SockySake

  The covered carriages continued, and the soldiers, growing weary from the harsh conditions, started to consider more drastic measures.

  "If you kill me, my undead could break these chains. Many would die, but at least you'll all have a chance."

  Sve colrs, for whatever reason, did not affect the undead. Or at least they didn't affect them enough for anyone to notice.

  Numerous young people have suggested it over the years, and the answer has always been, "Doesn't work." It would be oh so convenient if they could strap a colr to the deceased to lessen the risks.

  The universal solution is to have someone stand guard and perform the dead's rites, but it is not guaranteed to go smoothly. There are numerous horror stories about the undead who had new, strange powers that allowed them to escape.

  Some were able to negate the killing blow, or even reflect part of the damage onto the one performing the rite. Others held powers closer to Damian's own Wind Form and escaped.

  Over the years, most rite sites have adapted restraints to help lessen the risk, but there is never a 100% certainty with the undead.

  The likely core principle of why sve colrs don't work on undead is that they siphon the mana from the wearer, not restrict their use.

  If someone spped one on you, you could simply break it if you had enough strength. You wouldn't just colpse instantly from a ck of mana.

  If that were the case, everyone would be wielding colrs as their weapons instead of swords.

  A shiver ran down Damian's spine as he continued to watch the imperial soldiers offering to be sacrificed for the good of the group.

  "Enough!"

  "We won't be killing our own. And even if we do, the guards check on us often enough that they'd be prepared to perform the rites. We'd have to kill half our numbers to overwhelm them!"

  The bickering soldiers went silent at Hu-Juren's decration. He wasn't wrong in his assessment.

  What would become of them if they strangled and beat their own to death, only for their undead to enact revenge on friend and foe alike?

  Even if there was little hope for their escape, they had to hold onto it rather than turn into monsters that would kill their brothers and sisters in desperation.

  It would be the greatest humiliation for a citizen of the Empire.

  "Everyone Out!"

  In the end, Hu-Juren's decration didn't matter; they had reached their destination.

  The soldiers were quickly filed out of their cages and into a rge room with dirt flooring. It was dark, and Huben couldn't see the surroundings, but he could tell that the outer wall was rounded.

  There were only 24 of them, all lined up in the dark room. They had no idea where the rest were taken.

  Before they could get a better bearing on their surroundings, the carriages left through a rge archway behind them, and the gate smmed shut. Now there was no escape.

  "Oh Hohoho~ Dear General Hu-Juren, how was your trip?"

  The voice was strange, but Damian couldn't pce what was wrong with it. He could understand the words, but something about the tone of voice felt alien and strange.

  "That's what an obfuscation tool does when repying in a vision. The voice behind the words is distorted and loses any personal characteristics." Eina helpfully expined. Even the Valkyrie looked mildly impressed by Eina's wide breadth of knowledge.

  Why would Eina know what they sound like? Or was it just an educated guess to look impressive? I'm on to you! Damian incorrectly thought.

  "Owe!" Damina's side was attacked once again. The culprit was... a betrayal! Frey had again sensed Damian's insolent thoughts and punished him for them.

  What did this say of his future? Never again to hold a free thought that didn't align with Frey's own?

  'sigh'

  A light shone overhead, and a beam of light lit up a sole figure ahead of the soldiers.

  Damian couldn't make out any of the person's characteristics; it was more of a blur where the person's face should be.

  The only thing he could tell was that the face was wearing a mask that covered the top half of his head. It was ice blue, with a jagged, bird-of-prey shape.

  "General Oseers, you never met with me after the battle. I thought you'd forgotten about us."

  Just because the Valkyrie's vision didn't reveal the person's face didn't mean the people there couldn't identify them—a critical fw in an obfuscation tool's design.

  Although the General likely didn't pn on hiding his identity from Hu-Juren. His mask only covered the top half of his head. On the battlefield, Damian noted that he was magnificently bald and carried an equally magnificent beard.

  "Oh, Hoho, I was in a hurry to prepare things for you. It's not every day that you can get your hands on a Tier 7, let alone a general from the Empire. That requires a special stage surrounded by a special audience!" The general raised his voice as he lifted his arms high.

  "Huh?"

  Lights began to shine overhead, illuminating the giant room. What was revealed was that they were in an underground coliseum.

  Many people were sitting high up in the stands, looking down at them. Animal-shaped faces dotted the seating above. They were all wearing masks, much like the General's.

  These people weren't wearing anything casual either. They were dressed in some of the most luxurious clothing Damian had ever seen. Jewels sparkled from the overhead light, making those sitting above look like part of a glittering jewelry box.

  This show of wealth made the sum Seconds Matter had made fighting the ape-wraith look like spare change. He couldn't be certain, but Damian was pretty sure that some of the clothes had rge mana crystals embedded in them instead of jewels.

  "Now then! Prep the gdiators!"

  The imperial soldiers were knocked to their knees. The shackles tying their hands and feet were undone. But most surprising of all, the sve colrs around their necks were taken.

  But they were swiftly repced with new colrs. These looked much sturdier than the previous ones. Damian wasn't sure if the soldiers could even look down, given how thick the restraints were.

  "We have a wonderful showing for you today, dies and gentlemen! The once promising General Hu-Juren and his men will battle waves of undead to the death! Or undeath, as some might say!

  The crowd ughed at the General's poor joke.

