Chapter 67
A scar running across his face and a physique hard as rock.
The aura he gave off was on an entirely different level from the other scavengers we had seen in the wastelands.
This man was Max, the commander of the Army of the Dead.
A man who called himself the successor to the fallen old empire and sought to build a city for the living in the wastelands.
A remnant of the fallen empire that had built a fortress using Lumina’s head.
Even I, who knew nothing about such things, could tell that this man was professionally trained.
But more than anything, what captured our attention was the thick mane around his neck.
A golden lion’s mane.
The lion symbol said to exist only among the descendants of the imperial family.
A lion beastkin.
Now I understood why the commander of the wastelands had called himself the successor to the empire.
I’d heard about it on the way here.
-Among the lion beastkin, those with golden manes were once members of the imperial family that ruled the empire. Though that is all in the past now.
I recalled Manager Millelo’s face as he laughed softly.
“What brings you to my home, you stinking undead bastards?”
At his provocation, Lumina cocked her head.
“You’re the commander here?”
Flames blazed fiercely inside her helmet.
“If you pick up someone else’s property, you should obediently return it to its owner. Why did you steal someone else’s head and build a city with it as you pleased?”
Unlike her usual self, her voice was filled with anger.
Anger toward those who had taken her head without permission.
“Hmph, I wondered what kind of woman you were. So you’re that woman who stupidly lost her own head. I merely reclaimed the resources left behind on this land by legitimate means.”
“The guy who ran away without even protecting his own country has quite a mouth on him.”
“How dare a bunch of dead corpses mock the living?”
Mana erupted from the enormous tower shield Max held.
“Wouldn’t the ones mocking the dead be those who used a dead person’s head to build a city?”
Manager Kim cut in with an additional remark.
“What?”
“Building a city exclusively for the living by using the head of someone dead. How ironic. Rather like me, someone who has turned his back on death and is living like this, wouldn’t you say? Hahaha!”
“You bastards……”
The veins on Max’s forehead bulged at Manager Kim’s words.
“Ah, did I say something unnecessary? I seem to have needlessly provoked your anger. My apologies.”
“Filthy corpse bastards. How dare you try to interfere with the resurrection of the empire? I’ll crush every one of those rotten bones with my shield!”
“You sure talk a lot.”
KABOOM-!
Lumina kicked off the floor.
Her leg shot forward like an arrow and slammed into Max’s body.
Max hurriedly raised his enormous shield and assumed a defensive stance.
And at that moment.
CLAAAANG-!!
The tremendous crash of steel colliding rang through the building, threatening to tear it apart.
“Ghhk!”
A suppressed groan burst from Max’s mouth.
The impact transmitted through the shield dragged both of Max’s legs across the floor as he was pushed backward.
“W-what kind of monstrous strength is this?!”
“You’re pretty weak for someone who claims to be the successor to the empire.”
Lumina sneered, blue flames flashing inside her helmet.
A black chain was in her hands; I had no idea when it had appeared.
Heavy weights hung from either end of the chain, and black wisps rose from their tips.
Clatter.
With the harsh clatter of the chain intertwining, she continued her attack.
Clang! Bang!
Crack!
Cracks began spreading across the surface of Max’s shield after it was struck by the chain flail.
‘Wow…….’
It was a breathtaking display.
Having entered the seventy-fourth floor with Sonya and watched her fight up close, I could tell that Lumina’s fighting style was different.
It wasn’t that Lumina was stronger than Sonya, exactly.
If Sonya was the type who drew on her instincts to tear her enemies apart,
Bang! KABOOM!
Lumina’s attacks were meticulously calculated from beginning to end.
She controlled even the chain’s irregular movements and attacked while anticipating her opponent’s next move.
Within her dazzling, dance-like movements was a thoroughness that allowed Max not even the slightest chance to counterattack.
“Wow, Lady Lumina really is incredible. Judging by the fact that she brought out that chain flail herself, she must be seriously angry.”
Manager Kim, who had been watching from the side, shook his jaw in amazement.
KABOOM!
The floor shattered.
Boom!
Fragments crushed by the flail flew in every direction.
“Guhk!”
