10 Chapter 10: Ascension

I probably blanked out while devouring the poor Demon Lord, so lost was I in my instincts that I couldn't remember anything.

Best to keep it that way, to preserve my sanity. That was assuming that I still had my sanity in the first place, of course.

Shaking my head, I kicked the remains of the Demon Lord into the channel of water flowing through the sewer, and staggered toward the open. Rubbing my eye and stretching myself after such a good meal, I proceeded toward a corridor that was dimly illuminated by a tiny ray of sunlight. Even though we started the fight at noon, only a scant few hours had passed, and it was well before evening. The sun had yet to set.

That was good. I didn't want to fumble around in a sewer when it was totally dark.

Pushing my glasses up, I surveyed my surroundings. The place looked relatively new, as if it was recently built, and was quite modern given the medieval setting. That was fine by me, given that I had to traverse it.

While I did so, my intuition alerted me to the update in my skill set and I flicked my hand in reflex. A small blue window appeared right in front of me. I glanced at it, and was so stunned by the updates that I came to a stop.

Name: Tanaka Tomoyuki

Species: Undead

Job/Rank: Gravekeeper/Lich

Special Abilities: Adamantium Will, Regeneration, Devour, Lord of Darkness

Yeah, I had been promoted to a lich. I supposed I meant I could summon zombies and control them. And my job had changed from being a zombie to a gravekeeper, whatever that meant. I had no idea what a gravekeeper did. Guard graves? Protect a cemetery? Watch over the dead? I tapped on the word, but it didn't provide any details.

On the other hand, Lord of Darkness seemed to provide a whole host of details that I plundered from the Demon Lord thanks to my Devour ability.

Lord of Darkness: As Master of Darkness, you have gained access to powerful arcane spells and bonuses of ominous origins.

Spells: Reanimate, Thousand Astral Graves, Doombolt, Corrupting Darkness, Shadow Lunar Fang, Dark Barrier

Bonuses: Resistance to darkness-type spells and attacks enhanced by 200%, power of darkness-type spells and attacks enhanced by 200%, energy cost of casting darkness-type spells decreased by 500%, durability and magical energy buffed by 50%, Machiavellian Charisma (all demons are 50% more willing to obey you), Dark Weapon Mastery (adept in any weapon of slaughter)

Hell, no! No way in hell was I going down that ridiculous route! My name was not Nagumo Hajime! I had plans of revenge, and I planned to go through with them, not play house with a growing harem that included a loli vampire, a dumb rabbit girl, a former classmate and more. Nor was I going to conveniently find a cute classmate who was abandoned and killed by Kobayashi, revive her as my slave, and have her fall for me, then end up having all the girls in class in my harem while hypocritically killing all the guys.

I wasn't Katsuragi Daichi either.

"I probably need to test out these new abilities," I remarked as I dismissed the blue holographic window. While these spells, bonuses and special abilities sound amazing on paper, I didn't know how they would work out in reality. For one thing, there was no indication of levels, so I wasn't sure how vast the gap between my strength and my classmates' were. Surely I didn't surpass their power levels and six months' of experience just from eating a Demon Lord, right?

While, I would find some way to find out sooner or later. I hope. Preferably before I encountered any of my evil classmates, who were most likely celebrating their victory over the Demon Lord right now. Making use of this opportunity, I fled through the sewer and reached the corridor that was bathed in relatively bright light. Looking forward, I saw a small gate at the end of the corridor, barring my way out. A verdant overgrowth had grown around the grilles, Nature forcibly reclaiming her territory as she curled her vines and leaves over the black metal.

I decided to help her a little, and while at it, test out my new spells. Raising my hand, I directed my palm toward the metal grille and took a deep breath.

"Doombolt!"

I felt stupid shouting the name of the technique out, but I didn't know how else to cast them. The techniques listed in my special ability column provided no details on how to execute them, and the system wasn't intuitive. That is, I didn't "automatically" know the casting process or had the information uploaded to my brain after gaining it.

So the only way was by imagining how I thought it would be and hoping it manifests when I shouted the name of the spell. Damn it, and while I was floundering in a clueless manner, my classmates had all the access to whatever resources and training they needed, and six months of experience. I was so far behind.

The unfairness of it all struck me and I clenched my fists, feeling a spike of rage. As if in response to my boiling emotions, a black bolt of energy leaped out of my right hand and hammered into the grille, disintegrating both the metal and the overgrowth curling over the bars in one hit. My jaw dropped as I watched the aftermath of my attack.

If that had been a human…

I grinned. Yeah. I was so going to enjoy casting this on my fucking classmates. They deserved to be obliterated in a similar manner.

For now, I had to rein in my excitement and proceed outside, back to the surface. The dins of battle had died out, and I scrambled into the open air, relieved. The air outside was a lot fresher. For some reason, the sewer didn't stink as much as I thought it would, but it still felt suffocating and constrictive. Perhaps my sense of smell had mercifully dulled upon becoming an undead, or I just didn't give a shit about shit, but whatever the case, I felt relieved upon emerging into the forested area that waited beyond the exit.

