It should’ve been an unmoving corpse . I’d confirmed that .

She wasn’t breathing, her heartbeat had stopped, almost all her blood had poured out, and above all else, her heart—pierced through by her sword—had already ruptured . No one would see that as anything but a slaughtered corpse, and therefore the Knight Silane would never again stand up .

……That was how it should have been . But, as a matter of fact, Silane had gotten up .

That wasn’t all . A disgusting change was taking place in Silane’s body, which was raising a startling scream .

Her purple flesh swelled as if it was filled with putty, and her deep wounds closed .

Her entrails, dangling from her flank, were pulled inside her body with a *slurp slurp* .

When her now darkish-colored blood spouted out from the cross section of her lost left arm, it crawled like a snake into her fallen arm . As if I was watching a film in reverse, when the connected blood returned to her main body, her left arm settled back into its original place .

Her purple flesh bulged, and her left arm reattached .

And just as it did, the color of the ring on the finger of her left hand changed from blue to yellow .

That was the signal .

It was proof that the elven girl who protected the world had changed into a monster that harmed humans……she had changed into a Ghoul, an undead without will .

Yes . The requirements had been met .

The conditions to sp.a.w.n a Ghoul were related to the concentration of magical power in the air . Built on the land known as the “Sea of Trees”—a place that had been overflowing with magical power from the start, Fort Tilia was a point of death where thousands of humans and hundreds of monsters had been killed . There couldn’t have been more favorable conditions to sp.a.w.n a Ghoul .

Even with my still-poor perception ability, I could sense that the magical power drifting about in the fortress was being sucked into the body of the girl in front of me with a terrifying momentum .

“Y- . . ou……b.a.s.t.a.r.dd, how dare you… . ” (Juumonji)

His face twitching in pain, Juumonji stood up .

At the same time, the sword stuck in the center of Silane’s chest was pushed out from the inside by her swelling flesh .

Picking up the fallen sword, Silane attacked Juumonji, who staggered in pain .

“GaAAAa, AAAAAaAAA!” (Silane)

A large diagonal slash from the shoulder came with a roar . Juumonji stopped this blow with his straight sword .

“U-UOH!?” (Juumonji)

Stopping the blow, Juumonji’s foot sunk into the floor .

“GAaAAA!” (Silane)

Counterattacking, Silane slammed down her sword in a reverse-diagonal slash . His sword blade creaked, and Juumonji’s body shook a lot from stopping the blow .

After that an offensive like a raging billow started .

The sword Silane was unleas.h.i.+ng didn’t even have a speck of the delicacy it had while she was alive . It was a violent sword she just struck with .

But, that momentum wasn’t something she’d had while she was alive either .

Maybe that was natural as well . She was already a monster . The stage she was at was different from human beings . While she’d lost the delicate sword technique she cultivated, it appeared that some of the things she’d driven into her body while she was alive remained . Her sword was so violent and sharp that I couldn’t believe that it was being swung by an undead without a will .

Steel groaned . The wind screamed . The living moaned, and the dead cried .

Naturally, Juumonji wouldn’t just die quietly .

His counterattack grazed Silane’s cheek, cut off her shoulder, and cut open her thigh .

“GAaAAaAAA!” (Silane)

But, Silane didn’t care about wounds like that .

Perhaps it was because she no longer cared about wounds as her life had already ended .

What was there was unmistakably a ghoul .

“This is……something that even I can’t cut into . ” (Gerbera)

The one who had spoken to me, who was dumbfounded while I watched the battle in front of me, was Gerbera, who had fought Juumonji until a little bit ago . Having repaired her face, Lily was with me as well .

“Sorry, milord . My mistake put you in danger . ” (Gerbera)

“No . Don’t worry about it . Maybe it was due to that that I was protected by Silane . ” (Majima)

“It’s hard to say . Of course, even I wouldn’t want to miss such a good chance……” (Gerbera)

Watching the two’s fight, Gerbera knit her elegant eyebrows .

“No matter how I look at it, she distinguished friend from foe . When she fought next to you, the most she could do was bite off his shoulder . ” (Gerbera)

“……” (Majima)

It was a sound argument I couldn’t refute .

“Gaa, aAA, AAaaAAAAAAAAa!” (Silane)

The current Silane had no reason .

