READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 109
It’s gloomy. I feel bad. I don’t want to be with you.
These were the countless words that had entered the hermit’s life.
It was heartbreaking, but she could feel it was justified.
She loved dark, damp places and had a gloomy personality, after all.
She seemed to have been this way since birth, lacking sociability.
When around others, she only looked around nervously, couldn’t make eye contact, and fumbled her words.
They say the weak are filtered out in a group, but the hermit was isolated beyond that.
It was only natural for her to withdraw from the group.
The elder said that when alone, one would only feel deep despair and loneliness.
At first, she was worried, but it was unfounded worry.
When the hermit first became alone, what she felt was liberation.
“I’m alone! I’m free!”
She thought it would be nice to be alone, but it turned out to be better than she imagined!
From then on, the hermit wished to be alone forever.
A place where no one could visit and where she didn’t have to interact with anyone.
A primeval land untouched by civilization, Laura Bar Swamp was just that kind of place.
Aside from the natives, there were almost no visitors, and it was dark and damp. Perfect for the hermit.
The hermit ventured deep into the swamp to build her nest.
In terms of sentiment, it was a paradise.
Not having to interact with any intelligent life! If that’s not paradise, what is?
There, the hermit became immersed in researching magic, which she loved.
When she had belonged to a group, everyone often frowned upon magic.
She had to read magic tomes while sneaking glances at others, but now she didn’t have to do that anymore.
How long had it been?
Despite the wind being colorless, the hermit was overwhelmed with loneliness.
Anyone with intelligence would feel loneliness, and the hermit was no exception.
“…But I still don’t want to go out.”
Though loneliness was one thing, a vague fear weighed even more heavily on her.
Being with someone else was even more despairing for the hermit.
From that point, the hermit began naming stones to soothe her loneliness.
Of course, that was merely temporary.
It seemed so foolish to spend time with a stone that couldn’t even talk like a friend.
Naturally, new desires began to burgeon within the hermit.
She wanted to find a way not to be lonely, even if alone.
***
One day, numbers popped into the hermit’s head.
Simultaneously, the surrounding natural ecosystem rapidly changed, forming a maze centered around her.
Her overwhelmed thought process barely managed to deduce a hypothesis.
She had heard rumors that in the minds of the 72 Lords, numbers were engraved.
“…Is it true?”
A number engraved in her mind. A maze formed around her.
7
Most importantly, if the number in her head was 7…
“Am I an Undead Lair Lord!?”
The hermit, who had always had low self-esteem since birth, found it impossible to believe that she could be the lord of the Seven Lairs.
But looking at the changes in her body, she had no choice but to believe.
A gem that appeared to be a dungeon core had formed in the upper part of her chest.
It was firmly embedded like it had been engraved, and she couldn’t pull it out.
The sub-monsters generated from the maze followed the hermit like a boss.
Though they acknowledged her, they didn’t interact closely. Social anxiety was contagious even among her subordinates.
Additionally, the hermit had gained two new abilities.
Describing the abilities, they seemed to fulfill the hermit’s desires.
The first ability was splitting into clones or splitting her body; in short, she could divide her main body into multiple entities.
The more entities that increased and grew strong, the weaker the main body became.
This was why she considered it a splitting body, not just a clone.
Thanks to the splitting bodies, the hermit managed to overcome her loneliness.
All of them were her, so there was no reason to be shy. It was a blessing for the hermit.
The second ability was transformation. This too was directly linked to the hermit’s desires.
Until now, she had wanted to hide from others, and transformation fulfilled that desire perfectly.
Regardless of whether they were living beings or inanimate objects, she could seamlessly transform as long as she set her mind to it.
Not only her main body but also the splitting bodies boasted this seamless transformation skill.
The numbers in her mind, the maze, the subordinates, the gem embedded in her body (the dungeon core), and the new abilities.
How could she not understand this combination?
To confirm the facts, she decided to send a splitting body out into the world.
“I don’t want to! You go!”
“Why, why… me….”
“Then you go! You’re the main body!”
“Why should the main body go? If I die, we all die!”
She had forgotten. Even if they were splitting bodies, they were all the same her.
“What about telling the subordinates to go out?”
“That sounds good! Let’s do it right now!”
“But who is going to tell them?”
“Uh, hmm….”
“You tell them.”
“Why me again!”
There was no other choice.
The hermit continued to pull out tail fur until a submissive splitting body finally came out.
Each strand of fur that was pulled out became a splitting body, and the 100th one began to obey the hermit’s words.
From the 100th onwards, the splitting bodies barely had emotions or individuality, thanks to that.
“Do you think you can go outside?”
“Yeah.”
“Great! Go right now!”
“Just get lost!”
“That was a bit harsh….”
“…Sorry.”
Days went by after the 100th splitting body left.
When the splitting body returned and spoke, the hermit gained confidence.
The existing Undead Lair Lord, Dark Shadow, had been conquered.
Moreover, the world was in an uproar over the newly emerged Undead 7th Lair.
“What should I do! I think I’m really an Undead 7th Lair!”
“Not just me, it must be us. We are the Undead 7th Lair!”
“Whether that’s good or bad….”
“I, I think it’s bad, right?”
“Yeah…. It’s bad….”
“I heard that there’s a deep bond among the 72 Lords. They might come to find us.”
“Uh…. They might also seek us out in the demon realm…. The Empire too….”
The hermit trembled with anxiety.
With her becoming an Undead Lair, it was clear that the current peace and tranquility would come to an end.
Would that be all? Just like the existing 7th Lair, Dark Shadow, she could end up dead.
The hermit felt wronged and resented the world.
What a sudden calamity on the peaceful days! She hadn’t wanted to be an Undead Lair at all, so why!
