The Undead King of the Palace of Darkness

“Hah…? White Puppy King…? Is this some kind of joke?”

The consul of the small city, Fullnon, blinked at Oliver who appeared out of nowhere, through a pair of eyes with prominent dark circles under them.

It’s been a few years since the world changed completely after the demon kings all rose together in revolt against humans. The Death Knights who had always been deemed heroes, found themselves in over their heads and many towns were forced to fend for themselves.

Apart from the strong forces that targeted the Death Knights, other demon kings also appeared and attacked towns at the worst times. This came like a bolt out of the blue for humans who had enjoyed a long reign at the peak of all races.

Many towns that didn’t have any organized military forces were brought to dust and even towns with properly trained soldiers were forced into tough battles. Mankind was slowly on its way to extinction.

Perpetuating despair only served to beckon more darkness. Many demon kings had shown up in the outskirts of Fullnon city.

Though one of the reasons Fullnon was still standing is because it’s well fortified, it was more due to the fact that the demon kings had no solid purpose in their minds.

Domination of mankind wasn’t their desire. They decimated towns as if they were competing with each other to score higher points in a game. In fact, many such attacked towns had lost all semblance of civilization and were nothing but ruins overrun by monsters .

This town had already lost its liveliness. It can’t hold out much longer and backup from other towns can’t be expected either. Not that other towns had any time or resources to spare.

Only option was to somehow sneak out of the town, praying they don’t get caught by any of the demons with acute senses. Then again, even if they made it out of town — where would they go? The whole world was in disarray.

The town hall was no more. The people who had a place to run to, had all left and there were only a few conscientious people left behind who did any work.

“This is the first any Demon King has sent a messenger to a human town. Is this even a Demon King to begin with? Why?”

“Hmm… this is why I told him. That calling himself White Puppy King would come back to bite him.”

The man who identified himself as the emissary was hideous and small in stature. I don’t mean to imply he looks weak but he doesn’t look like a soldier. Not to mention, even if there existed a few demons that could comprehend the human language, it doesn’t mean they would be willing to become our allies. Our values and motivations are too different.

He turned to look at two guards armed with shoddy spears and shook his head.

“But if we don’t do something, we’re screwed. We stand to lose nothing by joining hands with them. Right?”

“Well, that’s true, but… let’s say he’s really the emissary of a Demon King, we have nothing to offer in return, do we? Something like gold is useless at this point.”

It was impossible to know their purpose. The man didn’t beat around the bush. Fullnon didn’t have many soldiers left. They barely had enough food to get by and even that will soon run out.

Public order was growing worse by the day, and more and more people were leaving town. The system had broken down to the point that the consul who was normally swamped with work went out of his way to accept an unscheduled visit from an unknown emissary.

That’s when Oliver sighed deeply and said something completely unexpected.

“Well, nevermind. For starters, our King said he’d think things over after beating everyone up. You’ll make up your mind after you witness that.”

“Beat… everyone up?”

They had no idea how to respond. They couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking or it was a scam, but he didn’t ask for anything in return for it to be the third option.

Oliver’s voice got low and he growled.

“Our King… for reasons undisclosed, used to be a ‘pet dog’ in the past. Better think hard before you make your decision.”

The atmosphere changed. The aura from the unknown presence made the exhausted consul’s hair stand on end and he stepped back reflexively.

Oliver’s body creaked audibly and swelled up in size. His clothes ripped, he grew ears at the top of his head and his form changed.

No one could wrap their heads around what happened. No killing intent was directed at him, but the guard’s hands trembled and he dropped his spear.

“Werewolf… White, Puppy King…?”

“Ugh — why, why do I… have to be subjected… to this… I’ll… come by… later… to hear… your response, human!”

The monster howled and disappeared. No, it would be more correct to say it kicked off the ground. It’s just that mere human eyes could not keep up with its acceleration.

Even after Oliver had left, the consul and the two guards stood transfixed for some time.

A while later, making sure that they were safe once more, the consul sighed.

“I- I see… for god’s sake, what’s up with the security in this town?”

“I’ve heard it’s hard to tell humans apart from werewolves, but what a truly frightening mimic ability.”

They were helpless in the face of such power. They might be able to distinguish humans from monsters if they posted guards at the entrance and made a thorough check of everyone who passed through the gate, but the monsters have crazy physical abilities. With this town’s military force that could only rival a small village’s vigilante group, there’s not much they could do. The Death Knights who dealt with situations like this are all gone now.

“Just in case, I should report this… not sure if they’ll believe me. The previous owner…?”

We can no longer put up a fight. If these beings are truly powerful enough to make the demon kings in the vicinity scatter, then all we can do is submit.

But to think they would send an emissary over, what kind of King are they? Goddammit, even though this is a serious matter, it’s hard to feel nervous given the name of the King. The consul sighed, half in exasperation, half in resignation and made his way back to the town hall.

☠ ☠ ☠

Aversion borne from irresistible instincts. That is the reason they were always in conflict.

Monsters are often all lumped together into one category and in general regarded as enemies of mankind, but it’s a very absurd thought.

There’s no existence more abhorrent than undead who have overcome the basic laws of nature. If the humans didn’t boast an overwhelming military might, there’s even a possibility the undead might have clashed with them.

The senses of monsters aren’t as dull as those of humans. And any species of monsters with superior olfactory and visual senses can pick up the scent of undead that is entirely different from the living, no matter the distance.

Dead of the night when even the moon hid behind thick clouds. The campfire shone upon a slender figure.

One of the human towns that had been restructured into a base was filled to the brim with monsters. All manner of dark beings in one place meant a lot of chaos but there was no doubting their strength.

However despite several glinting eyes pointed at, stared down by several pairs of eyes from the sky, there wasn’t a shred of nervousness in the face that was suspended in the dark.

Nay, the one nervous — was the army instead. The aura around that petite figure, the scent emanating from her filled everyone with absolute dread.

They weren’t used to it. There’s no way one of them could be in such a place. That figure which appeared to be a young girl was certainly not human.

— Lone knight. It’s inconceivable to think anyone would try to challenge this army all alone.

The shadow clad in a black cloak was unarmed but held a flag in her arm.

Eerily beautiful long silver hair, crimson eyes with a dubious glint. The suspicious girl planted the flag where she stood and her lips slightly curved into a smile.

“Brother forbade me from killing humans but said it was okay for me to cull a herd of monsters.”

One of the subordinates of the Evernight King, a male dark elf, was able to discern her true identity, only because he’d seen one of her kind before.

A solitary existence that had driven the Death Knights to a corner.

“This place… belongs to Brother from this day.”

“It’s a vampire! Keep your distance! Grab all the silver!”

Consecutive magic bullets that could easily burn down a human army made their impact. However, they were nothing more than a gentle breeze to a strong curse holder of immortal nature with high resistance to magic.

Smoke arose in a cloud. There was no time to waste.

“Let the water run! Get the garlic and crucifixes!”

Simple living beings without any sort of preparation shouldn’t dare to oppose it. Even the mighty Death Knights always plan ahead.

And thus, in the midst of the smoke, the slender figure grew enormous in a flash.

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