Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

Chapter 53: Chapter 6 Anomaly, The Awakening of the Undead

Chapter 53: Chapter 6 Anomaly, The Awakening of the Undead

Betty chattered excitedly, talking nonstop.

Upon hearing that Betty wanted to be friends with him, Auson’s originally fair face blushed red, and he nodded vigorously, appearing quite happy and excited.

‘Well done!’

Char couldn’t help but cheer for Betty in his heart, and then, following Betty’s words, he began speaking with the kindest smile and the gentlest tone.

“So, Auson, do you want to join us? That way, you can make lots of friends, and you won’t have to hide out of fear. We’ll all protect you. If you’re worried about leaving your mushrooms behind, we can even help you move them onto the carriage. How does that sound?”

Auson sucked on his finger and tilted his head in thought, seeming somewhat hesitant.

Just as Char felt that the timing was not quite right and thought about stepping up his persuasion, Auson finally nodded.

‘Great!’

Char thought to himself.

He was in such a good mood he couldn’t help but think—the saying that great fortune comes after surviving great disaster must be true.

Just last night, he had experienced a life-threatening crisis, albeit only as collateral damage. If that unknown giant bird had really taken notice of him and found him bothersome for some inexplicable reason, he would have been completely doomed, his fate entirely out of his hands.

But unexpectedly, this morning brought a series of pleasant surprises.

First, he had casually saved a young Rain Sound Kingfisher, and then he had recruited the second fairy. The latter was, without a doubt, an enormous surprise.

In his elation, Char even started joking to himself.

‘Little Red Riding Hood, now that’s a funny name. I just hope I won’t run into the Big Bad Wolf next.’

But as it turned out, some jokes shouldn’t be made in jest, not even in one’s thoughts.

No sooner had such an idea flashed through Char’s mind, did he sense something, and his brow furrowed.

At the same moment, Betty also sensed something odd. With a light flutter of her wings, she turned gracefully to face a certain direction in the forest, as if anticipating the charge of some ferocious beast.

The Clover Mantis, whose perception was usually even better than Betty’s, was slightly slower in its response this time.

In fact, it still hadn’t noticed anything peculiar in that direction, but seeing the actions of Char and Betty, the Clover Mantis became aware of something as well.

It floated down like a piece of green shadow, positioning itself in front of everyone. Its arms shone with a verdant light, conjuring two gleaming Light Sabers, ready for whatever was to come.

Even the Star Worm flew beside the Clover Mantis, on guard.

On the ground, Auson suddenly realized something and his face showed an anxious expression. He started gesturing frantically with his hands and feet, signaling everyone to leave quickly.

“There’s… there’s danger, we must… we must go.”

His stutter worsened due to his nervous urgency.

Char then realized that Auson’s persistent following might not only have been out of closeness and curiosity toward Betty, but also because there was danger ahead. He wanted to warn Betty, and by extension, warn him.

Although Char did not know what danger Auson was referring to, nor could he see what exactly was happening ahead, he decided to heed the advice.

“Go! Let’s get out of here!”

He ordered in a low voice.

The Clover Mantis was strong, and Char had full confidence in its strength, but faced with the unknown danger, it was better to be cautious. It was wiser to avoid trouble if possible.

But evidently, the approaching danger wasn’t something he could avoid just because he wished to.

Through the underbrush, the earth suddenly heaved as if something was breaking through the soil. Soon, a bone-white wolf, several bone-white snakes, and a few bone-white birds “awakened.”

The bushes rustled, and various bone-white creatures—running, swimming, or flying—burst forth from the thicket, confronting Char and the rest.

“It’s the undead!”

Betty exclaimed in shock.

Char’s expression darkened, reflecting some disbelief.

How could there be undead in the forest?

This was completely counterintuitive and against common sense—how could a forest full of life have any connection with the deathly aura of the undead?

Char now understood why he had felt uncomfortable for that moment—it was because he had sensed the dense deathly aura and the presence of the undead.

Both his elf bloodline and the “Natural Seal” he had acquired made him sensitive and averse to the aura of the undead, enabling him to detect what Clover Mantis could not.

Of course, the main reason was probably the “Natural Seal”.

The “Natural Seal” symbolizes nature and vitality, the natural enemies of the undead, which represent death and decay. It was normal for both sides to be sensitive to each other’s auras.

This was also why Betty, whose perception was not as good as Clover Mantis’s, detected the strangeness earlier than it did.

Many thoughts flashed through Char’s mind as his gaze quickly swept over several undead creatures, and introduction frames appeared in his line of sight.

[Undead Bird]

[Challenge Level]: 0

[Introduction]: A bird turned into an undead due to the erosion of Death Power.

[Undead Snake]

[Challenge Level]: 0

[Introduction]: A snake turned into an undead due to the erosion of Death Power.

[Undead Wolf]

[Challenge Level]: 1

[Introduction]: A wolf turned into an undead due to the erosion of Death Power.

The oncoming undead were numerous but of low levels. Even the highest, the Undead Wolf, only had a Challenge Level of 1 and posed no threat to Char.

A gleam of blue light flashed, and crisscrossing azure saber glows danced through the air. In the blink of an eye, all the oncoming undead were reduced to shattered bones. None escaped—those flying in the sky, running on the ground, or crawling in the mud—all couldn’t evade the saber light of Clover Mantis.

However, the threat was not eliminated, as more undead woke up and moved in to attack the group.

“Clover Mantis, come back!”

Char yelled, and the group began to retreat rapidly.

‘How could there be so many undead?’

As Char sprinted through the forest, he called out in his mind.

It was as if all the animals that had died in the forest over thousands of years had “come back to life” as undead pursuing them relentlessly.

Turning his head to look back, he had no idea how extensive the undead’s coverage was. If it was small, then with Clover Mantis’s strength, they might still cope, but if the area was large…

Clover Mantis stayed behind to cover the rear, quickly killing any undead that caught up. Even the Star Worm stayed in the back, unleashing “Star Impact” and taking down several undead.

This was the first time Char had seen Star Worm use “Star Impact”. Upon activation, the stars surrounding it flew like high-speed asteroids toward the front, capable of inflicting area damage, and concentrating into a small impact zone for striking.

The destructive power was quite impressive; passing objects didn’t just include severed grass stems, but even some thin branches were instantly broken.

Of course, this was limited to small twigs; larger tree trunks were another matter. “Star Impact” was powerful enough to break a larger trunk with a concentrated hit, but then its killing force would be exhausted.