Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 45 [On the Edge of a Corpse Heart]

The tall, bluish-gray city walls, built of stone bricks, stand on the inner border of the empire's southwest, straddling the southwestern towns of the empire and the Skeleton Plains at the center of the world.

The damp moss on the city walls resembled the grime on the teeth of a dead man, carrying a filthy and cruel chill. Watchtowers, beacon towers, and alarm bell towers stood like tombstones among the walls.

Although there is no harassment from the Demon King and the caveman legions here, for some reason, the military scale of the Erdrick Empire's southern border outposts is comparable to that of the northwestern border.

Or rather, every nation and every race bordering the Skeleton Plains, for some tacit but unspoken reason, has deployed a similarly sized guard along the Skeleton Plains border.

The moon watchers of the elves, the mobile fortresses of the dwarves, the imperial cavalry, the monastery war knights, the Prism Tower and the desert herdsmen of the humans... all the intelligent races tacitly stationed heavily guarded military forces along the border with the Heart of Bones.

For hundreds of years, however, the Plains of Bones has remained silent in the face of the heavily guarded border, whether out of feigned ignorance or disdain.

Dark clouds loomed over the border checkpoints, and officers and soldiers with gloomy faces, dressed in thick coats, patrolled back and forth under the gray sky.

Border guarding was hardly a pleasant job, but the soldiers of the Erdrik Empire didn't complain much. The gloom on their faces stemmed from the fact that this area, bordering the northwestern corner of the Skeleton Heart Plains, was low-lying, and the swamps and mist rising from the Copper Rust Forest of Skeleton Heart resulted in perpetual gloom and rain, making the environment particularly unpleasant.

The Plains of Bones are vast, with complex and treacherous terrain, including highly toxic swamps, copper-rusted forests, tall grass plains, barren wilderness, rocky hills, scorched bone volcanoes, and white skeleton deserts, among other sub-terrains. It borders the spheres of influence of every kingdom and every race to varying degrees.

However, regardless of the natural environment or terrain, every corner of the Skeleton Heart Plain is filled with a gloomy and oppressive atmosphere, like a ghost trying to strangle you, lingering behind you.

On this cursed land, putrefactive toxins are everywhere. Toxins and plagues are standard features of the local ecosystem. Carrion-eating monsters roam between the cold mists of swamps and copper-rust forests. Most plants and animals are infected with strange diseases and coexist with them.

Skeleton warriors, considered troublesome and troublesome elsewhere, are even endearing and friendly here—bone golems formed from the growth and accumulation of biological skeletons and calcareous rocks, and rotting corpses created from haphazardly glued-together rotting flesh and broken limbs. The swamp's humus soaks the corpses, transforming them into terrifying swamp monsters. A vast number of undead, far exceeding the most horrifying imaginable, reside here.

The entire Plains of Bones has become a nightmare too terrifying to even contemplate. It's like accidentally killing someone important, and in a panic, you brick up the body in a crack in your own wall, guarding it to prevent anyone from approaching. At first, it was fine, but now it's starting to rot, a viscous liquid is seeping from the walls, and every night you live in fear and unease amidst the stench, afraid to open the wall to face its current state, and afraid to leave this despairing place that buries secrets.

No intelligent creature dared approach the heart of this terrifying place, including adventurers and demon exiles. Even the most greedy adventurers only dared to dangle their toes at the outer edge, scavenging a few scattered spoils at the very edge of this vast graveyard. At the slightest sound, they would scurry back to their gold-mining stronghold on the border like rats.

The deeper you go, the more fearful you become.

Soldiers blocked the road once again in front of the carriage at the border checkpoint of the Skeleton Heart.

"Goods taxes." The officer's pale face wore a gloomy expression. "Inspect the carriages for any suspicious or dangerous individuals."

The magical indicator shimmered with a pale blue light in the bottle.

"Any enchanted materials?" The officer asked Old Duke calmly, his hands behind his back. "Check them and pay the corresponding taxes according to the Imperial Tariff Act."

He beckoned the soldiers over to inspect.

“No, sir, our enchanted materials have already been sold out within the Empire.” Old Duke shook his head. “Our caravan hired a powerful knight as a bodyguard.”

“Oh. Then we need to ask this knight a few simple questions—it’s routine.” With a bang, the officer reached out and opened the carriage door.

Inside the spacious carriage behind the door sat a black-armored knight with devil horns, a heavy hammer and spear beside him, and a huge hand-pulled suitcase in his arms.

"Are those horns helmet decorations? Please remove your helmet." The officer sized up the black-armored knight in front of him.

The black-armored knight removed his helmet, revealing gray hair and eyes, and looked quite young.

"Are you an adventurer? What's your level? What's your class? Where are you from?"

“Yes, level seven, War Knight, Saint Justin Snowwind Monastery of the Holy Light Kingdom,” the gray-eyed knight replied.

A fluent and unambiguous answer. Although the woman before him was perhaps a little too young for a seventh-level adventurer, it made sense given she was from the Holy Light Kingdom. The officer raised the glass vial of magical indicator in his hand, noticing a suspicious detail.