Max gradually retreated, and.
Whooosh!
Lumina showed no sign of stopping her attack.
The chain’s path, having left her hand, bent grotesquely like a living snake and burrowed into Max’s blind spot.
“Graaagh!”
Max roared with bloodshot eyes and squeezed out his mana.
“Lend me your power!”
The shield he had been using only to defend himself changed shape.
Mana swirled over the shield’s surface, which had been splitting apart with cracks.
At that moment, the box reverently enshrined in the room began to glow blue.
The box we had come for—the one believed to contain Lumina’s head—shone, and its light seeped into his body and shield.
As though making one last desperate struggle, Max swung his shield to attack, using the power that had surged from the box.
For an instant, the force exuded by Max, blessed by the box, was razor-sharp.
He’d called himself an imperial knight.
But.
“Not so fast.”
Lumina’s chain flail wrapped tightly around the edge of the shield aimed at her.
“……?!”
Max’s eyes widened in confusion.
The moment she confirmed that the chain had wrapped around it, she tensed her arm and yanked it violently backward.
CRREEEAK!!!
Max’s enormous shield was ripped clean off.
The shield, which looked to weigh well over several hundred kilograms, shattered and crashed to the floor.
Even with the box’s blessing, it had been unable to withstand Lumina’s strength.
“H-how……?”
“You’re just a corpse without that shield.”
Lumina did not miss the opening and immediately closed the distance.
Her kick slammed into the exposed abdomen of Max, who had lost his means of defense and stood completely vulnerable, with the speed of lightning.
“Ghk……!”
Bam!
Max’s massive body flew inelegantly through the air and slammed into the floor.
The defeat of the commander of the army that had dreamed of reviving the empire.
“Grrrgh…….”
When he groaned and looked up at Lumina,
-Commander!!
-This way!! There are enemies in the commander’s room!!
Dozens of hurried footsteps came rushing in from beyond the door.
Some of the Army of the Dead’s forces, which had been focused on the front entrance where Manager Millelo was causing havoc, had realized our true objective and hurried over to join the fight.
The door opened, and the newcomers’ eyes turned toward their commander and Lumina, who had defeated him.
“Intruders!”
“You corpse bastards! How dare you attack our commander!”
“Shoot, shoot them!! Shoot those corpse bastards dead!!”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!!
Brrr-rat-a-tat-tat-!
At the adjutant’s command, the scavengers’ gun barrels spat fire.
Although the building we had entered was the largest in the fortress, it was still an enclosed interior with few places to evade.
Mana bullets and armor-piercing rounds fired by the scavengers at the entrance poured down like rain.
“Mincheol, get out of the way!”
Lumina shouted toward me the moment she saw them, and.
“Goodness! Hide behind me!”
Manager Kim blocked my path.
When he spread open the special bulletproof briefcase in front of him,
Bang! Clang! Ka-clang!
The bullets struck the briefcase and Manager Kim’s bones, sending sparks flying noisily.
“Gaaah! You bastards, don’t shoot my joints! My whole body’s been aching lately!”
Manager Kim groaned, but he did not allow a single bullet to pass behind him.
As Max, whose ribs had been crushed, coughed and spat blood, his subordinates hurriedly dragged him behind the defensive line.
The opaque box containing Lumina’s head was only ten paces away.
But dozens of desperate scavengers stood in the way to the box.
“You’re being seriously annoying.”
Manager Kim, his jaw clattering, glanced at me.
“Mr. Mincheol, are you all right? Huh?”
His gaze fell on my arm.
“Mr. Mincheol, your a-arm……”
“My arm?”
When I looked where he was pointing, I saw a thin red line, as though a bullet he had failed to block had grazed me.
It was a slight wound, despite the protective equipment I had worn in preparation for a situation like this.
“Fortunately, the wound isn’t deep. At least we can leave it as it is for now……”
Manager Kim stopped mid-sentence and flinched.
His gaze was directed beyond my arm—or more precisely, behind my back.
Clack clack clack clack clack clack.
The sound of Manager Kim’s jawbones knocking together quivered faintly.
I, too, slowly turned my head at the chill I felt behind me.
