Chapter 50. Pyramid (3)
The knights reached the iron door and formed a defensive line outside it.
I arrived right behind them, operated the password mechanism, and closed the door.
Rumble... click.
If those things had stayed behind this door for three thousand years, maybe the door could contain them.
Bang! Bang!
Nope.
At this rate, they were going to break it.
Knight Commander Axel spoke.
“My lord, if those monsters escape outside, the damage will be enormous. We must make our final stand here.”
Yeah.
I knew that.
Tell me how we were supposed to stop them.
A Death Knight shouted from the other side.
Dirty Celts! I swear by the Moon God that I will slaughter every one of you!
Even modern Alexandria worshiped the Moon God.
The religion held something like a ninety-nine percent share there.
If even a Death Knight three thousand years old invoked the Moon God, then it must be an incredibly ancient religion.
Bang! Bang!
The door continued bending inward.
It had clearly been magically reinforced, but at this rate, it would still break.
We could actually die here.
This is bad. Maybe I should pray. There might be some way out.
Until now, praying specifically for divine blessings had been mostly useless.
The gods only gave blessings when they felt like it.
But right now, I needed to grasp at any straw I could find.
If those Death Knights escaped, Marcel would suffer enormous damage.
Most of the people outside were of Celtic blood.
They would probably be massacred.
I clasped my hands and looked toward the ceiling.
I prayed to the Moon God.
“Selene, God of the Moon, this is kind of urgent. Those dead corpses claim to be your followers, but shouldn’t we defeat them? They were obviously raised by Hela, the God of the Dead. So could you please give me a blessing?”
The knights listening gave me looks that seemed to ask what kind of prayer that was.
What did they want from me?
As long as I got a blessing, who cared?
“Please, please, please. Give me a blessing.”
Now the knights were openly frowning.
I probably looked like a whining elementary school child.
Who cares if they think I’m a kid? There are lives at stake!
Then,
black light pierced through the ceiling.
It struck me directly.
“Ah! Thank you, Selene! Thank you! Merci! Arigato!”
I had asked, and someone had actually answered.
Ridiculously casual words of gratitude escaped my mouth.
The black light surrounded my body.
At the same time, system alerts began ringing and blocking my vision.
[System Alert]
[You have received the magic skill [Return from Death] from Hela.
A similar skill registered in the system will be substituted.
You have acquired the magic skill [Ghoul Creation].
Skill Slot 4 has been created and equipped.
Hela has changed the magic skill [Useful Lesser Golem Creation] into [Convenient Lesser Golem Creation].
Hunter Rank has changed from D-rank to C-rank.
You have received the temporary buff [Master of the Sword] from Hela.
Hunter Rank has temporarily changed from C-rank to S-rank.]
What the fuck is this?!
It was not Selene, the God of the Moon.
I had received a blessing from Hela, the God of the Dead.
Wasn’t Hela the one who created these undead? What the hell does she want? Does she want me to wipe them all out?
Whatever.
I had no idea.
First, survive.
“Ohhh! My lord, you’ve received a blessing from the Moon God!”
“Isn’t this already your third? Annapurna, Bharata, and now Selene!”
It was actually my fourth.
Anyway, the knights assumed Selene had blessed me.
I let them believe it.
Who knew what misunderstanding would spread if I said Hela had blessed me?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Death Knights had beaten the iron door until it was almost completely deformed.
I placed my hand against it.
“Golem Creation.”
Rumble...
The skill had changed into [Convenient Lesser Golem Creation], but the Steel Golem I created was still only at the Sword User level.
It still could not emit mana either.
Then did the number I can create increase? I’ll test it later.
The iron door had disappeared into the Steel Golem.
The Death Knights immediately rushed forward.
Hahaha! Dirty Celts, now I’ll grind every one of you into meat...
“Shut up, bonehead.”
Thanks to the one-day temporary buff, I had temporarily returned to S-rank Hunter level.
I raised mana throughout my entire body.
Wooooom.
S-rank.
The level I had reached in my previous life.
I could feel that power again.
“Wh, what is this?!”
“My lord, what is this power?! I’ve never felt anything like it!”
The knights were shocked by the enormous amount of mana pouring from me.
So were the Death Knights.
What the hell happened?
I smiled.
“What happened? A god gave me strength. Today is your second funeral!”
Celtic lackey...
I raised Soul Reaper.
The sword hummed loudly.
It almost sounded like my violently beating heart.
My blood boiled with excitement.
Without turning around, I spoke to Axel.
“Sir Axel, watch carefully. This is how someone who has reached the peak of the sword fights.”
“Yes, my lord!”
That line was incredibly embarrassing.
Whatever.
I charged.
BOOM!
The Death Knights were blown backward after a single exchange.
I immediately followed with a barrage of attacks from Soul Reaper.
Guhhh!
I unleashed dozens of strikes within the span of a moment.
The Death Knights’ armor became rags.
Their swords shattered like biscuits.
Only someone who had reached the highest level, someone standing at the cutting edge of swordsmanship, could display this kind of technique.
