The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness (WN)

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Sure enough, vampires have a lot of weaknesses. I sighed as I heard the information coming through the bat.

Mirele had made such a disgrace of herself that it almost negated all her past accomplishments.  I can’t see it because of the power of the ‘Demon King of Evernight’, but I can understand the situation by the sounds and presence.

I get it… being hit with garlic for the first time is tough.

It’s easy to obtain, simple to process, and only effective against the vampires. Like flowing water, this is no other weakness as easy to exploit for the dark being when fighting vampires. What’s more, I’ve heard that garlic is available pretty much everywhere these days.

Unfortunately, there is no way to overcome garlic. You can never get used to it either… but, well, that just can’t be helped. The power gained is so strong exactly because of the cost. A sneeze is nothing, compared to destruction — getting hit by garlic for the first time is tough…

At first glance, Mirele seemed to be at a disadvantage. The enemy has taken measures against the vampires, and they have more numbers. The power of the Demon King of Evernight turned out to be more powerful than I thought too. I never thought that there could be darkness that a vampire’s eyes couldn’t see through. However, on the other hand, it means that even after doing that much, they still couldn’t kill Mirele.

Muffled moans, sneezing, screams, curses, angry shouting. At first, Mirele’s voice was the loudest, but gradually the screams of the dark elves began to mix in.

“A-atchooo… mm…nn…gyaaa!”

Garlic is a powerful weapon against vampires, but it’s not fatal. In order to kill a vampire reliably, you would have to use a holy silver weapon, drive a stake into their heart, or use the power of the Death Knights. A thunderous thud of something digging into the ground and the sound of something wet being crushed could be heard following each other. Mirele had begun to use her superhuman strength wildly.

She had probably not recovered enough to aim accurately. However, that alone would stop the enemy from carelessly approaching her.

That’s fine. She can defend against the thrown garlic with earth clouds. In the end, the most effective thing we can use in a battle is power.

I called out to Mirele as I had the bat dodge the garlic flying through the air.

“Mirele, do you need help?”

“Ah! I d-don’t!” Mirele cried out while fumbling her words. If that’s the case, she doesn’t need help. Combat skills can only be developed through fighting. Since Mirele lacks experience in hard battles, this battle may just be right for her.

Still, a castle siege might be an eternal challenge for a vampire, especially for non Noble Vampires who can’t use Fascinate Eye.

Mirele started to uproot the trees again, and threw them. In a true muscle-brain fashion, she didn’t change her attack strategy even though her weakness was being exploited. It’s not exactly a bad move—but, as I thought, we need an ally. A collaborator to lend us a hand.

I hope this is the last time we have to siege a castle by force.

I shifted the focus from the bat that had been following Mirele back to me.

I had left my main body in one of the towns that the Demon King of Evernight had captured and ruled until recently. Although Mirele recaptured it and drove out all the Demon King’s subordinates, the town was still quiet. Because the subordinates of the Demon King of Evernight ran wild, the residents had lost their will to live. The whole city was permeated with the stench of death. The number of the corpses scattered around was less than I thought — well, I feel bad for them but it can’t be helped. In this era, when the Order of Death Knights is unable to act, they’re lucky to even be alive. At that moment, Monica, who had gone to check out the town, returned.

“Lord End, I’ve checked the state of the town. It’s no good… this town is also on its last legs. We don’t have enough manpower, and there are hardly any people who can fight. There are still some stocks at the moment, but it is only a matter of time until they are wiped out.”

“I see… he sure did something troublesome.”

Looks like the Demon King of Evernight occupied the town, but he made no attempt to make use of it. He killed every capable human. Well, I doubt humans would willingly accept being under the rule of demons — especially a demon with half-way powers like the Demon King of Evernight, so they were probably purged before they could cause problems. He might have harbored some grudges against them too.

The problem is that there are five such towns and villages.

Unfortunately, I have no political power. I never even received a proper education as a noble. I’ve always been bedridden because of the Dead Soul Illness… At this rate, the town that was just liberated will end up dying.

“There were two of the mayor’s children left, at least. However, they are still young. Should I bring them over?” “… Sure. Bring them.”

“… As you wish.”

The mayor position is usually hereditary. His children must have received the minimum required education at least. And the fact that they’re children… well, that might be an advantage. Right now, I need any help I can get. 

Monica brought over dirty-looking children. I observed the two of them from my seat on the coffin. It was a boy and a girl, both in their early teens. They had hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, wearing tattered rags. Their dark brown hair was disheveled and their lips were dry. Their original appearance was fairly good, but looking at their current state, nobody would believe that they were the children of the territory lord. They didn’t seem to have any external injuries, but they were lifeless.

Their eyes flashed with fear for just a moment when they saw me, but they kept their lips tightly pressed together. 

“Apparently, the town mayor was brutally killed while leading the soldiers in an attack against the Demon King – Those are his children. I have told them about you, Lord End.”

Well, it’s probably difficult to stand up to the forces of the Demon King of Evernight in such a small town. The difference in the number of people who can fight is just too big. And even though I was talking, they showed no reaction. Well, I don’t know what Monica told them, but I’ve no intention of saying anything unnecessary. 

At the moment, all I want is a practical profit. 

From now on, we will search for Senri while defeating Demon Kings. We may liberate human towns that have been ruled by the Demon Kings along the way, like we did this time. However, it would be meaningless if the liberated towns are wiped out. There’s no telling what Senri would say if that happened, but if I manage to save those towns, she’ll surely praise me and give me her blood.

