I still remember that annoying event in the game where we had to go overseas to gain experience.
The enemy to defeat was a guy known as the Unholy King, a high-level undead.
Undead are born when various feelings filled with hate, revenge or suffering for wanting to live again all manifest together.
This is how a lich is born.
That impure king was actually the strongest kind of undead of all, an elder lich.
It was hard to defeat that thing, it could revive up to nine times.
Fortunately, I was able to defeat it.
Anyway, there was an extra name, which made it unlike the other elder lich unique.
It wasn't his name as an unholy king, but his title as a floor boss.
Doom Lord.
◇
"... It can't be."
"You must be joking."
"That appearance looks exactly like him, the Doom Lord."
In front of everyone, Calvin had become undead.
But only I knew what kind of undead he became.
I knew it because his appearance, even the color of his armor is the same.
It's a total tracing to that guy.
Why did this happen?
Why did Calvin become undead?
No, more importantly.
What is this feeling I'm getting?
It's like I'm... feeling it again.
That's what it is.
This feeling is just like that time.
The gentle breeze and embrace of death.
This guy is severely bad problems at a glance.
I shouted to Rei to eliminate him immediately.
"Rei, don't waste time and kill that thing!"
"It's an elder lich, so just use a powerful and fast attack."
Rei heeded me and launched his best attack.
"Fireball at full power."
He extended his hand and a fireball of high caliber like power was expelled from his palm.
It was headed at high speed and from a single attack it generated a loud explosion.
"You did it. The undead are just brainless sacks of skin, a powerful attack should be able to annihilate it with no problem."
"...!"
Our victory was erased because that lich was still alive.
It was intact, as if the fireball hadn't exploded.
He raised his hands and said.
"Let us all celebrate together."
"We must give thanks to the goddess. Her love for all living beings is genuine, but she cannot meet us just because we are alive."
"Therefore, everyone come with me to the underworld."
He high-fived his hands as if praying.
"I give beginning to this unique event in the world, the birth of nothing else..."
"A mass of death!"
Suddenly, the earth began to shake.
"What's wrong?"
Sasha asked in terror.
The rumbling grew with each passing second.
Then...
*Crackle*
Hundreds of crunches could be heard from the ground.
The earth began to fracture to the point where we could see how they looked like lumps getting bigger.
Like a volcanic eruption, the ground was fracturing to the point where it exploded.
From those huge holes, a strange black mist was emerging from different holes.
"What is that?"
Rei asked, I told him I didn't know, but he didn't mean the fog indicated me as he pointed.
In the distance, I could tell that there was something inside that fog.
I used a drastic magnification skill to see what it was.
I was horrified.
Hundreds─ thousands of decomposing corpses, in the bones or freshly dead, were inside that mist.
At the same time, the corpses of others nearby began to float.
The body of Calvin's son also floated among them.
The dead in the mist floated around the undead Calvin.
"I thank you for coming my brothers."
"Even my son has joined our ranks."
"I am so happy..."
"Really... happy."
"Death is the only way to happiness!"
Despite being dead, the sincerity in his words was genuine.
It made me think a bit about my situation.
I'm dead in reality since I don't have a physical body.
But this guy is different, his soul is full of spite, that's what had to turn him into a lich.
But I don't feel any of the killer instinct or hatred that lich emanate like in the game.
This guy... he's just happy to be able to say that death is happiness.
It's like all the depressives and psychopaths in the world are being listened to.
Calvin looked at us, his face was scary, but the way he looked at us was different.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Let me lead you as I lead them to the path of genuine salvation."
He held out both hands and the fog with corpses began to beat against each other.
"In death there is no pain, no suffering, no hunger."
"There is no crime, no discrimination, no bitterness, no thirst."
"In death there is only love."
"Real love that will never be extinguished due to being out of this world."
"Let me share with you the love of the mother of the dead!"
Lumps of mist began to form similar shapes in ridiculous amounts.
After a few moments we saw it.
A bunch of death knights, undead dedicated to dungeon defense and attack.
