’t have much to say to him, who was determined to repay us somehow.

To be honest, I didn’t have much expectation from Hectio either.

However, there was no reason to refuse his offer, since he was willing to become our ally.

“I’m sure it’ll come in handy someday.”

Thinking so, our expeditionary force, aiming to destroy the black star and the red ogre, advanced into the Dark Forest.

***

“Your Excellency.”

“What’s the matter, Atolek?”

“It’s a message from the royal family. They’re asking if we can increase trade with the interspecies union.”

“That’s not possible. You know that, don’t you?”

Freena expressed her doubts about the royal family’s sudden proposal.

“That’s a region that Lord Do Inha pioneered. The royal family has no reason to make such an unreasonable demand…”

“Currently, the five kingdoms, excluding Hectio, have reached a consensus.”

Freena fell silent at Atolek’s words.

“The five kingdoms’ united army has chosen to invade instead of maintaining the status quo.”

They supported the black star of the empire.

The repercussions of that decision began to spread within the union.

◈ Black Star

“…This is a terrible place.”

Dark Elf elder Preté commented on the Dark Forest.

Even just entering the forest was a challenge.

Except for the Orcs, everyone resisted the forest’s mysteries in their own way.

So, we were able to break through the entrance without much danger and move deeper into the forest.

However, as we went deeper, I realized why the Hectio Kingdom was so cautious about the forest and why it was called the “Forbidden Land”.

The surroundings were dark, even during the day, and the environment was harsh and inhospitable to living creatures, with monsters lurking everywhere and powerful demons occasionally appearing.

The few bright spots were all territories of flying monsters or demons.

It was an extremely harsh environment where even strong warriors couldn’t survive for long.

Especially, resting was a problem, and if we weren’t undead, unaffected by the fragments of the dimension and the environment, we wouldn’t have been able to rest at all.

“How did you survive in a place like this?”

Preté asked, and Lithril, who had returned after helping the demon hunters at the front line, replied.

“It’s nothing. We just secured our territory and dealt with those who didn’t know any better. Once you secure your territory, the danger decreases.”

In their heyday, the Orcs boasted an enormous number.

With magic, numbers, and alliances with their kin, they could even avoid demons, making them a formidable force within the Dark Forest.

“The interspecies union or humans think the current Orcs are quite strong, not to be underestimated, but from my perspective, the current Orcs are on the brink of extinction.”

Their long-lived numbers and elderly strong warriors were almost nonexistent, making the current Orcs extremely weak.

“The Orcs did have the advantage of numbers, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have strong warriors.”

Thinking about it, Lithril was also a young clan leader.

The strong ones lost the battle against the Red Ogre and mostly died, and the survivors sacrificed themselves to save their descendants.

“It was impossible to avoid the eyes of the Red Ogre, given the characteristics of the Horned Orcs, who possessed high mana.”

Other monsters also attacked, sensing their scent, so in reality, the strong ones had almost no chance of survival.

“…What a shame.”

Frete showed sympathy for the sad story, which I knew to some extent.

“It would have been great if the Horned Orcs had won.”

But unfortunately, reality was the opposite.

“Rithild.”

“Yes?”

Rithild looked at me at my call.

“I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“About the Dragon’s Fang, wasn’t there some change inside the Great Forest?”

“No, there wasn’t. Why do you ask?”

“That’s…the Dragon’s Fang, the treasure of the Dolgaebaram tribe and the artifact currently used by Atina.”

“Sometimes the sword trembles as if responding to something.”

“Hmm…”

Rithild’s expression turned serious at my words, and soon opened his mouth.

“I don’t know well. I haven’t heard of such a thing. Can I check it out?”

It wasn’t a difficult task.

Atina was currently moving at the forefront with the Dragon Hunters.

She wanted to grow more and felt she could learn from the Dragon Hunters.

It wasn’t that Kayla’s skills were lacking, but Atina was very ambitious.

Especially, she was interested in the Dragon Hunters, who had a different atmosphere from other knights and shared some common points with her.

So I asked Quahar separately, and after seeing Atina’s skills, he readily agreed to accompany her.

It wasn’t a difficult task, as they sometimes accompanied the Horned Orcs as well.

“I’ll call you separately when I return.”

Rithild also nodded, seeming to understand the situation.

Then, I saw Tinos approaching me from the front.

“What’s going on?”

“We’ve arrived.”

“…Finally.”

“This area is said to be the territory of the Black Star from now on.”

We hadn’t fully entered, but in reality, this area was their territory.

So monsters wouldn’t be stationed here like before.

“Especially, it’s said that dragons will be hard to find around here.”

Of course, the ones who informed us of this information were Sold and Langtem.

“Are they not human now?”

Tinos had successfully turned the two into Liches before coming here.

Honestly, I didn’t think I could succeed with just one, but somehow I managed to make both of them reach Rich.

I asked him how he did it, and… surprisingly, it was the method that the two Rich individuals came up with.

“We made a deal with the demons,” he said.

In reality, their contract was already bound to fail.

So, the two of them made a last deal with the demons, and the demons, who were also in a desperate situation, accepted the deal to gain some profit until the end.

They couldn’t give us anything great, so they just compromised with us, treating us like pawns.

There were many pawns to spare.

Excluding the ones I hunted, there were also those hunted by the Hecto side.

Relatively, there were those who lacked, so education was necessary, and there was no better education than actual combat.

In the process, the byproduct that came out was collected by Tinus and invested in them.

That’s how the two of them became Rich and belonged to Tinus.

Currently, they were being treated like slaves, but I didn’t know that.

“I said I didn’t want to stay in the kingdom…”

If they couldn’t become Rich, they couldn’t be taken away.

I didn’t know what the kingdom did to them, but it was the result of their desperate efforts to not be left behind.

It was curious how desperate the mages, who were supposed to be calm, could be.

“It won’t be long before our approach is discovered.”

“That’s right.”

It was already this scale. It was more surprising that they didn’t notice.

The black star had been staying in this area for a long time, but it wouldn’t let its guard down around here.

“They’ll find out eventually,” he said.

There was a way to use it from the Akachi side, but in reality, it was something that could only be opened from within the black star, so they couldn’t do anything about it.

“It can’t be helped.”

From the start, I had prepared for a head-on collision.

I immediately informed all my companions about the situation.

After hearing the news, Nodan, who was at the back, came forward to confirm, and the demon hunters at the front also returned.

“From now on, I’ll take the lead. Demon hunters, please cooperate with the Temple side.”

The demon hunters were only guides, and in battle, they played a supporting role.

The Temple side was helping those demon hunters to some extent and using the brought paladins to ensure their safety.

They wouldn’t take the front line until I called them separately.

Quhar and Nodan didn’t object, as it was already promised.

“And what about Lady Yerilya and the two elders…?”

“I’ll coordinate with Tinus, sir.”

I nodded briefly at Bert’s words.

The protection of the three would be handled by my undead and the dark elves who came with me.