Once you got within range of her sword, you’d be turned into chunks of meat and then greedily devoured without distinction of friend or foe . There was no way we could have fought with her now .

“Takahiro-dono!” (Leader)

“Leader-san . ” (Majima)

Possibly seeing now as an opportunity, Leader ran over here with a knight .

Though she showed vigilant behavior for only an instant after looking at Gerbera, it appeared she changed her mind, “Now isn’t the time” . She broke her gaze and spoke to me .

“Let’s withdraw now . ” (Leader)

“But, Silane is……” (Majima)

“That isn’t Silane . Don’t misunderstand . That is just an undead monster . ” (Leader)

As she had continued fighting in the Sea of Trees for a long time, Leader’s view was dry .

She had most likely experienced something like this in the past .

Yeah . That over there wasn’t Silane .

It was a monster in Silane’s corpse .

Silane was dead . If she was dead, that was it . Nothing could be done for a dead girl . Even if she stood up and walked . That was the common sense in this world, where things like undead monsters existed .

“What should we do, milord? As that woman over there says, we can escape this fortress now . ” (Gerbera)

Gerbera asked .

“Or if you want to kill that man, we can wait until that Ghoul exhausts him . He’s wounded . If he continues fighting then he’ll acc.u.mulate fatigue . Even I will have a good chance of beating him then . ” (Gerbera)

As Gerbera said, Juumonji was acc.u.mulating injuries .

Stopping the bite in the beginning with his dominant arm might’ve been a regretful mistake . In addition, a situation like this, where the dead—something that definitely should’ve been killed—rose and attacked, would invoke a fundamental fear in human beings . Juumonji’s sword had clearly grown dull .

On top of that, the Ghoul-turned Silane was swinging her sword, disregarding anything but lethal attacks as an undead monster . As a result, there weren’t many scenes where they simultaneously struck one another, and it appeared that even if you were a cheat holder, you couldn’t come out unscathed .

Silane was also being injured, but the『damaged parts』not even blood dripped from seemed to repair as soon as said flesh swelled . The places where she was injured while she was alive repaired and remained as they were, but the places other than that regained their usual smoothness after a while .

Her special characteristics of restoration and regeneration as an undead monster were, naturally, done by magical power . It would be possible for her to fight for a while until she ran out . It would earn us enough time to run away, and she should’ve weakened Juumonji for a counterattack .

“What should we do?” (Gerbera)

Gerbera asked .

Leave Silane and run away like this, or defeat her enemy . Or…… .

“……” (Majima)

Just for a moment, I closed my eyes .

Behind my eyelids was the girl’s smile . What struck my earlobes were the cries of the dead . ——I made up my mind and lifted my eyelids .

My decision was made . The rest was just going forward without hesitation . ……No matter what the result of it was .

“Leader-san . I have one question, may I ask it?” (Majima)

“Ha? A question……you say?” (Leader)

Leader looked confused by the words I spoke .

“Silane’s state seems to be different from ordinary Ghouls’, do you happen to know why?” (Majima)

I asked without hesitation .

“I have encountered Ghouls before . At that time, they didn’t heal their injured bodies like that . The Ghoul-turned knights didn’t even use their swords . But, Silane is different . ” (Majima)

“Why does that……” (Leader)

“Please answer me . It’s important . ” (Majima)

When I spoke in a peremptory manner, Leader answered me with an imprudent face .

“……Though rarely, it is known that some Ghouls achieve that transformation . ” (Leader)

“Rarely, you say? Are there perhaps many among famous knights, soldiers, and magicians? For example……yes, like the Undead King Carl?” (Majima)

That was the legendary person I heard about from Kei .

A magic country’s king, who excelled in magic, transformed into a Lich, an undead monster, due to his lover’s death . It was said that due to his tenacious willpower, his intelligence remained .

“That is a fairy-tale . ” (Leader)

“Yes . I know . That in this world, that’s considered to be a fairy-tale . ” (Majima)

Undead monsters had no awareness of when they were alive . Because they became monsters, and it was impossible for monsters to have will like humans .

That was common sense . Therefore, the legend of the Undead King Carl was just a fairy-tale . They thought that .

But, I knew . That there existed monsters with will . So, it was possible that an undead monster retained their will . If the Undead King Carl was someone that really existed in the past…… .

