Kuraki Kyuuden no Shisha no Ou

The attack was quick and heavy and there was no hesitation. A swarm of armed boners collapses instantly.

There was no need for Cenri to lend a hand. The end of walking in front of you is strong enough already. That disgusting standing meant that he had changed a lot since the first time we met.

After numerous struggles and victorious experiences, the end gained confidence and just the power to match it. The end of the day (which of course would not be possible) would have enough power to struggle a bit even with the second-degree knight Cenri. It is also an emotional fact from Cenri, who knows the end when he was alert to all directions.

End says in a serious tone.

"What the hell are these guys after..."

But his ears were plugged, and he had loving, crushed eyes. There was no tail, but it was uncomfortable beyond uniqueness for a dog's head to speak people's language.

The end is strong. Strong, but delightful. Even if they say something serious in a transformed state, the tension doesn't persist.

But I'm sure this is also endless communication. I'm a little unfamiliar with the Knights of the End because they were all serious, but this kind of thing is acceptable if it doesn't go beyond degrees.

End...... my tongue is out.

Without even knowing Cenri's thoughts, the end proceeds pale through the ancient castle.

Though inferior, it's really amazing how vampires can suppress their fighting instincts so far. It's impossible to even think from the accumulated know-how of the Knights of the End.

I've been asking for a lot of blood lately, but that's not forcing me to suck either, and it would be evidence that I'm allowing myself to. I've never been targeted for murder.

End...... my ears are moving tingly. It's like a real dog.

Looking at it is going to distract even me.

Wouldn't you stop chasing your old Cenri buddies in disdain if you showed them how this looks?

The vampire in front of me was so free to think about such absurdity.

§ § §

Darkness is an ally to the undead in general. I have far superior physical abilities and five senses than just human beings, but I was able to see the darkness even when I was a dead meat man, and the bone men who guarded the mansion walked fine through the complete darkness. Night is like day to us abominable beings.

Apparently they're breaking in from all sides, and the old castle was full of bonemen.

They say the castle is used for tourism, so it wouldn't be what originally lived in this castle. Each boner moves in several units, and every group of them is headed for one place.

"There's a dungeon. Some of the walls there collapsed in the recent earthquake."

Cenri says as he walks flat in total darkness, even though he is human.

Perhaps you know what's going on around you with a feeling other than vision. If the End Knight facing darkness can no longer move in darkness, I won't talk to you.

I didn't know the inner structure of the castle, but as soon as I followed the sound and smell, I reached a place that looked like it.

There was no sign of a strong enemy, so he double-crossed the ancestor's boner with a twist and descended the stone staircase.

I guess it hasn't been used for a long time, it smelled like mildew from the dungeon. The number of rooms is not that high, but the iron lattice is firmer than expected and the rust condition is acceptable.

A shivering view tells me Cenri.

"Looks like [Descend] is servicing it for sightseeing"

"... you're a human being."

But if the city was maintaining its castle, it would have noticed the impact of the earthquake immediately. I don't think there's anything left like a bunch of bone men...

The broken wall was quickly found, the third wall of the cell. The debris is removed to the left and right, and further underground staircases continue beyond the pompous holes.

The sound of the little sword trident echoes and is heard. It also smells slightly of blood, but this would be a scratch.

A bunch of bone men whose centipede came from behind. Purify its vanguard with a single blow with a silver blade. Keep moving forward continuously and instantly erase the five bone men that have been attacked. The battle moves were not precipitated as if they were art, but I noticed that Cenri was in a bit of a hurry.

I would have seen a little more on my own, but I don't think so.

Fasten the centers trying to come forward and take the lead. It was a narrow passage in the dungeon. The width is about two meters or the ceiling is low and terribly compressive. There seems to be a vent so the air won't be a problem. Is it for drainage or does it seem to have holes?

Is that a hidden passage? But on top of being blocked by stone walls, there was no such thing as a gimmick at the entrance or exit. I don't know what kind of battle was fought in this castle, but maybe it's a detachment when I have to.

I frowned and explored the surrounding information from the smell, wind flow and other sensations.

True darkness. Are you lighting the lights, or the air is mixed with the smell of fire?

The underground tunnels seem to be branched out many times, as if they were a labyrinth that appears in fairytales. But if you follow this smell and the sound, it won't be hard to get there.

And so, I noticed a little discomfort. Vampires are resistant to all attacks, but that's not just bearable and paralyzing the senses.

