Chapter 223
Beyond the door was a vast room with an extremely high ceiling. However, its state of disrepair was hardly any better than outside. The paint had peeled from the inner walls, several stone pillars reaching the ceiling had snapped, and rubble was scattered across the floor. A faded red carpet, with fibers missing in places, was strewn with a chandelier that had fallen from the ceiling and been crushed to pieces, along with its fragments.
It was a scene that drove home the desolation of the ruined palace, but we had no time to indulge in such sentiment. Someone was sitting on one of the two thrones side by side at the far end.
The person sitting on the throne to our left was a woman wearing a pitch-black dress with as little ornamentation as possible. A veil hid her face from view. The dress looked elegant and well-tailored, yet it gave off an overwhelmingly gloomy air.
"Could that... be mourning clothes?"
"Mourning clothes. I see..."
Iris had probably only voiced her honest impression, but it was an extraordinarily fitting description. We did not know whose death she was mourning, but at least as far as her clothes were concerned, we could think of them that way.
"Oh... has someone come to visit?"
The woman sitting on the throne addressed us in a beautiful voice that nevertheless sent a chill down my spine. Could she communicate with us? If so, it would be ideal if we could negotiate somehow...
"No, I know. You followed me here, didn't you? Ordered by that terrifying Lord Richtesburg."
"Richtesburg... you say?"
We seemed to be mistaken for agents of a Richtesburg nobleman—that is, a duke or marquis. We needed to clear up that misunderstanding, but before that, the name Richtesburg had caught my attention. It was the name of the kingdom containing Fars and the surrounding cities: the Kingdom of Richtesburg.
The names of a country and its royal family were often different, but I had heard that the Richtesburg Dynasty ruled the Kingdom of Richtesburg. I could not remember his middle name, but was it George Richtesburg? No, perhaps Georg? I had only glimpsed it on the forums, so my memory was hazy.
That was merely the difference between the English and German pronunciations, so either one was fine. What mattered was that she called the King of Richtesburg a 'duke.' Dukes and marquises were both extremely high-ranking nobles, but neither was a king. And yet one was now ruling a kingdom... What on earth had happened? It was surely nothing good.
"Ah... you have it wrong, my lady. We have no connection to Richtesburg..."
"Oh, how terrifying... I'm scared! Protect me, Claude!"
Apparently ignoring my explanation completely, the woman trembled with fear and clung to the other throne. That was when we noticed it. A skull covered in scratches and cracks had somehow appeared on the throne we had thought was empty.
"Ogo...ze...no, maba...gii..."
The skull grated its teeth together as it muttered something, and what appeared to be death-miasma ash began trickling from its eye sockets. As soon as it fell to the floor, it began moving as though it possessed a will of its own, heading behind the throne before it could pile up.
That alone was enough to tell us that something extraordinary was happening, but what happened next far exceeded anything I could have imagined. The substance resembling death-miasma ash returned from behind the throne with something caught up in it. The problem was what that something was.
"Th-that's bone, right? But..."
"It's way too big..."
What had been swept up was an impossibly large bone. Thanks to my avatar, I was accustomed to seeing bones, and that was probably a femur. It was about two meters long by itself, wasn't it? That meant it belonged to someone enormous. Not as enormous as the Titans Lysandros and Karolos we had encountered before, but still tremendously large.
More gigantic bones came rolling in. There were all sorts of them: skulls large enough to swallow a small companion like Ruby whole, ribs shaped like greatbows, and pelvises as large as tables. If they were all assembled, I estimated the resulting figure would stand nearly ten meters tall.
"No, forget that! The thing being carried along with them is way worse!"
"It's a helmet, but you can see something inside through the damage."
"Ugh..."
A normal-sized helmet, with something still inside it, was carried in along with the enormous bones. Though heavily damaged, the helmet had the same design as the stone statues beside the door. It was probably a helmet belonging to the Septen Duchy Royal Guard. Presumably, it belonged to one of the Headless Royal Guards wandering around outside.
Why those things were being brought here was a complete mystery. But my sense of unease kept growing.
"Is that a weapon? It's huge, hey!"
"A sword and a halberd... Could it be dual-wielding two different weapons? How intriguing~"
The last things to be carried in were also oversized weapons. As Genzuro had said, they were a straight sword and a halberd. Both were taller than I was, but considering the size of the bones now gathered here, they might not be impossible to wield in one hand.
Perhaps it was the same unusual form of dual-wielding that Genzuro often used. While we were wondering about that, the ash seemed to have finished pouring out. It neither increased further nor brought in anything new.
"Ooh... OOOOOOOAAAH!!!"
The skull the woman had lifted at the beginning let out a muffled roar. The skull then sank into the ash and disappeared from view, while everything that had been brought in gathered together and became one.
What appeared was exactly what I had imagined: a gigantic moving Skeleton. It stood around ten meters tall, with a halberd in its right hand and a sword in its left. Ash constantly sifted down from its mouth and all its joints.
A mere giant Skeleton would not frighten either me or my companions, who were accustomed to my appearance. However, I personally found this more terrifying than any monster we had encountered before. The cause was its grotesque form: the inside of its skull and rib cage was packed tightly with helmeted severed heads.
A huge number of helmets peered from its half-open mouth, and every time it shifted, the helmets scraped against one another with an unnervingly loud, grating sound. The ash streaming from it looked almost like a thin cloak, giving it a certain majesty alongside the terror.
