The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations (light Novel)

Crack!
Helgenique stood up, shattering the spear embedded in his chest. Black smoke billowed endlessly from the gaping wound.
“Divine power?”

Not just the dagger, but even the spear was imbued with divine energy.
Helgenique gritted his teeth.
“Those bastards…!”

Before he could properly steady himself, a massive mace loomed before him.
“What!?”
BOOOOM!

“Urgh!”
The blow struck Helgenique squarely, sending him skidding backward. The arm that made contact with the mace began to burn furiously.
Thud! Thud! Thud!

Parting the sea of undead with an indignant fury, Parniel charged toward Helgenique. Her expression was thunderous.
She was enraged by the sight of the countless undead swarming around her.
“How dare you imprison the souls destined for the goddess!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Parniel’s attacks rained down with the force to obliterate mountains. Helgenique was forced to retreat, struggling to defend himself.
Though he raised shields to block her strikes, each blow from the mace shattered them effortlessly. Every swing carried overwhelming divine power.

Reeling from the onslaught, Helgenique shouted in disbelief:
“A Saintess?!”
Such divine strength wasn’t something just anyone could wield. There was no doubt—this was the fabled Saintess he had heard of.
As he prepared to counter, dozens of daggers suddenly appeared, surrounding him.

Shing!
Helgenique had no choice but to teleport, waving his hand as he did.
Grooooar!

The Death Knights that Jerome had previously destroyed were resurrected once more. They immediately charged toward Parniel and Belinda.
Around them, the horde of undead closed in, encircling the battlefield.
But Belinda swiftly retreated, carrying the unconscious Jerome out of harm’s way.

This left only Parniel, giving Helgenique a moment to breathe.
Slash!
The heads of the undead blocking the path fell simultaneously.

Whoosh!
From behind, a man suddenly emerged, brandishing his sword.
Despite the considerable distance between them, the blade found its mark.

Slash!
Helgenique’s body was cut again. It was the same swordsman who had slashed his chest earlier.
Although he managed to avoid a fatal injury, Helgenique was utterly shocked.

‘There’s no warning!’
No matter how fast an attacker, it should have been impossible to disregard distance and land a strike like this.
This was no ordinary swordsmanship—it was a blade that cut wherever the wielder willed. It bypassed conventional laws, manifesting results wherever the intention was aimed.

Helgenique, a masterful necromancer, could discern both the technique and its flaws.
‘The effect varies with the gap in skill.’
If he were any weaker, his head would’ve been severed instantly.

But as one of the continent’s strongest, Helgenique’s presence and strength dulled the technique’s impact. He realized this, and so did his opponent, who refrained from using it again.
Even so, the memory of that blade chilled him to his core. A slight difference in skill would’ve left him gravely wounded.
It was truly a swordsmanship that defied all logic.

Rumble!
In the fleeting moment he dodged, Helgenique unleashed every measure he could.
A massive barrier of bones erupted from the ground in front of him, and the swarm of undead surged toward his enemies.

Over 200,000 undead swarmed the battlefield, momentarily tying down his foes.
Seizing the opportunity, Helgenique retreated further.
“Dangerous bastards. I need to get out of here.”

Helgenique finally exhaled in relief as the vast undead army covered his retreat.
He had summoned every undead he had amassed. Unless the attackers could fly, breaking through would take significant time.
But in his haste, Helgenique overlooked something critical.

The spear that had fallen from the sky earlier.
Whoosh!
Riding on the back of a massive crow-like creature, Dark, Ghislain Fenris exploded with mana as he leaped from above.

Ghislain’s descent was blindingly fast, almost as if he were a streak of light.
Preoccupied with commanding the undead, Helgenique noticed the descending figure too late.
“What—?”

Ghislain swung his sword as he descended.
Slash!
“Arghhh!”

Helgenique’s body was slashed deeply, from his shoulder to his side. Black smoke poured from the wound.
BOOM!
Ghislain landed with a tremendous crash, creating a massive crater. He grinned as he looked at Helgenique.

