I'm going on a night hunt with Lord. Now that I don't have to hide my abilities anymore, the monsters of the forest are no match for me.

　I was already familiar with the physical abilities of the wights from my nightly hunts for food. With a machete, claws, and a higher level of physical ability than a carnivore, plus the backup of a lord, there was no way I could be an enemy.

　He reaped the flesh of a pack of night wolves, once so terrifying, and devoured it.

　The flesh was raw, but a luscious heat that he had no memory of before his death passed down his throat and burned within his body.
　When hunting at night, I had to take off my clothes because I didn't want to get them dirty, and I had to be as careful as possible not to get my body dirty with blood, but I didn't care anymore.
　As I was eating the corpse in a pool of blood, Lord muttered to me in admiration.

I'm not sure what to make of this. And how did you manage to ...... hide it so well?

How many months did it take your predecessor to become a ghoul?

Ten months. But that's not too late. You're too fast. No doubt there are individual differences, but ...... is it noble blood?

　It is true that I was a member of a small noble family that ruled a region before I was born.

　It is true that I was a member of a small noble family that ruled a region in my lifetime, but it was not a big family like the noble families in the stories, and there was no one of particular importance in my family tree.
　The only thing is that they had more money than average, and I am grateful to them for trying to prolong my life when I had an incurable disease, but I never felt anything special about having noble blood in my life.

　He glared at Lord, gnawing on the flesh-stained bones of the night wolf with his sharp, pointed fangs.

...... Nobleman or commoner, when you're dead, you're just a corpse.

"............ I bet you're right. Well, okay. You're going to mutate into a Dark Stalker in no time at all. You'll have to figure out why later. ......

　The Lord's voice had the sound of a soliloquy in it.

　As a result of my desperate defiance, I was only able to obtain a small amount of information.
　The most important of which was that I was no match for Lord.

　I can't do anything now that I'm forbidden to attack or take any action that would put me at a disadvantage, but even if I didn't, it's impossible for me to cut off 120 lives before I get an absolute command. I managed to cut down two lives by surprise, but even if I hadn't been able to stop the action by order after that, I wouldn't have been able to kill Lord.

　The Lord has magic. And I have no way to counter it. I thought it wouldn't matter if I killed him by surprise, but I'd underestimated the sorcerer. The only reason I wasn't killed in the counterattack was because I was simply not the Lord's enemy.

　The Dark Stalker.

　It's what I mutate into after the wraiths. According to the illustrated book, there are very few of them among the undead, but perhaps even with that mutation, I am no match for the Lord.

"If I become a ...... Dark Stalker, can I defeat the Order of the End?

You can't win. Don't even think about it. They're specialists in hunting down the dark family. Even a third-rate knight is no match for them in a head-on fight. The only way the living dead can defeat them is through the ............ abyss that even their power can't ...... fill. Vampires.

　The Lord gave me the name of one of the most famous of the undead, far beyond my mutation.
　I thought I was powerful enough to become a werewolf and defeat the beasts of this forest. But it seems that was arrogance.

　The Knights of the End are supposed to be human. They are not undead like me, who are greatly strengthened by killing creatures.
　How did they get so much power in human form? The Lord, the necromancer, has more power than the fairy tales say, but it seems that the Knights of the End have power to rival him.

　This is unbelievable to me, who had only a body waiting for death.
　And that's why I absolutely can't let them kill me.

　If I'm going to be killed I'll kill them. Even if they're the object of my former admiration, if they're trying to kill me, they're my enemy.

Don't worry. We've got eyes in the woods. They are the enemy at hand. No matter how good you are as king of the dead, you're weak now. You and I are allies. You won't be so easily defeated.

　Lord sniffs and says in a voice filled with dark emotion.
　I clicked my tongue in my mind, finished my meal, and got up to look for new prey.


§


　Lord is my enemy. My greatest enemy. Because he has absolute command, he's even more troublesome than the Knights of the End, who can just run away.

　As usual, when I was sent back to the basement, I was ordered to stay out. All I was given was an illustrated book of the undead that I had read so much about, which had led Luu to accuse me.

　If I were in Lord's position, I would have given the same order. Absolute command is powerful, but it is not invincible.
　At the very least, it must be inconvenient for Lord to have the wisdom of the undead under his command who hate him. Especially since the Lord's library seemed to be mostly books on magic (which I cannot read), it would be too dangerous to give them to undead who can read.

　But even if I could understand why he would do so, my emotions would not allow me to do so.
　My freedom is so much more limited than before, when I could sneak out. I feel like I've been deprived of air.

　Of course, it's much better than being killed by .......

　In a basement full of corpses that I was forbidden to eat, the only thing I was allowed to do was think and exercise.

　The only good thing about the current situation is that Lord thinks that my intelligence is a result of my mutation into a werewolf.
　The worst part is that the Lord has stopped my rebellion, not ...... me. The Lord is too strong.

　Too strong. How am I supposed to defeat a being with 120 lives?


　It's not even possible to die in an accident with that thing, and death due to lifespan is unlikely .......

　And most of all, I don't know what Lord's purpose is.
　Why does he know about my rebellion and continue to hunt me at night, trying to raise me?　Why is he trying to raise me, but not giving me the knowledge that is essential for strength?

　And what exactly is the King of the Dead?　What is he trying to do in this forest?　I tried to ask him about that, but he just wouldn't tell me.

　He's a necromancer. He's a necromancer, no doubt, but since he's restricting my freedom, he's not going to get along with me.

　Lord's eyes on me were extremely cold. Perhaps the glee he showed me was not the kind of glee a father might show his son, but the fact that his experiment was succeeding.

　Are you planning to strengthen me as your servant, to make me a powerful pawn?　A rebellious me?

　That's impossible. The Lord doesn't trust me. 　

　I look at the errant owl in the corner of the room. Its shining eyes stare at me in an inorganic way. Lord's watching.

　The Knights of the End are approaching. I have to kill the Lord at all costs. One hundred and twenty ...... I've crushed two of them, so I must somehow outsmart the Lord who has one hundred and eighteen lives left, the Lord who binds me to his orders.

　Hugging my knees, I sat down in a corner and fell on my face. I scratch my head. Eyes wide open, thoughts racing through my head.
　But no idea came to my mind.


§§.　


　And then, after three days of living in cramped quarters with no freedom at all, the Lord said with a frown after the hunt.

"End. You'll be going to the city with Luu as his bodyguard.

　The unexpected words made me forget my frustration with my current lack of freedom and my eyes widened.
　The Lord wrinkled his forehead at my expression and stroked his staff.

The city is dangerous, but I can't go there myself. I have the tools to hide the dark spirit from them, just be careful and you'll be fine. You've fooled me, you'll be fine.

　And that's where I see the hero.
　The mortal sorcerer, the undead's natural enemy. A group of fighters who have long been regarded as the mightiest and most dominant against the darkness.