Therefore, the Headless Knight who finally regained his spirit fled back to the human world from the Demon Realm outside the North as soon as possible. But unfortunately, hundreds of years have passed and everything has changed. What greeted this former imperial warrior is no longer flowers and support, but terror and fear.
People were so frightened at the sight of his hideous face that they immediately informed the church and the Knights Templar of the news, causing the Headless Knight, who had thought he could finally avoid fighting, to once again be forced to flee.
It was during a joint siege by the Church and the Knights that he met Wiz, who was also being hunted. With the help of the other party, he successfully escaped the encirclement. At the same time, he learned that the Church's ability to control the Southern Territory was very weak, so he came to the most peaceful Southern Territory, which was also unwelcome to the undead.
"In the years since then, Mr. Beldia and I have been traveling around the southern border. I had heard rumors about the Dullahan before and was vaguely afraid of him, but after getting to know him, I realized that he was not as scary as the rumors said. Although he sometimes did some strange things, he was still a wise and reliable role model of knight."
"I heard that because Grand Duke Victor did not welcome the church, there were almost no churches and paladins in this land, so Mr. Beldia and I came to the southern border. However, people's fear of the undead could not be erased. My situation was not so bad, as most people could not tell the difference between humans and liches. But Mr. Beldia was not so good. Ordinary people would be scared away just by seeing his appearance, let alone living a peaceful life."
"But the worst thing is not this. Although he has had a very hard time these years, Mr. Beldia seems to be very happy just to be able to return to this homeland. However, just before, the curse on Mr. Beldia suddenly broke out. It was the curse cast on him by the lich who once controlled him."
"Although I have studied this kind of magic and understand the principles behind it, my limited magic power is not enough, so I want to find a great magician to help. Mr. Beldia originally refused me to do so, after all, I might be affected if I am not careful. But it would be too pitiful for Mr. Beldia to die like this. He just returned to his hometown and has not yet lived a peaceful life. In short, that's why I hope you can help him, Mr. Du Lin. I will find a way to earn the reward, please..."
Wiz was very sincere when she spoke, and she almost put all her sincerity in front of Du Lin. Therefore, the man thought about it and didn't say much. He just said silently: "Don't worry, if there is anything I can help with, I will do my best to help."
Chapter 21 Holy Light
Chapter 21
In the dark room, the man leaned tiredly on a broken bed. The strange thing was that there was no head on the man's neck. His head was currently in his hands.
"Wiz, that idiot! Go to the Adventurer's Guild to ask the Great Magician for help? Although I know she is naive, it shouldn't be this serious. We are undead! Who can help the undead with a smile? Not to mention that I am the infamous Dullahan..."
Yes, the man sitting on the bed was none other than the legendary Headless Knight Beldia circulating in the imperial capital, except that he now did not have the terrifying face and the terrible flame of the dead as rumored. In fact, he was now even more fragile than ordinary humans and could not sense any breath of the undead at all.
Just when Beldia was worried that the naive lich would be deceived and captured by humans because he was not with them, the door of the room slowly opened and Wiz walked in from outside.
"You idiot, you're finally back?! Wait... who's behind you?!"
"I'm not stupid, Mr. Beldia, this is the person I found to help you!"
Hearing Beldia's words, Durin, who followed Wiz in, simply replied calmly: "As Wiz said, I am a passing magician who can save you."
"Magician? Are you the adventurer that Wiz found? Did you see me? It's fine that Wiz is so easy to fool, but if you want to take me to the church, don't think it's too easy! Even if I'm cursed by the lich, I can still..."
The other party was not able to finish his words. As Du Lin slowly released the great magic power of a great magician, Beldia could not help but ask in surprise: "Are you really a great magician?"
"Of course, I chose to help you knowing that Wiz is a lich and you are the Dullahan."
“… … ..”
His expression gradually became frozen. He didn't expect that this unreliable guy like Wiz actually pulled a great magician back. As Beldia's expression gradually changed, he couldn't help but ask: "Are you really willing to help a human enemy like me? You should have heard a lot of rumors about me at your age. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
"Rumors are just rumors. Or in this era with great limitations, after one person spreads to ten people, ten people spread to a hundred people, even false things can become true. Compared to boring rumors, I trust my eyes more, and my eyes tell me that you are not an irrational villain."
