The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness

I’m completely outmatched. This was the first impression of Dell Gordon, the 3rd class knight, after crossing swords with Demon King Rainel. 

Their poor affinity and Dell’s poor condition probably played a part in it too, but more than that, Demon King Rainel―― the gamelyon, was on another level of existence. Even after Dell boosted his physical abilities with the power of blessing and attacked his eyes with all his might, he was unable to even scratch him. Rainel had terrific durability.

Generally, it’s only natural for Death Knights to win. To that end, they were always prepared, moved as a group and utilized the enemies’ weaknesses. However, the gamelyon before him would most likely be hard for Dell to beat 1-on-1 even if he was in perfect condition.

He survived the earth-shaking roar with an armor of blessing. He was able to take it. Death Knights learned the technique of receiving first. He understood how to fight against someone stronger than him. But that alone couldn’t help him overcome this situation. The vampire fell from the hole in the wall. Rainel didn’t chase him and instead glared at Dell who interrupted him. Contained in his gaze was not killing intent. “Why are you letting that vampire escape… aren’t Death Knights the enemies of dark beings?”

Hearing Rainel’s inquisitive tone, Dell gripped his steel sword again and concentrated to let the blessing spread out on the surface of his body. He couldn’t exorcize Magical beasts but the abundant positive energy would become a physical barrier. It could even repel attacks if he let it coat around his body. Though he didn’t know how well it could work on somebody as strong as Rainel…

He wanted a weapon. The single-edged sword he always used. The weapon made of holy silver was not only highly effective against dark beings, but it was also very suitable for transmitting the blessing. Would he be able to wound the gamelyon if he had it?

Dell narrowed his eyes and glared at the Demon King.

“Death Knights ―― always do their utmost.”

It wasn’t like they had become buddies. If the one here instead of Dell was the Death Knight with a grudge against the undead, they might have first killed End and only then confronted Rainel. However, the biggest priority for Dell was to defeat Rainel. Therefore, he would do his utmost to achieve this goal. 

That vampire ―― the young man by the name End, was a ‘True Vampire’. An extremely unique and rare specimen that continuously evolved from Fleshman to Vampire. The vampires, who possess superhuman strength, are prideful to the point of arrogance and the ‘True Vampire’ that slipped under the radar of Death Knights will keep evolving. They not only have excellent survival ability, but were also extraordinarily more troublesome than the vampires that had been created by others. And, even when cornered, that kind of vampire still would not lose their fighting spirit.

The reason why Dell helped End was because he thought that it was the shortest way to victory. Rainel was strong, however thanks to a vampire’s exceptional strength, ‘Sharp Claw’ was slightly, albeit surely, wounding Rainel’s body. In that case, it would be better for Dell to stick to the role of the bait that he was the most suited for.

But, it would be impossible for Rainel to not realize Dell’s scheme. Rainel turned from the hole in the wall to Dell. His claws that he got from god knows where, shone with the glimmer of holy silver and scraped against the floor, sounding bizarre.

“Very well… Death Knight, show me your strength I have heard so much of.” What a terrifying level of self-confidence. Facing the enemy head-on even after understanding everything was truly different from the way puny humans acted. Coming face to face with the tremendous pressure that could crush him just by being in his presence if he relaxed even for a second, Dell realized that the King before him wasn’t serious at all until now.

He concentrated his power in his abdomen, manipulated the meager amount of blessing still coursing through his body and arose it.

It was a technique devised by the 1st class knight Dell was studying under.

Dell’s master was the 1st class knight specialized in defense. Naturally, Dell’s power also gravitated towards defense. He couldn’t use this technique perfectly because he was still inadequate at everything, but it was still enough.

『Heavenly Aurora Garb』

The overflowing positive energy filled each of his cells and his body became lighter. His body heated up, as if burning. The steel sword in his hand brimmed with energy and white light gathered around it. He could only keep this state for a short while, but the current Dell was as close to being immortal as possible.

The Demon King attacked. Making use of the giant physique he was blessed with, his claws easily slice through steel. Dell blocked the claws that were swung down on him, from the front with his steel sword. A dull sound resonated and the claws pierced through, landing onto Dell.

“What a strange technique――” Rainel groaned a little and twisted his body. The golden body got close tremendously fast and sent Dell flying.

Dell’s body flew high in the air. But, he didn’t take any damage. The essence of ‘Heavenly Aurora Robe’ lay in the energy that usually rapidly spread on his body surface. The power released by overcoming its original limiter was a perfect shield that warded off all sorts of powers.

