The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

20 – MantiManticore, the Chimera with a human face. The monster with a human face was exceedingly intelligent.

It raided the settlements, turning the people into their slaves. Using these slaves, they kidnapped more people to fill their stomachs.

Although the captured slaves could have been eaten immediately, they were usually scarce and thin due to their struggling lives.

Because the slaves were too thin to satisfy the manticore’s appetite, they were forced to kidnap people. All to hunt for those who would fit the monster’s appetite.

The monster with a human-level intelligence was evil and did not possess any guilt for the actions it committed.

That was the most terrifying aspect of the manticore.

One day while still filling its belly using slaves, the manticore realized that the slaves it had sent out into the wilderness had not returned. It had surely sent them along with one of the most powerful beasts in this mountain, a bear.

The manticore deemed it highly unlikely that the slaves would have run away. Therefore, it assumed that the bear along with the slaves must have been dealt with.

Humans may have learned about its existence and be swarming its way. The manticore realized within a short period that humans might arrive sooner rather than later.

At the realization, rather than being scared, the manticore felt exhilarated. It had been getting tired of preying on scarce victims anyway.

“Hey there!”

Moving its gigantic body on four legs, the manticore walked over to the slave huddled in the mountains.

The voice that the manticore emitted was rather jesting and masculine.

The slave prostrated and began to tremble at the sight.

“Y-Yes!”

“I expect guests to arrive in this mountain soon.”

The manticore poked the slave’s head with its tremendous front paw. The slave laid prostrate, closed his eyes tight and awaited the manticore’s command.

“Prepare the best hospitality. It’s time to greet our guests with the wooden spears you have diligently been preparing. Call all the slaves immediately.”

“If everyone is not assembled within 30 minutes, I will eat you.”

Although the manticore had a human’s face, it proportional to its gigantic body.

As it spoke, the manticore’s enormous mouth broke into a terrifying grin, and drool dripped to the ground.

The slave became soaked with the manticore’s saliva.

At the sound of those words, the slave hurriedly rose to his feet and with a fear-stricken expression, bowed before moving briskly away.

***

The punitive force split up as they approached the mountain where the manticore resided. Leading the force was a band of mercenaries led by a black wolf.

In the middle of the formation were the elite soldiers of Lord Oliver Freud, who was stationed on horseback.

In the rear, knights who swore loyalty to Lord Freud were leading the remnants of the mercenaries.

Dorothy and I were walking with the punitive force, next to the skeletal horse that I had summoned. I couldn’t ride the skeletal horse because…

If I were to ride a saddle-less skeletal horse, I feared it would lead to a rather uncomfortable journey, to put it mildly.

As Dorothy and I walked beside the knights, one of them started speaking.

“You certainly are fluent in speech, wizard.”

Caught off guard by the sudden compliment, I turned my head and smiled.

“It’s nothing.”

The knight continued his quiet monologue.

“I didn’t believe it initially. When Lord Freud began his spiel about the manticore, I couldn’t believe it. When I heard of this unknown wizard risking it all and insisting upon a raid, I swore that if we fail, I would be the one to take your head.”

Listening to the knight’s grim story, I could only respond with a forced smile.

“I am glad it didn’t come to that.”

Dorothy shot a chilling stare at the knight. He glanced back at her and inquired.

“She has a fiery gaze, this little one. And she is?”

“She’s my assistant, Dorothy.”

“Attempt to raise a hand against your master once.”

Dorothy growled at the knight standing in front of her. Upon seeing this, he laughed heartily.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, so don’t worry. My name is Leonard. I’m currently serving as Lord-Proydt’s knight.”He’s a knight who has died. Call him Leonard.”

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He looked at the man who had announced himself as Leonard. He was dressed in full plate armor. Although he himself wasn’t armed, two boys following him held a sword and a bow, following Leonard. Perhaps they were his squires.

We had a conversation with Raymond, and our expedition arrived at the entrance of the mountain where Manticore resided.

Before we climbed the mountain, the expedition took a momentary break. After the break, by the lord’s command, we started to ascend the mountain.

As we climbed, the surroundings were dense with trees. The terrain was rough and the uphill climb rigorous, the unfamiliar mercenaries and soldiers struggled.

“Damn it…”

“When will the Manticore show up.”

While we climbed the mountain, grumbling voices could be sporadically heard around.

“Everyone, keep your wits about you! An enemy can appear any time, anywhere!”

An authoritative voice of a black wolf comforting the grumbling mercenaries and soldiers rang out.

Looking at the lord who seemed satisfied with this, I thought that the black wolf might have a promising future soon.

Dorothy, on the other hand, climbed the mountain quickly like a flying squirrel. Ever since her fight with the bear, Dorothy’s physical abilities had grown at an astounding speed.

