The Death Knights were dumbfounded.
They had gone to all the trouble of pleading on his behalf to help him, and yet what was this...
'He should at least stall for a little while. He has no sense at all!'
So, what do you think?
When the Yaksha King asked, the knights answered immediately.
-On second thought, I don't think there's any need for us to go.
I, the Yaksha King, think so as well.
The Yaksha King nodded.
As expected of those who served Gonadaltes, these knights were truly wise.
***
Completely unable to imagine what sort of conversation might be taking place behind him, Lee Han continued on his way.
"I knew it felt ominous from the moment the Yaksha King came instead of the Skull Principal."
Of course, that did not mean he refrained from complaining. With every step he took, Lee Han cursed the Yaksha King.
The person leading the subjugation force had given him an order that amounted to nothing more than, 'Go take care of it by yourself'!
A spirit's voice came from the staff.
-I heard the Yaksha King commands an army vast enough to reach even the outer seas beyond the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas.
Even Saratan, the violent exile, had heard of the Yaksha King's fame.
Powerful dimensional beings on that level would hear at least a rumor or two about one another even if they never had any reason to come into direct contact.
Lee Han, however, was unimpressed.
"Sure he does. His palace wasn't even that big. It's probably just an exaggerated rumor."
-I-I still think it would be better not to insult him too much.
Saratan felt inexplicably nervous.
It had once been a spirit that rampaged without distinguishing friend from foe, but this mage's madness surpassed even its own.
To slander a being on the level of the Yaksha King like that.
"What? Don't tell me, Saratan... you're scared?"
-!
"I'm disappointed. Whenever you talk, you act like some great warrior who never once backed down in the spirit world."
Come to think of it, Saratan had been the same when they faced the Heavenly Fire General.
It always acted like the greatest rampaging brute in existence, yet when it encountered a genuinely insane spirit, it had strangely shrunk back.
-I... I am not! What nonsense are you talking about, you bastard!
"Saratan. You can be honest with me. There's nothing good for either of us in putting on a pointless show of bravado. We're on the same side for now, aren't we?"
Saratan realized that the other party was speaking sincerely.
It would have been better if Lee Han were saying it to provoke or mock it. Hearing him speak with genuine consideration made Saratan feel as though its insides were turning upside down.
-I told you I'm not!!! Release me right now! I can challenge that bastard myself!
"All right. Fine. Let's say you're right."
-■■■■■■!
While Saratan poured out curses in the language of ancient spirits, the hamster frowned.
-The dead have noticed us. Be careful.
"I know."
Lee Han summoned a skeleton golem and skeleton warriors.
It looked like a fairly ordinary formation of summons commonly used by dark mages, but what lay beneath the surface was different.
The golem had been summoned with a dragon's tooth as its core, while the warriors had been strengthened with dark and blood elements.
Moreover, these were not beings contracted and summoned from the undead realm, but old-fashioned summons constructed entirely from the mage's own pure mana.
A powerful undead force that could regenerate from any damage as long as the mage himself supplied them with mana again.
Because Lee Han was capable of something like this, he had never felt the need to wander the undead realm like other dark mages in search of powerful undead to contract with.
...He had already met far too many powerful beings as it was...
"Let's go."
Lee Han lightly landed atop the golem and ordered it to charge forward.
At once, the dead wandering nearby stared toward him while spewing blood-red flames from their eyes and mouths.
-It's a living one!
-Offer his blood to our master!
Spheres made of water formed in the air and came crashing down like a torrent of rain.
Having entered the realm of the 5th Circle, these droplets, imbued with concepts and ideas, were powerful weapons capable of tearing apart space itself.
Lee Han did not stop. At the same time, he activated another 5th Circle spell, <Wardanaz's Telekinetic Force>.
This spell, which could be activated without chanting an incantation, displayed tremendous power especially in battles where every fraction of a second mattered.
The dead melted away before they could even leap over the front line of skeleton warriors. Watching from Lee Han's shoulder, the hamster shuddered.
'This bastard...!'
Because Lee Han usually said so many pathetic things and disliked fighting enemies head-on, even the hamster had forgotten.
Just how rapidly this young mage was growing stronger!
This was entirely different from deceiving an opponent or taking them by surprise. Seeing Lee Han unleash all the firepower he could muster and sweep away everything around him sent a chill down the magical criminal's spine.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Lee Han mastered the other 5th Circle spells, truly entered the realm of small worlds, and began developing higher-level magic.
The hamster began to fear that it might be helping raise a monster who would eventually wipe out every other magical criminal.
"It's over."
Lee Han looked around and spoke.
The battle had been more one-sided than expected.
The dead knew how to burn the blood remaining in their bodies and wield it like a weapon, which was fairly threatening, but their defenses were far too weak.
If they could break through the undead summons, that would be one thing, but the moment their advance was stopped, Lee Han could simply melt them down with firepower first.
'Was that all?'
Lee Han wondered whether the Yaksha King had assigned this to him because the difficulty was not particularly high.
Of course, the bastard did not seem considerate enough for that...
-Look over there.
Saratan spoke to him. Lee Han answered wearily.
"Fine. Fine. You're more violent than the Heavenly Fire General and stronger than the Yaksha King. Happy?"
-...Look at that mansion over there! You stupid mage bastard!!
At the desperate spirit's voice, Lee Han turned his gaze.
Above the pile of ruins where he had swept away the dead stood a mansion. It had collapsed and deteriorated so badly that Lee Han would not even have realized it was a mansion if Saratan had not pointed it out.
