Chapter 24

Chapter 24
## Chapter 24

Mask (2)

Heinz II traveled smoothly alongside the young brother and sister.

He maintained a quiet presence to avoid drawing any unwanted notice, using his abundant wealth to hire mercenaries who could guide and protect them.

“Mmm… monster…”

Naturally, some of those guards shifted into bandits along the way.

In a lawless world like this, such occurrences were bound to happen.

“Tsk, lost my appetite.”

I pulled away from the neck of the final mercenary, casually dumping the bloodless body aside.

A collection of similarly drained corpses lay stacked in the exact same spot.

Wiping the crimson stains from my mouth and tidying my garments, I stepped out from the dense brush.

“Oh! Mister! Is everything done?”

“Yeah, let’s head out now.”

I helped the siblings back into the carriage, took my place on the driver’s bench, and snapped the reins to urge the horses into motion.

Ever since hiring Balthar, our first driver, I had gained enough practice to control the horses completely on my own.

It was the payoff of practicing every chance I could manage.

‘The mercenaries I employed this time were a complete letdown. It’s hard to avoid with such terrible local security.’

Even men who appeared decent could easily turn into highwaymen once they left the town gates. Fortunately, no harm had come to us during the journey.

‘Still, thanks to their betrayal, I was able to quench my thirst for blood after quite a while. I could have held out longer, but with my current limitations, it is smarter to feed whenever the opportunity arises.’

Criminals like these, who made a habit of murdering their patrons and stealing their belongings, deserved absolutely no mercy.

‘For the moment, our path leads east, but I cannot keep drifting like this indefinitely. I need to start figuring out my next steps very soon.’

Right now, since we were at the westernmost frontier of the continent, I could travel without drawing suspicion.

Even so, there was no telling what complications might arise down the road.

Lost in thought, I stole a quick look back at the dark thicket I had just departed.

A faint, shadowy silhouette seemed to stir within the trees.

—

[Hmm, the essence of the blood remaining in these consumed corpses is remarkably poor.]

Their vitality had likely been completely depleted during the process of converting them into the undead.

Hans observed the four skeletal figures standing before him, placed them away within a subspace, and turned his back on the scene.

Even if it was inferior material, it was still far better than having nothing at all.

[Since I have secured some free time by arriving in this world, I ought to investigate my arcane capabilities in a silent, isolated place.]

With no requirement to eat and no need for rest.

Completely free from any biological functions, I could dedicate every waking moment entirely to pure research into dark magic.

Levitating my body off the ground, I drifted deep into the wilderness.

In truth, if I wanted an entirely empty region, the blighted forest crawling with beasts where I first crossed paths with the dark sorcerers would have been a superior choice.

And yet, that territory…

‘It carries too high a risk of running into vampires or other dark practitioners. It seems far wiser to conceal myself and conduct my studies in total isolation inside some unnamed mountain peak far away.’

I eventually selected a cave hidden away in a desolate area.

I civilly requested the local inhabitants already residing there to vacate the premise, but because they showed resistance, I had no choice but to convert them all into undead thralls.

The goblins, newly raised as undead servants, squatted down and thoroughly scrubbed the cavern floors, eliminating even their own waste.

Though I possessed no sense of smell in this state, it still felt far more comfortable to operate in an orderly space.

[I need to establish defensive wards. I maintain constant shrouding magic, but added security is always preferred.]

Applying my understanding of masking dark sorcery along with other freshly mastered techniques, I concealed my sanctuary from the world.

I didn’t plan to remain for an extended duration, but the vampires who had been crossed by Hans might still be hunting my trail.

[…That ought to suffice.]

I meticulously layered a network of barriers, incorporating external alarms, dark magic concealment, phantoms, mental interference, sensory distortion, and disorientation spells. It would be incredibly difficult for anyone of average capability to even draw near.

Taking a seat in the center of the cavern, I gathered my focus.

‘First, let us deconstruct the magical formulas.’

With that, the serious experimentation commenced.

—

Ajantu.

A settlement that until very recently was held by the Brokolak vampire bloodline, but had now fallen under the jurisdiction of the Holy Church.

Even so, the Church lacked the authority to directly seize territories belonging to sovereign kingdoms.

Instead, they deployed their forces within the borders of the Talya Kingdom, requested their official cooperation, and pressed forward with their inquiries.

