Necromancer Of The Black Bible (151)

A silence fell at Hyro’s words.

Over the past three months, the reconnaissance team had also gathered information, but they had never imagined it would go this far.

However, the person speaking was none other than Deputy Towermaster Hyro.

As he was recognized as one of the greatest magicians in the Mage Tower alongside Towermaster Leopold, and was saying that even 1 million troops could not take this place, it could not be brushed aside easily.

In the end, Scout Leader Estella could only nod with a grave expression.

She looked at Hyro’s wrinkled face and spoke.

“Then, Deputy Towermaster, how do you think we should defeat them?”

“Defeat them?”

A deep crease formed between Hyro’s brows.

That crease was deep, as if he had been thinking long and hard about the same subject.

He slowly continued, his bluish eyes glinting.

“Honestly, I don’t know. At first I gauged our chances like you all did, but now my goal is different. How can we stop them?”

Hyro’s voice was small and low, but everyone here was focused on him.

And they sensed it.

That there was sincerity in Hyro’s words.

Miles, a member of the reconnaissance team who had been quietly listening from the side, spoke up.

“Do you mean they will actually advance on us?”

By common sense, it was not something easily understood.

No matter how big a battle they had won once, their numbers were only about 20,000.

Advancing against the Empire, which commanded 5 million troops, was like striking a rock with an egg.

But Hyro nodded slowly.

“In just two battles, they became a force of 20,000. Before that, they had no troops at all. The first incident happened in Silvaren, a small village in Grovebern territory. Its population does not exceed 500. But after the Silvaren incident, they gained 5,000 undead soldiers. What do you think that means?”

After thinking for a moment, Estella spoke.

“Those 5,000 are Grovebern’s soldiers.”

“Exactly. When you match the numbers, you can only think that.”

Miles also nodded and spoke.

“Grovebern territory’s total garrison was 5,000, and the previous survey team’s total strength was 15,000. The fact that their current force is about 20,000 means the Empire’s troops were all turned into undead.”

At those words, Hyro’s eyes shone.

He looked at Miles and asked,

“What’s your name? Your judgment is astute.”

“I am Miles Heizen.”

“Heizen… Heizen, then you’re from the School of Metal.”

“That’s right.”

The School of Metal, like the Water-Ice School that Hyro belonged to, was a minor faction in the Mage Tower.

For Hyro, it was welcome to find a perceptive magician like Miles in such a minor school.

He looked at Miles and asked again.

“What have you found while scouting this place so far?”

Miles seemed to fall into thought, then soon spoke.

“I couldn’t sense any life force from the lord and the commanders. Even so, they seemed to judge and act on their own. Almost like humans.”

A deep smile formed at the corners of Hyro’s mouth.

Estella tilted her head and asked,

“What does that have to do with this matter?”

“It has a very deep connection. We can’t just let this pass.”

Hyro looked down at the cauldron and began drawing something on its surface with his finger.

The liquid in the vessel was extremely hot, yet Hyro’s finger stirred it freely.

Then a cross-section of some building began to appear on the surface of the liquid.

“This is Brandstein Castle.”

Hyro pointed to various parts of the castle and continued.

“I’ve been looking inside the castle all this time. This place is heavily guarded. There’s even a high-ranking Spirit master, so just peeking in isn’t easy.”

“I felt it too. As soon as I arrived, I planted the ‘Eye of the Watcher’ as a test, but it was broken right away.”

At Miles’s words, Hyro nodded.

“It must have been the Wind spirit’s doing. In any case, that’s why I’m watching it this way.”

The reconnaissance team magicians nodded.

They all knew Hyro’s scouting technique.

A technique that scouts a target by sensing air currents. On top of that, by using ancient sorcery, he could watch the situation through the cauldron.

It was a technique that could not be imitated unless one had mastered many forms of magic.

Hyro looked down at the cauldron and continued.

“There are 5,000 undead soldiers stationed in this barracks.”

Looking at the area Hyro pointed out, Miles spoke.

“There are 5,000 soldiers in such a narrow place?”

“Good catch.”

Hyro smiled faintly.

As Miles said, the area he had pointed out was ridiculously narrow for 5,000 people to stay in.

“When I first discovered this, I didn’t understand it either. But after seeing this, I could accept it.”

Hyro spread his palm toward the cauldron. Then a scene began to appear in the liquid.

A sketch as if drawn with a delicate pen.

By the time it was nearly finished, everyone could see the scene.

It was the sight of undead soldiers lined up at tight, even intervals.

Seeing this, the mages immediately understood how 5,000 soldiers were stationed in such a narrow space.

Hyro looked at them and continued.

“These soldiers are similar to a kind of golem. They move, but they only follow orders. They have no will of their own. Just looking at these, I thought we might have a chance.”

“Then are the remaining troops different from these?”

At Estella’s question, Hyro nodded.

