Within a short period, the Labyrinth City had changed. And this affected the people within it.
One of them was Peyrouse, who resolutely and without warning let out a sigh of exhaustion, as if had just come out from a sludge.
Exploring the Labyrinth would either require the challenger to stay overnight or engage in battle all day and all night. Not that Peyrouse was trying to be tough, but he was confident he could get around for a day if he had some ingenuity.
Now, this thought was crumbling. Although Peyrouse had only been in battle for about an hour, his legs were as heavy as if they were trapped in a swamp, and his arms were tried as if no more blood flowing.
In his hand was the sticky, blood-stained sword that shook for its existence after killing many. The ghouls that Peyrouse had just killed were now littering the paved streets, already filled with corpses.
Ghouls were monsters that Peyrouse had combat experience with, having encountered them in the Labyrinth. But, just changing their face into familiar ones, was enough to make his body freeze with tension and hinder his thoughts.
From the adventurers whom Peyrouse greeted when they passed each other, even the old man who tried hard to scold him in a hoarse voice turned into an undead and attacked him.
Reality indeed was tough. There was no time for Peyrouse to mourn. He had to swing his sword to survive.
Even now, another one was approaching Peyrouse. He swung his sword from below, cutting the protruding arm from the elbow joint.
The thing that was the innkeeper until not long ago continued to roar.
Peyrouse lowered his head and the shortened arm passed him without touching him. As the attack was useless, the ghoul tried to use its back.
Peyrouse spun around on one leg and swung his sword horizontally. His blade penetrated the ghoul’s neck, severing the spinal cord and causing the ghoul to stumble and fall.
Without any delay, the next undead joined in. This time the undead was troublesome, for it was someone who had been an adventurer while alive.
The undead tried to attack with pressure. But Peyrouse intercepted the attack with his sword, and at about the same time, two spears coming from the left and right sides impaled the undead. They were the spears of his party members, Leake and Matthio.
“I’m holding it!!”
“Kill it now!”
The undead, which had wedges called spearheads driven into its armpits and neck, shook violently and hit the handle with a sword to free itself from the iron restraint.
Before Peyrouse could cut in, Donna had swung her Warhammer down. While drawing an arc, the hammer head pressed the undead’s head.
Donna, who had just killed the undead, didn’t take her eyes off the immobile corpse.
Peyrouse shook Donna’s shoulders, as he looked at her.
“Well done, Donna. Thank you.”
Peyrouse’s comrades, younger than he, were unprepared for the sudden turmoil, and their spirits were shaken. So, what he did was the greatest consideration that the inexperienced him made on the battlefield of which he himself was unsure of what to do.
“Now, we’ve cleaned up this area as well.”
After being summoned to the facility attached to the Labyrinth, Peyrouse’s Party was ordered to secure the city gate together with the garrison and the adventurers. At first, the total number of undead was far below the reported number, and the armed forces that had taken the city gate were nowhere to be seen. There was a fear of ambushes and traps, but in the end, it ended in vain.
Shortly after cleaning the area, a whistle sounded to announce the meeting.
Peyrouse returned to the meeting point while looking at the ruined shops and houses that had collapsed from the inside. Looking around, the size of the corps was one size smaller. His party returned unharmed, but not everyone was safe.
Biting his cheek and shifting his mind, Peyrouse took his companions to meet the commander, the 100-man commander. He must report information about the area his party was responsible. Fortunately, he soon found the commander.
Accompanied by several soldiers, the commander was staring at the ground. Looking at the corpse under their feet, Peyrouse leaked a throaty voice.
“……Fausto-san.”
A former instructor of the adventurer’s guild. A bounty had been placed on him after it became known that he was a manhunt. But now his body lay helplessly on the ground. His throat had been slit, and his torso was covered with slashes. Parts of his limbs were burned and charred. It is possible that he was also involved in this incident. He was a great sinner who had betrayed the Labyrinth City, a person to be detested.
This might be true, but Peyrouse couldn’t bring himself to hate Fausto completely. He remembered how he had been thrown over by the training he had received from Fausto during his beginner days. Though, the basics of swordsmanship and movement that he acquired were largely derived from Fausto.
Feeling unbearable, Peyrouse simply stood still. Meanwhile, the 100-man commander began to despise the dead.
“He was among the raiders. The remnants of the musty Family of Gundor. And these kinds of ghosts, left behind in time, are ruining the city!”
The 100-man commander spat and kicked the corpse. No one stooped it, but no one followed either.
Peyrouse could do nothing but watch.
“After the attack is suppressed, this body will be exposed. Don’t destroy its face, it’s for an example!! Soon, this madness will come to an end soon. Reinforcements from the border have arrived. We will join the suppression of the former royal castle. And we shall eliminate the enemy!! LET’S GOOO!!!”
