Erich slowly looked around.
'This again.'
By now, he had gotten fairly used to seeing the shadows of the past in this way.
'Here is...'
This was the common hall of the First Research Facility. The vast underground chamber where sothing had once been kept.
Unlike before, the interior walls of the research facility were now painted entirely white, giving off an extrely neat impression.
It had sothing like the atmosphere of an altar.
But as he was thinking that, people wearing the cloaks of the Watch entered from the other side.
Their builds ranged from Barbarians to humans, all sorts. However, what was clear was that all of them were speaking the ancient imperial language.
Erich, who had at least a rudintary understanding of the ancient imperial language, was able to understand what they were saying.
"Lady Kaladia has entered her eternal rest."
"... Did the other lords not send word?"
A somber mood fell over their faces.
Kaladia.
She was the forr commander of the Watch, whom Erich had seen before. The last ti he'd seen her, she was locked in a blood battle with Tiberius...
― Step, step.
Several more mbers walked in, forming a line. There was an air of solemnity, like so kind of ritual.
At the very front stood a man holding a sword with a black blade in his hands.
Erich imdiately recognized the sword. It was the 'Demonic Sword' carried by the Lord of the Dead even before his regression.
― Creak.
They respectfully held the demonic sword, walked to the front of the altar, and forcefully drove it deep in.
It was a feat of strength unimaginable for a re human.
'To drive a sword into stone without using aura...'
Soon, the eyes of those who had completed the ritual turned in one direction.
― Clank!
Roughly shaking shackles. There, a giant beast was gasping for breath.
The identity of the creature, large enough to fill the entire chamber...
'A d-d-dragon?'
Erich was startled inside. Did dragons really exist? He had always thought dragons only appeared in fairy tales.
But sohow, the dragon's condition was strange.
A dark energy seeped across its skin, the sa kind of corroding energy the Lord of the Dead often used.
Erich's gaze narrowed. He felt a sense of familiarity with the shape of the dragon.
'The monster the Lord of the Dead used to ride...'
Its size was similar. Back then, he'd thought it was just a skeletal monster.
'So it was a dragon?'
Moreover, this dragon... possessed the form of a 'living creature', animated by the power of the dead.
Judging by the glances among the mbers, it seed they were the ones who had captured the dragon.
The number of shackles restraining the dragon was far greater than what Erich had previously seen.
It was fixed so tightly as if they intended to keep it bound for eternity.
The mbers murmured in low voices.
"We've dealt with the demonic sword and restrained the dragon—so everything is over now."
"Shouldn't we find a way to dispose of that dragon?"
"If that's the case, we should take care of the demonic sword, too. But whether it's the sword or the dragon, we have no way of destroying them."
"... If even you don't know, I suppose it can't be helped."
They glanced alternately at the demonic sword and the dragon.
From Erich's perspective, it seed they had sealed these things here because they couldn't find a way to destroy them.
By instinct, Erich felt he now understood why Albrecht had guarded this place.
He needed the demonic sword and the dragon. Although he still didn't know why, nor whether that dragon was still alive.
'If Albrecht needed them, there must have been a reason.'
Moreover, this was a place even the Lord of the Dead had sought out.
That creature's goal was surely to raise an immortal army and devour the empire, so the demonic sword and dragon must be connected to that.
Even without knowing how or why to use them, he could simply learn for himself to achieve his goal.
But then, the next mont. Erich held his breath.
The body he inhabited was looking at soone—soone whose face Erich also recognized.
The body's owner raised a hand to him.
"Terius, co on in."
"Visinius."
The man called Terius had a pale face. With white hair and a strange, enigmatic smile, he was a man Erich knew as well.
'Albrecht!'
Erich was involuntarily shocked. Why was soone with Albrecht's face living in this era under the na Terius?
Was it possible for a human to live that long in the first place? But then Erich rembered he had once helped the dead.
If there was a way, he must have obtained it through the power of the dead. Terius slowly examined the demonic sword and the dragon.
"An impressive sight. Will it be difficult to keep such a beast?"
"Terius, this is the most tightly guarded place of all. Besides, now that the war with the dead is over, we need not worry about it for now."
Terius curled his lips. Erich—the owner of the body, Visinius—felt a sense of camaraderie with Terius.
mories from when they'd been low-ranking mbers in the Watch flashed by.
Not soone who stood out dramatically, but exceptionally skilled at supporting others. Visinius always felt he could rely on Terius to cover his back.
