Talaje’s abilities were simple. As a slime-type undead, it could freely change its form using liquefaction and could also detach parts of its body to create clones. And with the black magic of Legion Commander Magnus, this ability was further maximized, allowing it to succeed in removing its only weakness—its heart—to an external location. Currently, Talaje stored ten hearts externally. Even if destroyed, it could reproduce asexually on the spot by consuming a heart and being reborn as a new individual. Its ability to revive was similar to Simon’s Ancient Undead, Prince, but the difference was that Talaje consumed its own hearts to be reborn. The ultimate survivability.
Talaje’s abilities weren’t specialized for searching, but Magnus highly valued its ability to return alive one hundred percent of the time, even if discovered or surrounded by the enemy. And currently, Talaje was tracking the trail of the unknown Ancient Undead it had met in the Jungle of Screams, following Magnus’s orders. It was making progress. As Talaje swept through the grassy field with its long tentacles, it rubbed the dirt floor with one of them. [Unidentified underground ruin discovered. Trail of Ancient Undead matches.] Talaje sensed that it had found a very important clue. It wanted to go deep into the ruins, but a dangerous scent emanated from this point on. It decided it should go back, report to Magnus, and call for reinforcements to search together. Just then...
The surrounding trees were torn from the earth and sent flying into the sky, their pale growth rings exposed. Talaje turned around. It saw the skeleton of the very Ancient Undead Talaje had been searching for. And a necromancer was even wearing it as ‘Bone Armor.’
[Who—]
The word was never finished. At the same time the trees were being cut down, Talaje’s neck also slid down along a smooth diagonal line and fell to the ground with a thud. "Nine times," the man’s voice echoed grimly. "Now I just have to kill you nine more times to make you disappear, right?"
The body of the decapitated Talaje sank like water, turning into a black pond. A moment later, the pond swirled, and an unharmed Talaje shot out. [I am Talaje.]
The center of its body split open, and a voice like a mouth spoke. [Captain of the Magnus Legion. Unidentified necromancer. Requesting you identify yourself.] Without a word, Simon swung the Greatsword of Ruin. The air split vertically, and this time, Talaje cleverly bent its waist to dodge. [Attacking me is an act of making an enemy of the Magnus Legion.]
"Of course!" Simon stepped on Jet-Black and leaped into the air. "I know!"
Wearing ‘Bone Armor’ as ‘Pion’ for the first time in a while, his whole body overflowed with power. With a single step, the ground sank, and Simon’s form shot out like a ray of light. With the charge came a strike, and one of Talaje’s arms flew high into the sky. [Regenerate.]
Talaje twitched, holding its severed left arm, but nothing happened. [Regeneration. Impossible.] Simon, who had come to a screeching halt, rotated his waist and swung his sword. That long-range sword strike was quite threatening, so Talaje quickly retreated. But the sword strike didn’t hit Talaje; it hit the ground beneath its feet. With a roar, the ground split open, and dirt and gravel shot up, obscuring Talaje’s vision. "This way!"
Kicking off the ground, Simon strongly planted his right foot forward and tightened his grip on the greatsword. "You can’t dodge what you can’t see!"
The second strike, swung like a follow-up attack, tore through the curtain of dirt and split Talaje’s upper and lower body horizontally. Simon’s face lit up. ’I did it! I’ve already killed it twice... huh?’
But this time, he hadn’t killed it. From the upper body that had fallen in half, Talaje’s head turned in an impossible direction to stare at Simon. Following that, Pier’s urgent voice echoed in his head.
[Boy! Aim for the neck, not the chest! It seems you have to cut its neck to consume its life!]
’You’re right.’ Just as Simon readjusted his grip on the greatsword, Talaje’s mouth opened.
[You all. Are a Legion.] Simon charged forward with a hardened expression, and the upper-body-only Talaje also started moving by creating small legs underneath. [Ancient Undead. Cannot be controlled unless you are a Legion Commander. You all are a Legion.] Though its voice was monotone, it was clearly surprised, as Talaje was talking nonstop. [Magnus’s eighth hypothesis confirmed. The 7th Legion Commander has returned. Must report.] "Never!"