Throughout this operation, the city’s ruling nobility, who had been ensnared by the vampires’ thrall, were being systematically placed under arrest.

Naturally, the criminal syndicates of the underbelly were not spared either.

Clank, clank.

A holy knight clad in pristine white plate armor strode down the corridor, making his way toward the subterranean vaults.

It was an area that still bore the violent scars of recent conflict.

“Archbishop Latius.”

Arriving inside the vault, the paladin called out to a middle-aged gentleman who was standing perfectly still in the center of the room.

“Welcome, Captain Tooskin. What is the status of our operations?”

“Yes, the process of rooting out the surviving vampire factions is entering its final phase. The kingdom’s infantry has provided invaluable assistance.”

The sudden engagement with the vampire brood had been entirely unforeseen.

Though they had successfully wiped out the majority of the bloodsuckers by trapping them in an encirclement, the holy forces had also sustained severe casualties and allowed several targets to slip away, including individuals connected to the feeding incidents.

Afterward, while examining the remnants of the battle, they realized these creatures were not aligned with the scion of the Immortal King.

Nevertheless, because vampires were fundamentally wicked entities, their duty remained unchanged.

The sole lingering concern was what the enemy hoped to achieve.

“Our primary mission is to halt the return of the Immortal King. We crossed paths with sin right before our eyes and could not simply look away, but we must refocus our efforts where they are truly needed. He is undoubtedly growing more powerful with every passing hour.”

Though their order was originally formed to neutralize the Immortal King, they were currently collaborating with the local crown army to hunt down the fleeing vampires while scouring the city of Ajantu for clues.

Even so, they could not justify spending their time here indefinitely.

“Indubitably. Yet, at this moment, we are unable to pinpoint where he vanished to. We have no choice but to bide our time until the Lady Saint reaches out to us.”

It was a frustrating scenario where every single lead had gone completely cold.

They had no alternative but to wait in this place.

However, that did not imply they were merely passing the time by cleaning up the remaining vampires.

“On the bright side, we have gathered some valuable intelligence during this period. We have mapped that individual’s movements, starting from a tiny hamlet in the western Demon Forest, all the way to the chaos here in this city.”

Latius concentrated on channeling the divine laws of their god, reading the residual memories left upon the earth in locations where the target’s presence had lingered longest.

Because time had marched on and the residual mana had faded, the visions were fractured and faint, preventing him from assembling a flawless picture.

Even so, certain details were unmistakably verified.

“My name is Hans.”

“Engrave it into your mind. I am Hans of the Oath of the Reversal.”

A horrifying entity radiating a malevolent presence while wearing a bizarre mask, speaking in a rumbling voice that sounded as though it echoed from the abyss, commanding legions of the dead and wielding devastating dark magic with terrifying ease.

The successor to the Immortal King, Hans.

‘You will not succeed, Hans! Even if my very flesh turns to ash, I will absolutely bring your ambitions to an end!’

Archbishop Latius squeezed his hand into a tight fist, filled with resolve.

Hummmm—

Right at that second, the holy crest resting against his chest began to thrum with energy.

“This is… Captain Tooskin, grant me a brief moment.”

“Understood, Archbishop.”

As Tooskin wrapped his hand around the grip of his blade to stand guard, Latius immediately dropped to one knee on the floor, clasping the holy crest in both palms and shutting his eyes to receive the vision.

[Archbishop Latius, can you hear my voice?]

[Yes, Lady Saint.]

The gentle voice of the saint residing within the grand cathedral echoed clearly inside his mind.

It was a long-distance communion spell tethered through the sacred artifact.

[I have once again detected the aura of the Immortal King. It is faint, but… I believe I have identified the general direction.]

[That is magnificent news! I have also uncovered some crucial clues while conducting our investigations in this region.]

The saint and the archbishop rapidly traded updates through their telepathic link.

[…It appears that Hans is gaining strength far quicker than we anticipated. We mobilized a strike force the moment his presence was confirmed, but he has already moved on…]

[We cannot permit any further delays. I will resume the pursuit immediately.]

[May safety guide you, Archbishop. Because he possesses the ability to mask his trail again, I will remain entirely focused on monitoring his movements from here.]

Hummmm—

The divine connection dissolved into silence following their final words.

