Back on Jin's side, the Commander of the 8th Legion remained overlooking the battlefield from a distance. Igris and Beru stood beside him, while their respective shadow soldiers waited silently behind them for the order to join the battle.
Below, the fighting around Prince's mansion continued to intensify. Zombies and skeletons crashed against one another in enormous numbers, while the Meat Golems relentlessly pushed through the undead horde.
Beru watched the battle for a while before his patience finally began to run thin.
[My liege, when will we make our move?]
"Hmm..."
Jin folded his arms as he continued observing the battlefield.
"At first, I was planning to appear after all three sides had gathered. But..."
His voice trailed off as he recalled what was supposed to happen next.
In the original story, Simon managed to 'convince' Prince to lend him his crown.
The crown was the source of Prince's authority over the zombies of Death Land. Once Simon wore it, he gained the ability to command the countless zombies roaming throughout the city, although controlling so many undead at once initially placed an enormous burden on his mind.
Even so, Simon naturally managed to overcome it.
Well, that's exactly the kind of ridiculous thing a protagonist is supposed to pull off.
After gaining control of Death Land's zombies, Simon had turned that overwhelming army against Manus and his forces. By the end of the conflict, Prince and Manus would both fall under Simon's command, effectively merging what had started as three separate forces into one.
And more importantly, Simon would still be wearing Prince's crown.
Which means he'll still be in his buffed state when everything is over.
A faint violet glow flickered behind Jin's visor as an idea formed in his mind.
In that case...
"Change of plans."
Igris and Beru immediately turned their attention toward him.
"We'll wait until Simon manages to bring both Prince's and Manus's sides under his control." Jin looked toward the mansion below as the sounds of battle continued echoing through Death Land. "Once that happens, that'll be our signal to show ourselves."
For the briefest moment, Igris and Beru wondered how their liege could possibly predict the outcome of a battle that was still unfolding.
However, that doubt lasted for less than a second.
Their monarch had already proven himself far too many times for either of them to question his judgment now.
[Yes, my liege!]
The shadows answered in unison before returning their attention to the battlefield.
***
Meanwhile, the battle surrounding Prince's mansion continued to rage.
Prince himself had finally arrived on the battlefield, and even before setting foot among the fighting, he had already decided which enemies needed to be eliminated first.
The Meat Golems.
As long as those enormous creatures remained almost impervious to ordinary zombie attacks, his numerical advantage meant nothing. If he wanted to turn the battle around, every last one of them had to be destroyed.
[Kraaah!]
Prince charged straight toward the nearest Meat Golem without slowing down. Closing the distance in an instant, he drove his fist directly into its enormous abdomen.
BOOM!
The creature's massive belly rippled like the surface of a pond. Its flesh caved inward around Prince's fist, but instead of rupturing, the thick rubbery shell absorbed most of the impact.
Shock absorption?
Prince barely had time to process the discovery before the Meat Golem retaliated.
CRACK!
Its enormous arm slammed into him.
The blow itself did little damage, but the fact that the creature had managed to withstand his attack immediately sent a surge of fury through Prince.
[You soulless sack of meat!]
Realizing that brute force against its torso would take too long, Prince immediately changed tactics. He climbed onto the Meat Golem's body, reached its shoulders, and wrapped both legs tightly around its small head.
Then he twisted with all his strength.
CRUNCH!
The Meat Golem's neck snapped with a sickening crack, and an agonized screech escaped from its throat. Prince immediately raised his fist and brought it down.
BAM! CRACK! SPLAT!
Again and again, his fists smashed into the creature's face until its head had been reduced to a bloody pulp. The enormous body staggered for several steps before finally collapsing onto the battlefield with a heavy thud.
Prince immediately seized the opening.
[Now!]
At his command, the zombies surged forward.
"Graaaaahhhh!"
"Kyaaaah!"
With one section of the Meat Golem formation broken, the horde poured through the opening like water bursting through a breached dam. Zombies flooded into Manus's skeleton army, tearing into the formation before the remaining Meat Golems could close the gap.
