Chapter 155 (1/2)

Bone Man had walked the path of coth of tiht about it It was about five times the lifespan of a rat

He reflected upon his past as his mount, a Skeleton Horse made from horse bones turned into an Undead, walked towards his enemy

“An Undead ca black armor!”

“There are Zoht be a General! Don’t let your guards down!”

Bone Man had been instructed by his master Vandalieu to protect this location, and there were a hundred or soequips outside and stepped foot here

According to the Undead that were once part of Duke Marme’s arade,’ knoithin the Mercenaries’ Guild to be a fearsohters that would step onto any battlefield for the right price There were quite a lot of them, but between a third to half were probably roup temporarily

The ot its name from the fact that when they were encountered on the battlefield, they always smelled like rusted iron due to the blood of their many slain foes

“Kakah”

It was an exaggerated na to live up to it Bone Man’s teeth rattled as he laughed at the mercenaries; he could see the spirits of those that they had killed, who looked to be nothing more than civilians

Kakakah, guguh, kukekeh The laughter spread a the Undead under Bone Man’s command, too

“Are these guys laughing?” said one of the mercenaries

“Don’t respond to them; they’re Rank 4 or 5 at most! With our skills and numbers, they’re no match for us!” shouted another

The Iron Rust Brigade mercenaries didn’t live up to their nah skill to be fairly well-known

If their abilities were classified by the Adventurers’ Guild, all of the members were equivalent to C-class adventurers

They wereelse, and they were even capable of exterths

And they were a group that disguised themselves and earned their keep as bandits in times of peace in order to maintain their skills, morale and equipment

That hy they had accepted a large amount of money for the request to rescue Duke Marh they knew that they were being used as decoys so that the spies and scouts could infiltrate the area

They had no intention of doing as they were told and continue fighting as decoys until they were all exterue; it was the acquisition of the duke hi his whereabouts If they just ild and captured a few resistance h

They were just decoys after all, so their e ured that if they achieved enough to save face, there wouldn’t be any trouble

And they thought that they were capable enough to achieve this

They knew that a thousandmany elite individuals, had already been lost They had also heard that several other mercenary bands had been wiped out

But so what?

Even if a thousand cowardly ‘elite’ soldiers who had never experienced real battlefields and only gone on expeditions within their realm under the command of a nobleman iped out, even if other lowly hters like themselves would suffer the same fate

The hting monsters just like adventurers, and they had come prepared with anti-Undead equipment

There was no way they would lose

“Raise your shi+elds and hold your positions,” said Bone Man, ordering the crudely-made Undead under his command to solidify their defenses

But he hi towards the overconfident mercenaries

“Fire! Don’t use your martial skills yet!” one of the mercenaries shouted

Thinking that Bone Man was , the mercenaries let their silver arrows loose They expected Bone Man to be struck down by these arrows

Indeed, Bone Man collapsed His skull, both arle bone above his hips, fell apart along with his armor

The mercenary band’s leader scoffed “Hah, it was just a small… fry?!”

The separated pieces of Bone Man stopped round

“JUOOOH!”

The floating bones suddenly fleard rapidly and attacked the mercenaries

The mercenaries immediately raised their shi+elds and tried to strike down the flying bones with their weapons But Bone Man’s parts slipped between the the mercenaries’ necks and eyes with their pointed ends and crushi+ng their heads and chests with the ar

Though it wasn’t on the level of Adamantite or Mythril, the equiph-quality But with Bone Man’s Unique Skill, ‘Bone Blades,’ his bones had transformed into blades and pointed weapons that were sharper than steel

“When I was driven insane by Ravovifard, htened beyond their ordinary levels and I attacked by separating all of my bones to attack I knew then that this was my true state of combat!”

When he was driven mad by the evil God of release, Bone Man had separated all of the bones in his body and used the effects of the Spirit For-distance Control Skills to theirhis separate bones, a method of attack that a Skeleton should not possess

He had ed to hinder Ravovifard, but in the end, all of his bones except for his skull had been broken before they could deal any significant dae

But after the battle, Bone Man had awakened to the truth that this was the greatest ently

“Don’t falter, smash him to pieces!”

“You idiot! He’s already in pieces!”

Because Bone Man had split into pieces, attacks that were nor their joints, were now useless, and he was causing chaos in the enemy’s ranks

But theabout it was that it allowed Bone Man to increase the variety and number of his attacks

“Quadruple Thrust, May Rain Cutter, Gale Force Thrust”

The mercenaries fell one after another to the consecutive thrusts of Bone Man’s pointed ribs, the slashi+ng attack of his ar held by his right hand

Even with their shi+elds raised, even with their anti-Undead equipible defenses before Bone Man

“JYUOOOOH! I shall offer your souls and flesh to my lord! Hollow Bone Swordsmanshi+p martial skill, Scattered Bones!”

