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Night Liches were beings who absorbed a great deal of mana and by so doing, transcended the state of Elder Liches. Such occurrences were rare even throughout history, for which many of the living were grateful.

通过吸收庞大的魔力，超越了死者大魔法师[Elder Lich]的存在被称为暗夜死者魔法师【注1】。这种个体即使翻遍历史也极为罕见，许多生者对此表以感谢。

This was because Night Liches were very powerful.

这是因为暗夜死者魔法师拥有着强大的力量。

They were well-versed in using incredibly high-tier spells beyond the realm of humanity -- the so-called sixth-tier. They were on par with even aged Dragons in a fight. In addition, they also possessed many special abilities, hordes of undead followers, a great degree of intelligence, and resided in behind many-layered impregnable bastions.

熟练地使用超越了人之领域——所谓第六阶位的种种超高位魔法。有了这些力量，即使与年长的高位龙正面对抗也不会屈居下风。此外、他们还有许多特殊的能力、有着众多的不死追随者、具

有高度的智慧、居于重重叠叠难攻不落的要塞之中。

They were capable of ruling nations, as undead kings.

那足以称得上是一国的统治者、不死者之王。

In truth, there were three known Night Liches--

事实上、就有三具广为人知的暗夜死者魔法师——

The Dragon Night Lich, Guphandera=Argoros.

龙[Dragon]之暗夜死者魔法师“克方它拉=安格鲁斯”

The Titan Night Lich, Siyern.

巨神人[Titan]的暗夜死者魔法师“希岳恩”

The nameless Night Lich, a lord of the shadows known as Fear.

暗夜死者魔法师——大概是——没有人知晓其名的影王“恐怖[Fear]”

Their domain was the size of a small country, and the surrounding nations knew them as figures of dread.

他们统治着相当于一个小国的领土，作为恐怖的存在而知晓于周边国家。

For that reason, the name “Night Lich” was only ever spoken in hushed, frightened tnes. One could say that they were mythological beings comparable to natural disasters.

为此暗夜死者魔法师的名字只会出现在恐怖和畏惧的话语之中，可以说是与灾难同义的神话般的存在。

And right now, in front of one of those terrifying Night Liches, the one who secluded himself from the world and laired in darkness -- Kunivela -- a pair of figures suddenly appeared, as though from out of nowhere.

而现在、作为谁都闻风丧胆的暗夜死者魔法师，不问世事地潜伏于黑暗中的一人——库尼维拉的面前，突如其然的出现了两道人影。那就简直就像是无中生有一般。

One of them was in a robe. The other was also in a robe, but their statures were very different from each other, as though they were an adult and child.

其中一人身穿长袍。另一人也同样穿着长袍，两者的身姿大不相同，就像大人和小孩一样。

Even the undead Kuniveala was briefly confused when this mysterious duo suddenly appeared in front of him without any forewarning.

没有任何前兆便出现在自己眼前的神秘二人组，即使是不死者的库尼维拉也在一瞬间陷入了混乱。

His research had been fruitful, he possessed vast magical knowledge, and he was quite famous in his field. He understood things that many in the world did not -- he was probably able to cast ninth-tier spells. Yet even he had no idea what had happened.

他的研究著有成效，拥有丰富的魔法知识，在业内也有着相当的地位。他理解了或许是这个世界上大多数人都不知道的事实——魔法恐怕有着第九阶位。但那样的他也无法理解现在发生了什么。

Kunivela made his lair in a house in a destroyed city, in a cellar he had dug out below it.

库尼维拉的据点是被毁城市的一处住宅，位于下方挖掘而成的地下室中。

Nobody, not even the organization, should have known about this place. And he had undead minions deployed throughout the city. How had they evaded their eyes and passed all his magical traps to reach this place? After all, Kunivela had also used divination magic to ward himself.

即便是组织内应该也没有人知道这个地方。而且城市里还部署了在其控制下的不死者。到底是怎么晃过这些监视、穿过那些魔法陷阱到达这里的？并且库尼维拉自己也有使用探知系的魔法进行戒备。

However, Kunivela had not senses anything before they suddenly appeared before him.