“Ah, you managed to avoid the worst. Impressive, Helgenique.”
Ghislain’s blade shone with divine energy, thanks to the blessings of Parniel and Piote, which had imbued every weapon with holy power.
Reeling from the severe wound, Helgenique staggered backward and screamed:

“Who are you?! Who the hell are you people?!”
“Can’t you tell?”
“Ugh…”

Helgenique quickly pieced together their identities.
There was only one force on the continent that could gather this many powerful warriors.
“You’re the Duke of Fenris from Ruthania, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. Got questions? Ask away. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“Grrrr…”
Helgenique trembled with anger, realizing what their presence here meant. If these people had come, it could only mean the Salvation Order’s operation had succeeded.

“Fools. Do you even realize what it means for you to be here?”
“Of course.”
“What?”

“You lured us here, didn’t you? Doesn’t matter. We were planning to wipe you all out anyway. Especially you.”
To Ghislain, Helgenique was a significant threat. In his previous life, Helgenique had acted independently, but now that he had aligned with the Salvation Order, he was too dangerous to leave alive.
Even at the cost of other risks, it was more advantageous to eliminate him here and now.

Ghislain’s calm demeanor made Helgenique grind his teeth in frustration.
“Don’t bluff. Do you think you can handle this many undead?”
Over 200,000 corpses swarmed the battlefield. Even without strategy, simply cutting them down would require enormous energy.

After all, even the other superhumans who had arrived earlier couldn’t break through the wall of the undead.
But Ghislain chuckled again.
“Who said we came alone?”

“What?”
Thud, thud, thud!
In the distance, a cavalry unit approached, their presence shaking the battlefield.

Ghislain had coordinated with his mobile forces. They had only moved ahead to rescue Jerome after Vanessa’s magic had alerted them to his danger.
“Wipe them all out!”
At the front of the charge, Gillian’s voice roared as the cavalry, wrapped in divine energy, began their assault.

BOOOOOM!
The holy-imbued cavalry tore through the undead with ease. The horde fell apart with almost laughable simplicity under the cavalry’s attacks.
The undead had no formation or coordination, driven only by malice toward the living. They couldn’t withstand the precision and power of the cavalry’s assault.

Groooar!
But the sheer number of undead still posed a problem. The Parsali Kingdom’s forces, despite having priests, had struggled against this overwhelming tide of corpses.
The walls of the undead quickly slowed the cavalry’s charge. A chaotic melee ensued.

Yet, amidst this chaos, one figure thrived.
“Yaaaahhhh!”
Leaping from her horse, the “Princess of Destruction,” Elena, swung her massive hammer.

BOOOOM!
“What…?”
The undead exploded upon contact. Every swing of Elena’s hammer carved out massive paths through the horde.

Having honed her strength in battles against rift-born monsters, Elena channeled her boundless rage, charging forward alone. She had been perpetually angry as of late.
Seeing this, Gillian laughed heartily and shouted:
“Follow the princess! Clear them all out! Leave none standing!”

“Waaaaahhh! Destruction Princess!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Elena led the charge, her hammer pulverizing everything in her path. Even her allies had to avoid her swings.

Only Rachel stayed close, ensuring Elena’s safety.
Despite the paths Elena created, the undead quickly filled the gaps, surrounding them again.
At that moment, a powerful voice rang out from the rear of the cavalry.

“Oh, Goddess!”
Zing!
Piote’s hair turned silver as he unleashed the full extent of his divine power, spreading a radiant light across the battlefield.

Groooar!
The undead that were touched by the radiant light trembled and burst into flames. The divine energy, anathema to darkness, was too much for them to withstand.
Behind Piote, other priests unleashed their own divine energy, creating a protective barrier around their allies.

The cavalry pressed forward, trampling over the incapacitated undead.
The true terror of the undead army lay in their inability to be killed. But if they could be eliminated outright, their numbers—even in the hundreds of thousands—could not rival a disciplined army.
And here, it wasn’t just Piote standing against the undead.

The horde that swarmed the center was intercepted by Parniel.
“Be gone! You vile abominations!”
BOOOOM!

Parniel slammed her mace into the ground with incredible force, unleashing a tempest of divine energy that radiated outward.
Groooooar!
Even the formidable Death Knights were torn apart, while lesser undead like zombies and ghouls were instantly reduced to ashes.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Other superhumans wielding weapons imbued with divine energy tore through the undead ranks. From afar, large-scale spells rained down, obliterating clusters of the undead in one fell swoop.
Though the sheer number of corpses still seemed endless, at this rate, the undead army would soon be annihilated.