The sun was no longer at its zenith, but it was shining through the scattered canopy of the forest that welcomed me. The din of the battlefield sounded so far away, but I knew it wouldn't last long. The humans had won. The Demon Lord had been slain – even if not by the hand of the heroes, then at least eaten by me. The war was over.

Any time now, the demons would be fleeing. Or it would become a rout, with the demons fighting futilely to the very last and getting wiped out.

I feel sorry for them.

I glanced in the direction of the battlefield, feeling a little tang of pity. Even though they were enemies who had tried to kill me, such an action was because they were trying to survive against the human army that I was a part of. They held no grudge or bore no resentment toward me, but operated out of necessity. Kill or be killed. I couldn't begrudge them for their efforts – after all, it was the instinct of every living thing to stay alive.

On the other hand, my classmates weren't under such restrictions. They tried to kill me not because of necessity or to survive, but because they enjoyed it. They thought it was funny, and it assuaged their ego and made them feel powerful. There was no necessity, nor would any harm befall them if they didn't bully me, but they did so out of free will, out of choice, and not because their hands were forced in any way.

Put it in this manner, I could clearly see who the real demons were.

Why do they call them demons anyway? Ah…because of the kanji magic.

For some reason, the kanji ma (魔) always had a negative connotation. The Demon Lord Maou (魔王) and the actual word for devil, akuma (悪魔) all possessed that word, and bestowed upon it a sinister, terrifying meaning.

But perhaps they weren't so much as menacing but misunderstood?

"Well, no point philosophizing over this right now."

Pushing my glasses up, I shook my head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts and proceeded through the forest. I was still dressed in the silver knight armor of the human kingdom, so I could continue to pass off as one of them and infiltrate the city. My original goal to reach the capital and gather intelligence remained unchanged, for I had no other alternative. I knew too little about Restia and the heroes. Even if they were my classmates, they had undoubtedly changed tremendously over the last six months.

I must find out more about them and their abilities.

"Let's hurry."

I hoped I could reach the Demon Lord's fallen castle in time, before the human army left. I doubted they would leave the castle alone, though. Surely they would post an occupying force there. But if my goal was to follow the main army back to the capital city of the human kingdom, then it was completely pointless to end up doing sentry duty on a fallen castle so far away from human civilization. It wouldn't be the end of the world, and I could still collect information from fellow soldiers there, but it wasn't ideal, and the intelligence I could gather would be severely limited.

No, it would be better for me to get to the capital. Though that would be dangerous in its own right, what with my classmates living there, I might actually be safer there than I thought. My classmates would never imagine that there would be an enemy living right under their noses. And what was that old adage?

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Yeah, keeping my classmates closer would actually be a good move.

I picked up the pace and hurried toward the castle, which towered over the tall trees that surrounded it. I could still hear faint sounds of clashing, though they had grown a lot softer and more spaced apart. The battle was clearly in its final stages, the demons either being routed or fleeing after learning the news of the demise of their Demon Lord. The knights, buoyed by the victory of their heroes, would probably gain a new surge of strength for this last stretch.

Gripping my sword, I ran.

"!"

Before I could get very far, however, I instinctively dodged to the side as a flaming projectile crashed toward me. My hand drew my sword before I knew it, and I rolled up in an offensive stance, the weapon feeling so natural that it felt like an extension of me. A few arrows and icicle spells rained down on me, but I deftly cut through them without pausing. I sprang forward without consciously making the decision, my eyes scanning the clearing and instinctively sweeping for enemies.

Dark Weapon Mastery.

I couldn't believe it. The ability was real. My body was moving in accordance with skills I definitely hadn't learned before. Even though I had some experience with kendo, I had never trained to the extent where I could slice through magic spells effortlessly and move toward the closest enemy instinctively to hunt them down.

My eyes widened when I saw my opponents. A column of armored demons were moving in my direction. A long-eared, dark-skinned demon was pointing her staff at me and unleashing several spells, which I easily dodged. A few black-armored knights charged at me, but I merely swept through them, intuitively slashing at the weak points in their armor and incapacitating them. A giant, two-handed axe flashed down, but I sidestepped it, slightly deflecting it to the side with my blade, and then stepped in to drive my sword into his armpit. The giant, orc-like knight cried out and fell to his knees, but I kicked him and yanked out my weapon, twisting around to deflect another blade. This time, I cut my assailant at his elbow, causing him to drop his sword, and then ducked down to avoid a second sword while lashing out with a roundhouse kick that floored my first opponent.