但是在他们突然出现之前，库尼维拉什么都没有感知到。

However, his confusion swiftly receded. What replaced it was fear.

不过混乱马上便偃旗息鼓。取而代之的则是恐怖。

In this world, Night Liches were some of the mightiest beings in existence. Just as superior beings looked down on others, it would be impossible for them to be afraid of others. This was particularly true for those people who understood his overwhelming power.

在这世界中暗夜死者魔法师是位处顶尖的存在。就像上位者俯视他人那样，对他人感到恐怖是不可能的。特别是对自己那压倒性力量有所理解的人更是如此。

Assuming, of course, that this had happened a year ago.

如果还是一年前的话。

A single thought appeared in Kunivela’s mind.

库尼维拉脑海中浮现的是简洁的一句话。

--It was, “they’re trying to kill me”.

——就是这些家伙在猎杀我们。

He had no intention of speaking with the two people who had suddenly appeared. Kunivela immediately cast a spell. He did not choose an offensive or defensive spell, but [Teleportation].

完全不想尝试和突然出现的二人组对话。库尼维拉毫不犹豫选择了魔法。而且不是攻击或防御的魔法、而是<传送>。

He abandoned this city and teleported to a distant base that he thought was safe -- this place was supposed to be safe too -- without any hesitation.

放弃这个城市，毫不犹豫地向离这里很远的、他相信很安全的——这里明明也曾很安全——的据点发动传送。

FIghting was not an option. That was the only choice he could not take. Actually doing so would be the mark of an utter brainlet.

没有战斗这个选项。只有那个是绝对不可能选择的。会选择那个才真的愚蠢至极。

It was true that neither of them emitted an aura of might. He could not even sense any mana from them.

确实、两者都没有任何强者的气息。就连一点魔力都感受不到。

But that was why they were so fearsome.

但正因为如此——才可怕。

Under normal circumstances, he would have greeted them with an attack spell to teach them the foolishness of standing in front of him.

如果是平时的话，应该会立刻用攻击魔法招呼一番的吧。教教对方站在自己面前是有多么的愚蠢。

However, these two people had broken through the Night Lich Kunivela’s surveillance network. For that reason, it was only sensible to assume the two of them were so far beyond Kunivela that he could not even sense them.

然而、这感受不到任何魔力的二人组，却突破了身为暗夜死者魔法师的库尼维拉的警戒网。为此、这二人位于库尼维拉所感受不到的高度才是合理判断。

Surely the undead of the organization would have mocked Kunivela if they heard that the Night Lich Kunivela had abandoned everything and immediately chosen to flee. However, he would only have drawn that reaction a year ago.

如果听说身为暗夜死者魔法师的库尼维拉放弃一切直接选择逃跑，应该会召来组织中不死者们耻笑的吧。然而、那也是一年前才会有的反应了。

Right now, the organization’s members would unanimously back Kunivela’s choice and vouched for the rightness of his decision.

现在的组织成员们一定会全面肯定库涅瓦拉的选择，并打包票说他的判断没有问题吧。

Note 1: Night Lich is ナイトリッチ in JP, but it’s not clear if it means Night Lich or Knight Lich. The chink TLs asked Maru about it but he hasn’t replied yet and nothing like Knight appeared in the later passages, plus giving a lich a peerage title of knight is kind of weird, so they’re using Night Lich for now.

【注1】关于暗夜死者魔法师，原文是ナイトリッチ，但至于英文到底是夜晚的night还是骑士的knight、尚且存疑。推特上问丸山也没有回复。根据后续描述并没有看出类似knight的表现，爵位的骑士对lich来说又有点太过微妙，所以就暂时定为night了。

There was an organization called “Corpus of the Abyss”.

有一个名为“深渊之躯”的组织。

It was a group composed of undead magic casters. Originally, it had been formed to work for their mutual benefit and avoid conflicts.