Overwhelming.
Perhaps realizing they could not win, the Death Knights slowly began backing away.
They looked toward the door they had come from.
Apparently, they were planning to flee back inside.
“Running away? You call yourselves knights? Did you throw your honor into soup and eat it?”
You bastard!
They immediately took the bait.
I smiled and charged forward.
[The soul stack of the item ‘Soul Reaper’ has increased. (25/100)]
[The soul stack of the item ‘Soul Reaper’...]
The battle ended quickly.
* * *
Clatter, clatter.
“Move them carefully. If you mix the remains together before we return them, people will curse us.”
Following my orders, the soldiers separated the undead remains from ordinary bones and placed them into individual boxes.
I planned to send them to Alexandria of the Fatima Dynasty, a nation founded by descendants of the Calipha Dynasty.
Naturally, I was not doing it for free.
I’ll return their ancestors’ remains, and in exchange, they can teach us how to operate the lighthouse magic item.
I also organized this return of remains because I wanted my knights and soldiers to be inspired by the story.
The ghosts of Calipha had become undead and attacked me.
However, they had also been soldiers who resisted an enemy until the very end.
They could be presented as examples of military honor.
I did not know all the exact circumstances.
But for now, that was how I packaged the story.
A total of 179 boxes were lined up at the harbor.
Knight Commander Axel represented us and offered a prayer.
“Great God of Abundance and radiant God of the Moon, today we remember a painful past and honor the 179 warriors who sacrificed themselves while resisting foreign invasion. May their souls finally find peace.
Grant peace and glory to these 179 warriors, and allow them now to rest peacefully in your embrace...”
Boooooo.
Merchant ships throughout the harbor sounded their horns.
The calls spread one after another like ceremonial cannon fire for the dead and echoed throughout the entire port.
I encouraged this, but why did they make it this solemn?
I wanted to begin excavating the ruins quickly.
Instead, the ceremony was delaying everything.
But I had been the one to order it, so I could hardly complain.
“My lord, I will transport these remains.”
It was the merchant from Alexandria who had originally told me the pyramid was a lighthouse.
“How much do you want for transportation?”
“Transportation fees? Absolutely not. These are my ancestors’ remains. Naturally, I’ll carry them for free. It is the duty of their descendants. Haha!”
He said that, but he had probably realized the Fatima royal family would reward him generously.
I handed the smiling merchant the boxes.
And a letter.
“Deliver this letter to the Fatima royal family.”
“The royal family?”
“Yes. We need to learn how to operate that lighthouse. You said Alexandria has the same kind, right? I wrote that I want them to send us a magic item operator who can teach us.”
“Yes! Of course! I’ll make absolutely certain it reaches them!”
This merchant had hit the jackpot.
He would deliver ancestral remains and a letter to the royal family.
Then he might even be the one to bring back the person who would teach us how to operate the lighthouse.
And once the lighthouse was activated, ships could enter Marcel even at night.
I spoke to the grinning merchant.
“In exchange, promote the Marcel Territory for me. We are supposed to be the gateway to the Franche Kingdom, aren’t we?”
“Of course! Absolutely! Hahaha!”
Marcel was the only trading port in the southern Franche Kingdom.
Of course, our main sphere of influence only included Ronalp, Ferrand, and Dijon.
Still.
* * *
After sending away the remains, we began searching every corner of the lighthouse, sorting its equipment and cleaning the building.
Pascal supervised the work.
I asked him,
“How many Luminous Crystals did you find?”
“Six in the large underground warehouse, and twenty-four in the back room. There are also plenty of spare parts for the other magic items.”
“I wonder if that’s enough. Three thousand years have passed. I don’t know how much life they have left.”
“Alexandria still operates its lighthouse properly, so I think we’ll manage somehow.”
“If our stock runs out, we’ll have to buy more from them. I’m worried about spending money.”
“You’re rich now, and you’re worried about that?”
There was a reason Pascal was calling me rich.
The pyramid had contained a great deal of jewelry, gold coins, and silver coins.
Among the 179 people whose remains we recovered, some had probably been nobles who fled here carrying their wealth.
“I have to distribute spoils. Witch Winnie and the knights fought beside me. We also need to compensate the injured.”
“All of it?”
“Maybe around thirty percent.”
“As you know, I was also guarding the entrance.”
Should I hit him or not?
Pascal did technically contribute.
“...Fine.”
“I will serve you loyally, my lord!”
“Whatever.”
Pascal smiled brightly.
I waved him away.
“Go collect the documents.”
“Ah, about the documents. They’re all too old. They’ve decayed.”
Well, nearly three thousand years had passed.
“None survived?”
“Bamboo slips, papyrus, parchment, everything is damaged.”
That was surprising.
Those materials could all survive for a very long time under proper conditions.
Why had all of them deteriorated?
“Maybe the sea air and humidity?”
“Could it be because of evil energy? There were so many undead that had existed for three thousand years.”
What exactly was ‘evil energy,’ anyway?
