The Fourth Lord, the King of the Dead, Astra.
As a newcomer and an undead lich, he perfectly suited the title of King of the Dead.
But why...
Why did he come looking for me suddenly?
“He’s waiting for you at the entrance of the castle.”
I let out a deep sigh, buried my back in the chair, and immersed myself in brief agony.
I wanted to avoid meeting another Lord until the next meeting, but why was this happening already?
'I can’t just ignore this.'
A Lord himself came here to visit.
He even said that he came to see me, so of course, I should welcome him. That’s why it’s hard for me to refuse.
This was my base, and it would be rude if I refused to see him. I already had a somewhat bad relationship with the Thunder Lord.
The Fourth Lord was the opposite of the Tyrant, a Lord who maintained a gentle relationship with all the other Lords. So, I wanted to avoid being his enemy.
In fact, a meeting with a Lord didn’t mean that I have to take a huge risk.
Since I was also a Lord, the other would definitely not act recklessly.
However, since I was so weak, contact with someone much stronger still felt burdensome.
There’s no way he came here without a reason...
Still, the King of the Dead was a Lord who belonged to the normal side among the Lords.
Having made my decision, I told Floto.
“Take him here.”
I wondered if I should go out and greet him myself, but I thought there was no need to do that since he was the one who came here himself.
It took a while before Floto, who bowed his head and retreated, returned with someone.
A black robe rimmed with gold. And a skull visible through the hood...
The place where the eyes should have been was empty, and I could see the ghostly blue eyes glowing faintly.
As the being entered the hall, the secluded atmosphere seemed to be filled with gloom.
He stopped at the entrance of the hall and made eye contact with me.
[Lv. 95]
...This skull was the King of the Dead, the Fourth Lord.
He looked nothing like what I saw in the game.
The King of the Dead was holding in one hand a huge wooden staff that was as tall as his height, and that was also the staff he was holding in the game.
“Nice to meet you, Seventh Lord.”
A strange voice that seemed not to be coming out of the throat rang in my ears.
Come to think of it, how did a guy who was a skeleton but had no vocal cords speak? Was that all magic?
“I’m sorry for coming here so suddenly, with no warning. I’m just here to have a quick chat. May I sit down?”
I gestured to the seat opposite.
The King of the Dead approached with brisk steps and sat down on a chair. Silence fell in an instant.
Sitting close to him, I could feel the energy surrounding him much more clearly.
If what I felt when facing the Mad King was the pressure that seemed to weigh down my whole body, what I felt from the King of the Dead was eerie. It’s as if death took shape and materialized as it was...
'Now I’m really thankful for the [Soul of the King].'
If it wasn’t for that, my body might have been already shaking without me realizing it.
Once again, I felt grateful for this absolute mind barrier skill.
“What the matter?”
I asked, feigning indifference. Since it was their first meeting, I couldn’t think of anything that we could talk about.
And I wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible.
Interacting with him was much less gruesome than the Black Sea Empress, but it was equally burdensome to face a skeleton for a long time.
The King of the Dead, who was staring at me with his blue eyes shining, soon spoke in a voice that sounded like laughter.
“It surprised me when I heard the Overlord had appointed a new Lord straight from the meeting. Now I regret not being able to attend the last meeting.”
I made no reply.
When there was no reply, he continued to talk about useless things that he obviously didn’t come here for.
“Seventh Lord, I have a lot of interest in you personally, especially after hearing what happened during the meeting. It’s been the first time that a human sat on a Lord’s throne after half a century...”
“King of the Dead.”
I cut him off.
“I don’t like useless dialogue.”
The King of the Dead said nothing for a while, then burst into laughter.
“Then, I’ll tell you right away. The corpse of the Fist Saint you killed, Seventh Lord, I came for it.”
Those words brought back memories I had forgotten.
Right, there was that.
Didn’t Dayphon take the Fist Saint’s body before escaping the convoy because there could be someone who might want it?
I thought the King of the Dead would be the only one who would want a dead body, seemed like my guess was correct.