“But, what does it mean? According to what you said, Leader, isn’t there some kind of trend of human beings turning into『undead monsters seen rarely』?” (Majima)

“……In the first place, there aren’t many examples, so it’s doubtful whether you can call it a ‘trend’ . ” (Leader)

Having said that, Leader turned her eyes towards the ceiling as if she was thinking back .

“It is true that, in the past, there are a number of examples of this when great knights died . Ghouls sp.a.w.ning in the Knight Order is a scandal in itself, so it doesn’t remain in the official records . ” (Leader)

“I see . Thank you very much . ” (Majima)

Nodding, I looked towards the battle between Silane and Juumonji which was continuing even now .

“……By chance, Master . ” (Lily)

Possibly guessing it, Lily called out to me .

“Is it possible?” (Lily)

“Yeah . ” (Majima)

I nodded my head in return .

This was my power . I knew instinctively what I could and couldn’t do .

I looked again at Leader and Kei, who looked like they didn’t understand our conversation, and told them frankly .

“There’s a possibility I can get Silane back . ” (Majima)

“Wh-… . . !?” (Leader)

“Really!?” (Kei)

Leader was speechless, and Kei reacted hugely .

“Is that true, Takahiro-saaan! You can revive Ane-sama!?” (Kei)

“……Unfortunately, I cannot revive her . But, I may be able to make her, an undead monster, regain her sanity . ” (Majima)

When I spoke after catching Kei, who jumped at me, she became confused .

“Wh-what do you mean?” (Kei)

“Oh yeah, I haven’t explained the details of my ability yet, have I? Hey, Kei . My ability isn’t merely to tame monsters . I can connect my mind to monsters, and give them a will . ” (Majima)

Silane was a monster now .

So, she was within the category of my ability . I should be able to connect my mind to her .

“But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a limit either . ” (Majima)

Even my ability couldn’t produce something from nothing .

Unless they had the basics, where a mind was forming, I couldn’t give my mind to monsters .

So, it was important that in Silane, who turned into an undead monster, there was something of her will left—even if it were just fragments . But, I didn’t need to worry about that . I was confident .

“Despite Silane waking up as an undead monster, neither Kei nor I ended up dying . No way was that by chance . ” (Majima)

She woke up as an undead when Kei and I fell into danger . There was no way something that convenient happened in this absurd world .

“Silane’s desire to protect someone moved her corpse . Even if she lost her reason, she didn’t lose her mind . ” (Majima)

According to the legend of the Undead King Carl, he was a great magician with a tenacious willpower .

If this was the requirement to become『an undead with will』, then Silane, a great spirit user and someone who kept fighting with a strong desire, met these requirements .

What was fighting there wasn’t a nameless undead monster . It was Silane . Silane, who fought bravely prepared to die, and kept fighting—even after she died .

She wanted to protect someone . With just that one wish .

Besides, I had another reason to believe that Silane’s mind had remained .

It was that moment where Asarina was burned off and I lost my means of emergency evasion, and imagined the future of being killed by Juumonji . I had definitely heard that voice .

——No matter what, I have to protect her .

The voice I heard then was definitely Silane’s .

It was possible our thoughts towards the common threat of Juumonji synchronized, and I connected with her through the path for just a moment . Of course, possibly because undead monsters were different from normal, the path was cut off now, but my voice should reach if it reconnected once again . She hadn’t lost her mind yet, after all .

“But, I need to touch her for that . ” (Majima)

The closer I was to my target, the stronger the path, the essence of my cheat ability, would connect to them . If I could directly touch her skin, I could also touch her heart .

However, that would also be interrupting the battle between Silane and Juumonji .

“In short, that’s our turn, then . ” (Lily)

Brandis.h.i.+ng her spear, Lily exchanged looks with Gerbera .

“Very well . While you do that, I’ll hold back that man . I won’t make a mistake like the one I did earlier . ” (Gerbera)

Lifting the edges of her lips, Gerbera shook her spider legs *kichi kichi* .

Possibly looking forward to her revenge match, a warlike smile was painting her beautiful face .

I smiled a little in response to relying on her, and separated from Kei, who I was holding .

“Um……Takahiro-san . ” (Kei)

There was a slight resistance . Kei’s hand was holding the s.h.i.+rttail of my clothes .