For the first time since the battle began, the tide seemed to be shifting back in Prince's favor.
But he couldn't afford to celebrate yet.
Fifteen left.
The number alone was enough to irritate him, but there was no other choice. If destroying all fifteen was what it took to reclaim control of the battlefield, then that was exactly what he would do.
Prince immediately lunged toward the second Meat Golem.
Having already learned how they fought, he easily avoided its attacks and climbed up its enormous body. Within moments, he had reached its head and raised his fist.
I'll end this quickly.
Just as he was about to strike, however, the sharp sound of a sword cutting through the air reached his ears.
Shhng!
Prince's perspective suddenly shifted.
The battlefield beneath him rapidly grew smaller as his vision inexplicably rose into the air. Confused, he rolled his eyes downward and saw the chaotic clash of zombies, skeletons, and Meat Golems below.
Then he saw himself.
His body was still standing on top of the Meat Golem.
But it no longer had a head.
[...]
Before Prince could even comprehend what had happened, the world turned grey and his vision inverted.
When his eyes opened again, he was back inside the mansion.
His consciousness had returned to his true body.
"What the hell just happened? What hit me?"
Prince's ability as an Ancient Undead granted him something that very few beings possessed.
Multiple lives.
He could maintain up to nine lives at once, allowing him to regenerate through different bodies even after suffering fatal damage. Recovering a lost life wasn't easy, however, and even with complete rest, restoring a single one took roughly a week.
Yet one of those precious lives had just disappeared before he could even understand how he had died.
"Damn it!"
There was no time to sit around wondering about it.
Prince focused his power on one of the zombies still fighting on the battlefield.
KRRAAAACK!
A bolt of pitch-black Darkness descended from above and engulfed the chosen zombie. Its body twisted beneath the energy before rapidly transforming into Prince's familiar appearance.
The moment his consciousness settled into the new body, Prince looked toward the Meat Golem he had been attacking.
His previous headless body was only now collapsing from its back.
And standing a short distance away was the culprit.
Click.
A skeletal figure dressed in fabric decorated with red flower motifs calmly returned his sword to its sheath.
Prince's expression immediately twisted with rage.
That bastard.
[MANUS!!]
He charged without hesitation.
Manus noticed his approach and calmly placed one hand on the hilt of his sword. His posture lowered as Prince rapidly closed the distance between them.
Prince didn't slow down.
It's fine. He can't cut me.
The previous attack had only succeeded because Prince had been careless enough not to reinforce his body with Darkness. Now that he knew Manus was targeting him directly, there was no chance the same trick would work twice.
Manus drew his sword.
Prince immediately crossed both arms in front of himself and flooded them with Darkness.
SLAAAASH!
[...!]
Black blood erupted into the air.
Prince stared in disbelief at the deep wound carved across his arm. Despite reinforcing himself with Darkness, the slash had cut so deeply that his arm had nearly been severed.
Manus calmly lowered his sword.
[Surprised?]
[You...!]
Only then did Prince notice that Manus's blade had been completely coated in Darkness.
[During our battle decades ago, I couldn't cut you.] Manus's skeletal fingers tightened around the hilt. [After suffering that defeat, I changed many of my ways.]
The black coating surrounding his sword grew denser.
[I stopped clinging to outdated swordsmanship. I stopped trying to imitate aura with Darkness and finally admitted the truth.]
Prince's expression darkened.
[Darkness surpasses aura.]
Manus raised his blade once again.
[So instead of imitating what I once possessed, I focused entirely on using Darkness to enhance my sword's cutting power. The wound on your arm is the result.]
A cold light gleamed within Manus's eye sockets.
[Now, I can cut you.]
[Don't get cocky just because you took one damn life! You trash!!] Prince charged again as Manus swung his sword.
This time, Prince raised his arms to defend while watching the blade carefully.
Shhhnk!
A thin line appeared across his left forearm.
