The Necromancer Commands Slaves, Not Undeads

9 – Anemone of Trader’s Guild (2)

The carriage stopped. The black wolf and I moved to a flat ground without rocks and pebbles that would interfere with our movement within the autumn breeze plain.

As he looked at me, who was awkward in movement, the black wolf said,

“Don’t worry. I told you to show off your skill, but I’m not a coward who attacks the wounded. I just want to test how strong the skeleton you resurrected is.”

The black wolf’s thick arm was as big as my face. Without steroids in this era, his whole body was terribly buffed as though he was on doping.

The black wolf stared at me with a great sword in his hand, sharper and longer than my body.

On thinking of a great sword, one would usually think of a long and thick sword about the size of a robust adult male’s torso.

But in this world, a typical great sword referred to a two-handed sword with a longer sword body than a long sword.

The black wolf was holding a two-handed sword that was impressive enough to be called a great sword due to its length.

I sent the skeleton I had summoned earlier in front of the black wolf.

The black wolf looked at the skeleton with a spirited expression.

“It’s not really a problem if I kill it, right?”

“It doesn’t matter. Although it’s questionable if that’s possible.”

The mercenaries, traders, Dorothy, and I, centered around the black wolf and the skeleton, sat around in a large circle as spectators.

“Boss, win!”

“Destroy that unpleasant corpse in a single blow!”

The mercenaries cheered for their boss, the black wolf.

“Uh, uh···”

And the merchants were utterly stumped, wondering how the situation had come to this.

“Master, win!”

Dorothy cheered for me so her voice wouldn’t be buried amongst the mercenaries’ cheers.

With such cheering, the real duel began.

The skeleton rushed forward. Unlike its opponent, the skeleton had no fear of pain, injuries, or rather, death.

The black wolf narrowed his distance in a flash and stared at the rushing skeleton.

To my eyes, the movements of the undead I summoned this time seemed more awkward than the skeleton that fought against Mors.

The skeleton was a complete novice while the black wolf was experienced. The winner of this round was obvious.

The black wolf’s great sword fell vertically. The long and wide reach of the great sword did not allow the skeleton to approach. The blow reaches the skull.

Being thrown on the floor by the weight of the sword, any fully armored soldier would have died from this strike. But death did not exist for the resurrected.

The skeleton stood back up after taking the blow. There was a crack in the skeleton’s skull, but it rushed forward just like before.

The cheering of the mercenaries turned into aghast exclamations.

“Insane…”

“Have bones always been this hard…?”

“It doesn’t even have full plate armor like a knight…!!”

The bone strength of the human body varied by part. Every part was inferior to pure iron, but it was another matter to protect internal organs.

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Also, the summoned skeleton had been fortified by necromancy.In life, it was harder than bone itself.

The nick on the blade of the two-handed sword from the previous strike was clearly visible.

The black wolf spoke to me with a look of great amusement.

“A true immortal, free from the torment and the fear of death.”

The black wolf adjusted his grip again, which seemed narrower than before.

He balanced himself on his forefoot, his body beginning to rotate a half turn.

The muscles in his arms holding the great sword began to prominently swell, veins bulging from beneath the surface of his skin.

I narrowed my eyes. Such a large and slow movement was typically ineffective, even against a beginner…

The summoned skeleton was even simpler than a beginner. When the skeleton approached within his striking range again-

With extraordinary strength, the black wolf effortlessly swung his two-handed sword, its blade horizontally slamming into the relatively thin neck bone of the skeleton.

The two-handed sword, which had become incredibly massive, used centrifugal force to brutally smash the neck bone, sending the skull flying.

“That’s it!”

“Well done!”

“Captain! That was a clean strike!”

Cheers from the mercenaries echoed around. The majority spectating were convinced of the black wolf’s victory.

However, the black wolf, having decapitated the skeleton, watched in shock.

Despite the skull being sent flying, the skeleton stayed in motion.

“Damn it!”

He should have split the waist in half instead. Aiming for the neck was a mistake born out of the black wolf’s habits.

The black wolf had just made a large move. So, it was difficult to counter the approaching skeleton.

The swaying black wolf, unbalanced due to the weight concentrated on the blade, was pushed onto his front knee and thrown back by the skeleton.