They were huge.
With multiple bones forming each limb and area.
Their bodies were covered with black liquid and they had swords or spears.
The death knights began to run as Calvin lowered his hands.
"Go to them."
The death knights ran rampant attacking anyone nearby.
They would cut them in half or step on them.
Rei took immediate action.
"Don't fuck with me!"
"You think I'll let you?"
Immediately Rei raised a huge magical barrier that protected everyone behind him.
The death knights approached Rei.
He materialized immediate help.
"Come! Fake Crystal Angel!"
A skill in the game that was gained by leveling up all level to water and wind magic.
Above Rei blue crystals began to form which molded into winged knight-like figures.
Their heads resembled the underside of a needle and their legs the pincer.
Their torsos were rectangular as were their long arms with red swords.
Rei ordered them to attack.
"Charge that one of those fellows!"
The fake angels flew straight at the enemies.
Their swords clashed against each other.
The blow caused a blast of air to erupt upon impact.
A fake angel with his spear split a death knight in two.
In the same way a death knight destroyed two fake angels with one swing of his huge saber.
I said to Rei as we looked at the battlefield.
"Rei, I don't think I need to tell you. But don't let him touch you."
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'?"
"Don't you see that thing emanating a huge black shadow? It's natural to avoid being touched by something suspicious and dirty like that!"
Rei answered something that left me feeling strange.
"What black shadow? That guy just called out those vortexes nothing else. There's no shadow at all."
"Huh?"
I looked to see if it was wrong.
And sure enough, a huge shadow was covering that guy.
(It can't be.)
(Is it only me who can see it?)
(No. And even if so, why can't Rei see it?)
(Maybe it's something that only I, who is dead, can see?)
"Kuro, here he comes!"
Rei called out to me and I looked ahead.
Calvin came flying straight at us.
"Let the love of mother death fill you with happiness!"
He pulled out his sword, it was made of corpses and several tentacles with eyes were sticking out.
"No thanks!"
Rei replied in a non-mocking manner as he pulled out a sword from his personal treasure vault.
That's right, Rei has one where she keeps the things they like.
This sword is a famous one that belonged to a royal family that became extinct in the past.
As the two of them were close, their swords clashed.
"Dying is the only happiness! Don't avoid happiness!"
"Be quiet as it is irritable to hear you!"
Rei and Calvin's sword were directed at each other at high speed.
Up or down.
Left or right.
In the sky any direction had no limits and they could even move as much as they wanted.
For Rei, he used all his strength while attacking Calvin, he even imbued his sword with magic power to attack.
While Calvin only slightly moved his hand to defend himself.
Rei broke his defense and put his free hand in front of him.
"Big fireball!"
A huge fireball shot straight at Calvin, the explosion was so strong that Rei went flying backwards.
"Now we really had to beat him."
Was what he commented with a smile, I was smiling too.
But our happiness was snatched away as we saw how the shattered upper part regenerated as if it was twisting.
The destroyed parts came back to normal like the reverse video of a movie.
The head was the last to regenerate.
Rei's words wouldn't come out until it exploded.
"What the hell is that, huh!"
"It's totally unfair, that guy can regenerate!"
(I don't think someone who calls himself a cheat lord should say that...)
But I support him.
"Being undead should be a disadvantage! But that guy uses it like it's a cheat ability."
He can't die simply.
Moment, it occurred to me.
"Rei. Use the status window on him."
"..."
"What a great idea."
After seeing me hesitantly, Rei nodded smiling.
"Open status."
"Edit."
He was editing Calvin's information.
"This is the end. accept!"
"..."
"..."
"Huh?"
"Why didn't it explode?"
Rei broke into a cold sweat.
I would too if I could have a body.
"Rei, just do it already!"
I yelled at him to hurry up.
"... I did it."
He said trembling.
"I edited it several times and agreed. His head doesn't explode!"
"... It doesn't explode."
I looked at Calvin, his smile was the same, there wasn't a drop of malice to us, but at the same time there wasn't a hint of mercy.
