Instead of feeling angry or apologetic that his cherished student had become a zombie, however, Belve showed intense admiration and immediately made these feelings known.
In return for being strong, an Undead zombies' movement was typically slow. But the Undead in front of him was really agile and also had some strength behind it. It was as if in addition to being a zombie, it had absorbed the power of a demon.
"Amazing! It makes me want to know even more! You! What are you?!"
Belve struck the stomach of the zombie going after him with his staff.
The Undead zombie's body bounced off with a 'pung' sound and was blown over. Its chest exploded, pieces of flesh were sent flying through the air, but it stood up again without much difficulty, standing up with only a moderate sway.
"I'm just a Holy Knight passing through," Tom replied, looking at Belve. "I dropped by the village to find some useful, talented people…"
Tom narrowed his eyes.
"It seems like there are quite a few of them around these parts."
"… Are you talking about me? Ha! Ridiculous. You're a Necromancer but you're pretending to be a Holy Knight. You're a fraud!"
"No!" Lulu denied. "That person is…"
Lulu shook his head trying to remain conscious.
"That person is the Devil of Lania! He's not a filthy and disgusting human like you, you bastard…!"
"… The Devil of Lania?"
Belve frowned as he scanned Tom from head to toe.
While summoning and controlling the Undead, this man was wearing a Holy knight outfit.
Belve immediately burst into laughter.
"Ha, haha! Hahaha! I see! You're definitely a fraud! Are you going around calling yourself the Devil of Lania to try and get famous? I'm sure you've heard some incredible stories but there is no reason to go that far."
The rumors about the Devil of Lania were spread all over the continent.
Summoning and controlling the Undead by himself, using not only dark magic, but holy magic as well, which only Holy Knights and priests used, along with many other incredible things.
Wearing a Holy Knight's uniform was not even close to being persuasive. If he wore a priests outfit instead, even while he was using dark magic in order to pretend he was the Devil of Lania, it would make a lot more sense. It would at least fool the idiots.
"Haha! You seem skilled but you haven't thought this through. Your outfit is troublesome and isn't convincing anybody! There's no way that you're the Devil of Lania!"
Tom ignored Belve and looked over at Lulu.
"Lulu… Who are these people?"
"F-fra…uds."
"Frauds?"
As Tom tilted his head, Belve spread both his arms and replied.
"I'm not a fraud, I'm the Devil of Lania! The devil who destroyed the Holy Kingdom and pledged allegiance to the Demon Lord of the Demon Kingdom! That's my―!"
"Is he by any chance pretending to be the Devil of Lania?" Tom asked, still pointedly looking at Lulu and not Belve.
Lulu nodded, not having any strength to answer verbally.
Tom scratched his head.
It was a really strange situation to be in. Usually, there were countless people pretending to be a rumored group of power in the continent. It happened all the time. Regular knights called themselves Holy Knights, Adventurers called themselves Heroes, and now, apparently, Necromancers were calling themselves the Devil of Lania.
"…I guess that just shows how popular the Devil of Lania is. But, it's kind of… well… what's the word?"
Tom looked at Belve strangely.
"…Awkward."
Belve immediately looked furious.
"This is ridiculous! You don't take me, Belve seriously? Did your head get big just because you're a little bit competent? How dare you? Right in front of me…!"
"It's me who's dumbfounded. Why don't you just stop impersonating the Devil of Lania? Because it's troublesome in many ways."
"…"
Belve's face turned red.
He was repeatedly being looked down on and it pissed him off to no end.
He made the decision right then that conversation wasn't needed anymore. All he had to do was beat down the person in front of him and then everyone would know the truth. He would even be able to find out about his magic through all kinds of torture.
'After finding out about everything I will tear down that body and turn you into a taxidermy!'
"How dare you…?! Look down on me? I will squash you!"
Belve stuck his staff into the ground.
Magic circles with Runes engraved on them appeared on the cave's ground and all over the walls, causing Undead zombies to crawl out.
Seeing Belve make the first move, the other necromancers joined in. They also summoned the Undead in a similar display of power.
The believers were stunned to see more than 50 zombies suddenly fill the cave and so they stepped back. But they were stopped by what Belve said next.
"Catch this bastard! If you do I will give you all the awareness of grace! I will lead you to the heavenly world!"
The believers grabbed their weapons upon hearing that and prepared for battle.
Tom scanned the room for a few moments with a flat expression. His eyes suddenly turned cold while scanning the zombies and believers.
"I really… am not impressed."
It was none other than the drug that had ruined him.
The villagers had been deceived and were now being controlled because of that drug.
They had found hope after getting out of frustration and despair, but in the end, they had fallen into hell because of Belve.
Their trust had been betrayed.
'That actually pisses me off quite a bit.'
It was like seeing himself in the past.
"…I can't be carried away by my feelings when I work though."
Hearing what Tom said the zombies summoned by the necromancers looked up and opened their eyes wide.
"But… for a bit…I guess it's okay to let loose a little."
"Kkiaaaaaaak!"
The zombies screamed simultaneously and turned to attack the believers around them.
They targeted the weapons they were holding and crushed them. Then they beat the believers down and slammed them down on the ground.
"W-what the hell?!"
The Necromancers aimed their staffs at the zombies they had summoned in frustration and confusion. But even though they tried their best to get the zombies back under their control the demonic power that was put into them ended up disappearing instead.
"This is crazy…?! I can't control them!"
"How…?"
"Magic…? It's magic!"
"A magic ability that steals Undeads from their summoner?! Does that make sense to you?!"
Belve stiffened upon hearing his students' shouts.
The zombies continued their attack.
All the believers were beaten down to the ground and the Necromancers were barely able to defend themselves with defense magic.
The zombies approached Belve.
"… He's even capable of unknown magic…? I-it's tempting me even more! B-but he's too dangerous! How can a human like that exist…?!"
Belve gulped down dryly and stepped back.
"Alright! I just need to set everything on fire! I can investigate after your body has been turned into an Undead!"
Belve lifted his staff up high. A lump of flame came into existence and swirled at the tip.
"O-oh my goodness!"
"T-teacher! You can't do that! If you use that in this small place…!"
"We'll all die!"
"What are you talking about? I won't die. Only you lot will. And nobody cares about that! Hahahahahaha!"
As Belve smiled and was about to unleash the fireball, the flame was suddenly pierced by a light sword, causing it to scatter and disappear.
"…"
Belve's eyes grew bigger.
Swords made up of white light could be seen all throughout the dark cave.
They had been created by Tom's holy sword.
The surroundings lit up in an intense light.
"Is this… Holy power?"
Belve started shaking and stepped back.
The zombies lunged and grabbed onto him.
Belve struggled while looking at the zombies.
"L-let go of me! You bastards…!"
Just as Belve was going to use his staff to spew out a wave of demonic power, the zombies grabbed onto it. In a moment, instead of demonic power, holy power was spewing out from the zombies' bodies and this made the demonic power of the staff they were grabbing onto disappear completely.
Belve gasped the moment he saw that.
He felt a chill crawl up his spine and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Fear and astonishment were clear in his gaze. He mumbled blankly as he looked up at the Holy Knight approaching him.
"Are you by any chance… the Devil of Lania…?"
— Ω —