Chapter 191
High-tier monsters.
There were many ways for such creatures to come into being.
Some grew by devouring wandering knights or adventurers.
Others evolved by being infused with mana by their masters.
There were countless routes to becoming a higher species, but they all shared one thing in common.
Unlike ordinary monsters, they were absurdly strong.
…Crunch!
The ghoul that had been taken hostage by the Death Knight suddenly grabbed the Death Knight’s sword with its bare hands.
[…Grrk?]
The glow in the Death Knight’s eyes wavered.
If the hostage resists, kill it.
That was probably the order the Death Knight had received.
But its sword didn’t budge.
No—it couldn’t.
Kagaak!
The Death Knight’s blade was slowly pushed back.
The fingers gripping the blade should have been sliced off instantly, yet the ghoul not only held on—it began forcing the sword away.
[Krrrk!]
[Guuhh…!]
Kardrrrk…!
A ghoul overpowering a Death Knight.
The sight left the dark mages pale with shock.
“H-how is this possible…?!”
Kuskel was just as stunned.
“Surprised?”
“…Of course! No matter how much he’s my son, overpowering a Death Knight—!”
A Death Knight was a powerful monster that could only be controlled starting from dark magic rank 7.
Without the Duke of Libera, it couldn’t display its full strength—but still, it shouldn’t have struggled against a mere ghoul.
“…What are you all staring at?! Stop it, now!”
“Y-yes!”
The dark mages snapped out of it and hastily gathered their mana.
“As if I’d let you!”
With his son in danger, there was no way Kuskel would stay idle.
He immediately formed a black spear of mana and hurled it at them.
Screee!
“Kagh!”
The less skilled dark mages had their necks pierced and died on the spot.
But Libera still had plenty of dark mages left.
“Die!”
Bang! Baang!
Countless mana bullets poured toward the two of us.
“Hmph.”
I spread one hand and deployed a translucent shield in front of us.
The black orbs slammed into it and scattered into the air.
[Not bad.]
I may look like a knight, but my magic rank is 6.
The sword at my waist, Twilight, chimed in.
Even by a mage’s standards, that was a considerable level.
Most of the mana bullets shattered before they could even touch a single hair of mine.
But Kuskel was the problem.
“Ghk…!”
He’d already expended a huge amount of mana fighting the ghouls.
He tried to deploy a weak shield, but the stronger mana bullets pierced through, leaving cuts all over his body.
Covering him with my shield would consume a lot of mana…
Still better than letting him die.
I was about to extend my shield to him—
Then I stopped.
There was no longer any need.
Thud… thud… thud…!
Something was forcing its way up through the floor.
Kuskel’s face darkened.
“This is bad…! I can’t control the ghouls anymore…!”
His mana had run completely dry.
But I dismissed my shield.
“It’s fine. That one’s on our side.”
“…Our side?”
—BOOM!
Something burst up through the floor.
A massive body, as if stitched together from multiple corpses.
[GWOOOHH…!]
A Flesh Golem.
Its grotesque appearance made my brows knit instinctively.
But it was fine.
That thing was on our side.
“Y-you—!”
Kuskel squeezed out the last of his mana and formed a black spear.
He aimed it at the Flesh Golem, but I quickly grabbed his arm.
“W-what do you think you’re doing?!”
“I told you—it’s on our side.”
“Get a grip! That’s not something I summoned!”
“Of course not. You don’t have any mana left.”
“T-then hurry and—!”
Only then did Kuskel turn pale and look back at his son.
The ghoul, eyes burning red, was still gripping the Death Knight’s sword.
The Flesh Golem lumbered toward him—
No, toward the Death Knight.
Its massive fist slammed down.
[…Grrk?]
The Death Knight couldn’t move.
—CRASH!
[KRRAAAH!]
With a shriek, its body was sent flying.
That was the signal.
Ghouls began pouring in from all directions.
“W-what is happening?!”
“S-stop!”
[Krrrk!]
Like a pack of beasts, the ghouls charged the dark mages of Libera.
They fired mana bullets, tried to seize control of the ghouls—but there were simply too many.
Surrounded without proper support, they couldn’t mount any real resistance.
Crunch! Crack!
“AAAGH!”
They were swallowed whole by the tide of ghouls, crushed like minced meat.
Before long, Kuskel was the only dark mage left standing.
[Krrrk…]
The Death Knight finally recovered and began to fight back.
The ghouls and the Flesh Golem rushed the last enemy.
True to its reputation, each swing of its sword sent ghouls flying.
[GWOK!]
Its blade pierced straight through the Flesh Golem’s torso—
But the strongest monster here wasn’t the Death Knight.
Crunch!
[GRRK!]
A black, blood-soaked hand burst through the Death Knight’s chest armor.
Said to rival knights with swordsmanship rank 6—
But it was no match for the ghoul known as Rigel.
Rigel stood behind it, his hand thrust through its heart.
—PAANG!
With its core destroyed, the Death Knight crumbled into dust and vanished.
[…]
Rigel lowered his head amid the gathered ghouls.
“M-my son…”
Kuskel was at a loss for words.
He had spent his life protecting Rigel since the Great War.
He never imagined he had reached this level.
