Magic is a discipline where convergent evolution applies. Even when the foundational logic of different schools differs, they often produce similar results.
Take Meteor for example. The Destruction School insists it's a fire spell, the Earth School claims it's a rock spell, and the Celestial School argues it's a summoning spell.
Surprisingly, they're all correct. Each has implemented the common result of a meteor impact in their own way. (The academic community remains divided on this.)
The same applies to commanding undead minions. The Life School grants false life to corpses, Necromancy manipulates the power of death itself, and Blood Magic commands vampire servants using blood as a foundation.
So, zombies running amok doesn't necessarily mean a necromancer's large-scale attack has begun. Since Aviditas's death, necromancy has essentially been "Kalioned." This is rather the opposite—the strongest evidence that vampires are operating in secret.
"So many people have died already? In just a few days?!"
"If someone's determined, it's not impossible!"
Lucia tore off a lunging zombie's head and shouted:
"When Her Majesty the Queen returns, this will all end, so they're just causing chaos out of desperation!"
Their target—or targets—would clearly be Enrique. What's happening in this city is a planned operation that precisely targets Enrique's weakness.
They have a time limit. Once Elizabeta returns with her legion, this chaos will end completely. The fact that they targeted Pritzenkaya at its most vulnerable moment means they can't face Krasilov at full strength.
That makes sense. No matter how numerous, zombies can't face armed forces. Everyone becomes equal before bullets, and claws and teeth can't penetrate armor.
So, once the rear is secured and variables eliminated, Enrique can take action directly. Even when she was a mere underling, Enrique was an assassin who personally killed a high vampire, so once the threat disappears, she'll begin to rampage freely.
This is a race against time. From their perspective, victory means "eliminating Enrique before Elizabeta returns," while from our side, victory means "stopping them before Pritzenkaya is completely destroyed."
And in a time battle, there's no better pawn than the undead for delaying tactics. What other troop type requires no supplies, suffers no morale loss, and experiences no desertion?
-Crack!
Oskar casually knocked off the head of an approaching zombie and clicked his tongue.
"At this rate, there won't be a single living person in this city within a week. I'm more surprised no one noticed earlier."
"With daylight gone, people are terrified. When citizens who go out searching for missing people also disappear, who would dare leave their homes?"
Magic lamps cannot illuminate the entire city. With insufficient patrol forces, few can distinguish whether the silhouettes moving through the darkened city outskirts are zombies or thieves.
Your neighbor's gone quiet? In such circumstances, no Krasilov citizen would check on their neighbor's welfare.
The city was collapsing quietly but not slowly. Honestly, it's hard to believe a single vampire could cause this, but Krasilov's national foundation isn't normal right now.
If you had to endure a 20-year total war just 4 years ago, three royal successions and civil wars among heirs, a coup within a year, two expeditions, and more than three raids, even 21st century America would have seen a city destroyed.
Oskar sighed and charged through the alley filled with zombies. The group followed, maintaining formation as they advanced.
At this point, Ivan had entered the Pritzenkaya region. It had taken him barely six and a half days of continuous travel on foot.
A transcendent's strength allows even a female body to run while carrying an adult man. Based on this obvious fact, Ivan and Isabelle had taken turns sleeping while carrying each other.
"This wasn't... the honeymoon... I had in mind...?"
Isabelle looked up at the sky with labored breath. A pitch-black sky stretched above, as dark as her heart. No moon, no stars.
Was this what Father saw in the demon realm?
Yes, at this point, sky splitting would...
"It's a demon realm."
"Mind reading?!"
"What are you talking about?"
Ivan was also looking up at the sky. He took out his pocket watch, examined it, and put it back.
"This entire region has become a demon realm. An operation of this scale either... required very long preparation, involved many demon spellcasters, or..."
Or the Seven Dragon Generals were involved.
Ivan gazed at Pritzenkaya visible in the distance. The spires and outer walls rising beyond the muddy road were shrouded in thick darkness.
Below, torches could be seen moving about. But their numbers weren't sufficient. This meant a troop shortage had occurred.
Since Elizabeta would have left minimal forces for capital defense, the fact that the troop shortage was visible to the naked eye meant the situation inside Pritzenkaya was serious.
'It hasn't completely fallen yet.'
The Krasilov royal insignia still fluttered atop the spire. The presence of troops moving along the outer wall battlements meant the city's functions hadn't completely ceased.
Ivan clicked his tongue and moved forward.
While they encountered relatively fresh corpses at the edge of the street, the condition of the bodies deteriorated rapidly as they approached the slum-like unclaimed territory.
The only corpses likely to come from this area were those abandoned on the streets or victims of robbery buried in secret. It was remarkable they maintained any form at all after being gnawed by rats.
And when they advanced beyond that point, entering a section where even magic lamps were scarce and darkness prevailed...
The group swallowed dryly as they looked up at a massive abandoned building.
An austere government office with crossed daggers emblazoned on it, without a single window. The absence of windows was because what happened inside shouldn't be seen by others, and to prevent those inside from seeing out.