A moment later, the severed limb dropped to the ground.
[KRAAAHHH!]
Prince roared, but losing an arm wasn't enough to stop his advance. He rushed inside Manus's range before the Ancient Undead could swing again and grabbed the blade with his remaining hand.
The edge sliced into his fingers, sending black blood streaming down his palm, but Prince ignored the pain. He pulled the sword toward himself and prepared to drive his other fist into Manus.
The punch never came.
For a fraction of a second, Prince tried to move a left arm that was no longer there.
It was one of the weaknesses created by constantly switching between different bodies. His instincts occasionally failed to keep pace with the injuries of his current vessel, and that brief confusion was all Manus needed.
[Your tactics haven't changed one bit in decades.]
[You bastard!]
Unable to punch, Prince opened his mouth wide and lunged forward, attempting to sink his teeth into Manus instead.
But before he could reach him, something inside Prince suddenly changed.
[Kugh!]
All the strength drained from his body as though someone had flipped a switch.
Prince collapsed onto one knee.
A blood-red magic circle had appeared across his back, its crimson lines spreading like fresh blood. From its center, a single rose took root and began growing directly from his body.
[Javier told me that your body possesses an unusually strong resistance to curses.]
Prince twisted around at the familiar name, his pupils contracting.
[So I studied some haematology techniques instead.]
Manus extended one skeletal hand toward the crimson rose. [It seems they work beautifully.]
Prince's eyes widened.
[Javier?! Did he betray me?!]
[Betrayal?]
Manus stared down at him.
[I don't know where he is right now, but Javier was never on your side to begin with. The two of you were business partners, nothing more.]
The ritual had originally been intended for Javier to perform, since the old necromancer was far more proficient with such techniques. Even so, Manus had learned enough to execute the plan himself.
As his outstretched hand slowly closed, the crimson rose grew larger.
At the same time, even more strength drained from Prince's body.
[JAVIER!!! WHEN THIS IS OVER, I'M COMING FOR YOU!!!]
Unfortunately for Prince, the man receiving all that hatred was currently incapable of hearing him.
After all, Javier no longer had ears.
Or a body. Or even ashes.
With Prince weakened, Manus violently pulled his sword from the zombie's grip. Several of Prince's fingers were severed along with it, leaving him completely unable to stop Manus from raising the blade toward his neck.
[With this...]
The sword flashed.
Prince's head separated from his body once again.
[Seven left.]
His vision immediately blurred before the entire world inverted.
When Prince regained consciousness, he was once again inside the mansion, his mind returning to the true body seated upon the throne.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
This time, he didn't immediately return to the battlefield.
Instead, Prince transferred his consciousness into one of the zombies guarding his true body nearby. Color returned to his grey world as he regained control of the new vessel.
Damn it!!
Seven lives remaining? Truthfully, it was six.
The life he had lost earlier to those damned Legion bastards still stung bitterly, and now Manus had taken two more in an absurdly short amount of time.
Prince forced himself to think.
Could he destroy the remaining Meat Golems while avoiding Manus and that strange blood technique at the same time? More importantly, even if he threw away every one of his remaining lives, would it actually be enough?
"Graaaaah..."
While Prince was still considering his options, one of the nearby zombies approached and began reporting something to him.
Prince's already terrible mood immediately worsened.
[An intruder? I just finished dealing with Manus, and now this? I'm already pissed off enough, and you're telling me that some bastard decided to...]
BOOOOOOM!
The door exploded before Prince could finish.
Broken pieces of wood blasted into the room as dust and debris filled the entrance. Through the cloud, a long human leg remained stretched forward, making it painfully obvious that whoever was outside hadn't bothered with something as civilized as opening the door.
Step. Step.
A figure emerged from the settling dust.
The moment Prince recognized the skeletal armor covering the newcomer, his eyes turned bloodshot with fury.
"Even if life's hard, you should try smiling a bit, Prince."
There truly was no better moment for the phrase, when it rains, it pours.
