Chapter 1266: Nameless's Vengeance

Jean sustained an injury saving Amanda from Laranflura’s targeted charge. Though not fatal, his wounds weren’t shallow enough to ignore either.

『Hero Zombies! Hold off Laranflura!』

I tore Laranflura off Jean with telekinesis and left her to the Hero Zombies. Then, Fran and I approached him.

「Jean, you okay?」

「…I can manage, thanks to Mark.」

The armor-type undead Mark had all four arms shattered, losing its inherent ironclad defense. Well, not much we can do about him. Let’s at least heal Jean.

In the midst of this, Fran noticed something.

「Nameless is gone.」

『What?』

Just as Fran said, Nameless was nowhere to be seen. I made several attempts to scan for his presence, yet found nothing. Nameless must have concealed himself when we were distracted by Jean getting hit!

Where could he be? Did he already escape?

Honestly, that would be fine by me. It allows us to concentrate our forces on Laranflura.

However, it’s frightening to think he might be lurking somewhere for an opportunity to strike. I should search more thoroughly.

But the moment I attempted a deeper scan…

「Guah!」

「Kakakakah! Got you!」

Before us lied the shocking sight of Nameless’s fist piercing through Jean’s chest.

『That shouldn’t be possible! I couldn’t sense anything!』

He had truly come out of nowhere. Neither Fran nor I could understand why Nameless was suddenly in front of us.

The lich had impaled Jean’s heart from behind despite us being in arm’s reach. Blood was gushing from the wound.

「Kukuku! I’ve been waiting for this even since that four-arms broke!」

『I get it now! He used Zelyse’s phasing ability!』

How did Nameless approach us without leaving any trace of his presence? The answer was in his left hand.

He held an ominous looking main-gauche with a pink-colored blade. Sword Zelyse, without a doubt. When he was alive, Zelyse possessed a skill that allowed him to phase through almost everything. I’m sure he retained that skill after becoming a sword.

Fran and I had completely ruled out the possibility of Nameless hiding Zelyse on his person.

When we delivered the strike that cleaved Nameless in two, it’s highly probable that he could have escaped by using Zelyse’s phasing ability. Since he took the hit head on, we unconsciously assumed that he didn’t have Zelyse with him.

It was all for this moment, so he could play his ace in the hole.

「Jean!」

「Kukakaka! Call his name all you want, but it’s futile! He’s already dead! Here! If you want his corpse so much, you can have it!」

Nameless withdrew his right arm, which was impaling Jean’s body, and leaped backward. Blood spurted from the gaping hole in Jean’s chest, and his body collapsed on the spot.

Ignoring the copious amount of blood, Fran caught Jean’s body.

His body was now limp and devoid of strength. I could sense his mana and heat rapidly dissipating.

「Jean! Jean!」

Fran invoked Maximum Heal and High Regeneration to close up the wound on his chest, but Jean’s consciousness did not return. Because his heart was already gone…

（Master! Level up your restoration magic! Please!）

『…Got it.』

If there’s even the slightest chance to save him, we should give it a try.

I spent my points to raise Restoration Magic to maximum level, employing the supreme-tier spell I learned.

『Please, save Jean’s life! Vishnu!』

The spell’s effect was indeed exceptional. It had enough range to cover the entire room, instantly healing all those recognized as allies by the user.

This repaired all injuries, restored our stamina, and replenished lost blood. It could even cure diseases, making it more of a miracle than a spell.

That said, the mana consumption was huge as well. I bet the cost varies on the severity of the injuries healed.

Most of the mana probably went into healing Persona and Maleficent.

Vishnu could apparently heal damage to the soul, though the effect was tiny. As the soul is the domain of the gods, it only makes sense that an immense amount of mana is required.

Despite my huge reserves, I lost half my total mana. An ordinary human would probably be unable to use Vishnu in the first place. Otherwise, they would wither away due to the spell draining their life force in place of mana.

Persona’s breathing had stabilized, and Maleficent’s distressed expression improved a bit. Good signs, but…

There was zero change to Jean. No breathing, no heartbeat. His body was growing cold, and his pale skin only lost more of its color.

「Jean!」

「Kukakaka! I told you, he’s already dead!」

「Lies! Jean is an amazing necromancer! He can’t die!」

「Your efforts are futile! A corpse won’t come back to life no matter how——」

「Don’t write me off just yet.」

「!」

Nameless twitched in surprise, as Jean had somehow risen from the ground.

Eh? He’s really alive? But his heart got torn out…

With a tired-looking expression, Jean took something whitish from his pocket. It seemed to contain space-time magic and a hint of evil energy.

A magical tool made of bones? No, a miniature-sized undead?

「I found your target… In accordance with the contract, I hereby summon you…」

Immediately afterwards, the undead shone brightly, and a new figure appeared before us. Rather than a transformation, this seemed more like a teleport applying the technique for swapping positions with undead.

The newly appeared person had an unusual appearance. He was covered in a cloak of pitch-black evil energy, the shape of which reminded me of full body armor.

The somewhat petite figure stared at Nameless before roaring like a beast.

「I’ve finally found you!!」

The voice was unmistakably that of a familiar young boy.

「…! That voice!」

『Yeah, no mistake. It’s Sierra!』