Empire of Tallocium.

On the ground, rising upward, the entrance to a rift of a small Magic Stone gaped open.

“Hh, hhk...”

The mercenary Rio, from the small island of Modeut Island, wiped the back of his head with a trembling hand.

“Damn it, damn it.”

Scarlet blood thickly flooded his palm.

“Kerrrrlyk—”

Right in front of him, the dragonlike Magical Beast “Rikellops” tilted its head and stared at him.

The comrades scattered around were already dead.

Forty mercenaries — everyone except Rio — had been completely annihilated by three Rikellops.

“Keryk—”

With a weakened hand, Rio barely clenched his broken sword.

Suddenly, the image of his mother surfaced in his mind — the last time he had seen her was the day he left his hometown.

If he had known it would end like this, he would at least have embraced her properly.

Soon, the Rikellops bared their fangs.

It was a sign — they were about to attack Rio.

Swallowing back his ragged breath, he closed his eyes.

He was already ready to give up everything, but at that very moment—

[Come to your senses. If you want to live.]

An unfamiliar voice rang out in the air.

Lifting his head, he saw something black floating against the moonlight.

“Ah, excuse me.”

Then people appeared — from nowhere — and after pushing Rio aside, stepped forward.

Rio froze, staring at the capes fluttering in the wind.

“Agavert...?”

The new mercenary squad that had once appeared like a comet and rapidly risen to fame across the continent — “Agavert.”

They roamed the world, writing a new page of history each time, yet for some reason embroidered a strange pink dwarf on their uniforms, leaving everyone puzzled.

“Young man, are you all right?”

Rio blankly stared at the old man who had approached him.

The old man in the Agavert uniform clicked his tongue and began examining the wound on Rio’s neck.

Meanwhile, an argument flared up ahead.

“Bale. Step aside. This time I’ll be the one to show Tie.”

“What are you talking about!? I’ve already seen you swing that hammer and strut around a hundred times! You’re just in the way, move. This time I’ll show real power.”

“...Honestly, you’re still useless.”

“That’s rich coming from a pig with muscles for brains!”

“Oh my, would you stop fighting already? If the squad leader sees, we’re in trouble!”

Even while the old man poured disinfectant over his wound, Rio could not move.

He simply could not believe what he was seeing.

“Is this... possible?”

The members of Agavert loudly bickered while casually batting away the Rikellops’ attacks with one hand.

Each time the Magical Beast’s teeth snapped shut in the air with a click, Rio’s body flinched.

A Rikellops was by no means easy prey.

Just moments ago, those creatures had completely wiped out his forty-man squad.

And yet they were deflecting their attacks as if swatting aside a toy...

But it did not end there.

“Stoooop!”

At that very moment, something suddenly burst out of the bushes and swiftly passed in front of Rio.

His mouth parted slightly.

Small stature.

Fluffy light golden hair.

A pink backpack on her back.

“...A child?”

Completely out of place in this setting, the child planted her hands on her hips.

“We agreed not to fight! If you keep this up, Tie will kick you out of Agavert!”

The arguing members froze instantly.

The largest man, roughly gripping the neck of one Rikellops, asked:

“Kick us out, Tie? What does that mean?”

“You’re supposed to catch Magical Beasts, but you’re fighting! There’s even someone injured here?! Only Grandpa Nordics will get a ‘Good Job’ sticker!”

The large man’s face turned pale.

The other members coughed and avoided the child’s gaze.

Puffing out her cheeks, the girl muttered:

“You’re always fighting... At this rate, when will we gather twenty people? Twenty minus the fifteen we already have — that’s still a lot left! We have to gather them faster so we can go to the Guild office and become a large mercenary squad...”

But before she finished speaking, one of the fallen Rikellops suddenly sprang up.

The Magical Beast, baring its ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) teeth and lowering its head, charged toward the smallest target.

The members of Agavert exchanged stunned looks.

Rio also reflexively jumped to his feet.

He quickly reached out toward the child, but he could not block the charging Rikellops.

“Run—!”

At the moment Rio cried out desperately—

“You see. You keep wasting time, and this is what happens again.”

A strange glint flashed in the sighing girl’s eyes.

And then—

Rustle—

Through the night-dew-soaked earth, something began rapidly forcing its way upward.

Rio’s mouth fell open in shock.

Bones emerged from beneath the ground — white, without a single shred of flesh.

“One, no, two, three, five, ten...”

Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck.

Dozens of bones writhed out of the earth and in an instant seized the legs of the running Rikellops, toppling it.

Then they latched onto its thighs, its torso, and began dragging it down into the torn earth.

The clouds covering the moon scattered, and in the forest echoed the deafening scream of the Magical Beast being buried alive.

“Ahyo-heh.”

Only after the creature completely disappeared beneath the ground did the little girl turn to Rio.

Patting her chest, she said:

“If not for the Bone Friends, it would have been bad.”

Hearing the absurd name for the skeletons, Rio’s eyes widened.

“Mister, hello!”

The little girl walked up to Rio, politely greeted him, and seriously raised two fingers.

“Now Mister can choose one of two things. First — forget everything that happened here and go back home. Of course, it’s sad that your comrades are all like this, but that’s life...”

The old man who had treated Rio nodded beside her.

“And second — join Tie’s mercenary squad, Agavert!”

Rio’s eyes trembled.

Agavert — yes, this truly was Agavert.

But that little girl.

Had she not just called Agavert her squad?

“The master of Agavert must surely be the King of the Dead?”

Could it be that the rumors circulating throughout the world were true?

Rio asked in disbelief:

“You’re the King of the Dead?”

A bright smile bloomed on the child’s lips.

“Yes! That’s Tie!”

His heart dropped.

The great mage King of the Dead, who had appeared one day out of nowhere.

The strongest necromancer unknown to history.

The continent — no, the entire world — wanted to know about him.

Founded by the King of the Dead, Agavert had in only two months taken first place in the continental rankings and achieved a 100% Magic Stone conquest rate.

Yet until now, no one had known the true identity of the mysterious King of the Dead.

“But...”

Rio swallowed, looking at the child.

Magic Stones had begun appearing across the world long ago.

Rifts constantly formed around them, and Magical Beasts emerged from them.

When they began invading residential areas and cities, the world entered the era of mercenaries.

Knights and the central army alone were not enough to deal with Magic Stones appearing directly within cities.

The world needed strong mercenaries.

Therefore, it was only natural that attention was focused on the monstrous King of the Dead and his squad.

“Mister, maybe you’ll join our Guild too? Our uniform is very pretty. I asked them to add Tanifang right here!”

Rio’s heart pounded harder.

“So the pink dwarf embroidered on the uniform is called Tanifang?”

He had not expected that.

But one thing was clear.

Now he understood why no one had known the identity of the King of the Dead until now.

“Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s fine! Tie will erase Mister’s memory and take him to the city.”

The great mercenary King of the Dead, freely commanding necromancy, summoning souls, calling forth corpses,

conquering Magic Stones across the world as if swatting flies,

“Ah! And if you join our squad, sometimes you can even sleep in! Nice, right?”

“...Why?”

“Because from ten in the morning to four Tie goes to a class... so we only work at night. Hehe.”

She was a real child.

And barely five years old.

And to explain all of this, we must return to two months earlier.

More precisely, to two months earlier in Jongno-gu, Republic of Korea.