――――――――――
Name: Catherine Septen
Race: Undead Queen Lv. 52
Job: Queen Lv. 2
Skill: 【Intelligence Enhancement】
【Mental Enhancement】
【Staff】
【Dark Magic】
【Command】
【Status Ailment Immunity】
【Not Even Death Can Part the Two】
【Queen's Dignity】
【Undead Queen's Cursed Realm】
Name: Claude Jordan
Race: Cursed Skeleton Royal Guard Lord Lv. 100
Job: Royal Guard Commander Lv. 10
Skill: 【Super Vitality Enhancement】
【Super Strength Enhancement】
【Super Defense Enhancement】
【Super Dexterity Enhancement】
【Guardian Swordsmanship】
【Guardian Halberdsmanship】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【???】
【Light Attribute Vulnerability】
【???】
【Undying Loyalty】
【Not Even Death Can Part the Two】
【???】
――――――――――
"Huh?!"
"L-Level 100...?!!"
Catherine Septen, the woman in mourning, seemed to have little pure combat power. Any of us could defeat her now, and she was quite weak even among monsters in the Level 50 range. The two Skills 【Queen's Dignity】 and 【Undead Queen's Cursed Realm】, along with the shared 【Not Even Death Can Part the Two】, required caution. However, she herself did not seem particularly strong.
Claude Jordan, on the other hand, was bad news. Extremely bad news. Level 100? This was beyond merely being outclassed! The fact that so many sections of the 【Appraisal】 result were unreadable due to censorship was proof of the overwhelming difference in our abilities. There was no way we could win through normal means!
"This is... an impossible game, isn't it?"
"Don't give me that crap! This is exactly what I was hoping for!"
"Indeed. Crossing blades with a formidable foe is the highest bliss there is!"
While most of us, myself included, grew timid upon hearing that the enemy was Level 100, Jigoro and Genzuro charged in with delight. The stronger the enemy, the happier they seemed to become.
We could not simply leave the two of them to it and do nothing. To hell with the risks!
"Follow them! At this point, we have no choice but to fight! Eiji! Karu!"
"Bwooooooh! I'm going in!"
"GROOOOOOON!"
Jigoro leaped over the sword swings, which were impossibly fast for such a huge body, while Genzuro advanced, deflecting thrusts from the halberd that even I could barely follow.
While the two of them held Claude's attention, one person and one beast with high defense moved to the front. Eiji caught the halberd, while Karu clashed with the sword using his tail.
"BWAAGH?!"
"GRAAAOOOH?!"
Eiji was blown away like a cannonball despite holding his shield, while Karu crashed to the ground spinning like a drill and scattering fragments of scales from his blade-like tail. To send our heavyweights and power fighters flying so effortlessly... Was this the sheer violence of a level gap?!
Nenashi caught Eiji with vines, while Mikelo, who had been hovering, caught Karu. If the two of them had not reacted in time, Karu in particular might have suffered serious injuries right at the start of the battle.
"Are you all right?!"
"I'm fine! Thank you, Nenashi-san!"
"No thanks are necessary!"
"Grrrrrrrr...!"
"Your fighting spirit is burning brightly. As expected of Lord Izaam's tamed monsters."
Neither Eiji nor Karu seemed to have suffered any impairment to their ability to fight. Eiji quickly got back up and returned to the battle line, while Karu flew around above Claude's head, glaring at him with anger showing in his eyes and keeping him in check. He did not seem to have lost his composure.
Toji was directing the frontline group as usual, but things looked extremely difficult. Jigoro and the others were dealing damage, but it had little effect. Nenashi's restraints were almost useless as well; Claude broke the vines apart immediately after they stopped him for even a moment.
Eiji was having the hardest time. He was highly skilled and succeeded in deflecting attacks with his shield. However, even the slightest mistake in his angle made him lose his balance. Apparently, he could not hold the line alone, so Genzuro and the Kanna Ragia pair had to support him by batting the attacks away with their weapons.
Those of us in the rear were not merely standing around with our fingers in our mouths, either. We repeatedly attacked and provided support from a distance with magic, thrown items, bows and arrows, and song. We had managed to read 【Light Attribute Vulnerability】 through 【Appraisal】, but the death-miasma ash covering his entire body served as armor, preventing the weakness from taking full effect. To prepare for his own weakness like that—what an enviable bastard!
"The damage is nowhere near enough. Winning in a straight fight will be difficult after all. Ruby, it's your turn."
"Mine?"
Ruby asked in confusion at my words. She had temporarily withdrawn to the rear to receive potions and other items that were running low from Shiitake.
To break out of our current predicament, forced into an unfavorable battle against this overwhelmingly powerful foe, we needed a major turning point. This was one such move. I quietly explained the plan to Ruby.
"Got it. I'll try."
"I don't mind if you fail, but please don't die."
"It'll be tough if even one person is missing!"
With that, Ruby returned to the front line. Now we only needed to create an opening. It was difficult to judge what might be effective, but perhaps we could exploit the fact that he was a Royal Guard as much as possible.
"Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Stonewall."
"Huh?"
"Tch!"
I generated a Stonewall to separate Catherine and Claude. Catherine merely let out a startled cry, but Claude's entire presence changed noticeably. Ignoring Jigoro and the others before him, he swung his sword at the Stonewall.
The Stonewall had not even been strengthened through spell adjustments, yet it was cleaved in two with a single swing. However, that created a disastrously large opening.
"Don't you dare get cocky!"
"Even if you were protecting someone, turning your back was a mistake."
Jigoro and the others launched a furious assault, as though to vent all the frustration they had accumulated until now. His natural defense was high, so the damage was limited, but his health was steadily decreasing. He really did dislike having his ward targeted, didn't he? That suited us perfectly.
"I'm scared, Claude!"
"Could you at least try fighting for yourself?"
"Ah...!?"
The moment his attention turned back toward Jigoro and the others, the opening I had been waiting for appeared. This was what I had been waiting for. Ruby moved as planned, crept up from behind, and cut Catherine down.