This place was called the Counterintelligence Headquarters. Once the most notorious administrative department in Pritzenkaya, no, in all of Krasilov.
During the political struggle with Alexandr, how many people were dragged into this building never to see daylight again?
Despite its sinister reputation, the counterintelligence people the group had met were mostly friendly neighborhood uncles, but...
"Lots of skeletons."
"Means there are many old corpses."
Beyond the iron-barred entrance, snow-white skeletons were clattering about. Their numbers were too many to count.
Rivaling a cemetery in quantity. Most were missing some limbs. The skeleton soldiers with glowing eye sockets were searching throughout the building as if seeking revenge for their mortal grudges.
The group swallowed dryly as they opened the iron bars. Not out of fear of skeletons, but sickened by the realization that so many people had died in this building to create this many skeleton soldiers.
As the bars opened, the skeleton soldiers simultaneously turned their heads toward them as if they had ears.
"W-what are you looking at? Think that'll scare me?"
"With that voice, you really do sound scared, Asidis."
As if responding to Asidis's words, the skeletons approached. Just as the group finished preparing for battle, the skeletons stopped just outside sword range.
"...?"
Generally, undead lack intelligence. Spells that implement reason are extremely advanced techniques, not used for mass-producing such low-level troops.
So these creatures should only retain two instincts: the will they harbored deeply enough to remain as grudges after death, or the caster's will.
Most undead in Pritzenkaya now follow the latter case. They simply wander aimlessly, attacking the living from the darkness.
So, the skeletons that stopped attacking before them...
'They've switched from autonomous mode to manual control.'
Yu-jin clicked his tongue and lowered his helmet visor. Sure enough, the lead skeleton soldier soon spoke.
[I thought all my minions were dying off, and indeed—.]
It was a sharp, delicate male voice that didn't match the skeleton's stupid face. While the group flinched, the skeleton's voice continued.
[The traitor's bloodline. How dare she create a bloodline—that woman oversteps her bounds.]
"Who are you?"
When Oskar pointed his sword, the skeleton rattled its teeth as if laughing.
[Does a farmer introduce himself to grain? Does a fisherman show courtesy to meat? Your question is ridiculous. Rather than seeking my name, you should identify yourselves and prove your worth. Whether you'll stand at the banquet table, or whether you're worthy of being invited to my feast.]
The skeleton answered Oskar with exaggerated theatrical speech. In response, Oskar silently stabbed his sword between the creature's eyes, shattering its skull.
"Gil Bert de Etakrih's eldest son. Oskar of Tilles. Vampire. If you're not afraid, show yourself, and if you've become afraid now, get out of this city."
At Oskar's words, the skeletons' movements ceased. Skulls with glowing blue flames stared at the group and spoke simultaneously.
[The traitor's bloodline and the son of the mountain. Precious guests indeed... Good. Your blood is valuable enough. I'll accept your arrogance, so wait. I'm quite curious whether Enrique, that witch, will stand by while I toy with you.]
When the conversation ended, the skeletons all rushed toward the group at once. The group shattered the skeletons' heads as they attempted to enter the Counterintelligence Headquarters main building.
The sewers were filled with rotting zombies and swarms of rats. The fearless rats leaped up, trying to bite Ivan's feet or legs.
Ivan walked at his normal pace even in the deep darkness of the sewers without a single light source. He didn't even need to attempt echolocation. The enemies in these sewers lacked even minimal stealth.
Sound amplifies in enclosed spaces. If one can recognize the source of noise and its angle of reflection, one can infer the surrounding environment almost identically to echolocation.
Crushing approaching zombies' heads with his axe and stomping leaping rats to bursting, his stride remained constant.
The underground sewer structure of Pritzenkaya remained in his mind without even a 1m error. He determined distance by his stride length, perceived enemies' numbers and positions through the noise they made, and navigated accordingly.
-Crack!!
After crushing the last zombie in this section, Ivan lightly shook his axe to clean off the rotten blood. He took the hand of Isabelle, who was following behind with her nose covered, and pulled her along.
"Eek?!"
"Walk that way and you'll fall into the sewer."
Isabelle still couldn't perceive colors normally due to Lamerix's curse. In this situation, with vision almost completely blocked, she seemed to have lost her sense of direction.
Ivan clicked his tongue briefly. He had to lead her with one hand while moving.
"Didn't I tell you to wait at home?"
"How could I? Between us, that's so cold!"
"Between us."
"Um... like people who took down the Seven Dragon Generals together...? Or, um, lips? Headbutt? That kind of relationship?"
"Isabelle."
Ivan sighed and let go of her. He could feel her panic even without seeing it.
"I don't have time for small talk, so I'll be brief. I cannot accept your affection."
"...What?"
"Consider your age. I'm the same age as your father."
Though he didn't know Maximillian's exact age, Ivan had lived about fifty years combining his Earth time and current time. Even excluding his time as Kim Seon-woo, he was past his mid-thirties.
