If one's skill in life determined a zombie's strength, then the Flandre family mansion was, quite literally, a den of demons.
The excellent knights trained by the family had become zombies, charging at Laurent. They no longer possessed the intelligence they had in life, but their physical abilities were even stronger.
Laurent was growing weary from the unending fights.
Every single one of them lunged face-first to tear at his flesh, forcing Laurent to see, up close, the ruined faces of the knights he had once known.
With each one he cut down, Laurent's heart broke a little more.
But it was not yet the time to collapse.
He still had something to do.
Laurent finally reached the highest floor of the mansion.
The once neatly arranged corridor lay in ruins, shattered in many places and left abandoned.
Laurent took a deep breath.
Over his vision, the scenery of better days overlapped.
This won't do.
He shook his head firmly.
With each step forward, his heart hardened.
The smiles of the people of the mansion, once directed at him, he now tossed aside atop the decapitated corpses of zombies.
He crushed his memories and faced the brutal reality.
The last lingering illusion he had yet to let go of would surely be beyond this door.
Laurent tightened his grip on his sword.
Then, he opened the door.
"Ah…"
Through the open window, the wind blew in, making the curtains flutter.
In front of it, stood his father, dressed in a hospital gown.
"Father?"
Laurent stepped inside.
"You're safe?"
Unlike the corridor, the room was clean. True to his father's love of order, there was not a thing out of place. Even the bedding was perfectly neat, the edge only slightly turned back where he had risen.
Laurent's pace quickened.
"Father."
As he came closer, the part hidden behind the bed came into view.
It was a grotesquely mangled lump of flesh.
Laurent froze.
A few bones, crushed flesh, and dried blood stuck to the floor—this was all that remained.
But Laurent knew what it was.
The bloodstained brooch was the one his mother had always worn.
Laurent's arms dropped to his sides.
"Father."
At last, his father turned.
His face was twisted, as if burned.
Between his parted lips, crooked teeth jutted out, bits of rotting flesh and torn cloth stuck between them, reeking of foul stench.
He lunged to bite Laurent.
Laurent instinctively raised his sword to block.
The zombie that had been his father bit down on the blade, a few teeth falling to the floor.
"Keeeaa…"
The zombie staggered forward, not stopping, making sounds like he was retching.
Laurent clenched his teeth and swung his sword.
But with a grotesque movement, the zombie dodged and lunged at him. Laurent immediately pulled his sword back to target the zombie's neck, but the strike did not land properly.
Their bodies crashed together and tangled.
Pinned underneath, Laurent pounded with his fists in desperation, until his eyes met the zombie's.
Despite the hideous features, the outline of Lian Flandre, whom he had known, was still there.
"Father…"
In the zombie's eyes, Laurent saw his own reflection.
A weary expression.
Laurent thought,
It's too late.
In truth, the moment he was tackled to the ground with the zombie, the outcome had been decided.
His father had been strong, and as a zombie, he was still strong. Against such an opponent, grappling like this meant it was impossible not to be bitten.
Laurent tried desperately to swing his sword.
But before he could, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
He had been bitten.
Laurent dropped his sword, blinking.
Through the wound, an unknown, burning energy invaded him. It flowed through his veins, and in an instant, spread throughout his body.
When the evil energy passed through his brain via the bloodstream, Laurent felt his entire vision stained in a dark crimson hue. An unfamiliar urge boiled up from the pit of his stomach.
His reason blurred.
All that remained were instinct and desire.
Laurent struck the zombie that had pinned him down and rose to his feet.
His skin was twisting on its own. But more than the pain, something else dominated his mind.
Humans.
Flesh and blood.
He needed them.
And in this mansion where only zombies remained, starving, there was still one human he knew of.
Stephanie.
The girl's face came to mind.
She would be curled up inside the small guard post.
Laurent crawled toward the door. His body was no longer normal, but he dragged himself persistently. Down the stairs, through the corridors, until he reached the mansion's front door.
The pain was gradually fading. Laurent no longer crawled. Like the other zombies, he staggered as he moved.
Laurent stood in front of the guard post.
Only rough breathing escaped from his mouth.
"Kieee…"
Laurent opened the door.
He saw the girl.
Perhaps exhausted from the long journey, she was curled up in a corner, panting. Asleep, she looked no different from any other child her age.
Pitiful.
But that thought was soon drowned by the crimson urge dominating his mind.
Laurent tilted his head.
It felt like he had remembered something, but he couldn't recall it. No, the very act of thinking was fading. The urge churning in his gut alone moved his body.
Laurent approached the girl.
***
Yuri ran without pause and arrived at the royal palace of Briol.
The royal guard at the entrance stared at him in surprise.
"Your Highness?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What brings you here…?"
It was known that the 3rd Prince was in Bezos, facing off against the Imperial Army.
Thanks to his brilliant exploits against the Empire, the name Yuri Briol was once again shaking the entire continent.
And now, he had suddenly appeared at the palace.
"I had something to do here. I'll be leaving right away. Open it."
"Ah, yes!"
Yuri entered through the palace gates. The royal guard saluted him.
"Y-you've worked hard, Your Highness."
"Mm."
As soon as he stepped inside, Yuri grabbed a passing attendant and asked,
"Where's my brother?"
"Y-your Highness?"
"My brother?"
"I'm not sure…"
Yuri asked everyone he met where Cedric was, but no one seemed to know. All of them only tilted their heads.
Eventually, Yuri came across Rosso of the royal guard.
The man still had that agelessly youthful look.
"Sir Rosso?"