那是一个由不死者魔法吟唱者们所组成的集团，原本是为了调整彼此的利害不相冲突而发起的集会。

The reason for that was because when the undead -- as beings with unlimited lifespans -- studied magic together, friction tended to develop.

之所以这么说、是因为不死者这种拥有无限寿命的同伴们在研究魔法的时候，无论如何都会出现和其他同等存在发生摩擦的情况。

Without the three great drives, undead invariably developed other, powerful desires, and in the case of undead magic casters, they generally tended to thirst for knowledge. For that reason, once a conflict over knowledge began, it would tend to escalate. Neither party would stop until it became a battle of extermination which would end with one side being annihilated.

没有三大欲求的不死者往往会产生其他强烈的欲望，如果是不死者魔法吟唱者的话，一般都倾向于对知识的渴望。为此、当一场围绕着知识的争斗出现时，更有可能发生这样的情况，没有一方会停手，然后升级为歼灭战，直到其中一方被毁灭。

If the three great drives of the living were concentrated into a single point, surely that single desire would become uncontrollable. It was very common for the undead to be destroyed in this way, to the point where the living could destroy both parties while they were absorbed in their feud.

如果生者的三大欲求所引发的全部欲望聚集至一点的话，那欲望将会变得无法抑制般的强烈吧。

以这种方式毁灭的不死者也是屡见不鲜的，甚至达到了渔翁得利的生者能将互相争夺的两者一起毁灭的境地。

For that reason, undead eventually emerged who understood that it was wiser to make trades and to cooperate within reason, rather than fight to mutual extinction over knowledge and magic items. In the end, a list of names was made.

因此、比起为了独占知识和魔法道具而毫不让步地相互毁灭，在可以合作的范围内互相协助、交易才是明智之举，当能够理解这一点的不死者出现后，终于、一份名单被制作了出来。

It was an unenchanted stone tablet that was inscribed with the participants’ names through some unknown magic, which would later be known as the “Granisle Inscription.”

这是未曾注入魔力却不知不觉拥有了魔力的刻有参加者名字的石碑，后世称其为“格拉尼索碑文”。

At that time, it only contained the names of four Night Liches and three Elder Liches. There were few rules and rulebreakers would be ganged up on by the others. Such was the looseness of their relationship.

那时还只有4具暗夜死者魔法师和3具死者大魔法师的名字。规则也只有几个而已，违反的成员会被其他的成员围攻，只是这样的松散关系。

But 200 years after that, it gradually became a complete organization.

可在那之后过了200年左右、其逐渐变成了有着完备规则的组织。

Thanks to an increasing number of undead members, the seven grew by 48, becoming a large organization with 55 members, with the original seven each being difficulty rating 150 undead creatures.

同时所属的不死者数量也进一步增加，由内阵七名与外阵四十八名所构成。成为了共计五十五名成员的大型组织，并且内阵的七名成员皆为难度达到了一百五十的不死者。

However, very few people knew of this organization.

但是、知道这个组织的人却很少。

There were two kinds of undead who belonged to this organization.

这个组织所属的不死者分为两类。

One kind cultivated their influence among the living and used them to achieve their aims. The other had nothing to do with the living, working quietly for their own aims in the world.

一类在生者中也经营自己的势力，利用他们为自己的目的行事。另一类则与生者无关，在世界的里侧静静地为自己的目的而行动着。

Very few people thought like the former, so most of their members fell into the latter category. As a result, they did not cause many ripples in living society.

因为很少有人像前者那样思考，后者占了绝大多数。所以并没有在生者的世界搞出过什么大动作。

As for those who planned to build their influence among the living, along with it came an increase in the number of enemies. In particular, since the undead were the enemy of everything that lived, there were times where the living would form international alliances to exterminate them. Because of this, there were even fewer members of the former groups. Of course, there were also those who had put down roots in the darkness of the world of the living, but such skilled undead were few and far between.

