The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness (WN)

“End, your growth is pretty quick.”

Senri says while looking at me with sincere eyes. It almost sounds like she’s in a bad mood, but I already understand her character well enough. As the former Death Knight, Senti Silvis is kind to her allies. That’s why I can’t help nodding to her words.

“But Dessend has excessive measures against the Undead. It’s dangerous to go outside. I’ll scout out the situation… so stay put.”

“… Okay, Senri. Be careful.”

Senri leaves the room while worryingly stealing glances at me. I lean against the wall, where the light hardly reaches. My hearing loses the sound of Senri’s footsteps.

Perhaps because of my dogfication, my sense of smell is sharper than any of my other senses. Tracking her down would be easy. But, I shouldn’t do anything that would undermine her trust. While gaining trust might be hard, you can lose it in a second. Besides, it’s not like there’s nothing I can do in this room.

I wait for a while and when I’m sure that Senri isn’t coming back, I slowly close my eyes. I focus my consciousness on the image that’s been buried inside me.

My aim is the memories and knowledge of Horus Carmon inside me. Ever since becoming a Lesser Vampire, I’ve become much stronger. But I need the Lord’s knowledge, if I’ll have to cross paths with a lineup of true vampires from now on. Senri has a secret.

She doesn’t want me to become stronger. She taught me the basics of combat. But she didn’t teach me how to apply this knowledge. Well, there’s of course a chance that I just missed it, but―― while Senri looks the same age as me, she’s a veteran Death Knight who climbed to the rank of the second class knight. She must have killed various vampires until now and should have more knowledge about how to fight with them.

For example, she should’ve obviously been aware of the fact that it was possible to extend ‘Sharp Claws’ like a sword by pouring power in it and improve regeneration ability by controlling the blood power. She might’ve not known how to do those, but she should have seen those as phenomena. However, Senri didn’t tell me about them.

Now that I think about it, Senri didn’t tell me that I was classified as ‘Ancestor’ until I asked.

I can’t bring myself to think that it was out of malice. She must’ve wanted me to live a peaceful life. And for that, she’s trying to get rid of all obstacles in my way while disregarding all dangers to her own life.

I appreciate the thought, but things can’t keep going this way. Senri’s disappearance would be a very unfortunate thing for me. And surely, the calamities appearing before me will eventually be too much for her to handle.

Senri has a secret. And so do I.

I still haven’t told Senri that Horus Carmon is inside me.

This is both a cause for concern and a power. It was the Lord’s knowledge that saved me from Sable’s clutches after my battle with Rainel. Did my strong survival instinct awaken the Lord’s knowledge? ―― Now I can do it consciously if I wanted to. And if I fish through his memories a little more, I should become able to control Skeletons just like him. Of course, I have no intentions of controlling the dead, but that abominable knowledge should also be a way for me to protect myself.

As I chase out my surroundings from my mind and concentrate, my consciousness gradually sinks. I was definitely standing on the ground, but I felt like I was floating.

Somehow I can feel the mass of energy that revolves around me. It’s blood. We suck blood. The Lord modified Feeding and created ‘Curse Steal’. We are the blood monsters.

I, as the Undead created by the Lord, can understand it. Horus Carmon is here. There is a connection between us. He’s definitely inside me. However, his presence is very subtle. I don’t know where exactly he is.

Looks like the seal on the Lord’s knowledge is much stronger than I thought. Is it because I’m a coward or because that’s just how dangerous his knowledge is? I thought I’d at least get a hint, but this doesn’t look like something I could dig out overnight.

I desperately search for a way. Maybe I could dig up something again if I ended up on the verge of death? But that would be too late.

It’s ridiculous to come up with a counterplan after something has already happened.

It was a miracle that I was able to survive Sable. If Senri arrived a little late, I might have been already dead and it’s not guaranteed that the next time something similar happens, I’ll still be able to come out alive. And above all ―― the opposite could happen. I can’t die in peace in case something happens to Senri because of my lack of power or knowledge.

Perhaps because I’ve been concentrating so much, dull pain runs through my head. Nevertheless, I still persistently seek out the core. I feel something squirming in my body. It’s my vampire instincts that I usually try to hold back. My head heats up and my fangs ache.