Bone Man had become a Rank 10 Skeleton Blade Duke with an awakened superior version of the Swordsmanshi+p Skill, Hollow Bone Swordse of stabs fro the head and chest of the leader of the Iron Rust Brigade and scattering blood and bone fragments backwards

The ade weren’t even s hunted, unable to put up any ful resistance

“R-retreat! Retreat!” one of the mercenaries shouted

Thewhite s that Bone Man’s attacks were not relenting in the slightest, they finally realized the difference in strength between themselves and their foe

The moment their leader was defeated, the round and they began trying to scramble away to save their own lives These were h toa lost battle, but it seemed that this ability had been erased by their fear of Bone Man, the one as slaughtering them

And Bone Man lost interest in them as well Even small fry would at least offer combat practice if they faced him, but the same was not true for those who showed him their backs and tried to flee

But that didn’t mean he would spare them

“Clean them up,” Bone Man said

Obeying this co their shi+elds and standing by let out a battle cry as they pursued the mercenaries

The crudely-made Undead led by Bone Man were Rank 3 at h morale as well This was because they would be openly accepted as citizens of Talosheiained achievements here in the former Scylla territory

Even those who had been cowardly soldiers of Duke Marme’s army were now a pack of bloodthirsty hounds They would turn the fleeing mercenaries into Experience Points for themselves, and their flesh and equipment would become new crudely-made Undead

“Jyuuh… If the Sauron region’s people could accept us Undead, hed

“No, I think it would be cruel to expect that of them,” said Sam, who had come to transport the corpses

“Sam-dono, our lord’s time is limited, as he intends to clear the Trial of Zakkart next year Will things not becodohts?”

“To be hts of the Sauron Liberation Front that are to be acknowledged”

Even in the Orbaudoed as people Knowing this, Vandalieu, Chezare and the resistance meion was retaken, the resistance would have the Orbaue their achieveive them land

What they wanted was this former Scylla territory, in which Vandalieu had set up camp And on paper, the lords of the land would be the later-born and adopted nobles of the Sauron Liberation Front They were people who had been abandoned by their own families when the Ae the fact that they were still officially nobles

And although the former Scylla territory encompassed a wide area of land, much of it etlands that were not suited for anyone but Scylla to live in, as well as mountainous land that even Scylla did not make use of

As for Dungeons, there was only a single D-class Dungeon and its floors had wetland and aquatic layouts, so it was difficult for anyone other than Scylla to clear as well

And now that the Scylla race had left this land, there were no people living in it

It was difficult to think of it as being profitable

For the new Duke Sauron, it was land that he would notaway The families of the Sauron Liberation Front’s iven away, either

And this would allow Vandalieu and his allies to have a position between the Ado land that was difficult for the Orbaudom to interfere with And since his allies were officially nobles on the kingdom’s side

It would be ideal if in the future, Vandalieu could gain even more allies, build up his status so that society couldn’t simply exclude hie acknowledged as nations and conduct business with other nations

“Jyuooh… But if the kingdom could accept us Undead, such roundabout measures would not need to be taken,” said Bone Man

Indeed, if Undead were accepted, things would become very siht the A a reverse invasion on just one nation

“Indeed,” said Sam, but he shook his head “However, that is how huet that the people within the Boundary Mountain Range are an exception”

The people of the nations within the Boundary Mountain Range had easily accepted Bone Man, Borkus and the rest of the Undead That was because unlike wild Undead, the Undead serving Vandalieu could be communicated with

And within the Boundary Mountain Range, there was already a basis of recognizing h Goblins as people to begin with However, the biggest factor was Vandalieu, as the ‘Holy Son of Vida’ and the ‘Chanized by the Gods

Thus, Borkus, Bone Man and the rest of Talosheim’s Undead had been accepted as people by Zanalpadna, the noble Orc kingdom and the rest of the nations within the Boundary Mountain Range

But it was unreasonable to expect the saion had always had more followers of Vida than Alda, but at the same time, they had kept their distance from Vida’s races like the Scylla, whom they had forced into their own territory separate froion

Unlike Beast-people and titans, they were not accustomed to races that had very different appearances fro Undead would be impossible

Whether Guidance: Dark Deely on the person, so it couldn’t be relied upon

In fact, Vandalieu saw Duke Marme and the vassals that had been kidnapped with hiuided while they were alive

“I think there is some chance if the people from the resistance could mediate, but…” said Bone Man

“Only a few have sufficiently deep connections to the resistance,” said Sam

Even the Liberating Princess Knight’s title and the activities of the Sauron Liberation Front would not be enough for the people of the Sauron realm to overcome their one-hundred-thousand-year-old fear of Undead

Bone Man’s face fell as he accepted that things had to be taken steadily, while Sam tried to cheer hian recovering and transporting the corpses and goods with the help of Knochen’s separated entity

Suddenly, a forency, eency! Please return to His Majesty’s side at once!” he shouted

“What in the world has happened? Have the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords co that this could not be any ordinary news

The Undead ion has apparently been retaken by the Orbaudom!”

“… Huh?”