Durin's words were plain, but they made Beldia's expression change several times. Finally, the long-famous Death Knight fell silent and said helplessly: "It would be great if everyone was like you. Why should I live such a hiding and miserable life..."
After hearing Beldia's words, Durin, who had already learned about the other party's situation from Wiz, said slowly: "Anyway, I promised Wiz that I would get rid of the curse on you, and as a commission, I hope you can work for me. Don't worry, I don't want you to kill people. That is a very serious job, and if you perform well, people may even like you."
"You fell in love with me? You fell in love with a headless monster like me? Are you kidding me?!"
Obviously, although he agreed with Durin, Beldia was not willing to believe that the other party had a way to make humans like him. After all, he had expected countless times that such a horrible self like him would be accepted by others one day, but the bloody reality always told him countless times that he was a terrible monster, and what awaited him would never be cheers and applause, but abuse and holy light.
Everything he had when he was still a human was gone after he became immortal. Now, it was enough for him to just be able to live on the land that gave him life and raised him.
As if sensing Beldia's thoughts, Du Lin touched his chin and finally didn't bother to convince him. He just said lightly: "Anyway, what I just said, I will lift the curse for you and you work for me. It's that simple. How about it?"
"Okay, although I don't think a Dullahan like me can do any proper work, it's much better than dying like this. After all, I promised this guy to help her gain a foothold in the human world. How can I give up before the agreement is fulfilled?"
"A foothold in the human world?"
In response to Durin's surprise, Wiz just smiled and replied, "Yes, I made a promise with Beldia when I rescued him from the Knights. As long as I can get him back to the South, he will help me gain a foothold in the human world. However, humans are still hostile to the undead. We have traveled to countless towns, but we have not been able to find a place where we can live in peace."
After understanding the situation of the two undead, and not knowing how to complain about these two top undead who pursue a peaceful life, Du Lin finally nodded and said, "Anyway, as long as you agree, don't worry. I have just observed the form of your curse. Although the best way to resolve the curse under normal circumstances is to use holy light spells, it is obvious that you can't bear it."
"Yes, if such a curse was cast by a human priest, the curse would be easily removed with holy light. Unfortunately, the curse was cast on Mr. Beldia, the Dullahan. If we don't find a way to filter out the strong lethality of the holy light to the undead, there is no way to remove the curse."
Wiz's words showed that she and Durin agreed with each other, and in fact, Beldia was an undead but was cursed by the lich, which made it impossible to use the Holy Light, the strongest restraining ability against the curse system, and thus became quite tricky.
After thinking for a while and roughly constructing a spell model, Durin said slowly: "Anyway, if Holy Light spells cannot be used, then use water-attributed spells to neutralize the effect of Holy Light. Although that will slow down the speed a lot, it is better than using direct Holy Light spells to injure the Dullahan."
There is the church in this world, so naturally there is the holy light, an ability exclusive to the church. However, what is different in this world is that as long as a magician has an affinity for light, they can also use holy light. Although the effect is not much different from that of the church, in order to ensure its own authority, the church forcibly named its holy light as holy light magic, and required the Mage's Tower to name the holy light used by magicians as holy light spells.
Although there was only a difference of one word, it prevented the great battle between the Church and Magic that year. Otherwise, according to the Pope's original request, he would have planned to ban all magicians from using holy light.
Finally, in order to stop internal disputes, the great sage of the Mage Tower proposed two names, Holy Light Magic and Holy Light Spell, which had the same definition but different meanings, and ended this meaningless dispute.
Chapter 22 New actors join
Chapter 22
"Use water properties to neutralize it? Is this really possible? After all, filtering spells out of thin air while ensuring the stability of the spell model is simply asking too much..."
After hearing what Wiz said, Durin thought about it and nodded. "Of course, it's too difficult to neutralize the spell directly in the air, but what if there is someone who can accept 100% of the magic power without any consumption as an intermediary?"