It seemed like it must once have been quite luxurious. Looking closely, though broken, there were pillars made of marble and purple incense stone, and famous paintings still hung on the walls. Their canvases were torn and hung crookedly, but they remained there nonetheless.
And inside sat more of the dead. Even though Lee Han had drawn close, they did not rush at him like the others had.
'A trap?'
Just as he was considering whether to simply overwhelm them from a distance with firepower like before, the dead opened their mouths.
-Who sent that letter yesterday?
-It was a letter from an Imperial tax collector. He dared to think we were engaging in deception.
-What an insolent human bastard. We had already established ourselves in this land before that human's ancestors were even born. And he [N O V E L I G H T] dares threaten us by borrowing someone else's authority?
-Please calm yourself. They will never notice anyway. Who in this land would dare defy you, Elder?
-We need more power. We need more power! If we had enough power, would those vulgar bastards dare send us letters demanding gold coins? Increase the number of sacrifices!
-But Elder, there are already concerns that the number of sacrifices is not small...
-Silence! Even if a few cowardly bastards grumble, they won't be able to do anything. In fact, this works out well. Wipe out those who refuse to follow orders and make an example of them! That should reduce the number of complainers too!
"......"
Lee Han was greatly shocked.
The dead here were not merely dead. They had originally been people from the Empire!
"What happened to them?"
-You mean the evil-god worshipers? They're simply paying the price for being deceived.
The hamster spoke cynically.
Being a magical criminal itself, the hamster knew very well that there was no such thing as power without a price in this world.
Even believing in an uncorrupted evil god could twist one's soul in unknown ways, so after worshiping a corrupted evil god, they should probably be grateful that this was all that had happened to them.
-They probably still believe they're alive and enjoying their authority. Ignore them or wipe them out. Those things are less useful than specks of dust.
Ordinary dead at least tried to defeat intruders and gain power, but these had no such awareness.
If left alone, they would repeat the same actions here until the end of the dimension.
Lee Han steeled himself and approached.
He had considered attacking first, but once he thought that these people might be connected to Professor Voladi, he could not bring himself to do that.
"I'd like to ask you something."
The dead inside all whipped their heads around at once.
Every one of their outfits was torn or frayed, and there was not a single intact part of their bodies after their dealings with the evil god.
The sight of all of them staring at Lee Han while emitting bloody light was considerably chilling.
-Who are you? What lowborn wretch dares intrude upon a banquet of true vampires?
'Damn. Was I too careless?'
At their violent reaction, Lee Han prepared to attack.
He had thought he might be able to deceive them because they were somewhat out of their minds...
-Calm yourself. That one is also a vampire. It seems to be from a fairly noble House.
-Is that so? Indeed. Sit. Do not be late again.
"......"
Lee Han wore an awkward expression.
For some reason, he did not want to obey them. Instead of sitting down, Lee Han continued speaking where he stood.
"You said earlier that you would wipe out those who refuse to follow orders and make an example of them. Who exactly are those people?"
Although the dead were displeased that Lee Han did not take a seat, they nevertheless answered readily enough.
-They are defectors. Those who reject the calling of the god who watches over us and act as they please.
"Like House Bagreg?"
Several of the dead could not remember the name of such an insignificant House, but one of them managed to recall it.
The reason was simple. Somewhere, the dead one had vaguely heard a rumor that a member of that House had enrolled at Einroguard.
-Yes. A House like that would make a fine example as well.
"Ah! Lord Sanguros is over there!"
Lee Han raised his staff and pointed in the opposite direction. His shout was so serious that even the hamster and Saratan instinctively turned to look.
"Lightning. Descend and manifest!"
And in that instant, lightning fire swept through the dead.
Lee Han gave his enemies no opening and reduced them to dust. A cold murderous glint flashed in his eyes.
-...Have you ever considered saying something before launching a surprise attack?
"How would it be a surprise attack if I did that? Saratan, are there any more of them left around here? If there are and you missed them, I'll spread a rumor throughout the entire spirit world that you were Baquantalana's slave."
-There aren't any! You bastard!
Saratan shouted loudly in a trembling voice. Somehow, its voice seemed almost damp with tears.
"I see. Then let's really go back."
Once all the dead had vanished, even the remains of the mansion finally collapsed.
Lee Han watched the sight with a bitter expression.
To think Professor Voladi's House had been attacked because of people as greedy as those.
There were countless evil people in the Empire, but this was the first time someone close to Lee Han had suffered such severe harm because of them.
Lee Han suddenly felt as though he understood why the young prince had wandered the continent as he had.
Unlike Lee Han, who only became this angry after learning that someone close to him had been harmed, the young prince was far purer.
That was surely why he had been capable of such pure fury.
"Wait. Could the Yaksha King have sent me alone out of consideration for Professor Bagreg?"
Lee Han suddenly thought of something and asked.
At first, he had wondered why the Yaksha King had sent him alone without even assigning any knights to him, but now that he had seen this, he wondered whether the Yaksha King had anticipated something like this and acted out of consideration.
Saratan and the hamster agreed.
-It's possible.
-A being on that level could very well have known.
'Was I thinking too badly of the Yaksha King?'
Lee Han reflected, just a little.
After all, the Yaksha King was also a major dimensional power. Surely he would not do something like this without any thought...
***
Now then. Disciple of Osu. Next is that swamp over there. Go deal with it.
The instant Lee Han returned, the Yaksha King immediately gave him another order.
At those words, Lee Han's gaze darkened.
...He really is doing this out of consideration, right?
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