But Erich knew the truth.
'Commander August also trusted Albrecht that much. I feel a sense of déjà vu.'
History was repeating itself. Maybe the only difference was that, back then, they saw only the dead as a threat.
At this ti, it didn't seem to be considered a problem to be in the middle of the Barbarian territories.
Proof: There were black-cloaked Barbarians present in the research facility alongside them.
Terius smiled at Visinius.
"I hear you may beco the next commander."
"... Do you think I can? To fill her absence..."
"I'll help you, Arnys Visinius."
Terius showed that affable smile again. Visinius was already thinking he would entrust him with postwar reconstruction.
And the handling of the test subjects as well.
'... Test subjects?'
So of the terms Visinius was thinking about Erich didn't understand. Who did he an by 'test subjects'?
Still, Erich could hazard a guess. Anything entrusted to Terius would not have been properly dealt with.
After all, the Watch of later generations rembered neither the victorious commander against the dead, kaladia, nor the na Arnys Visinius.
Perhaps, these events may not have happened in just a matter of decades after all.
It had taken nearly a millennium for the immortal army to rise, and for the demonic sword and dragon to be taken.
It seed these things had required an imnse length of ti.
Then, Erich's eyes briefly t those of soone else.
A man in a robe, gazing at Visinius with calm indifference.
A massive build and a sharp tattoo beneath his eye.
A familiar face. The mont Erich recognized him, his thoughts ground to a halt.
But in the next instant—
The vision twisted, ti stopped.
Cracks spread as the surroundings shattered, and all the background collapsed.
***
"B-boss!"
Focus suddenly returning, Erich surveyed his surroundings. Several subordinates were looking at him with anxious eyes.
Frederick and Barnes. And Mikhail.
As well as Ceres, Hrung-ga, and Alexander.
Everyone was looking at Erich, but he didn't even realize he was drenched in cold sweat.
'... What did I just see?'
Erich had gained quite a lot from this recollection. The reason Albrecht sought this place.
And the mber Terius, who shared Albrecht's face.
Even a history, previously unknown, of victory against the dead.
However, Erich couldn't bring himself to believe what he'd seen at the very end.
If he hadn't made a mistake...
'Maybe this fight can be stopped.'
Even if not the battle against the dead, perhaps the fight against the Barbarians could be ended.
Then Ceres spoke.
"You saw sothing, didn't you? What exactly did you see?"
"... Sotis even I'm not sure what I've seen."
Ceres tilted his head at Erich's reply. Mikhail, folding his arms, added a comnt himself.
"I, too, could sense so strange flow of power. But I have no idea what it actually was."
"I'm not trying to hide it, but it feels as if soone wanted to show Albrecht's purpose."
"Soone? Who do you an?"
"... If you say who..."
Erich blinked. How would they react if he said 'Incensus'? The paladins at the back might even cheer.
'For now, this is sothing I alone need to know.'
Sotis, when soone invokes the na of a god, others interpret it however they please.
For that reason, Erich hesitated to ntion Incensus's involvent.
Otherwise, his judgnts may end up being not truly his own. Distortion always happens that way.
Erich slowly opened his mouth.
"It doesn't matter who said it. What's important is that, in the past, this place contained the demonic sword and a dragon."
"... A d-dragon?"
The most shocked by this was Ceres, whose mouth dropped open. The idea that there had been a dragon was not easy to believe.
Who would have ever imagined a dragon would be imprisoned in a place like this?
But the fact it wasn't known proved just how ticulous Albrecht's planning had been.
Then Mikhail exhaled softly and raised a finger.
"No wonder the cold wind keeps blowing in."
Everyone looked up at the ceiling.
Startled by the scale upon arrival, they hadn't noticed before: there was a hole the size of the chamber in the bent part of the ceiling.
Because of the angle, no light ca in, so they hadn't realized.
'Could that dragon still... be alive?'
Erich barely held back his astonishnt. If that dragon were still alive and had escaped through there, then Albrecht...
'That would an he can now control even the dragon.'
It must have simply taken ti to retrieve the demonic sword and the dragon. And the dead created here were likely to buy that ti.
But Erich recalled the most important person.
The massive Barbarian in a robe he'd seen at the end.
He didn't rember the na from back then, but he certainly did now.
Mountain King, Ungrim.
At so point in the past, he had been here as a mber.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.
(ㆆ.ㆆ )
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