“Yeah?” (Majima)

“For Ane-sama…thank you very much . ” (Kei)

Smiling, I stroked Kei’s head .

“Leave it to me . ” (Majima)

It should’ve been an unmoving corpse . I’d confirmed that

She wasn’t breathing, her heartbeat had stopped, almost all her blood had poured out, and above all else, her heart—pierced through by her sword—had already ruptured . No one would see that as anything but a slaughtered corpse, and therefore the Knight Silane would never again stand up

……That was how it should have been . But, as a matter of fact, Silane had gotten up

That wasn’t all . A disgusting change was taking place in Silane’s body, which was raising a startling scream

Her purple flesh swelled as if it was filled with putty, and her deep wounds closed

Her entrails, dangling from her flank, were pulled inside her body with a *slurp slurp*

When her now darkish-colored blood spouted out from the cross section of her lost left arm, it crawled like a snake into her fallen arm . As if I was watching a film in reverse, when the connected blood returned to her main body, her left arm settled back into its original place

Her purple flesh bulged, and her left arm reattached

And just as it did, the color of the ring on the finger of her left hand changed from blue to yellow

That was the signal

It was proof that the elven girl who protected the world had changed into a monster that harmed humans……she had changed into a Ghoul, an undead without will

Yes . The requirements had been met

The conditions to sp.a.w.n a Ghoul were related to the concentration of magical power in the air . Built on the land known as the “Sea of Trees”—a place that had been overflowing with magical power from the start, Fort Tilia was a point of death where thousands of humans and hundreds of monsters had been killed . There couldn’t have been more favorable conditions to sp.a.w.n a Ghoul

Even with my still-poor perception ability, I could sense that the magical power drifting about in the fortress was being sucked into the body of the girl in front of me with a terrifying momentum

“Y- ou……b.a.s.t.a.r.dd, how dare you… . ” (Juumonji).

His face twitching in pain, Juumonji stood up

At the same time, the sword stuck in the center of Silane’s chest was pushed out from the inside by her swelling flesh

Picking up the fallen sword, Silane attacked Juumonji, who staggered in pain

“GaAAAa, AAAAAaAAA!” (Silane).

A large diagonal slash from the shoulder came with a roar . Juumonji stopped this blow with his straight sword

“U-UOH!?” (Juumonji).

Stopping the blow, Juumonji’s foot sunk into the floor

“GAaAAA!” (Silane).

Counterattacking, Silane slammed down her sword in a reverse-diagonal slash . His sword blade creaked, and Juumonji’s body shook a lot from stopping the blow

After that an offensive like a raging billow started

The sword Silane was unleas.h.i.+ng didn’t even have a speck of the delicacy it had while she was alive . It was a violent sword she just struck with

But, that momentum wasn’t something she’d had while she was alive either

Maybe that was natural as well . She was already a monster . The stage she was at was different from human beings . While she’d lost the delicate sword technique she cultivated, it appeared that some of the things she’d driven into her body while she was alive remained . Her sword was so violent and sharp that I couldn’t believe that it was being swung by an undead without a will

Steel groaned . The wind screamed . The living moaned, and the dead cried

Naturally, Juumonji wouldn’t just die quietly

His counterattack grazed Silane’s cheek, cut off her shoulder, and cut open her thigh

“GAaAAaAAA!” (Silane).

But, Silane didn’t care about wounds like that

Perhaps it was because she no longer cared about wounds as her life had already ended

What was there was unmistakably a ghoul

“This is……something that even I can’t cut into . ” (Gerbera).

The one who had spoken to me, who was dumbfounded while I watched the battle in front of me, was Gerbera, who had fought Juumonji until a little bit ago . Having repaired her face, Lily was with me as well

“Sorry, milord . My mistake put you in danger . ” (Gerbera).

“No . Don’t worry about it . Maybe it was due to that that I was protected by Silane . ” (Majima).

“It’s hard to say . Of course, even I wouldn’t want to miss such a good chance……” (Gerbera).

Watching the two’s fight, Gerbera knit her elegant eyebrows

“No matter how I look at it, she distinguished friend from foe . When she fought next to you, the most she could do was bite off his shoulder . ” (Gerbera).

“……” (Majima).

It was a sound argument I couldn’t refute

“Gaa, aAA, AAaaAAAAAAAAa!” (Silane).