而且像前者那样打算在生者中增加势力的话，随之而来的敌人也会增加。尤其是因为不死者是所有生者的敌人，所以有时生者会超越国界互相协助、将其消灭。这样一来、前者的数量就更少了。当然、也有能在不为人知的情况下于生者世界的黑暗中扎根的存在，但像这样优秀的不死者是非常少见的。

In the end, “Corpus of the Abyss” became a group that existed only in rumors. The reason why they did not try to compel the aforementioned three Night Liches to join them was to avoid them gaining attention when they did so.

结果“深渊之躯”成为了仅存在于谣言之中的组织。之所以没有劝诱之前提到的三具拥有强大力量的暗夜死者魔法师加入组织，也是为了避免因为他们的加入而引人注目。

That was why it took so long for the problem to be discovered.

正因为如此、直至问题被发现才花了那么多时间。

The first to notice that problem was one of the oldest member of the inner circle. He was one of the founders of the organization, Benjeli Ansis, also known as “Abyss”.

最早注意到那个情况的是、从属于内阵的最古老的不死者。拥有“深渊”异名的组织发起人之一、本杰里·安西斯。

He was a six-armed, two-headed Night Lich, who was familiar with the use of sixth-tier arcane spells and sixth-tier spells from other traditions, a fearsome being that humanity could not overcome. If he had been willing to emerge into the spotlight, the aforementioned three Night Liches would have become four instead.

拥有六只手臂和两个头颅的暗夜死者魔法师，能够熟练使用高达第六阶位的魔力系魔法和第六阶位的其他系魔法，是人类绝不可能战胜的恐怖存在。如果肯抛头露面的话，前面提到的著名暗夜死者魔法师就不是三具、而是四具了。

That day, he had been heading for the stronghold of Granz Locke, a fellow member of the inner circle and a practitioner of the eighth tier.

那天他所前往的是同属内阵、涉足第八阶位的不死者、格兰兹·洛克的据点。

After paying various prices, he had intended to learn how Granz had reached the eighth tier. But Granz had not appeared that day. Therefore, Benjeli went to Granz’s stronghold.

在付出了种种代价后，本约好分享格兰兹是怎样步入第八阶位领域的经历。但到了当日格兰兹却没有出现。于是、本杰里便来到了格兰兹的据点。

It was not unusual for the undead, who had no maximum lifespan, to lose themselves in research. Granz must have been that way, Benjeli had thought as he reached his destination. However, as Benjeli dismounted from his Undead Dragon, his bodyguard cum mount, he froze in place because of the strange mood in the air at Granz’s stronghold.

没有寿命的不死者埋头于研究，从而忘记时间的情况并不稀奇。格兰兹应该就是这种情况吧，本杰里带着这种轻松的心情到达了目的地。但是、从护卫兼代步的不死龙[Undead Dragon]上下来的本杰里，却因为格兰兹据点的异样气氛而止住了脚步。

Granz had dozens of Elder Liches on guard duty and drove them hard as his servants. Usually, one of them would have immediately appeared to show Benjeli the way after he showed up, But nobody came even after he waited for a while.

格兰兹让几十具死者大魔法师等部下守卫着据点，并将他们作为奴仆苛使着。往常本杰里到达后，其中的一具便会立刻作为向导现身才是。可是等了一会儿谁也没有出来。

Benjeli summoned his own minions and cautiously entered the stronghold, where he immediately realised what had happened.

叫出自己的部下，一边警戒一边进入了据点的本杰里马上就理解了发生的事情。

Everything had been taken. His research and his wealth was gone without a trace.

全部被夺走了。它的研究内容、还有本应在那里的财宝全都消失的一干二净。

The undead were the enemies of the living, so it was not unusual for the undead to be destroyed. Even such powerful undead beings were occasionally killed off by even more powerful living beings. But the strange thing was that there were no signs of battle. It seemed as though he had suddenly gone outside.

不死者是生者的敌人。因此不死者被毁灭并不稀奇。即使那是处于高位的不死者，有时也会被更强有力的生者干掉。但是异常的是、哪里都找不到战斗的痕迹，异常到就像是突然出门去了一样。

Granz was a Night Lich. In other words, he was of the highest order of undead. Could someone like that have been destroyed without any room for resistance?