Leaping in succession, Simon caught up to the short-legged Talaje and swung his greatsword. "I won’t let you!"
Talaje also twisted its waist like a corkscrew and extended its one remaining arm. The arm transformed into the shape of a drill and thrust out like a spear. Simon quickly switched from offense to defense to block it. In that moment, just as Talaje was about to escape...
‘Open Gate!’
The blades of the Overlord shot up and trapped Talaje’s body. Simon, with his left hand not holding the greatsword, made a fist and turned it to the side. ‘Grind it!’
As the tentacle blades wrapped around Talaje’s body and applied pressure, its body gradually shrank until, with a pop, its flesh splattered onto the ground. ’That leaves eight more times.’ One of Talaje’s pieces of flesh turned back into a black pond. It soon began to boil and was reborn as a larger Talaje. The arm that had been cut off was back as well. [Tricky as ever,] Pier’s voice echoed in his mind. [That’s not regeneration; it’s closer to re-creation. In any extreme battlefield, its survival rate is one hundred percent! Don’t let your guard down for a second!] "Yes!"
He was here as Pion right now to break that one hundred percent. Simon gripped his greatsword and glared at Talaje. The key was to relentlessly push it without giving it a moment to breathe and quickly chip away at its lives. ’I have to consume at least five more of its lives within ten minutes.’
’Thud.’
Just then, Talaje bent its waist and placed both palms on the ground. Its body shot up like a geyser, and it began to shoot out large and small drills in all directions. While Simon was dodging the flying drills, Talaje’s main body fled into the dense forest. But something sharp dug in, slicing nearly half of its body. If it had just ignored it and kept walking, it would have been split in two. The startled Talaje retreated and stared straight ahead. In the darkness, a line, barely visible, reflected the moonlight. [Where are you off to in such a hurry?]
Webs swirled in like a tornado from all directions, tightly wrapping around Talaje. Erzebet appeared from the darkness and gestured elegantly, and the webs dug into Talaje’s body, shattering it to pieces. "Erze!"
[The Spider Legion has dealt with all seven of Talaje’s clones without issue, Commander! Now the main body only has seven lives left.] Talaje, who had already died three times, transformed into a pond before immediately reappearing in a massive body. [Back off.]
He thrust his right arm, now a drill, toward Erzebet, but she simply raised her index finger. The drill stopped right in front of her face. A thin, taut thread was blocking its path. [An Ancient Undead. There’s another one.] Talaje’s voice was filled with bewilderment. [A new Legion Commander. Possesses two Ancient Undead. Threat level increased. Must survive and report.] Talaje put all his strength into his arm and broke through the spiderweb. Erzebet threw herself aside to dodge the charge, then held up her palm. [You’re full of openings.]
As Talaje’s center of gravity shifted forward, a web wrapped around his hind legs and hoisted him into the air. As if they had been waiting, dozens of Corpse Spiders swung in like pendulums and sank their venomous fangs into Talaje’s body. Green liquid dripped from him as he screamed in agony. [Now, Commander!]
"Nice one, Erze!"
Taking a slashing stance, Simon swung his sword through the air. Stiff from the poison, Talaje’s head was precisely split in two by the sword strike and fell to the ground. ’Six lives left!’
He couldn’t let his guard down for a single moment. The head on the ground turned into a black, bubbling pond, and from within, a smaller Talaje leaped into the air with a ’pop!’
[Magnus. I must inform him. On Roc Island... Ancient Undead. There are two of them.] As Talaje looked around for an escape route, he saw something shoot up from the ground on the opposite side. It was incredibly fast. In an instant, a small boy appeared before Talaje and threw a punch. ’BOOM!’
