The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War ~And Thus, I Became The Strongest Knight Disciple (♀) in The World~

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"I see… So you told us that story to weaken our will to fight in this situation? Quite a clever tactic," Inglis remarked.

Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte were all kind-hearted. Hearing about the mana essence from über had naturally shaken them deeply.

The greater the shock, the more likely they would hesitate, thinking that leaving things as they were might prevent the creation of more mana essence.

As a result, they would act according to über’s wishes, unknowingly playing into the hands of someone who didn’t want to be hindered. Regardless of the moral implications, über had skillfully manipulated his opponents.

"…I didn’t intend to manipulate your goodwill. I only thought it unfortunate for you to remain ignorant of the truth, so I shared it."

"If we were to be cynical, it’s very possible that everything you told us is a lie."

They hadn’t fully verified the truth behind the story of the mana essence. Though it was probably accurate, it was difficult to believe that über had shared it out of pure kindness.

"In that case… shall I offer you some proof?" über said, his gaze shifting to the right from Inglis’ perspective, toward the area where the grand workshop and the dock for flying warships were located.

With a deafening crash, something enormous burst through the facility’s walls and rose to its full height.

"What is that…!?"

"A giant…!?"

"How can such a thing exist…!?"

The figure was far larger than a Mecha Dragon God, perhaps even rivaling the size of the Divine Dragon Vufailbane.

Its form was entirely humanoid, making the term "giant" quite fitting, as Leone had pointed out.

However, its grotesque appearance was more than just its sheer size. Its skin was a sickly blue-black, evoking a deep sense of revulsion. Most unsettling was its head, which lacked all features: no hair, no eyes, no ears, no nose—none of the elements one would expect on a living being’s face.

It looked like a massive, ill-colored doll—a faceless giant.

A low, eerie groan echoed from the creature.

"A faceless giant…!?"

"Y-Yes…! It rose from the grand workshop…!?"

"How incredibly disturbing…!"

"That is what’s behind the armor of the soldiers you encountered earlier. This one is larger because it consolidates all the mana essence from the facility," über explained.

The faceless giant began to destroy the burning grand workshop indiscriminately, smashing it to pieces with its massive fists. Despite its enormous size, its strikes were shockingly fast, quickly reducing the area to rubble.

"Look at it…! It's as if it's venting its rage over losing its humanity and dignity before being killed…! Isn’t it magnificent? I even find it beautiful…!"

"That’s not all, is it? I sense something more from that giant. Another presence," Inglis said.

"Glis…! What do you mean?" Rafinha asked.

"Indeed. While it seems to be a mass of mana essence, I also sense the presence of the undead."

"Undead…!? Like the ones that attacked Leone's mansion…!? And Liselotte…!?"

"What…!?"

"Is it the same as those…!?"

"Yes, probably. The regular undead we encountered before were created by using the Gift of an Artifact on corpses. But that giant was made using that same Gift on a large quantity of mana essence."

"Heh… Mana essence is the liquidized form of humans, a crazed fluid of dead flesh. I always wondered what would happen if that was used as material for creating undead," über explained with a twisted smile.

Amid the explosions erupting throughout Illuminas, the faceless giant's rampage completely demolished a section of the grand workshop. The ground split and collapsed, severing that part from the rest of Illuminas, and it began sinking into the sea.

In the deep waters, far from Illuminas' buoyancy, it became nothing more than debris, descending into the ocean’s depths.

Meanwhile, the faceless giant turned and leaped high into the air, nimbly avoiding the collapsing ground.

"The grand workshop…!"

"It's sinking…!"

"And that giant is so fast despite its size…!"

Rafinha and the others watched the giant with grim expressions.

"Bravo, bravo. Quite impressive," Tiffany said, clapping her hands with a smile, as though watching a lighthearted children’s play.

"Indeed, Lady Tiffany. This combination of the most malevolent material in the Highland and the wicked Gift that desecrates the dead has created a profound sin, translating into unparalleled power… it's performing exceptionally," über added, adjusting his monocle and smiling gently, much like when he had spoken with Inglis and the others earlier.

"It seems that monocle you’re wearing is an Artifact—quite a powerful one too," Inglis noted.

Though it didn’t appear to be a traditional weapon, it likely served as a perfect disguise. It was probably a Super Grade Artifact, similar to Charalia’s Dragon’s Fang and Dragon’s Claw.

These Artifacts were made by incorporating actual fangs or claws from a mighty dragon, such as Vufailbane, which gave them their extraordinary power, far surpassing ordinary Artifacts.

This suggested that über’s monocle might also contain a similar component. Considering the miracle of creating undead, it was likely crafted from a part of the Ultimate Undead, the Lich.

However, Inglis knew of only one Lich. Unlike dragons, which had several powerful beings known as Divine Dragons, the Lich was a singular existence. And that being had been sealed away by King Inglis herself in her previous life.

Much like with the Divine Dragon Vufailbane, she hadn’t been able to fully defeat the Lich and had been forced to seal it away. If someone had broken that seal and extracted the Lich, it would show a blatant disregard for the efforts of those who had sealed it.

Considering that they had likely cut out and processed a part of the Lich into an Artifact, it could be assumed that they had managed to defeat it.

If the Stone Ravine Door—something originally created by the old Gods—had been repurposed as a facility for manufacturing Hyrule Menaces and renamed the Sarcophagus of Greyfriar, perhaps unearthing a monster sealed by a single king in the past wasn’t such a big deal for the Highlanders.