In the hinterlands of the Demon Realm, there was a dimly lit cave deep within the forest, surrounded by dense trees where not even light could reach. From time to time, an ominous presence leaked from the cave, and the surrounding creatures were afraid to approach the cave, afraid of this presence.
There was a shadow approaching this cave. It was a Lich dressed in a splendorous outfit, drifting in mid-air…… It was the family of the Underworld King Kuromueina, the Great Sage of the Dead, Sechs.
[Good grief, this place is as ominous as always…… Oya? The barrier around the cave is even stronger than before…… Good gracious, should I be glad that her research is going well or should I be dismayed by her thorough elimination of even the rarest of visitors……]
After muttering to himself with a sigh, Sechs activated a complex magic circle and slipped through the barrier at the entrance, entering the cave.
He then grabbed the arrow that flew towards him with his bony hands.[……I’ve already visited this place so many times, so I’m sure you can just set it so that it won’t attack when I visit, right…… Well. It’s her after all, so I doubt if she even remembers my name.]
Lightly brushing away the several undead soldiers that immediately attacked him, Sechs relaxedly muttered as he walked deeper into the cave, and saw a door that was unthinkably huge considering the size of the cave entrance.
Placing his hand on the huge door created by Space Expansion, Sechs slowly opened it…… revealing a rather huge space.
The walls were lined with skeletons and zombies of various sizes, and the entire space seemed to be enshrouded with the thick mist of death.
At the far end of the room, in the center of a pile of materials and documents, a person in black robes took out a huge coffin and pointed it at Sechs just as he entered the room.
Just as the coffin was about to open up, filling the room with a large amount of sinister magic power that seemed to make the space creak, Sechs spoke.
[It’s been a while, “Rasal-dono”.][………………………]
Hearing these words, the coffin that was about to be opened stopped, and after the person named Rasal finally glanced at Sechs, confirming his appearance, she closed the coffin.
[……I remember you, you’re that eccentric Lich. Ahh, come to think of it, I seem to remember making a few deals with you.]
[I wish you’d at least remember my name though.]
[Don’t know. Don’t care.]
After saying this in a disinterested manner, Rasal turned around and placed her coffin nearby. This eerie-looking woman, wearing a black hooded robe that covered most of her body, is “Rasal Marfik”, the most powerful necromancer known in the Demon Realm.
[So, what do you want? You’re interfering with my research, so keep it short.]
Rasal was the best necromancer Sechs had ever known, but she was also extremely eccentric, as she has been spending tens of thousands of years doing only endless research. She was an extreme hikikomori that she only went out of her cave once every few thousand years.
[Hoho, was it doing well? The construction of your theory to create an infinite number of undead soldiers……]
[I don’t want to engage in idle chitchat. What do you want?]
[Good grief, you’re as acrimonious as ever…… No, it’s not that big of a deal. I was just wondering if you had any surplus undead soldiers you could give me.]
Sechs had had dealings with Rasal on several occasions in the past. Although she was a bit eccentric, the performance of the undead soldiers that Rasal creates is a few steps above what Sechs creates, and they’re useful in many ways.
Moreover, Rasal has randomly arranged the things she created in the course of her research in this room, and when she ran out of space, she just erases them all and disposes of them, which made Sechs feel like it was a waste, so he visited her on a somewhat regular basis and buys up her undead soldiers.
For Rasal, Sechs buys her unnecessary research results and frees up her space, and as a result, she can spend her disposal time on research. For Sechs, it’s a win-win situation, as he can buy cheap, highly efficient undead soldiers from Rasal, who has little interest in anything other than her own goals.
[……I don’t need all those lined up on the wall. Take it as you like.]
[Fumu, what’s the price?]
[I’ll leave it to you as usual. I don’t care about the costs.]
After a brief exchange, Sechs used Space-Time Magic to store the various lined up undead soldiers, and placed a bag of money in the center of the room.
As usual, no matter what he said, Rasal wouldn’t respond to any further conversation, so after Sechs finished storing the undead soldiers, he turned to leave.
At that moment though, he was unusually called out by Rasal.
[Wait. I have one question for you.]
[How unusual…… What is it?]
[There’s someone calling themselves Death King, right? Where can I find them?]
[You’re talking about Isis-sama? She lives in the castle in the Land of Death, the northernmost part of the Demon Realm.]
After Sechs replied with some surprise to Rasal’s sudden question, she continued with another question.
[Is she worthy of being called the Death King?]
[I would say that she is the incarnation of death itself.]
[I see…… That’s all I want to know. Now get your ass out of here.]
[Fumu?]
Although he tilted his head at Rasal’s words, he knew he wouldn’t get an answer even if he asked, so without further ado, Sechs left the cave.
In the cave after Sechs had left, Rasal deeply smiled as she continued with her research.
[Ku, kakaka…… Soon. Soon, it will be finished. I was wondering what I would do with it once it was finished, but perhaps, it might be a good idea to teach that fool who calls herself Death King, disregarding me, who is worthy of being the Death King.]
With a deep smile on her face, she immersed herself in her nearly completed research…… Not knowing the fate that awaited her.
Without any idea that she would later decide to bow down in a dogeza after meeting the Death King, Rasal’s loud laughter resounded within the cave.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [……And thus, the future that awaits her was one with her head on the ground.]