格兰兹是暗夜死者魔法师。也就是说、是最高位的不死者。那样的存在有可能在没有抵抗的情况下被毁灭吗？

With a strange unease in his heart, Benjeli checked the status of all of the organization’s members.

怀着莫名不安的本杰里确认了全部所属成员的现状。

And then -- the organization trembled.

然后——组织上下都震颤了。

Of its 55 members, 21 of them were completely uncontactable. This was not just limited to members of the outer circle, but even founding members of the inner circle.

在应该有五十五具的不死者中，有二十一名完全无法取得联系。其中不仅有外阵成员、甚至包括创建期的内阵成员。

Before anyone had realised it, roughly 40% of the group’s membership had been destroyed. This chilled the spines of the undead, which should not have known the meaning of fear; the idea that their members -- who could destroy nations -- had not even left any messages or information behind, which meant that they had been unilaterally obliterated.

不知不觉——没有让任何人察觉到、约四成的成员就被毁灭了。这个事实让本应不知恐惧为何物的不死者们也不禁毛骨悚然。只要有那个意思、甚至能够摧毁国家的成员们，连一点点信息也没能留下——也就是说他们是被单方面毁灭的。

As powerful individuals, they could take down a nation by themselves. Everyone was possessed of such arrogance, which was why they rarely worked with each other and “Corpus of the Abyss” had never worked together as a group. However, they no longer had the luxury to do so.

Everyone shared their information, looked out for each other, and joined their forces. Once, this organization had many absentees in their meetings that were spaced years apart, but now they all met on a monthly basis.

作为强大的个体、单骑就可以攻下一个国家。因为每个人都有这样的自负，所以他们对于彼此目的的合作并不多，“深渊之躯”更没有像组织一样进行过活动。可是、已经没有余地继续从容了。

大家共享情报、进行警戒、通融战力。本来会议以年为单位召开仍有很多人不出席的这个组织，

现在却达到了每月集合一次的程度。

Even so, their numbers continued to dwindle.

即便如此、同伴也在不断减少。

Some unknown being was slowly, gradually hunting down the organization’s members.

不明身份的什么人，慢慢地、慢慢地猎杀着组织的成员们。

These beings, who were more than a century old, knew fear for the first time.

众多活了超过一百年的存在第一次知道了什么是恐惧。

At this point, they no longer cared about face or reputation.

到了这个份上已经顾不了什么脸面、名声了。

They had started meeting on a monthly basis at first, but as their numbers fell, they were now meeting once every two days. Seeing everyone present at those meetings reassured them, but if someone was missing, they would worry that they would be next, and thus they would live each day in fear. Some of them had even started staying together.

当初一月一次的聚会协商，随着成员的减少间隔越来越短，现在已经达到两天一次的程度。每次见面时谁都不缺的话就放心了，如果减少的话就会担心是否轮到自己，每天都很害怕。也有人开始一起生活了。

Even though they tried their hardest to gather information, all they found was a mystery.

即使努力收集情报，得到的也只有谜团而已。

They did not know why they were being attacked. Was it because of hatred or revenge or some other emotion? Or was it for the fruits of their research, or material goods like money and the like? But the most important question was--

不知道自己等人成为袭击目标的理由是什么，是基于憎恶或者复仇之类的感情吗？还是说为了研究成果、金钱等现实的东西吗？解决方案在哪里？然后比什么都重要的是——

--Who was doing this?

——到底是什么人？

Their aims were irrelevant now. The new conclusion was an unconditional surrender followed by begging for their unlives. While some people had suggested fighting at first, they had all lost the will to fight at this point.

对方的目的是什么都已经无所谓了，全面投降、乞求饶命已经是最新得出的结论了。虽然起初也有提出过战斗的人，不过事到如今战意什么的已经完全被粉碎了。

The organization of Night Liches known as “Corpus of the Abyss” was now in the grip of an unknown terror.