Unexpectedly, Durin would say such a thing. After thinking for a while, Wiz said, "Of course, if what you said is true, then it can definitely be done, but the question is, does such a person really exist? If there is such a person, then he would probably be the most talented magician in history. Even Mr. Durin, you probably can't catch up with such a person."
In response to Wiz's words, Durin, who felt in a delicate mood, just quickly passed the topic and said, "Anyway, I can find such a person to assist in the neutralization of the Holy Light spell, and the commission is the job I told you about before, how about it?"
Hearing his words, the Death Knight, who had lived for who knows how long, showed an expectant expression and asked cautiously, "Can you really cure me?"
"Well, although I have never removed a curse from an undead, this method should be fine in theory."
Hearing his words, Beldia felt relieved and nodded, saying, "I understand. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, don't give up. I have been hypnotizing myself like this for so many years to survive until now. This time is much easier than before. After all, the result of failure is just death, which is a good result compared to turning into a puppet."
Unexpectedly, the other party would be so carefree. Du Lin smiled and just shook his head silently. Then he said to Wiz beside him, "Then I'll go call for help first. Wiz, you can help the Dullahan to sort out his condition and take some protective measures. After all, no matter how you neutralize it, it is still holy light. The undead will definitely not be able to withstand it."
"I see."
With Wiz's nod, Durin quickly left the temporary residence of the two undead.
... ...
Soon, as Du Lin pulled over a blue-haired girl who seemed extremely reluctant, Wiz had also made some preparations.
"Is this the person you mentioned, Mr. Du Lin, who can transmit magic power 100%?"
In response to Wiz's question, Du Lin just smiled and said, "Yes, you can verify it yourself. This guy has no elemental affinity at all, but his magic channel is completely unobstructed, just like a cheat. He is the most suitable filter to act as a magic medium!"
After hearing what Du Lin said, Aya shouted in dissatisfaction: "This is too much. It's fine if you want me to help the undead, but you actually use me as a filter?! This is deducting employees' wages! This unscrupulous boss is exploiting his employees!"
"Then you can go back now, and I will give the ten gold coins as labor fee to others."
"Well, leave it to me, Master Durin! It's just a magic filter, there's no problem at all!!"
Knowing that this guy was just talking nonsense, Du Lin turned around and said, "In short, the preparations have been made. But even if the preparations are done well, there is still a possibility of failure. But after all, Beldia, the curse on you has entered the worsening stage. If we don't give it a try now, when will we wait?"
"Of course, go ahead and do it. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work. I've already accepted this fact. Hahaha, I've done too many wrong things in my life anyway. Although dying is a bit tricky, it's not a bad outcome."
Beldia behaved very freely and even though he looked very strange because he was holding the head in his hand, his demeanor as a knight still showed through his appearance.
Therefore, without any hesitation, Durin opened his arms. A faint magic power burst out from his body, and the light of holy light also leaked into the air as he established the spell model.
"This is the Holy Light..."
It was the first time that Aya, who was far away, saw this special element. She was stunned for a moment, and at the same time, Durin's hands, which had constructed the holy light spell, were already pressing on her body.
As the holy light gradually flowed into Aya's body, the girl's expression suddenly became strange. She asked, "Hey! Hey! Is this really okay?" while watching the magic of the holy light wandering in her magic circuit.
At this moment, Durin spoke immediately: "Wiz, imitate my spell model and release a water spell to neutralize Aya. When you are done, Aya, remember to release the neutralized spell to Beldia. Don't worry, just follow your feeling."
Although Aya's performance was not convincing, Beldia still showed an expectant expression, but he actually still had a shadow of the Holy Light in his heart, which was also the instinctive reaction of all undead.
At this moment, the conflict in his heart made this man who had fought countless battles on the battlefield look a little nervous. At the same time, Durin had already completed the prototype of the neutralized version of the Holy Light spell in Aya's body, and urged Aqua to release the neutralized spell.
Although she was a little overwhelmed, Aqua instinctively understood what to do at the moment, and after a moment of hesitation, she released the magic power that Durin and Wiz had poured into her body.
