385 Three Myth Ranks (1/2)
Did it sound foolish to attempt to assassinate an undying Undead Emperor? In this world, however, there was no such thing as truly undying.
Even the True Gods, who called themselves eternal, could perish. So-called immortal liches would naturally die if their phylacteries were crushed. ”Undying” individuals were only undying because the correct method to kill them hadn't yet been discovered.
Killing an undying individual with the wrong method would force that individual into a temporary hibernation. For example, it would take liches and high-level Blood Tribe members about two or three years to recover their strength and come back for revenge.
Some things were common for all the undying. For instance, one would greatly weaken when they lose their physical body, making it impossible for them to run amok for a while.
As for me, the ”Undying Roland,” every time I died I'd require my physical body to mature again for more than twenty years. The last time wouldn't have been any different if I hadn't exchanged for a physical body through my System, but this type of information on me could be obtained through certain channels and wasn't exactly top secret.
For the undead, killing off the me who was in their way and forcing me into a weak state after resurrection would mean one less obstacle in their path. If it was done properly, it would even cause the Mage Country and Bardi Empire to start an all-out war with each other. This would be an amazing outcome for the undead.
For the various undead, being able to slay an Undead Emperor would be the greatest of honors. This would also greatly improve their reputations as it would be in the name of seeking revenge for Aso. Just the rewards they'd receive from the other Undead Emperors would be more than enough to last them the rest of their lives.
As for me taking revenge after I regained my strength? If the undead invasion succeeded, I would have to enact my revenge against the entire Tark Republic. On the other hand, if they failed to assassinate me, there would be no revenge to worry about, either.
I had only figured out all these things afterwards. For those risking everything, ”potential revenge in the future” was barely a threat. I had only shown off power at the Gold rank and had been walking around openly on the streets—this naturally attracted vicious predators.
”Heehee! I've never tasted the blood of an Undead Emperor. I bet you taste lovely.”
With a pink ponytail, a cute, blushing round face, and a young child's attire, this little girl, who was sucking on a blood-red lollipop, would be a priceless treasure to a certain group of people.
She kept sneaking glances at me, blushing as if she were a little girl near delectable food. However, her frightening blood energy was proof this vampire archduchess was just pretending to be a little girl.
”Alexandra, you little bitch! Stop acting so pure! Still, I suppose I could give this handsome shota over to you when I'm done with him.”
The one who spoke was a tall and bald old man with a face filled with scars. From his thick, black armor and the black flames upon it, he seemed to belong to a dark job class. Perhaps a magic knight.
”…Revenge.”
The final figure who walked out was quite tall as he lightly waved around a black sickle. His black cape instantly transformed into a shadow, vanishing together with him.
Along with these three Myth-ranked Undead Lords were plenty of subordinates. Aso had left all his main subordinates in the Bardi capital in order to control the situation, and they had stayed behind even after his sudden death. Now, they became my trouble.
No matter if it were their auras or their true power levels, these three Undead Lords, who appeared from nowhere, were no ordinary Myth-ranked undead. This was all the more so as they had been Aso's direct subordinates. Unfortunately for me, Aso had intentionally wiped all traces of their existence when handing his memories over, so I had no clue about them at all.
”Your Highness Roland, if you're willing to give us our former master's potion, not only will we not attack you, but we'll even be willing to serve you.”
The vampire archduchess was all smiles as she spoke. From this sentence alone, it could be deduced that the Bardi Empire still had a spy in their highest ranks either among the dragons or the royalty.
”Little youngster, no matter how powerful you were in the past, you're no better than a Gold-ranked novice at the moment. How long do you think you can last against the combined attacks of the three of us?”
They were playing good-cop, bad-cop. These Undead Lords were obviously very intelligent and understood human emotions quite well. While this wouldn't be rare for leaders of other species, they were high-level undead… Well, even though they wouldn't admit it, it was a fact that the higher the level of an undead, the more ”humanlike” they'd become.
”Snake Archduchess Alexandra, Agfan the Famine, and Death Sickle Harris. They're all powerful veterans and aren't easy to deal with. Reinforcements will be here for you soon, Roland. Do your best to solidify your defense and wait for help.”
The silly cat jumped out of a shadow. As my magical pet, she had the ability to come to my side at any moment. What surprised me was that she actually recognized these three Undead Lords. But then I thought about how she had acted ridiculously and had stirred up trouble everywhere for the sake of her revenge. Naturally, she would have contacted the Undead Planes in an effort to destroy the world. I understood how it was.
Since someone as prideful as her said they were difficult to deal with, this would evidently be a difficult battle.
”What information do you have?”
”It's rumored that the Snake Archduchess wasn't a human to begin with. Instead, it's said that she's actually a Blood Tribe member from the immemorial generation with Winged Snake blood in her. Don't be fooled by her weak little girl physical appearance that seems so easy to push over. Actually, it's said that she doesn't have any bones in her body and she can flex her joints in any direction at will. She's incredibly skilled at melee combat and has her own special techniques.”
”As for that baldie who looks so ferocious in armor, he's actually a curse magic expert. His most vicious spell, Curse of Fatigue, will make you lose stamina at ten times the normal rate. It's quite difficult to deal with. Long battles of attrition are what he specializes in. But the fact that he's a curse magic expert means that the curses will also backlash and corrode his physical body. It's impossible for his physical fighting capabilities to be strong. Try to get close to him and kill him off.”
”I'm not too certain about Death Sickle's specific abilities. I only know that he's a famously powerful assassin. However, his weapon is quite well known. It's called 'Singh's Call' and possesses the three negative effects of weakening, poison, and instant death, so don't let it touch you. Oh, I also remember that Singh's Call is supposed to be a curved sword. That sickle of his is probably just to distract your attention. He's wearing really long sleeves, so be careful of him suddenly pulling out his real weapon from his sleeves.”
It was such a great advantage to have someone as experienced as Harloys on my side. Of course, even without this information I still might not lose, but I'd definitely have a harder time. And my enemies were evidently skilled strategists. The original tactical objective I had set for myself until Harloys told me all this was to forcefully kill the Snake Archduchess as quickly as possible—evidently a foolish idea.
”They've already surrounded me?”
The three Myth-ranked undead were no idiots who would waste time talking. While it seemed like they were making me an offer, they never intended to negotiate in the first place. As long as I let down my guard by even the slightest and believed that I could walk away today without a fight, lightning quick attacks would have instantly come at me. Even if I didn't let down my guard, they had nothing to lose as the other undead surrounding me could finish their formation.
*Kaching!*
From under the Clint armor's helmet came a green light. Glina had restored her Clint armor to fighting status. And this was the perfect lure for the tense undead to lose their patience.
”Use your bullet storm attack!”
Glina didn't know why I made this request, but she didn't hesitate to do as I asked.
”All remaining bullets, bullet storm!”