"What's in the box?" He stared at the spherical glass bottle in his hand, which was facing the large box in the gray-eyed knight's arms, shimmering with a brilliant blue light.

"A set of enchanted armor." The gray-eyed knight held the large box in his arms.

“We need to check, please understand, Your Excellency.” The officer nodded in acknowledgment.

The gray-eyed knight seemed very unhappy and reluctantly opened the box.

Inside the box was a set of rusted bronze armor with a bluish-green sheen. The helmet, breastplate, shoulder armor, arm armor, skirt armor, leg armor, and boots were all neatly arranged and disassembled, exuding a strange chill.

Inside the rusted bronze breastplate was a small wooden figurine of an exiled knight, carrying a sword and shield and wearing a cloak. The lines were smooth and exquisite.

The officer was slightly taken aback and subconsciously wanted to reach out to examine it more closely, but was neatly blocked by the gray-eyed knight's black arm armor.

“This is mine.” She closed the lid of the trunk, hugged the large trunk containing the rusted bronze armor tightly, pressed her cheek against the lid, and stared warily at the officer.

"Ah...uh, sorry, ma'am." The officer snapped out of his daze, and his manners as a semi-nobleman made him apologize instinctively.

This rusted bronze armor was clearly a prized possession of the black-armored knight before him. Further inspection seemed inappropriate. He cleared his throat and waved his hand. "However, according to the Imperial Customs Law, enchanted armor is subject to taxation as a Class II enchanted equipment."

"Yes, sir," old Duke replied briskly, counting out the corresponding dozen or so gold coins and handing them to the tax collector beside him.

"That's all, thank you for your cooperation." The officer led the soldiers to step back from the carriage, giving a slight nod in acknowledgment.

The wagon train departed, heading towards the Alliance stronghold of Gold Rush City, which was not far away.

There are more than twenty adventurer alliance outposts along the border of the Skeleton Heart Plains, but they are all very close to the habitable zone, only a few kilometers away. Although the adventurers are greedy, they are not stupid, and venturing deep into the Skeleton Heart Plains is not a wise choice.

Gold Rush City was one of them, only six or seven kilometers from the border post, almost right next to the Imperial border. The Alliance seemed to fear something beyond imagination in the Heartless Plains, so much so that they needed the powerful biceps of their Adric Empire allies to sleep. "Um, can I come out now?" Samael's voice came from inside the box amidst the rumble of the carriage wheels.

"This feels so weird!" Talia couldn't help but laugh, put the box on the ground, and opened the lid.

[Powerful joint suction is now activated.]

The scattered rusty bronze armor pieces in the box began to clang and roll around on the ground, connecting with each other as if magnetically attracted. Half a leg armor found the boot armor and kicked around beside it, but kicked the shoulder armor away. One arm groped around in the carriage for the breastplate, while a hand armor crawled around on the ground with its fingers, like some kind of strange-looking bronze crab.

"Let me help you." Talia suppressed a laugh, reached out and grabbed the bronze gauntlet that was crawling around on the ground, and stuck it to the arm armor next to her.

"Watch your fingers—my powerful joint clamping is activated, and the gaps between my joints can crush steel!" Samael's helmet rolled around on the ground, and a bronze-coated spider made of a mixture of dark bronze and witch gold fell out of the helmet. Like a hermit crab, it carried Samael's huge helmet and clattered around on the ground.

"Okay! Don't run around! Let me put you back together—" Talia grabbed the hermit crab-like helmet, casually placed the little witch spider inside on her own head, and then placed Samael's helmet on her breastplate.

With a loud clang, the helmet was firmly sucked on.

“No, this is really weird, you know?” Yachi, who was driving, turned his head to look at the absurd scene in the car. “It’s like a dismembered victim, with body parts crawling all over the place and then piecing themselves back together… I guess you really are a necromancer, Boss Samael?”

“Hey, not all undead are as interesting as me.” Samael pointed seriously at his breastplate with his newly reattached arm.

“Yes, yes, you are the best necromancer in the world, one of a kind.” Talia pressed the curved shoulder armor onto his shoulder, and the armor clattered and slammed shut.

Samael reached out and grabbed his lower body's skirt armor, leg armor, and boot armor, then lay on the ground and kicked twice as if putting on trousers, before repositioning his waist joint.

"By the way, haven't you seen any other talking undead?" He jumped off the carriage floor, scrambled to his feet with a clatter, and dusted himself off amidst a series of metallic scraping and clanging sounds.

“A talking necromancer?” Archie shook his head dramatically. “Normally, necromancers only do one thing—try to kill any living thing that moves.”

“And humanoid intelligent beings take priority—under equal circumstances, if monsters, animals, and humanoid intelligent beings appear at the same time, the undead will attack the humanoids first.” Talia added, reaching out to help brush the dust off Samael’s armor. “Demons, humans, elves, and dwarves, the four humanoid intelligent races have equal priority, and it will start with the closest one. This is one of the research tests my mother conducted.”