On the other hand, Leonard, having to climb a steep uphill in heavy armor, was walking behind everyone else.

Dorothy turned back and extended her hand to him. Her gesture was resolute.

“Thank you.”

“Mhm.”

With Dorothy and squire’s help, Leonard was able to climb the steep uphill in full plate armor.

I took advantage of my staff to climb the mountain easily. Not having the heavy armor on like the others, I was relatively comfortable.

I was glad I decided not to wear armor.

I casually looked around as I leisurely climbed the mountain.

And I noticed something strange.

The surroundings were eerily quiet. Apart from the sound of the expedition marching along the mountain, nothing else could be heard.

A sense of unease was trickling into my heart, and by the time I realized it, it had become a reality.

“It’s an ambush!”

The desperate voice of the black wolf came from the front of the expedition. Then, the howling of a wolf pack echoed.

“Hell, there are wolves!”

“They’re too big..!”

As if they had been waiting for the expedition to reach halfway, dozens of wolves that were hiding in the trees and undergrowth rushed out and ambushed the expedition from the front.

“Ahh!!”

“Take this, you bastards!!”

Screams of mercenaries rang out from the front. The wolves, like large beasts, were strong for their weight. The wolf pack started to engage the mercenaries.

“Fight! Fight for survival! That’s the only way to stay alive!!”

With a loud voice of the black wolf, a severed wolf’s head rolled on the ground. Looking at the courage of the black wolf, the mercenaries regained their morale and started pushing back the pack of wolves, crying out loudly.

“Fight!! Fight!!”

As the front of the expedition started fighting with the wolf pack, the middle of the expedition faces a more dire situation.

As the wolves ambushed, four bears jumped out from around the expedition and started charging at an insane speed.

“Block it!! Definitely block it!!”

The lord, holding out his armed sword, was shouting commands to block the bears, but the spectacle of the giant bears charging crazily was more than enough to demoralize the soldiers.

The enormous mass and weight of the bear rushing into the side flank of the expedition flung the soldiers in all directions.

“Aargh!!”

“Damn!! Damn it!! Block it!!”

The bears penetrated deep into the formation that was in disarray in an instant. The bears began to swipe at the soldiers standing on their hind legs.It began.

Thud! The armor the soldiers were wearing was meaningless. The soldiers, shattered by the bear’s blow, became minced meat scattering their flesh, intestine, and blood on the floor.

Unable to bear the sight, Dorothy spoke to me.

“Master.”

“Yes.”

“I’d go to help.”

Dorothy pulled the Rapier hanging from her waist. I nodded at her.

“Do not push yourself.”

“Okay. I’m fine. I can fight properly.”

With that, Dorothy rushed from the back to the middle. Her golden hair fluttered as she, clad in a black armor, dove into the scene of carnage.

Leonard and I looked at the back. The fact that we couldn’t escape from this place was the same for us.

Hidden in the bushes, the slaves and the Manticore, a lion-faced monster, were making waves.

Indeed, the appearance of the Manticore was bizarre. The creature had a middle-aged man’s face. A stubby nose and trimmed beard seemed gentlemanly.

The face was very large. It seemed that its size was equivalent to the size of seven human faces combined.

The lion-faced monster’s body was larger than the bear we had faced, and the creature, which was at least 5 meters tall, approached us on all fours and opened its jaws wide.

As the Manticore began to smile unpleasantly, it started talking.

“What a lot of flesh emitting inviting aromas! Should have let humans intrude earlier!”

The voice of the manticore was endlessly frivolous. Deep disgust rose from deep within my heart, like seeing horrifying bugs.

“Prepare for combat everyone!”

It was Sir Leonard who quickly analyzed the situation, recovered his spirit, and issued orders to the mercenaries. However…

“It speaks human language!”

“It’s a monster!!”

In panic, the mercenaries stood still, staring at the monster that appeared before them.

The temperature differed between listening to stories and encountering it directly.

The mere sight of the Manticore stirred a deep-rooted fear in the hearts of humans.

Frankly, I also felt like my breath stopped at the sight of the monster I encountered for the first time.

But how could I have come this far avoiding Mors… I’d rather not die being eaten by a monster in a place like this.

Among the trembling mercenaries, I took a deep breath and calmly stared at the Manticore.

I fixed my rod to the ground and opened my mouth towards the Manticore.

“You’re ugly.”

The manticore looked at me with an intrigued expression.

“It exudes an intriguing aroma, you seem both alive and dead. Aren’t you afraid seeing me?”

I removed the patch covering my right eye.

“Right now, in this place, there’s a scarier monster sleeping than you.”