The upcoion back had ended sooner than expected

The Orbaudom’s army, headed by the orphaned son of the now-deceased Duke Sauron, had retaken the Sauron Duchy, which had been invaded by the Amid Empire and occupied for several years

This was a long-awaited victory for the Sauron Liberation Front and those who had supported them and their activities

However, the inside of the caed Knochen fort had the atmosphere of a funeral

“I’m truly, truly sorry!” shouted a man as in the prime years of his life

His name was Cubas He wasn’t a e who had supported Iris and her companions since before they fore had been helped nue, and he was a supporter that could very nearly be considered a member

That hy he had continued to stay involved with the resistance’s activities like the other central members even after Iris and her companions received Vandalieu’s support and moved their base to the former Scylla territory

Of course, he knew about Vandalieu, the fact that George was a Cursed Weapon and that Iris had transformed into a Majin

Village Chief Cubas had described the unbelievable events that had happened in the Sauron region

Several resistancetears of frustration Borkus was kneeling on the ground, staring blankly into space, and Bone Man round

Incidentally, the reason Bell away from Cubas and the others with red cheeks was not because she was tre subjected to Vandalieu’s relentless brushi+ng

“Uion has returned to the Orbaudom, isn’t it? And Cubas-san, please stand up,” said Vandalieu

“Yes, it should be a good thing There’s nothing to blame this person for, is there?” Eleanora asked Debis and Haj

“Well… I think you’re right,” said Debis

“That’s right, isn’t it?” said Haj

Vandalieu nodded with them, still in a daze

“We’ve dreas have coht, so please raise your head,” said Iris, co Cubas, but her shoulders were low and her tail was hanging wistfully

“Cubas… you are not responsible for this,” said George

As a Majin, Iris would have been unable to directly participate in the battle to retake the Sauron region That hy she had at least planned to help from behind the scenes, but… that hy she felt so pathetic

“But George-sama, Ojou-sama, I’m so pathetic and frustrated…” Cubas cried

“Well, let’s sort out the situation first,” said Saria

“We’ve made tea, too,” said Rita

Vandalieu and the others began discussing the situation in which they and the Sauron capital found themselves in

Things had all begun when the Orbau sensed the chaos in Duke Marme’s arion back They had moved quickly, so it was likely that they hadin advance They had simply not informed the Sauron Liberation Front of this

Ignoring the suggestions of the Sauron Liberation Front, who had wanted to cooperate in retaking the Sauron region, they had invaded and taken the A army by storm

And one of the late Duke Sauron’s orphans, the second son Rudel Sauron who had received support frodoion’s duke

He was gathering the support of the people, having sworn to rule and protect the Sauron Duchy in place of his late father, his knights and the ‘Liberating Princess Knight’ who had stood up against the A defeated in battle His coronation ceremony would likely take place with no troubles in several days’ time

Indeed, in the kingdoht’ was known to be dead

And the forerous Devil’s Nest in which the ht-speed Sword’ Rickert lurked, along with a large nuerous Undead Even adventurers had been forbidden froations were complete

“Why in the world has the kingdo like this? I do not understand,” wondered Beller flushed

As she had spent ninety percent of her ten-thousand-year-long life as a guard for the hideout of her previous norant to the ways of the world than she appeared It was no wonder that she couldn’t understand why the kingdom had treated the resistance so poorly

“First of all, it is probably to ive medals to the resistance for their past achievements or the achievements that they would have had,” said Eleanora For a Vairl who had lived for less than a hundred years, but she had worked as a spy before

“I’m sure the new duke didn’t want to decrease the rewards that his own vassals would get as he set up his rule over the Sauron Duchy,” said Kimberley, who had been a scout for the Amid Empire when he was alive

Most of the people present here had already guessed this much

But Bellmond, Princess Levia, Orbia and Vandalieu still didn’t seem satisfied with this explanation

“Would they go to such lengths for those reasons?” asked Princess Levia

“Yeah, it would have been way better for them to ask for our help,” said Orbia

“We’re ignorant in this matter, so please explain in a little more detail,” said Vandalieu

“Udom valued the actions that the Sauron Liberation Front had already takenthat at the very least, they would have been forced to give the leader and the upper members of the resistance court ranks and land,” said Eleanora

The resistance had continued fighting for years, wearing down the occupying ar their ranks, and they even had the support of the people If the resistance’s actions were not acknowledged, the new Duke Sauron would have actually lost support from the people

“Well, it’s true that we initially intended to have this foriven to us as land and have several people made nobles, but…” said Vandalieu

“Boss, the kingdooals And some of our members are nobles – nobles unable to possess court ranks and land because they are too low in the line of succession or married for political reasons at that That was likely our downfall here,” said Kimberley

Hu their own standards The new Duke Sauron and the Orbau their own standards and then assumed that they would want court ranks and land as rewards

After all, it was these lower-born and adopted children of noble families, ould normally be unable to succeed their families or possess land, that had made such achievements It was natural to think that they would want to become proper nobles

And it was certain that the kingdom and the duke had assumed that the nobles who had participated in the resistance would want richer, easier-to-rule land rather than low-value land like the forion