He raised the castle cross-section on the cauldron again and pointed to the opposite side.

That was the wide area occupying most of the castle wall.

“This is where the newly joined 15,000 troops are stationed. In terms of scale, they’re not much different from what living human soldiers use.”

“Then you mean these are different from the undead soldiers from earlier?”

“That’s right.”

Hyro spread his palm over the cauldron again, and a different scene surfaced in the liquid.

It showed skeleton soldiers sitting in front of a campfire.

Though it was a frozen scene, they seemed to be talking and laughing with one another.

And the scene shocked the magicians deeply.

“They’re talking to each other?”

“They’re both undead, but their personalities are completely different.”

“If they can think for themselves and even converse, what difference is there from living humans?”

“They can think like humans, but they can’t be killed… This is a pretty big problem.”

Then Miles, who had been silent until now, spoke.

“Deputy Towermaster. Why is there such a difference?”

“I can’t know exactly, but… this is what I’ve figured out.”

Hyro held up one finger and continued.

“The undead that were raised initially are based on Necroturgy. Necroturgy is a spell that deals with the fragmented memories left in corpses, the soul. But the undead raised the second time are beings that cannot be explained by Necroturgy alone.”

Estella, who had been listening quietly, cut in.

“Could you mean Necromancy?”

Hyro slowly nodded.

Among mages, Necromancy was regarded as little more than a superstition from fairy tales.

But here, no one laughed.

Because of the evidence Hyro had shown.

All of it was clearly proving the existence of Necromancy.

“I still haven’t found a way to explain this without excluding Necromancy.”

Everyone could understand Hyro’s conclusion.

Why victory could not be guaranteed even if 1 million troops were deployed.

And why the thought was not of taking the place, but first of how to stop them.

In the end, the issue came down to one thing.

How should they stop them?

At that moment, Salvador, a magician of the reconnaissance team who had been listening quietly until then, spoke.

“If they are using forbidden sorcery, I think we should also use every means available.”

Hyro raised his head and looked at him.

“What kind of sorcery do you think we should use?”

“If we have to face an undead legion that thinks for itself, we should summon an existence that can match it. And doesn’t such a being exist in our Empire? The Ancient Crimson Dragon Eckhart should be more than capable of it.”

“Eckhart….”

Hyro smiled bitterly and continued.

“Do you think Eckhart exists?”

“What? What do you mean…? Isn’t the Eckhart family existing because she exists? And Towermaster…?”

“Have you seen the Towermaster recently?”

Hyro’s question went straight to the heart of the matter.

Towermaster Leopold had already been missing for several months.

It had not been made official, but most mages already knew it.

Hyro had sensed it sooner than anyone because he intended to confront Leopold, but now it was an open secret.

“Erisia Eckhart, who had been at the Academy, has also disappeared. Not only that, the barrier over the capital has vanished, and the mana of the Mage Tower has also changed from before. There is only one direction all of this points to.”

The magicians fell silent.

But they had already vaguely guessed what that direction was,

and Hyro confirmed it.

“According to legend, the Ancient Dragon Eckhart began by separating off a part of herself to protect the Empire. The most representative example is the Eckhart family, and through them she taught the powerful Fire magic based on the draconic-word. In addition, she supplied the Mage Tower with pure mana and erected a sturdy defensive barrier over the capital. Until now it had been passed down only as legend, but through their existence we had believed in Eckhart’s existence. But now all of this has disappeared. Then how should we judge this?”

Then Miles spoke.

“Something has happened to Eckhart.”

“Precisely.”

Hyro smiled bitterly and continued.

“When I first heard that Leopold had gone missing, I was happy. I believed I could finally become number one. But after coming all the way here and confirming everything… now that he’s gone, I feel very sorry.”

In truth, Hyro had not revealed one emotion.

It was fear.

Was it really a coincidence that most of the legacy left by Eckhart had vanished, and that new enemies had appeared afterward?

If it was not a coincidence, if it was someone’s plan, then could the Empire’s power alone truly stop the enemy now?

Hyro’s hand, as he thought this, was trembling faintly.

Hyro then laid bare to everyone the plan he had been keeping in his heart until now.

“The Ancient Dragon Eckhart must already have been dealt with. Too many things that should not have happened if he were still alive have occurred, so that is the right conclusion. In the current situation, we won’t be able to defeat them. They must already have foreseen this and taken care of Eckhart.”

At such an astonishing story, the faces of all the mages hardened.

With a pale face, Estella asked,

“Then what should we do? Does that mean there is absolutely no way to stop them?”

Hyro hesitated for a long while before speaking.

“Right now, the only thing we can think of is a continental alliance. We will have a chance only if we unite with everyone on the continent.”

Estella nodded.
She adopted Hyro’s view as the reconnaissance team’s official opinion and sent a letter.

The letter arrived in the Imperial Capital a week later.