If Helgenique had been facing moderately strong opponents, he wouldn’t have been concerned. His necromantic aura would suppress divine energy, allowing him to endlessly resurrect his undead forces.
But this time…
“How does it feel? No matter how powerful you are, handling all of us seems like a bit much,” Ghislain taunted, a cold smile on his lips.

Helgenique said nothing, gritting his teeth in frustration.
He couldn’t waste his energy on the undead anymore. Doing so would only leave him vulnerable to the enemies standing right before him.
Helgenique scanned his surroundings and asked coldly:

“Do you know who I am?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because this doesn’t make sense.”

He had anticipated reinforcements. It was expected that priests and soldiers would be dispatched to counter his undead army.
But for such absurdly strong individuals to arrive here, and so quickly and decisively, was beyond logic.
Even more peculiar was the fact that the enemy had brought only about 20,000 troops against his massive undead army. Normally, they would have joined forces with a kingdom's military to mount a defense.

That would have minimized losses.
Yet these people had boldly brought a small force of elite warriors and attacked his horde directly.
It was as if…

“You were aiming for me all along, weren’t you?”
“That’s right,” Ghislain admitted casually. “I told you—we came to kill you. Oh, and also to save that adorable wizard lying over there.”
“…”

Helgenique clenched his fists. As he suspected, their true goal was his head. They had willingly walked into his trap, only to turn the tables on him.
Groooooar!
The undead horde continued to dwindle. Without Helgenique’s aid, they were quickly being overwhelmed.

Even the corpses swarming around Ghislain were effortlessly destroyed by the mana spears materializing around him.
Helgenique took a deep breath, raising his energy.
He was curious about how they had gathered so much information about him, but now was not the time for answers.

“You seem far too relaxed, Duke of Fenris.”
Helgenique deliberately spoke, trying to buy himself time. He needed to provoke his opponent into letting down his guard.
He had no intention of continuing this fight here.

Whoosh!
Dozens—no, hundreds—of bone spears erupted from the ground beneath Ghislain.
‘The situation is too unfavorable. The operation succeeded, so I’ll retreat for now.’

It pained him to abandon such a massive undead army, but he had no other choice. Staying here would only result in his death.
As Ghislain paused briefly to deal with the bone spears, Helgenique activated Blink to escape.
Or at least, he tried to.

Slash!
Before he could complete the spell, Julien emerged from the swarm of undead, cutting through the flow of mana.
Thud!

“Urgh!”
The severed flow of mana sent a powerful backlash through Helgenique’s body. Staggering, he looked ahead. His Blink spell had failed.
Julien’s blade severed not just flesh but the intangible flows of energy itself. Escaping through spatial magic was no longer an option.

“Who are you?” Helgenique demanded.
“Julien.”
The name struck a chord in Helgenique’s memory. He recalled the recent rebellion in the Kingdom of Turian, which had been crushed by a man of this name.

Of course, Julien possessed an infuriatingly effective technique for preventing mages from escaping.
BOOOOM!
The bone prison shattered as Ghislain emerged, striding forward with a grin.

He glanced at Julien and quipped, “What took you so long? I had to keep chatting with him so he wouldn’t flee. I should’ve brought Claude.”
No matter how skilled Ghislain was, capturing someone like Helgenique wasn’t easy if they decided to escape outright. The repeated use of spatial magic would create an insurmountable distance in no time.
But with Julien present, escape was impossible. His blade could sever unseen flows.

This was why Ghislain had stalled, waiting for Julien to arrive. It had all been prearranged.
“…Fine.”
Unlike the grinning Ghislain, Julien remained stoic as he answered.

Helgenique turned his gaze to Ghislain.
It wasn’t he who had delayed the fight. It was this man who had trapped him in conversation.
“You bastards…”

There was no other choice now. Helgenique realized he had to fight. He needed to kill these two before reinforcements arrived.
For the first time in his life, Helgenique prepared to fight with everything he had.
BOOOOOM!

“Don’t think my power is limited to commanding corpses!”
A terrifying aura exploded from Helgenique’s body. He knew he wouldn’t leave this place alive unless he fought with his life on the line.
Shing.

Julien lowered his stance, raising his blade.
Ghislain grinned and spoke.
“Now, let’s kill that bastard.”

BOOOOOM!
Ghislain and Julien charged forward, their blades cutting through the air as they swung at Helgenique.