With a loud sound, Talaje was sent crashing to the ground. [Hahaha! Not a chance, you idiot!] Prince laughed triumphantly in mid-air. Zombies swarmed over Talaje, whose twisted body was now embedded in the ground, grabbing him.
Following Simon, who had caught up, unfolded a magic circle with his left hand—the one not holding the greatsword—and clenched his fist.
’Corpse Explosion.’
’KABOOOOM!’
A massive explosion erupted from Talaje’s neutralized body. Struck head-on by the blast, the creature shriveled and collapsed into a murky pond. [Boy! That’s five!]
[Five more to go!]
Pier, Simon, Erzebet, and Prince—who had just landed—each took a position surrounding the pond, ready to react no matter which way their enemy tried to escape. [Ancient Undead. Estimated to be three of them,] Talaje’s voice echoed from within the slimy pond. [Grave threat. Top priority for report. The 7th Legion’s growth is beyond imagination. Extremely dangerous if not stopped.] The pond began to boil furiously. [Must survive. Must report to Magnus.]
Countless drills shot out from the pond. Simon and his commanders dodged the attacks while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of their own on the drills. [We don’t know which one is the main body!] Pier shouted. [Wipe out every last one of them!]
As soon as the drills hit the ground, they sprouted legs and began to scatter. Simon swung the Greatsword of Ruin, cutting down several at once, while controlling the Overlord with his other hand to skewer the clones. Pier supported Simon with his Bone Armor while also commanding the Legionized Skeletons to capture the fleeing drills. Erzebet channeled Jet-black through the webs she had spread over a wide area, using them like blades to slice the drills apart. Prince also led a horde of zombies to block the escape routes, striking down the fleeing Talajes. The one who caught the main body was none other than Prince. His indiscriminately swinging fist shattered Talaje’s main body, which transformed back into a bubbling pond. Prince let out a triumphant laugh. [I got him! This one’s the main body!] [Focus! Four more to go!] Prince licked his lips, waiting in front of the pond. [Come on! Come on out! I’ll take care of those last four lives in a flash—!]
The pond surged high like a wave. From within, a single, colossal drill shot out, piercing a hole through Prince’s torso as it passed. "Prince!" Simon cried out. [Must survive. Must survive. Must survive.] Human legs sprouted from the underside of the flying drill. Talaje, whose body had suddenly grown much larger, ran frantically through the Forbidden Forest.
But slashes, as if from an invisible sword, began to appear all over Talaje’s body. [You’re not getting away,] Erzebet hissed. The spiderwebs set by Erzebet and her Spider Corps tore at Talaje’s body, slowing him down. The creature was torn to shreds as it forced its way through.
And on the finest of webs laid by Erzebet, a boy ran, his Shadowless Cloak fluttering behind him. "Pier!"
[Right!]
Simon leaped from the web, swinging the Greatsword of Ruin.
The fleeing Talaje’s left leg was severed, and the creature collapsed. But even as it fell, it grew new legs directly from its torso and now scurried away like a centipede. "Get ready, Prince!"
Simon pulled a zombie from his Subspace, touched it with the gray ring, and hurled it with all the strength of his Bone Armor. As the zombie flew like a cannonball, a black thunderbolt struck it from above.
[Hahaha!]
Prince, having descended upon the zombie, landed squarely on Talaje’s body. [Resurrection techniques,] the boy’s clasped fists were raised high, [aren’t exclusive to you!]
’THWACK!’
Prince’s fists shattered Talaje’s back, driving him into the ground like a nail. Talaje went limp. Simon and Pier finished it by cutting off the neutralized creature’s head with a slash. Talaje’s body returned to a pond once more. [Three times!]
[Three more to go! Just a little more, everyone!] Erzebet didn’t rejoin them right away, instead moving busily with her Corpse Spiders to lay more webs in the surroundings. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Prince also took a proper defensive stance, staring at the pond. Simon waited a short distance away, gripping his greatsword. ’No matter what! I have to take out his last three lives right here, right now!’

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