The current Silane had no reason

Once you got within range of her sword, you’d be turned into chunks of meat and then greedily devoured without distinction of friend or foe . There was no way we could have fought with her now

“Takahiro-dono!” (Leader).

“Leader-san . ” (Majima).

Possibly seeing now as an opportunity, Leader ran over here with a knight

Though she showed vigilant behavior for only an instant after looking at Gerbera, it appeared she changed her mind, “Now isn’t the time” . She broke her gaze and spoke to me

“Let’s withdraw now . ” (Leader).

“But, Silane is……” (Majima).

“That isn’t Silane . Don’t misunderstand . That is just an undead monster . ” (Leader).

As she had continued fighting in the Sea of Trees for a long time, Leader’s view was dry

She had most likely experienced something like this in the past

Yeah . That over there wasn’t Silane

It was a monster in Silane’s corpse

Silane was dead . If she was dead, that was it . Nothing could be done for a dead girl . Even if she stood up and walked . That was the common sense in this world, where things like undead monsters existed

“What should we do, milord? As that woman over there says, we can escape this fortress now . ” (Gerbera).

Gerbera asked

“Or if you want to kill that man, we can wait until that Ghoul exhausts him . He’s wounded . If he continues fighting then he’ll acc.u.mulate fatigue . Even I will have a good chance of beating him then . ” (Gerbera).

As Gerbera said, Juumonji was acc.u.mulating injuries

Stopping the bite in the beginning with his dominant arm might’ve been a regretful mistake . In addition, a situation like this, where the dead—something that definitely should’ve been killed—rose and attacked, would invoke a fundamental fear in human beings . Juumonji’s sword had clearly grown dull

On top of that, the Ghoul-turned Silane was swinging her sword, disregarding anything but lethal attacks as an undead monster . As a result, there weren’t many scenes where they simultaneously struck one another, and it appeared that even if you were a cheat holder, you couldn’t come out unscathed

Silane was also being injured, but the『damaged parts』not even blood dripped from seemed to repair as soon as said flesh swelled . The places where she was injured while she was alive repaired and remained as they were, but the places other than that regained their usual smoothness after a while

Her special characteristics of restoration and regeneration as an undead monster were, naturally, done by magical power . It would be possible for her to fight for a while until she ran out . It would earn us enough time to run away, and she should’ve weakened Juumonji for a counterattack

“What should we do?” (Gerbera).

Gerbera asked

Leave Silane and run away like this, or defeat her enemy . Or……

“……” (Majima).

Just for a moment, I closed my eyes

Behind my eyelids was the girl’s smile . What struck my earlobes were the cries of the dead . ——I made up my mind and lifted my eyelids

My decision was made . The rest was just going forward without hesitation . ……No matter what the result of it was

“Leader-san . I have one question, may I ask it?” (Majima).

“Ha? A question……you say?” (Leader).

Leader looked confused by the words I spoke

“Silane’s state seems to be different from ordinary Ghouls’, do you happen to know why?” (Majima).

I asked without hesitation

“I have encountered Ghouls before . At that time, they didn’t heal their injured bodies like that . The Ghoul-turned knights didn’t even use their swords . But, Silane is different . ” (Majima).

“Why does that……” (Leader).

“Please answer me . It’s important . ” (Majima).

When I spoke in a peremptory manner, Leader answered me with an imprudent face

“……Though rarely, it is known that some Ghouls achieve that transformation . ” (Leader).

“Rarely, you say? Are there perhaps many among famous knights, soldiers, and magicians? For example……yes, like the Undead King Carl?” (Majima).

That was the legendary person I heard about from Kei

A magic country’s king, who excelled in magic, transformed into a Lich, an undead monster, due to his lover’s death . It was said that due to his tenacious willpower, his intelligence remained

“That is a fairy-tale . ” (Leader).

“Yes . I know . That in this world, that’s considered to be a fairy-tale . ” (Majima).

Undead monsters had no awareness of when they were alive . Because they became monsters, and it was impossible for monsters to have will like humans

That was common sense . Therefore, the legend of the Undead King Carl was just a fairy-tale . They thought that

But, I knew . That there existed monsters with will . So, it was possible that an undead monster retained their will . If the Undead King Carl was someone that really existed in the past……

“But, what does it mean? According to what you said, Leader, isn’t there some kind of trend of human beings turning into『undead monsters seen rarely』?” (Majima).