Then, something comes up in the darkness. It might be just an illusion. It’s hard to judge. However, the thing that oozed out from the darkness was a ―― human skeleton. A black robe and empty eye sockets. For some reason I was able to recognize that it was the Lord.

He’s almost dead. His boney body is full of holes as if worm-eaten, looking ready to collapse at a moment’s notice.

“――――”

I can’t hear his voice. But his intentions are transmitted to me. There was no grudge there. The absolute ruler won’t hold a grudge against his subordinates no matter what.

Now’s the time. There are many things I want to verify. How to use my powers. The reason why I don’t evolve. Where to obtain the Night Crystal. But the question that I voice immediately is different from any of those.

“Lord… what did you intend to suck out with this ‘Curse Steal’?”

The black eye sockets are looking at me.

‘Curse Steal’ is a powerful ability. But it’s too peaky. At the very least, it’s not the ability that the strongest king of undead should have. A curse isn’t just a convenient ability. Curses have their demerits. Even I might have a hard time tolerating some of them.

There are reasons why things happen. Lord wasn’t stupid. He must have known that this ability is unreliable. There should have been a reason why he gave this ability to the individual he was planning to steal from.

The skeleton didn’t reply. Just, it felt like he was laughing. A strong impact runs through my brain, as if I’ve been hit. My consciousness resurfaces.

―― And I open my eyes. Before I knew it, I was kneeling on the floor. I hold my head. My heart is drumming in my ears and my hands are trembling.

The light shining from the curtain had turned vermillion unnoticed to me and the hour hands of the clock had advanced far more from what I remembered.

The presence of the Lord I was feeling just a while ago had already disappeared. Vampires don’t experience physical fatigue. But I just sprawled on the carpet right there.

I look up at the ceiling and think.

I couldn’t get any information. But, I found out that the Lord’s will still remains inside me. The power dynamics have already been established. I’m much superior and that fact cannot easily change. But Horus Carmon still hasn’t given up. My power keeps increasing even when I’m not doing anything, but Necromancers are really something else.

It’s about time Senri returned. I wanted to roll around a little more, but I prop myself on my hands and get up.

But I’m glad I gave it a try. There’s one thing I found out. The information Lord sent when he parted.

The reason why I can’t evolve is just as I thought ―― it’s because the Lord placed a lock on me.

True vampires have enough magic resistance to even repel necromancy. If my evolution was the result of the Lord’s programming inlaid in the curse, it makes sense that the cautious Lord would have a counterplan just in case so I didn’t evolve further. To start with, when Lord learned about the invasion of the Order of Death Knights, ‘I originally intended to hold the ceremony when you turned into Lesser Vampire’ he said. I didn’t think much of it back then, but in other words, that was supposed to be the final stop. There were a lot of hints. “Is this your idea of pity… Lord?”

No, that must be wrong. The Lord was definitely confident that he’d be able to do something even after I got stronger. What a terrifying man… even though he’s already on the brink of disappearing. As expected, it’s dangerous to dive in carelessly. But I can’t not do it.

As I take a deep breath, footsteps approach from outside the room. It’s the rhythm of Senri’s footsteps. After loosening my stiff face muscles, I decide to go to the corner of the room and hug my knees.

☠

“An earthquake…?”

“… Yes. A part of the castle seems to have collapsed. It happened 5 years ago.”

Senri says with a somewhat dissatisfied face. She must find it hard to believe that this information didn’t reach the Order of Death Knights. But it’s been peaceful since the castle was brought down a few hundred years ago, so I think it can’t be helped that the Order of Death Knights didn’t notice anything. And from the looks of it… something definitely happened there.

“Apparently, the number of tourists has increased ever since. But I couldn’t find anybody… who could tell me more in detail. We have no other choice but to go and see.”

I don’t get the causal relationship between those two events. But it’s not like I’ll be losing anything even if it ends in failure. Let’s go sightseeing in that castle that was built by another undead. Maybe it’ll be a good reference for when I’ll live as a recluse someday… Seeing that I nodded strongly, Senri maintained silence for a short while and said with a harder expression than usual.

“End… I feel the presence of the undead near this town. You better be careful.”