Flipping my body over to avoid another slash from my second opponent, I did a cartwheel before ramming my foot into his jaw, dislocating it and causing him to fly off his feet. Righting myself, I stumbled back to evade a thrust at my chest, then twisted around to ram the hilt of my sword into the armored breastplate of my assailant. As he staggered, I jumped up and planted my foot on his helm to spring myself above a berserk, gigantic knight that was wielding a hammer. Flipping my body in midair and evading the massive hammer agilely, I thrust out with my sword and plunged my blade into the knight's neck, where the shoulder plates just ended and the collarbone began.

"Gaaah!"

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The knight gave a guttural roar as he staggered back, but I kicked his face before landing.

The second wave of knights came at me, but I held out my left hand and barked a single order in a voice filled with authority.

"Stop!"

The knights all stopped on reflex, their armored helms looking around in confusion when their bodies momentarily locked up at my command. Without wasting a single second, I stabbed my sword into the ground and held up both empty hands to indicate my unwillingness to fight.

"I am not your enemy."

"Oh, really?"

The dark-skinned elf-like demon, who had casted magic earlier, stepped forward and pointed her staff aggressively at me.

"You invaded our castle, slew our king, and then claim you're not our enemy, human?"

"I'm not human."

Unlocking the silver armor, I dropped the breastplate to the ground and shrugged out of my protective gear. Wearing a crooked smile, I narrowed my eyes and tried to rely on my Machiavellian Charisma ability. All demons were supposed to have an additional 50% chance of obeying me, but other than my first command, which took them by surprise, they didn't seem very compliant. The black-armored knights were still holding their weapons and warily surrounding me.

I sighed. "You can check your comrades if you don't believe me. I injured them, but I didn't kill any of them."

A few medics hurried forward to check on the groaning or unconscious knights I felled, and looked up to confirm my declaration to the dark elf, who seemed to be their leader. I focused my attention on her. If I wanted to get the group to follow me, she was the main person I had to convince. I had to persuade her that I was one of them.

It might not be a bad idea to throw my lot in with the demons instead.

I discarded my original plan of infiltrating the human kingdom and gathering knowledge. I would obtain just as much intelligence, or in fact much better intelligence regarding the heroes from the enemies who were forced to scout and discover as much information about them as possible in order to fight them. They might even have strategies and tactics with regard to the heroes and the disposition of the human army.

Furthermore, I needed allies. If I wanted revenge, it would be more difficult for me to do it alone than if I had people who were willing to cooperate with me. It would be even better if such people were also aiming to take revenge on the heroes. The enemy of the enemy was my friend, and we would have a common, shared goal that would ensure loyalty until we achieved it.

I would worry about everything else after I killed my classmates.

"How do you want me to prove that I'm an undead?" I asked, keeping my hands raised and taking a step toward them.

"Undead?"

There was a series of murmurs that rippled across the demon army, but their female commander silenced them with a stare.

"…what do you mean, undead?"

"I'm a lich." I scratched my head and conjured my blue screen. "I can show you my information if you need me to."

"What are you talking about?" the commander demanded, looking blankly at me. I raised my eyes, puzzled. So none of the demons or residents of Restia could see the blue status screen? Typical. They were non-playable characters analogues, after all.

"Well, how do you expect me to prove myself, then?" I retorted impatiently. The commander glared at me, then closed her eyes.

"Well…you do have a demonic aura about you that can't possibly be human," she admitted. I rolled my eyes.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Even so, we can't trust you so easily…"

Then her eyes widened and she spun toward her troops.

"Evasive maneuvers! There's a hero behind us!"

"Too late."

A black blast of energy consumed a section of black knights, causing their skin to rot. Screaming, they fell to the ground, writhing as they died slowly.

The other knights quickly dispersed, their commander twisting around and firing a fireball in the direction of the black spell. However, a shadow leaped out and swatted the fireball out of the sky, sending it careening into a tree and blowing it into fiery splinters.

"That's…"

The demon commander and her knights backed away fearfully as their single assailant stepped into the clearing, flicking her long, black hair.

"Caught you. I'm not going to let any of you escape."

With her staff, she launched a second wave of black, corruptive energy that scorched the earth and caused plants to wilt. The knights scattered, but there were a huge number of them who couldn't get out of the way in time. Their thick armor weighed heavily on their bodies, impeding their movements and slowing their speed.

The spell never reached them.

"Dark Barrier."

A black, translucent screen materialized between the demonic knights and the dark, corrupting spell, halting it before it could reach them. The spell dissipated harmlessly against the barrier, the spellcaster gazing at the protective layer in disbelief.

"How…?"

I stepped to the front with my right hand raised, still shielded behind my Dark Barrier. The demonic knights and the dark elf looked at me in astonishment.

"Well, this is my chance to prove that I'm on your side." I flashed them a smile. "Get away from here as quickly as you can. I'll slay that hero."

The "hero" glared at me, rage displacing disbelief when she realized who I was.

"Tanaka Tomoyuki. You're still alive?"

"Of course, I am." I grinned at my opponent. "But unfortunately, you wouldn't be alive for long, Tsukishima Tomoyo."