Published: August 15, 2025
After finishing lunch and continuing through the valley, just as Mr. Seaver had said, the road gradually worsened. The surroundings were constantly surrounded by rocky terrain or cliffs, with the same kind of scenery stretching on. Without a guide, it wouldn’t be surprising to get lost.
The frequency of encounters with magical beasts also gradually increased. They were all small and could be easily driven away, but one must not let their guard down. Even weak magical beasts could be deadly with a moment’s carelessness, and the poor footing could cause chain accidents.
...That said, being on edge all the time would just waste energy. While walking with caution but taking it easy when possible, a strange presence accompanied by a putrid stench drifted in.
“This smell…”
“Ah, there’s an undead up ahead. It’s probably a zombie,” Mr. Seaver said.
His guess was correct. After waiting about twenty seconds in place, the rotting corpse of a person appeared slowly, staggering and weaving from a blind spot on the road ahead.
From prior research, undead in this world prefer places without sunlight, such as at night or in shaded areas, and they are active in such places. However, it seems they can still operate under sunlight. Their movement speed is said to be about that of an adult walking normally.
Still, they can be easily outrun if they run, and they are not agile, so compared to other magical beasts, they aren’t especially threatening. The visual and olfactory unpleasantness is strong, but that’s about it.
“Let’s first confirm the nature of undead. First—”
Before he finished speaking, Mr. Seaver dashed toward the zombie, swung his halberd, and slashed it diagonally from the shoulder, then sliced its torso in half, dividing it into three parts before returning.
“I didn’t use magic just now, only the weapon, but it’s not very effective. It will regenerate immediately and come at us again.”
As he said, the severed zombie parts writhed on the ground, crawling together as they began to regenerate.
“Not only zombies, but most undead-type magical beasts possess regenerative abilities. Defeating them using only weapons, especially blades, is inefficient. It’s not impossible, but if you insist on using weapons only, it’s faster to thoroughly crush them with blunt weapons.
However, depending on the species, even that may not work, so magical attacks remain the most effective and basic countermeasure.”
At that moment, the earlier zombie fully regenerated and headed toward us again. Mr. Seaver then unleashed a Wind Cutter, splitting the zombie’s waist vertically. The zombie began regenerating again, but the speed seemed slightly slower than before.
“As you can see, regeneration slows down with magic, making it easier to defeat. This is said to be because undead magical beasts are animated by dark-elemental mana, and magic disperses that mana.
Also, the effectiveness varies depending on attribute and attack type, but the most effective is light magic. I believe Ryoma can use light magic? When it finishes regenerating next time, try firing a Light Ball.”
Following his advice, I fired a Light Ball at the regenerated zombie.
“‘Light Ball’!”
“Ahh, aaah!”
The glowing orb of light flew straight at the zombie, striking its chest. It didn’t just pierce through but also completely annihilated the flesh and bones around the impact area. The zombie screamed in pain but showed no signs of regeneration and collapsed on the spot.
“Remily.”
“The power and speed are sufficient. You have the basics down. But if your aim is off, you might not completely finish it. You should aim for the chest or head as you did, and otherwise expect to need two or three shots.”
“I understand. But when you use Light Ball on undead, their bodies disappear... I’ve heard that deceased people become undead, but regular corpses don’t vanish with Light Ball, right?”
“Correct. Ordinary corpses don’t disappear with light magic. It’s believed some change occurs in the body when becoming undead. The truth is uncertain... Not all undead originally were corpses; some naturally appear without corpses, so there are many mysteries.”