Volume 5, Chapter 37 – A Curse That Cannot Be Broken

An illusion barrier.

“Tch.”

Yanking Edith back, Yisi stood in front of her. At the same time, the illusion barrier disappeared, and an army of undead, about a hundred strong, appeared before them. Unlike the undead on the outskirts, these were all clad in armor and holding weapons, arranged in a highly organized phalanx.

Although their levels hadn’t changed, if they were to engage with her companions, Mary and the others probably wouldn’t last long. An army in formation and a disorderly mob were two completely different things in terms of combat strength.

The undead soldiers all aimed their weapons at Yisi’s group of seven. However, as if they had discovered something, the undead leader, mounted on a skeletal horse, suddenly raised his hand, signaling the soldiers to lower their weapons.

They have intelligence?

Andrea’s words came to mind. Artificially created undead usually lacked intelligence. Since these undead showed signs of intelligence, it meant, in other words, that the male porter’s guess was likely correct. The undead living in the Land of Betrayal were very likely the rebel army that had been cursed by Alvier VI, unable to be reincarnated after death and becoming naturally formed undead.

“Pureblood…”

The undead leader rode his horse to a spot three meters in front of Yisi and spoke in an exceptionally slow, hoarse voice. Having not spoken for a long time, the withered undead kept twisting his head, as if trying to recall language.

“This… is not a place you should be… Go back.”

So they use violence to drive away adventurers, but use words to persuade purebloods? It seemed their reverence for purebloods remained even after death.

Yisi looked back at Andrea. “What are you going to do, Andrea? These should be naturally formed undead.”

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Andrea’s initial plan was to find the person who had created the undead. As long as the creator abandoned them, the Lost Lands that endangered the Astrid Territory would disappear. But for naturally formed undead, Andrea seemed to have no good solution.

Andrea took a step forward. “Lady Yisi, may I handle this from here?”

“Don’t go too far from me.”

“I know.”

Somewhat timidly, Andrea walked in front of the undead leader. The leader showed no resistance. Of course, perhaps he did, but his facial muscles had already decayed, making it impossible to express.

“I am the seventh-generation Queen of the Blood Clan, Andrea Fred Alvier. I hereby question the soldiers who once fought for the Queen: do you belong to the nobles who betrayed Alvier VI?”

“Que… en…” As if recalling the meaning of the word, the undead soldier lowered his head. After about half a minute, he finally reacted, dismounted his horse, and slowly uttered a shocking statement.

“The tenth Count Hillary… Cecil Elroy Hillary.”

“Count Hillary?” Edith frowned. “Isn’t he the leader of the rebel army?”

Without answering Edith, Count Hillary seemed to have remembered how to use language, and his speech became slightly more fluent. “The living should not pass through this place… Leave.”

“You betrayed Her Majesty the Queen. Don’t you feel any guilt? This is a sin that cannot be washed away even by death.”

“…Unable to repent, only able to atone.”

He admitted that he had betrayed the Queen.

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Andrea’s face turned pale, but she neither cursed nor showed an angry expression. Just as Count Hillary had said, what was done could not be undone. So, rather than anger, it was more important to deal with the matter at hand, even if Andrea found it impossible not to care about his betrayal. It was precisely because of their defection that Alvier VI had fallen.

With great difficulty, Andrea slowly began to speak. “Do you have any unfulfilled last wishes?”

Naturally formed undead mostly held obsessions from their past lives, so as long as their obsessions were fulfilled, their souls could be liberated and disappear completely from the continent.

“Last wish…”

Instantly, not only the tenth Count Hillary, but also the soldiers behind him were stunned. A crimson light glowed in the eye sockets under their helmets, as if they were about to go berserk at any moment.

“…To beg for forgiveness.”

As he spoke, Count Hillary knelt on one knee. As if a domino had been pushed, the soldiers behind him also knelt on one knee.

“Betraying the Sixth was not our will.”

“Are you trying to say you were just forced to betray by other nobles? Even so, you still betrayed the previous Queen. Traitors have no right to beg for forgiveness. If I were the Queen, I would send you all into the sunlight right now to be scorched for hundreds or thousands of years.”

Edith’s words made Count Hillary lower his head even further, his hoarse voice filled with clear guilt. “Count Galvin threatened us with our wives and daughters. We had no choice.”

“Hmph, you have the nerve to say that. You probably don’t know, but your son, the eleventh Count Hillary, is currently raising a banner of rebellion and has already reached the Vladimir Territory.”

Count Hillary was stunned. He was silent for a long time before he answered. “…I’m sorry.”

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This was not something that could be solved with a simple apology, but Count Hillary could find no other words. He was now an undead. Even if he returned to his family, no one would acknowledge him. Even an undead with intelligence could not be accepted in the eyes of ordinary people.

Andrea took a deep breath. “In other words, as long as I forgive you, your last wish will be fulfilled, right?”

“…The Sixth cursed us, trapping us here. If we can obtain the forgiveness of the Seventh, we can be liberated.”

“Then, I, Andrea Fred Alvier, in the name of the seventh-generation Queen of the Blood Clan, declare that I forgive your past transgressions. I command you to disappear from this place and never appear before me again.”

Silence.

A minute passed quickly.

Nothing happened.

Count Hillary raised his head, and Yisi’s group was stunned. A hint of panic flashed in Andrea’s golden eyes, and she repeated her previous words. “Andrea Fred Alvier, hereby, in the name of the seventh-generation Queen of the Blood Clan, declares forgiveness for Count Hillary and the soldiers who betrayed my mother in the past. I command you to disappear from this place and never appear before me again.”

Still nothing.

“…Why?” A trace of unease entered Count Hillary’s voice.

“I-I’ll try again.”

But no matter how Andrea changed her wording, Count Hillary’s curse was not lifted.

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Finally, he realized something was wrong. With things as they were, no matter how much one hoped for reincarnation, there was no hope left.

Without further hesitation, Count Hillary slowly stood up and drew the longsword from his waist. His eye sockets, flickering with red flames, were filled with rage.

“You’re toying with me! You are not the Queen at all!”

“H-How could that be? I can clearly use the magic only the royal family can use. There must be some mistake—”

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

With Count Hillary’s distorted voice as the signal, all the kneeling soldiers stood up. Immediately after, one after another, undead appeared on the barren plain. A dense, seemingly endless number filled their entire field of vision. A rough estimate put their number at over a hundred thousand.

“Foolish living!”

Raising his longsword, Count Hillary first led his soldiers in a charge toward Andrea. Following closely behind, tens of thousands of soldiers also began to swarm toward her.

Although it was not unmanageable, if she were to use a wide-area annihilation magic, it might cause devastating damage to the surrounding villages. Now was not the time to resolve this.

Yisi clicked her tongue, swept the dazed Andrea off her feet from behind, and then had her companions gather around her.

I’ll come back and deal with this alone later.

“[Advanced Mass Teleportation].”