Although the skeleton was light, the black wolf’s stance had been shattered. The rushing acceleration was a force that couldn’t be ignored.

The black wolf lost his great sword and rolled on the ground. He quickly attempted to regain his footing but the skeleton mounted him and began pummelling his face.

The rigid bone tore the flesh near his cheekbones.

“It’s still moving even after decapitating it!?”

“Cap, you’re in danger!”

The black wolf snapped to attention. The opponent wouldn’t die. Wouldn’t tire. But that was all.

He grabbed the skeleton’s descending fist with one hand. As the black wolf applied force, the arm of the skeleton began to slowly retreat.

Technique aside, through sheer force alone, the black wolf started to break free from the skeleton’s mount. He sat up, now pinning the skeleton to the ground.

While firmly pinning the skeleton’s torso with his lower body, he took a deep breath.

He then started to pull on one of the skeleton’s arms with both hands.

Thunk! Thunk! Like a potato root in the dirt, the skeleton’s joints audibly popped as they began to be pulled out under his sheer strength.

He resembled an ogre more than a human. I watched his astonishing feat of strength, eager to see what he would do next.

He yanked off all the limbs of the skeleton I had summoned and threw them on the ground. Watching the struggling torso as the limbs disappeared, he heaved a tired sigh.

I applauded at his feat. As I started clapping, everyone present, who had been spectating, began cheering and applauding.

“Haah…”

“One who is revived from death isn’t afraid of death. And…”

The land began to quake again. The land split and from the crevice, another skeleton began to crawl back to the surface from death.

Cheers and applause ceased as mercenaries and merchants began murmuring with perplexed expressions.

“Can he keep summoning such monsters…?”

“This seems too much even for the captain…”

I asked the weary black wolf if he wanted to keep fighting.

“Those are my supporters. Do you want to continue?”

He stuck his tongue out, looking exhausted, and bowed his head to me.

“I’ve lost. If you’re capable of resurrecting them from the dead…””Lynn’s body is definitely strong. I apologize for the rude behavior committed against you.”

“I may look like a person who uses suspicious magic, but I have no intention of harming you or your subordinates. I just injured my leg and wanted a quick way to the Freut Region.”

He nodded his head and extended his hand to me.

“My name is Ulfric. Everyone calls me the Black Wolf.”

“I am just a wandering magician. That’s my assistant, Dorothy. Please, take good care of us from now on.”

After the railing, Ulfric and I shook hands while Dorothy ran into my arms.

“Master, you’re strong!”

I laughed while holding Dorothy. And while patting her back, I looked at the mercenaries.

The captain of the mercenaries acknowledged me. And they also watched my fight. The mercenaries returned to the carriage without a word.

Among them, there were some mercenaries who were looking at me fearfully.

“Magician, you are impressive. We admire you. Now, it might be a little inconvenient in the wagon, but we will make you as comfortable as possible.”

At Gilbert’s words, Dorothy and I got into the open space in the wagon.

At least, it was a relief that I didn’t have to strain my injured leg.

If Mors were chasing us with multiple people, it would be quite a burden for him.

The Black Wolf Ulfric protecting this merchant was highly skilled.

If he were to fight Mors one on one, he would have enough skills to draw a pretty picture.

If he had a weapon like a mace or a hammer that could effectively respond to skeletons, it would not have been this easy to win, even against hard skeletons that do not die and never tire.

The rebound hasn’t come yet, but we have talked about mental fatigue as a penalty for the ability to summon the undead.

It was good to have many friends.

“But, Dorothy, why have you been glancing at the Black Wolf like that since earlier?”

Dorothy flinched at once. And she carefully opened her mouth while checking my mood.

“I also, want to learn the sword…”

“What?”

With her unexpected words, I was taken aback.

“I also, want to be helpful to the master…”

She who was already pretty helpful…

“Dorothy is already enough of a will…”

When I told her the fact, she cut my words off and cried out almost desperately.

“I also want to use the sword…”

Dorothy who spoke emphatically held my hand and looked at me with pleading eyes.

I sighed with a difficult expression and then let it out.

“Ok. I’ll talk to him.”

As soon as I finished the sentence, the wagon jolted and we started heading for Freut Region with the merchant.