Next Life – Chapter 86

Emperor Carius VI, thinking the castle was safe now, considered sending out his Imperial Guards to reinforce the outside. However, the members of the Royal Guard refused to agree.

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, if a Demon were to target you, it would be your life they’re after.”

This was a valid point. The royal family had been targeted during the Seraeno incident, so it wasn’t unthinkable that they would target the Imperial family in this attack as well.

“But the citizens…”

It was understandable that the Emperor’s voice trailed off. The citizens were still potentially exposed to the threat of monsters, and the feeling of being safely holed up in one place felt akin to guilt.

“Without Your Majesty, it is difficult to maintain the country. If anything were to happen to you, what would become of the people beyond the capital?”

He had no strong counterargument to that. Even with the Crown Prince, the death of the Emperor would undoubtedly cause considerable chaos. To avoid this, they would have to sacrifice a portion of the people for the sake of the entire empire. It would be unbearable for those being sacrificed, of course.

Just as a heavy atmosphere began to fill the room, the door, which should have been tightly shut, was violently shattered.

“What is this!?”

The Royal Guards cried out, but quickly drew their swords and shielded the Imperial family behind them. The probability of someone entering without knocking, by breaking down the door, being an ally was extremely low. That premonition proved to be correct. What entered were ghastly zombies and skeletons, and a figure clad in tattered rags.

“Wh-what, Tom?”

Ares exclaimed unintentionally. Tom, who had participated in the previous Demonplay with him, now stood before Ares in a drastically altered form.

“Y-you mean a wizard turned into a zombie?”

Of course, it wasn’t impossible, but wizards had significantly higher resistance, and mere power couldn’t even zombify a corpse. Upon closer inspection, the other zombies were revealed to be Royal Guards who had gone to confront the monsters.

“It was you…”

The anger and sorrow at seeing their subordinates and comrades turned into Undead was, to their own surprise, immense. If gazes could kill, the wizard-like man might have died a thousand times over. Gastark sneered at these Bergandan men.

“This is your recompense for opposing me. I ask the Emperor of Berganda.”

He spoke to a nation’s emperor with such audacity, using utterly disrespectful words.

“Where is the seal of Lady Auraniess? Answer truthfully.”

Murmurs arose at his question. Everyone knew the name of the strongest Demon Lord, Auraniess. Therefore, the Emperor’s answer was decided.

“How should I know? Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell the likes of you.”

Gastark did not get angry; instead, he let out a laugh. It was a chilling laugh that all Bergandans present found unpleasant.

“Pathetic and laughable. Do you think a mere human can oppose a Demon and live?”

He answered this question without hesitation.

“Yes, I do. That is how human endeavors have continued until now!”

This was not only a declaration of war against the Demon but also an encouragement to those around him. Those who were intimidated by Gastark, though angered, regained their composure from the Emperor’s rallying cry and began to slowly surround Gastark.

“Hmph. [Exharatio].”

Pale blue flames erupted, engulfing those who had formed the encirclement. Without even being able to cry out in pain, the Royal Guards collapsed. The Emperor watched them in a daze. He knew the Demon’s power was immense, but he had never heard of them using human magic. Furthermore, to use necromancy as well was beyond mere surprise.

“Wh-who are you… Who are you?”

It was a miracle that his voice didn’t crack. The Emperor was that shaken. He felt as strong as Marius Tuban had seemed at the Demonplay. However, this man was not Marius. Marius hadn’t emanated such cold, malevolent energy, nor did he speak with such a voice. Moreover, if Marius wanted to know Auraniess’s seal location, he wouldn’t have attacked with monsters. He could have simply asked the Emperor. The Emperor would have told Marius the truth if he had asked.

“I am the one asking. Where is Lady Auraniess’s seal?”

The pressure emanating from those words, far beyond what he felt when surrounded by guards, was not just the Emperor’s psychological state. Gastark was beginning to reveal a sliver of his true power, gradually increasing the pressure on their minds.

“I-I don’t know. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

As expected of an Emperor, he did not succumb to the psychological pressure. Gastark pitied him with a smile.

“Then I shall turn you into a corpse and ask.”

“Wh-what?”

The Emperor was momentarily startled by Gastark’s words, but then he considered that if one could control corpses, it might not be impossible to extract information from them.

“Pitiful. Your resistance was in vain.”

“Hmph.”

Gastark, seeing the Emperor’s frustrated expression, revealed his name.

“My name is Gastark. I am a servant of Lord Rubens, and the one who will end the world of man.”

The Emperor was struck with intense shock. He wouldn’t have been this surprised even if he had witnessed the sun rising in the west.

“G-Gastark… You’re Gastark? Don’t tell me you are…”

Gastark didn’t let the Emperor, trembling with astonishment and terror, finish his sentence. He fired a [Laser], piercing the chests of the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince. Like puppets with cut strings, the four collapsed. The Imperial Castle had fallen in less than two hours since the attack began. Gastark didn’t think he had disobeyed Rubens’s orders. If a strong enemy had appeared, he would have simply retreated and called for Albert. However, what he encountered were just weaklings who posed no threat. It was true that someone who could incinerate a thousand soldiers with their full power would encounter few enemies they felt threatened by. Gastark’s sneer vanished as he cast his magic.

“[Necromancy].”

Without delay, the Imperial family were reborn as zombies. He then questioned the Emperor.

“Where is Lady Auraniess’s seal?”