All she wished for was to live quietly and alone.
The world would never understand this grievance.
Even if they did, it wouldn’t change a thing.
“I need to hide quickly!”
“Shouldn’t we hide the dungeon too?”
“The main body is a master of concealment magic. I can probably hide the dungeon too.”
“I’ll give it a try!”
The hermit created a space disconnected from the world using a barrier.
That was merely a makeshift solution. If the barrier were ever to be broken, her existence would be revealed.
***
The Mausoleum of Faith. It was the 7th-ranked Undead Lair known to the world.
When she received that information, the hermit thought she must have misheard.
“Weren’t we the Undead 7th Lair? Then what’s the Mausoleum of Faith?”
“The Death Knight is a singular entity boss…. It doesn’t make sense….”
“We have a fraudster! What an odious fellow!”
“Still, they must be strong enough to pose as us, right?”
The boss of the Mausoleum of Faith was Death Knight Barugore.
He had easily killed two heroes and seized the Holy Sword.
By mere performance standards, he could undoubtedly be seen as an Undead Lair.
“He must be really strong. After all, one must have that level of courage to impersonate us.”
“Ugh, how annoying…. What do we do about that guy?”
“No matter what we want to do, can we do anything?”
“…That’s true.”
“And if he impersonates us, that’s beneficial for us. Anyone would think of the Mausoleum of Faith when they mention the 7th Undead Lair?”
“Right. Thanks to the Death Knight, no one knows about us. We can live comfortably in hiding.”
“Yeah, let’s just let him impersonate us.”
“Definitely! It’s actually a good thing!”
***
What could they possibly want by impersonating the 7th Undead Lair, and what intentions did they have? Doubts began to sprout inside the hermit as she became obsessed with the impersonator and gathered information about him.
…
“Is that Death Knight an impersonator?”
Since hearing recent news, her doubts began turning in another direction.
The four heroes of the Empire, the Count of the Border, the Great Sage. Surprisingly, those great figures were victims of Barugore.
According to reports, he had somehow leapfrogged ahead of the Abyssal 10th Layer, and the Empire had acknowledged him as the second to none.
“Isn’t it strange that the Death Knight is that strong? Could he really be the true Undead 7th Lair?”
Typically, Death Knights are mid-upper tier undead.
It is common knowledge that they cannot become Undead Lair Lords.
But conversely, it is said that Undead Lairs do not conform to ordinary senses.
If one zeroes in on their unique unfathomable aspects, it becomes plausible that a Death Knight could become a lord.
“What are you talking about, that’s nonsense.”
“But… how could an ordinary Death Knight kill those people and leap to second place?”
“Yeah, yeah. Being a singular entity of rank seven makes all the sense in the world.”
“Then what about us? What does the 7 in our heads mean?”
“Isn’t it strange? An Undead Lair Lord would surely know their rank. The Death Knight should also know that information. Knowing it would only lead to exposure, so why would he impersonate?”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“What could be the reason…?”
Even in a collective intellect quagmire, they were still all the same hermit.
It was no different from being ensnared in her own thoughts.
***
The 5th-ranked Corruption Cave’s Calandas was killed.
By none other than the 7th-ranked Barugore.
“…That guy seems to be an Undead Lair.”
“Indeed. That makes sense. They said he killed the 5th-ranked Undead Lair Lord all on his own. He must have been a singular entity for that to happen.”
“It was strange from the beginning. How could a worm like me be an Undead Lair…?”
“What kind of Undead Lair are we…?”
The awe they felt for him, coupled with their low self-esteem, began to work against them.
“So, what does the 7 in our heads signify?”
“…Doesn’t it mean we are the subordinates of a 7th-ranked lord?”
“Do subordinates also have numbers engraved? It’s not just the lords, is it?”
“Then… are we twofold entities?”
“But he said he was a singular entity. And we also have many subordinates.”
“Perhaps he was the first to arise as a singular entity, and then we formed afterwards? Twofold entities or subordinates, doesn’t matter.”
“Could that be true?”
“I don’t know. But it’s said that Undead Lairs are unfathomable. A newborn Undead Lair could do something like that, maybe?”
“Hmmm…. Still, something seems….”
“Honestly, I’d prefer to be his subordinate. Don’t you all think?”
“I want that and also feel that way….”
When they thought of the fraudster, the hermit realized that she had begun to admire Barugore without even realizing it.
At the same time, an internal bond had built up immensely.
“So, what about this dungeon core?”
“Isn’t it more like a life core than a dungeon core? We have life cores among our subordinates too.”
“So, could it be that we actually are his subordinates?”
“But what about the numbers in our heads?”
“…Maybe it appears for mid-bosses?”
“Could it be?”
“Hey, isn’t this a dungeon?”
“It could be a double dungeon. He’s a singular entity, right? Since he’s alone, could there be two dungeons?”
“In the end, instead of a life core, it’s really a dungeon core….”
“Then why did it appear so far away?”
“Hmm… perhaps there’s a separate layout? If he’s the boss, maybe he can sense it even if it’s far away…?”
“But he doesn’t know about us, right?”
“That is true but….”
***
A splitting body disguised as a lizardman was discovered.
Barugore knew of the hermit’s existence and was on his way here.
“He definitely said it was the hermit! The boss knows about us!”
“He was our boss!”
“Fools! Being his subordinate poses a problem! We’ve been living in hiding all along. How would he see it kindly after abandoning our duties and just hiding?”
“…Could it be he’s coming to kill us?”
“Gulp.”
***
A chilling skull of the Death Knight. A blue glow in its eyes like a flame. Rugged hands that bound her body.
The hermit felt she was about to burst into tears.
“You thought I wouldn’t know?”
“Ugh….”
“I’m dead now…!”