“Uooooooooh!”
With a roar that seemed to bolster his own spirits, Cresson charged towards the Zombie King.
The enemy turned its head around and looked down at Cresson, viscous liquid dripping from all over its body.
It took a dragging, almost collapsing step, and a powerful stench of decay wafted on the wind.
Smoke rose with a sizzling sound from the spot where it had been standing just moments before.
“High Heal!”
Cresson raised his staff forward.
A white light struck the Zombie King’s abdomen directly, creating a gaping hole.
“Y-Yes! Hahaha! How do you like my all-powerful magic… Whaaaat?!”
However, the hole in its belly was immediately filled with a blob of flesh, and Cresson let out a cry of astonishment.
Gooooooooh!
The Zombie King swung its right arm down. Its movements were somewhat sluggish, as if its body hadn’t fully adapted yet, and Cresson dodged by leaping sideways.
The undead’s arm smashed into the ground, and the remnants scattered around. The scattered pieces of flesh clung to the arm and were instantly regenerated.
Cresson stood up again and rushed towards the Zombie King once more. However, the enemy swung its arm again, and Cresson avoided it by rolling on the ground.
This exchange was repeated several times.
Covered in dirt, Cresson put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, nonetheless.
“Ha, hahaha! Did you see that, gallery? So far, we’re evenly matched, or even better! I haven’t been touched even once!”
“Well, you’ve only cast one healing spell, and after that, you’ve just been running around. Besides, we’re the only gallery here…”
Umin muttered in an exasperated tone. The other young members had gone to call for reinforcements, so the only ones present were Zenos and Umin.
Next to him, Umin nodded slightly as she watched the battle.
“But now we know the cause of the massive undead outbreak, right?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, undead are attracted to stronger undead. Especially in places close to death, like a graveyard.”
“I see, so the Zombie King was the cause…”
Zenos crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly.
“Even so, that guy claimed he was the one who wiped out the ghosts and zombies earlier, right?”
“He did.”
“For that, his fighting style is too passive, isn’t it?”
“Well, what he said earlier was probably a lie.”
“It was a lie?”
“Yes. But Zenos-san, please don’t help him. He needs to experience a little bit of pain.”
“…”
Zenos was silent for a while before saying to Umin next to him.
“Even though you say that, you’re worried about him, aren’t you?”
“Eh, why do you think that?”
“I thought so because you stayed here instead of going with the others to call for help.”
“Well… I thought I’d at least pick up his bones. He is a classmate, after all.”
“Umin, you’re a good person.”
“No, no, that’s not true.”
Umin hurriedly waved her hands in front of her face and glared at Cresson’s back at the front line.
“But he’s just rolling around and not fighting at all. Is he planning to stall for time until help arrives?”
“…”
Zenos crossed his arms and frowned.
“That’s not good.”
“Right? It doesn’t look good after all that boasting.”
“No, I mean, the longer you leave a Zombie King, the more its rotten body adapts and becomes stronger, so just stalling for time is a bad move.”
“…!”
The moment Umin gasped, Cresson’s groan echoed.
“Gahaa!”
The Zombie King’s thrusting right arm finally caught Cresson.
His body was sent flying dramatically and crashed into a tombstone.
“Heal!”
Casting a recovery spell on himself, Cresson crawled away from the enemy.
“Tch, I let my guard down. But this is just a scratch.”
He was putting on a brave face, but his knees were shaking, suggesting he was hurt in his legs.
“Now, the match is—”
However, the moment he declared that, the Zombie King’s fist exploded on Cresson.
“Gobua!”
Blown away, Cresson rolled across the ground.
“Heal, gefu!”
“He… gaa!”
“Geboaa!”
The healing couldn’t keep up. The Zombie King’s speed was increasing with each passing moment.
In the storm of blows, Cresson was tossed around like a leaf. Finally, the Zombie King grabbed Cresson with both hands and lifted him high.
“Gyaaa! L-Let go! Let go!”
“Ah, wawawa.”
Next to Umin, who let out a panicked voice, Zenos had been feeling a strange sense of discomfort for a while.
What exactly was bothering him?
He vaguely felt a sense of unease during his conversation with Umin—
“…Ah!”
Just as Zenos inadvertently opened his mouth, Cresson screamed.
“Hiiii! H-Help meeee!”
The Zombie King opened its mouth wide and tried to bite Cresson’s head.
Distorted fangs like stakes were closing in to reap the young healer’s life.
At that moment—
“Mega Heal!”
Zenos’s incantation echoed, and a white light attacked the Zombie King like a tsunami.
The undead, swallowed by the holy torrent, roared “Oooo” and crumbled into bones.
After everything returned to silence, Cresson sat on the ground, breathing heavily.
However, he didn’t forget to put up a strong front.
“W-Who said to help me…!”
“No, you definitely said it.”
Umin retorted, and Cresson stood up and shouted.
“I-I didn’t say it!”
“You did. You were sniffling and crying, ‘Help meeee!’”
“Stop iiiit!”
While his two classmates were exchanging words, Zenos wiped the sweat from his forehead and said apologetically.
“No… I’m kind of sorry…”
“…?”
He finally understood what was bothering him.
Undead are attracted to stronger undead—
The Zombie King was certainly a higher-ranking zombie-type monster, but it was still newly born and far from its original power.
Even so, would that many undead gather around it?
Could there actually be a more powerful undead nearby?
And then, it hit him.
There was indeed. Not far from here, there was a monster of the highest undead class—
“Hepshu!”
In the dormitory of the Royal Healing Institute, not far from the graveyard, Wraith sneezed loudly.
“Camilla-san, are you okay? Do you have a cold?”
Lily looked at Camilla with concern, and Camilla floated and crossed her legs.
“Kukuku… For me, called the Wraith Queen, to have a cold is an amusing joke.”
“If it’s not that, then it’s fine, but it was a big sneeze.”
“That’s right… Perhaps someone is thinking about me.”
“Wow, you’re popular, Camilla-san.”
“Kukuku… You’re such a flatterer. The stew was quite delicious too.”
“Ehehe, Camilla-san is also good at giving compliments.”
“Kukuku…”
“Ufufu…”
In Zenos’s room, amidst a relaxed atmosphere, the culprit of the massive undead outbreak was having a very carefree conversation.
A/N: The culprit…!