As he was falling, he pointed his sword towards Rainel’s defenseless torso. But, just as its tip was about to pierce its target, Rainel stood up on his hind legs and turned himself over. After being hit by the thrust out forefeet, Dell’s body pierced through the wall. He wasn’t wounded, but he exhausted a lot of blessing. His blade hit Rainel, but he didn’t feel any resistance. It was completely blocked by his flexible and hard fur.

Good. This was fine. 

Dell’s role was to buy more time. He got up from the rubble. He didn’t despair. Dell had gained power as the Death Knight for this moment. He roared and jumped towards the powerful Demon King.

☠☠☠

I fall grandly from several meters high and a strong impact runs through my body. I hit my head hard. However, the only thing in my mind is an urge to kill. I’m only thinking about how to kill Rainel. That was close. I was saved by Dell. Now I owe him. I have a reason to go back now.

Rainel didn’t chase after me. I only hear the sound of fighting. Is Dell slowing him down?

I get up and immediately check my condition. I didn’t really get hurt. I’m not tired either. I have some leftover blood power too. But, I still can’t beat him.

I can’t think of a way… to kill Rainel.

Should I recruit more allies?… Do I take Oliver? No… that’s not good. He’s useless. He might betray me. Should I look for a weapon…? No. My sharp claw was easily cut off by Rainel’s holy silver claws probably because of the poor affinity between us, but any other steel sword wouldn’t be hard enough. Besides, I couldn’t find anything stronger than a steel sword in the treasury. Using a weapon that can’t even wound Rainel would be meaningless. I don’t have enough attacking power. As expected… it’s the ‘Cursed Flame’ that I stole from Man-eater that’s the key. According to the information I got out of Monica, Man-eater’s ‘cursed flame’ wounded Rainel. He couldn’t beat Rainel, but he solidified his status as the Number 2 of the army, so that injury probably wasn’t minor.

What I lack is―― momentum. The flame is too weak. The sparks that burnt Selzard to a crisp couldn’t even roast as single hair on Rainel’s body. I have heard that the scales of the dragons are the best material for armor. It’s highly resistant towards magic, blades, impacts and curses. The heroes in fairy tales also sometimes wore armor made from the scales of dragons.

I try to use ‘Cursed Flame’ again with the blood power, but as expected, I can only create sparks.  The amount of sparks has somehow increased but that’s it. Despite that, I still got hungry. 

Don’t tell me… I can’t use it at full power because I haven’t eaten humans?

It’s not… impossible. The price of the curse is to eat a lot of humans. In my case, I’m already dead, so not eating humans won’t kill me, but if I can’t replace the source of the energy with the blood power, it makes sense that I wouldn’t be able to use it.

It makes sense… but I can’t do anything about it. I can’t eat humans. Just drinking their blood wouldn’t be fatal for them so Senri has been letting it go, but if I start to eat humans, I’ll completely become the enemy of humanity. I can’t complain about being killed.

Damn it… What a useless curse. The news about the riot at the castle should have gone around, but there are no signs of reinforcements coming. The lower area is noisy. Did something happen? ―― No, right now I have to think of how to defeat Rainel.

He’s powerful, but it’s not like he doesn’t have a weak spot with his giant body. He’s pretty much just a slightly stronger Albertus… that bastard.

The sound of the battle is getting more intense. The presence of the mighty light of positive energy is flickering, but it’s getting weaker little by little. Looks like he can’t use the ‘Destruction’ Senri was using.

There’s no time. I can’t abandon him. He didn’t help me to let me escape. He helped me in order to win.

I can’t rival him in power either. Sharp claws also don’t deal much damage to him. Neither magic nor curses have an effect on him. At first glance, this looks hopeless, but――

No… wait.

At that moment, I came up with a stratagem.

The scales of the dragon repel everything. Rainel’s fur should be even better than that, but I can only use everyday life magic and the momentum of the ‘Cursed Flame’ is too weak to work on him. But―― what if I avoid his fur? For example, inside his mouth. There is no fur inside his mouth. ‘Cursed Flame’ won’t be put out by the saliva either.

I’ll burn him from the inside.

Rainel’s jaw is lined with sharp fangs, but in my current state, I can still survive with just a head. Rainel is big enough to swallow me whole. If everything goes well, I should be able to get in. If I avoid his silver claws, I should be able to regenerate right away. Even the Demon King Rainel, veteran of hundred battles, must not have fought the undead who jumped into his mouth. 

Even if he swallows me, I should be able to regenerate inside his body. I’m not sure what would happen if my head got crushed though… 

“…”

I furrow my eyebrows and look up at the hole of the wall where I fell from. A half-moon that couldn’t be more different than the full moon was climbing up the sky.