Episode 165: Investigating the Plague (2)
“Wow… Wowww…!”
Garot spread his arms wide, reveling in the cries of the undead.
“This dark magic! This murderous aura! At last, you’ve become a true undead!”
Garot was a grand necromancer of the Grotesque School, a faction renowned for its expertise in handling monsters. As a leading figure, he had observed countless creatures over the years.
Yet none of them compared to the undead standing before him now.
“Now that you’re complete, you need a name. What should it be? What name would suit you?”
After a moment of contemplation, Garot’s eyes lit up with inspiration.
“Fenrir! From now on, you’ll be called Fenrir!”
Fenrir was the name of a colossal wolf from a foreign mythology, a beast said to devour gods and bring about the end of the world.
“I don’t know why you hate me, but it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re complete!”
Garot beamed with satisfaction.
The undead—no, Fenrir—stared at him intently, its eyes glowing with a blood-red light, exuding a palpable menace.
“You seem eager to kill me! It’s cute, but we can’t have that if we’re going to be together. Let me teach you a lesson.”
With a gesture, Garot summoned dark chains that bound the souls tightly.
-Aaah! It hurts! It hurts!
-Please, stop! I beg you!
The souls’ screams grew louder, releasing a torrent of dark magic.
This was why Garot had spread the plague—to enslave souls and extract dark magic through torture.
Thanks to this, Garot could access vast amounts of dark magic whenever he wished.
“First, let’s make sure you can’t escape.”
Garot used the amassed dark magic to cast a spell, creating a black barrier that isolated the area from the world.
It was a high-level dark magic designed to prevent Fenrir from melting into the shadows and escaping.
“Come on, show me what you can do.”
Garot spread his arms wide. Before he finished speaking, Fenrir charged.
Each step shook the ground, and its speed increased until it seemed to tear through the air.
Garot formed a seal, and a rift opened before Fenrir.
From the rift emerged a creature that blocked Fenrir’s path.
It was an ogre, known as the king of the forest, but unlike any ordinary ogre, it had three pairs of arms.
Fenrir opened its jaws to bite the ogre, but the ogre caught its upper and lower jaws with its six arms.
“This is a chimera made by combining three ogres. Its strength is tripled. It won’t be easy to—”
Fenrir clenched its jaws, and the ogre’s arms and head vanished in an instant.
”…Oh?”
Garot’s face lit up with admiration. He hadn’t expected it to be defeated so quickly.
“Is that all it takes? You’re truly remarkable!”
Fenrir reached Garot, jaws wide open to crush him.
Just then, something emerged from a newly opened rift behind Garot and slammed into Fenrir.
The impact sent Fenrir skidding backward, baring its teeth in a snarl.
This time, the chimera was a lion.
Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary lion. It was enormous, making Garot look like a child beside it.
And it had two heads.
Garot climbed onto the lion’s back, gripping its mane.
“Nemesis! Let’s get out of here!”
Nemesis dashed through the forest, with Fenrir in pursuit.
The two beasts raced between the trees, Fenrir letting out a long howl.
Shadows in the forest began to stir, and smaller wolves emerged from the darkness.
”…Clones? You can create those too?”
Garot’s eyes widened in amazement as he glanced back at Fenrir.
“Impressive! This ability alone proves your worth!”
The clones were faster than Fenrir, swiftly surrounding the lion like the wind.
“Nemesis, show them what you’ve got.”
Both of Nemesis’s heads opened their mouths, unleashing sound waves that burst the clones like balloons.
“The clones’ durability is lacking! But don’t worry, I’ll make you even stronger!”
Garot laughed confidently, looking back at Fenrir.
But Fenrir was nowhere to be seen. Garot muttered in confusion.
“Where did it go?”
Suddenly, Fenrir leaped from Nemesis’s shadow, sinking its teeth into Nemesis’s neck.
Crunch.
Both necks were torn apart simultaneously, and the body fell lifelessly to the ground.
Just before it hit the ground, Garot leaped off, landing lightly and turning to face Fenrir.
“To think you could take down Nemesis… You’re far more impressive than I imagined.”
Fenrir turned to Garot, its mouth stained with blood.
-Grrr.
Fenrir lunged at Garot, determined to tear him apart this time.
But then, something slammed into Fenrir, sending it flying sideways with a thunderous crash.
Trees shattered in its path, and it only stopped after demolishing dozens of them.
-Grrr!
Fenrir rose, glaring ahead. Beside Garot stood something strange.
It had a hunched back and short legs, with long arms that nearly touched the ground.
It resembled a monkey, but its body was covered in a black carapace instead of fur.
“Allow me to introduce you. This is Bagder.”
The Grotesque School’s secret lay in creating chimeras by combining multiple monsters.
The choice of monsters and the arrangement of their abilities determined a chimera’s power.