“Mincheol is……”
Lumina’s cold voice flowed from her helmet.
It was a frigid tone I had never heard before.
“Hurt?”
The blue flames flickering inside her helmet stopped.
They stopped completely.
“Ms. Lumina, it’s only a small wound. The bullet just grazed me……”
“The bullet grazed you?”
I involuntarily closed my mouth beneath the pressure I felt.
And then.
Whoooosh!
The flames rising from her neck began boiling over, turning blood-red.
“You fucking bastards……”
And then her body vanished.
She disappeared at a speed my eyes could not follow.
And then.
KABOOOOM-!
“Shoot! Shoot them—gah?!”
The upper body of the scavenger firing at the very front disappeared.
The chain flail she swung broke through the barrage and began literally crushing the enemy formation.
Splat! Crack!
“Gaaaaaaaaah!”
“A m-monster!! Run!!”
Screams and shrieks tore through the office.
Every time the chain swung and the flail cut through the air, fresh red blood sprayed in every direction.
It was a one-sided massacre.
“Haa, haa……”
Max’s face, as he caught his breath behind his subordinates, was filled with horror.
Dozens of armed soldiers were being reduced to chunks of meat without lasting even a minute.
“M-monster……”
All his subordinates had to do was buy him a little time.
If they could hold out for three minutes—no, even one minute—he intended to place his hand on that box and use its power.
The mysterious power of the box that had built this fortress.
If he used that power, he should have been able to defeat that headless monster.
Lumina, the delivery driver.
Though her movements were unpredictable and she possessed strength on the level of the Seven Heroes,
he had judged that even she could not defeat him while he wielded the power of an artifact capable of building a city.
That was why he had tried to recover and prepare a counterattack somehow.
‘If I hadn’t been swept up in the commotion and left the room.’
If he had stayed, he would have borrowed the artifact’s power and dealt with these intruders from the start.
If that had happened, the outcome might have been different.
At least, that was what he had thought until he saw her, her neck reddened by rage.
Even then, all he could see was an afterimage.
He could not win.
To think he was facing a monster like this.
It was impossible.
‘There was no way someone like me, nothing more than a low-ranking knight of the imperial order, could defeat that monster.’
Max eventually fell to his knees.
He just had to survive.
Though he had lost many subordinates, if he survived, he could raise the army again.
There were plenty of fools who would follow him as long as he continued to champion the slogan of building an empire of the living.
He was only a low-ranking imperial knight, but he was still a descendant of the imperial bloodline.
Even with this level of skill, he could become the ruler of a region in these wastelands.
He would aim for another opportunity.
As long as he stayed alive, there would be a chance……
“S-surrender……! I surrender! We lost! Take your head back, too! Please, just spare my life……!”
Max staggered and raised one hand as he shouted desperately.
A declaration of surrender.
A rule that had continued ever since peaceful times began and a forum for harmony between the two races opened—something that had never existed during the war between the demon king’s army and humanity.
Negotiating with the undead was humiliating, but if it meant he could live……
But.
“My person has shed blood.”
Lumina’s bright red flames looked down at Max.
“Do you really think surrender will work now?”
Slash-!
The chain traced a clean arc.
The blood of the imperial family stained the chain.
The life of the man who called himself the successor to the empire was snuffed out pointlessly.
Lumina had never had the slightest intention of accepting his surrender in the first place.
Thud.
When even the last remaining commander collapsed face-first onto the floor, a heavy silence descended.
Her red flames flickered roughly as she stood in the center of the blood-soaked chaos.
Swish.
The chain vanished from her hand, and.
The flames that had been red gradually returned to their original color.
She ran toward me across the blood-soaked floor.
“Mincheol!!”
Lumina’s hands trembled as she examined the wound on my arm.
“Are you all right? Does it hurt a lot?! Damn it, I should have blocked them all……. You’re bleeding, you’re bleeding!”
It was hard to believe she was the same person who had just torn the Army of the Dead apart.
Her voice was filled with urgency.
“I’m fine. You’re not hurt anywhere, are you, Ms. Lumina? You’re covered in blood.”