"Huh?" Samael was taken aback.

"You yourself are a necromancer, and you don't even know this?" Talia stared at him. "Have you never had the desire or urge to kill a humanoid intelligent being?"

“How would I know such things?” Samael shrugged. “Do I look like someone who kills innocent people indiscriminately?”

Yachi turned his head, looking at the heavy and tall, cold bronze armor, at the empty shadows in the gaps of the helmet, and pondered for a moment.

“If it were our first meeting, and you suddenly appeared in front of me without saying a word, just standing there quietly, my first reaction would be to run away,” Archie replied. “I remember how it was when we first met—if you hadn’t spoken first, I probably would have already grabbed Gwyneth and run away.”

“Oh my! Come on, Archie, my good brother, is it really that much of an exaggeration?” Samael shrugged his shoulder armor with a clang. “I’m such a sunny, enthusiastic, and cheerful person—”

“See! You’ve ruined that terrifying sense of death with just one word!” Archie shouted. “You’ve instantly become the young, flamboyant heir of the knightly family, eloquent and talkative at social balls, dancing gracefully, and perhaps even going out to help the poor and hug the sick from time to time, letting everyone in the knightly territory know that the future lord is so approachable and pleasant.”

“Don’t listen to him! You look fine!” Talia reached out and pulled Samael’s helmet toward her. “Although…although your status as a high necromancer did startle me when we first met—but you were the one who spoke first and tried to comfort me sincerely, amidst all the nonsense—I don’t find it scary at all.”

“Oh…” Samael pondered, “It sounds like the undead are terrifying beings in the minds of normal people.”

"A cold, indiscriminate killer, made of pure malice, who hates life itself, who kills for no reason other than to destroy everything, don't you think that's terrifying?" Talia asked. "Even demons don't like the undead, and they don't want to touch them unless absolutely necessary."

"Bandits kill for money, armies kill for territory, politicians kill for power, and demon kings kill for strength. Only the undead kill for no reason, simply for the end and death of everything."

“Of course, I’m not talking about you—you’re amazing,” she added, tiptoeing and reaching out to touch the top of Samael’s helmet.

“You’ll find out soon enough, Boss Samael.” Archie pulled on the reins, slowly slowing the carriage down. “This is Gold Rush City, one of the twenty-seven Alliance outposts surrounding the Skeleton Heart Plains. The adventurers here deal with the undead all year round. You can see their mental state through the carriage window.”

"Can't we get out of the car and take a look?" Samael asked.

“I don’t recommend you do that. If your identity as a high-ranking undead is discovered, it will not only cause panic, making everyone who learns the truth scream and run away or launch an attack, but it will also attract the Alliance’s higher-ups. Just in case, don’t get out of the car and linger.” Archie shook his head. “There are also quite a few anthropologists from the Kingdom of Florence who are cooperating with the Alliance here, assisting in preventing various infections and plagues in the Corpse Heart while studying the undead. It’s best not to disturb them.”

“Understood. Thank you, friend Yachi.” Samael nodded, carefully lifting the curtain of the carriage window a crack to look outside.

The scene here is completely different from that of Thicket City. Although the adventurers in Thicket City look tired and busy, they are more or less motivated and energetic, with the courage and passion to explore and develop.

But in the dim light of day, the streets of Gold Rush City were nearly deserted, and every adventurer who passed by had a gloomy face, as if gloom had seeped into their souls.

Two adventurers started punching each other over a trivial matter they had just brushed past, while the Alliance guards of Gold Rush City simply stood by in silence, lost in thought.

“That’s strange,” Samael said softly. “Will we stay here?”

“No…we are exiles. There are carrion beasts as bodyguards on the outer edge of the Soul Heart, helping us to defeat the low-level undead in the edge area. The outer edge of the outer ring poses no danger to us.” Archie shook his head. “We don’t need to rely on adventurers to collect enchanted resources. We’ve always come on our own. Every time we come here, we just set up camp in the carrion beast area on the outer edge of the Soul Heart. We’re just passing through Gold Rush City and we don’t stay here.”

Samael watched several figures in the distance along the town street. They wore sealed, waxed robes and bird-beak masks made of silver or white leather, the beaks stuffed with filtered herbs and bread. The masks were secured with brass rivets to the glass spectacles and hoods.

They were in a hurry, carrying black leather briefcases and dragging a black body bag soaked in wax.

“Those are plague doctors who operate in the border region of the Soul Heart, mostly from the medical school of the Kingdom of Florence,” Archie explained. “They cooperate with the Alliance, specialize in medicine, and are particularly skilled in surgical techniques, pharmacology, and pathology. It is also a branch of potion-making. The psionic toxins in the Soul Heart ecosystem are diverse and complex, and new types of toxins are constantly emerging. One antidote is not enough, so they rely on continuously developing new targeted drugs.”

“Let’s keep going,” Samael said in a low voice. “After we set up camp on the outer ring today, I’ll first take a look around the area around Skeleton Heart.”

(End of this chapter)