Latius rose to his feet and directed his gaze toward Tooskin, who had been maintaining a vigilant watch nearby.

“Captain Tooskin, assemble the men for departure. The Lady Saint has successfully tracked his general whereabouts.”

“…! Truly marvelous! As expected of the Lady Saint.”

“We are still unable to pinpoint his exact coordinates, but now that we possess a general region, we can begin searching the surrounding territories. The rest depends entirely on our diligence.”

“I shall oversee the preparations without delay.”

The commander, Paladin Tooskin, walked briskly out of the chamber to mobilize the regiment.

Latius lingered behind for a moment, scanning the empty cellar.

The lingering residue of that monster still hung in the air.

Swish—

“This time, you will not escape!”

He squeezed his fist shut once more, hardening his resolve.

—

An entire week slipped away after Hans confined himself to the cave.

Rather than drafting an entirely unprecedented spell, the work felt much more like dismantling existing magic and reassembling the components, yielding gradual success.

He threw himself completely into his arcane studies, occasionally conducting trials on the local mountain wildlife.

By the tenth day.

Finally arriving at a point of completion, I let out a satisfied chuckle.

However, conducting trials on the wildlife exposed a massive flaw in the spell’s concealment.

Corrupt mana would seep outward, and the subjects’ eyes would glow a bright crimson, making it glaringly obvious to anyone that something foul was occurring.

I immediately shifted into a refinement phase.

By the second week.

The primary obstacle during this modification stage was that minimizing the mana required to trigger the spell caused a massive drop in its overall stability.

Yet, whenever I prioritized keeping the spell stable, the contagious quality vanished entirely, creating a paradox that required considerable time to unravel.

By the third week.

Swish— Swish! Swaga!

I was grinding my teeth together in pure exasperation.

A swirling cloud of black energy was roiling violently around my entire frame.

If I hadn’t taken the precaution of layering defensive wards beforehand, I might have unleashed a wave of power massive enough to give away my position, forcing me to take deep breaths to slowly rein it back under control.

‘Now I completely understand why software engineers lose their minds trying to fix bugs.’

Correcting a single error inevitably triggered malfunctions somewhere else, and occasionally problems would magically resolve themselves without any changes, only to completely fall apart during the final deployment.

It was an immensely grueling period.

During this span of time, Heinz had traveled through numerous settlements and cities to reach the central territories of the kingdom, but he frequently fell into a completely unresponsive state whenever I focused the bulk of my consciousness into Hans.

On each occasion, the young siblings grew so terribly frightened that I had to scale back my mental consumption to keep Heinz functional.

‘Regardless, it is completely finished now… This is definitively the final version!’

To evaluate the spell work I had labeled ‘Infectious Necromancy Final Version_Modification_2nd_FINAL(3)_ReallyFinal,’ I stepped outside the dark cavern.

My goal was to test its efficacy on live animals in the wild.

Casting a minor charm on a few passing birds to draw them down toward me, I released the experimental magic upon them.

‘Everything appears perfectly stable so far. Now, I simply need to monitor the outcome.’

As I stood waiting, I could sense the magical tethers snapping into place one after another, driven by the spreading infection.

The quantity of bound creatures was something I could easily regulate on my end.

Allowing too many animals to cluster in a single spot served no practical purpose and needlessly drained my mana reserves.

While tracking the experiment, an unsettling sensation washed over me.

‘What is going on? My alarm wards aren’t signaling any intruders.’

The behavior of the beasts under my influence had suddenly become erratic.

They ought to be travelling naturally unless they were actively transmitting a visual report to me, but their current actions looked as if…

‘Are they terrified? Every single animal I deployed in all directions? For what reason?’

For the sake of the trial, I had coded the condition to alert me the moment an animal crossed paths with a ‘monster.’

Yet, no such alert was triggered, even though the creatures were clearly paralyzed with fear.

‘Could it be?’

I rapidly altered the triggering condition.

‘The moment they cross paths with a human.’

Zingzingzing—

Instantly, an overwhelming tide of data surged into my mind from every corner of the woods.

“How is this possible? The alarm magic didn’t detect a single soul!”

The visual data transmitted by the enchanted wildlife made it clear that an invisible, hidden perimeter of soldiers had completely encircled the mountain and was steadily tightening the noose around me.