Former General Is Undead Knight

Volume 3, Chapter 48: Spinner of the Truth⑩

Two hundred years ago, in the research institution of the royal sorcerers of Makyuras Kingdom during the Eight Countries Unification War.

『TAKE A LOOK, TESLAGOZ-SAMA! THIS SHOULD BE POSSIBLE IN THEORY! IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO STABILIZE IT BY COMPLETELY IONIZING ONE’S SOUL… WE WON’T SUFFER FROM EXTERNAL WOUNDS BY LOSING OUR BODIES. THIS WAY, WE’LL BECOME INVINCIBLE!』

A short man, Charlobe, explained to his master, Teslagoz, with an extremely passionate voice.

『ALTHOUGH TESLAGOZ-SAMA DENIED IT, THIS IDEA COMPLEMENTS IT! WHAT DO YOU THINK?! THIS CHARLOBE HAS SOLVED THE PROBLEM FOR YOU! IF TESLAGOZ-SAMA CAN LEAVE YOUR BODY AND FLY AROUND FREELY ON THE BATTLEFIELD, YOU CAN DESTROY THOSE B*STARDS FROM REGIOS KINGDOM WITH EASE!』

Despite his passionate explanation, Teslagoz acted as if he had no interest in this matter at all.

『…It seems you still misunderstand my intentions, huh, Charlobe. I’m not denying it because it’s impossible to implement. I’ve told you “I think it’s impossible to implement.” Even before that, I’ve told you that this kind of sorcery is unsuited for the kingdom.』

『WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOW?! WE CAN’T AFFORD TO CHOOSE THE MEANS TO BEAT THAT DETESTABLE REGIOS KINGDOM! MOREOVER, IT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU ALWAYS SAY EVERY TIME THERE’S A NEW INNOVATION IN SORCERY! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT THE BEST, TESLAGOZ-SAMA!』

『The war is over. The royals don’t seem to realize that fact yet, but… It’s pretty much impossible for Makyuras Kingdom to turn the tables at this point. That sorcery of yours can’t be perfected in time. Not to mention that it will leave unnecessary trouble for future generations. Your sorcery will cause a disturbance in the peaceful era.』

Charlobe, whose face was filled with pride in the beginning of the conversation, gradually felt his expression sour as the conversation continued.

『If the upper brass ever heard those words, they might think that you want to rebel, Teslagoz-sama… To think that even someone like you would say that.』

『It seems a strange thought was driven into your head after you got injured in the war, but let me make it clear. I’m not trying to rebel. I am just stating an undeniable fact. Since the very beginning, I have always disliked your train of thought that always goes from one extreme to another, but… To think that it worsened instead of improving after all these years. Let me guess, you’re going to go to the battlefield again once that magic is complete—』

『THAT’S UNRELATED TO THIS! MASTER, YOU’RE ALWAYS BLAMING ME AND DENYING YOUR OWN WORDS! AAH, I KNOW! YOU MUST BE SCARED! CAUSE YOU’LL DIE BEFORE YOUR DISCIPLE! YOU’RE SCARED OF BEING SURPASSED BY YOUR OWN DISCIPLE!』

Charlobe had completely lost his cool in the second half of his statement.

The sorcerers around them were looking at him.

The matter of Charlobe spouting such a dangerous remark was well known amongst them, even the reason for his injury on the battlefield was because he got overly excited and lost to the enemy’s provocation.

Even amongst the group of eccentric sorcerers, he stood above the rest. Charlobe’s biased opinion toward his master had slowly revealed his violent nature.

But Charlobe’s condition on that day was even worse than usual.

『…I can’t help but worry if that’s what you really think.』

『I DON’T CARE! NOW I KNOW WHY I MADE A MISTAKE BACK THEN. IT’S BECAUSE YOU NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED ME! I JUST WANT TO BRING OUR KINGDOM VICTORY! WHAT I NEVER EXPECTED WAS THE FACT THAT MY MASTER, TESLAGOZ-SAMA, HAD BEEN COLLUDING WITH REGIOS KINGDOM IN SECRET! NO, AT THIS POINT, THAT’S THE ONLY REASON!』

Finally, Charlobe took out his cane and pointed it at Teslagoz.

