In Ghislain's past life, Hellnik acted independently.
He captured and experimented on anyone—whether they were from the Salvation Church, the Human Alliance, the Rift Beasts, or just ordinary people.
He cared only about satisfying his curiosity, ignoring power structures and alliances altogether.
With the continent in chaos, it was the perfect time for Hellnik to roam freely. His overwhelming strength made it nearly impossible for anyone to stop him.
Eventually, the saintess Parniel had to confront Hellnik in a long, grueling battle. Even then, no clear victor emerged.
Hellnik was referred to as the sixth among the Continent's Seven Strongest, but rankings among them hardly mattered.
Those rankings were arbitrary, assigned by people based on their exploits.
Ghislain's eyes turned cold.
"Well, that's convenient. I was planning to kill him sooner or later. I'll take this opportunity to finish him off."
After wiping out the Salvation Church, he had intended to eliminate that garbage as well.
Fortunately, now that he had allied with the Salvation Church, he could simply include him in his mission objectives.
It would be a bit tiresome, but it was just one more enemy to deal with.
"We need to move immediately."
Hellnik was the most dangerous presence on the battlefield. The undead army he commanded could fight endlessly.
Since his forces didn't deplete, fighting him was exhausting. Moreover, the more one fought, the more corpses piled up.
In his past life, there had been a limit to how many corpses he could control. But considering the Kingdom of Farsali had been overwhelmed so quickly, it was clear he had surpassed that limit.
"The Orb of Life."
A sacred treasure of the Salvation Church capable of creating superhumans. It was a cursed object, containing the life force of tens of thousands of people.
The Salvation Church must have provided it to him. With that, Hellnik could command an unimaginable number of corpses.
The Allied Forces changed their immediate objective. It was obvious that the Salvation Church did this to protect the Atrode Kingdom, but it couldn't be ignored.
If left unchecked, the army of corpses would only grow larger. While the increasing enemy forces were a problem, there was an even more pressing issue.
"All priests will join the operation. Ensure we bring plenty of medicinal supplies."
Corpses inevitably spread plagues. Before the plague could take hold again, Hellnik had to be stopped quickly.
Ghislain let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"Being the one under attack is exhausting."
As his forces grew larger, his range of activities became increasingly restricted. The Salvation Church had capitalized on this.
The General Staff had various opinions about this mission.
"They clearly intend to divert our attention."
"They will likely attack other kingdoms with their remaining forces."
"The Atrode Kingdom still has troops left."
Ghislain quickly clarified those points.
"Call all Allied Forces from other regions. Order them to march to the Atrode Kingdom as soon as they regroup. Once Farsali is secured, Yulian and I will lead the mobile army to strike their flank."
Yulian nodded at Ghislain's words.
The scale of movement on both sides was too massive. Acting rashly could lead to being defeated piecemeal, so it was best for him and Duke Fenris to act separately.
Some kingdoms might fall to the Salvation Church during this time, but such losses had to be accepted.
Given the strength of the enemy forces, protecting everything while fighting was impossible.
Once the matter of the Farsali Kingdom was resolved, all forces would march to crush the Atrode Kingdom.
"Let's go."
As always, Ghislain and Fenris's mobile army moved out first. The only difference this time was that Yulian was also part of the vanguard.
Rumble!
They traveled nonstop, reaching the Farsali Kingdom at incredible speed.
The Farsali forces welcomed Ghislain with relief. They had already lost their capital and been pushed to the kingdom's edge.
"Oh, you've come! Thank you so much!"
The commander-in-chief of the Farsali forces, Marquis Suffolk, greeted Ghislain with tears in his eyes.
The kingdom was on the brink of destruction. A massive horde of corpses was advancing.
Having retreated repeatedly, they had lost most of their strongholds and were running out of food. Refugees added to the hopelessness of the situation.
Ghislain immediately asked for an update.
"How much have their numbers grown?"
"I—I don't know. The last report put them at over 200,000."