“……In the first place, there aren’t many examples, so it’s doubtful whether you can call it a ‘trend’ . ” (Leader).

Having said that, Leader turned her eyes towards the ceiling as if she was thinking back

“It is true that, in the past, there are a number of examples of this when great knights died . Ghouls sp.a.w.ning in the Knight Order is a scandal in itself, so it doesn’t remain in the official records . ” (Leader).

“I see . Thank you very much . ” (Majima).

Nodding, I looked towards the battle between Silane and Juumonji which was continuing even now

“……By chance, Master . ” (Lily).

Possibly guessing it, Lily called out to me

“Is it possible?” (Lily).

“Yeah . ” (Majima).

I nodded my head in return

This was my power . I knew instinctively what I could and couldn’t do

I looked again at Leader and Kei, who looked like they didn’t understand our conversation, and told them frankly

“There’s a possibility I can get Silane back . ” (Majima).

“Wh-… !?” (Leader).

“Really!?” (Kei).

Leader was speechless, and Kei reacted hugely

“Is that true, Takahiro-saaan! You can revive Ane-sama!?” (Kei).

“……Unfortunately, I cannot revive her . But, I may be able to make her, an undead monster, regain her sanity . ” (Majima).

When I spoke after catching Kei, who jumped at me, she became confused

“Wh-what do you mean?” (Kei).

“Oh yeah, I haven’t explained the details of my ability yet, have I? Hey, Kei . My ability isn’t merely to tame monsters . I can connect my mind to monsters, and give them a will . ” (Majima).

Silane was a monster now

So, she was within the category of my ability . I should be able to connect my mind to her

“But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a limit either . ” (Majima).

Even my ability couldn’t produce something from nothing

Unless they had the basics, where a mind was forming, I couldn’t give my mind to monsters

So, it was important that in Silane, who turned into an undead monster, there was something of her will left—even if it were just fragments . But, I didn’t need to worry about that . I was confident

“Despite Silane waking up as an undead monster, neither Kei nor I ended up dying . No way was that by chance . ” (Majima).

She woke up as an undead when Kei and I fell into danger . There was no way something that convenient happened in this absurd world

“Silane’s desire to protect someone moved her corpse . Even if she lost her reason, she didn’t lose her mind . ” (Majima).

According to the legend of the Undead King Carl, he was a great magician with a tenacious willpower

If this was the requirement to become『an undead with will』, then Silane, a great spirit user and someone who kept fighting with a strong desire, met these requirements

What was fighting there wasn’t a nameless undead monster . It was Silane . Silane, who fought bravely prepared to die, and kept fighting—even after she died

She wanted to protect someone . With just that one wish

Besides, I had another reason to believe that Silane’s mind had remained

It was that moment where Asarina was burned off and I lost my means of emergency evasion, and imagined the future of being killed by Juumonji . I had definitely heard that voice

——No matter what, I have to protect her

The voice I heard then was definitely Silane’s

It was possible our thoughts towards the common threat of Juumonji synchronized, and I connected with her through the path for just a moment . Of course, possibly because undead monsters were different from normal, the path was cut off now, but my voice should reach if it reconnected once again . She hadn’t lost her mind yet, after all

“But, I need to touch her for that . ” (Majima).

The closer I was to my target, the stronger the path, the essence of my cheat ability, would connect to them . If I could directly touch her skin, I could also touch her heart

However, that would also be interrupting the battle between Silane and Juumonji

“In short, that’s our turn, then . ” (Lily).

Brandis.h.i.+ng her spear, Lily exchanged looks with Gerbera

“Very well . While you do that, I’ll hold back that man . I won’t make a mistake like the one I did earlier . ” (Gerbera).

Lifting the edges of her lips, Gerbera shook her spider legs *kichi kichi*

Possibly looking forward to her revenge match, a warlike smile was painting her beautiful face

I smiled a little in response to relying on her, and separated from Kei, who I was holding

“Um……Takahiro-san . ” (Kei).

There was a slight resistance . Kei’s hand was holding the s.h.i.+rttail of my clothes

“Yeah?” (Majima).

“For Ane-sama…thank you very much . ” (Kei).

Smiling, I stroked Kei’s head

“Leave it to me . ” (Majima).