"What the hell?"
Rei shouted.
"What's wrong with you?"
I asked intrigued, Rei answered me emphasizing the window.
"This thing... this thing has gone black!"
"What did you say?"
The status window that was always pale pink.
It began to warp.
Calvin's information was beginning to distort like his face.
It was changing to the actual Calvin.
Seeing how it had changed, I told Rei to do it again.
"I can't..."
"It won't let me edit it."
"..."
My concern grew with every word.
Why was he so strong being a lich?
This is weird, really weird.
"Rei, you must think of something to defeat that guy."
Even I was getting impatient.
"Hey."
Suddenly, Calvin spoke to us.
"There's someone who wants to talk to you."
He put his hand forward and we watched as a grave sprouted from the ground straight into his hand.
"The dead need eternal rest, but this one wanted to talk to you no matter what."
He opened the tombstone and out crawled a dead man.
The dead man wanted to hug Rei.
"What's wrong with that thing?"
Rei was scared, I would be too.
The corpse came floating straight at us, Rei pointed his sword and.
"R-Rei."
"Huh?"
I did the same thing too.
Huh? How do you know his name?
The rotting corpse wanted to grab Rei, but Rei cut off its hand.
Then, Rei felt something strange.
"I know this perfume. It's very familiar."
Rei's eyes widened at what he said.
I was surprised too.
"... Grandfather?"
"Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! This guy has a grandfather?!"
"And he recognizes him being a corpse worst of all!"
If I remember correctly, Rei's grandfather's name was Bryan.
Bryan was trying to converse with his grandson.
"Rei... my grandson... my blood."
Rei was scared.
How could you not be when the body of your late grandfather speaks to you.
Bryan's bone-cold hands touched his grandson's cheeks.
"Rei...you look just like your father."
"I'm glad to see the Redblade blood is still standing."
It would be a heartwarming moment if it hadn't been for the next thing he said.
"Rei."
He grabbed Rei's neck firmly.
"You must fulfill our destiny, to free us from the Brune."
"Huh?"
Both I and Rei were confused.
"My grandson, listen well."
"The reason those Brune fools made it to the throne was with the help of various families."
"That's a vile lie!"
"Listen Rei, we were the Frazier's royal defensive wall!"
"Why did we betray them?"
"It's simple."
"We wanted to be vice kings."
"It was our right!"
"Our deal!"
"We were supposed to help the Frazier's run away and give us what was ours."
"But they didn't."
"On the contrary by protesting they took almost all of our territory!"
"That's why the Redblade are against the royal family of Brune!"
"We demand our own. Rei, show them hell for disobeying us."
"We want to be avenged."
"You must kill them all!"
"You must bless the Redblade bloodline!"
"You must─!"
"Shut your mouth."
Rei fell silent and raised his hand.
A fireball destroyed his grandfather's body.
He looked at Calvin angrily.
He pointed his sword at him.
"I don't care what my family wants."
"I care only about my thoughts more than anything else."
"I will use my ultimate technique to finish you off."
The energy was beginning to charge.
The blue glow showed its power.
It was charged to the maximum.
"Die at once at the hands of my ultimate technique!"
"Infinite Cheats."
Rei's sword released the power which it delicately engulfed destroying him.
In less than a few seconds, Calvin's body was disintegrated.
Rei sighed.
"It was difficult, but we managed to defeat him."
I rejoiced at that too.
"I'm so tired, let's go─"
Suddenly, we felt a huge pressure.
As if something was falling down.
Rei slowly turned his head and watched as a huge black spot started to grow out of nowhere.
The spot was large and began to show strange faces speaking in different languages.
Then it showed a fetus, which began to grow inside that spot.
It was growing at an enormous speed.
Little by little it began to show Calvin.
When he reached the adult stage, the spot that was acting as an incubator broke.
Calvin emerged from nowhere.
He looked at Rei aggressively and with simple words...
"You can't kill what lies dead."
He destroyed its spirit.
How can we beat that thing?