This is... something. It's not a strong one, but it does have something. It's hard to describe - it feels like a little bit of a pull.

The centipede on the back said nothing. Apparently, he's not caught up in the End Knight's ability to detect.

Maybe the undead is the only thing I feel.

The constant fighting noise had already indicated that a significant number of bone men had entered.

But it is the humans who prevail. He's breathing hard, and he smells a little blood, but the hard sound of hitting the ground is the sound of a boner falling.

Negotiations with boners failed, but humans should be able to listen. I wouldn't be an end knight because my opponent isn't necessarily on his side, but he doesn't seem to be manipulating blessings like Cenri uses (or if I could use blessings, I wouldn't struggle with a boner opponent, etc.). If I could help you, you'd let me talk to you about it. I'd like to look into the source of the discomfort, but that's later.

He might have been suspected of being alone, but if he was with Cenri, who wraps around signs of cleanliness, he wouldn't be the first to suspect that he was a vampire.

I'm a little sorry to hear that, but I'll put my head back. There is also a race with the head of a beast called the Beast Man, but it rarely comes down to man and is not as friendly to humans as it is, so you can't go out in front of someone who can't seal his mouth with the head of a dog.

I feel the centipede breathe in relief. When I hung the sunglasses I liked a little, I told Cenri with confidence.

"Cenri, I got the back."

§ § §

Hard things bump into each other. The intense noise echoes through narrow underground passages.

A pile of unmade stacks of human bones on the floor reflect the candle's hazy light. In the narrow passage, he was relative to the bones that the five men crept in, trying to block the way.

Skeletons are not human beings. But it's a human bone. No one, even those who have worked as mercenaries for many years, feels good to see the fruits of man.

But that's not the story if dozens of bodies show up, either. I could no longer afford to feel repellent, creepy, etc.

The men were mercenaries. It's not a vampire hunt, it's not the Knights of the End, it's a shop for whatever you're hired to fight.

One of them, some dirty looking deck, wields a mace as he leaks his stupidity.

"I've never heard of so many out there!

"Don't slap me for nothing, kill me properly! Don't forget to smash your head!

To that voice, Lazar warns that once he has established a leading position among these mercenaries (although each of the men is a freelance mercenary).

Bones inherit their lifetime qualities. It was hard to say that the bone people who had crept in were powerful in flattery. Evidence of this is that none of the five people who have yet received this job have suffered any major wounds.

The number of bone people coming at us is high, but the passage is narrow, and we can deal with a few at a time. The opponent is an indefatigable undead, but there are replacement personnel here as well, so you don't have to worry about dying unless you're so cautious.

The hunt for the undead in the ancient castle is a delicious job known among the mercenaries who came to [Descend].

Originally, undead hunting is not profitable unless the other person is also as big a player.

There's no meat or bones to sell, and there's no lower undead storing treasure. It's a job I wouldn't take the initiative of if it weren't for the Knights of the End.

And on the contrary, the undead of a big man who stores treasures cannot be fattened unless he is an end knight, so there is no mercenary turn.

But that's not the case if you have a client.

"You're gonna get paid, and you're not in much danger of dying, so don't complain."

This time the client is in [Descend] city. Rewards are guaranteed.

The undead that showed up were all the lowest ranking things, such as bone men, and it wasn't a bad job, except for the one thing I had to pack them in at night. Above all, it's great that the undead will definitely be paid even if they don't show up.

The most important thing for mercenaries is life, and the second most important thing is gold.

This job can be occasional hiatus because of the high number of undead, and accidental injuries, but it was a much easier job compared to the mercenaries taking part in the battle against the Demon King's army on the front lines.

"But where the hell are these guys coming from..."

"Come on. I won't tell you there was a war near here..."

Shake down the mace according to gravity. Every thin helm smashes his head, and to Deck's doubts, Lazar frowns.

The circumstances had not been heard. All I'm informed about is the job description.

At night, I want you to get rid of me because the undead are sneaking into the castle, that's all.

The Lazars are packing an underground passage found five years ago. It was the end of it.

The underground corridor has already been investigated by the city of [Descend] and we know that there is nothing. I also wondered if the Lazars had any reason for the undead to come, and I did some research but couldn't find anything to do with them. The underground passage is crooked and seems lost at first sight, but not wide enough to be called a labyrinth.