That was a high-tier ghoul.
The king of ghouls.
A Wight King.
[Father…]
The Wight King reached out toward Kuskel.
“Ghk.”
Kuskel instinctively stepped back.
Even if it was his son, watching something that could annihilate everything in moments was terrifying.
[…I’m sorry.]
The Wight King knelt before him.
“……”
Kuskel stared at him in silence.
I simply watched the two from the side.
“…I’m sorry, my son.”
After a long moment, Kuskel placed a hand on his shoulder.
[Father…?]
“You must have been hiding your strength for my sake.”
[…]
The Wight King said nothing.
For over twenty years, Kuskel had treated him as his son.
Long enough—even for a ghoul—to develop a sense of self.
There had never been a Rigel to begin with.
Only a ghoul who had spent his life playing the role of a dead boy.
And he must have realized it.
That Kuskel cared for him not as a king of ghouls—
But as a boy named Rigel, long dead.
“I told you earlier.”
“……”
“Rigel died during the Great War.”
“……”
“This child knew that. That’s why he kept pretending.”
[That’s…]
“But that doesn’t mean the past twenty years were a lie.”
“…You’re right.”
Lost in memory, Kuskel lowered his head.
Reaching this state wouldn’t have been possible without Kuskel’s tireless devotion.
That devotion was what allowed him to evolve into a Wight King.
[I’m sorry, Father—]
The Wight King stopped himself.
He no longer felt worthy of calling him that.
[…Lord Kuskel.]
“…No.”
Kuskel shook his head.
“You are my son. You always have been—and always will be.”
[…Father!]
The Wight King squeezed his eyes shut and embraced him.
If ghouls could cry, he would have been sobbing uncontrollably.
I smiled quietly at the sight.
“Why not give him a new name while we’re at it? Since he’s a Wight King…”
Wight plus Rigel—Wigel?
That sounded awful.
“This child is Rigel. My one and only son—Rigel.”
[Father…]
“Rigel…”
The two held each other in silence for a long time.
“…Alright. Let’s get going.”
“Haha. Yes. I’ve shown an unsightly side of myself.”
[Hehe.]
Rigel smiled brightly beside Kuskel.
To think that was the king of ghouls.
That was what made higher species terrifying.
Overwhelming strength, human-like intelligence and emotions—
And bonus skills on top of that.
Just like in the novel.
Calling it a novel felt strange now, but Wight Kings had appeared there too.
Commanding ghouls like an army, capable of overwhelming even Death Knights and Banshees.
During the Great War, armies of Wight Kings had pushed the alliance to its limits.
One more appearing now—was that good news or bad?
Well. Better than the alternative.
Rigel still followed Kuskel without question.
And Kuskel and I were on decent terms.
I’ll think about the rest after we get to Forgel.
We began cleaning up the area.
“Ghk…”
[Krrk!]
Some dark mages of Libera were still alive.
Rigel had the ghouls tie them up tightly.
“What should we do with them?”
“Hm.”
Libera’s dark mages weren’t exactly normal people.
Bringing them to Forgel would only cause trouble.
“Maybe we should just kill them and turn them into ghouls—”
“Ghk…!”
“P-please spare us!”
They began begging with tears in their eyes.
“D-do you mean that seriously?”
Even Kuskel was stunned.
[That’s a bit much…]
Even Rigel frowned.
“…I was joking.”
So we decided to bind them and take them to Forgel instead.
“Forgel…”
Kuskel trailed off, remembering what he’d done.
“It’s probably chaos. The ghouls they lived with suddenly went berserk.”
“……”
“So I’ll need to work to heal the people from here on.”
“…Understood.”
Kuskel clenched his fist as if making a new vow.
After that, we returned to Forgel.
The ghouls sat quietly, dazed, as if back to normal.
“H-how did this happen…”
The dark mages of Forgel were still in shock.
“…Lord Kuskel!”
“Ah…”
“Thank goodness you’re safe! Demon worshippers attacked—!”
“……”
They had no idea Kuskel himself was the cause.
Kuskel remained silent.
“Alright. Let’s check the royal castle first.”
“Y-yes. Sorry—we’ll talk later.”
The dark mages nodded and rushed to tend to the wounded.
“Hm.”
The castle itself was mostly intact.
Some windows were broken, but things had calmed down.
Creeeak!
The gates opened, revealing Forgel’s Death Knights and Banshees.
Vinthagen and the priests stood with them.
“Is it over?”
“Hmph. Those pathetic dark mages were nothing.”
“……”
The priests frowned at Vinthagen’s sharp words.
“Are you alright, Sir Priest?”
“Ah—Lord Kuskel! Thank goodness. There was chaos at the gate—we feared something had happened.”
“Th-that is…”
“What about Duke Libera?”
I redirected the conversation toward Vinthagen.
The mastermind behind all this.
He hadn’t been at his base—so he must have come here.
Thud!
Vinthagen kicked something toward me.
It rolled like a soccer ball and stopped at my feet.
“You mean this?”
“…Ah.”
As expected of a former knight commander.
The Duke of Libera lay there—already dead, his face frozen in horror.
“A worthless creature.”
The priests, having witnessed Vinthagen’s swordsmanship, remained silent.