“A-are you really worrying about me right now? I knew this would happen. I shouldn’t have brought an ordinary person along……. Ugh, I should have blocked it. I got worked up and charged at that commander. I’m sorry, Mincheol……”
She snatched the medicine from Manager Kim, who had taken out a first-aid kit beside her, and applied it to my wound.
“Manager Kim, we need to talk after this is all over.”
“……S-sorry, ma’am.”
Manager Kim, now thoroughly chastened, couldn’t say anything else.
The mouth that usually never stopped joking fell silent.
“Now that we’ve applied the medicine, let’s check it.”
I pointed toward the box with light flickering inside it.
“Phew, let’s do that.”
Her voice, calmer now, was filled with anticipation.
She rose immediately, as though she were about to grab the box.
“You mustn’t go! It absolutely has to be Mr. Mincheol who touches that box!”
Manager Kim urgently called out to stop her.
At those words, Lumina looked at Manager Kim.
“…Manager Kim.”
“Y-yes, Lady Lumina!”
He snapped to attention.
“Now explain to me. Why was Mincheol needed for this expedition? Why does it have to be Mincheol who touches that box?”
“…Ahem, th-that box…… You can see it, right? That box is used to control the enormous mass of mana contained within it. Endless Corporation has determined that the mass of mana inside is Lady Lumina’s head, and that the box is meant to seal it.”
“Seal it?”
“Yes. We don’t know who sealed it or why. But one thing is certain: opening the seal requires the touch of someone with extremely low mana. And we analyzed that as the hand of a human.”
“……”
Lumina looked at me.
Her face was full of worry.
She looked as though she was afraid I might touch that glowing box and get hurt.
It was the look one gave a child taken to the water’s edge.
You’re wondering how I could tell when she had no face?
You can get a rough idea of her expression just by looking at the flames burning inside her helmet.
“Human……. But not all humans are weak, are they? Heroes are powerful humans, after all, and I believe there are even a few hunters among the very small number of humans.”
“That’s true. But no race has a lower mana limit than humans. Heroes are exceptions.”
“……”
I took her worried hand.
“It’s all right. Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“Could it hurt more than being grazed by a bullet?”
“B-but……”
She did not know what to do.
“I’ll open it and check whether the head inside is yours, Ms. Lumina. So please wait here.”
“…Okay.”
Knowing she couldn’t stop me now that we’d come this far, Lumina eventually nodded.
“Is there anything I need to prepare?”
“It would probably be best to remove the equipment you’re wearing. They said the stronger the mana of the person touching the box, the stronger the backlash.”
“…So the less mana someone has, the weaker the backlash when they touch the box.”
“That’s right. Max, the commander here, used the energy backlash produced when he touched the box to build this city. He’s a very cunning man, wouldn’t you say?”
The weaker the mana, the smaller the reaction.
If that was why they had brought me here,
I had to at least make all this trouble worthwhile.
“It’ll be safe, right?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you so nothing happens.”
Lumina spoke in a determined voice.
Anyone would have thought she was sending me to my death.
You don’t have to be that tense.
“That’s enough for me. It’s more than enough.”
I reassured Lumina, then drew a deep breath.
I approached the box, which was still emitting a soft blue glow.
Inhale, exhale.
Why am I getting nervous?
It’s just a box.
Sweat poured from my palms.
Don’t be nervous.
Calm down.
They said it was safe.
Of course, Manager Kim, who had vouched for my safety, had failed to block one bullet, letting it graze me.
“Phew.”
I steadied my breathing, wiped my damp hand, and carefully touched the box.
Tap.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Maybe something would explode.
Or a mana reaction would occur.
Or blue light would envelop my body.
……
None of that happened.
It was quiet.
I cautiously opened my eyes and.
I found a small groove on top of the box.
I inserted my finger into the groove, which seemed designed for it, and pulled.
Click!
The lock released, and the box opened.
And inside it.
Fwoooosh!
There was a blinding blue sphere, so bright that I could not see what was inside.
“This is……. A head?”
As though entranced, I thrust my hand into the sphere inside the box.
It was warm.
And.
Soft.
Before long, the light vanished, and inside it was.
The peacefully sleeping face of a beautiful woman, her brown hair cascading around her.