“This is the chimera I’ve painstakingly crafted to face master-class opponents.”
Fenrir eyed Bagder warily, its demeanor different from when it faced other chimeras.
-Grrr!
But only for a moment. Fenrir charged first, aiming to bite Bagder’s neck.
Crunch.
But Fenrir’s teeth met Bagder’s carapace, shattering instead.
“You shouldn’t bite recklessly. Bagder’s carapace can deflect even aura.”
Fenrir bit down harder, but Bagder remained unmoved.
“Bagder, subdue it.”
Bagder grabbed Fenrir, hurling it high into the air.
Fenrir’s face showed surprise as Bagder appeared above it, clasping its hands into a fist and striking down.
Fenrir plummeted vertically, the impact shattering the forest with a deafening roar.
As an undead, Fenrir didn’t bleed or suffer internal injuries.
-Howl!
But that didn’t mean it felt no pain. Fenrir howled in agony.
Despite the pain, Fenrir quickly rose. It couldn’t show weakness with an enemy before it.
Just then, Bagder emerged from the side, punching Fenrir’s face.
The blow sent Fenrir rolling across the ground, its head spinning from the impact.
Bagder pursued, reaching Fenrir in an instant.
-Grrr!
Fenrir created clones to fend off Bagder.
Dozens of clones attacked, but all were stopped by Bagder’s carapace.
Bagder swung a fist at Fenrir’s head, slamming it into the ground with a resounding crash.
The world shook from the impact, and Fenrir’s vision blurred, its body refusing to respond.
This time, Fenrir couldn’t endure. It lay on the ground, trembling.
Bagder’s speed and strength were far superior, overwhelming in every way. Fenrir felt a deep sense of despair.
“Hmm.”
A familiar voice reached Fenrir’s ears. It forced its eyes open.
Garot had approached, standing right in front of it.
“Even you can’t defeat Bagder.”
Garot nodded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’ve poured everything into this creature. It’s incredibly powerful.”
Seeing Garot, Fenrir’s eyes flared with life. It lunged at Garot, its murderous intent clear.
The enemy who had killed its master was right there. If it could just open its mouth, it could tear his head off!
Just as Mungchi was about to crush Garot with his teeth, Bagder grabbed Mungchi’s head and body, slamming him into the ground.
A guttural growl erupted from Mungchi as he thrashed about, trying to shake off Bagder. But Bagder was immovable, like a mountain pinning him down.
Despite the struggle, Mungchi refused to give up his attempt to kill Garot. That man had killed his master and committed unspeakable acts against him. He couldn’t let it go. Who else would avenge his master’s death and suffering?
“Still holding a grudge, I see,” Garot murmured with a look of feigned sympathy. “It’s unsettling to be hated so much… Perhaps it’s time for a little lesson.”
With a wave of his hand, the souls bound by dark threads began to scream again.
Their cries were accompanied by a surge of dark energy, which Garot used to form a massive black stake. “Let’s start with one.”
The stake pierced through Mungchi’s body, pinning him to the ground. His eyes widened in shock as searing pain shot through his brain, far surpassing any agony he’d ever known.
“It stings, doesn’t it? This is a dark magic torture device designed to inflict pain on the soul. A mere touch would drive an ordinary person insane.”
Garot conjured another stake, aiming it at Mungchi’s torso. “I wonder how many you can endure?”
With the second stake, the pain doubled, and Mungchi writhed in agony. “The third.”
Each additional stake intensified the torment. By the time the fifth stake was driven in, Mungchi’s body went limp.
“Five stakes… You endure well. As expected from an undead I’ve taken an interest in.”
Through the relentless pain, Mungchi’s gaze remained fixed on Garot. His master’s enemy was right there, yet he was powerless to act. His master had vanished in agony, and he couldn’t even begin to avenge him.
Dark energy seeped from Mungchi’s eyes, trickling down his cheeks like tears before evaporating.
“Tears? An undead shedding tears? What a rare sight!” Garot exclaimed with delight, but Mungchi could only glare at him, unable to do anything more.
“You truly are a beautiful creature! The master will surely be pleased…”
Suddenly, Garot’s head snapped up. A blue line was slicing through the black curtain above them.
“Is that… being cut?”
In a moment of confusion, a rectangular opening appeared in the dark canopy, and someone leaped down from it.
“A human?”
A man wielding a sword descended, and in an instant, blades of aura rained down from the sky. Garot’s eyes widened in shock.
The aura blades fell like a torrential downpour, and just before they struck, Bagder pulled Garot away to safety.
The spot where Garot and Bagder had stood was now covered in countless sword marks.
The human man landed where Garot had been moments before.
“Who are you?” Garot demanded, eyeing the newcomer.
The man sheathed his sword and replied, “Damian Haxen.”