One of my buddies says as he plays the spear with a shield and laughs bitterly as the boner seems to be badly unable to do it.

"I wish I could ask the Knights of the End"

"There's no way those End Knights are dealing with such a mess of fish. No... I might come when I get the information. But then we lose our jobs. They don't get paid."

The Razals are loose mercenaries. I'm not going for a hero, I'm not going to the front line I don't know if I'm going to win or lose. My skill stops there too, but I had to say that I had no idea of the battle at all, such as having a spear in this narrow aisle.

Besides, I'm behaving in a few units, and I'm careful not to hit my people, so I'm going to be very unable to move.

I was surprised when the boner showed up from next to next, but this minute seemed like I would still get the job done today without any problems.

When night breaks, I have to go back to the city and rest my body for work tomorrow night.

It's a pain in the ass to get rid of the undead in the basement of the castle every night, but even the undead doesn't boil indefinitely. Even this good job doesn't tell when it's going to go away.

But I wish I could think a little more and let him storm......

Mechanically crushing the frontal boner with that in mind, one of his companions raised a sharp voice when he was alert to the tip of the candlelight with his eyes narrowed and blurred.

"There's a mutant individual! Black Bone!

"!? Are you the conductor of this one!?

A boner emerges who protected only the stronghold from the darkness. The only difference with the scattered bone man so far is the fact that his body is dyed black. But that was a testament to the fact that the existence in front of me was a mere presence that drew a line with a boner.

I know because I looked into the undead before I got the job in advance.

Boneman is mostly a miscellaneous fish, but 'Black Bone' is different. Bones accumulate power and mutate by killing creatures and taking in fellow bones, but the weak don't get that far. A mutated individual can be a powerful enemy.

Tension rushes to my people. The opponents are one, but together they will be comparable to the ten bone counts they have defeated so far.

The narrow passage limited the number of opponents, but this also meant that they could not be surrounded.

My client told me I could run away sometimes, but Lazar screamed. I had to scream before everyone ran away.

"Everybody hang up! The hell with them! Decide at once before backup comes!

In that voice, my people stand with weapons. What Black Bone has is a giant song knife. It would fall as easily as my arm if I took it properly. You can't even expect your opponent to be weak in mutated individuals.

Lazar's decision to engage was not due to courage. The exit route is secured for times of need. You can leave the castle if you run off the sidewalk. But if this boner comes after me, he's definitely not gonna get away with it. On the contrary, they would be killed without even doing so.

It's okay, the other guy, it's just an individual who mutated once, too. I fought bone man enough, the opponent is a reinforced system of it, and he doesn't even have the peculiar ability to do it like a vampire. You should be able to take him down.

Inspire yourself with thoughts that have no basis whatsoever and lift a long mace with a degree of sorry silver plating.

'Black Bone' skull. In the center of it the red light shimmered quietly like blood. There is no expression on the other person's face. Only a faint and cold willingness to kill comes through.

Cold sweat slips down my cheeks. Concentrate on one foot at a time. Lazar is not undead. There is only one life. A slight mistake is also unacceptable.

And a black boner stepped in without a sound.

It was a simple swing. But the blow was as fast as a whirlwind. Lazar was going to take it. But by the time I realized it, it was dropping back a lot.

The blade passes a few centimeters in front of me. My forehead splashes a few pieces and the air strokes my forehead.

I couldn't do anything.

I feel death. Soon the blade will flip. Time is extended. Boneman is brittle. If our people attack this gap, maybe we can deflect attention. But my people weren't moving. No, I guess I can't move. If Lazar had been in the same position, he might have been frozen. About that time, the blow was intense.

Too different from the bone man I've been scattering down.

No, I'm dying. I'm wearing armor, but what's the point of cheap armor etc before the current blow.

I couldn't even afford to regret it. I can see it in a blade that opens my eyes, falls and just sweeps up flashly.

- And accidentally a black line ran in front of me.

A tall sound rocks the air and the skull that was looking at this one in front of me disappears.

Thoughts were not catching up. He stares at the Black Bone, which has lost its neck. He collapsed as if his arm, which was stiffened with a song knife lifted, remembered.

"All right... it's too safe."

Tensionless voices can be hung by the hardening lassers.

A black skeleton stood, emerged from behind, a beautiful silver-haired eyeglass daughter unlike any other on this occasion, and a dubious man, however wearing sunglasses, even at night.