I have no interest in ruling the town. I need somebody with the ability to do something about it. At worst, I’d like them to have the motivation, even if they don’t have the ability. I’m not in a hurry to find them but I’ll still need them one day.

I looked them both in the eye, and said with a smile.

“I am End Baron, a righteous vampire. I am liberating towns that were attacked and occupied by the Demon King. Therefore, I would like to entrust running and reconstructing this town to you guys. Is that okay?”

“?!”

“Huh?!”

“Lord End?!” All three of them had their eyes wide open, as if they hadn’t heard anything.  Leaving aside the two that had been brought in, it was unbelievable that even Monica seemed surprised.

“If that seems impossible, I would like for you to tell me who I can entrust with that task. If there’s anything you need, I’ll get it. I can’t stay here too long.  I have to help other towns too.”

Or maybe if I asked their country for help, they could send a consul? No, I doubt they could afford that. I used my ability to cheer up the two confused by my sudden request. 

‘Fascinate Eye’ is an ability that can control people’s minds – originally it’s a power used to control humans and temporarily turn them into underlings, but any ability can be used in different ways. If they were forced to do something against their will, there would be repercussions after the ability wore off, but there shouldn’t be a problem if I just give them a little push. After being affected by Fascinate Eye, which is effective immediately and compulsively and can work even on mercenaries with strong willpower, their eyes changed.

“Do your best if you don’t want to die. Take up a weapon. You must fight to protect what is important to you. This concerns you guys.” 

“… Y-yes sir.”

“As… you will…”

Alright, I got their words. Now this town will be safe. 

Oh yeah, what if I gathered people from other towns here? There might be some decent fighting force remaining, and with the population decreasing, there should be more capacity. This town is on the verge of death anyway. It would be easier to protect if we gathered the materials and united the town. Of course we’ll take thorough measures against vampires. 

“Monica, I leave them to you. They’re in terrible shape. Give them a bath, nice clothes, feed them, let them rest, and bring them back to me after they’ve calmed down.”

“… Will it really work?”

“That’s… up to you, Monica.”

Monica’s charm isn’t as strong as mine, but it lasts longer. Any problem can be solved if we all come together and tackle it together.

Being a king isn’t that easy. 

💀💀💀

Night destroyed the city. The attack was sudden. There was no warning or declaration of war. It only took half a day. In just a matter of half a day, Fagani, a town with a hundred years of history, was destroyed. 

Demons poured in and many people were killed. Their father, who was a respected mayor of Fagani for many years, and their mother, who had supported him both in public and in private, had turned into mute corpses before they knew it. What Cody, and his twin younger sister Etta saw after slipping out from the mansion’s secret basement, unable to endure the loss of their parents who would never return, was the town overflowing with corpses and taken over by demons. To be honest, they did not remember much after that. But their days of risking their lives to survive started.

Even to the children’s eyes, the town had completely lost its function. There were more corpses than people. The demons who attacked Fagani didn’t seem to have any intention of taking control of the town.

There were none left who could fight, and the only ones who had survived were those who the demons deemed not worth killing, such as children and elderly. Moreover, they could be killed on a whim any time.

They desperately lived through the world that had changed in a mere day. There were no laws in the town anymore and they had no time to worry about their surroundings. And this was true for people other than Cody and Etta too. A week went by, then a month, but no help came. The number of demons occupying the town had gone down, but there was no change in the situation.

There was nothing Cody and Etta, who had just turned 13, could do. They didn’t know how to fight, and it was clear that even if they fled the town, they would starve to death. In the first place, the fact that the help wasn’t coming means that the country didn’t have enough resources to provide them with help either.

They survived the pandemonium. Many of the residents who had survived the initial attack had started to fell victim to the ongoing situation. The reason why Cody and Henrietta, who were still children, survived, even if they were related to the mayor, was because they were lucky, but more than that—it was because they had been digging graves. All they had was time, so they dug graves every day and buried the corpses that were left nearby. Apparently, human corpses were an eyesore for the demons who didn’t eat the dead. The demons overlooked Cody and Etta because they dug graves and painstakingly buried the bodies. Before long, the other people who had barely managed to survive had begun to follow Cody and Etta’s example.

However, it was clear that this would become a problem. There were no manufacturers in town anymore. Once the supplies ran out, it wouldn’t be long before everyone starved to death. They couldn’t come up with a way to make a comeback. The survivors were exhausted both physically and mentally. And the demon army would surely disappear without clinging to the perished town.

If they caught the eye of the demons, they would be killed just to pass time. They were looking for an excuse to oppress the residents. Cody and Etta smothered their emotions and lived their lives while hiding every day.

However, that day also ended abruptly, just like the day when the town was destroyed. An even stronger force had arrived, paying no attention to the forces of the Evernight.

Thanks to advances in science and efforts of the Death Knights, the threat of demons had greatly diminished. Human towns, unable to resist the unity of the demons, were destroyed one after one.

All that’s fair must fade. The town was on the brink of destruction, and he only had one family member remaining.

You must fight to protect what is important.

Blood-red eyes shone mysteriously. Those words sunk into Cody’s mind strangely clearly.

Author’s note: End and his party liberated towns under the control of demons kings one after another. However, as End tried to leave the liberated town and move to the next place, the townspeople clung to him.

“Huh? Building a new town? Senri will praise me? I’ll do it.”

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