Simon, currently assuming the identity of Pion while clad in Pier's Bone Armor, walked calmly into the room.
[Kgh...!]
"Prince."
Simon gave him a crooked smile and raised his greatsword, pointing its blade directly toward him.
"How many lives have you got left now?"
Prince lowered his stance with a growl, his entire body tensing as he glared at Simon. However, Simon didn't immediately attack. His gaze casually swept across the room before eventually landing on the throne behind Prince.
Sitting there was Prince's true body, a withered corpse dressed in luxurious clothing. More importantly, resting upon its head was the brilliant crown that served as the source of Prince's authority over Death Land.
The moment Prince noticed where Simon was looking, his expression changed.
[You...! Is it the crown you're after?!]
"No."
Simon shook his head without hesitation.
"You're the one I'm after."
[...What?]
Prince stared at him dumbfounded, seemingly unable to understand what he had just heard.
"I already told you before." Simon rested the greatsword against his shoulder. "Join my Legion."
[Screw you! I'd rather die than make another contract with a necromancer!]
"Hmm."
Rather than arguing, Simon raised his free hand and pointed toward the window.
"Then how are you going to stop that?"
Prince's gaze instinctively followed his finger.
Outside, the battle remained painfully one-sided. Prince had managed to destroy one Meat Golem himself, but a single casualty had done almost nothing to change the overall situation. The remaining Meat Golems were still tearing through the zombie army while Manus's skeleton forces continued their advance.
Simon looked back at him.
"I can lend you my power. Of course, only if you join the Legion and swear absolute obedience to me."
[SHUT THE HELL UUUUP!]
Whatever remained of Prince's patience finally snapped.
He launched himself toward Simon and unleashed a furious barrage of punches. Simon calmly raised his greatsword to block the incoming blows, occasionally slipping to the side whenever Prince tried to overwhelm him with sheer speed.
As the exchange continued, however, Simon quickly noticed something.
His movements are easier to read than when we first fought.
Of course, Simon himself had become stronger with Pier and the power of the Legion supporting him. Yet that alone didn't explain the strange feeling he was experiencing.
It almost felt like he was beginning to understand Prince.
[KRAAAAH!]
Prince continued screaming as he threw punch after punch, attacking without any care for defense. His movements were powerful and fast, but the more Simon watched him, the easier they became to predict.
He's agitated. He's on edge and mentally cornered. There's no composure in his movements at all.
The Prince standing before him felt completely different from the opponent Simon had fought in the sewers. Simon briefly wondered whether possessing a childlike body was somehow influencing his mentality as well, because right now, Prince was allowing his emotions to control nearly every decision he made.
This might actually be easier than I thought.
Simon deflected another punch before deliberately swinging his greatsword toward Prince's arm rather than meeting his fist head-on.
CLANG!
The blade struck Prince's flesh with a metallic sound.
Even Pier's greatsword couldn't cut through his reinforced body in a single strike. A wound appeared across Prince's arm, but the weapon bounced upward as though it had struck solid metal.
That rebound forced Simon's right arm upward, seemingly leaving his torso completely exposed.
Prince's eyes flashed.
He immediately dove into the opening.
Hook, line, and sinker.
"Open Gate."
FWWOOOOOSH!
Several subspaces suddenly opened around Simon.
The blades of Overlord shot out before Prince could change direction, striking him while he was still airborne and sending his body crashing into the far wall.
BOOM!
Prince grimaced from the impact, but Simon was already moving.
Darkness formed beneath Simon's feet as he dashed forward. Before Prince could recover, Simon drove his greatsword directly into his abdomen.
SHNK!
[KRAAAAGH!]
Prince screamed as the blade pierced his body.
Wow, he's ridiculously tough.
Despite the force behind the thrust, not even a quarter of the greatsword had penetrated. Simon released the hilt and took a step backward while Prince stared down at the weapon protruding from his abdomen.
[Urghhh! What the hell are you trying to do?!]
"This."
Darkness erupted beneath Simon's foot.