As the fluorescent blue light bloomed on the headless knight's body, Beldia, who had always felt that there was a layer of shackles binding him, suddenly showed a surprised expression. He could clearly feel the shackles on his body slowly falling off, but the light of the holy light did not make him feel any pain at all, or to say the contrary, he was feeling the long-lost warmth at this moment!
The soft feeling like sunshine on his body, which he had never experienced since becoming undead, almost made him lose control of his emotions. At the same time, Aya, who was releasing magic power in the distance, gradually stopped her actions.
“This feels so good...”
Before Beldia could express his feelings, Wiz had already said, “It’s the Holy Light, but it won’t hurt us undead at all. Mr. Beldia, how do you feel now?”
"It's so great, I even suspect that I have turned back into a human being, although it's just an illusion..."
Standing up slowly, Beldia, the Headless Knight who was once the strongest human and is now one of the top undead, suddenly showed his aura. He also slowly held Durin's hand and said, "Thank you for your help, Mage Durin. Even if it is just to feel this warmth again, I want to thank you."
"There's no need to say all that. I said the reward is just to complete the work for me, right?" Although he felt that the weakened version of the holy light effect was too good, Durin didn't think much about it and continued, "Besides, you should also hope to regain the recognition of human society, right? Although other places may still be hostile to the undead because of the church, I believe that if you complete my work, then the people of this southern border will recognize you again as a headless knight who has a human heart despite his terrifying appearance!"
"Really, can you do that?"
Although Beldia was still a little bit hesitant to believe Durin's words before, after witnessing the process of the other party healing himself, he couldn't help but have a little expectation. After all, he hadn't communicated with humans for too long. No matter whether they were adults or young children, everyone would run away in fear when they saw him for the first time. This kind of social death of being treated as a monster was unbearable for him, and he gradually gave up the hope of returning to human society in his heart.
But now, after hearing Du Lin's words, he still felt a tiny bit of expectation, even if it was just a little bit.
In response, Du Lin just smiled and said, "It's the same as this time. You have to try anything to know whether it will succeed. This time, let's do it with the mentality of at least giving it a try no matter what the result is."
"Haha, you're such an interesting human being. Perhaps the luckiest thing in my life is meeting you."
Chapter 23: Planning for the Movie
Chapter 23
Pitch-black crows were circling around the old house. The Dullahan and Wiz were at the edge of Northric. At this moment, quite a few people gathered in this gloomy place which was usually deserted. This was because Durin had just obtained Beldia's consent and called all his men over.
As soon as they arrived here, Beldia's appearance immediately caused a commotion among the crowd. These people who had never seen the undead in their lives were making noises with expressions like they were watching gorillas in a museum. At the same time, Dulin had already explained the matter of Wiz and Beldia, and explained that they would also participate in the filming process next.
So, although it was difficult for everyone to accept it all at once, everyone chose to express their trust in Durin's decision. Winry even borrowed the kitchen of the old house bought by Wiz to cook dinner.
"Wiz and Dullahan, as undead, can't you eat?"
In response to Durin's question, Wiz smiled and replied, "I can, but Mr. Beldia probably can't. After all, if the lich still has the rudiments of a human, the headless knight that Beldia belongs to should be considered a zombie or something like that, and his body organs have already rotted away."
After understanding the situation, Durin, who was about to say something, stopped talking after seeing the Headless Knight and Zat happily chatting about knightly swordsmanship in the distance.
At night, when most people went to bed, Du Lin had no intention of resting. While the events of the past few days kept circling in his mind, he was also revising the next script under the kerosene lamp.
Originally, according to Du Lin's idea, he wanted to shoot at least a whole storyline and then broadcast it episode by episode. However, after gradually gaining enough actors to make a movie, he couldn't help but find that the storyline they could shoot now seemed to be only enough to defeat the headless knight.
After all, not to mention that bosses like General Winter and the huge mechanical castle in the later plot require a lot of funds. The later plot alone is a bit difficult to handle, and the mansion where the protagonists live also needs to be found. In short, it is not a situation that can be completed smoothly no matter how you look at it.