"200,000?"
"They slaughter everyone indiscriminately, whether in cities, villages, or along the way. Their numbers keep growing."
Creating such a massive force in such a short time meant Hellnik's powers had advanced far beyond what they were in his past life. The Salvation Church must have aided him, but it was still shocking.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Ghislain nodded.
"We'll deploy immediately. You've held out well."
Holding out against such an enormous army was indeed an impressive feat.
However, Marquis Suffolk replied with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
"Not entirely on our own. A certain mage has been helping us...."
"A mage?"
"Yes. Thanks to him, the pace of our retreat has slowed. He's likely still fighting on his own."
Ghislain momentarily froze. Someone was fighting 200,000 corpses alone?
"By any chance... What is that mage's name?"
"He said his name was Jerome."
Hearing the familiar name, Ghislain couldn't help but smile.
— We have power, so we must save people. That's only natural.
A lazy fool, but one with unshakable convictions.
— Hey, can't you just help? Please? Come on, help me out. Pretty please?
Despite being one of the Continent's Seven Strongest, Jerome would cast aside his pride to ask for help if it meant saving people.
Since he lacked any faction, Jerome always fought alone.
— But you're terrible at fighting. I'm ranked third, and you're seventh. Stay back if you're scared. If not... come along. Hmph.
When his pleas didn't work, he would resort to playful provocations.
Because of his principles, Jerome hadn't directly helped Ghislain's quest for revenge. To him, even the Duke Delphine was an ally in the fight against the Rift.
Still, he understood his motives and didn't interfere. He had wished him success, promising to meet again once it was over.
Though they never reunited.
"Haha."
Ghislain chuckled quietly. He knew it was inappropriate to laugh in such a grim situation, but he couldn't help it.
Of course, it was just like him. Even in this dire situation, he was fighting those countless corpses alone.
Thanks to him, the advance of the undead army had been slowed.
His convictions had likely influenced her to some extent.
Once focused solely on revenge, Ghislain found himself saving people while fighting Rift Beasts.
The experience wasn't unpleasant. It had, no doubt, shaped his current self.
With a smile, Ghislain raised his spear.
"Well then, shall the 7th rank go save the 3rd?"
Of course, in this life, their rankings would likely change.
***
Boom!
Jerome's magic erupted, blowing apart the undead in all directions.
"Wow, what a lunatic."
Jerome panted, leaning on his knees.
Terrified of becoming undead, the enemies had attacked recklessly. This ferocity had inflicted heavy losses on the Farsali forces.
Thanks to Jerome, they had managed to hold their ground and retreat strategically.
But all those who had attacked recklessly were now dead. Hellnik had no intention of sparing his own forces.
Thus, the enemies were all turned into undead.
"Ugh, there's just too many."
No matter how many he destroyed, the corpses kept rising. Even long-buried remains of animals and humans were being resurrected.
He had tried obliterating them entirely, but it made little difference. The battlefield simply produced more corpses.
Moreover, even if a fragment remained, it would gather and form a grotesque shape that continued to move.
"No matter how skilled a necromancer is, this is impossible. They must have used some truly absurd method."
Hellnik was strong when they briefly met, but he wasn't capable of creating such a massive number of undead so quickly.
It was clear that the Salvation Church had used their forbidden techniques, which relied on human lives.
Flash!
Grrrrrr!
"Damn it."
He swept away all the corpses in front of him. Two new corpses replaced the ones he had just obliterated.
They were the high-ranking priests of the Salvation Church he had killed not long ago.
Boom!
Jerome extended his hands, and a flash of light erupted. The two corpses were blown away, holes blasted through their torsos.
But the corpses rose again, as if unaffected by the damage.
Roar!
The two corpses flew at him with tremendous speed, swinging their hands. For undead, they displayed strength on par with superhumans.
"Argh!"
Jerome had no choice but to scrape together the last remnants of his mana.
Whoosh!
