The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

The artifacts stored in the royal treasury were invaluable treasures, so rare that their worth was almost impossible to determine.

And yet, Ghislain couldn’t care less.

He was not the type to rely on the power of treasure, and he believed that hoarding them in a vault was a waste. If something had value, it was better to put it to use.

“Good. With this, I can make a few more of them.”

He had already stored the bodies of skilled knights who had perished in the war inside his spatial storage.

There were so many that even if he used every artifact in the treasury, it still wouldn’t be enough to turn all of them into Death Knights.

But every additional one he could create mattered.

As long as he found ways to keep gathering mana, he would continue creating them.

The vast wealth seized from Marquis Falkenheim’s domain had now arrived in the capital.

From all of it, Ghislain carefully picked out only the objects imbued with mana.

“I’m taking these. Anyone have a problem with that? If you want, I’ll share—just speak up quickly.”

“……”

Ghislain allowed freedom of speech.

What he did not allow was freedom after one spoke.

Understanding his nature well enough, no one—neither the royal officials nor the nobles—dared to make a sound.

They were already more than satisfied with the wealth they would get to split among themselves.

Thus, Ghislain scraped up every artifact he could find, dedicating himself entirely to the creation of Death Knights.

“They’ll be in for a shock when they see this later.”

Creating Death Knights was not an easy task.

But Ghislain was grinning the entire time.

This was a power he alone possessed.

Barring extraordinary circumstances, he had no intention of using it in battles against mere humans.

But the real world was never that simple.

In the inevitable fights against the Golems and the Opposer, his Death Knights would be of great use.

“If another rift opens… I’ll just flood the battlefield with them.”

Death Knights were perfect warriors—undying, endlessly capable of fighting.

It was the same reason Helgenique had been able to stand alone against the Rift. His Immortal Army was what had made it possible.

Ghislain, in a way, had always envied that.

Now, he was creating an undying army of his own.

His physical body contained far more mana than any monster, thanks to the poison of Morbus that he had absorbed in the Forest of Beasts.

On top of that, he still hadn’t even used the fragment of the Dragon Heart.

“If I absorb that as well… I might end up with the highest mana reserves in history.”

With the magical knowledge Ghislain had mastered, if he could fully absorb it, he would be able to create the greatest undead army ever known.

For several days, he focused entirely on his work.

Everyone had no choice but to wait.

Only after his work was complete did the victory banquet finally begin.

The capital was flooded with minor nobles who had been lying low.