Therefore, Du Lin finally decided to give up the idea of filming a TV series, and instead planned to produce the first episode up to the defeat of the Headless Horseman, condensing all the previous plots, and finally mixing them into a big movie!
"The total running time is about an hour and a half, which can be called the length of a theatrical version. I just don't know if people in this world can accept such a long movie."
Since Du Lin had never watched any drama or stage play in the past, he didn't know how long a film could be accepted by the people in this world. However, after thinking about it, he decided that an hour and a half should be the most appropriate length. So, after some modifications and connections to the plot, a theatrical version of the project script that made Du Lin quite satisfied appeared in his hands.
At the same time, Beldia came over from the side. This undead who didn't need sleep came to the table and saw the stack of scripts. He said in surprise, "Is this the script you mentioned? Can you show it to me?"
"Of course you can, but don't disturb them, okay? After all, normal people need to sleep."
"Haha, I still have some self-control."
The Headless Knight placed his head on the table and looked down at the script on the table from a strange angle. Combined with the old house and candlelight, Du Lin dared to guarantee that this scene would scare many people to death.
And then, Beldia, who had been saying things like 'I'm the Headless Knight, I can't laugh' and 'You have to believe in the professionalism of a former knight', successfully completed the achievement of 'Really Fragrance' about three minutes later. With his head and body already separated, he tried his best to cover his stomach to prevent himself from laughing. At the same time, Durin, who had already realized the result, quickly cast a silent barrier with magic.
Seeing the barrier completed, Beldia couldn't bear it anymore. While he continued to read the script and laughed fiercely, he couldn't help but say, "Hahahaha! Ahem...hahaha!! This is really funny. I thought that after hundreds of years, I have completely lost the emotions that humans should have. By the way, Du Lin, you want me to play a role. Do you mean to let me play the headless knight in this story?"
"Well, it's almost like that, except that my filming is not like a drama. It will be recorded by a special memory crystal and then used by imaging crystals to be shown to thousands of people in this world."
Beldia, whose head was slightly opened on the table, was extremely surprised when he heard this for the first time. He also smiled and sat down, nodding and said, "In this case, although I really want you to give me a more decent role, it seems that I can't ask for so much."
"Haha, even though the Dullahan in this story is a villain, he is also very charming. At least most people who read this story will not feel disgusted by this Dullahan."
"Well, that's true."
Having said that, Beldia, who had read the story again, suddenly asked in surprise: "By the way, Durin, is there no church in your story? Although there seem to be people who believe in the goddess, why is there no Holy Light Church that believes in the God of Light? You know, those people are very narrow-minded. They might define you as a messenger of the devil and declare that what you filmed does not conform to the doctrine."
In response to Beldia's words, Du Lin simply said, "I have considered this, but there is really no solution for the time being, or there is no need to solve it. After all, I have no plans to broadcast the film outside the South Territory, and the South Territory is the territory of Grand Duke Victor, and this land has not been affected by those charlatans."
"... ..."
I didn't expect Du Lin to say it so bluntly. Beldia was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Well said, those guys are just some charlatans. The establishment of the empire has nothing to do with the so-called gods of these people. These guys who claim to be messengers of God have no right to judge anyone!"
Obviously, Beldia has been hunted by the church all these years. Although he knows that it is due to his identity as an undead, he still has a lot of negative emotions towards the church in his heart. Durin's current attitude of completely disregarding the church is very much in line with his preferences, and he has also been liberated in a sense.
"Anyway, let's go back and take a rest. We'll officially start filming tomorrow!"
Chapter 24 Restart
Chapter 24
The next morning, Du Lin gathered everyone together and found a few unfamiliar faces in the crowd. He asked Wen Li, who obviously knew something, "Who are they?"
In response to Durin's words, Winry simply replied quickly, "Lord Edward, didn't you ask me to go to the Adventurer's Guild to post a commission and look for actors? These few are here to apply, but there are so few adventurers in the South Territory now, and even fewer female adventurers, so these few are the only candidates."
"Have you told them what the job entails?"