The age difference with Isabelle was 14 years. With such a gap, he'd be no better than a thief. Of course, position-wise there was no problem since he had trained under the Hero Party's thief.
But this was an ethical matter. Unlike the pre-modern fantasy world, he came from a civilized nation where strict ethics and morals were part of the regular education curriculum. The spread of advanced culture and ethical awareness was a transmigrator's duty.
...He simply couldn't bring himself to have a romantic relationship with his friend's daughter. After all, weren't these kids like nieces and nephews to him...?
Of course, he couldn't say he felt nothing. No normal person would feel bad hearing a confession from a beautiful woman who actively pursued them.
But Ivan wasn't irrational enough to ignore ethical issues. Niece-figure, friend's daughter, and decisively, he was a (prospective) married man, (prospective) father, and to add one more point, (someday perhaps) someone who would return to Earth.
Considering the last issue, he shouldn't have done anything risky that might result in children, but that was beyond his control. When the king directly ordered and pursued him, he had no choice as a loyal subject of Krasilov.
And to add a small selfish desire, honestly...
The prospect of belonging to the late king's family tree was an extremely great temptation.
Anyway, to conclude. There were countless reasons to reject Isabelle's affection but almost none to accept it.
"...Do you dislike me...?"
"That's not the issue."
"If that's not it, there's no reason! I'm young, pretty, a hero, and I like you. What's the problem?"
"Isabelle."
"D-don't say you didn't know! You knew it wasn't just me!"
Yes, he had to admit.
The fact that several female members of the Hero Party had subtly shown affection was impossible not to notice, no matter how oblivious one might be. He simply pretended not to know and ignored it.
The most appropriate relationship would be like uncle and niece. In that respect, Asidis's attitude toward him was most ideal. She seemed to genuinely see him as an uncle. (She didn't.)
As for Elfihera, he partly considered her like an adopted daughter due to Beolgrin's request, and Lucia's feelings seemed closer to admiration than affection.
When he moved forward without answering, Isabelle shouted loudly.
"Ah— I don't know!! I really, really don't understand anymore! Aah—!"
Somehow Isabelle's hand reached for his that he had let go. She firmly interlocked their fingers and squeezed tightly.
"I can't see anything right now, so please guide me like this!"
"Hmm."
"And I know I'll do as you taught me!"
"Hmm...?"
He didn't remember teaching anything particularly significant.
Isabelle's voice continued.
"A hero is someone who doesn't give up even in despair! If one of us has to give up between you and me, I won't be the first to surrender!"
Isabelle snorted and strode forward confidently.
Ahead of him, with fingers still interlocked.
At this, Ivan found himself smiling involuntarily. She can see ahead, he thought.
[How long will you hide, Enrique.]
An eerie voice echoed in Enrique's ears. Someone was slowly whispering to the few rats still connected to her consciousness.
[A patricide creating children. How amusing. Does playing family with a mongrel not even half-complete make you feel better? Then watch. I'll show you your child dying while calling your name. Let's see how long you can wait.]
"Shut up."
Enrique scoffed in the dark room.
Calling themselves the Hero Party, yet ending up like this. How ungraceful, she thought.
She strapped two daggers to her waist and stood up. Yes, let's go.
Logically, her intervention now would be a critical mistake. This situation was clearly arranged to capture her, which means the opponent is confident they can face and defeat her.
If they know the reputation of Enrique the Shadow Sword, their prepared means would not be trivial.
That's why she had hidden. She even ordered her disciple to flee. Even knowing that disciple had stubbornly returned to fight, she couldn't bring herself to stop them.
So now she would go out. Go out to fight, and if capture seemed imminent, take her own life. After that, well...
They would avenge her.
Enrique sighed deeply as she gathered her weapons. What should she say when she meets Beolgrin and Gil Bert? She had promised to take care of their sons and daughters.
-Thud.
A noise came from outside her hideout. Her sharp vampire hearing caught the sound. The door, soundproofed with magical seals, shook roughly.
Had they found this place?
Enrique drew her knife with tension. Soon, thud, thud, thud. The door shook with rhythmic beats like knocking, but with violence far from such courtesy.
Then, crack. The sealing spell shattered. Immediately after, crack, the stone-reinforced door developed a crack.
Again, crack.
A blade appeared through the door gap, then withdrew.
"Huh...?"
Through that gap, ice-blue eyes were looking at her.
Familiar, cold, yet showing relief.
Visible even through the small gap, thin cheeks and...
Firmly closed lips, delicately arched eyebrows.
"...Disciple."
"You're alive."
"I'm undead, you know?"
"Seeing you can still joke, you must be fine."
Crack.
Ivan kicked the door to pieces as he appeared. Simultaneously, Enrique leaped toward him.
Isabelle naturally appeared and embraced the charging Enrique, patting her back.
"I'm so glad you're safe, Professor Enrique..."
"Huh...? What?"
"Everything's fine now. The hero has arrived!"
Enrique was confused!