  "If you are unfamiliar with the General, he was destined to become the Hu Cn head! Not only that, but he was a promising candidate for becoming the next Vice-Marshal of the South!"

  Members of the crowd gasped.

  "But that is all in the past! A brave and noble General had caught onto their pn to fnk the Union by traveling through the Dried Heart Desert. They stood no chance against his dashing and righteous figure!"

  The crowd began to chuckle at his joke. They all clearly knew who he was. It was all in poor taste.

  "They were fated to die that day, but the cowardly Hu-Juren surrendered instead. The gracious General accepted their surrender, only for his subordinates to accidentally mark them killed in action. Since we care for our subordinates, we must make their cim true!"

  The crowd roared.

  "We have modified their sve colrs to allow them to utilize greater strength, but they won't be able to draw upon any of their skills. Will man or monster come out on top! How long will they be able to st?"

  What? What the hell are we watching? Isn't this supposed to lead into the conspiracy where they plotted to kill the first prince or something? Why has it turned into a coliseum battle to the death?

  Sure, the fact that they are using sves for battle against their will falls under one of the Valkyrie's taboos, but the crime isn't nearly as damning as the one we've suspected them of.

  The Valkyrie would strike down those involved, but the public would most likely just shrug their shoulders after hearing this and think, 'how horrible for those imperial soldiers.'

  In the Fire Empire, coliseum battles against the dead are actually common. But they needed permission from both the living fighters and the dead 'before they passed'. As long as they didn't purposely make them into wraiths, it skirted the Valkyrie's ws.

  Damian had heard many stories about valiant colosseum fights in the Empire. They are presented as tales of a final, glorious send-off for the dead. Not only are the dead put to rest, but the fighting they go through will empower the next generation.

  Naturally, they don't allow these fights against any higher-tier undead. The Valkyrie holds all rights to putting them back into the ground. There had been a couple of exceptions to this, though. But they were under the Valkyrie's watch.

  If memory serves, one of the previous Ta Cn Emperors had wanted to test his son and his closest advisors. After he had passed, they held a grand send-off where the next emperor and his closest generals fought the previous emperor's undead.

  It was a tale heralded as the beginning of a new era for the Fire Empire. In fact, they made enormous progress in conquering territory from both the Union and the Theocracy.

  But it didn't st. After ciming too much territory, the ndmass opened up, forcing them to spread their armies too thin as their borders expanded.

  Not even five years ter, they were pushed back to their original borders.

  Damian wasn't sure, but he thought that tale was almost 200 years old now.

  'sigh'

  Returning to the vision, the imperial soldiers were being armed with crude weapons. A transparent dome had also formed, separating the audience.

  Across from them, Huben could see numerous undead behind a rge gate. They were dressed in commoner clothing. A few had some adventurer gear on, but they didn't make up the majority.

  Were these people who died of natural causes? Or troublemakers for the nobels? Possibly even random people picked off the street to be thrown into this sick show for the most powerful in society.

  There was no way for Damian and the other viewers to know, unless they knew one of them. Who knows where this sick collesium is located?

  For all they knew, it could have been right underneath the capital of Gamo.

  Now armed with weapons and shields, the imperial soldiers formed up. None of them held a ranged weapon. Depending on the tier of undead, they would be useless without a mana imbuing skill.

  "Let the game begin!"

  The gate was opened, and a small horde of undead was unleashed. They scrambled toward the soldiers who held firm in the face of danger. Some undead even abandoned normal running in favor of charging like four-legged beasts.

  Other undead were throwing various skills at the small ptoon, but the shields held firm. From what Damian could see, they were straining under the pressure.

  If Damian were suddenly without his Wind Movement and Air Flow Sensitivity skills, he'd likely be floundering too. After living with an ability for so long, it becomes hard to live without.

  It was an inevitable truth that people who had their basics perfected would grow rusty when they gained a skill that did it better. If you grew a third arm, wouldn't you learn to fight differently to accommodate it?

  The heavy thunder of exploding skills resounded until...

  "Brace!"

  The undead smmed into the shield wall. Some of the soldiers were even lifted off their feet, but were quickly pushed back into position by those behind.

  "Attack!"

  The shield wall held firm, leaving small gaps for the second line of fighters to attack from.

  Simple attacks rained down on the undead, but proved to be ineffective. They were fighting only with enhanced strength. Damian didn't think they were even able to channel their mana fully into their weapons and shields.

  Their bdes didn't even manage to reach bone when the undead had clear openings.

  "Bash!" Hu-Juren directed the shield wall.

  Some of the undead were knocked back while others held firm.

  Back and forth this cycle went until the imperial soldiers finally began nding killing and disabling blows.

  After the first few undead were defeated, the flow of battle rapidly changed. The imperial soldiers were adapting to their weakened states.

  Not before long, the undead horde was defeated, and the imperial soldiers looked ragged, well, more ragged. They had a long journey before being set up against the undead.

  "Congratutions! You, brave warriors of the Empire, managed to kill Tier 2 undead! What a mighty force they have built!"

  The crowd above roared in ughter.

  "We've been collecting them for a long time! It's not common for people so weak to turn."

  Damian started to feel sick from General Oseers's words.

  No wonder they all looked so young... And collected? For a long time? How long had these poor souls been forced to endure undeath?

  Damian looked at the Valkyrie, and she was developing a scowl.

  The Valkyrie's taboo only applied to wraiths, but clearly, they looked down on the mistreatment of the undead as a whole.

  SockySake