Not even the person himself realized what he was about to do.

『Charlobe, sto—』

But the other sorcerers moved even before Teslagoz managed to finish his words. They hurled fireballs at the back of Charlobe, who seemingly tried to fire a spell toward their master.

Charlobe, whose body was riddled with wounds from the battlefield, didn’t have the leeway to dodge their spells.

His body was baked by the flames, writhing in pain on the spot.

―After being imprisoned, Charlobe went missing from his cell, and Teslagoz was assassinated a week after this incident.

Since then, Charlobe’s name was never mentioned in Makyuras Kingdom’s records again, ever.

One of the Eight Wisemen, Charlobe, otherwise known as 『Spinner of the Truth』, was gazing down at his torn abdomen.

His plasma body was gouged by Lambert’s greatsword.

But it quickly returned to normal.

「Y-YOU B*STARD… DON’T TELL ME…!」

Charlobe paused for a moment.

Even if he understood that fact, he refused to accept the truth.

All this time, Lambert had been cutting corners, throwing one provocation after another, all for the sake of baiting out Charlobe.

A non-sorcerer like Lambert was the one who understood the best way to handle a sorcerer who was too proud of their own research.

That was why Lambert, who knew that Charlobe had some sort of trump card, lured out Charlobe by saying that the latter was a mere imitation of Teslagoz.

If he really was immortal as he claimed to be, Charlobe wouldn’t get provoked so easily by Lambert.

And yet, he still couldn’t let go of his megalomania and the conflict with his teacher a long time ago, and Lambert used it to provoke him.

「Sure enough, I’m such an idiot for being provoked by you. But… It’s because I can easily kill you! My plasma body is invisible. I shall make you regret the fact that you forced me to use my trump card… Now, DIEEEEEEEE!」

Charlobe rushed toward Lambert with his plasma body again.

At the same time, the lightning beasts who surrounded Lambert were charging at once.

Lambert slipped out of the encirclement immediately.

The bodies of two demon hounds that came from the corner were thrown in the air, collapsing on the spot.

‘His battle instincts are far above mine… Maybe I shouldn’t get too careless and rush in now that the number of diversions has been reduced again.’

Rushing toward Lambert, Charlobe suddenly changed his course and decided to come from the side.

In fact, he succeeded.

But right at that moment, a greatsword came from above, gouging a huge chunk of Charlobe’s back.

「GAH!」

Charlobe, whose movements got disturbed in the middle, took a defensive posture, looking at Lambert over his shoulder while gliding on the floor.

「I-IMPOSSIBLE! YOU SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO CATCH UP TO ME!」

「You don’t seem to be able to control your movements.」

「Impossible… Are you telling me that you predicted my route beforehand and made your moves based on my initial route?」

Charlobe said this with an exasperated voice.

Lambert didn’t answer his question.

One of Charlobe’s points of pride was his combat intuition that didn’t fall behind first-rate swordsmen.

Thus, he could fight against sword-wielding opponents in ultra-close combat.

But Lambert’s combat intuition was far above Charlobe’s.

Even if he was branded as the worst traitor, Lambert’s titles as one of the Four Demon Generals and the strongest warrior of Regios Kingdom were not for show.

「I-IMPOSSIBLE! JUST HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS KIND OF FIGHT HAVE TO REPEAT!」

Lambert had been keeping up with Charlobe.

Charlobe suddenly stopped once he was outside of Lambert’s range, circling around and trying to ram Lambert with a body blow from behind.

All of that happened in a flash.

He knew that his attack would pierce through Lambert’s body―or so he thought.

An arm stretched out and stopped Charlobe from delivering the coup de grace.

「How… can it be?」

Charlobe muttered this.

「Immortal plasma body… is it? That’s a load of crap. Shall we see if you use up your mana first or I fall first.」