Former General Is Undead Knight - Act 4-29 - Rose of Subkingdom⑤

Simon stood upside-down, walking on his hands along the passageway.

He kicked two assailants in their heads, sending them flying against the wall, and their bodies stopped moving.

「As splendid as before, Simon. Those guys keep coming even after knowing they’ll die. Though…it might be an effect of the strange sorcery… It seems to be a strange sorcery that forces them to die while staying conscious. Quite interesting, indeed.」

Simon didn’t say anything despite Cardinal Zebedai’s praise.

「…Simon?」

Simon’s small shoulders heaved lightly.

「I’m getting old…to be exhausted against these small fries.」

「Don’t force yourself, Simon-sama. You’ve been moving non-stop since then after all…」

One subordinate was running toward Simon.

The frequency of them getting ambushed as they went through the underground passage was getting shorter and shorter.

Their first estimation was about forty people, and yet, in reality, Simon and the others had already massacred more than one hundred people who were chasing after them.

In the underground passage, their ambushers were moving in groups of tens.

That scale was simply beyond Simon’s prediction.

Thus, he was left wondering since when did this many people infiltrate the underground passage?

Did there really exist such convenient sorcery that could manipulate the minds of more than a hundred people at once?

In the beginning, Simon brought eight of his subordinates, but then, facing against the fearless and relentless assailants, three of them had finally died during the previous ambush. There were only five of them left.

「We might have to divide our forces, but I’ve been wondering just how in the world did they know our position. Their plan might be to exhaust our stamina with a human wave tactic. If that’s really the case, we should leave from outside.」

The twenty assailants from the beginning might be a trap to lure Cardinal Zebedai further into the center of the underground passage.

Simon kept wondering just how in the world did they kept more than two hundred assailants inside the underground passage.

「There’s no problem. Even if the others die, thousands of those amateurs won’t match for a single Simon. Right?」

「…Yes, that’s my intention.」

Simon nodded with a gloomy face after hearing Cardinal Zebedai’s remark.

「This Heins faith… No, this whole kingdom needs you. I will make sure that you can escape from this place, even at the cost of my life.」

「With Heins faith having been cornered this far and the survival of the other Four Great Sages unknown, I’ll be in huge trouble if you die in this place.」

「I know that. But don’t worry, a warrior like me can easily be replaced.」

「Stop spouting such nonsense. Just how many people in this kingdom can fight on par with you, Simon?」

Simon shut his eyes and then adjusted his breath.

A martial art’s master like Simon could adjust their physical condition with meditation, manipulating their brain to believe that their body wasn’t exhausted to keep their condition in top shape.

Naturally, such an action which forced his exhausted body to keep working would cost his lifespan.

「My apologies to keep you waiting. Let’s get going.」

With Simon leading the way again, Cardinal Zebedai’s party kept moving on.

But then, SImon’s footsteps came to a halt just a few seconds later.

「What’s the matter, Simon?」

「…Ooh, finally feeling like coming, eh. Just when I was wondering when they would make their move… Are you in a hurry?」

Simon ignored Cardinal Zebedai when the former spat those words.

「Hey, Simon! What’s the matter?!」

At this moment, Simon finally looked to Cardinal Zebedai.

「…They should have been waiting for me to exhaust myself. All those ambushes were prepared just for this. Their aim was to kill me with their main forces once I got exhausted.」

He then turned around and walked toward the passage where they came from.

And when the confused subordinates were trying to chase him, he shook his head lightly.

「You guys have to escort Cardinal Zebedai aboveground. The opponent this time is really dangerous, I won’t be able to fight while protecting you guys.」

「S-Simon-sama, that’s…!」

「Don’t worry, I’m not going to kick the bucket yet. Alas… I have to focus in this battle.」

Cardinal Zebedai’s face frowned upon hearing that.

「Why… Why, Simon? Do you really have to do this? Almost half of your subordinate has already died; this isn’t a reassuring situation.」

「If possible, I wanted to protect you, but my apologies, I’m not strong enough to protect you while fighting the incoming enemy. They’re about to catch up with us.」

「We’re that cornered, huh. I cannot die yet! Not now!」

Cardinal Zebedai raised his voice.

「…I agree. You need strong determination and power to change this kingdom. And not just anyone has those two factors in this kingdom. But Cardinal Zebedai, you possess those two factors. You mustn’t die here.」

Cardinal Zebedai glared at Simon for a while with a grim face.

But then, he could only grit his teeth since he knew that Simon was telling the truth. Thus, he turned around.

「You lots have to escort Cardinal Zebedai to a safe location. I have no intention to die in this place, but I have to prepare for the worst. Now run as far as you can.」

「…YES!」

Thus, Cardinal Zebedai continued on along with Simon’s subordinates and vanished into the passage ahead.

After seeing them off, Simon turned back to the passage where they came from.

「Are you still not going to come out?」

As if replying to Simon’s provocation, the sound of a qugin resounded from the passage in front of Simon.

The sound appeared along with a woman.

The woman’s attire was rather mismatched with the place.

She wore baggy leather shoes, was clad in colorful and gaudy garments, and was holding a qugin in her hands.

「…Our source of information says that one of the eight bigshots in 『Devil’s Piper』, the 『Rose of Subkingdom』, is a woman.」

Upon hearing that, the woman smiled lightly.

「So you already know about me. So you’re not that stupid after all. 」

Her lips were moving, but her eyes were frigid.

One of the Eight Wise Men, the 『Rose of Subkingdom』, felt almost like a doll.

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