"Oh? Your Highness? What brings you to the palace?"
"I had some business here."
"I heard you were commanding the battlefield. I knew from the very beginning that Your Highness would grow into such a splendid knight. Hahahaha…"
"Thank you. By the way, where is my brother?"
"If he's acting as His Majesty's proxy for state affairs, then perhaps…"
Rosso tilted his head.
"Wouldn't it be in His Majesty's office?"
"My father's?"
"That's my guess."
"Alright, thank you, Sir Rosso."
"It is an honor to have been of help."
Without exchanging proper farewells, Yuri moved immediately.
He ignored the royal guard who tried to block him, and soon stood before the king's office.
Cedric would be inside.
What should he say when they met? Yuri pondered for a moment, but before he could reach a clear conclusion, his body moved first.
He knocked on the door.
There was no response from inside.
Yuri knocked a few more times.
Then, suddenly, the door swung open inward. In the gap stood Cedric, wearing glasses.
"Yuri?"
Cedric smiled.
"What brings you here? I'm glad you came. Want some tea?"
It was a warm welcome.
For the first time, Yuri felt a sense of incongruity.
He had come straight from the battlefield without sending a single message ahead. That was why the royal guards and attendants had all been surprised to see him.
Yet Cedric showed no sign of emotional disturbance.
He simply smiled kindly.
"Come in. You must have had a hard time."
As if under a spell, Yuri followed his gesture into the office.
On the desk, the documents he had been reading were neatly arranged.
In truth, Cedric, who had not yet become king, being in Fiore's office was not proper conduct. Unless he were already king, a proxy had no business being here.
Yet he acted with complete naturalness.
"Was there some urgent matter that brought you here?"
Cedric asked with a smile.
Pausing at the door, Yuri hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Aren't you surprised?"
"Hm?"
"That I suddenly came here."
"I am surprised."
"You don't look it."
"There's no one else who looks exactly like you, so if you suddenly appeared, it must mean you had a reason. It's not something to be shocked about, is it?"
Yuri was taken aback.
"Come in."
Yuri stepped inside.
It was not the Fiore's office he knew. The desk was something he had never seen before, and the arrangement of the furniture in the room was greatly changed.
"It's changed a lot?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
"Why did you change Father's office like this?"
"Because I'll be the one using it anyway."
Yuri looked at Cedric.
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"I have something to ask."
Yuri did not drag it out. He had come to the palace for this very purpose.
To Cedric, who tilted his head, Yuri said,
"Is there anything you're hiding from me?"
"There is."
Cedric answered casually.
"Who doesn't hide something? You're the same, aren't you, Yuri?"
Choosing his words, Yuri asked again,
"Brother, what happened to Francaise?"
"I sent a messenger. You didn't hear?"
"No. I heard. But I wanted to hear the answer from you directly."
"You want to hear it from me…"
Cedric nodded.
Then, looking down at the floor, he let out a low chuckle.
"Yuri, you really are…"
Cedric lifted his gaze. His black eyes shone vividly.
"You always manage to escape my predictions."
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I never thought you, who should be fighting in Bezos, would suddenly ride here and ask me that. It's fascinating. Logically, it's clearly the wrong choice, but in the end, it's the right one."
Cedric leaned back against the desk.
"I didn't expect you to suspect me this early either."
As Yuri chewed over those words, he was so startled that he took a step back.
He had not come to the palace because he didn't trust Cedric, but to put his own mind at ease.
Yet Cedric was smiling with an expression Yuri had never seen before.
"Brother?"
Though he had returned to the past, ever since leading the Allied Army to success, much had changed. Because of that, Yuri constantly faced new circumstances. None of them had been easy.
But never had he felt this bewildered.
It was Cedric.
The elder brother he respected.
Cedric was surely for Briol…
At that moment, Yuri froze.
He realized something unbelievable.
It was to the point where he could hardly understand himself.
"Ah…"
In his past life, right after Fiore disappeared, Briol was invaded.
Yuri fought on the front lines.
Joshua displayed his strategy.
The whole of Briol resisted to the end.
And yet—
Cedric was not there.
He could not remember when Cedric had disappeared. No one in Briol had questioned his absence.
As if from the beginning, Cedric had never existed, and everyone had simply been able to forget him.
It made no sense.
Then, suddenly, one word came to Yuri's mind.
"Black magic."
He said it aloud, unconsciously.
With a shadowed expression, Yuri asked Cedric,
"Do you know it?"
Cedric, arms crossed, quietly gazed at Yuri. The lenses of his glasses caught the light and flashed white.
"Yuri, my little brother."
"Answer me."
"How did you grow up so quickly? Your uniqueness has always been my delight, but this time, I truly regret it."
Cedric walked toward Yuri.
"Brother, answer—"
"I know."
"What?"
"I know about black magic. And to answer one more thing, the claim that Francaise was sealed off because of a plague is a lie. Something far worse is happening."
Before he knew it, Cedric was standing before him, placing a hand on Yuri's chest.
"Stay still."
Yuri tried to grip Guilty, but strength would not enter his hands.
Just as he struggled to grasp the sword, Cedric's voice continued.
"Let go of the sword. Then I'll spare your friend in Francaise. If you don't, that friend will die in a truly horrible way."
[You can buy paid chapters or support me on any platform below:
☕ Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/punisher87
💎 Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/reaper87
🔥 Patreon: patreon.com/Punisher87translation
📘 Payhip Store: payhip.com/revengerscans
For latest Updates VisitOfficial Website: https://revengernovel.com/
Choose the platform that works best for your country. Thank you for your support!]