He launched himself forward and drove a powerful kick directly into the greatsword's hilt.
CRUUUNCH!
The blade sank much deeper into Prince's abdomen, nearly half of its length disappearing inside his body.
[Gu... GUAAAAH!]
Prince's body might have been absurdly durable, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain. He gagged as his mouth fell open, saliva spilling from his lips while tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
Simon looked at him without the slightest hint of sympathy.
"That's enough payback for laying a hand on my friend."
Leaving Prince pinned in place, Simon turned toward the throne and approached his true body.
Prince's expression immediately changed.
[Don't touch my body!]
He struggled furiously against the sword lodged through his abdomen, but Simon ignored his shouting. Reaching the throne, he pulled aside the luxurious clothing covering Prince's true body before opening the split in its chest.
Thump. Thump.
Inside was Prince's Core.
It pulsed rhythmically like a living heart, releasing a steady flow of Darkness with every beat.
[Y-You... You wouldn't dare!!]
Simon responded with nothing more than a smile.
Their commotion had already attracted the zombies stationed throughout the mansion, and several of them began flooding into the room. Simon glanced toward the approaching horde before calmly giving an order.
"Take care of them, Pier."
[Got it!]
The Bone Armor covering Simon immediately began to move.
Schlk!
The skeletal plates peeled away from his body like living clothing, gathering beside him before reconstructing themselves into Pier's enormous skeletal form.
[Kahaha! Stand down!]
Pier's thunderous voice shook the room as he pointed one bony finger toward the forehead of Prince's true body.
[Do you want to see your master die?!]
The approaching zombies immediately hesitated.
Prince could only grind his teeth as he watched his own forces stop in their tracks.
[You thug bastards! Get out of my mansion this instant!]
Simon ignored him and returned his attention to the Core.
Prince and Pier had once been comrades who fought alongside his father. Because of that connection, Simon had originally intended to take his time and persuade Prince respectfully rather than forcing him into the Legion.
Unfortunately, the situation outside had become far too urgent for that.
I'll take him first.
If things didn't work out afterward, Simon could always deal with the consequences later. Right now, he needed to place Prince firmly under the authority of the Legion before the situation deteriorated any further.
Simon decisively placed his hand against the Core.
FWOOOOOOSH!
Darkness exploded through the room.
Simon and Prince's Darkness collided violently, raging around the throne as though each was trying to devour the other.
"Ggh!"
[CURSE YOUUUU!]
The resistance was painful, but it didn't last long.
Gradually, the two conflicting powers began to stabilize. As the violent Darkness surrounding them settled, a dark-blue aura unique to Simon slowly began leaking from Prince's true body.
"Hoo..."
Simon exhaled and removed his hand.
Success.
Prince had officially become the third Ancient Undead of Simon's Legion.
The realization seemed to completely crush whatever remained of Prince's spirit. He looked utterly defeated, no longer possessing even enough energy to continue screaming at Simon.
"I'll get you out."
Simon walked back toward Prince's current body and pulled the greatsword from his abdomen. At the same time, he retracted the Overlord blades that had been restraining him.
Prince's borrowed body immediately collapsed.
Rather than remaining in his form, it dissolved into black smoke and reverted to the ordinary zombie corpse it had originally been.
KRAAAA-BOOOM!
Black lightning suddenly struck another nearby zombie.
Darkness engulfed its body before reshaping it into Prince once again.
Five lives remained.
[Hah... Hah...]
Prince stood there panting heavily as the final traces of black lightning disappeared around him.
However, something about him had changed.
Perhaps because of Simon's influence as his new Legion Commander, Prince's pupils now glowed dark blue. Even the ceremonial robes covering his body had changed from their previous colors into deep navy tones, visibly marking his new connection to the Legion.
Prince slowly raised his head.
His eyes were still brimming with frustrated tears as he glared at Simon with enough hatred to kill an ordinary person several times over.
Simon merely smiled back at him without flinching.
"Welcome to the Legion."