Mana blades emanated from Jerome's hands, severing the corpses' necks.
Though they wielded superhuman strength, the mindless corpses were decapitated instantly.
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The severed heads on the ground clattered their teeth, producing eerie sounds.
Jerome split the bodies in half to immobilize them further, grimacing at the grotesque sight.
"How do they keep resurrecting?"
These two corpses were particularly unusual.
He had tried reducing them to powder, burning them to ashes.
Yet they reappeared, grotesque and altered in form, but just as powerful.
So Jerome decided not to waste more energy and retreated.
Grrrr...
The undead were swarming again. Although he had delayed them for quite some time, this was his limit.
"Huff... it can't be helped."
All the enemy mages had already been eliminated, so he could unleash the full extent of his magic, but the sheer number of corpses drained too much mana.
Having fought for days without rest, Jerome now fought each day with his mana nearly depleted.
Moreover, the corpses of the priests had strength comparable to superhumans. Killing them quickly required even greater mana expenditure.
Grrr!
"Yikes."
The undead surrounded Jerome from all sides, trying to grab him. Startled, Jerome quickly dodged and escaped.
Having exhausted his mana while dealing with the priests' corpses, he had to retreat and recover even a little.
As he fled, Jerome scanned his surroundings.
There was no sign of life anywhere. Only the stench of death filled the air.
The only sounds were the wails of the undead.
In the chilling atmosphere, Jerome muttered to himself.
"Truly a demonic bastard."
The dead could not even rest in peace. They were resurrected, their souls bound, and forced to fight endlessly.
To use such exceptional talent and power in this manner—it was unforgivable.
Jerome gritted his teeth, and Hellnik, who had been constantly hindered by him, was just as furious.
"That guy... truly extraordinary."
The smile had long vanished from Hellnik's face. Jerome's interference had significantly slowed the march of his forces.
An army of undead, immune to death and fear, had been repeatedly stalled.
Moreover, countless undead had been lost. That one man had single-handedly destroyed an uncountable number of corpses over several days.
It wasn't an exaggeration to call him a one-man army.
Clench.
Hellnik ground his teeth.
The Salvation Church had provided him with no fewer than 20 Orbs of Life, virtually all they had left.
Thanks to those orbs, containing the life force of tens of thousands, he had been able to create such an overwhelming undead army.
Including the two superhuman corpses, his forces were effectively equivalent to 22 superhumans.
But now, only five orbs remained. He had consumed a tremendous number of them to keep producing corpses.
Creating superhuman corpses, in particular, consumed an even greater amount of power.
If he had used the orbs differently, he could have created even more corpses. But he had no choice but to focus on exhausting that monstrous opponent's mana.
"This is slightly humiliating."
He had known Jerome was strong, but not to this extent.
Without the Orbs of Life, he might have been in real danger himself.
Crack.
One of the Orbs of Life floating in front of him shattered, emitting a torrent of black energy.
The energy flowed into Hellnik's nose and mouth.
"Hmm... not bad. Truly fascinating."
The Salvation Church's energy closely resembled his own. Not identical, but it strongly felt like a kindred power.
He wanted to absorb this energy, but it wasn't possible. Despite their similarities, they couldn't merge.
However, this energy could be used to mass-produce corpses. After all, it was based on human life and death.
Hellnik spread his arms, releasing the energy outward.
The ominous aura darkened the sky and spread in all directions.
Grrrrrrr...
Corpses that had collapsed and been torn apart began to mend and rise once more. Shredded fragments reassembled into staggering forms.
The immortal army never truly dies. They need no sustenance, no rest.
And so, they will never stop.
They will move until they bring everything to death.
At last, Hellnik smiled again.
"When we meet again, I'll be sure to kill you."
He still had four Orbs left.
On the other hand, Jerome was clearly exhausted. The number of corpses disappearing under his attacks had noticeably dwindled.
It seemed the time had come to eliminate that nuisance.
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