“…Mt. Rahmibal… At the foot of the mountain…a suspicious…place…exists.”

Gastark grinned at the hesitant reply.

“Where is Mt. Rahmibal?”

Upon hearing the answer, he used [Telepathy] to contact Franklin, who should have been waiting outside the Imperial Capital.

“Yes, at the foot of Mt. Rahmibal… the location is…”

After ending the call, Gastark headed outside the castle with his controlled Undead. Outside, Albert, Rebera, Franklin, and Pal, who had destroyed the Imperial Capital, should have been waiting. If the Demons had made a miscalculation at this point, it was thinking that other regions would take some time to notice the anomaly in the Imperial Capital. In their estimation, they had killed all messengers and spies reporting the anomaly, so it shouldn’t have spread easily. However, humans, compared to Demons, were more cautious, or perhaps wiser. They had a system where spies maintained regular contact, and the cessation of that contact was taken as proof that an anomaly had occurred. Consequently, because Rebera had killed everyone with whom the spies had been in regular contact, the regional heads had already sensed the anomaly in the Imperial Capital. The biggest problem for the Demons was that this applied not only to Berganda but also to foreign countries. This had not been factored into Rubens’s calculations. Unbeknownst to them, the Demons had achieved their primary objective and were eagerly reuniting.

“Lame… Even though I had a lot of fun, it still took several hours.”

Rebera grumbled. He was displeased that it had taken so long to conquer the Imperial Capital and slaughter all the humans. Normally, they would spare the women alone, but since the Royal Guard had annihilated all the monsters, they were forced to kill them. Their custom was that the females capable of reproduction would be taken back and managed by the males, and females without a manager were usually killed. “Because there are plenty of human females,” was the understanding of Goblins and Orcs. Although the Royal Guard had been annihilated by Rebera due to their lack of strength, they had saved the women from the tragedy of being forced to bear monstrous offspring until they broke. Albert overheard Rebera’s grumbling.

“Then work instead of having fun. If you keep whining selfishly, I’ll kill you.”

“S-sorry.”

Rebera apologized profusely to the displeased Albert. Unlike Rubens and Franklin, Albert was a dangerous individual who felt nothing even when killing lesser Demons. Offending Albert’s mood in Rubens’s absence was a matter of life and death for lesser Demons.

“Forgive him, Albert. He achieved the objective within acceptable limits.”

Franklin intervened. He was a gentle Demon who used polite language with everyone but was an Upper Demon, on par with Albert. Even Albert couldn’t dismiss him outright.

“Tch, Gastark, what’s the plan now?”

All eyes turned to Gastark, who was supposed to have obtained the destination.

“It’s Mt. Rahmibal. For us, it’s only a few dozen minutes away if we fly at full speed.”

“It’s surprisingly close, isn’t it?”

Pal muttered with mild surprise.

“Well, that’s by our standards, of course.”

Gastark laughed cheerfully. He still had his job to do.

“Alright, I’ll do the job Lord Rubens assigned me.”

“Yeah.”

The Demons knew what was about to happen, but they watched Gastark’s actions as if observing a street performer’s act. Gastark floated into the air with magic and began to chant.

“Wandering souls, become my servants! [Necromancy].”

Gastark’s words echoed, and as the magic spread, changes occurred in the surroundings. The dead knights, monsters, and citizens transformed into zombies. And they slowly began to stand up. Since it was used over a wide area, there was a time lag for the effect to manifest. What Rubens had ordered Gastark to do was to create Undead soldiers like this. If all the dead humans and monsters were turned into Undead, it would amount to hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Including the original Undead, it would be close to a million. Gastark was the one who could control and command such a large number of Undead as an army while maintaining his combat power as a Demon. Zofi didn’t know everything. If she had, she would have informed Marius that Gastark was a threat. The Demons split into two groups. One would attack various parts of Berganda, and the other would search for Auraniess. Albert and Rebera were the former, while Franklin, Pal, and Gastark were the latter. Gastark had initially intended to participate in the attack, but after being opposed by Franklin and Albert, he reluctantly gave up. If Auraniess were revived, most of their pressing concerns would be resolved at once. Gastark told himself it was just a matter of enduring until then.

“Hmph, it is indeed strange here…”

This was Franklin’s first remark upon arriving at Mt. Rahmibal. Franklin, who possessed the strongest sensory abilities, immediately noticed something amiss. While anomalies in the ecosystem were common to the seals of Demon Lords, the Demon Lord’s aura here was weak.

“For someone of Lady Auraniess’s stature, shouldn’t it be more intense?”

Pal also tilted his head. Gastark joined them, and the three began their search. Detecting the presence of the three, the monsters became frightened and fled, or pretended to be dead. This was the reaction of most monsters not under their control via skills. Dragons were probably an exception. The three didn’t give it a second thought, deeming it not worth considering, and continued their search.

“Huh?”

Then, Pal’s loud voice echoed. The other two rushed over hearing him.

“What is it, what’s wrong?”

Pal, sweating profusely, pointed and looked at Franklin as if clinging to him.

“Mr. Franklin… Could this possibly be…?”

“Yes, I believe it is.”

The unimaginable turn of events caused Franklin and Gastark to frown. The Demon’s instinct told them that the place before them was the seal location, yet there was no sign of Auraniess. The three understood the meaning intellectually but struggled to process it emotionally. …Auraniess had already been revived. Marius is still a little further away.