Well, if it’s the corpse of a strong man like the Fist Saint, it’s worth coveting.
A spirit magic that controlled the dead by reviving them.
The King of the Dead was the continent’s strongest necromancer, with no one to compare him to.
He was a terrible enemy in the game.
Among the Lords of Calderic, there were two beings that had their own large armies aside from the troops of the Overlord, and that were the King of the Dead and the Black Sea Empress.
The army of corpses led by the King of the Dead was enough to be called a one-man army.
But why did he go here for that?
Dayphon had the body, so why did he go here to get it from me?
That’s what I thought, but the words that he said next answered my question.
“Since you’re the one who killed the Fist Saint, you technically own the body. So, I’m here to ask permission to have it.”
“...”
Oh yeah, ownership...
Come to think of it, Dayphon said that I owned the body.
So, the King of the Dead came to see me personally because he wanted to take over the authority of the corpse.
He really didn’t need to go to me just for that.
Even if he didn’t ask permission, I wouldn’t have cared.
Still, from the perspective of the King of the Dead, I wondered if he asked for permission just in case I would question him about it later.
However, after coming all the way here and asking for permission like this... it really felt like just a waste.
As soon as I stared at him, the King of the Dead continued.
“I’ll pay you a fair price.”
A fair price.
Several things ran through my mind.
For example, magic items. Since the King of the Dead was a mage, shouldn’t he have defense-type items I need the most right now?
But that’s hard to say...
'It’s as if I’m openly confessing that I need items because I lack defensive skills.'
And when I thought about it, I didn’t even know if I could use magic items properly.
I thought about it for a while and then said.
“I want nothing from you.”
Then the King of the Dead said.
“Then how about leaving it as a debt? Later, when you want something from me, I’ll pay the price equal to the value of the Fist Saint’s corpse.”
I nodded my head because it was ambiguous to ask for something right away, and it was not a bad suggestion.
I thought it would be better to end it at this point without poking further.
“Do you need anything else?”
“No. You don’t seem to enjoy my company, so I’ll be going right away.”
After saying that, the King of the Dead got up from his seat and leisurely left the hall.
I buried myself in the chair, feeling empty for no reason, probably because the conversation I worried about ended blandly.
At that moment, Asher, who was standing behind me, let out a small trembling breath.
I glanced at her expression. The presence of the King of the Dead affected her this much.
I was fine because of the [Soul of the King], but the [Fear] that the King of the Dead exuded seemed to be a considerable burden to her.
Ugh...
Was I going to be continuously stuck between these monsters?
The conversation with the King of the Dead, which was short and bland, only gave me more hopelessness about the future.
But this was the path I chose.
I have to collect the hidden pieces as soon as possible.
***
An undead knight in black armor waiting in front of the castle gate bowed his head toward the King of the Dead, who walked out.
‘You came out right away.’
Necromancers and their subordinates were spiritually connected, allowing dialogue through their consciousness, as well as sharing images of what they saw.
The undead knight had doubts about the feelings of the King of the Dead, who were rarely happy.
The King of the Dead laughed mentally.
‘The new Seventh Lord is really interesting.’
Hundreds of years of leading immortality in the undead's body.
Since death no longer meant anything to him, paradoxically, he could feel ‘death’ more clearly than anyone else.
But how long had it been since he felt this feeling?
‘...I never thought I would feel the fear of death.’
I couldn’t feel any aura or mana from the Seventh Lord.
Neither magical power nor physical strength could be felt, so he looked like an ordinary human with no real abilities.
But the other definitely could kill him.
The only person who he felt this kind of feeling after he became a lich was the hero of Santea, and it was only faintly felt even from the Overlord.
He had come in person to get the Fist Saint’s corpse and to see what kind of person the new Seventh Lord was, but it turned out to be more enjoyable that he thought.
‘I can’t wait to see what kind of request he will make later.’
That’s why I was happy to even create a link through debt.
The King of the Dead pondered over the realization of death he had felt for the first time in a long while and firmly imprinted the existence of the Seventh Lord in his mind.