The 100-man commander fired up the soldiers and adventurers to boost morale as he gave the next orders.
While Peyrouse listened, he felt something pulling his hair from behind. When he looked behind, he saw that the eyes of the corpse were giving him a look. He even felt that the burned fingers of the corpse had moved slightly.
“O-oi, didn’t it just move?”
Peyrouse, who was shaken and at a loss for words, couldn’t convey his intentions correctly. Leake asked for an explanation of the content.
“Eh? What?”
“The corpse, Fausto…”
Peyrouse rubbed his eyelids, suspecting that he had made a mistake due to fatigue. When he opened his eyes again, the dead man was standing up.
Even Leake and Donna on either side of him forgot to breathe in shock.
“BEHIIINDDD!!!”
The 100-man commander swung his sword simultaneously with Peyrouse’s ghastly scream.
It was a really sharp move, but the charred arm reached out sharply and grabbed the commander’s neck, crushing it like candy.
The supposedly dead man… roared.
“It, tiz, notz, over, YEEETT!!!”
His whole body was burned and partially charred, and the severed neck had lost its grip and was bent. If he was a human, there was no way he would have been still alive.
As the other soldiers who were in the commotion rushed to Fausto, Fausto’s skin cracked as if he was shedding, and a dark substance emerged from inside.
One of the soldiers guessed what it was.
“I-it’s a “Ghost Knight”!!”
Undead-ized after death. Among the undead superior species, the Ghost Knight was said to be a particularly troublesome existence. A monster that was said to be strongly retained the skills when still alive.
The spear integrated into the Ghost Knight’s arm swung casually. The soldier’s upper body, approaching with a sword, was obliterated.
“NOOOO, ti, me, fo, break. Train, in, timz. Show, mewhat, yugotz. Ad, ben, TURRRREEeeEEERR!!!”
Raising a voice that was already difficult to comprehend, the Ghost Knight roared.
A soldier saw an opening and thrust a spear from behind, and one of the adventurers thrust a sword from the side. The Ghost Knight, which was as if it had an extra glossy armor, moved its arm.
For a moment, a black line was visible. Its true identity was a spear.
The soldier was hurled into the sky like nothing, and the adventurer’s chest was pierced.
In the face of such a torrent of overwhelming power, Peyrouse’s face tensed.
Soldiers and adventurers who make a living doing rough things were being trampled like ants. The intertwined spear was broken one-sidedly, and the arrow was knocked down in the air.
Peyrouse, who was nearby, couldn’t be uninvolved, of course.
Again, a soldier was crucified on the ground in front of him with a downward swing of the spear. Peyrouse was speechless, but he immediately lowered his hips and held his sword firmly above his head. In a short time, a dull pain ran through his entire body. The tip of the spear, which was supposed to hit his head, grazed him above the head. His hands went numb from the impact, and his sword flew uncontrollably to the back.
“I won’t let you!”
“Peyrouse, hurry up—!”
His party members were approaching with weapons to protect him, but the Ghost Knight didn’t retreat.
Peyrouse called out to his companions.
“No. Get back!!”
A black line approached. The Ghost Knight’s Black Spear was swung hard sideways, allowing no parry.
Peyrouse folded his arms and stood proudly, hoping that at least he would be a shield for his companions, but the expected shock didn’t come. Instead, what he received was the roaring sound of iron clad in mana clashing with each other. The axe parried the spear that didn’t know when to stop.
“Kah, it hurts, damn it!! What the hell is this monster?!!”
A thick, drunken voice sounded nearby.
The dwarves, who were the main force of the groups dispatched to the Labyrinth by the Forest Alliance, one of the three major countries, saved Peyrouse and his party.
“That spear and smell… it’s Fausto!!”
The only beastman in the dwarves’ party told the dwarves the true identity of the monster.
“Hmph, I can tell just by looking at the movement!!”
“I don’t know what kind of wicked will you had, but was it enough to make you fall down to the level of a monster?”
The Ghost Knight took a familiar stance. When Faust was still an instructor, he once showed a serious stance toward the extortionist Leake. His appearance might have changed, but Peyrouse’s judgment couldn’t be a mistake.
“It, doesn’t look like you’ve become an idiot, who can only swing a stick at random.”
“Haha, a worthy opponent finally.”
Some dwarves rolled their thick shoulders like rocks, while others clapped their palms and fists.
“Get ready. It’s a ghost knight hunt!”
Shouted the dwarf who thrust up an axe wrapped in mana and shook his beard.
The Ghost Knight responded by swinging its spear.
Announcing a deadly battle, the second act of the opening began.
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